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Tanga. ACT Wazalendo has promised to transform Tanga Port into a regional hub for trade and services, positioning it as a key driver of economic growth and job creation in northern Tanzania.

Speaking during a campaign rally in Tanga on Friday, former ACT Wazalendo leader Zitto Kabwe urged voters to elect parliamentary candidate Seif Abalhassan and party-backed councilors, saying they would fight to restore Tanga’s historic status as an industrial and commercial city. “Tanga Port is a major gateway, but local residents, especially youth and drivers, still complain of being excluded from opportunities,” Kabwe said.

“We want to push for Tanga Port to compete with Mombasa by attracting regional cargo and re-export trade. This will restore Tanga’s dignity.

” Kabwe argued that Tanga’s strategic position — as a port city and the endpoint of the Uganda-Tanzania crude oil pipeline — offered immense potential for jobs and investment if managed well. He pledged that ACT Wazalendo would advocate for the headquarters of the oil pipeline company to be located in Tanga and for incentives to attract investments in refining, fertilizer manufacturing, and other oil-related industries.

“Through these projects, Tanga can become Tanzania’s Oil City,” he said. The opposition party also vowed to revive sisal farming and related industries, describing it as part of Tanga’s economic rebirth.

In addition, Kabwe proposed the establishment of the University of Tanga, named after scholar Shaaban Robert, by upgrading existing education facilities such as Galanos School, Tanga School, and Bombo College. On social services, Kabwe promised that ACT Wazalendo would expand social security coverage to ensure every Tanga resident has health insurance.

He criticized the current health system as a heavy burden for citizens and vowed to outlaw the detention of bodies in hospitals over unpaid bills. Kabwe emphasized that youth unemployment remained the biggest challenge in Tanga, but argued that solutions lay in unlocking economic opportunities linked to the port, agriculture, trade, and industry.

“Jobs are not created by empty words; they are created through economic activities. Tanga’s port and its strategic projects must benefit the people of Tanga first,” he said.

Kabwe, who studied at Galanos School in Tanga, said his ties to the city were personal, adding that Abalhassan was a “hardworking and development-minded” candidate who would champion Tanga’s interests in Dodoma. .

Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) has appointed Mr Deogratious Aloyce Massawe as acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective Friday, October 3, 2025, following the temporary suspension of Mr Raphael Maganga.

The appointment was announced by the TPSF Governing Council and formally communicated by Interim President of the federation, Ms Angelina Ngalula, in a statement signed on behalf of the Council. According to the notice, Mr Massawe assumes the role immediately while the circumstances of Mr Maganga’s suspension are addressed.

Who is Deogratious Massawe? Mr Massawe is a seasoned financial economist and policy specialist with a strong academic and professional profile. He holds an MBA in Accountancy, a Bachelor’s degree in Customs and Tax Management, and a Professional Diploma in International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).

He is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Financial Educator (CFE). In his previous role at TPSF, Mr Massawe served as Director of Finance and Operations, where he oversaw financial management, budgeting, internal controls, and institutional development.

His LinkedIn profile states he has experience in financial leadership, strategic planning, and implementing reforms in both private and public-sector settings. He has also represented TPSF externally; for example, as Finance Manager, he promoted Tanzanian private sector participation at international expos.

In 2024, Mr Massawe was linked with Rwanda’s Bank of Kigali for a tech division leadership role (BK Techouse), where he held interim senior responsibilities, reflecting his broader regional experience. His appointment as acting CEO is seen as a stabilising move given his familiarity with TPSF’s internal workings and mandate.

What led to this change? The TPSF announcement cites the suspension of Mr Raphael Maganga, the outgoing CEO, as the reason for the shift. Details of the suspension have not been publicly disclosed, and the statement suggests it is temporary.

Ms Ngalula, in her capacity as Interim President, emphasised, Mr Massawe’s appointment is to ensure continuity. Mr Maganga had served as CEO since February 1, 2024, succeeding Mr John Ulanga, who left for a diplomatic and trade post in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in late 2023. It remains unclear whether Mr Maganga will be reinstated, permanently replaced, or face further internal inquiry.

What does this mean for TPSF and private-sector leadership? The Federation of Private Sector in Tanzania plays a pivotal role as an interlocutor between business and government, advocating reforms, supporting SMEs, and promoting conducive policy frameworks. A smooth leadership transition is critical for its credibility and ability to execute projects and dialogues.

Key stakeholders will watch how Mr Massawe handles issues such as taxation, regulatory burdens, foreign investment promotion, and policy advocacy. His finance background and familiarity with TPSF may help ensure less disruption in ongoing programmes.

Observers note that stability and transparency in the transition will bolster confidence among businesses and international partners, especially as economic reforms face scrutiny. Meanwhile, Mr Massawe, in his acting capacity, will assume full executive responsibilities, including oversight of operations, advocacy, and government engagement.

For the private sector, leadership continuity is expected to ensure the federation remains effective and assertive at a critical juncture for Tanzania’s economic trajectory. .

Mbeya. Tension has gripped the Katumba-based Rungwe Tea Growers’ Factory in Mbeya Region after 216 workers staged a placard protest to oppose their dismissal.

