NHC, TPDC top brass hit in major Samia reshuffle

Dar es Salaam. President Samia Suluhu Hassan yesterday replaced top executives of three government organisations in a shakeup that is believed to aim at boosting the performance of the key entities.

The affected institutions include the National Housing Corporation (NHC), the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) and the office of the Treasury Registrar.

The director general of TPDC, James Matarajio, was removed and replaced by a Board member, Mussa Mohammed Makame, according to a statement issued by the State House. In addition to serving on the TPDC Board, Mr Makame is also a consultant in oil and gas, the statement further said.

The shakeup comes ahead of planned private investments in mega projects in Tanzania’s natural gas subsector, in which TPDC is taking an active role.

The TPDC is taking part in the negotiations involving a $30 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant project. Talks between the government’s negotiation team and the investors, led by oil giants Shell and Equinor, were revived in 2021 after stalling for a couple of years.

The two sides have so far agreed on some key issues, leading to the signing of the initial Host Government Agreement (HGA).

They were expected to conclude the discussions in December before moving on to other stages.

TPDC is also representing Tanzania in the share holding of the $3.5 billion East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop) project that received the final government’s approval earlier this week.

Eacop will transport crude petroleum products from the oil fields of Uganda to the port of Tanga. The project construction is expected to start soon.

NHC gets new boss

President Hassan also appointed NHC director general Nehemia Mchechu the new Treasury Registrar. He replaced Mr Mgonya Benedicto who will be assigned other duties, according to the statement from the State House. Mr Mchechu had stayed at the state-run NHC for hardly a year since he was re-appointed to the position.

The newly appointed NHC director general Hamad Abdallah will now have a task to complete ongoing projects, including the Kawe project, Morocco Square project, Samia Housing Scheme, Iyumbu Nyumba 1,000, the SafariCity and others.

Mr Abdallah who worked with a private property company, Gimco Africa, is expected to integrate his private sector experience into the government-run institution.

Last year, NHC also revised its joint venture policy to expand the provision of affordable homes in collaboration with the private sector on the creation and ownership of properties.

The policy was revised after no public-private partnership (PPP) project had been implemented in the last 10 years.