No plan to extend runway in Arusha

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2pFVZUCjlNnII6FhyMnmmnuDJROE9PW2HbZiKFfJGlHO5TjOyJ8qMZestXSgkJzVGkBK6FZq5bwfcZkNRR5ck978KHu5JoGIVfcUIeldW-NuydGYbsSn9jT9Tt0nDTHf7yjZ33rrvkMFC/s1600/arusha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2pFVZUCjlNnII6FhyMnmmnuDJROE9PW2HbZiKFfJGlHO5TjOyJ8qMZestXSgkJzVGkBK6FZq5bwfcZkNRR5ck978KHu5JoGIVfcUIeldW-NuydGYbsSn9jT9Tt0nDTHf7yjZ33rrvkMFC/s1600/arusha.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">There are no immediate plans to extend the Arusha airport runway although a new apron will be built, the airport manager, Ms Esther Dede, has said.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Also in pipeline is the construction of a new terminal building to accommodate the increase in passenger traffic, but the length of the runway will remain the same for now.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">She said the expansion and modernisation of facilities at the Arusha airport are contained in its master plan whose implementation is awaiting availability of funds.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Under it, a new terminal building would be constructed behind the current one and hence give enough space for the taxi ways for the increasing number of planes landing and taking off from there. Ms Dede was responding to questions on whether the airport runway would be extended to cater for large aircraft after last week’s unannounced landing of an Ethiopian jet at the tiny airfield.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“We have a master plan for the airport. But I have not seen anywhere in it that the runway will be extended. This airport will continue to cater for small and medium range aircraft,” she said.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">She acknowledged in calls from stakeholders in the travel industry for the expansion of one of the busiest airports in the country to enable it to handle larger planes.</div><a name="more"></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">However, the official said that expansion is not contained in the present master plan and that unless that is done, Arusha Airport runway would remain with the same length; 1,620 metres. “We are okay. Our runway is up to standard; that is why it did not suffer the impact of the Ethiopian jet. But our airport is not meant for large aircraft,” she pointed out.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The unexpected landing of the Ethiopian-registered Boeing 767-300 ER carrying over 200 passengers and crew at the airport on Wednesday last week has brought the facility into the national focus, including safety concerns.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The jet, operated by an aviation firm in the Horn of Africa country, landed unannounced after an apparent communication breakdown with the Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) where it was destined to land.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Although the giant plane landed “safely” and managed to take off a few days later through application of specialised equipment, it skidded into the grass at the end of the 1,6200 metre long runway.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">It took two days for engineers from Ethiopia and local counterparts to tow the giant bird back to the tarmac and on the right direction in the runway to enable it  take off.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">According to aviation experts, Boeing 767-300ER  requires a runway with a minimum length of 2,341 metres at maximum landing weight. KIA’s runway is 3,200-metre long.</div></div>

No plan to extend runway in Arusha

There are no immediate plans to extend the Arusha airport runway although a new apron will be built, the airport manager, Ms Esther Dede, ha...

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Pastoralists hail Sacking of ministers

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-V6bN65tetbjPv90iEJmV9Ap6L8sGyqFEOLsccMxhmKewX7ApWY1sZ-jmBBVZMxsvAuiFBWoP8OxoOsKg-LEstNZWFufTJeXKoANkUjagJK6BvW4-HvpJ3Rd0YVz0Etnn5fS_7wcfCvUp/s1600/pastoralists.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-V6bN65tetbjPv90iEJmV9Ap6L8sGyqFEOLsccMxhmKewX7ApWY1sZ-jmBBVZMxsvAuiFBWoP8OxoOsKg-LEstNZWFufTJeXKoANkUjagJK6BvW4-HvpJ3Rd0YVz0Etnn5fS_7wcfCvUp/s640/pastoralists.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> Livestock herding communities and activists supporting them are happy about last Friday’s cabinet shake-up in which four ministers were sacked over alleged atrocities committed against the pastoralists.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“I am happy because some of my brothers were victims of excessive force used by the police and game rangers”, said Mr. Elikarim Mangi from Babati when reached on phone.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">He said it was appalling that nothing had been done by the relevant authorities over the law enforcers and local administrators who took law into their hands on pretext of implementing Operation Tokomeza.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“What the president did was a good job. Some ministers are not serious with the people’s problems”, he told The Citizen on Sunday, citing cases of beatings and killings of innocent livestock keepers in various parts of the country.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Mr Mangi, who commutes between his timber business mart and large herds of cattle in Ruvuma region, said Manyara leaders should be made to account from the recent death of a woman in Babati district allegedly by the police.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Rev Elibariki Gayewi of the Lutheran Church in Hanang district said the sacking of ministers was an indication that the government was now serious in addressing the problems facing the people, particularly the nomadic pastoralists after being quiet for a long time.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“I am seeing this to be a great change for the good. It is a good sign for the government”, he stated, noting that he was aware of atrocities or beatings committed under Operation Tokomeza against members of the Barbaig community near Tarangire National Park and in Morogoro.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">A resident of Minjingu township in Babati district and former councillor Mr. Olais Ole Koin said he was happy with the removal of Dr. Mathayo David Mathayo as a minister responsible for livestock,saying the sector has not been well managed.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">However, he wondered why the prime minister Mizengo Pinda “has not been touched’ despite his apparent failure to manage the ministers and oversee the government operations as to per his day-to-day mandate.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">He described the recent trends in the Parliament as an indication that it was now matured and active to challenge the government where it went wrong. “We want the government to ensure everybody is accountable”, he explained.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Mzee Mefunya Gapjojig, the first district commissioner for Hanang when the area was curved out of Arusha region in the mid-1980s remarked; “The pastoralists are now happy that the government has started to take action against frequent killings and harassments against them”.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">A business consultant based in Arusha Zephaniah Gidang’ay said what the president did was “something in the right direction” but was surprised why the prime minister has not stepped down as a political responsibility.</div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">He played down claims by the fired Livestock minister Dr. Mathayo that he had been victimised by the Parliamentary Select Committee, wondering where the politician was when large herds of livestock were shot dead in the national parks.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">He added that he expected the new cabinet line-up to have a new prime minister. A CCM grassroot official in Hanang Peter Hayumwa defended the prime minister but said the stepping down of the four ministers was not enough.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“Senior government officials and here I mean the technical people are much to blame and should have to go”, he explained, pointing fingers at the technocrats in the ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">However, some of the tourism industry players appeared not comfortable with the removal of Ambassador Khamis Kagasheki as the minister for Natural Resources and Tourism,saying he gave a needed push to the war against poachers and promotion of tourism.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“Kaghasheki was very supportive to this sector. For a short time he has been with us he has done a lot. I don’t seen anybody to fill his shoes. He was in the frontline in the war against poachers”, lamented Andrew Malalika, a tour operator in Arusha.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The Arusha-based umbrella body for pastoralist non-governmental organizations, PINGOs Forum praised President Jakaya Kikwete for the move and called on the government to ensure that people responsible for atrocities committed against people during Operation Tokomeza are taken to task.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“We are sure that the findings of the Lembeli Committee are true and we have found out that all what is contained and presented to the Parliament was true”, affirmed the PINGOs Forum executive director Edward Porokwa during a press conference here yesterday.</div></div></div>

Pastoralists hail Sacking of ministers

 Livestock herding communities and activists supporting them are happy about last Friday’s cabinet shake-up in which four ministers were sac...

