Category: The Citizen

Town Planners (TP) in the Country are holding their 10th Annual General Meeting (AGM) between 27 and 28 November, 2025, at the Gold Crest Hotel in the City of Mwanza. Town Planners, who should appropriately be called Land Use Planners (LUP) to reflect their role to in both rural and urban areas, are an important crop of professionals, given that Tanzania, like other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), is urbanizing fast.

They have to be in control of this process, yet it is possibly an understatement, when one observes that all our urban areas, large, medium-sized or small, are growing chaotically, right under the noses of these professionals. Our training institutions have been churning out Town Planners, and other land-based professionals by the hundreds.

You have these professionals at central government level as well as at the level of both rural and urban local government authorities (town councils, municipal councils and city councils), as well as at the level of regional secretariats. Some are in the private sector.

One of the achievements that Town Planners usually put forward in their reports, is the number of land use plans of various levels that they have prepared, yet hardly are any of these implemented. Many planners are still using the old methods of preparing colorful masterplans, which are good to look at and displaying but, given that they take a lot of time (and resources) to prepare, by the time they are completed, the situation to which they are supposed to apply will usually have changed drastically.

Our urban areas are growing by leaps and bounds while the land use plans to guide this development are being prepared at a snail-slow speed. It is possible that town planning methods have not evolved fast enough to be ahead of the rapidly growing and evolving urban areas.

The land use mosaic in many of our towns and cities, shows pockets of planned areas on a huge landscape of unplanned development. Clearly, the Town Planners, as they meet in their AGM, have to do some soul searching about their continued relevance to what is happening in SSA.

Way back in 2008, Professor T.J.

Nnkya published a book titled: “Why Planning does not Work: Land-use Planning and Residents’ Rights in Tanzania”. The book is a must-read for both seasoned and newly-recruited town planners, since, based on case studies, it explores various reasons that lead to the failure of town planning, a profession that had been around since 1906. Town planners need to think of new approaches, since by growing in an uncontrolled manner, our urban areas become a cost to the nation and to the residents.

Unplanned urban areas cannot unleash the potential which cities have, to become an engine of development. People who put their investment in expensive properties in areas that are unplanned, do not realise the value of such properties.

Not only are our urban areas growing fast, they are also spreading uncontrollably creating sprawled cities which are difficult to service and to navigate. Clearly, town planners are not utilizing the advances which technology has brought about through the use of satellites and drones, which can very much assist in collecting the necessary land use data, fast and accurately, to map existing land uses as well as project future ones.

Google earth, for example can easily show which part of an urban area is densely developed and which is not, and this can go a long way to assist in making useful land use plans. With the coming of AI, there can no longer be excuses of lack of resources to manage our urban areas, at least in the sense of land use planning.

Town planners have to think of new approaches, best based on involving communities and land owners to work together in a collaborative manner. A good example, which I usually quote, is how the Upanga Area was planned without acquiring land.

The idea of wanting to get a tabula rasa, a clean table on which to design land use plans is outmoded. People are always ahead.

Town planning must reverse this and be ahead of development. Approaches like land pooling and readjustment may come to the rescue, whereby both land owners and authorities agreed to share lan; owners getting planned and serviced land and authorities getting land for public uses.

I am aware that one seasoned town planner, who was one of the presidential candidates for the just-ended General Election (under CUF), has been pioneering such land sharing arrangements, much as the entrenched town planners especially in government have not been happy about this move. The private sector is also handy.

Its resources should be harnessed to rescue our urban areas from the chaos that they are growing into. .

Dar es Salaam. A total of Sh91 million has so far been paid to various basketball players whose teams are competing in the National Basketball League (NBL), through the Locker Room Bonus (LRB) initiative by sports betting brand betPawa.

