Tanzania

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Overview

Located in East Africa, Tanzania is thought by many to be the cradle of human civilization. Fossils found at Olduvai Gorge have been dated back to millions of years ago. The area was originally inhabited by tribes speaking a click-tongue language, who were later displaced by the Bantu and other groups. Arab traders arrived in the 8th century and began to build major trade routes from India to Persia. In 1498, Vasco da Gama took the coastal area of Tanzania for Portugal, but they never got further than this. The Omani Arabs drove the Portuguese out by the early 18th century. By the mid 19th century, the Germans and British arrived, signing treaties with local tribes in exchange for protection. But locals grew tired of colonialism and rebelled in 1905-1907. More than 120,000 Africans died from fighting and starvation during this conflict. German colonial rule ended after World War I, when control was passed to the United Kingdom.

 
After World War II, Tanzania became a UN trust territory, which was awarded to the British. But in 1959, the British allowed Tanzania to form its own government. In May 1961, the country became autonomous and elected its first president. In 1964, Tanganyika merged with Zanzibar and renamed itself the United Republic of Tanzania. A brief but bloody war with Uganda followed in 1979, which led to the downfall of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. In 1998, the US embassy in Dar es Salaam was bombed by terrorists, which resulted in strengthened relations with the US. Since that time, the two nations have cooperated on matters such as HIV/AIDS, food aid, and education. Recent controversies have included the arrest of a suspect in the US embassy bombing in March 2008, and the cutting of financial and religious ties between the Anglican Church of Tanzania and the Episcopal Church in the United States over the ordination and promotion of gay clergy, as well as the blessing of homosexual partnerships in the US.
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Basic Information

Lay of the Land: Tanzania, located in East Africa, is an amalgamation of the island of Zanzibar and the former colonial territory of Tanganyika. Lake Tanganyika runs nearly the whole length of the western side of the country and forms the border with Democratic Republic of the Congo. The northern tip of the lake lies in Burundi, with the Kagera River forming Tanzania’s border with Rwanda. Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake, juts into northern Tanzania. Midway up the western shore lies the border with Uganda. The border with Kenya is approximately halfway up the eastern side of the lake and stretches southeast to the Indian Ocean. Africa’s highest mountain, flat-topped, snow-covered Mount Kilimanjaro, rises over 19,000 feet just south of the Kenyan frontier. Enormous game migrations still take place in Tanzania’s vast Serengeti National Park.

 
Population: 40.2 million
 
Religions: Christian 53.0%, Sunni Muslim 25.2%, Shi’a Muslim 5.2%, Ethnoreligious 14.8%, Hindu 0.9%, Baha’i 0.5%, Buddhist 0.1%. 99% of the inhabitants of the Zanzibar archipelago are Muslim. The above statistics are the estimates of sociologists and religious leaders, since the government has excluded religious information from its censuses since 1967.
 
Ethnic Groups: Bantu (consisting of more than 130 different tribes) 95%, other African 4%, other 1%.
 
Languages: Sukuma 8.7%, Gogo 4.9%, Haya 3.3%, Nyamwezi 3.3%, Makonde 3.1%, Ha 2.7%, Nyakyusa-Ngonde 2.0%, Hehe 2.0%, Bena 1.8%, Shambala 1.8%, Swahili (official) 1.5%, Asu 1.4%, Yao 1.3%, Omani Arabic 0.5%, English (official). There are 127 living languages in Tanzania.
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History

Prehistory has dated civilization in Tanzania to some of human’s earliest ancestors. Northern Tanganyika’s Olduvai Gorge has yielded fossil records that indicate this area may be where human civilization began originated.

 
The area was inhabited by ethnic groups communicating with a click-tongue language similar to the Bushmen and Hottentots. Gradually, these people were displaced by Bantu farmers migrating from the south and west, and by the Nilotes. By the time Arab slavers, European explorers and missionaries arrived in the early part of the 19th century, many of these groups had formed well-organized societies.
 
Arab traders arrived in the 8th century, and by the 12th century, traders came from Persia and India. These traders built a number of city-states along the coast of Tanzania, foremost among them Kibaha. This settlement stood until the Portuguese destroyed it in the early 1500s.
 
The Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama explored the East African coast in 1498 on his voyage to India. By 1506, the Portuguese had taken over the entire coast of the country, but they chose not to explore the interior, or to colonize its inhabitants. Instead, the Omani Arabs drove the Portuguese from the area north of the Ruvuma River by the early 18th century. Omani Sultan Seyyid Said, their leader, moved its capital to Zanzibar in 1841.
 
In the mid 19th century, European explorers began to arrive in the area. Two German missionaries reached Mt. Kilimanjaro in the 1840s, and British explorers Richard Burton and John Speke crossed the interior to Lake Tanganyika in 1857. David Livingstone, the Scottish missionary-explorer who crusaded against the slave trade, established his last mission at Ujiji, where he was “found” by Henry Morton Stanley, an American journalist-explorer, who had been commissioned by the New York Herald to locate him.
 
In 1884, German colonial interests were advanced by Karl Peters, who formed the Society for German Colonization. He signed a number of treaties with local tribesmen to provide German protection in exchange for the establishment of the German East Africa Company. In 1886 and 1890, Anglo-German agreements established boundaries between the British and German areas of the country, and along the coastal strip formerly claimed by the Omani sultan of Zanzibar. In 1891, the German government took over direct administration of the territory from the German East Africa Company and appointed a governor with headquarters at Dar es Salaam.
 
The German colonial rule brought cash crops to the region, as well as railroads and roads to Tanganyika. But local tribesmen grew tired of colonial rule, and this resulted in the Maji Maji rebellion of 1905-1907. The rebellion united a number of southern tribes and ended only after 120,000 Africans had died from fighting or starvation.
 
German colonial domination of Tanganyika ended after World War I, when control of most of the territory was passed to the United Kingdom under a League of Nations mandate. After World War II, Tanganyika became a UN trust territory, operating under British control. Over the years, however, the country moved closer to self-government and independence.
 
In 1954, Julius K. Nyerere, a schoolteacher who was then one of only two Tanganyikans educated abroad at the university level, organized a political party — the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU). In the September 1958 and February 1959 Legislative Council elections, TANU-supported candidates claimed victory. In December 1959, the British agreed to establish an internal self-government in Tanzania, following the general elections of August 1960. Following these elections, Nyerere was named chief minister.
 
In May 1961, Tanganyika became autonomous, and Nyerere became prime minister under a new constitution. Full independence was achieved on December 9, 1961. A year after independence was declared, Nyerere was elected president.
 
On April 26, 1964, Tanganyika united with Zanzibar to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. On October 29 of that year, the country was renamed the United Republic of Tanzania. TANU merged with the ruling party of Zanzibar, known as the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP). The new party was called the CCM (Chama cha Mapinduzi-CCM Revolutionary Party), and was formed on February 5, 1977. Under a new constitution signed in 1984, Nyerere introduced African socialism, or Ujamaa, which emphasized justice and equality.
 
In 1979, Tanzania declared war on Uganda after Uganda invaded and tried to annex the northern Tanzanian province of Kagera. The Tanzanians expelled Ugandan forces and invaded Uganda in return. On April 11, 1979, Idi Amin, ruler of Uganda, was forced to leave the capital of Kampala. He soon fled into exile.
 
Nyerere handed over power to Ali Hassan Mwinyi in 1985, but retained control of the ruling party, Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM), as chairman until 1990. In October 1995, one-party rule came to an end when Tanzania held its first ever multi-party election. CCM won the election, and Benjamin Wiliam Mkapa was sworn in as the country’s new president on November 23, 1995. In 1998, the US embassy in Dar es Salaam was bombed as part of a coordinated attack by al Qaeda that also involved the US embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. In Nairobi, approximately 212 people were killed, and an estimated 4000 injured; in Dar es Salaam, the attack killed 12 and wounded 85.
 