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Hard times ahead for government

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ji916q8S4J5SE9fIgS3ILLb0yFzp9UQrGKyv4i6if00uWxIuEs8nHBJMsn3WqMyi9P7m1zE5-SYnhUUHcL5QEwB7M6moXmZCn9Zl-TWN6AxzDN8wRzbWG8QbcLTirarfNnOnuhYWYELh/s1600/makinda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ji916q8S4J5SE9fIgS3ILLb0yFzp9UQrGKyv4i6if00uWxIuEs8nHBJMsn3WqMyi9P7m1zE5-SYnhUUHcL5QEwB7M6moXmZCn9Zl-TWN6AxzDN8wRzbWG8QbcLTirarfNnOnuhYWYELh/s1600/makinda.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The Speaker of the National assembly, Ms Anne Makinda, has told ministers to change to escape frequent cabinet reshuffles.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Speaking shortly before adjourning the 14th Parliament seating yesterday, Ms Makinda noted that MPs, through their standing committees, have shown that they were determined to keep the ministers on their toes.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“As much as we will continue to have standing committee reports here, be assured that we will be hearing of scandals each year if you ministers continue to live and operate in the old days. We need to change,” Ms Makinda said. She spoke after prime Minister, Mr Mizengo Pinda presented his speech to conclude the Bunge session.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The Speaker said what had happened should be a wake up call to ministers whom he warned against the tendency of depending on their subordinates and executives on sensitive public issues.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Ms Makinda said changes instituted in the budget cycle also calls for change in government operations if the new system is to succeed. “If the government does not change in its operation, the new budget cycle will be meaningless,” she said of the approach for Parliament to reverse the old system of only approving funds without fisrt establishing how the previsous year’s were used.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">She noted for instance that reports show that only small fraction of development funds have been released in the first quarter of the financial year while the Parliament asked the government borrow money to ensure smooth take off of the new system.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“But, if we continue to depend on TRA (Tanzania Revenue Authority) and Finance Ministry alone, we will not reach anywhere… the tax collector should also ensure that he doesn’t stop his work because under the new system the Finance Act allows him to do so from July 1 each year,” she said.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">In his Bunge adjourning speech, Premier Pinda thanked the MPs for the in-depth debate which led to the resignation of four ministers. He also thanked the ministers for accepting to take responsibility for cruelties revealed by the Parliament Committee which investigated the implementation of Opereseheni Tokomeza Ujangili.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"></div><a name="more"></a>On food situation in the country, Mr Pinda noted that food inflation has started to increase as the country comes off the harvesting season.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">But he said food availability was still promising noting that assessment of food situation conducted in October and November this year established that a total of 828,063 face food shortage.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“These people need a total of 23,312 tonnes up to February next year,” he said noting however that the nation has enough reserves to sustain the needs.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Mr Pinda adjourned the Parliament to May 6, next year when  it will meet for the marathon Budget </div></div>

Hard times ahead for government

The Speaker of the National assembly, Ms Anne Makinda, has told ministers to change to escape frequent cabinet reshuffles. Speaking shortly ...

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Bunge drops sim card tax as mobile firms condemned

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg7Hle_Lc1hJENhWW0bxt2UBrCspfW2_guJkgrIuNdV54v-mUE1oJx6WQhC8cLCmIp70ZsfFOWZcPD3NXaID7scWnb9Yv5wKTWBbI3VHU7qUn-Ieqn0Or3lYB6MmlPjdg0Ssz2pUm029T4/s1600/pastoralists.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg7Hle_Lc1hJENhWW0bxt2UBrCspfW2_guJkgrIuNdV54v-mUE1oJx6WQhC8cLCmIp70ZsfFOWZcPD3NXaID7scWnb9Yv5wKTWBbI3VHU7qUn-Ieqn0Or3lYB6MmlPjdg0Ssz2pUm029T4/s1600/pastoralists.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Parliament yesterday scrapped the controversial sim card tax and agreed to raise excise duty on telecommunication services by a further 2.5 per cent. The move will raise internet costs and puts to an end six months of confrontations between wananchi and pressure groups and the government.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The intention of mobile phone companies, which also opposed the sim card tax and moved to court to block TRA from imposing it, came into question as MPs revealed that the firms had agreed to “donate” Sh30bn to the government in return.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The fate of the court case, now with the Revenue Appeals Tribunal, remains unclear as the move to scrap the tax means there will be no reason to go to court. The firms lost the first case at the Tax Revenue Board and lodged an appeal last week.    But even as the MPs approved the Excise Management and Tariff (Amendment) Bill 2013, they warned the government about its tendency to ignore advice on matters that touch on the lives of the people.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The amendments moved by the Finance deputy minister, Ms Saada Mkuya, dropped the Sh1,000 monthly sim card tax, subjecting the government to a Sh148 billion deficit in revenue collection projections.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">To compensate for this, the government proposed a rise in excise duty on telecommunication services from 14.5 per cent to 17 per cent.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">According to Ms Mkuya, the higher excise duty should enable the government to net Sh148 billion. The mobile telecommunication industry has agreed to give the government the Sh30 billion balance. But MPs have raised questions over the generosity of the companies that, only few months ago, said they were incapable of collecting the Sh1,000 sim card tax on behalf of the government.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“Why, all of a sudden, have the companies become so generous that they have volunteered to give the government Sh30 billion when it is the same companies that were protesting the sim card tax?” asked Mr Rajab Mbarouk Mohammed (Ole–CUF).</div><a name="more"></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Other MPs opposed the excise duty hike, noting that though they wanted the government to raise money for water and electricity in the rural areas, the move would add to the burden of Tanzanians.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“During the budget we opposed the increase to 14.5 per cent because it would hurt poor Tanzanians,” said Ms Christine Lissu as she tabled the opposition speech, “but today the government wants to raise it to 17 per cent while the rate does not exceed 12 per cent in the rest of East Africa.”</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Mr Salehe Pamba (Pangani–CCM) said the government needs to get into the habit of involving stakeholders before making decisions, especially on taxation issues that directly affect the people.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Mr James Mbatia (Nominated–NCCR-Mageuzi) said the sim card tax conflict is evidence of how uncoordinated the government is.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“It is amazing that the Finance minister (William) Mgimwa, who backed the law that introduced the sim card tax, disowned the same law a few days after the protests started,” he said.</div></div>

Bunge drops sim card tax as mobile firms condemned

Parliament yesterday scrapped the controversial sim card tax and agreed to raise excise duty on telecommunication services by a further 2.5 ...

