Local Tanzania media had recently been talking about Department of Wildlife systematic plunder. Big names were being mentioned, the matter arose in the Parliament. Whoever the source of well-informed anonymous dossier that reached multitudes of online Tanzanians near and far, the recent changing taking place in that ministry are not entirely separated from that news, I daresay.
Daily News, Thursday,July 26, 2007 @00:02
THE government has raised game hunting fees this fiscal year as part of efforts to boost revenue from tourism and ensure greater contribution of the sector to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), currently standing at 17 per cent only.
Tabling the Ministry of Tourism and Natural Resources budget estimates for 2007/8 in the National Assembly here yesterday, the Minister, Professor Jumanne Maghembe, said that the new rates were aimed at aligning the fees with the rest of the 14- member SADC states, of which Tanzania is a founding member.
"Under the new fees, hunting a lion or a leopard, for example, will cost $12,000 (about 12.5million/-) compared to the previous dollars 2,500(about 3m/-)," he said.
The licence to kill a jumbo will now be dollars 15,000 instead of dollars 5,000 whereas a crocodile will cost dollars 2,500 instead of dollars 1,050 previously.
"The rates for leasing hunting blocs have been raised from dollars 10,000(near parks --category A) to dollars 50,000 and dollars 40,000 for blocs near forests(category B) per annum. The amendments are expected to raise the income from 11bn/- last year to $33bn/- this year," said Mr Maghembe.
Prof. Maghembe said plans were underway to prepare new General Management Plans (GMP) for some selected forests, adding that Usangu forests would be merged with the Ruaha Park , to create Africa's second biggest park with 22,226 square kilometres.
The ministry will bring bills to establish Mkomazi Park and another park on Saanane Island, near Mwanza on Lake Victoria.
To increase efficiency in park fees collection, the Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA) will introduce system of payment through credit cards. The CRDB and Exim banks have been engaged to ensure verification and collection of payments.
The minister added that the government's determination to attract 1.2 million tourists by 2012 was on course, saying that massive publicity and marketing drive was underway to promote Tanzania's world famous attractions. About 600,000 tourists, mainly from the western countries visited the country last year.
Prof. Maghembe said a Bill on wildlife regulations was being prepared to allow establishments of ranches , zoos and a law on commercialisation of live animals.
The government also plans to increase price of logs by at least 30 per cent to match with the global market price. The increase will fetch the government 45bn/- from the current 11bn/-.
He said the ban on exports of timber remained intact and that all those involved in smuggling are being dealt with at appropriate levels.
The ministry is also working out ways of reviving the beekeeping industry and the first step towards that goal was the re-establishment of the Beekeeping College in Tabora.
About 400m/- has been set aside in the budget to rehabilitate the college's buildings.
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Daily News, Thursday,July 26, 2007 @00:02
THE High Court's Commercial Division has restrained Member of Parliament (MP), Mrs Halima Mohamed Mamuya, from dealing with tourist hunting activities in the name of Morogoro Hunting Safaris Limited, which operates in Southern Tanzania.
Judge Bernard Luanda issued the temporary order yesterday after considering an application and submissions made by advocate Deusdedith Dankan on behalf of the company.
The judge further stopped the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) MP under Women Special Seats, her agents, heirs or any person acting under her instructions from entering Sasawala Hunting Block located in Ruvuma Region, which is the lawful asset of the company.
Judge Luanda, however, ruled that the said temporary order would remain in force for six months from yesterday pending determination of the main suit lodged by Mrs Mamuya, who is demanding 350m/- damages from the company. The suit will be mentioned on September 3.
In the suit, the MP is also challenging her termination of membership from the company. Before institution of the suit last year, Mrs Mamuya was a director holding 8,518 shares. Other directors were Mr Jamal Abdallah Suleiman and Mr Alli Ahmed Saeed holding 8,519 and 8,518 shares, respectively.
The company disputes the MP is a shareholder, a director or its managing director. The current directors and shareholders are shown as Mr Suleiman, Mr Mohamed Jamal Abdallah and Mr Ahmed Jamal Abdallah.
The directors want the court to declare Mrs Mamuya as unlawfully interfering with their company and in a counter claim want her to pay them 200m/- damages for unlawfully utilising the company's assets and interference with its business.
It is alleged that Mrs Mamuya, Mr Suleiman and Mr Saeed formed the company in 2003 for the purposes of carring on business of, among others, light and big game professional hunters, export of trophies, stuffed animals and deal with business of tour guides and tourist consultants, trappers and mini-zoo keepers.
