Daily News I Front page
JK: Produce more engineers
Tanzania produces 500 engineers annually and President Jakaya Kikwete has challenged concerned institutions to ensure the figure is doubled to cope with the country’s development goals. The President is optimistic that the country can produce 1,000 engineers annually in a few years’ time. “I am an optimist, just bring me your plans on how we can achieve that and I believe we can reach that target…we can do it in the next few years”, he said. Kikwete was addressing the 6th Annual Engineering Day [AED 2008] in Dar es Salaam yesterday when he made the challenge. The meeting was organized by the Engineering Registration Board [ERB]. He observed that the shortage of engineers in the country reflected the nation’s poverty, adding that Tanzania has a long way to go since a country like India produces 300,000 engineers annually while China produces 600,000 engineers per annum. He said he is aware that very few students opt for engineering courses and stressed the need to put more emphasis on science subjects in secondary schools. “We have to take deliberate measures to ensure more students pursue science subjects in secondary schools. Secondary education is an onerous burden and we have to invest heavily in that area”, he said.
[The Guardian; The African]
Court rejects exhibit in Zombe trial – The High Court yesterday refused to accept as Exhibit 24, still pictures and a sketch showing places at Pande Forest where three mineral dealers and a taxi driver were allegedly brutally shot dead by the police, citing legal technicalities. Principal Judge Salum Massati upheld objections raised by advocates Majura Magafu, Denis Msafiri and Gaudious Ishengoma that the album containing the pictures was not admissible as it was not listed during committal proceedings. He rejected submissions by chief prosecutor Mugaya Mutaki that it was not necessary to list all exhibits before the case was committed to the High Court for trial – and that it would, therefore, be prejudicial to accept the pictures at the moment.
[The Guardian; The Citizen; ThisDay]
The Guardian I Front page
Ex-detainee Salim suffers memory loss – Suleiman Abdallah Salim, the Tanzanian arrested and detained five years ago for his alleged involvement in the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, has said he is down with temporary memory loss. He blames the problem on the physical and psychological torture he says he was subjected by American soldiers during and following his arrest.
The African | Front page
ANC thanks Tanzania for aid
– The Africa National Congress [ANC] has thanked Tanzania for the role it played in helping South Africans fight against apartheid. Tanzania provided training for South Africans during the struggle against apartheid. This was said by the ANC president Jacob Zuma while thanking President Jakaya Kikwete during dinner hosted for him at the State House in Dar es Salaam. Zuma, who led an ANC delegation, said they had come to Tanzania to borrow CCM’s experience in running party affairs.
[The Guardian].
Ministry sends team of experts to Ruvuma – The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has sent a medical team to Mbinga District/Ruvuma Region to establish the kind of disease that has killed six pupils of Makatane Primary School. The Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Prof. David Mwakyusa, who apparently was unaware of the story, phoned the Ruvuma Regional Medical Officer to get more details. After the briefing, Mwakyusa told ‘The African’ that a team of experts had been dispatched to ascertain the disease and how to curb it. He said according to the report, the symptoms of the disease were strange since the patients were paining of headache, stomachache, and traces of blood were found in their stool.
ThisDay I Front page
Revealed: Up to 40% of goods sold locally are fake – Up to 40 per cent of goods on sale in Tanzania – particularly construction equipment, electronics, vehicle spare parts and some medicines – are counterfeit thus posing serious threat to the welfare of consumers and the national economy in general. “According to our study, between 20 and 40 per cent of goods in local shops were found to be counterfeit,” the director general of the Fair Competition Commission [FCC], Godfrey Mkocha, told ‘THISDAY’ in an interview in Dar es Salaam yesterday. He added: “Bringing counterfeit goods into a nascent economy like ours is just as criminal as engaging in terrorism and economic sabotage.” According to Mkocha, although the problem of counterfeit goods in the country has existed for sometime now, it was actually worse before the recent enactment of a new law prohibiting intrusion of counterfeits. He said since the new legislation started being enforced last year, the FCC has managed to impound and destroy counterfeit goods worth well over one billion shillings.
Daily News | Inside pages
Explore opportunities, PM tells traders [Pg 2] –
The business community needs to change mindsets and become more aggressive and outward looking to benefit from emerging opportunities. Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda made the call yesterday when speaking to representatives of various business interests in Dar es Salaam. He said that the business community has learnt diverse business environments and explored new opportunities. The community can also advise the Government on the best policies that the country can adopt to compete at the regional level. “There was a time after independence we were left behind because of the policies we adopted…but that has to change now and we have to rid ourselves of policies and attitudes that do not benefit us in a competitive environment,” he said. Delegates of the Trade, Business and Investment Mission from Tanzania will from tomorrow to September 16 visit four countries of East Africa to familiarize themselves with counterpart business communities and to secure business opportunities.