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Shock as medical registration fees up by 600pc

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTKQ8DcxKNkjmDWiSKHj2vcGxbY6PlRjJFVhAQNgJjZGllaXuutX-rzDPZO9m7f-W6NvilwiOZhWY6to3b0uhXuFtT3iZ4F2SWMRmcxH114kQs8YqCwJVJ-A9xz_G5NH_uSZAj4oQfB2Xs/s1600/patients.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTKQ8DcxKNkjmDWiSKHj2vcGxbY6PlRjJFVhAQNgJjZGllaXuutX-rzDPZO9m7f-W6NvilwiOZhWY6to3b0uhXuFtT3iZ4F2SWMRmcxH114kQs8YqCwJVJ-A9xz_G5NH_uSZAj4oQfB2Xs/s1600/patients.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Patients here will now pay six times more in charges at mid-level public hospitals as the authorities move to decongest Muhimbili National Hospital, which serves more than 1,000 people every day.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Mwananyamala hospital, in Kinondoni district, has hiked the registration fee from Sh1,000 to Sh6,000 for out-patients beginning December 1.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Citizen on Sunday</em> has learnt that Temeke and Amana hospitals will also announce new fees soon as the government seeks to turn them into regional referral hospitals. The move has caught many city dwellers unawares and concerns have been raised over the state of affairs at health centres and dispensaries, which face acute shortage of medicine and personnel.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Many of the over four million city residents who are poor will struggle to raise the new fees at the designated referral facilities. They are expected to throng the lower facilities that still maintain their registration fees at Sh1,000.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">In a spot check at Mwananyamala, <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Citizen on Sunday </em>met patients protesting the rise in the fees. They lamented that the new charge was way too much for a government hospital. A notice pinned at the hospital announced the new fees and change in status. Patients with referral letters from public health centres will pay Sh3,000 in registration fees.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Those without such documents will pay double the amount, according to the notice. On Wednesday, brothers Mohammed and Abdalah Mwinjuma from Makumbusho left without treatment when confronted with the changes. They claimed they had neither the information nor the money demanded. The brothers have over the years relied on Mwananyamala as it is the health centre nearest to their home. “My brother (Abdalah) is ill and I have brought him straight here,” said Mohammed as they walked out. “Now I am told I have to pay Sh6,000 because we don’t have a referral letter. We have not been attended to.”</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Lucy Charles had a referral, though, and had been cleared to see a doctor after paying Sh3,000. But she still complained that the amount was too much: “We used to pay Sh1,000, which is affordable for the common mwananchi like me, but what is the difference with the private hospitals? We don’t see any improvement in services, just the pricing.”</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">But an official at Mwananyamala defended the new fees, saying they were within the official cost-sharing policy. Mr Edwin Bisakala, the Health Secretary, said the earlier payment of Sh1,000 was only for registration while the current amount covers a medical card, consultations and initials lab tests. “Formerly, the patients were either bringing an exercise book that we used to keep their medical records but the new A4 card remains in the patient’s file at the hospital and the patient is given a card number for reference. On top of that, the patient will get consultation and some initial tests.”</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">He added: “We are just implementing the national cost-sharing policy that says we should raise the fees by 50 per cent if the cost of operation has risen.  Secondly, it is now a regional referral hospital requiring that the people make use of the health centres in their wards.”</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The new charge is expected to help raise internal hospital revenue so that even when the national medical subsidy is delayed or insufficient, they can still maintain required operational levels without disrupting services. “The hospital therapeutic committee proposed the new price and sent the proposal to the hospital board which is the representative of the citizens, who approved it,” he said.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The new charge at Mwananyamala hospital and impending ones at Temeke and Amana means that ward public dispensaries will now receive more patients. But inquiries at the health centres and dispensaries indicate that the current situation in terms of medical supplies and staffing will likely remain the same.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">A tour of several of these health centres and dispensaries established that little has changed and staff have not been made aware of their new role. Sources at Makuburi dispensary, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they were taken by surprise at the sudden surge in patients. The source added: “We were taken aback at first as Mwananyamala did not involve or inform us of the consequences of their move. We now attend to about 200 patients, up from an average of 100 every day.”  An officer at Sinza health centre said they did not know if help would come, and in what form, if they were to handle the new challenges. “We were not informed of the changes but the patients have increased. We have not been given additional funding or more staff and medicine. “</div><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 20.171875px;">At Makuburi, the facility has only two doctors while the third is on leave. “The government or the administration of Mwananyamala hospital should have first considered the situation in these centres because now we will have a big burden using the same inadequate resources,” said one worker.  Ministry of health officials were unavailable for comment.</span></div></div>

Shock as medical registration fees up by 600pc

Patients here will now pay six times more in charges at mid-level public hospitals as the authorities move to decongest Muhimbili National H...

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How Dar can curb corruption

<br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Tanzania has to pull up its socks and back words with commitment if the country wants to triumph against corruption, says Transparency International (TI).</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The organisation recently ranked Tanzania at 111 out of 177 countries on its 2013 Corruption Perceptions Index, nine places down from the 2013 index.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Since the publication of the 1996 Warioba report assessing the state of corruption in Tanzania, the country has established a comprehensive body of regulations, laws and oversight institutions aimed at preventing, investigating and sanctioning corrupt practices, including the Prevention of Corruption Bureau (PCB) to Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), and the Ethics Inspectorate Department. </div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">However, anti-corruption institutions suffering from lack of staff, resources and coordination, enforcement of the laws and regulations remaining limited, which some view as the reasons behind the stalling of the fight against corruption.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“Despite 2013 being a year in which governments around the world passed new laws and forged fresh commitments to end corruption, people are not seeing the results of these promises”, said Transparency International.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">According to the organisation, anti-corruption is an increasingly attractive platform for politicians, with many incorporating anti-corruption pledges into their election campaigns. The danger, however, is that these anti-corruption promises fail to materialise.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> “Government guarantees of greater accountability do not always bring about tangible results at the local level. Protests in Brazil this summer showed public exasperation at the continuation of political scandals in spite of governmental assurances of a zero-tolerance policy on corruption,” claimed the organisation .</div><a name="more"></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Borrow a leaf</strong></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Tanzania and the Sub-Saharan region as a whole once again shows the highest perceived levels of public sector corruption, averaging a score of 33.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">According to TI, there are however success stories which showed action in executing anti-corruption strategies. Estonia established a new anti-corruption strategy centring on increasing transparency in state institutions by creation of online database accessible to all, where people can find who in their municipal council won a tender and what can be done with taxpayer money.  The effort, among others, saw the country climbing four places in the index, from 32 in 2012 to 28 this year.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">According to the latest corruption studies in the country, 18 per cent of Estonians said they had been offered bribes and four per cent had given bribes. The strategy is not dealing with crimes directly, but rather focusing on prevention and education.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">In Spain, after a period blighted by political scandals indicating a lack of accountability and fading public trust, the country has dropped ten places in the index from 30 last year to 40 this year. Spain tried to remedy its corruption troubles with a new Transparency Law passed by a congress in September and awaits Senate’s approval .</div></div>

