Friday, June 14, 2013

Tanzania one of E. Africa's fastest growing economies

Tanzania's economy grew by 6.9 per cent last year, the highest among five East African Community member countries.

It was an improvement on the 6.4 per cent growth recorded in 2011.
The region’s biggest economy, Kenya grew at 4.7 per cent up from 2011’s 4.4 per cent.

The figures were revealed yesterday by the Minister of State in the President Office Responsible for Social Relations and Coordination, Stephen Wasira, when tabling in Parliament the state of the economy for 2012 and annual development plan for 2013/14 financial year.

Minister Wasira told the House that while Tanzanian and Kenyan economies were on the rise, those of the rest of the East African Community states were on the decline.

“Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda economic growth rates declined from 8.6 per cent, 4.2 and 6.7 in 2011 to 7.7 per cent, 4.0 and 2.6 in 2012 respectively,” noted Wasira.

Wasira added: “According to analysis, conducted by the Institute of Business Insider of USA, based on World Bank estimates, Tanzania is among the twenty countries with the highest projected compounded annual growth rates from 2013 to 2015”.

He said the EU-economic Commission for Africa report of 2013 shows that Tanzania is among ten fastest growing economies in Africa, recording at least 7 per cent growth in league with Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Ghana and Zambia.
Despite the high performance, the Minister conceded that inflation rose to 16 percent from 12. 7 recorded in 2011.

“This rate of price increase was caused by rising oil prices in the world market and food prices, in part due to growing demand for food in neighbouring countries.

The index of food prices accounted for most of the overall sharp rise of inflation, as food constitutes half of the goods and services in the consumer goods basket used to compute inflation,” the minister said.

Wasira said measures to tame inflation included ensuring sufficient food supply, expanding cultivation of food crops and increasing availability of agricultural inputs, particularly fertilizer, pesticides and improved seeds and enhancing food security by increasing grains purchase through National Food Reserve Agency and construction of more silos.

According to the minister the value of goods and services exported rose by 15.5 per cent from $7,398.2 million in 2011 to $8,544.4 million in 2012, mainly to an increase in traditional exports particularly coffee, cotton and tobacco and increase in the export of manufactured goods, flowers fish and fish products.

The value of the imports and services increased increased by 5.1 per cent from $9,827.5 million in 2011 to $10,324.9 million in 2012, due to importation of capital, intermediate and consumer goods.

Foreign Direct Investment for 2012 was $1,806 million compared to $1,330 million, in 2011, an increase attributed to drilling of more wells for gas, which rose from three in 2011 to ten 2012.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Consultant: Oil, gas tax reforms still awaited

ax experts say the budget estimates presented by the Minister for Finance Dr William Mgimwa yesterday in Dodoma must incorporate significant tax reform proposals affecting key areas of the economy.

Alais Mwasha a registered tax consultant based in Dar es Salaam said for most of people, the expectation is that the minister’s tax reforms proposals will include those affecting the oil and gas sector.

He said considering that Tanzania is still exploring for oil and gas, the minister’s proposals are not expected to be limited to measures affecting the operators only but will extend to key players such as oil and gas service companies.

Some of the awaited reforms include but are not limited to extension of Value Added Tax (VAT) relief on goods and services solely to be used in exploration and production of oil and gas to contractors and Sub contractors.

Currently, the relief is limited to operators who possess licenses on specific blocks as per the terms of the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) signed with Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) on behalf of the Government of Tanzania.

He said the extension of the relief to service companies provided by the third Schedule to the VAT Act CAP 148 will not only allow flexibility of movement of specialized equipment between licensed operators but will also allow small endogenous players to access the specialized high end technology provided by multinational oil and gas service companies with less cost.

“It is not expected that such reforms will have any revenue impact on the government since the importation by or supply to oil and gas exploration companies, for oil and gas exploration project in Tanzania, are currently relieved from VAT and whatever VAT is paid by the service contractors and sub contractors qualify for refund”, he said.

Service companies are also keen to see more simplified tax regimes to be proposed in 2013/4 tax reforms for ease of operations across the East Africa region.
Introduction of such regimes for service companies will allow smooth operation within the region.

The law imposes assumed profit tax of gross payment to service companies like contractors/subcontracts in which such entities will only pay tax of 30percent or 37.5 percent for subsidiary and branch on 15 percent of gross income received, apart from disbursements such as mobilization and demobilization expenses.

Dr Mgimwa was also expected to propose extension of Duty exemption provided by the legal Notice No. EAC/9/2009 of 2 July 2009 to also cover service companies as most of machinery or inputs used during the exploration phrase are mainly owned by such companies.

The Minister has already listed some of his key budget focus for 2013/4 and long term development plans for the next five years.

One of such focus includes enhancing the concentration in the oil and gas sector. With this motive, it is then inevitable to consider proposal of tax reforms such as the above for smoothening the operation of service companies who are key players during exploration phase.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Budget: Exemptions for review

Aim is to raise more revenue
  Economy set to grow by 7.0 pct
  PAYE slashed to 13 pct, to give relief to workers
Minister for Finance, William Mgimwa
The government has pledged to review tax exemptions which have been costing the nation trillions of shillings, retarding social and economic development.

