Tanzania

Govt continued to take steps to curb COVID-19 pandemic and faced accusations of complacency toward Islamist insurgency in neighbouring Mozambique. Authorities early June applied for $571mn International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan to mitigate economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic; govt reportedly committed to abiding by IMF’s request to publish data on infections as pre-condition for loan. Presidency 17 June said Tanzania had requested COVID-19 vaccines from World Health Organization’s vaccine-sharing program COVAX. Ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi 15 June dismissed opposition and civil society’s renewed calls for constitutional reform to allow formation of independent electoral commission, citing competing priorities. Opposition party Chadema Vice Chairman Tundu Lissu, who has been living in exile in Belgium since 2020, 26 June said he had requested meeting with President Suluhu Hassan and was willing to return to Tanzania. Amid continued violence in neighbouring Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province at border with Tanzania, UN refugee agency 11 June said Tanzania had forcibly returned 9,600 displaced persons to Cabo Delgado since Jan, including 900 between 7 and 9 June (see also Mozambique).