How Dar can curb corruption

Tanzania has to pull up its socks and back words with commitment if the country wants to triumph against corruption, says Transparency Inter...

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DC announces city’s cleaning schedule

<br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The district commissioner here, Halima Dendego, has announced plans by the local government to undertake an improvement on the current public cleanliness exercise in Tanga popularly known as “Kalembo Day,” conducted every first Saturday of the month to ensure that it does not become a nuisance to businessmen.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Announcing plans at the first inaugural meeting of the Tanga District Business Council (TDBC), Dendego said that under the new plans to be effective starting next year, businesses would not be closed on ‘Kalembo Day’ as it was the case in the past.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Closure of businesses has caused quite a stir and has been a nuisance to businessmen who have complained of losing profits through the exercise. Contributing to a general discussion on the state of business in Tanga City, a member of the council, Sadik Shembilu, said people were not treating the day with mockery, with businessmen closing businesses as usual but staying inside their houses without doing any kind of cleanliness.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“It does not serve the original purpose of cleaning the city. We thank authorities for establishing the cleanliness drive but I think we should change our tactics,” said Shembilu.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">He suggested the use of youth brigades to clean many areas using payments from households instead of using the current system.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The district commissioner said that the city would be divided into zones where cleaning would be done by different sectors of the society.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“The first zone would be where the city council is able to conduct cleanliness without any problem. The second zone would be left to the private sector and would include a plan to establish youth groups to do the cleanliness for a fee,” Dendego pointed out.</div><a name="more"></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">She said the other zone would involve areas where the public would do cleanliness collectively (msalagambo).</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“Cleanliness in Tanga would be a 24-hour affair and the health department is expected to take charge of the situation to ensure that everybody takes part in the exercise.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Meanwhile, a health department official, Joseph Mbati, said that registration of youth groups to undertake cleaning tenders has already started and eight groups have already been registered.</div></div>

DC announces city’s cleaning schedule

The district commissioner here, Halima Dendego, has announced plans by the local government to undertake an improvement on the current publi...

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Kikwete in tough cabinet choice

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkAakeUd-pTc7wLRpvKzO-cLYWb3P0GoFBtXOfvjqtDIoOrhvoHo7KN2tuSbw4-KM4J8OnOaDsLF_R_61Fh0NI95qxKSxYP39sdZQxbpju_l8vZbqRfzpn5j870IxYC-RGyaSlaI_c7Nz-/s1600/jk2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkAakeUd-pTc7wLRpvKzO-cLYWb3P0GoFBtXOfvjqtDIoOrhvoHo7KN2tuSbw4-KM4J8OnOaDsLF_R_61Fh0NI95qxKSxYP39sdZQxbpju_l8vZbqRfzpn5j870IxYC-RGyaSlaI_c7Nz-/s1600/jk2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> In re-crafting the Cabinet,  the engine of  running government affairs,  President Jakaya Kikwete  faces a two-in-one challenge: filling  vacant posts, and determining whether the current governance systems are, or aren’t  good enough to enable even the best brains and dedicated individuals to operate efficiently.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">That, some analysts, say, is apparent, in the wake of four ministers being sacked, and a looming reshuffle that could see more heads rolling, amid heightened concerns at levels ranging from the grassroots to Parliament, that the government is a let-down, in its public service mission.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">On Friday,  the president,  as top appointing authority,  fired four ministers implicated by a parliamentary select committee with gross human rights abuse during an operation to tackle poaching, dubbed ‘Operation Tokomeza’. </div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Chairman of the committee James Lembeli revealed shocking incidences of crimes, including murder, rape and torture committed by soldiers deployed to execute  the operation that triggered much alarm and criticism. He then proposed that the four minister-- Dr Emmanuel Nchimbi (Home Affairs), Mr Khamis Kagasheki (Tourism and Natural Resources), Mr Shamsi Vuai Nahodha (Defence and the National Service) and Dr David Mathayo (Livestock and Fisheries Development)--take responsibility by resigning.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Shedding political party affiliations often typical on issues of a relatively mild nature, MPs supported the proposal, culminating in President Kikwete endorsing the plea by blessing the sacking of the ministers.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Commentators who spoke to The Citizen on Sunday pointed out that, whereas departure from the Cabinet via resignation of,  or expulsion  by ministers deemed inefficient or irresponsible was a positive trend, it wasn’t a wholesome solutions to operational problems.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The Head must  probe  the extent to which the governance systems were a stumbling block to  the performance of  even ministers who would be exemplary performers in an ideal environment.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">What’s more, they noted, restricting punitive measures to ministers was unfair and wouldn’t have long-term positive bearings if  subordinate, but nonetheless key  executives such as permanent secretaries and top political officers  implicated in the atrocities are not sent packing.</div><a name="more"></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Political scientist Bashiru Ali, says the whole governance system in the government was in  such a shambles  that even potentially capable ministers wouldn’t be helpful and whose tenure could consequently be short-lived.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“The same would happen even if we bring in angels…have you asked yourself how many ministers have served in the energy and tourism ministries since Kikwete came to power?” the University of Dar es Salaam lecturer asked. The ministry  of energy has seen three ministers on the wheel since President Kikwete came to power in 2005 while that of tourism will be having its fourth head after the next reshuffle. He said President Kikwete’s administration lacked clear administrative discipline, making even new ministers vulnerable to failure.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“The system is exhausted…it is ungovernable; this parliament will be investigating one scandal after another because the system is failing…it needs a major overhaul,” said Mr Bashiru.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">To show failings in the country’s governance system, the academic said the parliament itself  was suffering from similar accountability problems, making even the Lembeli’s report questionable.</div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">He queried: “We heard of raping  and killings in Mtwara during gas-related chaos; have you seen any report on those atrocities?”</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Leader of the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) Prof Ibrahim Lipumba asked President Kikwete to constantly review performance of his ministers before things get out of hand.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Chadema’s Chairman Freeman Mbowe said we would be committing  serious political mistakes to pour too much blame on alleged underperforming ministers without critically reviewing how the current governance systems work.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“Contributions in parliament by mostly CCM MPs indicate that the ruling party was losing grip,” said the Hai MP. Mr Mbowe said he expected the President  to weed out more unsuitable ministers, citing the Education sector as an example.</div></div></div>

Kikwete in tough cabinet choice

 In re-crafting the Cabinet,  the engine of  running government affairs,  President Jakaya Kikwete  faces a two-in-one challenge: filling  v...

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Dar’s $500bn gas boom and Africa’s richest tribe

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX-dPgU8Xp6Bfv56R27uw3QkIofC5k6CQvf9u-Bdc_0o15b7-pNriZB4IhBNXxeL1ObQYOoBAYlMCHVeU7k5Xfb70rZrmfZ8KAnhn_7s4q3KUv1ceIS7Pqx8vF_NCEejcm60R08-bI6kT_/s1600/muhongo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX-dPgU8Xp6Bfv56R27uw3QkIofC5k6CQvf9u-Bdc_0o15b7-pNriZB4IhBNXxeL1ObQYOoBAYlMCHVeU7k5Xfb70rZrmfZ8KAnhn_7s4q3KUv1ceIS7Pqx8vF_NCEejcm60R08-bI6kT_/s1600/muhongo.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The discovery of natural gas reserves, apart from elevating Tanzania’s economic status, has also triggered heated debate, putting the country’s future at a crossroads. While the government has maintained that its policy aims to create what it calls ‘a win-win situation’, some observers believe Tanzanians have been locked out of the $500 billion gas bonanza.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Energy and Minerals minister Sospeter Muhongo did not take kindly to the debate initiated by Tanzania Private Sector Foundation chairman Reginald Mengi. Prof Muhongo believes Mr Mengi harbours selfish interests, and does not speak on behalf of the masses as he claims.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">But even before Mr Mengi’s outcry against the exclusion of locals from the lucrative natural gas sector, Mtwara and Lindi residents had rioted against what they claim is their sidelining from the imminent boom. The government’s response was to fire tear gas and bullets at them and deploy the military to calm the situation. Countrywide, the nation is divided on how gas revenues should be distributed and spent. Amid the heated debate between Prof Muhongo and Mr Mengi, <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Citizen</em> asks in a special news analysis whether Tanzania could learn a lesson from Africa’s richest community.</div></div>

Dar’s $500bn gas boom and Africa’s richest tribe

The discovery of natural gas reserves, apart from elevating Tanzania’s economic status, has also triggered heated debate, putting the countr...

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TZ woman changing lives abroad

<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></strong></div><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">She has come a long way. Her experience around gender sent her on a journalistic and diplomatic journey to South Africa where she settled until today. A life coach and author, Ms Scholastic Kimaryo, told her story to <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Citizen on Sunday</em> in Pretoria recently</strong></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Tell me about yourself</strong></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">I was born in Kibosho, Moshi Rural, in 1949 in a family of three girls and three boys. In my community, I was the first girl to go beyond primary school.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">My father did not want to waste his money from coffee by sending a girl child to school, it was only after the local parish priest intervened that I was allowed to continue with standard five.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">I was lucky in secondary school in that the government shouldered the burden. Fortunately, I was very good in class and excelled at a missionary school.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">I later joined Tabora Girls High School which was under Barbro Johansson. Madam Johansson helped us so much, she wanted the girl child to do well, and we did not disappoint. </div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Afterwards, I joined the then University of East Africa in Nairobi in 1969, where I did a degree in home economics. During my studies, I wrote articles for various publications and it was not surprising that I would soon land at<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Uhuru, Mzalendo</em> and <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Nationalist</em> newspapers. I was later told to go and work for <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Daily News</em> and <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Sunday News</em> where I also ran a column on home economics issues. As a journalist, I rose to become secretary general of the Tanzania Journalists Association (Taja). In October 1977, the United Nations General Assembly declared that 1979 would be an international year of the child.  </div><a name="more"></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The aim was to remind and ask all governments to put structures that would improve the wellbeing of every child. Working for newspapers and also under the public service, I was sent to write about the year and, among other things, I interviewed the Unicef head, Mr Alex Tosh. That changed everything and the rest, as they say, is history.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">So, that set off your next phase as a UN worker. How was the experience?</strong></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">In 1977, I was appointed the first executive secretary of the Tanzanian Commission for children funded by Unicef. </div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Although I had written many articles prior to that appointment, this was the first organisation where my writing would make a difference. We proposed and implemented a number of child-related projects, found foreign donors; we translated a book-‘Mahali Pasipo na Daktari’-which was distributed all over the country. We were so successful that Mwalimu Nyerere declared that 1980 would be the national year of the child. I stayed on and progressed to be head of Unicef in the country and thereafter I was seconded to UN where I worked for various UN agencies, mainly in Southern Africa. After 23 years, I was promoted to be the UNDP Representative to SA, effectively responsible for the UN agencies in the country. I had wanted to join politics in the 1980’s but then UN policies did not allow us to participate.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">So, I worked for Unicef for 23 years and UNDP for eight years in Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa, where I was the first Unicef representative after the country attained its independence, Liberia during Charles Taylor’s reign, Kenya and New York.</div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">But after all those years of service delivery, I realised that somehow there was a disconnection. All what we were doing was not sustainable because of policy issues. That is how I found my way back to school to study social policy, planning and participation in developing countries at the London School of Economics & Political Science. When I returned, I decided to work with UNDP for its core mandate is governance.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">What were the highlights of your career?</strong></div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">There are several in every country that I worked. In Tanzania, Unicef helped to significantly reduce child mortality so much so that it was common to find children named ‘Unicef’. In Botswana, we highlighted the plight of the pastoral communities. In SA, our work focused on supporting the emerging democracy in incorporating the rights of children into the new Constitution. Also during my time as the Unicef representative here, our office managed to bring the Duchess of Kent for a tour which resulted in her raising five million dollars for the local cause. Similarly, in Liberia which happened to have been during its civil war, we facilitated a tour by ‘the Oprah of Japan’ Tetsuko Kuroyanagi who raised a million dollars to help our programmes.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">What was the secret behind your success?</strong></div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">First of all, up-bringing is very important. Parents should nurture their children to work hard, to be independent while also ensure they grow with good manners. But secondly, we should know that hard work pays… I worked hard that is why I succeeded.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">I also knew that I was educated using tax payers’ money so, I had to work hard for my country as a way of saying thank you. Thirdly, discipline; we have to be disciplined at home, at school, everywhere. If you are disciplined you will do well at work as well.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">And what were the challenges that you faced?</strong></div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">I must admit that UN is a very difficult place to work. It is a club of different governments. What is accepted at the UN is moral minimum but the problem was with implementation; you work under a certain host government. Everywhere you go has its working environment and does and don’ts. You have to make sure that you convince the host government to help you reach the people you are supposed to serve. Because the target is the people, governments can sometimes send you to serve the areas which are not necessarily the UN’s priority.  Another challenge is that of family.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">I was always traveling and I could be moved from one country to the other. I had problems keeping tabs on my children. At the end we decided to send them to boarding schools. Yes, I got a very good income but it was sometimes painful living away from my family. </div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">How did you finally end up staying in South Africa?</strong></div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">I retired from the UN after I reached the mandatory age of 60 years, but I was still energetic. So, I took my pension and went back to school, this time at the Chopra Centre University in California where I got an International Certification as an Ayurvedic Lifestyle Coach and Primordial Sound Meditation Instructor.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">South Africa is the only country where I served for two different periods. I really believe that God brought me here for a reason.</div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">After independence, Mwalimu Nyerere said that the continent would not be free unless the other countries including SA were freed. Similarly, I think that in the success or failure of SA lies the hopes and aspirations of the African people. Here, I find vibrancy, a democratic space and a hunger for success. It is the last hope that we have to get our act together and provide a platform for a dynamic Africa.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">I currently serve on the boards of many international organisations and about a decade ago I founded the Tanzanian Women in Gauteng (Twiga), which is essentially aimed at bringing together Tanzanian women living here. We support each other on different fronts</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">After witnessing the toll that stress in the workplace takes on individuals, I made a promise to God that when I retire I would learn to be a principle-centred leader who promotes balanced living for people to be healthy in mind, body and spirit.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">I retired in 2009 and went to the Chopra Centre University in California to learn about spiritual health. I subsequently founded the Maadili Conscious Leadership & Healthy Lifestyles Coaching Institute. Using Ayurvedic techniques, I help individuals in the work place and elsewhere identify their natural mind body constitution and to understand their behaviour patterns when they are in and out of balance. On this basis, I share with them knowledge that enables them to access their potential towards the attainment of mind body balance through mindful awareness and conscious choice making. This helps tap into the healer within all of us and supports the fulfilment of our purpose in life.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">For me, it is important to unlock the potential that is in most African people, individually and collectively.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">What do you see as Tanzania’s development challenges?</strong></div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Well, first, we have to work on our education system. I think the current curricula don’t prepare our people to get out of school and be competitive.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">In the past we were taught to work hard, not only for ourselves but the country at large, may be because of the policy of socialism, but I now see everyone rushing to enrich themselves by any means. Selfishness won’t make us develop as a nation.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">During our days you could hardly hear of corruption scandals, today it is normal. Moreover, our leaders need to be selfless and patriotic.</div></div><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"></div><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"></div><div class="clear" style="clear: both; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></div><br /><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">They need to put plans that will see the nation benefit from its natural resources. Our country has almost every natural resource but we are still poor. We have to put in place plans so that we prosper using our God-given heritage.</div></div></div></div>

TZ woman changing lives abroad

She has come a long way. Her experience around gender sent her on a journalistic and diplomatic journey to South Africa where she settled un...

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Tanesco debts pose risk to Tanzania’s economy: World Bank

<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The state power utility firm, Tanzania Electric Company (Tanesco), which has accumulated huge debts is mounting risks to the government, in terms of managing the rising national debt stock and subsequent debt payments’ demand.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Reading the fourth Economic Update prepared by the World Bank, lead Economist of Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda, Mr Jacques Morisset, said that  Tanesco has already accumulated $260 million (Sh416 billion) that has to be shouldered by the government.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Mr Morisset said, the government has to rethink incurring more debts because it has big commitment to pay debts incurred by Tanesco apart from the debts arising from financing infrastructure development.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">He also said the government will have to decide between either increasing the power tariff or budget reallocation involving expenditure cuts in other economic sectors.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“Decisive actions will be needed to close Tanesco’s projected financial gap, which will grow in approximately $250 million in 2013. The required actions will involve politically contentious measures such as tariffs increase or budget reallocations involving significant expenditure cuts in other areas,” reads part of the report circulated in the World Bank’s meeting held in Dar es Salaam recently. </div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">According to the World Bank’s lead economist, alternatively these actions may involve non-concessional borrowing at high future cost, which needs government rethinking.  “The size of Tanesco deficit is itself sensitive to a number of factors outside government control, including hydrology conditions and world oil prices. A combination of bad luck or delay in the implementation of Tanesco action plan would add significant risk to the government’s fiscal accounts,” World Bank report further reads.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Apart from Tanesco’s huge debt, the World Bank report has shown other risks associated with rising debt services’ payments as short term risk relating to implementation of projects under Big Results Now (BRN) and shortfalls in revenue collection.</div><a name="more"></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The World Bank has also enlisted the third risk as accumulation of government payment arrears relating to the pension sector and the management of contingent liabilities from the parastatals.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The manager for World Bank projects in Africa, Mr Albert Zeufact also cautioned that the tendency of most African countries in continuing to meet the cost of running inefficient parastatals  leads to unnecessary debts.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> “What is important is to make sure that when government borrows for huge public investment it targets the most productive ventures that can give positive returns,” said Mr Zeufack.</div></div>

Tanesco debts pose risk to Tanzania’s economy: World Bank

The state power utility firm, Tanzania Electric Company (Tanesco), which has accumulated huge debts is mounting risks to the government, in ...

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Ethiopian Boeing 767 crash-lands in Arusha

<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFUhcbJLePS21GEI5Do4R2w2nyyCnlnnXwAWDDfbTGWimofU6gLznzOYbX9UjcYV4UzSwQ2rK0bhhcGSy65tzEW20MBCF6KlDvMt4QxV4x0rL8bbiK7jXUVwac9Z-Ne308oz0OKb9Pev7c/s1600/NDEGE5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFUhcbJLePS21GEI5Do4R2w2nyyCnlnnXwAWDDfbTGWimofU6gLznzOYbX9UjcYV4UzSwQ2rK0bhhcGSy65tzEW20MBCF6KlDvMt4QxV4x0rL8bbiK7jXUVwac9Z-Ne308oz0OKb9Pev7c/s1600/NDEGE5.jpg" /></a></div><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">A Boeing 767 ferrying more than 200 passengers and crew had to make an emergency landing yesterday at Arusha Airport, which normally handles light aircraft. The Ethiopian-registered jet cruised the entire length of the runway before skidding and coming to a stop on the grass.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The mid-day drama raised questions about safety at the busy airport, which was thrown off balance last week when the tyres of a PrecisionAir plane that had just landed burst.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">No one was injured in yesterday’s drama, which saw the plane skid into the rain-soaked grass at the end of the runway. It took hours, though, for the passengers to leave as the airport did not have the stairs normally used for disembarking and boarding.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Aviation officials were hard put to explain the circumstances in which the plane landed at Kisongo along the Dodoma-Arusha highway instead of Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA), some 50 kilometres away. “It probably landed here by mistake,” said airport Manager Esther Dede. “The pilot was not supposed to land here because this is not an airport its size.”</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Operations at the airport, which is used by scheduled and charter flights, came to a halt as rescue and fire teams and security officials rushed to the scene.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Arusha Regional Commissioner Magesa Mulongo arrived at around 3pm and took charge of the frantic efforts to free passengers stuck in the plane for lack of appropriate elevators. “What is being done now is to have people out of the aircraft and then reduce the cargo so that the plane can take off easily for another airport,” he told The Citizen on the phone.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The regional administrator, who is also the chairman of the Defence and Security Committee, confirmed that the plane “landed safely” and that nobody had been injured. Teams of security officials, including armed police, were at the scene to ensure law and order.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The doctor in charge of Mt Meru Regional Hospital, Dr Josiah Mlay, said doctors and nurses had been rushed in though nobody had been brought to the medical centre.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">An aviation official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the aircraft may have been destined for KIA or any other major airport in the East African region. He hinted that the mishap could have been caused by human error or little knowledge of the area by the pilot.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Mr Bakari Murusuri, a senior official at Kilimanjaro Airports Development Company, which manages KIA, was unable to confirm whether or not the plane was headed to KIA but said the airport handles at least three Ethiopian Airlines flights a day.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">He was also puzzled as to why the big aircraft landed at the Arusha airport. “In case of such emergencies, the plane could have been diverted to Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar or Nairobi,” he said. “We have not seen such a thing before.”</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Immigration, customs and health services are not available at the airport because it does not handle passengers flying directly into the country. Arrangements were being made yesterday to transfer the passengers to KIA.</div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">A local Arusha radio station reported late yesterday that it took hours for the doors of the plane to open. They did so only after special equipment was brought in. The plane made the emergency landing around noon.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Sources in Arusha said the plane approached from the east, leading to speculation as to why an aircraft that size was heading to the small airport. Said a source who did not want to be named: “We sensed something was wrong because of the way it was flying. It looked like it would crash.”</div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Hundreds of Arusha residents dashed to the scene, many of them watching the unfolding events from the safety of the main road as access to the airport was restricted.</div></div></div>

Ethiopian Boeing 767 crash-lands in Arusha

A Boeing 767 ferrying more than 200 passengers and crew had to make an emergency landing yesterday at Arusha Airport, which normally handles...

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Dar resident wins Samsung’s grand prize

<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxWtMMOP1gnziPQ49WIDp9skJwmKmkbPxe5j7dfAK5OuDbYGAtkjJlUh2L7sT9WkuboLz8OrZt2e9ZCkGTKLDsZGZ2RXbnMVgyZY7AIDb9s8NdDn0scP245xyMN370WZm6LlFfCc7msYgU/s1600/prize.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxWtMMOP1gnziPQ49WIDp9skJwmKmkbPxe5j7dfAK5OuDbYGAtkjJlUh2L7sT9WkuboLz8OrZt2e9ZCkGTKLDsZGZ2RXbnMVgyZY7AIDb9s8NdDn0scP245xyMN370WZm6LlFfCc7msYgU/s320/prize.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Samsung’s promotion dubbed ‘Pambika na Samsung’ reached was concluded yesterday with a Dar es Salaam-based businessman, Mr Juma Ramadhan (46), driving home a brand new Mitsubishi Double Cabin.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The vehicle was also loaded with Samsung products including a laptop, washing machine, fridge, Galaxy Tab 10.1, microwave, 32’ LED TV, DVD player and a home theatre system, according to a statement availed to the press in Dar es Salaam yesterday.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Mr Ramadhani was overwhelmed with joy upon receiving the phone call – informing him about the development.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“To be frank, I was not convinced that I had won a brand new Mitsubishi Double Cabin pickup. I am so grateful, it is hard to accept the truth that I have won a car I never thought of something like this! I am so happy,” said the delighted winner, a Tabata Segerea resident.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The final draw was held at Mlimani City also rewarded individual gifts to another 15 lucky customers. So far, the seven-week long promotion has brought smiles to over 90 individuals since its inception.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Pambika na Samsung was launched in November – targeting to reward customers for purchasing genuine Samsung products. The campaigns message was not only to enable customers to enjoy support from authorized Samsung dealers but also sought to promote the culture of buying authentic products in the country.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Earlier, Samsung Tanzania Sales and Distribution manager Sylvester Manyara said, “The promotion has seen success in the campaign to eliminate counterfeit goods in the Tanzanian market and raising awareness of the benefits of purchasing genuine goods. It is our hope that this the culture of buying original products will continue even after the end of the promotion.”</div></div>

Dar resident wins Samsung’s grand prize

Samsung’s promotion dubbed ‘Pambika na Samsung’ reached was concluded yesterday with a Dar es Salaam-based businessman, Mr Juma Ramadhan (46...

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Tanzania population rise ‘alarming’

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiWwt-Co5ElZz0TA4Ytcdz0Wa13xl8c0S0dCmc_545n4XD5y42GyETGrpFFhxOh-LTogFcnBzjsjRc-ttYDyNfyxpb2q99jtm2jNZq95MeSDe3uNYkwQS2R7PuE33QrX0CTe1STVoUUDFR/s1600/PopExp+Clip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiWwt-Co5ElZz0TA4Ytcdz0Wa13xl8c0S0dCmc_545n4XD5y42GyETGrpFFhxOh-LTogFcnBzjsjRc-ttYDyNfyxpb2q99jtm2jNZq95MeSDe3uNYkwQS2R7PuE33QrX0CTe1STVoUUDFR/s1600/PopExp+Clip.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Tanzania’s population growth is among the highest in the East and central African region  and the world and could worsen food security which is already severe, a new book, published this week by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) says.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Released on Monday by three research organizations, the book says that arable areas in the region are under severe pressure to increase their productivity to feed a rapidly increasing human population.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">It however predicts that climate change could exacerbate the situation.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The book is the result of collaboration among IFPRI, the CGIAR Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), and scientists from each of the countries studied. </div><a name="more"></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“Adaptation is essential for sustained economic growth in East Africa. This is the challenge facing policy makers, who must plan for the future without available information and analysis,” it reads in part.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">East African Agriculture and Climate Change examines the food security threats facing 11 of the countries that make up East and Central Africa—Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda—and explores how climate change will increase the requirements for achieving sustainable food security throughout the region.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">According to IFPRI, agriculture drives these countries’ economies and accounts for 43 per cent of their annual gross domestic product.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Using sophisticated modelling and available data to develop future scenarios and explore a range of climate change consequences for agriculture, food security, and resource management, the book offers recommendations to national governments and regional agencies.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Without adaptation, the book reports, climate change will have negative effects on wheat, soybean, sorghum, and irrigated rice yields.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Yield declines for each crop are different, but they range between five and 20 per cent, with irrigated rice being the crop most negatively impacted.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Rain-fed maize and rainfed rice yields might increase slightly because of climate change, generally because of projected higher rainfall in some areas.</div></div>

Tanzania population rise ‘alarming’

Tanzania’s population growth is among the highest in the East and central African region  and the world and could worsen food security which...