Tabling the 2013/2014 budget estimates in Dodoma yesterday, the Minister for Finance William Mgimwa said the move was among strategies aimed at raising more revenue.

He said the exemptions would be reviewed with a view to reducing them in order to save the money for other economic activities, he said, adding that Value Added Tax exemption on tourism was being scrapped.

According to one report Tanzania loses revenues between 1.35trn/- ($847 m) and 2.05trn/- ($1.29 bn) per year.

Dr Mgimwa said the government would continue with its efforts to establish one stop centre at the Dar es Salaam port and one stop border posts at Holili, Mutukula, Sirari, Horohoro, Kabanga, Tunduma, Rusumo and Namanga.

He said the government would also build capacity of the workers of Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) to deal with tax evasion by some dishonest companies.

“The government through TRA will establish a new system known as revenue gateway which would become operational on 1st July this year”, he said.

He said the system which included paying tax online, would help to improve collection.

Dr Mgimwa said the government expects to raise a total of 18.249trn/- for expenditure in the next financial year.

The central government revenue is expected to be 11.154trn/-from both tax and non-tax revenue sources.

Local authorities will contribute 383.452bn/- while grants and external loans will bring in 2.693trn/- . Domestic and non-concessional loans will make available a total of 2.982 trn/- .

He said the government plans to spend 5.674 trn/-, equivalent to 35 per cent for development activities and 12.6 trn/-,or 65 per cent of the total budget for recurrent expenditure, which includes 4.763trn/- salaries for government employees, 3.319trn/- for the Consolidated Fund and 4.492trn/- for other charges.

Minister Mgimwa the next government budget would give priority to six areas namely water, energy, transport, agriculture, education and income generation.
During the year 2013/14 the government has set aside 747bn/- to solve water problems in urban and rural areas.

In improving transport infrastructure, he said the government has set aside 2.1trn/- up from 1.9trn/- allocated last year. Out of the money, 196.8bn/- will be spent in improving rail infrastructure.

On energy and mines, he said more efforts will be directed to increase production and distribution of power whereas a total of 1.1trn/- has been set aside for the work.

Dr Mgimwa thanked development partners who have been supporting Tanzania in economic development.

He mentioned them as Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, Hispania, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, United States, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, France, Holland, England, Germany and Swiss.

Others are African Development Bank (AfDB) World Bank, BADEA, Global Funds, OPEC Fund, Saudi Fund, European Union, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and UN agencies.

Mgimwa said this year’s budget has been directed at pushing economic growth which will be 7.0 percent this year and 7.2 percent in 2014.

He said the budget aims to bring down inflation to 6 percent by June next year.
He said the government would make sure that there is enough foreign exchange equivalent to four months imports at any one time.

We will reduce the interest charged on loans and deposits and enhance the value of the shilling.

He further said in the 2013/2014 budget, the government intends to reduce unnecessary spending in various areas, citing seminars, local and foreign travel, purchase of furniture, exhibitions and purchase of motor vehicles.

“We will reduce the number of seminars and workshops while purchase of motor vehicles would be controlled by the office of the Prime Minister”, he noted.
Dr Mgimwa called for increased cooperation, monitoring, management and use of financial resources more efficiently.

“It is my hope that all of us will work hard to improve our economy so as to achieve the Nation’s Development Plans of the year 2015 which aims to move Tanzania from a basket of poor countries. 
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Monday, May 13, 2013

Tanzania not among best places to be a mother

  Ranks 135 in new State of the World's Mothers Report
A mother with her child. (File photo)
Most of us know someone who lost their life giving birth, or who died from pregnancy-related complications.

A friend of mine lost his wife last year while giving birth at the Muhimbili National Hospital. I used to think that in Dar es Salaam, maternal deaths only occurred to women who can not afford to pay for specialised care. Muhimbili hospital offers private services in its fast track unit and this is where my friend’s wife was attending clinic.

I just could not understand how she could die giving birth, given that she was receiving care in the hospital’s private unit with all specialists at her disposal. The couple had chosen Muhimbili given that it is the country’s major hospital and the fact that it also offers private services for those who can afford.

In another incidence, a colleague’s wife escaped death by a whisker after giving birth to her second child at the hospital. She was bleeding heavily and when the nurses who delivered her took her to the theatre, no one was ready to attend to her fearing to be held responsible if she died. A mother had died from excessive bleeding the previous day and people had been taken to task.

“It’s my wife’s surname that saved her. Her cousin used to work at the hospital and when staff in the theatre saw the name, they realised she was related to their former colleague and immediately attended to her. Otherwise she would have died,” says Henry.
Many mothers in Dar es Salaam die during pregnancy and childbirth. One wonders if this is happening in the capital city, how about in remote areas where services are poor?

