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Ex-Tanzanian President Ali Hassan Mwinyi Dies At 98
Former Tanzanian president Ali Hassan Mwinyi, who introduced multi-party democracy to the East African nation, died on Thursday aged 98, the presidency said.
The second President of Tanzania Hassan Mwinyi (2nd R) attends the farewell mass for the late Tanzanian President John Magufuli before the burial at Magufuli Stadium in Chato, Tanzania, on March 26, 2021. – Former Tanzanian president Ali Hassan Mwinyi who introduced multi-party democracy to the East African nation died on Thursday aged 98, the presidency said.
Former Tanzanian president Ali Hassan Mwinyi, who introduced multi-party democracy to the East African nation, died on Thursday aged 98, the presidency said.
“I’m saddened to announce the death… around 5:30 in the evening,” President Samia Suluhu Hassan said on state television TBC1, adding that he had been receiving treatment for lung cancer.
Mwinyi had been hospitalised in London in November last year before returning to continue treatment in the main Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam, Hassan said.
Tanzania will observe seven days of mourning with national flags flown at half-mast.
Hand-picked by independence hero Julius Nyerere to succeed him, Mwinyi inherited a country in the grip of an economic crisis, following years of failed socialist experiments.
Tanzania’s founding father Nyerere’s pet project “ujamaa” (“fraternity” in Swahili) sought to bring people together by promoting a socialist economic vision, but his collectivist experiments left the country in a precarious condition.
Mwinyi removed restrictions on private enterprise and eased bottlenecks on imports, earning the nickname Mzee Rukhsa, a Swahili phrase which loosely translates to Mr Permission.
His father hoped he would become a spiritual leader, but the young Mwinyi took up teaching instead, before entering politics in the 1960s after Tanganyika won its freedom.
Following the 1964 merger between independent Tanganyika and Zanzibar to form Tanzania, he rose through the ranks to serve as ambassador to Egypt as well as the minister of health, home affairs and natural resources during the 1970s and early 1980s.
In 1984, he became the president of Zanzibar, before Nyerere chose him to lead Tanzania.
Corruption scandals
He was hailed for opening the door to multi-party democracy in 1992 and allowing opposition parties to contest elections three years later, when he stepped down.
But his tenure was also peppered with controversies.
He faced criticism for allegedly favouring Muslims while appointing officials to top government jobs, allegations he conceded hit him hard.
The economic liberalisation he presided over was accompanied by corruption scandals, which became so endemic during his reign that some donors froze aid in 1994.
The grey-haired leader had kept a low profile since retiring from politics in 1995.
At his book launch in 2021, President Samia Suluhu Hassan showered him with accolades, describing him as a leader worthy of emulation.
In the memoir, Mwinyi criticised the “ujamaa” project, saying it deprived small-scale traders of income.
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
US President-elect, Donald Trump’s incoming administration plans to immediately order a series of deportation raids targeting illegal immigrants after his inauguration.
Chicago is expected to be the first major city targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as part of Operation Safeguard, the New York Times reported, citing two people familiar with planning the undertaking.
The massive deportation operation is expected to target criminals and gang members in the United States illegally and run for one week.
Trump has promised to conduct the largest deportation program in U.S. history.
Up to 200 ICE agents are being sent to Chicago to help kick off the operation on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported. The agency has already asked agents to volunteer for the post-inauguration raids.
“There’s gonna be a big raid across the country,” Tom Homan, who will be in charge of U.S. borders once Trump takes office, told Fox News in an interview.
Homan has previously said he will instruct ICE agents to carry out raids on illegal immigrants at their workplaces.
In addition to Chicago, the sweeping crackdown will also target other major U.S. cities with large immigrant populations.
Trump is set to take the oath of office on Monday, January 20, in an inauguration that will take place indoors.
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
A faith-based civil society organization, CSO that monitors and reports on Hajj and Umrah activities, the Independent Hajj Reporters, IHR, has commended the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, for selecting a different Saudi-based Hajj service provider for the 2025 Hajj season.
It said the decision would create healthy competition among service providers interested in efficiently, qualitatively, and satisfactorily serving Nigerian pilgrims.
The CSO, in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Malam Ibrahim Muhammed, in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, and made available to our correspondent on Sunday in Abuja, said the quest for improved Hajj services has been a major challenge for Nigerian pilgrims owing to the repeated failure of providing satisfactory services.
”We applauded the decision to pick another service provider that will cater for the needs of pilgrims within the Masha’ir areas during the five days of Hajj,” he said
The national coordinator, who is currently in Saudi Arabia to monitor the pre-Hajj arrangements, said available information shows that the new company, Mashariq Al Dhahabia, is an experienced provider that has served top-rated Hajj countries, like Indonesia and Malaysia, and ranked among the top five Hajj service providers by the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.
“The company served 249 706 which is the largest number of Hajj pilgrims during the 2023 hajj. They were awarded as the Best Hajj Service Providers during the 2022 Hajj by the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah,” he stated.
IHR said it further understood that NAHCON is planning to recruit another service provider to provide services for very important personalities, VIP pilgrims so as not to repeat the experience of previous years, which is also a desired step forward.
It, however, urged NAHCON to set a parameter of performance for the newly selected service providers to serve as a baseline for determining continuous patronage, advising that such criteria should be based on pilgrims’ satisfaction and adherence to contractual terms.
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