Elections held in 2000 were contested by opposition parties, and this soon resulted in violence. A January 2001 massacre in Zanzibar led to the government shooting into crowds of protestors, killing 35 and injuring 600. In December 2005, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete was elected the country’s fourth president, for a five-year term.
 
In 2004, an undersea earthquake on the other side of the Indian Ocean caused tsunamis along Tanzania’s coastline. in which 11 killing eleven people. An oil tanker also temporarily ran aground in the Dar es Salaam harbor, damaging an oil pipeline. In 2008, a power surge cut off power to Zanzibar, resulting in a widespread blackout.
 
History of Tanzania (Wikipedia)
National Website of Tanzania
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History of U.S. Relations with Tanzania

Diplomatic relations between the United States and Tanzania were established on December 9, 1961, with William R. Duggan serving as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim.

 
On the morning of August 7, 1998, the United States embassy in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania was severely damaged in a truck bomb attack that killed eleven people, and injured 85 more—including 2 Americans. The attack was linked to local al Qaeda members Khalfan Khamis Mohamed and Hamden Awad (“Ahmed the German”). Awad drove the truck laden with explosives up Laibon Road toward one of the embassy’s vehicular gates, but it was blocked by a water tanker so he was unable to penetrate the perimeter. The bomb was detonated at approximately 10:30AM local time. It was this terrorist attack that first brought the al Qaeda network, and its leader, Osama Bin Laden, to international notoriety and resulted in the FBI placing Bin Laden on its Top Ten Most Wanted List. Although the attacks were aimed at American facilities, the majority of the victims were Africans. Five embassy guards, all local hire, and the two people in the water tanker were among the dead. In response to the bombings, President Bill Clinton launched Operation Infinite Reach, a series of cruise missile attacks on targets in Sudan and Afghanistan. Shortly after the bombing, Mohamed fled to South Africa, where he worked as a cook under an assumed name. He was arrested on October 5, 1999, by South African authorities in Cape Town and was later turned over to the United States. Mohamed was convicted and charged with life with no parole in 2001 for his part in the bombing. Authorities believe that his house was used as the base of operations, and that he assembled the bomb used in the attack. After his conviction, a South African court ruled his extradition as illegal on grounds that he faced the death penalty, but he remains detained in the “Supermax” prison in Florence, Colorado.
 
In August 2000, the US and Tanzania signed an Open Skies Agreement. Tanzania is one of six African countries to have signed such an agreement with the US (Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Ghana, Namibia and Nigeria have also signed Open Skies agreements, all of them under the Clinton Administration.) The agreement gives both countries’ airlines unrestricted international access from any airport to any airport in either country.
 
From 1995-2000, US direct investment in Tanzania approximately doubled, amounting to about $26 million. US firms have entered the growing telecommunications, agriculture, mining and tourism sectors. Tanzania’s beautiful environment, which includes several important game parks and majestic Mount Kilimanjaro, has made it an increasingly popular tourist destination for Americans.
 
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Current U.S. Relations with Tanzania

When President Kikwete was elected in December 2005, relations between the United States and Tanzania became even closer. In February 2008, President Bush made an official four-day visit to Tanzania. President Kikwete, who has visited the US repeatedly, made a reciprocal official visit to Washington in August 2008.

 
The Bush Administration’s bilateral policy priorities include pursuing of anti-terrorism cooperation to deny terrorist groups sanctuary; providing assistance in security sector reform; helping Tanzania to further its private-sector economic growth; strengthening democracy and political transparency; assisting Tanzania to counter HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria; and providing assistance in basic education. A principal objective in the education sector is providing training to English, Math, and Science teachers.
 
US concerns about terrorism in Tanzania stem from the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Dar es Salaam by al Qaeda and from the alleged growth of radical Islamic views within Tanzania’s large Muslim population. In addition, several Tanzanians are known to have joined al Qaeda. The United States provides anti-terrorism and financial and immigration fraud capacity-building assistance, and the US Embassy maintains an emphasis on the protection of US citizens in Tanzania.
 
US development assistance seeks to consolidate Tanzania’s transition from a socialist to a market economy, in part by fostering small enterprise development, farm production, and agricultural producer organizations and market efficiencies, in order to generate increased income earnings for citizens. It also supports biodiversity conservation and natural resource management. Health aid focuses on capacity-building and addressing diverse AIDS-related challenges, including prevention and care for AIDS patients, blood system safety, and care for AIDS orphans. A Peace Corps contingent carries out projects in education, natural resource management, and health, with an emphasis on combating AIDS. Tanzania is eligible for trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, with an emphasis on textiles and apparel.
 
Tanzania is a major recipient of funding for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI). In September 2008, Tanzania’s $698 million Millennium Challenge Compact entered into force.
 
US assistance to Tanzania has increased over the past several years. In FY2005, bilateral assistance totaled an estimated $109 million, $137.5 million in FY2006, and $213.3 million in
FY2007. The Bush Administration has requested $341.4 million for FY2008.
 
In 2006, 55,687 Americans visited Tanzania, 16.9% more than the 47,621 that visited in 2005. The number of American visitors to Tanzania has increased steadily since 2002, when 38,159 Americans traveled to the African country.
 
In 2006, 4,015 Tanzanians visited the US. Between 2002 and 2005, the number of Tanzanians traveling to the US remained constant, hovering around 3,500 annually.
 
 
Tanzania: Background and Current Conditions (by Ted Dagne and Nicolas Cook, Congressional Research Service) (pdf)
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Where Does the Money Flow

From  2004 to  2008, US imports from Tanzania included green coffee, increasing from  $2.9  million to  $15.7  million; nuts and preparations, rising from $1.4  million to $9.2 million; tobacco, waxes, and nonfood oils, moving up from  $1.7 million to  $2.9 million; and gem stones (precious, semiprecious, and imitation), increasing from  $7.8 million to  $14.3 million.

 
US imports from Tanzania on the decline included fish and shellfish, decreasing from  $3.6  million to  $2.7 million; apparel and household goods (cotton), down from  $2.3 million to  $1.2 million; .
 
American exports to Tanzania included wheat, increasing from $0 to  $7 million; ; excavating machinery, up from  $3.4 million to  $13.7 million; and apparel, household goods (textile), increasing from  $11.2 million to  $20.6 million.
 
During the same period, US exports on the decline included pharmaceutical preparations, decreasing from  $4.5 million to  $3.3 million; .
 
According to the State Department’s Foreign Assistance Program Overview, “Tanzania possesses a nascent democracy with an impressive record of peaceful political transition and currently enjoys one of the fastest growing economies in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite Tanzania’s stability and growing economy, it has an annual per capita income estimated at $415 and over one-third of the population living in poverty. U.S. assistance focuses on strengthening Tanzania’s democratic institutions and security forces, as well as local and national systems and institutional capacity in health, including HIV/AIDS and malaria, and education. U.S. assistance also promotes sustainable and inclusive economic development, sound agribusiness practices and helps preserve Tanzania’s unique biodiversity.”
 
The US sold $37,223 of defense articles and services to Tanzania in 2007.
 
In 2007 the US gave $248 million in aid to Tanzania. The 2007 budget allocated the most funds to Global HIV/AIDS Initiative ($176.5 million), Child Survival and Health ($43 million), Food Aid ($11.7 million), Education ($7 million), and Environment ($4 million).
 
The 2008 budget increased aid to $348.5 million. In 2009 the US gave  $335.7 million in aid to Tanzania. The 2009 budget allotted the most funds to Global HIV/AIDS Initiative ($271 million), Child Survival and Health ($39.5 million), Education ($9 million), Environment ($4.5 million), and Good Governance ($2.5 million). The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) also funnel aid money to Tanzania independent of the budget for foreign operations.
 
In February of 2008, Tanzania signed a $698 million, five-year compact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to reduce poverty, stimulate economic growth, and increase household incomes through investments in transportation, energy, and water. The Transport Sector Project will receive $373 million, the Energy Sector Project will receive $206 million, and the Water Sector Project will receive $66 million.
 