Save the Children’s 14th annual State of the World’s Mothers report released on Tuesday, which looks at the mothers’ well being ranks Tanzania near the bottom of the list, at 135 out of 176 countries around the globe. The report highlights the challenges facing mothers and newborns worldwide.

The Mothers’ Index shows countries that are succeeding and those failing in their support to mothers. It assesses mothers’ well-being using indicators of maternal health, child mortality, education and levels of women’s income and political status.

Every year 454 women die from pregnancy related complications for every 100,000 live births in Tanzania. This translates to close to 8,000 women dying every year. And they die from conditions that could be prevented or treated.

Causes of maternal deaths in Tanzania include excessive bleeding, unsafe abortions, eclampsia, obstructed labour and infections. Low availability of emergency obstetric and new born care services, chronic shortage of skilled health providers together with a weak referral system contribute to the high maternal deaths.

According to Population Reference Bureau (PRB)’s 2011 ‘World’s Women and Girls’ data sheet, the lifetime chance of dying from maternal causes in Tanzania is one in 23.

Healthcare quality
According to Unicef, maternal deaths in Tanzania are caused by poor quality of care due to an insufficient number of skilled health workers and lack of basic equipment, as well as long distances from home to health care facilities.

Between 2004 and 2010, 24 per cent of mothers did not access health services due to lack of money to pay for the services while 19 per cent did not access care due to long distance to a health facility.

These two factors led to 48 per cent of all deliveries that occurred between 2005 and 2010 to take place at home.

Over half (65 per cent) of mothers did not receive postnatal check up and only 31 per cent were examined within two days as recommended. Most of those who did not receive postnatal services (76 per cent) came from poor families.

Women living in rural areas, those who come from the poorest families and those who are less educated, have the least access to skilled attendance at delivery, according to Unicef. Women who start having children in adolescence tend to have more children and shorter spacing between pregnancies – all of which are risk factors for maternal and neonatal mortality. The neonatal mortality rate is highest among mothers under-20 years of age at 45 per 1000 live births compared with 29 per 1000 for mothers aged 20 to 29 years.

According to Save the Children’s report, the Democratic Republic of Congo is the world’s toughest place to be a mother and Finland the best.

The Nordic countries sweep the top spots while, for the first time, countries in sub-Saharan Africa take up each of the bottom ten places in the annual list.

The top five countries in the global mothers’ ranking are: Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and the Netherlands. The bottom five (in descending order) are: Niger, Mali, Sierra Leone, Somalia and the DRC.

According to Save the Children, the startling disparities between mothers in the developed and developing world are summed up around maternal risk. A woman or girl in DRC has a one in 30 chance of dying from maternal causes – including childbirth – but in Finland the risk is one in 12,200. In DRC, which performs poorly across all indicators, girls are likely to be educated for eight and a half years compared to Finland, where girls can expect to receive over sixteen years of education.

“By investing in mothers and children, nations are investing in their future prosperity. If women are educated, are represented politically, and have access to good quality maternal and child care, then they and their children are much more likely to survive and thrive – and so are the societies they live in. Huge progress has been made across the developing world, but much more can be done to save and improve millions of the poorest mothers and newborns’ lives,” says Save the Children.

Child deaths
The Birth Day Risk Index, also contained in Save the Children's report, compares first-day death rates for babies in 186 countries. One million babies die each year on the day they enter the world, – or two every minute – making the first day by far the riskiest day of a person’s life in almost every country in the world.

This is despite the low-cost interventions that are available to tackle the high rate of baby deaths on the first day of life. Sub-Saharan Africa remains by far the most dangerous region to be born – with the deaths of newborns actually increasing in the past few decades. Here, babies are more than seven times as likely to die on the day they are born as babies born in industrialised countries. A baby in Somalia, the most dangerous country, is 40 times more likely to die on its first day than a child born in Luxembourg, the safest.

According to the report, two thirds of all newborn deaths occur in just 10 countries: India, Nigeria, Pakistan, China, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Afghanistan and Tanzania.

Infant mortality rate in Tanzania stands at 51 deaths per 1000 live births and neonatal mortality at 26 deaths per 1,000 live births. Neonatal deaths are inextricably linked to the health of the mother during pregnancy and to the conditions of delivery and newborn care.

Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, according to Save the Children, the poor health of mothers, where between 10 – 20 per cent are underweight, contributes to high rates of death for babies, as does the number of young mothers, giving birth before their bodies have matured. Other factors are low use of contraception, poor access to decent healthcare when pregnant and a severe shortage of health-workers.

Speaking of contraception use, 22 per cent of women who need to control birth in Tanzania do not have access to the service. By meeting this need, it is estimated that 1.4 million unintended pregnancies, 1 million abortions, 18,000 maternal deaths and 500,000 child deaths can be prevented if access to family planning is granted.

According to Health and Development Tanzania, allocations of funds for family planning services in Tanzania have not been meeting the estimated annual needs for the service. Releases of the funds have also been low and irregular hence affecting the provision of the service.