All world media has been reporting disasters, from burst steam pipe in New York to freak aviation disaster in Brazil, to earthquake of 6+ Richter in Japan. Closer to home, there were earthquakes in Kenya and Tanzania which is not a normal occurence. There were also a series of daring robberies in what looked like the giant that had been humbled was waking up again. It seems, though, it is crooks from neighbouring countries who regard our country as a soft target to rob. Crime: This is one of the reasons I am very much against the East African federation: such a union ought to come gradually and not to be imposed by leaders who may have ulterior motives.
 My tears flowed for the young martyr, Amina. I dedicate the Pink Floyd song Shine on you crazy diamond. It's describing her well, she aged unnaturally and just vanished. Remember when you were young,
you shone like the sun.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Now there's a look in your eyes,
like black holes in the sky.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
You were caught on the crossfire
of childhood stardom,
blown on the steel breeze.
Come on you target
for faraway laughter,
come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!
You reached for the secret too soon,
you cried for the moon.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Threatened by shadows at night,
and exposed in the light.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Well you wore out your welcome
with random precision,
rode on the steel breeze.
Come on you raver, you seer of visions,
come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine!
Nobody knows where you are,
how near or how far.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Pile on many more layers
and I'll be joining you there.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
And we'll bask in the shadow
of yesterday's triumph,
sail on the steel breeze.
Come on you boy child,
you winner and loser,
come on you miner for truth and delusion, and shine
Keywords: Amina Chifupa, heroine, dirty politics, martyr, Tanzania, Queen of Hearts Zitto Kabwe, MP, gave a heart-rending one-on-one to the late Amina Chifupa. **************************************************** Subject: [tanzanet] Amina - Kwenye macho ya Zitto Kabwe | Zitto Kabwe | | AMINA, umetangulia kwa Mola. Umetutoka tukiwa bado tunakuhitaji. Taifa lako ambalo ulianza kulitumikia ukiwa kijana mdogo linakulilia. Nchi imezizima, hakuna anayeamini. Safari hii ni yetu sote, wewe umeanza. Msalimie Bibi Titi. Unakumbuka nilikuwa nakwambia kupitia kwako namwona Bibi Titi? Wengi wanadhani wanakujua. Umeondoka bila kuwaonyesha kuwa wanakujua ndivyo sivyo. Kila mtu anasema chake kutokana na ama amesikia nini au amekuona katika nini. Unakumbuka ulipochaguliwa kuwa mbunge watu walisemaje? Eti hata Amina naye kawa mbunge? Utafanya nini bungeni. Haikukuchukua mwaka ukawaonyesha tofauti. Ukafanya yale ambayo wengi kwa kweli yalitushinda kufanya. Ukaanza vita kubwa na ngumu ambayo hujaimaliza mpaka unaingia kaburini leo. Hata hivyo si lazima umalize vita uliyoianza. Edward Mondlane wa Frelimo alituaga kabla hajaona mwisho wa vita aliyoanzisha ya kumng'oa Mreno Msumbiji. Kina Samora wakamaliza vita hiyo. Umeianza vita, tutaimaliza. Umetupa changamoto. Swali lako la mwisho bungeni lilihusu wizi wa mitihani. Hukupata bahati kuliuliza. Uliuliziwa na jirani yako, Ruth Msafiri, wa Muleba Kaskazini. Najua kama ungekuwapo ni aina gani ya swali la nyongeza ambalo ungeuliza. Nilikuangaza kule unakokaa sikukuona. Lakini nilijua utarudi muda si mrefu. Amina ulikuwa mwepesi kujifunza na wala hukuona aibu kuomba msaada, tena bila kujali itikadi ya chama ya unayemwomba msaada. Mimi nilikutana nawe kwa mara ya kwanza pale tulipoitwa na Mheshimiwa Spika kuhesabu kura za kumthibitisha waziri mkuu. Tukapeana namba za simu na kupoteana tukiwa tunasalimiana pale tunapoonana tu. Sikutegemea hata siku moja kama utakuwa karibu yangu kiasi tulichofikia. Niseme kweli, hata mimi nilikuwa najiuliza utafanya nini bungeni wewe, nikijisemea kuwa wewe ni kilaza tu. Rafiki yangu, na pia rafiki yako kipenzi, Omar Ilyasambe, kwa sasa yupo masomoni nchini Marekani, alinitahadharisha nisiwe kama watu wengine wanaokutafsiri kwa ujumla. Akaniambia nikupe muda wa maongezi na msaada kwa yale ninayoyajua. Urafiki