Category: The Citizen

rom Malaysian education to Tanzania’s corporate world

_: Dar es Salaam. At 33, Isabella Victor Mwambalaswa is among Tanzania’s younger chief financial officers (CFOs), having held the position for nearly two years at a company involved in logistics, infrastructure and energy.

She will be among the speakers at the upcoming CFO of the Future Summit at Serena Hotel in Dar es Salaam, which will bring together finance executives from across East Africa.

Mwambalaswa holds a first-class honours degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), obtained through a twinning programme with Taylor’s University in Malaysia.

She also completed the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) qualification in Malaysia.

More than a decade after returning to Tanzania, she says her international education and exposure have shaped her career.

Her experience also reflects the growing number of Tanzanians returning home with skills and knowledge acquired abroad. She was employed soon after returning. For Mwambalaswa, studying abroad was partly driven by curiosity. She initially considered South Africa but could not find the course she wanted.

‘I wanted to study a Bachelor’s in Accounting and Finance, but they were offering all these other things. So I researched and found that Malaysia was a very safe place to go,’ she says.

Her two years in Malaysia exposed her to a different culture and way of life. Language was not a major barrier because her studies were conducted in English, although she learnt some Bahasa Melayu, Malaysia’s national language.

She also experienced the country’s strict enforcement of immigration rules, including police roadblocks where foreigners were required to produce identification.

After two years, her programme took her to Bristol in England to continue her studies. Moving to the colder British weather was an adjustment. ‘I suffered several bouts of flu, but after a while, I became well adjusted,’ she says.

She describes her lecturers as friendly and the local community as welcoming, although living costs were higher than in Malaysia. She later returned to Kuala Lumpur to complete her ACCA studies.

Mwambalaswa believes Tanzania can learn from some aspects of overseas education, particularly programmes that develop practical skills alongside academic qualifications. ‘Life-related courses, as a country, we can borrow,’ she says, citing confidence-building, money management and public speaking.

She believes internet access is also narrowing differences between education systems, allowing students to access knowledge and training from around the world.

Her participation in the CFO summit will give her an opportunity to discuss how the finance profession is changing and the role of younger professionals.

Mwambalaswa says she initially questioned why organisers had selected her alongside more experienced CFOs. She was told they wanted different perspectives, including from younger professionals and those working outside traditional financial sectors.

‘They noticed that I represented a different industry. They noticed that I’m a bit young, which aligns with their theme, ‘CFO of the Future’, exploring how our role is changing,’ she says.

She encourages young professionals to pursue senior positions rather than allow their age to limit their ambitions.

‘Definitely not! They should go for it,’ she says when asked whether young people should step aside for older colleagues when offered senior roles.

However, she says career progression requires continuous learning.

Technology, including artificial intelligence, is already changing how financial analysis and other tasks are performed.

‘As a CFO, I studied 10 years back. There’s so much that has transpired over the 10 years. So if I don’t make myself relevant, I run the risk of being obsolete,’ she says.

Her advice to young professionals is straightforward: continue studying, undertake additional training and keep updating skills to remain relevant in a changing workplace.

Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) is targeting more than Sh200 million through a marathon to help 100 children with heart conditions undergo surgery at the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI).

The TPDC Marathon 2026, themed ‘Your Step Saves a Life’, will be held on November 21 at the Police Officers Mess grounds in Masaki, featuring 5km, 10km and 21km races.

JKCI director general Dr Peter Kisenge said about two in every 100 children born each day have heart defects caused by structural abnormalities or inherited conditions.

He said about 1,500 children at JKCI currently require urgent heart surgery, with treatment for one child costing between Sh8 million and Sh10 million.

‘The government covers 70 percent of the treatment costs for children with heart conditions, particularly those from poor families. The remaining costs are covered through support from various stakeholders, including TPDC,’ he said.

Dr Kisenge urged the public to participate in the marathon and help children from disadvantaged families access specialised cardiac treatment.

TPDC acting managing director Derick Moshi said the marathon was intended to mobilise resources for children requiring heart surgery while promoting community participation.

He said the initiative formed part of TPDC’s contribution to social development alongside its responsibilities in the oil and gas sector.

‘This is more than a message about running; it is a call to take action, join forces and use the opportunities we have as institutions and individuals to make a meaningful difference in other people’s lives,’ he said.

