Tanzania At 60 – Sets Records in Peace Building, Conflict Resolutions

By Katare Mbashiru

TANZANIA is feeling proud for it’s tireless efforts in maintaining peace, defence and security in Africa and in the globe for 60 years since the country’s independence, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Ambassador LiberataMulamula has said.

“During all this period, Tanzania has always participated in conflict resolution through dialogue in different countries in the world and this participation is either directly or through regional communities for example in 1999 Tanzania participated in mediating two antagonistic sides in Burundi conflict,” said the minister.

Ambassador Mulamula was presenting before the media the achievements that have so far recorded by the ministry during 60 years of independence.

According to her, the Chief mediator of different disputes in Africa and in the world was MwalimuJulius Nyerere and after his demise, similar efforts were being undertaken by the country’s third president, Benjamin Mkapa.

“The conclusion of the conflict was reached after signing of the famous Arusha Peace Accord in 2000 and the negotiations to end the conflict that was signed in 2005,” she said.

Equally, she added, in 2015, the East African Community (EAC) appointed the late president Mkapato lead the peace dialogue between two conflicting sides in Burundi following the Constitution amendments which brought political disputes in the country.

The Minister further said that Tanzania was at the fore front in mediating the post-election violence in Kenya which occurred in 2008 and 2013 respectively, with former President Jakaya Kikwete resolving the 2008 conflict while in 2013 former president Mkapamanaged to end the political disputes.

During the 2013 despite President Mkapa was among the famous people in the mediation team under the auspices of the United Nations. The team was led by former UN Secretary General, Koffi Annan.

According to Amb Mulamula apart from mediation and arbitration of several political conflicts Tanzania during 60 years of independence provided space for keeping refugees who ran from their countries because of conflicts.

Also he added some refugees who had stayed for a long time in the country and children who were born by refugees had been granted with Tanzanian citizenship.

She said Tanzania had equally contributed significantly in peace keeping missions and that as of September 2021, there were about 1,483 peace keepers in MINUSCA (Central Africa), MONUSCO (Democratic Republic of Congo), UNIFIL (Lebanon), UNISFA (Abyei, Sudan and UNIMIS (South Sudan).

The number of peacekeepers according to AmbMulamula makes Tanzania the 13th country among 122 that has a good number of peacekeepers in different peacekeeping missions in the world.

In yet another achievement in her ministry, AmbMulamula said Tanzanians living in the diaspora have had a greater contribution in the country’s economy, adding that statistics from the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) show that remittances had increased from US Dollars 465.7 million in 2016 to US Dollars 497.9 million in 2019.

“Tanzanians living in the diaspora have equally been contributing in different sectors including education, health as well as other social services, that is why between 2015 and 2019 Tanzanians living in the United States and England have helped in medical tours held in the Mainland and in the Isles,” she noted