| Kongwa | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
  Kongwa Location in Tanzania | |
| Coordinates: 06°11′34″S36°24′26″E / 6.19278°S 36.40722°E | |
| Country |  |
| Region | Dodoma Region |
| District | Kongwa District |
| Population (2012) | |
| • Total | 13,531 |
| Time zone | GMT + 3 |
Kongwa is a town and an administrative ward in the Kongwa District of the Dodoma Region of Tanzania. According to the 2012 census, the ward has a total population of 13,531, with an average household size of 4.6. [1]
Kongwa District is one of the seven districts of the Dodoma Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the north by Manyara Region, to the east by Morogoro Region, to the south by Mpwapwa District, and to the west by Chamwino District. Its district capital is the town of Kongwa.
Dodoma Region is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The regional capital is the city of Dodoma. According to the 2012 national census, the region had a population of 2,083,588, which was lower than the pre-census projection of 2,214,657. For 2002-2012, the region's 2.1 percent average annual population growth rate was the twentieth highest in the country. It was also the seventeenth most densely populated region with 50 people per square kilometer. The main tribes of the region are the Gogo, the Warangi, and the Wasandawi; Dodoma means "sunk" in the Gogo language.
Tanzania officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in eastern Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands at the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to the south; Zambia to the southwest; and Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, is in north-eastern Tanzania.
Kongwa was the centre of the Tanganyika groundnut scheme, which was run by the Overseas Food Corporation (OFC) until the project was brought to an end in 1951. The facilities provided included a hospital, which still serves local patients. A school was established, originally for the children of expatriate staff of the OFC. This continued at Kongwa for a total of ten years until its closure in 1958. [2]
The Tanganyika groundnut scheme, or East Africa groundnut scheme, was a failed attempt by the British government to cultivate tracts of Tanganyika with peanuts. Launched in the aftermath of World War II by the administration of prime minister Clement Attlee, the project was finally abandoned as unworkable in 1951 at considerable cost.
From 1964 onwards, sites in the Kongwa area were used for training purposes by SWAPO and FRELIMO and, in due course, by other movements including African National Congress, MPLA and ZAPU. [3]
The South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO),, and officially known as SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia. It has been the governing party in Namibia since the country achieved independence in 1990. The party continues to be dominated in number and influence by the Ovambo ethnic group.
The Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO), from the Portuguese Frente de Libertação de Moçambique is the dominant political party in Mozambique. Founded in 1962, FRELIMO began as a nationalist movement fighting for the independence of the Portuguese Overseas Province of Mozambique. Independence was achieved in June 1975 after the Carnation Revolution in Lisbon the previous year. At the party's 3rd Congress in February 1977, it became an officially Marxist–Leninist political party. It identified as the Frelimo Party(Partido Frelimo).
The African National Congress (ANC) is the Republic of South Africa's governing political party. It has been the ruling party of post-apartheid South Africa on the national level, beginning with the election of Nelson Mandela in the 1994 election. Today, the ANC remains the dominant political party in South Africa, winning every election since 1994. Cyril Ramaphosa, the incumbent President of South Africa, has served as leader of the ANC since 18 December 2017.
Six kilometres from Kongwa itself is St Philips Theological College, which serves the Anglican Church of Tanzania. It was established in 1913 and provides training for Christian ministry in the Anglican and other churches, including some students from neighbouring countries. [4]