TPDC previously supported children with heart conditions through a 2022 charity run that raised Sh100 million for the treatment and surgery of 50 children.

Mr Moshi said the corporation was inviting public and private sector institutions, companies, health facilities, development partners, diplomatic missions, financial institutions, athletes, jogging clubs and members of the public to support the 2026 initiative.

He said support could be provided through sponsorship, participation, employee mobilisation or direct contributions towards treatment.

The marathon is open to people with different levels of fitness, with participants able to run or walk.

Mr Moshi said the event would also promote physical exercise and healthy lifestyles while raising funds for children requiring specialised cardiac care.

The Bank of Tanzania (BoT) has backed Creditinfo’s launch of locally operated fraud detection, identity verification and know-your-customer (KYC) solutions, saying they could help financial institutions strengthen controls against fraud while improving access for legitimate customers.

Speaking at the launch in Dar es Salaam at the weekend, BoT official Deogratias Mnyamani said fraud detection, anti-money laundering (AML) screening and identity verification services had traditionally been provided by international vendors operating outside Tanzania.

‘Today marks the departure from that pattern. This is the first time this solution is being offered by an entity right here in Tanzania, built with an understanding of our market, institutions and our people,’ he said. Mr Mnyamani said reliable customer identification, supported by national identification infrastructure, was an important defence against financial crime.

The launch comes as Tanzania’s financial sector increasingly shifts towards digital services, including digital lending, instant payments and remote account opening.

While digitalisation has expanded access and reduced transaction times, it has also increased exposure to identity theft, impersonation, synthetic identities and application fraud.

Creditinfo’s solution uses credit bureau data, alternative information and official registries to verify individuals and businesses. It also uses digital risk signals and domestic and international watchlists to assess risks during customer onboarding and throughout customer relationships.

The system includes transaction monitoring tools designed to identify suspicious activity, including behaviour associated with mule accounts and authorised push payment (APP) fraud.

Creditinfo director of fraud and identity Rob Meakin said the expansion into Tanzania would give organisations access to data and fraud intelligence to support faster risk assessments.

‘Our expansion into Tanzania brings together the data, technology and fraud intelligence organisations need to strengthen those decisions, while keeping the customer experience at the centre,’ he said.

Creditinfo Tanzania chief executive officer Edwin Urasa said stronger identity verification was becoming increasingly important as businesses handled more transactions and interactions digitally.

‘Having a clear view of who they are dealing with and the risks associated with each interaction is essential to protecting both businesses and their customers,’ he said.

The Tanzania rollout follows Creditinfo’s expansion of its fraud and identity services into Kenya and Uganda, with the technology adapted to local regulatory requirements, data sources and risk profiles.

The company said the local operation would help organisations strengthen fraud controls and make more informed decisions while meeting regulatory requirements on financial crime and customer protection.

Two University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) researchers have secured more than Sh3.12 billion to conduct research on climate-related agricultural challenges and neglected tropical diseases.

The funding was secured between April and June 2026 and will support projects in agriculture and public health.

The projects are led by Dr Lilian Mulamula of the Dar es Salaam University College of Education (DUCE) and Dr Bernard Ngowi of the Mbeya College of Health and Allied Sciences (MCHAS). Dr Mulamula received Sh351.82 million from the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), while Dr Ngowi secured Sh2.77 billion from the European Union (EU).

According to UDSM, Dr Mulamula’s project will examine how changing weather patterns affect maize production in semi-arid and highland areas and assess farming practices and technologies that could help farmers adapt.

The research will also assess farmers’ readiness to adopt available climate-smart technologies.

‘We want to move beyond identifying the challenges and provide practical solutions that farmers can use,’ Dr Mulamula said.

She said the research team would work with farmers and other stakeholders to test the technologies and identify those suitable for improving maize production.

Dr Ngowi’s project will focus on controlling Taenia solium, cysticercosis and taeniasis, soil-transmitted helminthiasis and schistosomiasis.

The Sh2.77 billion EU-funded research will assess how different interventions can be combined to control the diseases and generate evidence to support disease-control programmes.

‘Our focus is to develop an integrated and practical approach that can improve the control of these diseases while generating evidence on safety, effectiveness and implementation,’ Dr Ngowi said.

He said the findings could inform policies and strengthen Tanzania’s programmes for controlling neglected tropical diseases.