The NBL has now reached the semifinal stage, where four men’s teams and four women’s teams are battling for a spot in the finals scheduled for Saturday at Chinangali Court in Dodoma. The men’s semifinalists are defending champions Dar City, Dodoma Spurs, Kisasa Heroes, and UDSM Outsiders, while in the women’s category the teams are Fox Divas, Vijana Queens, Don Bosco Lioness, and Orkeeswa.

All these teams have already secured qualification for the 2026 National Basketball League season. East Africa Marketing Coordinator for betPawa, Nassoro Mungaya, said the money has been paid to players whose teams won their group-stage matches.

Mungaya said betPawa is proud to be a major partner in developing basketball in the country and in directly empowering players, coaches, and officials through the Locker Room Bonus. He explained that this year’s tournament has been highly competitive due to the presence of the LRB incentive.

“Our brand has invested Sh317 million to sponsor this year’s tournament. Players have so far been paid Sh91 million.

Payments are made directly to the players’ mobile phone numbers immediately after each match through the Locker Room Bonus, where each player earns Sh140,000,” said Mungaya. He added that the initiative has boosted players’ morale, competitiveness, and overall professionalism in the tournament.

“We believe the competition will intensify even more in the semifinals and the final. It is clear that every player wants to get the LRB winning bonus,” Mungaya said.

For his part, the Secretary General of the Basketball Federation of Tanzania (TBF), Mwenze Kabinda, commended betPawa for improving players’ welfare and elevating the status of the NBL in the country. Kabinda said the National League has now become highly attractive, drawing many young Tanzanians to the sport of basketball .

Dar es Salaam. It has long been common practice for Tanzanians to construct shop spaces alongside residential houses, driven by the belief that such units will eventually generate rental income as neighbourhoods develop and populations rise.

In many areas, newly built homes are accompanied by rows of small shops, sometimes at the expense of the aesthetics and quality of the main house. But as Tanzania edges closer to a middle-income economy, analysts warn that this long-held investment tradition may no longer yield the expected returns.

They say that as incomes rise, shopping patterns change, with many people preferring supermarkets, grocery chains and shopping malls over neighbourhood kiosks, leaving small-scale shop units idle for years. Some property owners have already begun converting their unused or unfinished shop units into rental rooms after failing to attract tenants or recoup construction costs.

Real estate experts are now advising prospective developers to seek professional guidance before undertaking construction projects, cautioning that building without proper market analysis often leads to long-term financial losses. Building because neighbours have built Real estate economist Mr Kato told The Citizen that many individuals construct commercial spaces simply because others around them have done so.

“Many people build simply because their neighbours have done so,” he said. “While imitation isn’t necessarily wrong, it’s important to assess whether the area has enough commercial activity to sustain your investment.

” He said one of the most common mistakes is rushing into construction without conducting feasibility studies to determine whether a location is more suitable for retail spaces, rental apartments or even event halls. “Once people acquire a plot, they decide to build commercial or residential houses because others nearby have done the same,” he noted.

“But they forget that everywhere in the world, a successful real estate project begins with a sound concept and not just a structure.” Architects design buildings, not business plans According to Mr Kato, many developers misunderstand the roles of professionals involved in construction.

“When you consult an architect, their job is to translate your vision into a structure. But they are not business strategists,” he said.

“A real estate economist, on the other hand, can advise on what type of development will make the most financial sense for a particular location. For example, instead of building a wedding hall, it may be wiser to construct student hostels depending on local demand.

” He added that many people construct shop frames simply because they qualify for bank loans, without verifying whether tenants exist. As a result, such buildings often remain vacant for years.

A costly mistake for many property owners In Mbezi Luis, property owner Latifa Mdoe learned this lesson the hard way. She built several shop rooms targeting a nearby college, expecting the institution to attract a large population and boost demand.

However, after standing empty for more than 12 years, she is now converting the unused spaces into rental apartments, an undertaking that requires additional investment. “When I built these shop rooms, I believed the presence of the college would attract many residents, but things changed,” she said.