ukaanzia hapo. Urafiki wa kujifunza na kujadiliana mambo mengi ya nchi yetu. Nakumbuka ulikuwa unanilaumu kwa kuwa mkali kwa serikali yako ya CCM na kwamba wakati mwingine nazidisha. Nilikwambia ndiyo kazi yangu katika upinzani. Ulinielewa. Tulijadiliana maswali yetu na maswali gani ya nyongeza kuuliza. Tulijadiliana kuhusu masomo yako na masomo gani ya kuchukua katika juhudi zako za kutafuta elimu. Tulibishana sana kuhusu ni wapi ukasome shahada yako ya kwanza. Wewe na Omar mkitaka uende kusoma nje, mimi nikitaka usome hapa hapa nchini ili pia ufanye kazi zako za ubunge. Niliwashinda na kweli ukaanza kusoma. Ukajitahidi kusoma kwa bidii sana. Walimu wako watakukosa. Amina, ulikuwa na malengo makubwa sana katika maisha yako. Ulianza kujiandaa kuongoza umoja wa vijana wa chama chako katika matayarisho ya kupata mafunzo thabiti ya uongozi. Mapema kabisa ulianza kupambana na vikwazo, lakini hadi unaanza kuumwa, zote uliona ni changamoto tu za maisha ya kisiasa. Siku uliyoanza kuumwa ulikuwa uende Lindi kufanya kazi za vijana, lakini pia kujiandaa na changamoto za uchaguzi mwakani. Masikini umeondoka na ndoto yako. Inauma sana kukupoteza. Wakati tunaokujua tukitafakari kuhusu kifo chako, hatuoni tumempoteza mbunge tu, tunaona tumepoteza mpiganaji mahiri. Mpiganaji wa mstari wa mbele katika vita ya kunusuru taifa kutokana na ubadhirifu wa mali za umma. Wakati mwingine tunaona tumepoteza kamanda mwema, mwenye uwezo wa kupata habari zote za adui na kushauri njia bora za kukabiliana na adui. Amina, maisha yako yana tafsiri nyingi. Umepitia mambo mengi sana. Ulitaka kuandika kijitabu kuhusu maisha yako ili watu wakujue vizuri. Wakati tunajiandaa kukusanya vya kukusanya, ukawa mgonjwa. Umeondoka kabla hujakamilisha azima yako. Bado watu hawakujui. Tutakamilisha kazi yako ili vizazi vijavyo vijue kuwa kulikuwa na kijana kiongozi mahiri mwenye msimamo thabiti. Amina niseme nini kukuelezea wakati tunakupumzisha pumziko la kudumu? Maneno hayaji, vidole vinatetemeka. Tutakukumbuka. Ucheshi wako na umahiri wako katika kuhakikisha unapata unachokitaka. Usiku wa tarehe 6, Mei ulinipigia simu kuniambia kuwa Mkwawa anakuita, na kwamba Mwalimu Nyerere ananipa salamu. Mimi naomba uwape salamu. Uwaambie nchi yao ipo inaendelea, na kwamba huna uhakika ndoto yao ya kujenga taifa imara itafikiwa karibuni. Waambie Mkwawa na Mwalimu kuwa siku hizi ili uwe kiongozi ni lazima upande mabegani mwa mwingine na kumwangusha na wala si uwezo wa mtu. Amina, nakutuma kwa Bibi Titi, mwambie kuwa juhudi zake za kutaka mwanamke, tena mwanamke wa Kiswahili kuonekana ana uwezo wa kuwa kiongozi, bado zinaendelea, na wewe umeziacha zinaendelea. Umefanya kazi yako, umewaachia kijiti wengine wafanye pia. Nenda Amina, nenda kapumzike. Umetuonyesha kuwa vijana tunaweza. Tumejifunza, hatutakuangusha. source : www.freemedia.co.tz |
Comments on TanzanNet
On 6/29/07, Sir Nyamranga wrote: Simba, Hon. Amina alikuwa Amina na ndio maana watu walimpenda. Alikuwa ni average joe kama kijana yoyote wa Tanzania na ndio maana watu wengi waliona kama anawawakilisha. Wazungu huwa wanapenda kutumia msemo wa "Be Yourselff" na ndio Mheshimiwa Amina alivyokuwa hivyo. Hakutaka kubadilika kwa vile ni mwanasiasa. Hakutaka kubadilika na kuwa kama kama lile group la wanasiasa tuliowazoea waonavaa kaunda suti na vitambili kwa sababu alikuwa ni Amina. Amina alikuwa ni new generation ya politician ambayo ingeweza kubadilisha mambo mengi sana nyumbani. Pia sidhani kama Mh. Zitto anataka ku socre point yoyote. Kaandika nakala nzuri sana na inaonyesha ni jinsi gani vijana walivyokuwa wanasaidiana kutetea maslahi ya nchi bila kujali itikadi ya chama walichotoka.Uhusiano wao wa karibu umedhihirisha hilo. Nilishawahi kupata nafasi ya kuongea na kufanya mahojiano na Mh Kabwe na naweza kusema ni mmoja wa vijana makini sana nchini Tanzania. Mheshimiwa Zitto hakuanzia CHADEMA tu bali alikuwa makini tangia enzi za National Youth Forum. Sidhani kama atataka kufanya hayo unayoyasema. ---------------- On 6/29/07, Simba Yahya wrote: Nilichangia huko nyuma kuhusu kifo cha bibi huyu "nyota" machoni mwa sehemu kubwa ya jamii ya watanzania. Baada ya kusoma "Mmtazamo wa Zitto Kabwe" na yale yalioendelea katika kipindi kifupi cha uongozi wa Bi Amina, sina shaka kwamba hiyo haikuwa changamoto ndogo ambayo binti yule kichanga angeweza kuimudu kwa