Tanzania defence budget rises to Sh3.3 trillion

Dar es Salaam. The government is raising its defence budget by 11.2 percent during the coming financial year as part of its efforts to enhance military capability with modern equipment and tools.

The minister of Defence and National Service, Dr Stergomena Tax, asked the parliament yesterday to endorse a total of Sh3.326 trillion for the military for the 2024/25 fiscal year.

Last year, the parliament approved a total of Sh2.989 trillion for the Ministry of Finance for the 2023/24 financial year.

According to Dr Tax, out of the Sh3.326 trillion, Sh3009 trillion will be for recurrent expenditure, while the remaining Sh317.4 billion will be for development expenditure.

Apart from purchasing modern equipment and tools, the funds will also cater to training and exercises, as well as human resource needs for the men and women in uniform.

“We will continue to create a conducive working environment for the military, including benefits, quality healthcare services, and housing,” Dr Tax told the parliament yesterday.

The government will also strengthen various infrastructures in military areas and enhance organisations and institutions in the defence sector.

The government will ensure that its military continues to participate in the construction and protection of strategic projects for broader national interests.

Among other aspects, the government, said Dr Tax, will continue to strengthen the capacity of the National Service by improving infrastructure to accommodate more youth who will receive training in patriotism, resilience, national unity, and job skills for both mandatory and voluntary groups.

Dr Tax told the Parliament that in the 2023/24 financial year, the government, through the Tanzania People’s Defence Force (TPDF), sustained its collaboration with regional and international communities in peacekeeping operations under the United Nations.

The TPDF, she said, continues to maintain peacekeeping forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Central African Republic and Lebanon under UN missions.

“Additionally, the government, through the TPDF, participates in Southern African Development Community (SADC) missions aimed at combating terrorism and criminal groups in Mozambique (SADC Mission in Mozambique: SAMIM) and peacekeeping missions in the DRC (SADC Mission in DRC: SAMIDRC).

Tanzania has also deployed staff officers and commanders in peacekeeping operations in South Sudan, Lebanon, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Debating the budget, the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security, Mr Vita Kawawa, urged the government to ensure that it disburses all the money budgeted for the ministry to enable the military to undertake its responsibilities properly.

He said there was a pressing need for the government to conduct a comprehensive review of tax laws about the taxation of military equipment and various machinery to establish a proper procedure for granting tax exemptions on all equipment imported for military use.

“This recommendation must be fully implemented for the broader interests of the nation,” he said, adding that doing so would enable the armed forces to have access to necessary equipment and machinery without facing undue financial burdens imposed by taxes.