In 2009, the US gave more than $368 million in aid to Tanzania. The budget allocated the most funds to Global Health and Child Survival- State ($280 million), Global Health and Survival-USAID ($61 million), and to International Military Education and Training ($300,000).
 
The 2010 budget requests almost $394 million of aid to be given to Tanzania. Of that, $362.8 million is requested for Health and Child Survival (both State and USAID). $450,000 is requested for International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement and $300,000for the International Military Education and Training.
 
Tanzania (USAID)
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Controversies

Tanzania Bomb Suspect Charged with War Crimes

In March 2008, an al Qaeda suspect alleged to have been involved in the 1998 bombing of the US Embassy in Tanzania was charged with war crimes charges. Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani killed 11 and wounded hundreds more in August 1998. The attack was coordinated with another bomb in Kenya, which killed 213 people. Six of the nine charges against him carry the death penalty if he is convicted. Ghailani was captured in Pakistan in 2004, and was  held in a military prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, until June 2009 when he was transported to New York City to stand trial. He is currently being detained in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan
 
 
Tanzanian Church Cuts Ties with US Counterpart
In December 2006, the Anglican Church of Tanzania announced that it was cutting ties with the Episcopal Church in the United States, and would refuse any assistance sent from Episcopal bishops, or any other group condoning homosexuality. The two groups had been arguing about the ordination and promotion of gay clergy, and the blessing of homosexual partnerships. In 2003, the Episcopal Church confirmed V. Gene Robinson, a gay priest, as bishop of New Hampshire. Robinson is widely known as the first openly gay, and non-celibate, priest to be ordained a bishop in a major Christian denomination. Church officials in Tanzania said they will stick to the scriptures, which do not condone homosexuality in any form.
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Human Rights

The State Department reports that there were some incidents of violent clashes between clans in Tanzania in 2007. Mob justice against suspected criminals persisted, despite government warnings against it. The media reported numerous incidents in which mobs killed suspected thieves who were stoned, lynched, beaten to death, or doused with gasoline and set on fire.

 
The widespread belief in witchcraft in some instances led to the killing of alleged witches by their “victims,” aggrieved relatives, or mobs. Most perpetrators of witch killing or mob justice eluded arrest, and the government did not take preventive measures during the year.
 
Although there were unofficial reports of hundreds of persons with albinism killed across the country during the year, approximately 26—mostly women and children—were confirmed killed, and numerous others were mutilated. The discriminatory killing and mutilation of albino people is driven by cultural beliefs that albino parts can be used to create wealth. In October of 2009, the albino community held a rally where many said that if the government could not ensure their safety they would be forced to seek refuge in neighboring countries. President Jakaya Kikwete responded by ordering a crackdown on witch doctors in activities such as using body parts from persons with albinism to create potions; and in April, he announced the appointment of a person with Albinism—Al-Shaymaa Kwegyr—to Parliament, to oversee the government’s efforts to defend the rights of people with Albinism.
 
There were reports that police officers threatened, mistreated, or occasionally beat suspected criminals during and after their apprehension and interrogation. The government seldom prosecuted police for abuses in practice. Sexual abuse and rape of detainees was a problem.
 
There was significant hostility and resentment against Burundian refugees during the year and continuing concern regarding violence allegedly perpetrated by some armed Burundian and Rwandan refugees. Local officials reported incidents of banditry, armed robbery, and violent crime, perpetrated by refugees in the areas surrounding refugee camps. Sexual and gender-based violence remained a problem in refugee camps. There also were credible reports that some refugees engaged in vigilante justice within camps, occasionally beating other refugees.
 
More than 36,000 Burundian refugees were hosted since 1972 by the Mtabila Camp after fleeing from the conflict in Burundi. The camp was closed on June 31, 2009, as part of a repatriation program and the final refugees returned to Burundi on October 30.
 
Prison conditions remained harsh and life threatening. Prisoners were subjected to poor living conditions, and the daily amount of food allotted to prisoners was insufficient to meet their nutritional needs. Convicted prisoners were not allowed to receive food from outside sources and often were moved to different prisons without notifying their families.
 
Prison dispensaries offered only limited treatment, and friends and family members of prisoners generally had to provide medication or the funds with which to purchase it. Serious diseases, such as dysentery, malaria, and cholera, were common and resulted in numerous deaths. There were reports that guards abused prisoners.
 
Arbitrary arrest and detention were problems. In some cases, accused persons were denied the right to contact a lawyer or talk with family members. Bribes often determined whether bail was granted or whether a case was judged as a civil or criminal matter. There were reports of prisoners waiting several years for trial because they could not bribe police and court officials. Police continued to make arbitrary arrests to extort money. There were reports that the police arrested and detained refugees.
 
The judiciary was corrupt, inefficient, and subject to executive influence.
 
The law authorizes police officials, including the civilian anticrime groups, to issue search warrants. But the act also authorizes searches of persons and premises without a warrant if necessary to prevent the loss or destruction of evidence connected with an offense or if circumstances are serious and urgent. In practice police and members of other security services rarely requested warrants and often searched private homes and business establishments at will. The security services reportedly monitored telephones and correspondence of some citizens and foreign residents.
 
The law limits the media’s ability to function effectively. Government ministries and the Registrar of Newspapers pressured journalists to practice self-censorship.
 
There were instances in which freedom of speech was restricted severely. Political parties were required by law to support the continuation of the Union. Opposition political party members and others openly criticized the government and ruling party in public forums, but persons using “abusive language” against the country’s leadership may be subject to arrest, and the government used this provision to detain some opposition figures.
 
In Zanzibar the government implemented a restrictive policy with regard to print media. The Zanzibar News Act circumscribed journalists’ freedom of action by giving the authorities greater protection to harass, detain, and interrogate journalists.
 
The government reportedly did not censor news reports, but it attempted to influence their content. In Zanzibar the government controlled radio and television. Some journalists, such as those in Zanzibar, exercised self-censorship on sensitive problems. Journalists who reported arrests could be charged with obstructing police activity under the Police Act.
 
Opposition parties at times were unable to hold rallies. Security officials interfered with citizens’ rights to assemble peacefully on a few occasions. The Registrar of Political Parties has sole authority to approve or deny the registration of any political party and is responsible for enforcing strict regulations on registered parties.
 
The law prohibits preaching or distribution of materials that are considered inflammatory and represent a threat to the public order. In 2000 the government banned as inflammatory the publication and distribution of a book by a Muslim academic.
 
The Muslim community claimed to be disadvantaged in terms of its representation in the civil service, government, and parastatal institutions, in part because both colonial and early post-independence administrations refused to recognize the credentials of traditional Muslim schools. As a result, there was broad Muslim resentment of certain advantages that Christians were perceived to enjoy in employment and educational opportunities. The government failed to respond to growing tensions between the Muslim and Christian communities. The government recognized that a problem existed, but it did not take action.
 
Sexual and gender-based violence continued to be a problem in the refugee camps. The government did not adequately investigate, prosecute, or punish perpetrators of abuses in refugee camps.
 
There was continuing concern over violence allegedly perpetrated by some armed refugees. Local officials reported incidents of killings, banditry, armed robbery, and violent crime perpetrated by refugees in the areas surrounding refugee camps. There were several reports that Burundian rebels conducted training and recruitment in the camps.
 
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully. However, this right was circumscribed severely in 2000. The government of Zanzibar announced that it would schedule by-elections for March 2003, to fill the parliamentary seats declared vacant as a result of disputes originating in the 2000 elections. In Zanzibar, four separate international observer teams concluded that the vote was marred by irregularities, voter intimidation, and politically motivated violence. Voting irregularities during the 2000 elections included the late arrival and absence of ballots and the late opening of polling stations.
 