They are demanding dues worth Sh2.1 billion and have appealed for government intervention. The factory has remained closed since May 9, 2025, disrupting the livelihoods of more than 15,000 tea farmers.

Some growers have abandoned their plantations, while others have shifted to alternative crops, dealing a blow to the district’s economy. Addressing the protest on Thursday, October 2, 2025, the workers vowed to remain at their jobs until their employers, Tatepa and Maris Africa, the factory’s investors, settle claims totalling more than Sh2.17 billion.

Workers’ claims committee chairman, Mr Robert Shayo, said the dismissal letters issued by the employers came as a shock. He explained that 216 workers had been instructed to vacate their jobs by September 30, 2025, in violation of contractual terms.

“Our stand is to remain at work. We are demanding national social security funds (NSSF) contributions, leave allowances, and other statutory benefits outlined in our contracts.

The decision caught us completely off guard,” said Mr Shayo. Explaining their defiance, Mr Shayo stressed that costs would rise legally as the proper termination procedures had not been observed.

Factory manager, Mr Stanslaus Benela, said the workers’ defiance highlighted the economic burden caused by the closure. He noted that the shutdown had hit tea farmers, reduced household incomes in Rungwe District, and slashed national revenue.

“Some farmers have abandoned their tea fields, while others are uprooting the crop for alternatives. We urge the government to intervene and secure a new investor,” said Mr Benela.

He added that more than 15,000 farmers had been affected, while the wider economy had suffered as unpaid water and electricity bills mounted, leaving surrounding communities in difficulty. “Financial institutions that once processed salaries and farmers’ payments are no longer operating.

Even social security funds are missing contributions,” he said. Tanzania Plantation and Agricultural Workers Union (TPAWU) secretary in Mbeya Region, Ms Jacline Novat, said the union had proposed that the employer pay workers their basic salaries, leave allowances, service certificates, and long-service awards.

She added that the employer was urged to provide Sh500,000 to each worker in recognition of their service, three months’ housing allowance, and transport costs for employees from outside Tukuyu. “We are awaiting the employer’s response by Monday to determine our fate.

In the meantime, we urge patience as their representative has assured us of feedback,” said Ms Novat. The factory’s board of directors’ representative, Mr Essau Sengo, acknowledged the protest and pledged to forward the workers’ concerns to the employer before giving a response on Monday.

He urged the workers to remain calm, stressing that the priority was to adhere to laws and procedures to ensure they receive their entitlements. “On behalf of the board, I assure all workers that your message has been received.

I will act on it and provide feedback by Monday. Rest assured, we are committed to protecting your rights through lawful means,” said Mr Sengo.

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Washington. The U.S. Senate will vote again on Friday on dueling Democratic and Republican plans to end a government shutdown now entering its third day, though there is no sign that either plan will win passage.

Lawmakers do not appear to have made any headway toward a deal that would allow them to resume government funding, and Democrats and Republicans have spent the past several days blaming each other for their failure to keep the government funded beyond October 1, the start of the fiscal year. Democrats say any funding package must also expand pandemic-era healthcare subsidies due to expire at the end of December, while Republicans say that issue should be dealt with separately.

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President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has frozen billions of dollars earmarked for Democratic-leaning states and threatened to fire more federal workers, on top of the 300,000 he will have forced out by the end of the year. His budget chief, Russ Vought, has asked federal agencies to draw up plans to lay off those whose work is not aligned with the administration’s priorities.

The shutdown, the 15th since 1981, has suspended scientific research, economic data reports, financial regulation, and a wide range of other activities. Pay has been suspended for roughly 2 million federal workers, though troops, airport security screeners, and others deemed “essential” must still report to work.

A prolonged shutdown could disrupt air travel, food aid for millions of Americans, and force federal courts to close. Federal workers would miss their first paycheck in mid-October if the standoff is not resolved by then.

The longest shutdown lasted 35 days in 2018-2019, during Trump’s first term in office. The Senate has three times already rejected a Republican plan, which would fund the government through November 21, and a Democratic alternative that would also bolster the expiring health subsidies.

The chamber will vote on both of those plans again on Friday. Republicans control both chambers of Congress, but they need at least seven Democratic votes to advance spending legislation in the Senate.

A group of senators from both parties say they have been exploring a compromise. But some Democrats say they do not trust Republicans to honor any agreement that would first reopen the government and then tackle the healthcare subsidies, which were passed as part of a 2021 Democratic COVID relief package and now help 24 million Americans pay for coverage.

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New York. Sean “Diddy” Combs is due to be sentenced on Friday for prostitution-related charges, with prosecutors pushing for the hip-hop mogul to spend more than a decade in prison and the defense urging his swift release.

A jury on July 2 convicted Combs, 55, on two counts of arranging for paid male escorts to travel across state lines to take part in drug-fueled sexual performances – sometimes known as “Freak Offs” – with Combs’ girlfriends while he recorded video and masturbated. Jumpstart your morning with the latest legal news delivered straight to your inbox from The Daily Docket newsletter.

Sign up here. The jury acquitted him on the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking, which could have earned him a life sentence.

