Tanzania is safe, minister assures ambassadors

Dar es Salaam. The government yesterday urged the diplomatic community to consult and engage with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation whenever they felt unsafe or privy to any security intelligence they deem valuable and worth sharing.

The call was made by the minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Dr Stergomena Tax, following the tension created by the security alert and information that there is civil unrest in Tanzania, claims of which the government described as fallacy. 

On January 25, 2022, the US embassy in Tanzania issued a security alert warning of a possible attack on locations frequented by U.S. citizens and other Westerners in Dar es Salaam and elsewhere.

The security alert was followed by the announcement made by the Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) of its decision to reschedule its flights to Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar from January 27- 30 due to purported “civil unrest” in Tanzania.

“The government has elaborate systems for consulting, collaborating and sharing of information on matters of mutual interests,” said Dr Tax at the emergency meeting with the heads of diplomatic missions and international organisations held in Dodoma. 

She went on to add: “It is inappropriate and inconsiderate for one to choose not to use the established channels of communication and engagement.”

The government, she said, understood the responsibility of each Embassy in taking care of its citizens, but that cannot warrant any Embassy anywhere in the world to do so at the expense of undermining the host country’s authorities and stability.

The Embassies’ unilateral issuance of security alerts to the public, Dr Tax registered her grave disappointment, does not conform to the guiding instrument, the Vienna Convention, nor to the established customs and practice of conducting relations among states.

“We take this opportunity to renew our commitment to ensure your security and that of your citizens while in Tanzania,” said Dr Tax.

 “Equally, our readiness to cooperate, work and share intelligence information can help us to make your stay in Tanzania safe and secure.

“Our collective security depends on all of us working together rather than working unilaterally.”

Tanzania, she explained, is and will remain to be a peaceful, secure and stable country, and gives due attention to matters of security internally, regionally and internationally.

As an active member of the United Nations, the African Union, the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community, Tanzania is bound by established Charters and Treaties to adhere to the principles of promotion and maintenance of peace and security.