Domestic violence against women remained widespread. Traditional customs that subordinate women remained strong in both urban and rural areas, and local magistrates often upheld such practices. Women may be punished by their husbands for not bearing children. It is accepted for a husband to treat his wife as he wishes, and wife beating occurred at all levels of society.
 
Although the government officially discouraged female genital mutilation, it still was performed at an early age by approximately 20 of the country’s 130 main ethnic groups.
 
Male colleagues sometimes harassed women seeking higher education, and the authorities largely ignored the practice. Although the government advocated equal rights for women in the workplace, it did not ensure these rights in practice.
 
The overall situation for women was less favorable in Zanzibar. Although women generally were not discouraged from seeking employment outside the home, women there and on many parts of the mainland faced discriminatory restrictions on inheritance and ownership of property because of concessions by the government and courts to customary and Islamic law.
 
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Debate
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Past Ambassadors

Note: The Embassy in Dar es Salaam was established on Dec 9, 1961, with William R. Duggan as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim.

 
William Leonhart
Appointment: Aug 22, 1962
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 3, 1962
Termination of Mission: Reaccredited when Tanganyika became a republic; presented new credentials Dec 17, 1962; continued to serve, without further reaccreditation, after the formation of the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar; left post Dec 22, 1965
Note: Commissioned to Tanganyika.
 
John H. Burns
Appointment: Sep 24, 1965
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 3, 1966
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 22, 1969
 
Claude G. Ross
Appointment: Oct 9, 1969
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 27, 1969
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 25, 1972
 
W. Beverly Carter, Jr.
Appointment: Jun 27, 1972
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 24, 1972
Termination of Mission: Left post Oct 14, 1975
James W. Spain
Appointment: Nov 20, 1975
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 8, 1976
Termination of Mission: Left post Aug 21, 1979
 
Richard Noyes Viets
Appointment: Sep 28, 1979
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 18, 1979
Termination of Mission: Left post May 16, 1981
 
David Charles Miller, Jr.
Appointment: Oct 26, 1981
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 4, 1981
Termination of Mission: Left post Feb 28, 1984
 
John William Shirley
Appointment: Jun 28, 1984
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 28, 1984
Termination of Mission: Left post Jul 18, 1986
 
Donald K. Petterson
Appointment: Oct 16, 1986
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 8, 1986
Termination of Mission: Left post Dec 26, 1989
 
Edmund DeJarnette, Jr.
Appointment: Nov 21, 1989
Presentation of Credentials: Feb 26, 1990
Termination of Mission: Left post Sep 12, 1992
 
Peter Jon de Vos
Appointment: Jun 15, 1992
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 8, 1993
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 3, 1994
 
Brady Anderson
Appointment: Aug 26, 1994
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 13, 1994
Termination of Mission: Left post Oct 7, 1997
 
Charles Richard Stith
Appointment: Jun 29, 1998
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 17, 1998
Termination of Mission: Left post Jan 20, 2001
 
Robert V. Royall
Appointment: Nov 5, 2001
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 19, 2001
Termination of Mission: Nov 21, 2003

Note: Michael S. Owen served as Charge d’Affaires ad interim.
 
Michael Retzer
Appointment: Aug 2, 2005
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 1, 2005
Termination of Mission: Left post, Aug 31, 2007
 
Mark Green
Appointment: Aug 7, 2007
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 12, 2007
Termination of Mission: January 20, 2009
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Tanzania's Ambassador to the U.S.
ambassador-image Mulamula, Liberata

 

Liberata Mulamula, a career foreign service officer, presented her credentials as Tanzania’s ambassador to the United States to President Barack Obama on July 18, 2013. Mulamula is also credentialed as ambassador to Mexico.

 

Mulamula graduated from the University of Dar-es-Salaam in 1980 and later received a master’s degree in government and politics from New York’s St. John’s University in 1989. She joined Tanzania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1981 as a third secretary in its legal and multilateral department.

 

In 1985, Mulamula came to the United States to serve in her country’s permanent mission to the United Nations as an advisor on disarmament, decolonization and anti-apartheid issues. In addition, she was a member of the UN/Organization of African Unity group on the denuclearization of Africa. That group’s work eventually resulted in the Treaty of Pelindaba, which created a nuclear-weapon-free zone on the continent.  From 1992 to 1994, Mulamula participated in the Rwandan peace talks as a member of the facilitators team.

 

Mulamula went to Canada as deputy high commissioner in 1999, serving in that role until 2002. She then was made head of chancery for Tanzania’s mission to the UN in New York. Mulamula returned home in 2003 to become ambassador/director of multilateral cooperation in the foreign ministry.

 

In 2006, Mulamula was named first executive secretary of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region in Burundi. That multilateral group includes Angola, the Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Zambia and Tanzania and discusses issues of importance to the region. Mulamula served with that organization until 2011.

 

Mulamula was named senior personal assistant to Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete in 2012, a position she held until coming to Washington.

Mulamula and her husband, George Mulamula, have two children, Alvin and Tanya.

-Steve Straehley

 

To Learn More:

Official Biography

Botswana, Tanzania ‘Sisters’ Share Different Africa Story (by Larry Luxner, Washington Diplomat)

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Tanzania's Embassy Web Site in the U.S.
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U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania

Childress, Mark
ambassador-image

The next ambassador to the East African nation of Tanzania will be an attorney well-versed in the ways of Washington. Mark B. Childress has served as an assistant to President Barack Obama and deputy chief of staff for planning at the White House since 2012. Nominated July 8, Childress would succeed Alfonso Lenhardt, who served in Dar es Salaam starting in 2009.

 

Born circa 1959 in Asheville, N.C., Mark Childress earned a B.A. at Yale University and a J.D. at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Law School.

 

He started his career as a staff attorney at the Department of Agriculture from 1986 to 1989, moving to the Hill to serve as general counsel for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) from 1989 to 1995.

 

After Democrats lost their Senate majority in the election of 1994, Childress left government to serve as vice president and general counsel for the Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based nonprofit focused on public health, from 1995 to 1998.

 

Childress joined the Clinton administration, serving as senior counsel in the White House Counsel’s Office from 1998 to 2000, where he worked on Clinton’s nominations of judges and other officials requiring Senate confirmation. 

 

He served as chief counsel and policy director for Senator Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota) from 2000 to 2004, where he often handled negotiations across the aisle, including helping resolve a stalemate over 25 of President George W. Bush’s stalled judicial nominees.

 

Leaving Washington again, Childress was chief counsel at the Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation, an advocacy group for the Aboriginal population in Cairns, Queensland, Australia, from 2004 to 2007, where he negotiated contracts with multinational firms on behalf of Aboriginal landowners.

 

From 2007 to 2009, he was a partner at Foley Hoag, LLC, practicing in life sciences, energy technology and renewables, as well as performing some lobbying. Among his lobbying clients was the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which would become a part of the contraception debate years later that Childress helped resolve.  

 

Childress returned to the Senate HELP Committee in April 2009 as a senior advisor on health care reform, and stayed with HELP after the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) as Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) took over the chairmanship. After Congress finally passed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in February 2010, Childress moved on to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in April to oversee implementation of the ACA as acting general counsel. He served as HHS principal deputy general counsel and acting general counsel.

 

From 2011 to 2012, he served as senior counselor for Access to Justice at the Department of Justice, before moving on to his White House job. In that job, he received plaudits for guiding White House strategy on several politically difficult issues, including the exemption for some religious institutions from the ACA contraception mandate and the executive order to enact some of the ideals of the stalled DREAM act.

 

A lifelong Democrat, Childress has donated to a select few Democrats in recent years, including donations of $500 to the Democratic National Committee, $500 to Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico), and smaller donations to Democratic candidates William Cahir, John Oliver and Paul Hodes.

 

Mark Childress and his wife Katherine, a sometimes lobbyist, have no children and live with their golden retriever named Riley.

