Legal battle over Tanzania-Dubai port deal makes U-turn as Tanzania finally backs down

Thursday, 01 February 2024

 Tanzanian officials seemed to back down this week for the first time in the face of persistent resistance to the country's port management contract with an Emirati corporation.

In addition, the Tanzanian government has abandoned a study of rules that would have benefited the contentious deal with DP World. On Tuesday, Attorney General Eliezer Feleshi said that the government has withdrawn proposed modifications to two laws controlling Tanzania's natural resources that were up for debate in the National Assembly.

Mr Feleshi stated at a parliamentary sitting in Dodoma that the government had accepted 'advice' from a House committee to delete the two parts of the Bill containing the proposed revisions. “Following our meeting with the Parliamentary Governance, Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee, both sections have been scrapped and the Bill amended accordingly," he disclosed.

Parts 4 and 5 of the Bill proposed amendments to the Natural Wealth and Resources (Permanent Sovereignty) Act and the Natural Wealth Resources (Review and Re-negotiation of Unconscionable Terms) Act, both of 2017, to ensure that neither act could be used to "prejudice the performance of sea, dry, and lake ports in Tanzania."

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According to the plan, the changes will "enable Tanzania's ports to operate at international standards level and attract more countries, more ships, and larger cargoes."

The Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) inked last year between Tanzania and Dubai (UAE) required both parties to guarantee that their legislation allowed the seamless execution of the IGA and future host government agreement (HGA).

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The IGA was intended to allow the Dubai-based global logistics giant DP World to take over operations at the port of Dar es Salaam first, and maybe other sea and lake ports in Tanzania in the future.

Since it was authorized by parliament on June 10 of this year, the contract has received heavy public condemnation from a variety of players, including opposition politicians, legal experts, and religious clergy who feel that, as written, it would benefit the Dubai corporation more than Tanzania.

The two statutes at issue were notably highlighted in a recent High Court case in which four private people petitioned for the agreement to be invalidated on the grounds that it violated Tanzania's constitution and threatened the country's sovereignty and security. The petition was denied by the High Court on August 10.

The Governance, Constitutional, and Legal Affairs Committee halted its own preliminary consideration of the proposed modifications last week, saying it needed further "clarification" from the administration on the "contents" of the plan.

Source : africa.businessinsider.com