muda mrefu. Kwa Amina, kuwa Bungeni na kuwa na mahusiano na Wabunge wengine alikuwa anaichukulia kirahisi (business as usual) na kuacha sehemu kubwa ya political mechanics (machination?) nje ya equation za siasa sio tu hapa nyumbani, lakini kwingine kokote! Lau angebahatika kuwa kama kina VITA KAWAWA, Dr. HUSSEIN MWINYI, KIPI WARIOBA na wengine ambao wamebahatika kutoka familia za wanasiasa wakongwe, naamini angepata msaada mkubwa wa kumwongoza ndai ya safu za siasa. Yaliyomfika binti huyu wala yasingemtokea.... Ni mategemeo kwamba the likes of Kabwe hawatatumia kifo hiki ku-score political points ambazo kwao zinaweza kuwanufaisha, lakini kwa kiasi kikubwa kuongeza machungu kwa familia ya Amina Chifupa!!
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I made an effort of writing a computer hardware book some three years ago. I photographed stuff, I scanned pictures I browsed the web etc, I had quite a cache of material. When I would pause for a couple of weeks or so then get back to the writing work, I would discover some information needed to be updated. After some time I gave in--too much patching up.
My favourite indicator of the computer world gallop is a cutout from Newsweek titled Model price cuts, where they were talking about "fast 386s" and "screaming 486s". Not that far back, that was just 1992. The prices were USD 2,286 and USD 4,891 (down from USD 7,198 a year before.
I bought my Pentium in 1999 and felt really good about it. It was boasting a 3 gigabyte hard disk and 16 megabyte of RAM. A tower design clone, it didn't have sound card, no CD-rom drive and definitely no USB port. At that time 16x cd-rom drive was very good. CD writers were virtually nonexistent and DVD wasn't in the vocabulary.
I like reading the past, therefore I have with me the whole load of magazines--news, computers, aircraft, etc etc. I also browse through old catalogs that I possess, such as Sears. It's interesting that the older non-ICT catalogs don't have much difference with the currernt ones (I guess everyone has heard that humour about Microsoft and GM exchange about their respective technologies).
This yearning for reading the past led me to thinking, heck, whyn't write the current bits of ICT information and publish them somewhere or other, and when they get obsolete they become history? We all know that so many good guys are offering loads of free space on the web, such as this blog.
This therefore announces my intention of publishing an ezine. The idea is still a mere sketch--how often to update, whether it will be on a website, in a blog or mailing list, those matters are still undecided.
 Yesterday evening 21 hrs East African Time, a soccer game kicked off in Oagadugu, Boukirna Faso.This narrowish West African nation is perhaps most well known for myth: voodoo. I do remember at one time when I was chatting with a certain diplomat who'd been there on a UN mission who was thoroughly convinced that voodoo really worked there--with several stories to tell. He got really cross with me when I said that was all gogolamba (bullshit in Zamundese language). I don't believe the stuff.Back to the ball game. It was Bukirna national side against Taifa Stars of Tanzania. It was a repeat match, first having played in Dar es Salaam awhile back where Tz team beat the visitors 2-1. Tanzanian team that played at that first encounter had been a weakling that fluked a win. The team lately has been really hard-swinging, holding Senegal National team to a draw some weeks ago in a home tussle (lost badly during the first encounter in Dakar--understandably because the Senegal cards were well-stacked, especially cheers of home crowd). In a patriotic revolution, Tanzanians led by no less than the Tanzanian President, Hon. J.Ml Kikwete, egged on the boys. And there is also this superb coach, the Brazilian Maximo.Bukirna didn't know what hit them. Tanzanians commanded the ball all the way from the start whistle, and the hosts did their utmost not to get embarrased infront of their home crowd, therefore literally packed themselves at their goalmouth like sardines in a can.Occasional efforts by the Bukirna attackers ended in frustrating fluid motion of Evo Mapunda snatching the ball and diving with it, pausing down there for a sec, likely uttering a short prayer, "Thanks again, God".