“My advice is this: don’t rush into construction. Start by researching what will give you a good return on investment; otherwise, it becomes a challenge.

” Middle-income shift could render small shops less viable Despite multiple warnings from analysts and examples of unsuccessful investments, many residents continue to build shop units in the hope that tenants will eventually come. But experts caution that Tanzania’s middle-income ambitions may reshape consumer behaviour.

As more people turn to supermarkets and malls for most of their shopping needs, the demand for numerous small shops in residential areas is expected to decline. The trend, analysts say, underscores a larger message: real estate investment in a transforming economy requires more than hope and imitation — it requires informed planning, market understanding and professional advice.

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In June 2023, I visited Majdanek, in Poland, one of the 1000+ concentration camps Nazi Germany built to kill millions of Jews. The barracks were wooden, the watchtowers unremarkable, the gas chambers chillingly functional.

But what struck me most was not Majdanek’s architecture of death, but the ordinariness of it all. In this camp, 1200+ ordinary men and women operated the machinery of death–clerks, guards, drivers, officers.

People who might have lived next door, who might have smiled at their children before reporting for duty. Evil here was not spectacular.

It was banal–woven into the routines of work. In three years, those very people slaughtered 78,000 at Majdanek.

The most shocking thing about Majdanek is not the scale of death, but the ordinariness of its perpetrators. They were not born killers.

They became killers because their government ordered it, because they were paid, because their thoughtlessness was easier than moral courage. Evil was committed by apparent nobodies–people who surrendered their humanity to bureaucracy and ideology.

This is the question Hannah Arendt wrestled with. Observing the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem in 1961, she coined the phrase “the banality of evil.

” That word banality means dull, ordinary, boring. Eichmann was a Nazi SS lieutenant colonel who orchestrated the logistics of the Holocaust–arranging trains, deportations, schedules that sent millions to their deaths.

Yet in court, he did not look like a monster. He was a bureaucrat.

He insisted he was merely following orders, arguing that he harboured no hatred toward the Jews himself. Arendt’s insight was devastating: evil does not always announce itself with demonic grandeur.

Sometimes it wears the face of a clerk or a police officer who refuses to think. Arendt argued that Eichmann’s evil lay not in deep hatred or extraordinary malice, but in his thoughtlessness.

He surrendered his moral responsibility to the system, becoming a “nobody.” In her words: “The greatest evil perpetrated is the evil committed by nobodies–that is, by human beings who refuse to be persons.

” Eichmann’s refusal to think critically, his inability to see the human consequences of his actions, made him complicit in one of history’s greatest atrocities. Eichmann was not special.

He was a normal person. And that is precisely what makes his case terrifying: if Eichmann could be that ordinary yet so evil, then perhaps any of us could be Eichmann.

That is Arendt’s warning. The boundary between ordinary life and extraordinary cruelty is very thin.

Eichmann was not a mythical monster. He was a man who chose not to think, who allowed the machinery of bureaucracy to carry him along.

How often do we say, “I was just doing my job”? How often do we silence conscience because it is inconvenient to listen to it? “I am a police officer, a civil servant, or a soldier.” When we do what we do, we pretend that we are doing our jobs–but what we are really doing is refusing to think.

And that is how atrocities get committed. When we refuse to exercise judgment, we open the door for cruelty to be normalised.

This is what we saw in Rwanda, in Nigeria, in Iraq and Syria–peoples living side by side for generations. Then, when ideology, religion, ethnicity, or something else is weaponised, neighbours turn on neighbours, colleagues on colleagues, and normal people become agents of destruction.

The ordinariness of evil implies that the risk is within us all. This is not about history.

This is about those entrusted with authority who harm the very people they are meant to protect. They all shift responsibility upward, away from themselves.

But Arendt dismantles this excuse. Eichmann was executed not because he gave orders, but because he carried them out.

“Just doing my job” is not a defence. Hannah Arendt’s theory, centred on the “banality of evil,” argues that the greatest atrocities are often perpetrated not by fanatical monsters, but by ordinary people who surrender their capacity for moral thought.