-Matt Bewig

 

To Learn More:

Meet The Most Powerful Man In The White House You’ve Never Heard Of (by Evan McMorris-Santoro, BuzzFeed)

Testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (pdf)

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Overview

Located in East Africa, Tanzania is thought by many to be the cradle of human civilization. Fossils found at Olduvai Gorge have been dated back to millions of years ago. The area was originally inhabited by tribes speaking a click-tongue language, who were later displaced by the Bantu and other groups. Arab traders arrived in the 8th century and began to build major trade routes from India to Persia. In 1498, Vasco da Gama took the coastal area of Tanzania for Portugal, but they never got further than this. The Omani Arabs drove the Portuguese out by the early 18th century. By the mid 19th century, the Germans and British arrived, signing treaties with local tribes in exchange for protection. But locals grew tired of colonialism and rebelled in 1905-1907. More than 120,000 Africans died from fighting and starvation during this conflict. German colonial rule ended after World War I, when control was passed to the United Kingdom.

 
After World War II, Tanzania became a UN trust territory, which was awarded to the British. But in 1959, the British allowed Tanzania to form its own government. In May 1961, the country became autonomous and elected its first president. In 1964, Tanganyika merged with Zanzibar and renamed itself the United Republic of Tanzania. A brief but bloody war with Uganda followed in 1979, which led to the downfall of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. In 1998, the US embassy in Dar es Salaam was bombed by terrorists, which resulted in strengthened relations with the US. Since that time, the two nations have cooperated on matters such as HIV/AIDS, food aid, and education. Recent controversies have included the arrest of a suspect in the US embassy bombing in March 2008, and the cutting of financial and religious ties between the Anglican Church of Tanzania and the Episcopal Church in the United States over the ordination and promotion of gay clergy, as well as the blessing of homosexual partnerships in the US.
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Basic Information

Lay of the Land: Tanzania, located in East Africa, is an amalgamation of the island of Zanzibar and the former colonial territory of Tanganyika. Lake Tanganyika runs nearly the whole length of the western side of the country and forms the border with Democratic Republic of the Congo. The northern tip of the lake lies in Burundi, with the Kagera River forming Tanzania’s border with Rwanda. Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake, juts into northern Tanzania. Midway up the western shore lies the border with Uganda. The border with Kenya is approximately halfway up the eastern side of the lake and stretches southeast to the Indian Ocean. Africa’s highest mountain, flat-topped, snow-covered Mount Kilimanjaro, rises over 19,000 feet just south of the Kenyan frontier. Enormous game migrations still take place in Tanzania’s vast Serengeti National Park.

 
Population: 40.2 million
 
Religions: Christian 53.0%, Sunni Muslim 25.2%, Shi’a Muslim 5.2%, Ethnoreligious 14.8%, Hindu 0.9%, Baha’i 0.5%, Buddhist 0.1%. 99% of the inhabitants of the Zanzibar archipelago are Muslim. The above statistics are the estimates of sociologists and religious leaders, since the government has excluded religious information from its censuses since 1967.
 
Ethnic Groups: Bantu (consisting of more than 130 different tribes) 95%, other African 4%, other 1%.
 
Languages: Sukuma 8.7%, Gogo 4.9%, Haya 3.3%, Nyamwezi 3.3%, Makonde 3.1%, Ha 2.7%, Nyakyusa-Ngonde 2.0%, Hehe 2.0%, Bena 1.8%, Shambala 1.8%, Swahili (official) 1.5%, Asu 1.4%, Yao 1.3%, Omani Arabic 0.5%, English (official). There are 127 living languages in Tanzania.
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History

Prehistory has dated civilization in Tanzania to some of human’s earliest ancestors. Northern Tanganyika’s Olduvai Gorge has yielded fossil records that indicate this area may be where human civilization began originated.

 
The area was inhabited by ethnic groups communicating with a click-tongue language similar to the Bushmen and Hottentots. Gradually, these people were displaced by Bantu farmers migrating from the south and west, and by the Nilotes. By the time Arab slavers, European explorers and missionaries arrived in the early part of the 19th century, many of these groups had formed well-organized societies.
 
Arab traders arrived in the 8th century, and by the 12th century, traders came from Persia and India. These traders built a number of city-states along the coast of Tanzania, foremost among them Kibaha. This settlement stood until the Portuguese destroyed it in the early 1500s.
 
The Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama explored the East African coast in 1498 on his voyage to India. By 1506, the Portuguese had taken over the entire coast of the country, but they chose not to explore the interior, or to colonize its inhabitants. Instead, the Omani Arabs drove the Portuguese from the area north of the Ruvuma River by the early 18th century. Omani Sultan Seyyid Said, their leader, moved its capital to Zanzibar in 1841.
 
In the mid 19th century, European explorers began to arrive in the area. Two German missionaries reached Mt. Kilimanjaro in the 1840s, and British explorers Richard Burton and John Speke crossed the interior to Lake Tanganyika in 1857. David Livingstone, the Scottish missionary-explorer who crusaded against the slave trade, established his last mission at Ujiji, where he was “found” by Henry Morton Stanley, an American journalist-explorer, who had been commissioned by the New York Herald to locate him.
 
In 1884, German colonial interests were advanced by Karl Peters, who formed the Society for German Colonization. He signed a number of treaties with local tribesmen to provide German protection in exchange for the establishment of the German East Africa Company. In 1886 and 1890, Anglo-German agreements established boundaries between the British and German areas of the country, and along the coastal strip formerly claimed by the Omani sultan of Zanzibar. In 1891, the German government took over direct administration of the territory from the German East Africa Company and appointed a governor with headquarters at Dar es Salaam.
 
The German colonial rule brought cash crops to the region, as well as railroads and roads to Tanganyika. But local tribesmen grew tired of colonial rule, and this resulted in the Maji Maji rebellion of 1905-1907. The rebellion united a number of southern tribes and ended only after 120,000 Africans had died from fighting or starvation.
 
German colonial domination of Tanganyika ended after World War I, when control of most of the territory was passed to the United Kingdom under a League of Nations mandate. After World War II, Tanganyika became a UN trust territory, operating under British control. Over the years, however, the country moved closer to self-government and independence.
 
In 1954, Julius K. Nyerere, a schoolteacher who was then one of only two Tanganyikans educated abroad at the university level, organized a political party — the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU). In the September 1958 and February 1959 Legislative Council elections, TANU-supported candidates claimed victory. In December 1959, the British agreed to establish an internal self-government in Tanzania, following the general elections of August 1960. Following these elections, Nyerere was named chief minister.
 
In May 1961, Tanganyika became autonomous, and Nyerere became prime minister under a new constitution. Full independence was achieved on December 9, 1961. A year after independence was declared, Nyerere was elected president.
 
On April 26, 1964, Tanganyika united with Zanzibar to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. On October 29 of that year, the country was renamed the United Republic of Tanzania. TANU merged with the ruling party of Zanzibar, known as the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP). The new party was called the CCM (Chama cha Mapinduzi-CCM Revolutionary Party), and was formed on February 5, 1977. Under a new constitution signed in 1984, Nyerere introduced African socialism, or Ujamaa, which emphasized justice and equality.
 
In 1979, Tanzania declared war on Uganda after Uganda invaded and tried to annex the northern Tanzanian province of Kagera. The Tanzanians expelled Ugandan forces and invaded Uganda in return. On April 11, 1979, Idi Amin, ruler of Uganda, was forced to leave the capital of Kampala. He soon fled into exile.
 
Nyerere handed over power to Ali Hassan Mwinyi in 1985, but retained control of the ruling party, Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM), as chairman until 1990. In October 1995, one-party rule came to an end when Tanzania held its first ever multi-party election. CCM won the election, and Benjamin Wiliam Mkapa was sworn in as the country’s new president on November 23, 1995. In 1998, the US embassy in Dar es Salaam was bombed as part of a coordinated attack by al Qaeda that also involved the US embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. In Nairobi, approximately 212 people were killed, and an estimated 4000 injured; in Dar es Salaam, the attack killed 12 and wounded 85.
 