The solution
Save the Children’s report identifies four lifesaving products that can be used universally: corticosteroid injections to women in preterm labour to reduce deaths caused by newborns’ breathing problems; resuscitation devices to save babies who do not breathe at birth; chlorhexidine cord cleansing to prevent umbilical cord infections and injectable antibiotics to treat newborn sepsis and pneumonia.

Save the Children calls on world leaders to strengthen health systems so mothers have greater access to skilled birth attendants. They can provide lifesaving interventions to all mothers and children, in addition to providing more funding for maternal, newborn and child health programmes. More should be invested in frontline healthcare workers and community health workers to reach the most vulnerable mothers and babies.

The organization suggests fighting the underlying causes of newborn mortality, especially gender inequality and malnutrition. Helping mothers become strong and stable – physically, financially and socially – make their children stronger and more likely to survive and thrive.

Countries are also advised to invest in low-cost solutions that can dramatically reduce newborn mortality. Proper cord care and newborn/paediatric doses of antibiotics can prevent and treat simple but deadly infections. Exclusive breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact (known as “kangaroo mother care”) should be encouraged.

Such practices cost very little but can save hundreds of thousands of babies’ lives each year. Additionally, birth attendants should be trained and given proper support and supplies.  
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Machinga Complex turns white elephant

 The business community has urged the Dar es Salaam City Council to device means of making the Business Park popularly known as Machinga Complex to be more attractive to customers than it has been the case.

Speaking in an exclusive interview at the Machinga Complex on Saturday, one of the traders at the market Leonard John Madete noted that the decision by the city fathers to restrict commuter buses to pass by Karume bus stop through the Machinga Complex has to a great extent made complex virtually deserted.

“ All in all since is still a little number of customers that are visiting the market for buying products even after the Machinga complex became a new commuter stand for daladala that come from Tabata, Buguruni, Vingunguti and others that are plying via Ilala,” he said
Another trader at the market, Emmanuel Mtui commended said the market is performing poorly because it is being undermined by failure of the city fathers to find new approaches to attract customers.

Mtui also noted that there is little space at a station near the Machinga complex which hinders more people to drop for shopping.

“There is a garage that operates neat the bus stop which has to a great extent occupied the area which makes not conducive for potential customers,” he said, noting, “we urge the authority to look on this matter before thinking for other ways of increasing the number of customers at the market, “he noted. He said there were a number of businessmen at Mchikichini market in Dar es Salaam who have moved from here selling their goods on the ground but because they have enough space have many customers.

For his part, Selestine Fransic, also a petty trader said the area is not visited by many costumers because many traders have moved away fro the area and therefore they is not much they can get from the complex except for the few goods sold by few traders.

“Customers would always want to buy all the commodities they want at one place to avoid transport costs to various shopping centres. Here we only have bags, radios, khangas and other few commodities.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Debate rages on use of the cane in schools

Public opinion remains sharply divided on whether to reintroduce corporal punishment in schools, particularly following the massive failures in last year’s national Form IV examinations.

Those in support of the government’s decision argue that applying strokes of the cane will make students more disciplined and more attentive to their teachers, thus enhancing their performance in exams and studies in general.

The argument on the contrary is that ‘discipline’ resulting from beating can only be fear resulting from terror and would make students less attentive and more likely to do ever worse in their studies.

Miriam John, a parent based in Dar es Salaam, said she supports the use of corporal punishment “because I am sure most students will reform for fear of disgracing themselves if caned before the very eyes of the schoolmates”.

“When the government banned corporal punishment, there was a rise in the prevalence of misbehaviour among students, leading to a drop in attendance, academic performance and discipline generally,” she said.

Ramadhani Justine, a student at St Mathews Secondary School in the city, meanwhile described the use of the cane as “one of the most effective ways of shaping students’ discipline and general conduct”.

He added that if they are not beaten, students will have contempt and arrogance against the teachers. However, he warned that it was important for the punishment to be “regulated” – including setting the maximum number of strokes of the cane to be administered. Digna Peter, a teacher in Kilimanjaro Region, also recommended corporal punishment as the appropriate way to change students’ behaviour.

She said it was “the only punishment we know that can scare students into good behaviour”.

She said banning the punishment would leave students free to conduct themselves as they please because they will be assured that they would go unpunished.

“Teachers are guardians of students and they would normally not the cane as a way of harassing or mistreating the students, but only to effectively prepare an ethical generation for the future,” she noted.

Argues Megan Randall, a former US volunteer who taught in a local school for three years, differs.

She believes corporal punishment affects students negatively, adding: “It reduces their self-esteem and overall confidence to succeed. It causes physical pain and emotional, long-lasting scarring.”

“On the whole, it motivates students to fear learning, to abhor their teachers and be dreadful of failing,” she intimated to this paper in a recent interview.
She advised that learning out of fear is never as healthy or successful as doing so “out of a realistic and encouraged ability to succeed”.

