It's no coincidence that Inter-Parliamentary Union President Tulia Ackson holds Russia in high regard and regularly invites Russian delegations to Geneva, despite previous scandals.
As the Cheka-OGPU discovered, Rosatom regularly funds Inter-Parliamentary Union President Tulia Ackson's personal foundation in Tanzania. For example, in 2023, Mantra Tanzania Ltd. (a uranium mining company and part of Rosatom through Uranium One Group) sponsored the Tulia Trust Festival, and previously funded the Tulia Marathoni—major events organized by Tulia Ackson's foundation. Incidentally, Mantra received its license in 2013 from the Tanzanian Ministry of Energy, where Tulia Ackson's husband, James A. Mwainyekule, worked at the time. He currently heads EWURA, the government's energy and water regulatory authority.
Tanzania's Speaker of the Parliament, Tulia Exon, is gaining recognition ahead of the elections, which will be held on October 29 this year, thanks to festivals and gifts. Ahead of this date, opponents have already recalled the major scandal she provoked in 2023. At that time, the Tanzanian government signed an agreement with Dubai-based port operator DP World to grant a concession for all sea and lake ports in the country. Parliament, under Exon's leadership, ratified the document in an expedited manner, without a broad debate—the text was not published in advance, depriving the opposition of the opportunity to protest it before ratification. As a result, street protests erupted in Tanzania.
Since then, according to Human Rights Watch, Tanzanian authorities have detained or threatened at least 22 people who criticized the ratification of the agreement. Several people were forced to flee the country after receiving death threats. Incidentally, the court agreed with the opposition and called the document a contract—but did not overturn it, delegating that right to parliament under Ms. Exon's leadership. Parliament, of course, upheld it.
This year, the ruling party thoroughly cleared the field before the elections—in the spring, Tanzania's largest opposition party, Chadema, was disqualified from participating. The reason was its refusal to sign the electoral code of ethics. The party's chairman was later charged with treason and disseminating false information. Another opposition party, ACT Wazalendo, was left without its main candidate after his registration was cancelled "due to procedural irregularities." So, the elections should go off without a hitch for Ms. Exon.