People commit horrors not out of profound malevolence, but through profound thoughtlessness. This is enabled by systemic evil, where political structures make atrocity appear as a normal, administrative duty–allowing everyday people to participate in unspeakable acts while believing they are simply doing their jobs.

The lesson is uncomfortable but essential: our defence begins in the private moment when we choose to think. Eichmann teaches us that evil thrives when people refuse to be persons.

Majdanek teaches us that ordinary people can become executioners. We have to choose vigilance, thought, and moral courage as a defence against evil.

Silence may be tempting, especially when speaking openly about injustice is dangerous. Yet we must think.

We must remember. Atrocities are often committed by people who look like us and who live among us.

We have to be sober. We have to refuse thoughtlessness.

That is the challenge Arendt left us. That is the challenge we must accept.

Charles Makakala is a Technology and Management Consultant based in Dar es Salaam .

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s national Under-17 football team, the Serengeti Boys, stamped their authority in the just-concluded Cecafa U-17 Afcon qualifiers in Ethiopia, winning not only the regional title but also dominating the awards ceremony with an impressive haul of individual honours.

According to tournament statistics, the Serengeti Boys who clinched the championship with a thrilling 32 victory over Uganda in the final, secured three major awards out of the six that were up for grabs. Their outstanding campaign also earned them a coveted spot at the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) U-17 finals, scheduled to take place in Morocco next year.

The team’s first-choice goalkeeper, Haji Abdallah, was one of the stars of the tournament. Abdallah delivered a sensational performance throughout the competition and was deservedly voted Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament.

His heroics included saving two crucial penalties, which played a significant role in Tanzania’s journey to the title. Another rising Tanzanian star, Luqman Mbalasalu, claimed the Top Scorer Award, tying with Ethiopia’s Dawit Kasaw Yirdaw at eight goals apiece.

Mbalasalu’s electrifying performance showcased his immense potential, marking him as one of the standout young talents to watch at next year’s continental showpiece. Head coach Elieneza Nicolaus Nsangazelu added to Tanzania’s tally of accolades by being named Best Coach of the Tournament.

His tactical discipline, leadership, and ability to nurture young talent were evident as he guided his side through a challenging tournament featuring strong teams from nine other participating nations. With these achievements, Tanzania finished the event with a remarkable four awards in total, underlining their dominance both on the pitch and in individual brilliance.

Uganda, who finished as runners-up after a valiant performance in the final, also walked away with honours. Their midfielder Owen Mukosa was named Best Player of the Tournament, a recognition of his creativity and influence throughout the competition.

Ethiopia, meanwhile, capped off their impressive run–where they secured the bronze medal by winning the Fair Play Award, a testament to their discipline and sportsmanship. During the awards ceremony, the players were presented with their honours by Isayas Jira, President of the Ethiopia Football Federation and a Caf Executive Committee Member.

The final match was attended by Tanzania’s Minister of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, Prof Palamagamba Kabudi, as well as TFF President Wallace Karia, both of whom commended the Serengeti Boys for their exemplary performance and historic achievement. .

Dar es Salaam. The government, in collaboration with education and health partners, has expanded a specialised programme aimed at strengthening early learning abilities among children in Temeke and Kigamboni districts.

The move follows years of research on children born with health complications, with findings showing encouraging progress. The initiative forms the latest phase in a series of studies–EN-BIRTH, EN-SMILING and now EN-REACH-ED–conducted by researchers from the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) alongside partners from Nepal and Bangladesh.

The current project will target 1,000 children aged between 60 and 72 months across 40 schools in eight wards within the two districts. Its goal is to produce scientific evidence on effective ways to prepare young learners within Tanzania’s education system.