Combs pleaded not guilty and is expected to appeal his conviction after sentencing. The founder of Bad Boy Records, Combs is credited with elevating hip-hop’s stature in American culture.

The New York-born entrepreneur is one of the most prominent men in the entertainment industry to have faced trial on sex crimes charges. U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian is due to sentence Combs at a hearing in Manhattan starting at 10 a.

m. EDT (1400 GMT).

Combs faces up to 20 years in prison, though the judge has a wide degree of discretion in crafting a punishment. Combs, who has been behind bars at a Brooklyn jail since his conviction, is expected to address the court.

In a four-page letter to Subramanian, filed with the court on Thursday, Combs apologized “for all the hurt and pain that I caused others by my conduct,” and asked the judge for mercy, saying, “I lost my way.” “Lost in the drugs and excess.

My downfall was rooted in my selfishness,” he wrote, adding that the ordeal of incarceration had left him “humbled and broken to my core.” He also said he was now sober for the first time in 25 years.

A former personal assistant to Combs, known in court by the pseudonym Mia, is also expected to speak. Mia testified at his trial that he raped her multiple times.

Over the course of a two-month trial earlier this year, prosecutors with the Manhattan U.S.

Attorney’s office argued Combs coerced two of his former girlfriends – the rhythm-and-blues singer Casandra Ventura and a woman known in court by the pseudonym Jane – into partaking in the performances through violence and threats to withhold financial support. Nate Rae always felt secure living openly as a transgender man since coming out in his late 20s.

Jurors saw surveillance footage of Combs kicking and dragging Ventura in a hotel hallway in 2016, an incident she testified took place after a Freak Off. Jane testified that Combs last year attacked her and told her to perform oral sex on a male escort after she said she did not want to.

Combs’ lawyers acknowledged he had physically abused his girlfriends, but argued they willingly took part in the sexual performances. Both Ventura and Jane testified that they at times took part consensually because they loved Combs and wanted to please him.

Prosecutors are pushing for Combs to spend 11-1/4 years in prison. Defense lawyers say the appropriate sentence is 14 months, which would mean Combs would be released by the end of the year after receiving credit for time served.

In pushing for leniency, Combs’ lawyers said he helped his fellow inmates at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center by teaching a six-week course on business management and personal development called “Free Game with Diddy.” As part of the class, inmates were required to write an essay about “lessons learned from Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ journey,” court filings show.

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This is the second and last part of a conversation we suspended on the September 19 edition of ‘The Pub’. My long-time drinking mate, Mjumbe, and I invited Mwalimu Peterson, aka Mwalimu Peter, to our table for a chat.

Peter, traditionally a very moderate drinker, is presently a massive boozer. We wanted Peter to sit down with us and tell us what has been happening to him and why he has become such a supreme drinker.

The kind of guy who’d drink until his wallet went dry and there’s no mshikaji to tell him, “Get one from me before you leave, bro.” When we asked what had befallen him, his eyes popped out of their sockets, and, trying his best to conceal his anger over our intrusiveness, he had claimed, “Mbona sina shida yoyote?” (There’s absolutely no problem with me!) Ignoring his denial, which psychologists would tell you is a typical reaction of addicts, we offered him more beers and pressed him to open up, and he did.

“I stay for as long as possible in bars to escape from my mama watoto,” he says. “She isn’t a very good woman.

” “But our Shemeji, as we know her, is a sociable person,” reacted Mjumbe and continued, “In any case, she’s a teacher, and teachers, especially female teachers as we all know them, are nice, disciplined individuals.” I nodded in agreement.

Peter says we’re entitled to our opinion, adding, however, that we’re totally wrong about our shemeji. He informs us that his wife, who’s actually someone’s ex, came along with three children from two different fathers, and he accommodated them all.

“She doesn’t appreciate my foolishness and bullies me instead!” laments Peter. “Do you have any children with her?” I ask him, and he says no, adding that he’s blessed with two children who, however, left with his former wife, now living in Canada.

“Duh!” That’s all I’m able to say. He claims his new wife, who he describes as a bully, was fired from her teaching job after she became overly involved with a religious outfit that preaches about miracle wealth, demons, djinns, zombies and witchcraft, all the time! “She relates everything she doesn’t like with witchcraft She even claims that I’ve been bewitched by my brothers to take alcohol and remain poor She suggests I should join her in her worshipping outfit so that their “prophet” can exorcise the demons out of me.

” I say, “Pole sana, bro, but generally, how are you relating as wife and husbandyou know what I mean” Peter’s answer, “Not well, quite often she wakes up in the middle of the night to chase away non-existent things she calls mapepo!” What’s more, says Peter, his wife is consistently and falsely accusing him of being a philanderer and insists on checking his phone, charging that every female contact he has is his concubine! That’s utter nonsense, of course, he says. “The other day, she poured down the handwashing sink all the contents of a wine bottle I received from my friends as a birthday present, claiming the wine is the devil’s urine,” says Peter.

By the end of our conversation with Mwalimu Peter, I’m convinced our friend, and his wife, could do with serious, professional counselling from where, I can’t guess for now. .