Meanwhile the seconds arm of clock kept sweeping, and things seemed certain to end nil-nil, such a fortress the Bukirna side had built around their goal, hardly anytime did the ball even reached their custodian. The opportunity came though, some five minutes or so before full time. The goal was professional, attributed to attacker Haruna Moshi, to put it simply. It broke whatever reserves the hosts still had, kind of like throwing a stone at the nest of hornets. But nuthin' seemed to matter to the emboldened Taifa Stars. Much to the overjoyed multitude of Tanzanians watching the ball live on Television ya Taifa, The whistle went 3 extra minutes after full time putting the gallant boys of Tanzania 1 up.
Tempers flared. One player from each side got awarded a red card, maintaining things scalar balance. Smelling the kill, Maximo didn't want to leave anything to chance. His effort to urge the boys awarded him with a red card. Tanzanians like me would concur that the red card for the coach, if anything, was like a certificate of achievement.
Kilimanjaro's ice set to linger | By Jonathan Amos
Science reporter, BBC News, Vienna | 
 Kilimanjaro: Ice fields at the equator are a huge tourist draw
A fresh assessment suggests the famous ice fields on Africa's tallest mountain will be around for decades yet. Recent concerns that climate warming would rob Mount Kilimanjaro of all its glaciers within 20 years are overly pessimistic, say Austrian scientists. Their weather station data and modelling work indicate the tropical ice should last well beyond 2040. Precipitation and not temperature is the key to the white peak's future, the University of Innsbruck-led team says. "About five years ago Kilimanjaro was being used as an icon for global warming. We know now that this was far too simplistic a view," said Thomas Moelg. "We have done different kinds of modelling and we expect the plateau glaciers to be gone roughly within 30 or 40 years from now, but we have a certain expectation that the slope glaciers may last longer," added colleague Georg Kaser. The group's assessment was presented here at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly meeting. It acts as a counterpoint to the most doom-laden projections for the 5,895m-high (19,340ft) peak, which draws thousands of tourists intrigued by the idea of seeing ice just three degrees south of the equator. Hanging on The research team has been using three automated instrument stations on the top of the mountain to collect continuous data on temperature, pressure, solar radiation, humidity and wind. The recording effort was in position late last year to witness heavy snowfall, which will have led to a slight increase in Kilimanjaro's overall ice volume.  Weather station (dot inside circle) data provides new insight | This glacier growth is only temporary, however. The mountain's ice is dependent on the pulses of moist air that sweep across from the Indian Ocean. Since the late 1800s, these have become less frequent, and the regular snows that would maintain the ice fields are now a rare occurrence in what has become a much drier climate in East Africa. Today, the total ice extent - on the slopes and on the plateau - is about 2.5 sq km, down from more than eight sq km in the early 1900s. Some scientists have drawn a fairly straight-line curve and forecast a rapid final retreat to a totally bare mountain. But the Innsbruck team is more optimistic about the medium term having now put real field measurements into a comprehensive modelling programme. "Glacier recession has been a feature on Kilimanjaro for more than 100 years, but this is the first time we really have a precise understanding of the physical processes that control the glacier-climate interaction on Africa's highest mountain," said Dr Moelg. 'No reservoir' This work emphasises the significance of the lack of precipitation (250mm per year on the summit) versus temperature (a mean of -7C). It indicates that glacier mass loss would be about four times higher if precipitation decreased by 20% than if air temperature on the mountain rose by 1C. Furthermore, it suggests that two-thirds of the ice that is lost goes straight into the atmosphere through sublimation (the direct conversion of snow and ice to water vapour). "In recent years many people have talked about 'the melting glaciers of Kilimanjaro'. If one wants to be more precise, I would call it the 'evaporating glaciers of Kilimanjaro'," said Dr Moelg. This confirms the view that the African peak does not play an important role as a reservoir for water, unlike in the Andes and the Himalayas where some lowland cities and agricultural systems are dependent on summer melt high in the mountains. "This is not a factor at all at Kilimanjaro and it never has been," said Professor Kaser. "If you brought all the remaining ice down to the Amboseli National Park and melted it, the water would only cover the park to a depth of one or one-and-a-half millimetres. There is nothing in terms of water up there." The Innsbruck research was conducted in collaboration with the University of Otago, New Zealand, and the University of Massachusetts, US. The team stresses that the drying of the East African climate around Kilimanjaro may itself be a regional impact of global climate change.