EN-REACH-ED Project Coordinator, Dr Mustafa Miraji, said the new study builds on earlier work launched in 2018, which followed children born with complications including low birth weight, delayed crying, jaundice and early infections. “Across all countries, around 2,000 children were monitored, with Tanzania accounting for 450, divided into an intervention group and a non-supported group,” he said.

Initial assessments focused on school readiness, cognitive ability, basic understanding and developmental challenges. Parents were also trained on stimulating child development at home.

A major intervention involved a six-month parental programme of nine sessions, teaching play-based learning techniques and how to create simple educational materials using household items. “After the training, reassessments showed marked academic and developmental improvements, particularly among children born with neurological challenges,” Dr Miraji noted.

Based on the findings, researchers have developed new manuals and two sets of learning packages–for teachers and parents–to strengthen support for children, including those with special needs. Whereas earlier training targeted only parents, the revised model now incorporates teachers to close gaps in inclusive early education.

Temeke and Kigamboni have each selected 20 schools for the next phase, targeting 500 children per district. The schools will serve as centres for baseline assessments, training, monitoring and comparison between intervention and non-intervention groups.

The team will use tools approved by the Ministries of Health and Education to assess school readiness, developmental concerns and parental mental health. The intervention begins next year after schools reopen.

Senior Education and Disability Coordinator, Olivia Amedeus, said the project aims to strengthen school readiness through a “three-way model” involving teachers, parents and pupils. Lead researcher, Prof Karim Manji, emphasised the importance of early stimulation, noting that MUHAS and KCMC now produce around 50 occupational therapists annually to support children with learning difficulties nationwide .

Dar es Salaam. After enduring gruelling CAF Champions League group-stage assignments, Mainland football giants Young Africans (Yanga) and Simba return to domestic duty today with crucial Mainland Premier League fixtures at different venues.

Yanga will host Fountain Gate FC at the KMC Complex in Kinondoni from 4pm, while Simba take to the pitch at 7pm against Mbeya City at the Major General Isamuhyo Stadium on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam. Both clubs return to league action after tough continental encounters.

Yanga, drawn in Group B, travelled to Algeria where they held JS Kabylie to a historic goalless draw, marking the club’s first-ever unbeaten result on Algerian soil in the Champions League. In Group D, Simba suffered a narrow 21 defeat away to Stade Malien of Mali, a result that left the Msimbazi giants under pressure domestically and continentally.

Their return marks nearly 25 days since either side featured in a Premier League match. Yanga last played locally on November 9, posting a 41 victory over KMC at the same venue they will use today.

Simba’s previous local fixture was on November 8, when they beat JKT Tanzania 21 at Maj. Gen.

Isamuhyo. With all four teams desperate to improve their league positions, today’s matches are expected to deliver intensity, urgency and excitement.

Yanga vs Fountain Gate FC According to the league standings, Yanga sit fifth with 10 points from four matches, while Fountain Gate FC are sixth with 10 points from nine matches. A win for Yanga would take them to 13 points, lifting them to third place ahead of Namungo FC.

Fountain Gate, who recently fell 20 at home to JKT Tanzania at the Tanzanite Stadium in Manyara, are equally determined to bounce back. Their camp has stressed the importance of today’s match as they seek to restore confidence among their supporters.

Despite Fountain Gate’s motivation, history favours Yanga. The defending champions have won all six head-to-head league encounters since the 2022/23 season.

However, with both teams under pressure to climb the table, the match remains difficult to predict. Simba vs Mbeya City Simba and Mbeya City face off while both sets of fans are still nursing disappointment from recent results.

Simba’s 21 loss to Stade Malien triggered major changes, leading to the club mutually parting ways with head coach Dimitar Pantev. Mbeya City also made coaching changes, terminating the contract of Malale Hamsin following their 10 home defeat to Namungo FC.

Simba enter the match placed seventh with nine points from three matches, while Mbeya City sit 10th with eight points from nine games. At the top of the standings, JKT Tanzania lead with 16 points.