[The Guardian]
Govt extends measles vaccination until tomorrow [Pg 2] – The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare yesterday extended the measles immunization campaign to tomorrow. According to a press release issued in Dar es Salaam by the Ministry’s acting Permanent Secretary, Dr. Gilbert Mliga, the extension follows a low turnout by parents in this year’s campaign. Earlier, the campaign which was launched on August 30 in Tanga Region by the Vice President, Dr. Ali Mohamed Shein wound up as scheduled last Monday. Mlinga said that the vaccine was safe and has been used to serve the purpose for more than 30 years.
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Dar police hold 22 ‘wild dog’ bandits [Pg 2] – Police in Dar es Salaam are holding 22 bandit’s alias ‘mbwa mwitu’ for robbery in different areas by using knives and grill. The Special Zone Regional Police Commander, Suleiman Kova, said yesterday that the suspects were engaged in robbery at Kichangani, Mtoni Mtongani and Temeke areas. “It is due to the police patrol search of one week, the suspects accepted the crime and four among 22 were taken to the Court”, he said.
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JK’S visit to US big success [Pg 2] –
The United States Ambassador, to Tanzania Mark Green, has described President Jakaya Kikwete’s recent visit to Washington DC as a ‘tremendous success’ and has also strengthened bilateral relations between the two countries. In a statement issued yesterday, Ambassador Green, said President Kikwete and his counterpart President George Walker Bush were able to discuss important new initiatives such as improving education, health care, and agriculture related matters, especially providing local farmers with increased access to credit. The statement said that during President Kikwete’s one-week visit to the US capital, American and Tanzanian leaders announced tens of million of dollars in new initiatives to help strengthen education sector, health and economic development.
[The Guardian; The African; ThisDay]
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Trial of ICTR staff murder suspect likely in October [Pg 2] – The hearing of a murder trial of a Cote d’lvoire [Ivory Coast] national, Armandi Guehi, who allegedly murdered his wife nearly three years ago, Angele Kosiah Sama, an employee of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda [ICTR] in the outskirts of Arusha is likely to commence next month in Moshi. The UN tribunal is trying the key suspects of the 1994 genocide, which claimed lives of approximately 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
[The Citizen]
Drama as accused Chinese refuse to sign Court documents [Pg 2] – The Mbeya Resident Magistrate’s Court was yesterday thrown into confusion as three Chinese nationals accused of roughing up and injuring an immigration officer and destroying government property worth sh s200,000/- refused to sign documents before Magistrate In-charge, Happiness Ndesamburo. “We cannot sign something we don’t know,’’ maintained the first accused in the case, Zhaofeng Zhang when he was responding through an interpreter to a threat by the magistrate to imprison them for contempt of Court if they continued refusing to sign the document. “Why do you refuse to sign the document?’’ queried Ms Ndesamburo. “Are you not of Chinese nationality, didn’t you plead appear in this Court on September 03 this year? She asked. It was only after clarification was made to them that the three Chinese agreed to sign.
The Guardian I Inside pages
Opposition pledge for unity in polls thrown overboard [Pg 2] – Opposition parties in Ngara District/Kagera Region, have virtually backpedaled on their pledge to field one candidate in a bye-election for councilors to be held later this month. This follows removal of Jactani Meshak, a candidate for Chama cha Mapinduzi [CCM], on suspicious that he entered a girl’s dormitory in a secondary school where he had sexual relations with one of them. According to the opposition, Meshack was regarded as a formidable force in the expected elections. Talking to PST on the break-up of the alliance, Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo [CHADEMA] chairperson in Ngara District Hesau Hosea said that following the incident, opposition parties had each vowed to field their own candidate.
Causes of schoolgirl pregnancies in Kwimba laid bare [Pg 3] – The incidence of early pregnancies in schoolgirls in Kwimba District/Mwanza Region, is alarming, leading to a high number of dropouts. Major causes of the problems include low family incomes, lack of accommodation at schools and prevailing social traditional morals and customs. Others are long walking distances whereby pupils have to walk more than eight kilometres to reach school; and poor school environment. A survey conducted by ‘the Guardian’ in the district recently shows that most parents are low-income earners who cannot adequately fulfill the needs of their children.
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Manual on reporting of gender issues is born [Pg 3] – Gender and Media Southern Africa-Tanzania Network [GEMSAT] on Thursday launched an institutional and capacity building manual to enable journalists to report gender issues accurately. GEMSAT director Rose Haji said in Dar es Sala that the manual would be used to provide training on gender development violence, equality, reproductive health and child abuse. It would further help in mainstreaming gender issues at the workplace. “Our goal is to enhance the capacity of journalists on reporting gender issues and at the same time ensure that the voices of women and men in all their diversity are equitably represented and fairly portrayed in the media,” she said.