UDSM Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research, Prof Nelson Boniface, welcomed the funding, saying research had an important role in addressing challenges facing society. He urged the researchers to translate their findings into practical solutions for communities.

The projects are expected to generate evidence on climate adaptation in maize farming and approaches to controlling neglected tropical diseases.

Unguja. Legal debates and a special report on the drug situation in the Isles are expected to dominate the fourth meeting of the 11th Zanzibar House of Representatives, which begins on Wednesday, September 9, 2026.

The session scheduled to run from September 9 to September 18, 2026 is considered to hold unique importance due to the nature of the bills and reports.

Addressing journalists on Monday, September 7, 2026, the Zanzibar House of Representatives acting clerk, Mr Ramadhan Khamis Juma, said the House has received 302 questions to be asked and answered.

On legislative matters, he stated that the House will deliberate on two major bills that cleared the first reading stage during the previous sitting.

‘The first is the Zanzibar Newspapers Corporation Bill, aimed at repealing the 2008 law to establish a new entity capable of operating commercially,’ he said.

The other legislation is the Fisheries Development and Marine Conservation Authority Bill, which seeks to repeal the 2010 fisheries law.

It aims to create a new authority to manage and conserve marine resources more efficiently, a critical component of Zanzibar’s blue economy.

House Operations Director, Mr Othman Ali Haji, explained that the initial agenda schedules 174 questions for processing during this week-and-a-half session.

Mr Othman noted that the number of questions may fluctuate depending on the pace of debate and management of daily business.

‘Every member has a constitutional right to ask questions without limit, provided they comply with procedures requiring submissions to the Clerk at least 21 days before the commencement of the sitting,’ he stated.

Speaking on the Fisheries Development and Marine Conservation Authority Bill, Legal Advisory Services Director, Ms Nasra Awadh Salmin, noted that it aims to replace the 2010 legislation to enhance efficiency and bolster Zanzibar’s blue economy.

Regarding the newspaper legislation, Ms Salmin explained that the amendments aim to empower the corporation to own printing presses, expand content distribution, and achieve commercial sustainability.

Despite the significance of these bills, the House recorded low public participation during the consultation period.

Ms Salmin expressed regret that despite publishing the bills on the House website pursuant to Standing Order 89, no public feedback was received before the committee convened.

‘Unfortunately, we received no feedback for either bill prior to the committee sitting. There was zero input from the public,’ said Ms Salmin.

Consequently, the committee was forced to engage directly with invited stakeholders to gather input for improving the proposed laws.

Another major item on the agenda is the special report examining the drug situation in Zanzibar for 2025.

Ms Salmin stated that the House awaits the official report from the relevant minister, which will undergo committee review before being presented in the House.

Sharing their perspectives, residents told The Citizen that enthusiasm was high regarding the proposed changes to the fisheries law, citing shortcomings in the current framework.

A fisheries stakeholder, Mr Isham Issa Haji, noted that the existing law is outdated and expressed hope that the new legislation will address current industry challenges.

Specific grievances under the existing law include provisions prohibiting fishers from entering the sea with diving goggles or gas burners.

Another resident, Ms Faumu Mussa, remarked that while citizens lacked sufficient notice to submit formal views, they remain confident the House will enact legislation aligned with modern realities.

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s current political and social challenges cannot be fully understood without examining the erosion of the values that shaped the country at independence, former Prime Minister and First Vice President Joseph Sinde Warioba has said.

His remarks came as the TCD brought together political leaders, diplomats, civil society representatives and other stakeholders to discuss the country’s democratic future.

Speaking at the Tanzania Centre for Democracy (TCD) National Conference in Dar es Salaam today, Mr Warioba said Tanzania’s founders deliberately built the country around national unity, equality, patriotism, honesty and self-reliance, principles he said had helped the country avoid divisions based on tribe and religion.

He said the weakening of those values had contributed to the emergence of political, religious, tribal and regional divisions that now threaten the country’s social cohesion.

‘We need to return to the Tanzania we knew – a Tanzania of peace, equality, patriotism, honesty and self-reliance,’ he said.

Mr Warioba said Tanzania’s experience immediately before and after independence offered important lessons for addressing the problems facing the country today.

He recalled that the objectives of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), formed in 1954, included preparing Tanzanians for self-government and independence while removing tribal discrimination and other practices that could prevent Africans from being united.

