The United Republic of Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania (Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania) was formed in 1964 as a sovereign state once called ‘Tanganyika’ along with Zanzibar. (Island off the coast of Tanzania)

The first country to invade Tanzania was Germany during the 1800’s until 1919, when the British & Belgium invaded. During World War I is when the British & Belgiums occupied the country, splitting it and renaming a territory Tanganyika.

To date there's some of a Belgium population remains in many parts of East Africa, including Kenya and Uganda.

Kenya has recently expelled 2 Belgium Nationals as well as placed funds on hold that Belgium nationals have sent to Kenyan women’s Mpesa accounts, in large denominations

The current President of Tanzania is Samia Suluhu Hassan, in March 2021 she became the president after the death of President John Magufuli. Suluhu had been his vice president since 2015.

Prior roles in government were as Minister of State within the Vice-President’s Office (2010–2015) and Minister in her home region of Zanzibar (2000–2010).

Here are links with information about the former president of Tanzania. John Magufuli was the president of Tanzania from, 5 November 2015 until he died 17 March 2021.

Magufuli said that Tanzania had zero cases of Covid-19, during the world-wide pandemic he refused any closers, mask mandates or restricted international incoming travelers. He also made jokes about animals catching covid namely pigs, no one told him Covid was a zoonotic disease affecting animals & humans alike. There were rumors that he died from complications from Covid-19 virus.

He died on Wednesday from heart complications at a hospital in Dar es Salaam, Samia Suluhu Hassan said in an address on state television.

Mr Magufuli had not been seen in public for more than two weeks, and rumours had been circulating about his health.

Opposition politicians said last week that he had contracted Covid-19, but this has not been confirmed.

Mr Magufuli was one of Africa’s most prominent coronavirus sceptics, and called for prayers and herbal-infused steam therapy to counter the virus.

“It is with deep regret that I inform you that today… we lost our brave leader, the president of the Republic of Tanzania, John Pombe Magufuli,” Vice-President Hassan said in the announcement.

She said there would be 14 days of national mourning and flags would fly at half mast.

Source: BBC News

The cautionary tale of the president who denied coronavirus

Africa Live: Tributes paid to Magufuli

John Magufuli in his own words

Obituary: Tanzania’s ‘bulldozer’ president John Magufuli

Some of the oldest human settlements have been unearthed in Tanzania. The oldest human fossils where found in and around Olduvai Gorge (Oldupai) in northern Tanzania, an area referred to as “The Cradle of Mankind”. It is believed to be the birth place of humanity. Fossils found in this area include Paranthropus bones thought to be over 2 million years old, and the oldest known footprints of the immediate ancestors of humans, the Laetoli footprints, estimated to be about 3.6 million years old.

Over 120 languages are spoken in Tanzania, most of them from the Bantu family. After independence, the government recognized that this represented a problem for national unity, and as a result made the kiswahili language (Swahili) the official language. The government introduced it in all primary schools to spread its use. Kiswahili was the logical choice because a wide range of people were already informally using it along the coastal regions and it was a perfect language to help unify the country since it did not originate or belong to any particular tribe.

Source: Tanzania Embassy in Belgium

The Maasai Mara tribe is one of the many that inhabits Tanzania, they live from central Kenya all the way through to Tanzania. Well known as a nomad tribe of people, some what like the indigenous people of the United States called Native Americans.

Like the Maasai Mara there are sub-tribes, just as with Native Americans there is a tribe in the US that are dual citizens with Mexico & the United States.

Though Zanzibar is near Tanzania it is semiautonomous and has it's own president and government.

President of Zanzibar Tanzania is Hussein Ali Mwinyi, he is also the son of the former President of Tanzania Ali Hassan Mwinyi. He was elected into office 1 November 2020. There are many political parties in Zanzibar there are 2 major ones the, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) & the Civic United Front (CUF). There is also a House of Representatives that make up the political body in the country.

Definition of semiautonomous : largely self-governing within a larger political or organizational entity.

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