Unguja. The Zanzibar government has coordinated and supervised the disbursement of Sh1.75 billion to 27,886 poor households in Unguja and Pemba as part of ongoing efforts to reduce destitution across the islands.
The Second Vice President, Mr Hemed Suleiman Abdulla, disclosed this yesterday when addressing the Zanzibar House of Representatives.
He was tabling the budget speech for the Office of the Second Vice President for the 2026/27 financial year.
Mr Abdulla said his office successfully oversaw the implementation of programmes under the third phase of the Tanzania Social Development Fund Programme (TASAF) in Zanzibar, which was completed in September 2025.
He said the programmes aimed at strengthening social protection systems for vulnerable groups.
“A total of Sh347.53 million was used in the construction of 19 classrooms in three schools, namely Kendwa and Dodo, where seven classrooms were built in each school.
Five additional classrooms were constructed at Mtangani, with the aim of improving the learning environment for students,” he said.
He added that in the 2025/26 financial year, the government had planned to contribute Sh100 million to support TASAF activities and ongoing programme implementation.
Mr Abdulla said these interventions demonstrate the government’s commitment to strengthening social welfare systems and reducing poverty among Zanzibaris.
He further noted that when TASAF was implementing its third phase, the government played a key coordination and supervisory role in identifying poor households.
“The exercise was conducted in 75 shehias of Unguja and Pemba, involving a total of 13,919 households, of which 899 were from Unguja and 13,020 from Pemba,” he said.
He said the exercise was aimed at collecting critical data on poverty indicators, including those linked to climate change impacts.
Mr Abdulla also said TASAF provided a production grant worth Sh41.99 million to 135 beneficiary households in Unguja, aimed at empowering citizens economically and improving livelihoods.
