Augustine Mahiga

Tanzanian diplomat (1945–2020)

Augustine Philip Mahiga (28 August 1945 – 1 May 2020) He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2015 to 2019. He previously served as the Permanent Representative of Tanzania to the United Nations from 2003 to 2010 and as the UN Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Political Office for Somalia from 2010 to 2013. On December 2015, he was nominated as a Member of Parliament by President John Magufuli and thereafter appointed to the Cabinet as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Mahiga was born in Tosamaganga, Iringa on August 28, 1945. That same year, Mahiga completed a Masters of Arts at the University of Toronto (U of T).

Between 2010 and 2013, he also served as the United Nations Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Political Office for Somalia. The signed Kampala Accord would also see the well regarded technocratic Cabinet that Prime Minister of Somalia Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed had assembled in November 2010 re composed to make way for a new government. Political analysts suggested that the agreement may have been a bid on President Sharif Ahmed's part to fend off attempts by the Speaker of Parliament Sharif Hassan to force him from power by pre emptively "sacrificing" the Premier. Hassan was reported to harbour presidential ambitions of his own. The announcement of Prime Minister Mohamed's proposed resignation was immediately met with protests in various cities. Thousands of civilians, many government soldiers, and some legislators marched through the streets of Mogadishu, calling for the dismissal of the President, the Parliament Speaker and the Parliament. The crowd also demanded that the Premier be reinstated and described Mohamed as the "only honest leader in recent years". Attacks on hotels in which members of parliament were staying and at least five deaths were also reported. Additional demonstrations against the Premier's resignation were held in Galkacyo, a key trading city in the north central Mudug region, as well as in Belet Hawo in the far south. Weighing in on the demonstrations, Mogadishu's Mayor Mohamed Nur suggested that "what [the demonstrators] have a problem with is that two people go and decide the fate of this government without considering the feelings of this population", and that putting the issue before Parliament for approval is a more democratic course of action. On 11 June 2011, Prime Minister Mohamed released a statement indicating that the Kampala decision ought to be presented in Parliament for debate and appraised according to the laws stipulated in the national constitution. This was echoed by the Cabinet, which indicated in a press release that, after having convened to discuss the Kampala decision, the Ministers agreed that the accord must be put before Parliament for evaluation. In addition, over 200 parliamentarians reportedly sought to urge the Prime Minister to reconvene Parliament so as to deliberate the decision, indicating in a separate statement that the accord deprived MPs of their legislative role vis a vis the government. He also suggested that some government officials were financing the rallies in Mogadishu, and warned that the Al Shabaab group of Islamists that is waging war against the federal government could try to exploit the gatherings to launch terrorist attacks. On 19 June 2011, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed resigned from his position as Prime Minister of Somalia. Part of the controversial Kampala Accord's conditions, the agreement would also see the mandates of the President, the Parliament Speaker and Deputies extended until August 2012, after which point new elections are to be organised. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, Mohamed's former Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, was appointed as Acting Premier later the same day. A few days later, on 23 June 2011, Ali was named permanent Prime Minister. Prime Minister Mohamed's resignation was immediately met with anger by the general public and many lawmakers. Apprehension regarding a possible resurgence of governmental corruption and lassitude, long standing problems which Mohamed's administration had made significant strides toward eradicating, were cited as primary reasons for the consternation. Observers have suggested that Mohamed's resignation could offer militants an opportunity to capitalise on the situation and set back the territorial gains made by his administration in the ongoing insurgency in southern Somalia. Responding to the Kampala decision, the Al Shabaab insurgent group's head of policy and regions, Sheikh Hussein Ali Fidow, told reporters on 22 June 2011 that the accord ended in failure since it was "an example [of how] the country is managed by Uganda" and that "it is clear for the Somali people and the international community that [the] Kampala meeting [on] Somalia was aimed to coerce the Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed to step down". In addition, the spokesman suggested that Somalia's citizenry was aware of what was going on and that it did not recognise President Sharif Ahmed and the Parliament Speaker Sharif Hassan as legitimate governmental authorities. He also reiterated his group's call for Ugandan troops to withdraw from the country. On 24 June 2011, lawmakers reaffirmed their opposition to and intention of repealing the Kampala decision. The chairman of the federal Information, Public Awareness, Culture and Heritage Committee, Awad Ahmed Ashareh, indicated that 165 legislators had tendered a motion in Parliament opposing the agreement, but the Speaker rebuffed it. Ashareh also stated that MPs would issue a vote of no confidence vis a vis the Speaker Hassan if he continued to refuse to permit debate to take place, suggesting that Hassan's refusal "contravenes the Charter and rules of procedure." Following talks with parliamentarians, President Sharif Ahmed asserted on 28 June 2011 that, on account of opposition amongst legislators to the Kampala decision, the accord would be brought before Parliament for deliberation. He also indicated that the agreement would not be implemented unless approved by lawmakers.

Mahiga's term as the UN Special Representative for Somalia ended on 3 June 2013. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon commended him on his close work with the Somali authorities, which saw the end of the transitional period and the establishment of a permanent Federal Government of Somalia. UK diplomat Nicholas Kay was concurrently appointed as Mahiga's replacement. After his retirement, he joined the Chama Cha Mapinduzi presidential nomination ticket in 2015, but lost to current President John Magufuli. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, he addressed climate change as "an existential challenge to the planet", saying that it was "disheartening" to see melting ice from the Kilimanjaro. In the same address, he acknowledged the threat of terrorism in Africa, noting the killing of a Tanzanian soldier in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by the Allied Democratic Forces insurgents and said that while his country was receiving refugees from that country, they would implement the peace agreement with the promise of timely elections in that country. As Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, he blocked the right of individuals and NGOs to directly file cases against the country at the African Court on Human and People's Rights (AfCHPR). Amnesty International condemned the move by saying that "the withdrawal of rights will rob people and organizations in Tanzania a vital avenue to justice". In that decision, Tanzania became the second country after Rwanda to withdraw the right of individuals and NGOs to directly access the African Court.

Mahiga died, after a short illness, believed to be COVID 19, while being taken to medical facilities from his Dodoma home on 1 May 2020.