Elections held in 2000 were contested by opposition parties, and this soon resulted in violence. A January 2001 massacre in Zanzibar led to the government shooting into crowds of protestors, killing 35 and injuring 600. In December 2005, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete was elected the country’s fourth president, for a five-year term.
 
In 2004, an undersea earthquake on the other side of the Indian Ocean caused tsunamis along Tanzania’s coastline. in which 11 killing eleven people. An oil tanker also temporarily ran aground in the Dar es Salaam harbor, damaging an oil pipeline. In 2008, a power surge cut off power to Zanzibar, resulting in a widespread blackout.
 
History of Tanzania (Wikipedia)
National Website of Tanzania
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History of U.S. Relations with Tanzania

Diplomatic relations between the United States and Tanzania were established on December 9, 1961, with William R. Duggan serving as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim.

 
On the morning of August 7, 1998, the United States embassy in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania was severely damaged in a truck bomb attack that killed eleven people, and injured 85 more—including 2 Americans. The attack was linked to local al Qaeda members Khalfan Khamis Mohamed and Hamden Awad (“Ahmed the German”). Awad drove the truck laden with explosives up Laibon Road toward one of the embassy’s vehicular gates, but it was blocked by a water tanker so he was unable to penetrate the perimeter. The bomb was detonated at approximately 10:30AM local time. It was this terrorist attack that first brought the al Qaeda network, and its leader, Osama Bin Laden, to international notoriety and resulted in the FBI placing Bin Laden on its Top Ten Most Wanted List. Although the attacks were aimed at American facilities, the majority of the victims were Africans. Five embassy guards, all local hire, and the two people in the water tanker were among the dead. In response to the bombings, President Bill Clinton launched Operation Infinite Reach, a series of cruise missile attacks on targets in Sudan and Afghanistan. Shortly after the bombing, Mohamed fled to South Africa, where he worked as a cook under an assumed name. He was arrested on October 5, 1999, by South African authorities in Cape Town and was later turned over to the United States. Mohamed was convicted and charged with life with no parole in 2001 for his part in the bombing. Authorities believe that his house was used as the base of operations, and that he assembled the bomb used in the attack. After his conviction, a South African court ruled his extradition as illegal on grounds that he faced the death penalty, but he remains detained in the “Supermax” prison in Florence, Colorado.
 
In August 2000, the US and Tanzania signed an Open Skies Agreement. Tanzania is one of six African countries to have signed such an agreement with the US (Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Ghana, Namibia and Nigeria have also signed Open Skies agreements, all of them under the Clinton Administration.) The agreement gives both countries’ airlines unrestricted international access from any airport to any airport in either country.
 
From 1995-2000, US direct investment in Tanzania approximately doubled, amounting to about $26 million. US firms have entered the growing telecommunications, agriculture, mining and tourism sectors. Tanzania’s beautiful environment, which includes several important game parks and majestic Mount Kilimanjaro, has made it an increasingly popular tourist destination for Americans.
 
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Current U.S. Relations with Tanzania

When President Kikwete was elected in December 2005, relations between the United States and Tanzania became even closer. In February 2008, President Bush made an official four-day visit to Tanzania. President Kikwete, who has visited the US repeatedly, made a reciprocal official visit to Washington in August 2008.

 
The Bush Administration’s bilateral policy priorities include pursuing of anti-terrorism cooperation to deny terrorist groups sanctuary; providing assistance in security sector reform; helping Tanzania to further its private-sector economic growth; strengthening democracy and political transparency; assisting Tanzania to counter HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria; and providing assistance in basic education. A principal objective in the education sector is providing training to English, Math, and Science teachers.
 
US concerns about terrorism in Tanzania stem from the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Dar es Salaam by al Qaeda and from the alleged growth of radical Islamic views within Tanzania’s large Muslim population. In addition, several Tanzanians are known to have joined al Qaeda. The United States provides anti-terrorism and financial and immigration fraud capacity-building assistance, and the US Embassy maintains an emphasis on the protection of US citizens in Tanzania.
 
US development assistance seeks to consolidate Tanzania’s transition from a socialist to a market economy, in part by fostering small enterprise development, farm production, and agricultural producer organizations and market efficiencies, in order to generate increased income earnings for citizens. It also supports biodiversity conservation and natural resource management. Health aid focuses on capacity-building and addressing diverse AIDS-related challenges, including prevention and care for AIDS patients, blood system safety, and care for AIDS orphans. A Peace Corps contingent carries out projects in education, natural resource management, and health, with an emphasis on combating AIDS. Tanzania is eligible for trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, with an emphasis on textiles and apparel.
 
Tanzania is a major recipient of funding for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI). In September 2008, Tanzania’s $698 million Millennium Challenge Compact entered into force.
 
US assistance to Tanzania has increased over the past several years. In FY2005, bilateral assistance totaled an estimated $109 million, $137.5 million in FY2006, and $213.3 million in
FY2007. The Bush Administration has requested $341.4 million for FY2008.
 
In 2006, 55,687 Americans visited Tanzania, 16.9% more than the 47,621 that visited in 2005. The number of American visitors to Tanzania has increased steadily since 2002, when 38,159 Americans traveled to the African country.
 
In 2006, 4,015 Tanzanians visited the US. Between 2002 and 2005, the number of Tanzanians traveling to the US remained constant, hovering around 3,500 annually.
 
 
Tanzania: Background and Current Conditions (by Ted Dagne and Nicolas Cook, Congressional Research Service) (pdf)
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Where Does the Money Flow

From  2004 to  2008, US imports from Tanzania included green coffee, increasing from  $2.9  million to  $15.7  million; nuts and preparations, rising from $1.4  million to $9.2 million; tobacco, waxes, and nonfood oils, moving up from  $1.7 million to  $2.9 million; and gem stones (precious, semiprecious, and imitation), increasing from  $7.8 million to  $14.3 million.

 
US imports from Tanzania on the decline included fish and shellfish, decreasing from  $3.6  million to  $2.7 million; apparel and household goods (cotton), down from  $2.3 million to  $1.2 million; .
 
American exports to Tanzania included wheat, increasing from $0 to  $7 million; ; excavating machinery, up from  $3.4 million to  $13.7 million; and apparel, household goods (textile), increasing from  $11.2 million to  $20.6 million.
 
During the same period, US exports on the decline included pharmaceutical preparations, decreasing from  $4.5 million to  $3.3 million; .
 
According to the State Department’s Foreign Assistance Program Overview, “Tanzania possesses a nascent democracy with an impressive record of peaceful political transition and currently enjoys one of the fastest growing economies in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite Tanzania’s stability and growing economy, it has an annual per capita income estimated at $415 and over one-third of the population living in poverty. U.S. assistance focuses on strengthening Tanzania’s democratic institutions and security forces, as well as local and national systems and institutional capacity in health, including HIV/AIDS and malaria, and education. U.S. assistance also promotes sustainable and inclusive economic development, sound agribusiness practices and helps preserve Tanzania’s unique biodiversity.”
 
The US sold $37,223 of defense articles and services to Tanzania in 2007.
 
In 2007 the US gave $248 million in aid to Tanzania. The 2007 budget allocated the most funds to Global HIV/AIDS Initiative ($176.5 million), Child Survival and Health ($43 million), Food Aid ($11.7 million), Education ($7 million), and Environment ($4 million).
 
The 2008 budget increased aid to $348.5 million. In 2009 the US gave  $335.7 million in aid to Tanzania. The 2009 budget allotted the most funds to Global HIV/AIDS Initiative ($271 million), Child Survival and Health ($39.5 million), Education ($9 million), Environment ($4.5 million), and Good Governance ($2.5 million). The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) also funnel aid money to Tanzania independent of the budget for foreign operations.
 
In February of 2008, Tanzania signed a $698 million, five-year compact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to reduce poverty, stimulate economic growth, and increase household incomes through investments in transportation, energy, and water. The Transport Sector Project will receive $373 million, the Energy Sector Project will receive $206 million, and the Water Sector Project will receive $66 million.
 