Instead, she in support of positive encouragement, role modeling and learning environments in which students are told “you can do it”. Beatings to augment students’ performance are wrong and misguided “because it is a reactive strategy to their failing rather than a proactive way to encourage them to learn and succeed”, she notes.

According to her, beating doesn’t teach or show students what to do to succeed or clarify what they should have known for a test, “but merely highlights how they shouldn’t behave and that they did something wrong”.

A Dar es Salaam-based philosophy don who preferred anonymity said children learn from whatever adults do and whatever happens in society, and beating seldom induces positive change in their behaviour but can only breed resentment and anger.

A recent global study by Plan International, revealed that many children abandoned school because of punishments, which include hitting pupils with hands or sticks, making them stand in various positions for long periods and even tying them to chairs. Out of 13 countries which were the subjects of the research, India was ranked third in terms of the estimated economic cost of corporal punishment.

Plan reckons that between $1.4bn and $7.4bn was being lost every year in India in social benefits because of school violence.

The cost is based on estimates of how the larger economy is affected by the impact of corporal punishment on pupils' attendance and academic performance.

Children have the right to protection from all forms of violence, abuse and maltreatment. Corporal punishment in any setting is a violation of that right.

Physical and other forms of humiliating and abusive treatment are not only a violation of the child’s right to protection from violence, but also counter-productive to learning, the study says.

“Corporal punishment in all settings wherever the child is, should be banned through legislation, in line with the recommendations in the UN study on violence against Children. Any form of violence against children is never justifiable or acceptable. It teaches the child that violence is acceptable and so perpetuates the cycle of violence, the study says.

Karin Hulshof a UNICEF Representative says: “Eliminating corporal punishment in all settings is also a key strategy for reducing and preventing all forms of violence in society."

Last month the government said it was contemplating reintroducing corporal punishment in schools in a move meant to enhance discipline.

Education and Vocational Training deputy minister Philip Mulugo said the scraping of corporal punishment in schools had resulted in misbehaviour by many students and hence the massive failures in last year’s Form Four exams.

But Randall argues that corporal punishment, though not bad, shouldn’t be used as the first punishment for minor mistakes.

“Even though corporal punishment was illegal during the time when I was a teacher in Tanzania, it was still the most popular method of chastisement and widely used by all teachers and administration in schools,” she noted, adding: “Hence, obviously, even though corporal punishment was being used, it clearly didn’t do anything positive to ensure students’ high performance on their tests.”
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Taxation denies govt 2trn/- in revenue

The government loses close to 2trn/- annually (about 10 percent of its budget) due to the ineffective and inefficient taxation system it employs, members of civil society organizations and faith based organizations have said.

They said although the tax structure has expanded and revenue collection has jumped from 8.5 percent in 1999/2000 to 15.7 percent in 2011/12, the amount lost through various means is over one sixth of the 2009/10 government’s entire expenditure budget of 9.5trn/-.

The organizations made the remarks at a capacity building workshop on taxation and tax advocacy organised by Agenda Participation 2000 in collaboration with Policy Forum and Norwegian Church Aid.

They said loses are mainly made in three areas, which are tax incentives, trade mispricing and capital flights.

Citing an example of tax incentives given to mining companies and firms operating in the Export Processing Zones (EPZs), Programme Officer, Public Resources and Finance of the Norwegian Church Aid, Francis Uhadi, said Tanzania offered 4.3 percent of GDP compared to the legal limit in Kenya and Uganda which is one percent of the GDP.

He said such exemptions given to corporations have deprived the country of an average of 458.6bn/- ($288 million) per year between 2008/09 and 2010/11.

He cited other areas as trade mispricing and capital flight, saying it was a relatively new area that needed capacity building to most tax experts in Tanzania.

He explained that studies estimate huge revenue losses resulting from illegal capital flight.

“Recent figures suggest that illicit capital flows from Tanzania range from $94m – 660m a year and those illicit flows from trade mispricing alone amount to $109m – 127m a year,” he said.

He said the large growing uncontrolled informal sector, which is not taxed, contributes to revenue losses and transferring the tax burden to the poor in terms of indirect taxes and taxes to employees in terms of Pay-As-You-Earn.

For his part, Silas Olang from the Revenue Watch institute said that transfer pricing which is the pricing arrangements for transactions between two or more corporate entities that are members of the same firm have caused huge loss in tax collection.

Commenting on its effects on tax revenue, he said transfer pricing affects determination of the base value for customs duties and taxable profits where a higher transfer price of inputs may increase the taxable income in the country of export and reduce the taxable income in the country of importation and vise versa.

He said where the transfer prices do not reflect the true profits earned in a particular country, the country is unfairly deprived of revenue for development.

A legal officer with the Lawyers Environmental Action Team (LEAT), Musa Mnasizu, attributed the huge loss to weak institutional framework on the tax system, saying the current tax regime does not have a clear and defined tax base and tax structure.

“Tax policy should be revisited. The tax laws should be amended and new techniques to curb against tax evasion and tax avoidance should be introduced,” he said.