‘The first objective was to prepare our people for self-government and independence, and to remove tribal discrimination and anything else that prevented Africans from being united,’ he said.

According to Mr Warioba, the principles were not merely political slogans but formed the basis upon which national unity was deliberately constructed.

He said the country’s founding leadership also established ethical standards for public leaders, including the principle that public office was a trust and that leaders were expected to reject corruption and speak the truth.

‘Leadership was regarded as a trust. Public office was not meant to be a personal possession,’ he said.

He said those principles helped Tanzania develop a strong sense of national identity despite its ethnic and religious diversity.

‘We succeeded in building national unity, but today we are seeing tribal groupings, religious divisions and regionalism returning,’ he said.

Mr Warioba said the re-emergence of such divisions should be treated seriously because they undermine the foundation upon which peace and stability were built.

He particularly warned against the transformation of political parties into vehicles for narrow group interests.

‘The coming of multiparty politics turned the country into new type of discrimination, political parties became new tribes,’ he said.

He said Tanzania should preserve multiparty democracy but ensure that competition between political parties did not turn citizens against one another.

‘We must preserve multiparty democracy while making sure that it does not divide Tanzanians which is one of the prime challenge we have in our country in the past ten years,’ he said.

For Mr Warioba, the solution lies not in abandoning political competition but in strengthening the rules, institutions and values that govern it.

He said Tanzania needed to revisit its constitutional and political history to understand why certain institutions were created and how they were intended to protect national interests.

‘We must look at our history because it is in that history that we can find the foundation of our unity,’ he said.

He also linked the country’s political challenges to weaknesses in the process through which leaders are selected and elected.

Mr Warioba said citizens must have a genuine opportunity to choose their leaders, warning that political systems could lose public legitimacy when the selection of candidates and leaders was driven by money or narrow party interests.

‘If we want to restore the principle that power belongs to the people, then the procedures for choosing leaders must allow citizens to genuinely choose,’ he said.

He called for improvements in the electoral system, saying voter registration, voting, counting, verification and announcement of results must be administered impartially.

He said electoral institutions should be sufficiently independent to command public confidence and ensure that elections are viewed as a genuine expression of citizens’ choices.

The former Prime Minister also called for stronger checks and balances between State institutions, particularly Parliament and the Executive.

‘The Parliament must be able to perform its functions independently; it cannot be effective if it is subordinate to the Executive,’ he said.

He said the Constitution should provide stronger safeguards for ethics, leadership standards and accountability, arguing that institutions were essential to preventing the abuse of power.

‘The Constitution must provide for ethics, leadership standards and accountability,’ he said.

Mr Warioba also addressed the Union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar, warning that unresolved grievances and growing differences between the two sides could weaken the Union if they were not addressed.

‘We have to sit down and discuss the grievances between the Mainland and Zanzibar because the Union cannot be taken for granted,’ he said.

He said dialogue should therefore be regarded as a permanent mechanism for resolving political differences rather than something used only when the country faces a crisis.

His call for dialogue was also linked to the broader question of peace.

‘Peace is not made with guns, and you cannot protect peace with guns,’ he said.

Mr Warioba argued that lasting peace depended on justice, equality, national unity and institutions capable of resolving disputes peacefully.

‘Our problems cannot be solved by force; they must be solved through dialogue, justice, equality and institutions,’ he said.

He urged Tanzanians to draw lessons from the country’s history rather than allowing current political disagreements to erase the achievements of the past.

For him, returning to the founding principles does not mean returning to the past politically, but restoring the values that enabled Tanzanians from different backgrounds to regard themselves as one people.

He said the task ahead was therefore to rebuild trust in political institutions, strengthen constitutional safeguards, improve electoral processes and revive the ethical standards that once guided public leadership.

He said the conference should provide an opportunity for Tanzanians to reflect honestly on the country’s history, recognise the problems that have emerged and agree on practical ways of rebuilding national cohesion.

‘We have to look at where we came from, understand where we are today and decide what kind of Tanzania we want to build,’ he said.

Dodoma. The government has urged universities to align student admissions with their capacity to provide quality education, warning institutions against increasing enrolment at the expense of academic standards.

Education, Science and Technology Minister, Prof Adolf Mkenda, said universities should focus on producing graduates who meet international standards rather than prioritising the number of students they admit.

‘We have asked them to admit students at a level that will not compromise the quality of education. We need quality education and standards, not large numbers of students who ultimately produce unsatisfactory results,’ said Prof Mkenda.