TTCL which boasts the widest network of copper and microwave in the country has moved a stage further in grabbing its share of internet subscribers. The (trial?) provision of mobile phone-cum-wireless-modem with flat-rate subscription of about a dollar a day was received with enthusiasm to the point of the pipe being congested making the connection reallly slow. This month they changed the business model and, while still prepaid, the user will be charged per megabyte, which is fine for anyone not downloading huge files. Such a move is welcome although one wonders where they were all along... Meanwhile Vodacom, whom I've regarded as greediest cellphone service provider, made a bold move of leapfrogging the rest by introducing 3G services. I don't know if they will have infrastructure to have the service far and wide, though. Besides, the 3G services require much more expensive handsets that I doubt will be embraced easily by the clientele. Zantel who don't have own infrastructure on Tz mainland, (roaming using Vodacom network) has launched a bold advertising campaign that has covered everything in green. They also claim lowest tariffs. I don't know what area they cover, and if they can continue piggybacking on vodacom which has its own teething problem with value-added services being introduced rather late after the rest of networks had done so. TCCIA has a very ambitious plan of having a country-wide network of VSATS at all regional headquarters, providing a high-speed internet connection to small LANs for their members. With a hub at SatCom Network in Dar, this project may be key to internet reaching even further than ever, and starting radiating to district headquarters. Similar WANs are being set up by the Open University of Tanzania. I wonder, though, about sustainability of these two efforts, which begin with donor funding. The losers in near future seem to be Internet Cafes. With all schools and colleges about to have Internet-connected LANs, and individuals having unlimited internet at home for as little as TShs 15,000 per month, I'm not seeing much prosperity in the once very successful biz venture. We wait and see...but one thing is sure: things are getting better and better for end users, as more and more players are making more and more efforts in ICT.
I haven't been in upbeat mood in the past fortnight, what with my niece Magret falling sick to extent of being admited and placed in ICU with life support machinery and transfusion. Thank God she's (as I write this post) already out of hospital and recuperating in Mamba Komakundi. Countdown for Christmas has began, though. Saturday was Tanzania Mainland Independence 45th anniversary, and I found myself in Vingunguti hunting for a goat to buy. The art of bargaining for a goat deserves its own post, so I'll not delve deep into that now. Sunday 10th--like the previous Sunday--was feverish with activitiy as Lutheran churches in different parts of Dar-es-Salaam were holding Confirmation ceremonies. This tsunami of extravaganza must have contributed a point of a percentage in global warming considering all gas for vehicles ferrying all stuff here and there; and the firewood and charcoal roasting all those goats. Most of us found ourselves in difficult situation as to whose party we'll attend and whose not. I chose to give company to my cousin David, who was also my best childhood friend. His two boys, Mathew and Timothy were confirmed that day at the Kimara Temboni Lutheran Church (a building of ugly, square simpleness a cathedral should never be). The church site is adjacent to his own place, a magnificient dacha with beautifully landscaped undulating grounds. We went there and blew the afternoon with booze and food. Our nephew, Jimmy, also had his love child confirmed that day so it was a three-way blessing. That was not the end of story though. David's brother Julius had prepared a grand dinner at a suburb club in Msasani called Anabella in honour of confirmation of his son, Obrey. The ceremony had taken place in the Azania Front Cathedral earlier during the day. By the time I left at about midnight riding my bike, the action was just starting.
I've been hearing so many stories about this to the point I'm starting to believe none is the truth. No one in their right mind could pull this stunt.
http://www.africa-interactive.net/index.php?PageID=2003
25 October 2006, by PowerNell. The East African comes with a critical analysis on the cabinet reshuffle of president Kikwete. In this article it is said, amongst others, that Richmond Development sold Tanesco "an unserviceable second-hand Boeing 707 engines purporting to be new power equipment" (The East African, 23 October, 2006). It gets crazier by the day. Richmond linked to president? Let me give you the full quote: "Richmond, it turned out, was after all briefcase outfit owned by Tanzanians who call the shots at State House. Initial investigations link Richmond Development (…) to an Arusha-based tycoon. He is said to have bankrolled Kikwete's presidential campaigns when his party appeared to be wavering. It also emerged the directors of the briefcase company had sold to the state-owned Tanzania Electric Supply Company's (Tanesco) an unserviceable second-hand Boeing 707 engines purporting to be new power equipment." Richmond generators are arrived in the country Other news is that the Richmond generators have arrived in the country. This raises many questions, and no one can formulate them better than Makwaia wa Kuhenga, a senior journalist of The Citizen. I quote: "Last weekend suddenly all the big television houses had deployed their cameramen to record the arrival of the long awaited generators from a seemingly non-existent US based company, Richmond Development Inc.