In 2009, the US gave more than $368 million in aid to Tanzania. The budget allocated the most funds to Global Health and Child Survival- State ($280 million), Global Health and Survival-USAID ($61 million), and to International Military Education and Training ($300,000).
 
The 2010 budget requests almost $394 million of aid to be given to Tanzania. Of that, $362.8 million is requested for Health and Child Survival (both State and USAID). $450,000 is requested for International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement and $300,000for the International Military Education and Training.
 
Tanzania (USAID)
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Controversies

Tanzania Bomb Suspect Charged with War Crimes

In March 2008, an al Qaeda suspect alleged to have been involved in the 1998 bombing of the US Embassy in Tanzania was charged with war crimes charges. Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani killed 11 and wounded hundreds more in August 1998. The attack was coordinated with another bomb in Kenya, which killed 213 people. Six of the nine charges against him carry the death penalty if he is convicted. Ghailani was captured in Pakistan in 2004, and was  held in a military prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, until June 2009 when he was transported to New York City to stand trial. He is currently being detained in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan
 
 
Tanzanian Church Cuts Ties with US Counterpart
In December 2006, the Anglican Church of Tanzania announced that it was cutting ties with the Episcopal Church in the United States, and would refuse any assistance sent from Episcopal bishops, or any other group condoning homosexuality. The two groups had been arguing about the ordination and promotion of gay clergy, and the blessing of homosexual partnerships. In 2003, the Episcopal Church confirmed V. Gene Robinson, a gay priest, as bishop of New Hampshire. Robinson is widely known as the first openly gay, and non-celibate, priest to be ordained a bishop in a major Christian denomination. Church officials in Tanzania said they will stick to the scriptures, which do not condone homosexuality in any form.
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Human Rights

The State Department reports that there were some incidents of violent clashes between clans in Tanzania in 2007. Mob justice against suspected criminals persisted, despite government warnings against it. The media reported numerous incidents in which mobs killed suspected thieves who were stoned, lynched, beaten to death, or doused with gasoline and set on fire.

 
The widespread belief in witchcraft in some instances led to the killing of alleged witches by their “victims,” aggrieved relatives, or mobs. Most perpetrators of witch killing or mob justice eluded arrest, and the government did not take preventive measures during the year.
 
Although there were unofficial reports of hundreds of persons with albinism killed across the country during the year, approximately 26—mostly women and children—were confirmed killed, and numerous others were mutilated. The discriminatory killing and mutilation of albino people is driven by cultural beliefs that albino parts can be used to create wealth. In October of 2009, the albino community held a rally where many said that if the government could not ensure their safety they would be forced to seek refuge in neighboring countries. President Jakaya Kikwete responded by ordering a crackdown on witch doctors in activities such as using body parts from persons with albinism to create potions; and in April, he announced the appointment of a person with Albinism—Al-Shaymaa Kwegyr—to Parliament, to oversee the government’s efforts to defend the rights of people with Albinism.
 
There were reports that police officers threatened, mistreated, or occasionally beat suspected criminals during and after their apprehension and interrogation. The government seldom prosecuted police for abuses in practice. Sexual abuse and rape of detainees was a problem.
 
There was significant hostility and resentment against Burundian refugees during the year and continuing concern regarding violence allegedly perpetrated by some armed Burundian and Rwandan refugees. Local officials reported incidents of banditry, armed robbery, and violent crime, perpetrated by refugees in the areas surrounding refugee camps. Sexual and gender-based violence remained a problem in refugee camps. There also were credible reports that some refugees engaged in vigilante justice within camps, occasionally beating other refugees.
 
More than 36,000 Burundian refugees were hosted since 1972 by the Mtabila Camp after fleeing from the conflict in Burundi. The camp was closed on June 31, 2009, as part of a repatriation program and the final refugees returned to Burundi on October 30.
 
Prison conditions remained harsh and life threatening. Prisoners were subjected to poor living conditions, and the daily amount of food allotted to prisoners was insufficient to meet their nutritional needs. Convicted prisoners were not allowed to receive food from outside sources and often were moved to different prisons without notifying their families.
 
Prison dispensaries offered only limited treatment, and friends and family members of prisoners generally had to provide medication or the funds with which to purchase it. Serious diseases, such as dysentery, malaria, and cholera, were common and resulted in numerous deaths. There were reports that guards abused prisoners.
 
Arbitrary arrest and detention were problems. In some cases, accused persons were denied the right to contact a lawyer or talk with family members. Bribes often determined whether bail was granted or whether a case was judged as a civil or criminal matter. There were reports of prisoners waiting several years for trial because they could not bribe police and court officials. Police continued to make arbitrary arrests to extort money. There were reports that the police arrested and detained refugees.
 
The judiciary was corrupt, inefficient, and subject to executive influence.
 
The law authorizes police officials, including the civilian anticrime groups, to issue search warrants. But the act also authorizes searches of persons and premises without a warrant if necessary to prevent the loss or destruction of evidence connected with an offense or if circumstances are serious and urgent. In practice police and members of other security services rarely requested warrants and often searched private homes and business establishments at will. The security services reportedly monitored telephones and correspondence of some citizens and foreign residents.
 
The law limits the media’s ability to function effectively. Government ministries and the Registrar of Newspapers pressured journalists to practice self-censorship.
 
There were instances in which freedom of speech was restricted severely. Political parties were required by law to support the continuation of the Union. Opposition political party members and others openly criticized the government and ruling party in public forums, but persons using “abusive language” against the country’s leadership may be subject to arrest, and the government used this provision to detain some opposition figures.
 
In Zanzibar the government implemented a restrictive policy with regard to print media. The Zanzibar News Act circumscribed journalists’ freedom of action by giving the authorities greater protection to harass, detain, and interrogate journalists.
 
The government reportedly did not censor news reports, but it attempted to influence their content. In Zanzibar the government controlled radio and television. Some journalists, such as those in Zanzibar, exercised self-censorship on sensitive problems. Journalists who reported arrests could be charged with obstructing police activity under the Police Act.
 
Opposition parties at times were unable to hold rallies. Security officials interfered with citizens’ rights to assemble peacefully on a few occasions. The Registrar of Political Parties has sole authority to approve or deny the registration of any political party and is responsible for enforcing strict regulations on registered parties.
 
The law prohibits preaching or distribution of materials that are considered inflammatory and represent a threat to the public order. In 2000 the government banned as inflammatory the publication and distribution of a book by a Muslim academic.
 
The Muslim community claimed to be disadvantaged in terms of its representation in the civil service, government, and parastatal institutions, in part because both colonial and early post-independence administrations refused to recognize the credentials of traditional Muslim schools. As a result, there was broad Muslim resentment of certain advantages that Christians were perceived to enjoy in employment and educational opportunities. The government failed to respond to growing tensions between the Muslim and Christian communities. The government recognized that a problem existed, but it did not take action.
 
Sexual and gender-based violence continued to be a problem in the refugee camps. The government did not adequately investigate, prosecute, or punish perpetrators of abuses in refugee camps.
 
There was continuing concern over violence allegedly perpetrated by some armed refugees. Local officials reported incidents of killings, banditry, armed robbery, and violent crime perpetrated by refugees in the areas surrounding refugee camps. There were several reports that Burundian rebels conducted training and recruitment in the camps.
 
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully. However, this right was circumscribed severely in 2000. The government of Zanzibar announced that it would schedule by-elections for March 2003, to fill the parliamentary seats declared vacant as a result of disputes originating in the 2000 elections. In Zanzibar, four separate international observer teams concluded that the vote was marred by irregularities, voter intimidation, and politically motivated violence. Voting irregularities during the 2000 elections included the late arrival and absence of ballots and the late opening of polling stations.
 