Some of their recommendations were that the government must ensure improved collection and administration of non-tax revenue by reviewing mechanisms of issuance of receipts and licenses as well as improving the retention rates by ministries, departments and government institutions.

Also there must be expansion of tax base through formalisation of informal sector in order to capture it into the tax net, review of legislation establishing agencies or public Institutions that collect revenue with the aim of increasing their respective contribution to the Consolidated Fund Services (CFS).

The organizations also suggested review of various legislations granting tax exemptions with the aim of controlling and reducing them as well as review of the mechanism of collecting property tax in cities, municipalities, towns, districts and townships. They urged the people to understand their rights and educate themselves on the country’s taxation system and how it impacts on their lives.

Efforts to get Tanzania Revenue Authority director general Harry Kitilya for comments on the criticisms proved futile yesterday.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Magufuli to table Works ministry budget today

Work minister Dr. John Magufuli is today expected to present his ministry’s budget estimates for the 2013/14 financial year in the National Assembly which resumes its session after two days of rest.

The ministry’s budget is the biggest carrying most important infrastructure issues needed for the economic development in the country.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Speaker Job Ndugai last week cautioned some legislators in the National Assembly for lack of proper explanations as some of them have the tendency of contributing their views in contradiction to a particular issue in discussion without showing evidences to support their argument.

He wanted them to observe rules and regulations and standing orders that guide the parliamentary debating procedures.

Today’s ministry budget will be the 8th in a series of the ministries whose budgets for the 2013/14 financial year have been approved by the National Assembly since the budget session began on April 8 this year.

The ministries whose budgets have already been approved by the National Assembly include the ministry of Agriculture and Livestock development, Water development, Natural resources and Tourism, Ministry of defense, Home Affairs, Health and Social Services and Community development, Gender and Children.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Women traders urged to be confident, innovative

Women entrepreneurs in the country stand a better chance of excelling in business if they are confident and innovative.

This was said by the Dare to Dream Foundation Chief Executive Officer Emelda Mwamanga during the 5th Vodacom Economic Women conference and Business Expo held in Dar es Salaam at the weekend.

She told a one-day seminar that today's business world is competitive and women entrepreneurs can withstand the existing competition if they are confident and innovative on what they are doing.

The seminar was intended to bring the women entrepreneurs together so that they get the chance to learn from each other, networking and share experiences.

This year's conference theme is 'Business Beyond Tomorrow Day'. It inspires women entrepreneurs to build businesses that will last for many years.

According to Mwamanga, the conference targeted all women including emerging female entrepreneurs who are operating their own small and medium sized businesses.

CRDB Bank marketing officer Emmanuel Kiondo said his bank was aware of women’s contribution to the national economy and that was why it did not hesitate to sponsor the conference to build their capacity under its corporate social responsibility scheme.

"CRDB Bank is committed to seeing women entrepreneurs grow to big business people. We have a special account known as Malkia Account to fulfill their different dreams," he said.

Alice Lewis from Vodacom said her company was aware of the importance of empowering women and the decision to sponsor the conference was one of its commitments in supporting women empowerment.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

JK to open 'Social Security Week'

President Jakaya Kikwete will today officiate at the beginning of ‘Social Security Week’ here aimed at ensuring that the right information on quality social security services reach the majority Tanzanians.

Minister for Labour and Employment Gaudensia Kabaka said that poor knowledge on social security schemes deny people of their basic rights.

“The social security sector is bedevilled by poor quality of information as a human right issue as stipulated in the country’s Constitution.” She said.

She said only 3 percent of the country’s labour force (23 per cent of the country’s population) has joined social security schemes.

The Social Security Regulator Authority (SSRA) launched the ‘Social Security Week last year to create public awareness on the sector and promote efficiency.

According to Kabaka, during the week numerous seminars would be held by security funds, registration of new members as well as other events that would bring awareness to the public on the importance of the sector.

Deputy minister for Labour and Employment Dr Makongoro Mahanga said urged social security funds to widen their coverage and reach the majority Tanzanians.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Lukuvi: Use of high tech to boost agriculture in Southern Highlands

The Southern Highlands zone residents were yesterday challenged to adopt science and technology methods in agriculture to add value to their crops.

The Minister of State Prime Minister’s Office (Policy Coordination and Parliamentary Affairs), William Lukuvi, said here that application of science and technology in agriculture could bring tangible results to farmers.

He made the call while speaking at a dialogue on Smart Partnership that brought together Mbeya, Njombe and host Iringa regions where he also said that the use of technology in agriculture will increase productivity in the sector.

“It is an undisputable fact that agriculture is the most dependable sector in our zone and it is high time we took serious measures, including application of high tech and science to boost it,” Lukuvi said.

He said zonal smart partnership dialogues have come at the right time since people will have ample time to air their views on the use of science and technology as catalyst towards revolutionising agriculture.