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Sitta discusses plight of women, children in war situations [Pg 3] – Community Development, Gender and Children minister Margaret Sitta has said that women and children are more vulnerable to sporadic civil wars in Africa. Sitta made the remakes in Bagamoyo on Monday when opening a three-day international conference on women, peace and security in Somalia. She said Tanzania and other African countries had a lot to learn from women who, in one way or another, got involved in wars such as those in Somalia.
Monduli council standoff undermines community development [Pg 3] – A simmering conflict between councilors in Monduli District in Arusha Region and newly posted council director Zipora Liana will cause more harm to the community unless higher authorities make timely intervention to iron out their differences. Interviewed Monduli residents have warned. In a council meeting held recently, conflict of interest appeared to be the major reason for the misunderstanding between the antagonistic parties that led to a verbal war which drew curious wananchi to the conference hall where the fracas was talking place. Among issues which prompted the standoff was alleged misappropriation of funds set aside for development projects in the area.
Meeting on Muhimbili workers’ dues comes to premature end [Pg 4] – A meeting between the government and workers of the Muhimbili National Hospital ended prematurely on Thursday in Dar es Salaam after Health and Social Welfare permanent secretary Wilson Mukama failed to give satisfactory explanation as to when the hospital workers would get their salary arrears. Mukama was among top government officials who attended the meeting which aimed at averting a planned strike by the workers following delaying the payment of the arrears. The PS failed to assure the workers as to when they would be paid, upon which the workers shouted him down.
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We’re having it very rough say residents moved from Geita mine [Pg 4] – More than 250 residents from 86 wards now occupied by Geita Gold Mine in Mwanza Region, have complained about the hard life they face after being relocated from their previous land, which is now being used for mining activities. They aired their complaints at a news conference in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday. They claimed that currently were accommodated in tents supplier by the Christian Council of Tanzania and clergymen. Speaking on behalf of other evictees, Johna Saidi said they were evicted at midnight under the supervision of Local Government authorities and the police.
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Poland closes embassy in Dar without notifying Govt [Pg 4] – Poland has secretly closed down its mission in Tanzania for reasons which are yet to be known. The embassy closed its doors since last month without any notice to the public, thus causing inconvenience to both Tanzanians and Polish nationals who needed consular services. According to a Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation official who preferred anonymity, quiet closure of missions was not quite new.
Lindi RC calls on farmers to increase crop production [Pg 4] – A call has been made to farmers from the southern regions of Lindi and Mtwara to fully utilize the Dar es Salaam Lindi road by increasing production of both cash and food crops. Lindi Regional Commissioner, Saidi Mecky Sadiki, made the call recently in Lindi shortly after Infrastructure Development Permanent Secretary, Omar Chambo, had inspected various infrastructure projects in the southern regions.
Dar is still committed to EA integration with care [Pg i] – In recent times, it has transpired in some economic and political circles that Tanzania was dragging its feet in the ongoing planned East African Common Market. In an authoritative article published in the ‘Daily National of 29
th August by a prominent journalist and one time editor of ‘the standard’ Tim Mshindi titled “as Tanzania dithers, EA intergrading must roll on” there is every reason to believe our partners want to go it alone. Tom mshindi says in his article ‘it is regrettable but hardly surprising that Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda must now proceed with the East African integration project without Tanzania.
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Local coal effectively tested for home and industry uses [Pg i] – The African Mining Network [AMN] has successfully tested the use of local coal briquettes. The testing was accomplished in partnership with the Kali Power Company limited, which has now together developed clean and cheaper coal briquettes. Speaking to ‘the Guardian’ after the testing ceremony held recently in Dar es Salaam, AMN chairperson Luhimbo Charles said their aim was to support government’s effort to conserve the environment through the use of coal in home and industries. “We want people to stop felling trees recklessly for the pretext of getting fuel-wood. Coal briquettes will do in place of charcoal and firewood.
Local coal effectively tested for home and industry uses [Pg i] – The African Mining Network [AMN] has successfully tested the use of local coal briquettes. The testing was accomplished in partnership with the Kali Power Company limited, which has now together developed clean and cheaper coal briquettes. Speaking to ‘the Guardian’ after the testing ceremony held recently in Dar es Salaam, AMN chairperson Luhimbo Charles said their aim was to support government’s effort to conserve the environment through the use of coal in home and industries. “We want people to stop felling trees recklessly for the pretext of getting fuel-wood. Coal briquettes will do in place of charcoal and firewood.
Tarishi Hauwawi 
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