Domestic violence against women remained widespread. Traditional customs that subordinate women remained strong in both urban and rural areas, and local magistrates often upheld such practices. Women may be punished by their husbands for not bearing children. It is accepted for a husband to treat his wife as he wishes, and wife beating occurred at all levels of society.
 
Although the government officially discouraged female genital mutilation, it still was performed at an early age by approximately 20 of the country’s 130 main ethnic groups.
 
Male colleagues sometimes harassed women seeking higher education, and the authorities largely ignored the practice. Although the government advocated equal rights for women in the workplace, it did not ensure these rights in practice.
 
The overall situation for women was less favorable in Zanzibar. Although women generally were not discouraged from seeking employment outside the home, women there and on many parts of the mainland faced discriminatory restrictions on inheritance and ownership of property because of concessions by the government and courts to customary and Islamic law.
 
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Debate
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Past Ambassadors

Note: The Embassy in Dar es Salaam was established on Dec 9, 1961, with William R. Duggan as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim.

 
William Leonhart
Appointment: Aug 22, 1962
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 3, 1962
Termination of Mission: Reaccredited when Tanganyika became a republic; presented new credentials Dec 17, 1962; continued to serve, without further reaccreditation, after the formation of the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar; left post Dec 22, 1965
Note: Commissioned to Tanganyika.
 
John H. Burns
Appointment: Sep 24, 1965
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 3, 1966
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 22, 1969
 
Claude G. Ross
Appointment: Oct 9, 1969
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 27, 1969
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 25, 1972
 
W. Beverly Carter, Jr.
Appointment: Jun 27, 1972
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 24, 1972
Termination of Mission: Left post Oct 14, 1975
James W. Spain
Appointment: Nov 20, 1975
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 8, 1976
Termination of Mission: Left post Aug 21, 1979
 
Richard Noyes Viets
Appointment: Sep 28, 1979
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 18, 1979
Termination of Mission: Left post May 16, 1981
 
David Charles Miller, Jr.
Appointment: Oct 26, 1981
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 4, 1981
Termination of Mission: Left post Feb 28, 1984
 
John William Shirley
Appointment: Jun 28, 1984
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 28, 1984
Termination of Mission: Left post Jul 18, 1986
 
Donald K. Petterson
Appointment: Oct 16, 1986
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 8, 1986
Termination of Mission: Left post Dec 26, 1989
 
Edmund DeJarnette, Jr.
Appointment: Nov 21, 1989
Presentation of Credentials: Feb 26, 1990
Termination of Mission: Left post Sep 12, 1992
 
Peter Jon de Vos
Appointment: Jun 15, 1992
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 8, 1993
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 3, 1994
 
Brady Anderson
Appointment: Aug 26, 1994
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 13, 1994
Termination of Mission: Left post Oct 7, 1997
 
Charles Richard Stith
Appointment: Jun 29, 1998
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 17, 1998
Termination of Mission: Left post Jan 20, 2001
 
Robert V. Royall
Appointment: Nov 5, 2001
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 19, 2001
Termination of Mission: Nov 21, 2003

Note: Michael S. Owen served as Charge d’Affaires ad interim.
 
Michael Retzer
Appointment: Aug 2, 2005
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 1, 2005
Termination of Mission: Left post, Aug 31, 2007
 
Mark Green
Appointment: Aug 7, 2007
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 12, 2007
Termination of Mission: January 20, 2009
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Tanzania's Ambassador to the U.S.
ambassador-image Mulamula, Liberata

 

Liberata Mulamula, a career foreign service officer, presented her credentials as Tanzania’s ambassador to the United States to President Barack Obama on July 18, 2013. Mulamula is also credentialed as ambassador to Mexico.

 

Mulamula graduated from the University of Dar-es-Salaam in 1980 and later received a master’s degree in government and politics from New York’s St. John’s University in 1989. She joined Tanzania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1981 as a third secretary in its legal and multilateral department.

 

In 1985, Mulamula came to the United States to serve in her country’s permanent mission to the United Nations as an advisor on disarmament, decolonization and anti-apartheid issues. In addition, she was a member of the UN/Organization of African Unity group on the denuclearization of Africa. That group’s work eventually resulted in the Treaty of Pelindaba, which created a nuclear-weapon-free zone on the continent.  From 1992 to 1994, Mulamula participated in the Rwandan peace talks as a member of the facilitators team.

 

Mulamula went to Canada as deputy high commissioner in 1999, serving in that role until 2002. She then was made head of chancery for Tanzania’s mission to the UN in New York. Mulamula returned home in 2003 to become ambassador/director of multilateral cooperation in the foreign ministry.

 

In 2006, Mulamula was named first executive secretary of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region in Burundi. That multilateral group includes Angola, the Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Zambia and Tanzania and discusses issues of importance to the region. Mulamula served with that organization until 2011.

 

Mulamula was named senior personal assistant to Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete in 2012, a position she held until coming to Washington.

Mulamula and her husband, George Mulamula, have two children, Alvin and Tanya.

-Steve Straehley

 

To Learn More:

Official Biography

Botswana, Tanzania ‘Sisters’ Share Different Africa Story (by Larry Luxner, Washington Diplomat)

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Tanzania's Embassy Web Site in the U.S.
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U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania

Childress, Mark
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The next ambassador to the East African nation of Tanzania will be an attorney well-versed in the ways of Washington. Mark B. Childress has served as an assistant to President Barack Obama and deputy chief of staff for planning at the White House since 2012. Nominated July 8, Childress would succeed Alfonso Lenhardt, who served in Dar es Salaam starting in 2009.

 

Born circa 1959 in Asheville, N.C., Mark Childress earned a B.A. at Yale University and a J.D. at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Law School.

 

He started his career as a staff attorney at the Department of Agriculture from 1986 to 1989, moving to the Hill to serve as general counsel for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) from 1989 to 1995.

 

After Democrats lost their Senate majority in the election of 1994, Childress left government to serve as vice president and general counsel for the Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based nonprofit focused on public health, from 1995 to 1998.

 

Childress joined the Clinton administration, serving as senior counsel in the White House Counsel’s Office from 1998 to 2000, where he worked on Clinton’s nominations of judges and other officials requiring Senate confirmation. 

 

He served as chief counsel and policy director for Senator Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota) from 2000 to 2004, where he often handled negotiations across the aisle, including helping resolve a stalemate over 25 of President George W. Bush’s stalled judicial nominees.

 

Leaving Washington again, Childress was chief counsel at the Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation, an advocacy group for the Aboriginal population in Cairns, Queensland, Australia, from 2004 to 2007, where he negotiated contracts with multinational firms on behalf of Aboriginal landowners.

 

From 2007 to 2009, he was a partner at Foley Hoag, LLC, practicing in life sciences, energy technology and renewables, as well as performing some lobbying. Among his lobbying clients was the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which would become a part of the contraception debate years later that Childress helped resolve.  

 

Childress returned to the Senate HELP Committee in April 2009 as a senior advisor on health care reform, and stayed with HELP after the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) as Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) took over the chairmanship. After Congress finally passed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in February 2010, Childress moved on to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in April to oversee implementation of the ACA as acting general counsel. He served as HHS principal deputy general counsel and acting general counsel.

 

From 2011 to 2012, he served as senior counselor for Access to Justice at the Department of Justice, before moving on to his White House job. In that job, he received plaudits for guiding White House strategy on several politically difficult issues, including the exemption for some religious institutions from the ACA contraception mandate and the executive order to enact some of the ideals of the stalled DREAM act.

 

A lifelong Democrat, Childress has donated to a select few Democrats in recent years, including donations of $500 to the Democratic National Committee, $500 to Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico), and smaller donations to Democratic candidates William Cahir, John Oliver and Paul Hodes.

 

Mark Childress and his wife Katherine, a sometimes lobbyist, have no children and live with their golden retriever named Riley.

-Matt Bewig

 

To Learn More:

Meet The Most Powerful Man In The White House You’ve Never Heard Of (by Evan McMorris-Santoro, BuzzFeed)

Testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (pdf)

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