FETTY WAP BEAMING WITH PRIDE AT BABY'S 1ST DOCTOR VISIT …

Fetty Wap's come a long way in just four months -- from denying he even fathered a child with Masika to totally proud papa cradling his little girl in a doctor's office.

Fetty and Masika were together for baby Khari's scheduled one-week doctor's appointment on Tuesday. Check out the video ... Fetty couldn't look happier.

We're told the checkup went great because Khari is in perfect health. Also doing really well are Fetty and Masika .... the two are embracing co-parenting, and it shows.

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Filed Under: Local News Tuesday, December 24, 2013 No Comments

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 until today. A life coach and author, Ms Scholastic Kimaryo, told her story to The Citizen on Sunday in Pretoria recently

Tell me about yourself

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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 atUhuru, Mzalendo and Nationalist newspapers. I was later told to go and work for Daily News and Sunday News 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.  

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.

So, that set off your next phase as a UN worker. How was the experience?

In 1977, I was appointed the first executive secretary of the Tanzanian Commission for children funded by Unicef. 

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.

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.

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.

What were the highlights of your career?

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.

What was the secret behind your success?

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.

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.

And what were the challenges that you faced?

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.

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. 

How did you finally end up staying in South Africa?

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.

South Africa is the only country where I served for two different periods. I really believe that God brought me here for a reason.

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.

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

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.

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.

For me, it is important to unlock the potential that is in most African people, individually and collectively.

What do you see as Tanzania’s development challenges?

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.

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.

During our days you could hardly hear of corruption scandals, today it is normal. Moreover, our leaders need to be selfless and patriotic.

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.

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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 terms of managing the rising national debt stock and subsequent debt payments’ demand.

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.

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.

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.

“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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

 “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.

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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 light aircraft. The Ethiopian-registered jet cruised the entire length of the runway before skidding and coming to a stop on the grass.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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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), driving home a brand new Mitsubishi Double Cabin.

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.

Mr Ramadhani was overwhelmed with joy upon receiving the phone call – informing him about the development.

“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.

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.

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.

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.”

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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 is already severe, a new book, published this week by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) says.

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.

It however predicts that climate change could exacerbate the situation.

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. 

“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.

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.

According to IFPRI, agriculture drives these countries’ economies and accounts for 43 per cent of their annual gross domestic product.

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.

Without adaptation, the book reports, climate change will have negative effects on wheat, soybean, sorghum, and irrigated rice yields.

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.

Rain-fed maize and rainfed rice yields might increase slightly because of climate change, generally because of projected higher rainfall in some areas.

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Filed Under: Local News Tuesday, December 17, 2013 No Comments

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 Mabina.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

‘‘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.

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.

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.

‘‘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.

Mr Mulowola said Mabina was found with a shotgun and a pistol, but did not say whether the firearms had ammunition.

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.

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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 minister for Energy and Minerals, Prof Sospeter Muhongo.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

“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.

“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.

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.”

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.

TheCitizen

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Filed Under: Local News Monday, December 16, 2013 No Comments

Former CCM MP Killed by angry Residents in Mwanza

The immediate former CCM regional chairman and Kisesa Ward Councillor, Clement Mabina (pictured), died yesterday after he was attacked by angry residents in a land dispute, the Police and the ruling party authorities have confirmed.

Mabina, who was recently ousted by Anthony Diallo in a vote for regional party chair by was killed in the afternoon by furious crowd in a revenge attack following the death of a city resident the former chairman allegedly shot dead at a farmland in Kisesa, a suburb about 10km east of the Mwanza City.



Mwanza acting regional police commander Christopher Fuime confirmed the incident, saying police were deployed to the village after the fatal attack on Mabina. “Preliminary reports indicate that there was a misunderstanding, prompting Mr Mabina to open fire in the air to threaten the irate villagers,” he said.

Acting RPC Fuime said the police have embarked on a manhunt for key suspect behind the lynching. The name of the man said to have been gunned down by the ex-CCM boss couldn’t be immediately identified as his body was rushed to the hospital soon after the shooting.

Mwanza CCM regional secretary, Ms Joyce Masunga, who also confirmed the death of the former party chair, said chaos began at around 11am when people believed to have been sent by Mabina tried to put up boundaries for a farm believed to have been grabbed from the residents.

The angry residents blocked the Mabina team from setting boundaries on the disputed land. The former CCM boss upon being informed of the confrontation, rushed to the scene and tried to reason with the residents. According to an eyewitnesses, it was during this commotion that Mabina shot dead one of the residents.

Furious at the shooting of “one of their own”, the enraged residents set on Mabina with stones and other crude weapons they could find and didn’t stop until he lay dead on the ground.

Efforts to get Mwanza regional commissioner Evarist Ndikilo for comment failed to yield fruit as communication was difficult on the downpour-marred Sunday.

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