The United States, represented by the U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania, Alfonso E. Lenhardt, and U.S. Africa Command representatives, marked the handover of a VHF Communications System presented to the Tanzanian Police Force Maritime and the Tanzanian People's Defense Force Naval Command during a recent ceremony held at the Tanzanian Naval and Maritime Operations Headquarters, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. 

The Communications System, worth $1 million, includes repeaters and 16 base stations deployed to Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, Mwanza, Kigoma, Tanga, and Mtwara, as well as 182 handheld radios that are capable of encrypted digital end unsecure analog communications. 

The event was also attended by Acting Inspector General Clodwig Mtweve, Commissioner of Police Administration and Resource Management; Colonel Richard Makanzo, Naval Squadron Commandant; Captain Edward St. Pierre, United States Coast Guard, Director, United States AFRICOM, Counter-Narcotics and Law Enforcement Division; Mr. Brian Curley, Deputy Special Agent in Charge, Navy Criminal Investigations Command, Middle East Field Office-Bahrain.

According to Ambassador Lenhardt, “this effort has laid the groundwork for a regional communications network that enhances the capabilities of Tanzanian counter-narcotics units and other regional partners.

"Together with our partners here in East Africa, the United States believes this investment will yield significant progress on our shared long-term security goals for the region, and will enhance the Government of Tanzania's ability to combat illicit narcotics trafficking and other transnational crime."

The opportunity to hand over the Communications System is the result of over eighteen months of planning, and represents the fulfillment of a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Tanzanian Police Force, the Tanzania People's Defense Force, and the U.S. Department of Defense.