New envoys for deployment abroad

Ms Mindi Kasiga

THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, East Africa, Regional and International Cooperation plans to deploy 105 staff to foreign embassies and recall 79 others whose tenure has expired.

The 79 officials to be returned home include ambassadors, accountants, and other officials, who have retired, or their time in the foreign offices has expired.

Addressing journalists yesterday in Dar es Salaam, the Ministry’s Head of Communications, Ms Mindi Kasiga, said Tanzania has 35 embassies in foreign countries, with 234 officers.

She explained that the ministry would critically review officers’ terms of references and other requirements to get the kind of people who will be capable of executing duties as outlined by President John Magufuli, which includes representing the country in international meetings.

“We are reviewing terms of reference of these ambassadors / officials, before we send them to foreign embassies.

We want to send people who have the required qualifications and capability to represent the nation abroad, including attending international meetings on behalf of the government, as directed by President Magufuli,” Ms Kasiga said.

So far only three Ambassadors have returned home; Dr Batilda Burian, who was Tanzania Ambassador to Japan, Dr James Msekela, Ambassador to Italy and Mr Peter Kallaghe, who was High Commissioner in the United Kingdom.

The three ambassadors were recalled by President Magufuli in January this year. The contracts of service for ambassadors Dr Burian and Dr Msekela had expired, while Mr Kallage was to report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, East African, Regional and International Cooperation, where he would be assigned other duties. Ms Kasiga noted that so far nine officers in different fields from Tanzania foreign offices have been recalled.

Others will be recalled in batches depending on availability of money. Meanwhile, Oman’s Minister for Trade, Dr Ali Masoud Al Sunaidy’s two day visit in the country has resulted in the signing of a contract of cooperation between the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture and Oman Chamber of Commerce.

According to Ms Kasiga, the two have agreed to form an Oman-Tanzania Investment Company (OTIC), with 25m US dollars working capital, for the purpose of seeking investment opportunities in both countries.

Oman has also expressed interest in investing in Kagera Sugar Company to build its production capacity to reach 400,000 tonnes, that will be sold in the Tanzanian market. The investment will also include production of electricity, surgical spirit and yeast from sugarcane leftovers.

The electricity, according to Ms Kasiga, will be fed into the national grid, while surgical spirit will be sold in both local and international markets and yeast will be taken to Oman, where there is a ready market for the product.

Oman is also interested in partnering with Kagera Sugar in irrigation farming for food production for both countries, which will also bring job opportunities for Tanzanians.

Other areas of interest for Oman include investing in expansion of Tanga Port, linking Tanzanian Ports to those of Oman, building modern houses in Mtwara to address housing challenges for gas and oil company officials who are forced to commute by air to and from Mtwara.

Ms Kasiga said Oman had also shown interest in investing in animal feeds in Mivumoni in Dar es Salaam, construction of modern houses in Kigamboni and Zanzibar and other projects in the tourism and industry sector.

She noted that the Minister of Trade from Oman who participated in a forum called ‘Oman Tanzania Road Show: Exploring Opportunities in Investment and Business Between Tanzania and Oman’, was in the company of 108 people, out of which 12 were from Oman’s government institutions and the rest from the private sector.

“Tanzania will benefit through promoting investment opportunities which are in the sectors picked by Oman, as well as identifying investment opportunities in Oman that we can benefit from,” she added.