He was speaking in Dodoma on Saturday, September 5, 2026, during a joint meeting involving the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, university vice chancellors and chairpersons of university councils.

The meeting discussed measures to strengthen the quality of higher education while ensuring student admissions remain within institutions’ capacity.

Prof Mkenda said universities had agreed on a strategy under which each institution would take responsibility for the quality of education it provides and ensure its standards are comparable with international benchmarks.

He said the government was not seeking to prevent universities from admitting students but wanted institutions to ensure enrolment levels did not undermine the quality of teaching and learning.

He said only two universities had not attended the meeting and that the government would engage them before the next joint meeting, which is expected to address other challenges facing the higher education sector.

The Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU) executive secretary, Prof Charles Kihampa, said student admissions and education quality were central to the discussions.

Prof Kihampa said the agreed approach was intended to give universities greater clarity while protecting the interests of both students and institutions.

‘We have looked at protecting the interests of students and universities in order to avoid conflicts,’ he said.

The focus on admissions comes as universities balance growing demand for higher education with the resources available to teach and support students.

Prof Kihampa said the discussions were intended to ensure universities understood their responsibilities and maintained academic standards while managing student admissions.

Teofilo Kisanji University (TEKU) council chairman Aggrey Mlimuka said the strategy could also encourage greater competition among universities based on the quality of education they provide.

He said the labour market would play an important role in determining which institutions attract students and gain recognition from employers.

Employers, he said, would increasingly seek graduates from universities with a reputation for producing competent professionals.

‘If a university cannot produce quality professionals, it will eventually be shunned and will have to reassess itself,’ said Mr Mlimuka.

The government is expected to continue discussions with universities as part of efforts to establish a common approach to admissions and quality assurance across the higher education sector.

Morogoro. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry, Trade, Agriculture and Livestock has directed the management of Mkulazi Sugar Factory and the Sugar Board of Tanzania (SBT) to construct a police station at the facility to strengthen security for the investment and surrounding communities.

Speaking on behalf of committee members visiting the factory on Sunday, September 6, 2026, Vice Chairperson, Ms Mariam Ditopile, expressed satisfaction with production progress, but stressed that security must be prioritised.

She noted that establishing a police station near the factory is crucial given the massive scale of investment and its strategic role in boosting national sugar production.

The committee also urged the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Works, and the Tanzania Rural and Urban Roads Agency (Tarura) to upgrade feeder roads connecting smallholder outgrowers to the factory.

“Improved roads will ease transport of sugarcane, seeds and farm inputs from fields to the factory, thereby enhancing smallholder productivity,” said Ms Ditopile.

She emphasised that while production remains steady, greater creative branding is required to boost the market visibility of Mkulazi sugar.

“The factory is performing well, and demand exists, but the product lacks sufficient visibility; management and the Sugar Board must innovate their marketing,” she noted.

Agriculture Deputy Permanent Secretary, Mr Athumani Kilundumya, acknowledged that constructing a police post on-site is an urgent priority.

“Reports confirm significant distance to the nearest station, making an on-site post vital to safeguard operations, staff and surrounding residents,” said Mr Kilundumya.

He stated that the government and shareholders have invested over Sh354 billion in the factory, plantations and supporting infrastructure, requiring rigorous security safeguards.

Consequently, he directed the SBT Director General to collaborate with factory management to establish an execution framework.

SBT Director General, Prof Kenneth Bengesi, pledged to address all parliamentary recommendations to elevate operational efficiency and maximise socio-economic benefits.

Prof Bengesi added that Mkulazi Sugar Factory remains central to national efforts aimed at eliminating the domestic sugar deficit for household and industrial consumption.

Presenting the progress report, Mkulazi CEO, Ms Selestina Some, noted that the holding company was established on September 6, 2016, to plug the national sugar deficit.

She stated that the venture is co-owned by the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) at 96 percent and the Tanzania Prisons Service (TPS) at four percent, managing plantations alongside the factory at Mbigiri in Kilosa District.

Lindi. A new classroom handed over by Knauf to Makangaga Primary School in Kiranjeranje Ward, Lindi Region, is expected to ease congestion and improve learning conditions for pupils.

The facility was handed over during a ceremony attended by Knauf officials, local government leaders, school administrators, teachers, parents and pupils.