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7 arrested over killing of former CCM chairman

<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Police are holding seven people in connection with the killing of the former CCM Mwanza chairman and Kisesa Ward Councillor, Mr Clement Mabina.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Mopw5z0Sxz8n49Yatm495X6VLGl5bg1gLfM0tUPGBvo-DgnwSBJm5srQVqZZq_w1gMHlqWmZ0tiYKy46nq9idE71nf_l6ByF3NZICr_Xc_K_S6n0jO2XC8e4u8ljShC-fqgmUl6LFSHg/s1600/mabina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Mopw5z0Sxz8n49Yatm495X6VLGl5bg1gLfM0tUPGBvo-DgnwSBJm5srQVqZZq_w1gMHlqWmZ0tiYKy46nq9idE71nf_l6ByF3NZICr_Xc_K_S6n0jO2XC8e4u8ljShC-fqgmUl6LFSHg/s1600/mabina.jpg" /></a></div><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The arrest of suspects brought panic in Kisesa and Kanyama areas where the Mabina was killed on Sunday by an angry mob allegedly because of a land dispute.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Mwanza Regional Police Commander Valentino Mulowola, however, declined to name the suspects, pointing out that divulging their identities could disrupt ongoing investigations that sought to expose the actual killers and the motive behind their action.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Heightened police activity in the two areas resulted in fear as the law keepers have vowed to leave no stone unturned until they nail the killers.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">At Kisesa, where the late Mabina lived, his neighbours and members of the family expressed their disappointment at the way the media, especially the social networks, reported his death.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Family spokesman Timothy Gregory said Mabina’s death was reported with a political slant, unfairly branding the deceased political leader as an oppressor and a land grabber.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">‘‘His death has been turned into a political agenda meant to tarnish his image and that of the ruling party,’’ claimed a family member who did not wish to be named.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">His family further claimed that those who killed Mabina were hired to block him from vying for a high political post in the 2015 General Election.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The family and some eyewitnesses at Kisesa and Kanyama shrugged off claims that the mob killed Mabina after he shot dead a 12-year-old child.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">‘‘He didn’t kill him; rather, his gun went off on its own as an angry crowd chased him, baying for his blood; he never aimed a gun at anyone as claimed in some reports,’’  they said.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Mr Mulowola said Mabina was found with a shotgun and a pistol, but did not say whether the firearms had ammunition.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">The family spokesman said it was too early give the date of the burial as the family was waiting for the police report on the killing and the arrival in Mwanza of key members of the family.</div></div>

7 arrested over killing of former CCM chairman

Police are holding seven people in connection with the killing of the former CCM Mwanza chairman and Kisesa Ward Councillor, Mr Clement Mabi...

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Mengi hits out at Prof Muhongo

<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFKoFodsXrHozSKzpIUG0oS7Ap-dOkt0HJ9uOR-3GqotniWC5ce41lFBpOi4dFy2qq4Q7B7ilnF1grzMG7CpNOtPmmmTrT6kh3wBp20h1vnPShzvujJd644h7xofhW4TW1vd9Ojm7-cm1Y/s1600/mengi+pix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFKoFodsXrHozSKzpIUG0oS7Ap-dOkt0HJ9uOR-3GqotniWC5ce41lFBpOi4dFy2qq4Q7B7ilnF1grzMG7CpNOtPmmmTrT6kh3wBp20h1vnPShzvujJd644h7xofhW4TW1vd9Ojm7-cm1Y/s1600/mengi+pix.jpg" /></a></div><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Just a day before President Jakaya Kikwete chairs a private sector meeting today, IPP Limited chairman Reginald Mengi has hit back at the minister for Energy and Minerals, Prof Sospeter Muhongo.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">Dr Mengi, who is also the chairman of the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF), but who spoke on his capacity as a businessman, yesterday came out in self-defence over allegations of greed and selfishness that Prof Muhongo levelled against him, in a bid to clear the air before today’s meeting. Speaking to journalists in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Mr Mengi said there was a problem in a statement given by Prof Muhongo about him.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"><br /><a name="more"></a>He recalled that early September, this year, Prof Muhongo was quoted as saying that Mr Mengi lacked patriotism and wanted to act as a middleman in selling blocks of the country’s natural resources.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“I would like to clarify the matter so that I don’t go to the meeting tomorrow (today) with statements made by Prof Muhongo uncorrected,” he said. “The truth is that I am not selfish, secondly I have never asked for any favour to be given blocks of natural gas, but I fight for Tanzanians in general,” he said.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">During a public symposium held at University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Prof Muhongo, who was among the presenters, highlighted some data that showed number of Tanzanians who own big areas of investments in mining sector, whereby he noted that Mr Mengi was holding a third position by having a site with a size three times Dar es Salaam city.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“However, he is doing nothing to benefit Tanzanians, instead, he is enriching himself,” Prof Muhongo said. But, yesterday Mr Mengi reacted to the allegations, saying Prof Muhongo gave wrong statistics and data about his ownership of mining site.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">“The truth is that I own the sites under shareholding with my fellow Tanzanians; one mining site fo tanzanite with a size of less than one square kilomitre, and not three times the size of Dar es Salaam as he said,” he opposed.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">He added: “I would like to insist that I have personally got big opportunity to develop in business, and now what I fight for is to extend opportunities so that many Tanzanians can participate as it is stated in National Economic Empowerment Act,2004, which provides special priority to citizens on their natural resources.”</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">He was optimistic that today’s stakeholders meeting of private sector would enable acquiring resolution on how the private sector would empower Tanzanians in various economic spheres.</div></div>TheCitizen

Mengi hits out at Prof Muhongo

Just a day before President Jakaya Kikwete chairs a private sector meeting today, IPP Limited chairman Reginald Mengi has hit back at the mi...

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