“After receiving opinions from the people, especially in the dialogues, the use of science and technology will be accommodated in the national development strategy so as to give agriculture a new push,” the minister explained.

Speaking at the same occasion, Mbeya Regional Commissioner Abbas Kandoro, said his region is producing more rice and fruits, requesting that it would be appropriate to employ science and technology from the time of preparing seeds.

"It is our optimism that the smart partnership dialogues will unleash various interests from groups in society and the technology should help in agribusiness,” Kandoro said.

He said Small Industries Development Organisation (SIDO) and Vocational Education Training Authority (VETA) should concentrate in producing small equipment that will help stimulate agricultural growth.

Earlier, the Executive Secretary of Tanzania National Business Council (TNBC), Raymond Mbilinyi, said smart partnership dialogues are meant to get opinions from different groups before they are presented to the national smart partnership dialogue next month.

"Since we are running short of time before the national smart partnership dialogue between June 1 and 2, this year we decided to organise these zonal dialogues,” Mbilinyi said, adding that the International Smart Partnership Dialogue will be held in Tanzania between June 28 and July 1, this year.

TNBC is co-ordinating all zonal and national smart partnership dialogues.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

China reasserts its support to Tazara

Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara) has attributed the role played by Chinese-Africa People's Friendship to the strengthening and improvement of the railway to assuring its continued contribution to the economies of the two countries.

Speaking last week during the visits of Chinese-Africa People's Friendship Association (CAPFA) delegation to Tazara, the Railway Acting Managing Director, Saidi Sauko pointed out that the friendship has had good impact so far.

Last year, China, Tanzania and Zambia signed the 15th Economic and Technical Co-operation protocol which is to be implemented in June or July later this year.

Sauko also said that the protocol will enable the authority to conduct rehabilitation of the shunting locomotives as well as provide the much needed spare parts and technical support.

“We thank the Chinese for their support, they have graciously allowed a team of experts from their country to be based here to assure continued provision of technical expertise and advice,” he revealed.

“Tazara stands today as the most significant symbol of the friendship between the three countries and continues to provide a platform for political and social economic relationships to blossom amongst the three and their people,” he added.

Tazara has in the last 37 years of its existence, transported over 50 million passengers, 30 million tones of freight and over 100 million parcels between and within the two countries and in the region.

“We have over the years provided stable employment to the citizens of Tanzania and Zambia, with over one million people having passed through the employment system of Tazara since inception,” he detailed on the authorities history.

Apart from the two owner states, other countries reaping the benefits of Tazara are, Democratic republic of Congo, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Burundi and South Africa through Tazara’s provision of affordable, secure and reliable services.

Chinese involvement in the railway system in not new, in fact it is the Chinese that financed it original construction.

Tazara was constructed between 1970 and 1975. The Project was financed through an interest free loan of RMBY 988 Million (equivalent to US Dollars 500 Million) from the Peoples Republic of China and started commercial operations in July 1976.

Now Tazara is an integral part of the southern Africa Regional Rail Transport Network. It is a rail link of approximately 1,860 km long rising from sea level at the port in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to the heights of New Kapiri Mposhi at 1400m above sea level in the central African country of Zambia.

With growing, population and economies across the region, the services by Tazara are today even more relevant than ever before and as such the new Chinese aide comes at an appropriate time, he went on to explain.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Monday, May 6, 2013

Church blast: One dead, 60 hurt

  Vatican envoy to Tanzania Archbishop Padilla escapes unhurt
Some of the injured lie on the ground as nuns run for cover moments after an explosion at St Joseph Mfanyakazi Roman Catholic Church in Arusha's Burka Parish yesterday. Sources said the blast left at least one person dead and over 60 people injured. (Photo: Correspondent Woinde Shizah)
A Huge blast rocked Arusha yesterday morning after an explosive device was set off at a Roman Catholic Church, killing one person and injuring more than 60.

The deceased, Regina Loning’o Kuresoi, was among the large congregation that had gathered for Sunday mass and to also witness the unveiling of the newly built church.

The inauguration was led by the Vatican Ambassador to Tanzania, Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla accompanied by the Arusha Catholic Diocese Archbishop Josaphat Louis Lebulu.

The house of worship is located in Arusha's Olasiti suburb and all was well until the explosion happened, only minutes after the start of the inaugural mass.
Reports allege, the explosive device was hauled over the church’s fence by an unidentified man.

Arusha Regional Police Commander Liberatus Sabas confirming the incident said a man has been arrested in connection with the tragic incident and is in custody as investigations continue as to the motive and perpetration of the horrific act that has terrorised the northern safari capital.

Explaining that the man was arrested following a tip-off from persons at the scene, RPC Sabas asked for patience and for the public to remain calm as investigations continue.

"We are still interrogating the suspect, we ask the public to stay calm and maintain peace," he said.

Regional Commissioner Magesa Mulongo described the blast as shocking, calling it the first of its kind in Tanzania’s history. He too however assured the public that the force will not rest until the culprits are brought to justice but meanwhile he called for calm and tranquility.