The project formed part of Knauf’s community development initiatives in areas surrounding its mining operations.

Speaking during the handover, Knauf Legal Counsel and External and Government Affairs Manager Flora Erasto said the company remained committed to supporting communities around its operations.

‘We are pleased to hand over this new classroom to Makangaga Primary School as part of our continued commitment to improving communities,’ she said.

Ms Erasto said Knauf had previously supported the village through the provision of desks, chairs, a water well and other assistance.

‘We do not measure what we do because this is Knauf’s commitment. Today, we are happy to hand over this new classroom, and this is a sign that we are ready to do even more,’ she said.

Makangaga Primary School headteacher Frank Theobard said the new classroom would help address shortages of learning space and improve attendance.

He said the facility would also create a better environment for pupils to pursue their academic goals.

‘This contribution will support the development of the village, the country and Africa as a whole. We sincerely thank Knauf for this initiative,’ Mr Theobard said.

Kiranjeranje Village Chairman Seleman Mnonya said the classroom was among several interventions by the company to support the community.

He said Knauf had also provided desks, water wells and other assistance, expressing hope that more development projects would follow.

Kiranjeranje Ward Executive Officer Hasnati Haule, who represented the Kilwa District Director’s Office, thanked Knauf for its continued support to schools in the area.

She said the company had previously donated desks and chairs to primary and secondary schools in the ward, helping improve education infrastructure.

Assistant Mining Inspector from the Office of the Resident Mines Officer in Lindi Region, Haji Suleiman, also commended the initiative and called on other development partners to support communities in need.

For the pupils, the new classroom offered more than additional learning space.

Grade Six pupil Nurat Hassan said the handover had inspired her to work harder in her studies, while fellow pupil Daivat Abdallah thanked Knauf for the facility and pledged to improve his academic performance.

The classroom was officially opened through a ribbon-cutting ceremony involving Knauf officials, school leaders and local government representatives before the facility was handed over to the school.

Mwanza. Mwanza Regional Police Command has suspended the driving licence of Obadia bus company driver, Mr Sabatho Emmanuel, 32, for six months after he was caught driving a bus while chatting on a mobile phone.

A statement issued on Sunday, September 6, 2026, by Mwanza Regional Police Commander Wilbrod Mutafungwa said the driver’s licence had been suspended effective today, while he is expected to be taken to court for further legal action.

‘Initial measures have already been taken, including suspending his driving licence for six months effective today, September 6, 2026, and he will be taken to court for further legal action,’ he said.

The driver, a resident of Buswelu in Ilemela District, was driving a passenger bus operating between Mwanza and Nyamongo in Mara Region while sending and receiving messages.

The regional police chief said passengers voiced their concern about the driver’s conduct, but he responded by telling them not to teach him his job.

Commander Mutafungwa said the driver was arrested on Saturday, September 5, 2026, at 12.40 pm in Isangijo, Magu District, along the Mwanza-Musoma road, while travelling from Nyamongo to Mwanza.

He said the driver started using the phone around Lamadi in Simiyu Region and continued chatting while driving the bus towards Mwanza.

‘Despite some passengers seated near him warning him and asking him to stop the conduct that was endangering their lives, the suspect responded with abusive and offensive language,’ said Commander Mutafungwa.

He said the Police Force took swift action and arrested the driver, who remains in custody for questioning and other legal procedures.

The commander said the action against the driver was part of the Police Force’s efforts to ensure drivers comply with road safety laws, regulations and procedures.

He said the driver’s arrest was also a result of public education provided by the Police Force, particularly to passengers using public transport, on the importance of reporting drivers who endanger their lives.

‘The arrest of this driver is a positive outcome of the continuous education provided by the Police Force to the public, particularly passengers using public transport, encouraging them to speak out and report drivers who fail to comply with road safety laws, regulations and procedures,’ he said.

He urged all drivers to stop using mobile phones while driving, stressing that strict legal action would continue to be taken against those who endanger the lives of citizens.

A Mwanza resident, Mr Philbert Jovin, said many drivers, including commuter (daladala) drivers, had developed a habit of chatting while driving and sometimes talking on the phone for long periods without considering passengers’ safety.

‘For example, daladala drivers could wait until they reach bus stands or major stops where their conductors look for passengers. They could chat as much as they want and talk on the phone, but once it is time to drive, they should keep their attention off the phone,’ he said.