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Dar es Salaam. The Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court has adjourned to January 28, 2026 the economic sabotage case facing social media activist Mange Kimambi, after the Prosecution informed the court that investigations remain incomplete.

The case was brought before Senior Resident Magistrate Hassan Makube on Thursday, December 4, 2025 where the Prosecution requested additional time to finalise investigative procedures. No defence lawyer was present in court, prompting Magistrate Makube to direct the Prosecution to ensure that all investigations are completed before the next appearance so the matter can proceed to hearing.

Ms Kimambi is charged with money laundering involving Sh138.5 million, allegedly obtained between March 1 and 31, 2022, in Dar es Salaam by working as a journalist without a permit and using threats. The charges fall under sections 12(1)(d) and 13(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (Cap 423, 2019) and the Economic and Organised Crimes Control Act.

The case has drawn heightened public attention after a viral video circulated recently, in which Ms Kimambi claimed she had received information about the ongoing case and alleged that the Government intends to seek her return to Tanzania through the Extradition Act, 2019. Attorney General Hamza Johari has confirmed that his office is examining possible action against Ms Kimambi over allegations of incitement to protest, noting that cooperation frameworks between Tanzania and the United States are being utilised in the process. .

By Juma Shabani Dar es Salaam. The November 26, 2025 suicide of University of Dodoma (Udom) student Saidi Kabuga has reignited a debate on the mental health crisis facing young people, with experts warning that the growing number of cases may be only “a tip of the iceberg”.

Kabuga, who reportedly threw himself into a well, was initially said to have been driven by gambling. However, his family disputes this narrative, saying he was not a habitual gambler and may instead have been overwhelmed by academic stress after failing a key subject.

His death adds to a troubling pattern. Just 10 days before the Udom incident, police reported that a student at the Muslim University of Morogoro (MUM), Goodluck Charles survived a suicide attempt after stabbing himself in the neck.

On May 13, 2025, the Kilimanjaro Regional Police Force confirmed that Erick Sawe, a student at the Kilimanjaro College of Health and Allied Sciences (KICHAS), allegedly took his own life due to overwhelming debt. And in July, authorities reported that Tumaini University student Emmanus Kajura died by suicide on 25 June.

Although these cases have drawn public attention, mental health experts and international organisations warn that the problem is neither isolated nor unique to Tanzania. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported on March 25, 2025 that more than 720,000 people die by suicide globally each year, making it the leading cause of death among those aged 15 to 29. In Tanzania, the true scale of the crisis remains unclear due to a lack of comprehensive data, limited school counselling structures and persistent stigma around mental health.

Higher expectations than reality Psychologist Charles Nduku said many young people struggle under the weight of unrealistic expectations, social pressures and emotional immaturity. “There are two main reasons why many young people experience suicide incidents,” he explained.

“The first is having higher expectations than reality, often fuelled by the desire to live an imaginary life, and the second is low emotional maturity. Many young people face challenges with intense emotions that lead to difficult decisions.

Economic hardships and social media lifestyles also play a role.” Mr Nduku advised parents to be more involved in their children’s emotional development, warning against sending very young children to boarding schools before they are emotionally ready.

He also urged institutions to prepare students for the realities of campus life, including peer pressure, exploitation and social dynamics. A generational upbringing gap Secretary of the Tanzania Psychologists Association (Tapa), Barnabas Nkinga, said the surge in suicide cases is also linked to identity struggles, social conflicts, poverty and biological changes, particularly for girls who face sexual abuse and associated trauma.

“Lack of emotional stability is a major factor, especially between ages 15 and 24,” he said. “Many young people are still developing, and when their behaviours conflict with the foundations of society, they sink into self-blame and self-harm.

” He criticised what he called a widening “upbringing gap”, saying many parents fail to appreciate the differences between past and present generations. “Most parents think the current generation is corrupt or immoral, and they scold or accuse young people harshly.

