TANZANIA: Government Checks On Sold-off Lodges

The Tanzania government has put on notice one of the Tanzania’s largest hotel operators, Hotels and Lodges (Tanzania) Limited, over a breach of contract signed between them writes ELISHA MAYALLAH.

Hotels and Lodges (Tanzania) Limited operates Lake Manyara Wildlife Lodge (formerly Lake Manyara Hotel); Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge; Seronera and Lobo Wildlife Lodges both located in Serengeri national park. Other properties include: Zanzibar Safari Club; Changuu Private Island Paradise; and Bawe Private Island all located in and around the spice islands of Zanzibar.

Tanzania privatized tourist lodges and hotels in Tanzania are listed among business entities under investigation by the government. In a recent government notice, a list of leading hotels in Tanzania was exposed to the public, requiring their owners to submit their performance reports among other requirements. Privatization was intended to create better managed establishments.

These facilities include four leading tourist lodges in northern Tanzania’s wildlife parks of Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro, and Serengeti.

The Registrar for Treasury, Lawrence Mafuru, said the government had asked purchasers and outright owners of privatized public business entities to submit to his office, reports which would allow the government to re-assess the viability of privatized public companies.

‘All the purchasers of privatized industries and farms are required to submit the reports of implementation of their respective agreements to the office of the Treasury Registrar’, reads part of the notice.

Other reports the government need from the investors are the envolvement of the average salary against the statutory minimum wage; other benefits provided to employees over and above statutory requirements; Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) extension to target communities; and last, the important factors that have contributed to the growth or failure of the listed entity.

Key tourist hotels and lodges across Tanzania have been listed, among them are Lake Manyara Hotel, Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge, Seronera Wildlife Lodge, and Lobo Wildlife Lodge, all located in northern Tanzania tourist parks of Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro, and the Serengeti.

The hotels and lodges in question were owned by the government of Tanzania divested to private owners between 15 and 12 years ago. Under such an arrangement, the government of Tanzania will table a motion before the parliament to decide the fate of those hotels, pending submission of performance reports.

There has been a public outcry over the way the privatization of once-leading hotels in Tanzania was handled. Some of which went into the hands of people who have no background or experience in the tourism industry.

Critics have said this is sabotaging tourism development. Tourism brings in more than $1 billion annually and is a key sector of the economy. Complaints have included such practices as unequal employment opportunities for communities neighboring the parks.

According to Mafuru, other discrepancies discovered include default in payment of purchase price and lack of clear financial reports basing on profitability and loss.

Other facilities, once under the public ownership and listed for assessment, are the Embassy Hotel and Kunduchi Beach Hotel in the capital city of Dar es Salaam; Hotel 77 in Arusha; New Mwanza Hotel on the shores of Lake Victoria; and New Savoy Hotel in Morogoro, about 200 kilometres west of Dar es Salaam.