Kabudi defends new legislation
Dar es Salaam. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Prof Palamagamba Kabudi, said yesterday that recently enacted laws will not scare away potential investors, stressing they were adopted in line with the country’s priorities.
Speaking in Dar es Salaam during an experts’ validation meeting for the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), Prof Kabudi, said the two laws, which were enacted in 2017, were in response to Tanzanians’ views.
In 2017, Parliament approved two new laws with a view to introducing sweeping changes in the exploitation of Tanzania’s natural resources and ensure that the country gets a fair share of its natural wealth.
The two laws are the Natural Wealth and Resources Contracts (Review and Re-negotiation of Unconscionable Terms) Act, 2017 and the Natural Wealth and Resources (Permanent Sovereignty) Act, 2017.
The legislative body also approved the Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, 2017 for the same reason.
Since then, the laws have come under criticism from some quarters in the belief that they are scaring away investors, but Prof Kabudi, who was the Constitutional and Legal Affairs minister when the laws were adopted, said Tanzania had not made a mistake in enacting the legislative pieces, noting that the laws were only meant to meet the requirements of the day.
“The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and several countries are still saying we made a mistake in enacting the two laws, saying the laws are not conducive for investors to invest in the country. We enacted the laws to ensure a win-win situation, protect our country’s natural resources, not to scare away investors as they claim,” he said.
He disclosed that the government’s negotiations with investors were progressing well and that contracts would be signed soon.
He said it was surprising that international organisations found it right when a country like Malaysia negotiated with investors, but the same organisations raise a red flag when Tanzania does exactly the same.