As I watched the event unfold on prime time news Saturday night over the weekend, I had mixed feelings of both disgust and contempt for my own profession. Contemptuous because I had the feel that someone somewhere was pulling a trick in news management; trying to cool down public tempers over the whole Richmond furore or perhaps to cool down public opinion that the company in question was around and very much in place and my collegues in the electronic media were consciously agreeing to be manipulated!
Disgusted because media people sometimes have no choice but to be there to record an event even though they may know that some powerful individuals are manipulating them. (…)This scenario made my mind even more curious: so the company exists after all? (…) How good are the machines anyway? Who has checked them and certified them as up to the required standard? Has the state made any upfront payment? How much?" (Source: The Citizen, 23 October, 2006). See for the complete analysis: The East African, Ernest Mpinganjira, October 23, 2006: Kikwete Lives in Utopian World As Tanzanians Wallow in Problems
 Sounds like a miracle that an eight-year-old conceived and actually gave birth to a healthy baby. People have come up in arms that whatever man did this should be done this or that. I tend to look at it differently though: There is that mammalian instinct in all humans, and there is something like female species of homo sapiens being on heat and seeking a male using whatever means. That's quite natural: we've all been seeing them on National Geographic movies, isn't it? That could have been the case here, something went wrong with life clock and gave her a reproductive maturity early on--not much different from someone going grey in their early teens: life clock ran amok.
Congo DR recently held a run-off elections for top office. Incumbent Kabila was being challenged by Bemba, who had been his Vice-President. The first round of elections had Bemba trailing Kabila at a distance, but constitution dictated that the winner must obtain 50 pc of the ballots cast. Therefore run-off. While voting was done and Electral commission was working frantically to complete the counting job and announce the winner, Bemba had been interviewed by prominent media houses and said he would accept results, whichever outcome. This was maybe a slip of tongue. As results continued pouring in it was clear that Kabila was going to be the winner. When at last the results were officially announced this week, who, but Bemba, held a press conference saying there was no way he was going to accept the results. I wasn't surprised, this is what I'd been expecting all along. Typical African elections. And in the land of the Ramble in the Jungle too! Someone will sing about it sometime, for the Congolese are so musical...
 Revisited from way back in June 2003--BBC article at the bottom of this post. Since then several things have changed. Tanzania has a new president, and Blair has fallen from grace due to Baghdad hiccup... The Times November 13, 2006Fraud office is investigating £28m deal agreed by BlairBy Sam Coates Members of the Cabinet were overruled by the Prime Minister when they queried a BAE Systems contract in Tanzania, writes our correspondent Protesters dressed as Tony Blair and Sir Richard Evans suggest close links between the two in 2004 (Nick Ray/The Times) A CONTROVERSIAL deal personally approved by Tony Blair to send a multimillion-pound air traffic control system to Africa is being investigated for corruption, The Times can reveal. The Serious Fraud Office and Ministry of Defence police are looking into allegations that BAE Systems paid backhanders to the Tanzanian Government for a £28 million military air traffic control system. The Prime Minister overruled Gordon Brown and other Cabinet ministers to approve the deal, despite warnings from the World Bank that it could have bought a non-military system for a tenth of the price. Investigators, who have been studying the deal for more than six months, made a fact-finding visit to the House of Commons last Wednesday. They were handed a dossier of evidence compiled by Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat MP who has played a key role questioning the deal. The news that a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation is under way risks reopening one of the most divisive rows of the last Parliament, which pitted the Chancellor and Clare Short, the former International Development Secretary, against Jack Straw, Patricia Hewitt and Geoff Hoon, who were in favour of the deal. Friday, 14 June, 2002, 08:34 GMT 09:34 UK
Tanzania radar sale 'waste of cash'
A £28m military air traffic control system the UK Government wants to sell Tanzania is a complete waste of money, according to the World Bank. Sources have told the BBC the bank had branded the system old, inappropriate and unworkable in a United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) report commissioned by the bank. Tanzania could buy a civilian system for an eighth of the cost, it said.
