President Samia names new TPHPA czar

TANZANIA: President Samia Suluhu Hassan has appointed Prof Joseph Ndunguru as the chief director of the Tanzania Plant Health and Pesticides Authority (TPHPA).

A statement issued by the Directorate of Presidential Communications on Tuesday states that the appointment is effective from October 21, 2023.

Prof Ndunguru is a molecular plant virologist.

Prior to his new role, the virologist was working with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries’ Mikocheni Agricultural Research Institute (MARI) as the officer in charge from 2012 to date.

He was also the National Biotechnology Research Coordinator in Tanzania.

The Tanzania Plant Health and Pesticides Authority (TPHPA) was established by Act No. 04 of 2020.

TPHPA has been established to comply with requirements of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) on sanitary and phytosanitary measures.

The Plant Health Section under the Ministry of Agriculture and Tropical Pesticides Research Authority (TPRI) has been merged to form one Authority for regulation of Plant Health and Pesticides matters.

The establishment of the Authority intended to smooth coordination, proper utilization of resources and remove duplication of roles in order to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery.