Tanzania’s President John Magufuli on Friday said his country has not been abandoned by the World Bank.
The bank suspended a planned $300 million educational loan to Tanzania this week amid concerns about the country’s policy of banning pregnant girls from going to school.
The loan facility was meant to help Tanzania’s Ministry of Education improve access to quality secondary education.
It was scheduled to be approved by the bank’s management late last month but the bank says the program was instead withdrawn and will not be going forward.
Tanzania’s policy of expelling pregnant girls from school was one of the reasons for the loan to be withdrawn.
A law dating back to the 1960s allows all state schools in Tanzania to ban young mothers from attending school.
Over the past decade more than 55,000 Tanzanian pregnant schoolgirls have been expelled from school, according to a 2013 report by the Center for Reproductive Rights.
Tanzania’s President John Magufuli in June this year went a step further, announcing that pregnant students would not be allowed to return to school after giving birth.
Meeting world bank officials
On Friday President John Magufuli met Hafez Ghanem, the World Bank’s vice-president for Africa, in Dar es Salaam.
Mr Magufuli after the meeting said the funds from the bank had never been withdrawn “as people who don’t wish us well were saying”.
He also said Mr Ghanem’s visit confirmed that the bank “would not abandon Tanzania”.
Pressure from development partners
Meanwhile the European Union says it ambassador to Tanzania left the country this month because of pressure from the authorities.
The ambassador is reported to have come under pressure for voicing concern about a planned crackdown on gays in Tanzania.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement “This unprecedented attitude is not in line with the long-established tradition of bilateral dialogue.”
“The EU calls on Tanzanian authorities to refrain from exerting undue pressure and limitations on diplomatic missions” the statement added.
The European Union says it is now considering reviewing its support to the East African country.
The EU statement said “The European Union and its member states have noticed a shrinking of public space in Tanzania through the tightening of restrictions on the activities of civil society organisations, the media and many political parties.”
Already Denmark this week announced that it is withholding $9.8m in aid to Tanzania after “unacceptable homophobic comments” from a senior politician on crackdown on gays.
There have been several instances of human rights abuses in Tanzania in recent times under President Maufuli. That raises a lot of concerns for human rights groups in the country.
Source: Africafeeds.com