And the British system would not even cover all of the east African country's civil aviation needs, according to the report. Tanzania's President Mkapa has held urgent talks with Tony Blair about the findings, according to press reports. BBC defence correspondent Andrew Gilligan said the report is highly critical and claims the technology is old and inappropriate. Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think this brings into strong question the judgement of the prime minister and Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon.  Norman Lamb: Report raises serious questions
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"International Development Secretary Clare Short made very clear in autumn last year that she was very unhappy with the deal. "And yet they pushed through this export licence in December last year, despite clear evidence the entire system was inappropriate." Manufacturers BAE Systems have accused the report of making false cost comparisons. But Liberal Democrat international development spokesman Norman Lamb has conducted his own investigation. Objections He told The Guardian newspaper: "A modern civilian air traffic control system can cost as little as £3.5m. "The Department of Trade and Industry, with the apparent support of the prime minister, has colluded with British Aerospace and Barclays Bank in foisting an expensive and unnecessary arms deal on the desperately poor people of Tanzania. "It is no surprise the Tanzanian Government have reacted with horror."  Clare Short was concerned about the cost
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Barclays Bank said they do not comment on individual loans but any loan they do make has to conform with export licensing laws. Mr Blair over-ruled objections from Cabinet colleagues, including Chancellor Gordon Brown, to grant an export license for the product last December. Ms Short had argued that such an advanced system was unnecessary and the cash could be better spent. In March she ordered the delay of a £9.7m aid payment to Tanzania pending the results of the report. |  |
High-profile Tanzanian politician ended his career dramatically when he shot dead a bus driver who'd caused a dent on his car. Naturally he has tendered his resignation as Regional Commissioner for Tabora.Unbelievable that such occurrence should take place in Dar-es-Salaam where a sound of gunshot is a rare thing to hear. US Defence Secretary Rumsfield is a man the whole world knew in detail from media coverages and proceeded to dislike him with intensity. Yet he hung on until it was no longer possible; when Democrats took the House from Republicans (he must have contributed to this defeat) and knew the sack was coming. So he bowed out to go eat pancakes and coffee in his cozy home while young Americans are having rough times in Iraq unnecessarily.Meanwhile GWB who has just undergone transformation from a man to a lame duck, he'll be forced to toe the logic line. It wasn't possible this time to pull a fast one on ballots.
I'm sure all of us must have heard the story by now. Madonna, the American super-star, with what I see as wholly well-meaning gesture, sought to adopt a year-old malawian boy, Banda. The boy was in an ophanage. It's not as if Madonna is desperate for a child--she and her husband have two kids already. The reaction of human rights groups and press surprised everyone, especially Madonna and her husband. I am not at all surprised. That is typical African way of doing things. Grab any subject as long as you can get some popularity, attract media attention, and have something to report as one of your major annual activities. The amount of money the human rights watchdogs are spending as legal fees to fight the madonna case could have helped other kids still in Malawian ophanages--Madonna had been right all along when she sang, "A man can tell a thousand lies", although I'd express it as, "A thousand men can tell a lie": that's what so called press and human rights critics are doing in exchange for cheap popularity. Dear Madonna, have heart, thousands of us are rallying right behind you!
 My previous post was a lament of having been shut out of my loaded yahoo account. I'm glad that the rescue came in a way I couldn't believe. I have had this hotmail account that I usually ceased to use for emails on account of 2 MB storage being too little. (They have improved the situation a bit now, they give 25 MB). Recently I was introduced to a cool IM client called meebo.com, where one never needed to install any program for any of the popular IM such as yahoo, msn, aol and icq. I found this quite practical, therefore signed up, pulled my buddies from some IMs including msn. Out of curiosity I tried to sign into my hotmail account. It had been put in mothballs, therefore was re-activated. Yesterday in desperation I looked into the newly-revived hotmail account, and, dang me if there wasn't a yahoo message sitting in the inbox, carrying a spare password! So that had been my alternate account. Few lessons from this experience ONE: don't dump an email address you've had for ages. It may save your noseskin sometime. It did mine. TWO: registration time question should be answered truthfully, otherwise after year if the answer given was bogus, you ain't going to be resupplied a lost password. THREE: If you own groups (yahoogroups, googlegroups etc) appoint one or more members to be moderators. It will not be doing justice to Internet communications if group cannot commence with activities just because only one person was holding the keys to run things FOUR: Review your profiles every now and then: When it's February 29 (once every 4 years) or on your birthday, or, even better, during the long christmas public holidays (once per year). Some routine can also be built into yahoo calendar or google calendar to pop up reminder maybe after every six months. If you find this post handy, publicise it. No rights reserved.
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If one wants to be more precise, I would call it the 'evaporating glaciers of Kilimanjaro' 
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