Meanwhile, schools still lack professional counsellors. As such, teachers act as both disciplinarians and counsellors, making it hard for students to open up,” he said.

Mr Nkinga urged parents to “listen and love their children”, adding: “Let us be farmers, not carpenters. A farmer nurtures; a child needs to be cared for and listened to.

” He also called on the government to develop policies and laws that support psychological services in institutions. Institutions step up support At the Muslim University of Morogoro, the dean of students, Dr Hassan Mohammed Issa said institutions are working to strengthen student welfare systems.

“We have a dean of students, a counselling desk and a gender desk to ensure we understand youth challenges and create space for students to express themselves,” he said. Dr Issa noted that some students hide academic or relationship problems from their families, but MUM is increasingly involving guardians to create a stronger support network.

He urged government bodies, faith-based organisations and the media to work together in shaping young people’s attitudes, saying issues like gambling and unhealthy relationships can be addressed through early intervention. Students speak out Students acknowledge that help exists but many fail to seek it.

A Mass Communication student at MUM, Rahma Hamza Kubeha, said the reluctance of students to share their problems contributes to the rise in cases. “If students made use of help desks, these incidents would not increase,” she said.

“We should talk to each other, our families and our institutions. Suicide is not a solution; we must think of those who depend on us.

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Arusha. The government has unveiled a major initiative to deploy modern technology to combat poaching and safeguard wildlife, as part of broader efforts to protect national heritage and strengthen the tourism sector, which contributes 21 percent of the country’s GDP.

Opening the 15th Tawiri International Scientific Conference, Deputy Permanent Secretary for Tourism Affairs Nkoba Mabula said Tanzania is taking strategic steps to enhance monitoring systems, data collection and statistical analysis through innovative technologies to confront poaching and emerging ecological threats. “Tanzania is one of the world’s mega biodiversity countries.

Over 32.5 percent of our land is designated for conservation. This is a blessing but also a responsibility.

To protect these resources, we need technology, innovation and science-led decision-making,” Mr Mabula said. He cited drones, artificial intelligence for gunshot detection, GPS wildlife collars and digital data management systems as key tools already accelerating anti-poaching efforts.

Mr Mabula said findings from the upcoming National Wildlife Census will set new benchmarks for identifying high-risk areas, tracking species trends and designing rapid-response interventions. “This is the power of data.

This is the power of science,” he said, urging researchers to ensure their papers offer practical solutions that can strengthen the resilience of the tourism sector. Tanzania aims to welcome eight million tourists by 2030, up from five million in 2025, and the government says it is prepared to implement recommendations emerging from scientific research, including increased budget allocations for technology.

The government has allocated Sh9.3 billion and approved new positions for conservation officers and rangers to enhance wildlife monitoring and protect critical habitats. Construction of a new Sh93 billion TAWIRI headquarters has also been approved to support long-term scientific research capacity.

Tawiri Director Dr Ernest Mjingo said evolving poaching tactics demand significant investment in technology and research. “For conservation to be sustainable, science must be our compass.

Technologies such as thermal imaging drones, gunshot detection systems, big data analytics and GPS tracking of elephants and rhinos have already reduced poaching and boosted wildlife populations,” he said. Dr Mjingo added that stronger anti-poaching systems are not only about conservation but also protecting Tanzania’s economy, noting that tourism contributes 21 percent of GDP, 25 percent of foreign exchange and supports over 1.

6 million people. The conference has attracted more than 600 participants from 24 countries and features over 248 scientific papers, seminars, workshops and discussions focused on tackling conservation challenges such as poaching, climate change and habitat loss.

WWF Resident Director Prof Noah Sitati said 80 percent of Tanzania’s tourists come for wildlife, making research and technology central to policy-making and sustaining the tourism industry. The conference, themed “Innovations in Wildlife Conservation and Sustainable Tourism: Navigating the Future in a Changing World”, aims to disseminate research findings and strengthen collaboration among researchers, policymakers and conservation stakeholders.

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