"People should continue with their daily activities as police and other security organs have secured the city and investigation is underway," Mulongo assured the masses.

Eye witness reports place the incident to have occurred between 10 and 11 am. They say the parishioners were gathering for the ‘one of its kind’ Sunday prayer at the inaugural mass of the new church.

"We were trying to organise ourselves for the mass, when we heard the loud blast, people began running out," a witness said. They reported that many were injured by the actual explosion while others were hurt during the panic stampede to exit the church.

Following an emergence consultation meeting held by a panel of clerics, Arusha’s Roman Catholic diocese spokesperson, Rev Festus Mangwangwi told reporters that the church has postponed the mass to mark the inauguration of the of the church until further notice.

Joshua Nassari (Arumeru-East, Chadema) among other political figures, called on the police to utilise power invested in them and to arrest all those behind the blast.
He then turned an accusatory finger at the ruling party, Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) alleging religious bigotry.

The country’s Vice President, Dr Gharib Bilal and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Said Mwema, among other delegates and officials, are expected to visit the city and explosion site.

Identified persons injured in the blast are Consesa Mbaga, Phillemon Gereza, Restia Matemu, Neema Daudi, Beath Comeli, Debora Joachim, Elizabeth Sale, Editha Ndiwo, Regina Daniel and Yosinta Msafiri.

Others are Joan Thembe (29), Neema Lazusu (18), Regina Fadhili (23), Joram Kisela (38), Novelti John (20), Inocent Charles (46), Lioba Osward (36), Glory Tesha (21), Fatuma Haji (42), Rose Pius (39) and Fikiri Kea (40).

Other more are John James (12), Juma James (12) Anna Kesy (54), Simon Andrea (18) and Anna Edward (54).
Contacted for comments, the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC) Secretary General, Fr Anthony Makunde, said TEC is making a close follow up on information being given by Police and government leaders to establish the source of the incident.

“Although we have been informed that police have started investigation to arrest those involved they should know that the public wants to know the source of the ongoing religious related chaos in the country … what is behind these happenings in the houses of worship and among the religious leaders,” he queried.

He appealed to the government to implement its pledges of fighting against such incidents and show its intention to eliminate the problem by finding and dealing with the source, adding that police should go far with the investigation.

Religious bigotry has of recent engulfed Tanzania as religious leaders are attacked and killed while houses of worship are set to fire.

In December last year a priest with Mpendae Roman Catholic Church in Zanzibar Ambrose Mkenda was shot by unidentified people, at his Tomondo residence on Christmas Day while in February this year another Roman Catholic Priest Evaristus Mushi was shot to death at a Zanzibar’ church.

Prior to the latter incident, a Muslim leader, Chief Sheikh’s secretary, Sheikh Fadhil Suleiman Soraga, in the Isles were smeared with acid in at a Zanzibar beach by unknown people.

On February 11, this year, Assemblies of God pastor Mathayo Kachili was beheaded at Buseresere in Geita Region after a dispute erupted over animal slaughtering between Muslims and Christians. 
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Monday, April 29, 2013

NIDA orders modern gear to ease citizen verification

National Identification Authority has placed a procurement order for equipment that is hoped to speed up verification of millions of Tanzanian waiting for their National identity cards.

The revealation was made yesterday by NIDA Director General Dickson Maimu in an exclusive interview with The Guardian.

He revealed that NIDA has so far issued 220,000 IDs to public servants and that the exercise will be completed in the next three weeks.

“We are going to complete issuing IDs to civil servants in the coming three weeks and we are going to embark on the process of verifying ordinary citizen soon after getting the equipment which we have already ordered,” he said.

He also said that the equipment will be imported by IRIS Behard, a Malaysian Company that won the tender to supply the equipment.

The ordered machines will help speed up the verification exercise and reduce congestions as well as chaos at the registration centers where residents will biometric data.

Maimu explained that the issuance of IDs is expected to be but a simple process but it is the verification process that is complicated and time consuming since it involves other institutions such as Registration Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency (RITA), ward executive offices, Immigration department and National Electoral Commission (NEC).

The process has five stages, filling the forms, feeding data into the system, verification, finger print and finally the issuing of IDs.

On February this year, President Jakaya Kikwete inaugurated the National IDs project and the first 46 National identity cards went to top government leaders and high profile personalities, marking a milestone in the registration and identification of Tanzanians which had stalled for over 30 years.

Among the current government leaders who received their IDs were President Jakaya Kikwete, Inspector General of Police Said Mwema, Isles First Vice President Seif Shariff Hamad, Home Affairs minister Dr Emmanuel Nchimbi, Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner Meck Saddick, President’s wife Salma Kikwete and the Dar es Salaam City mayor, Didas Masaburi.

Also, former government leaders, former presidents Ali Hassan Mwinyi and Benjamin Mkapa, and ex-president of Zanzibar Amani Abeid Karume.

Others were former Prime ministers Salim Ahmed Salim, Joseph Warioba and long time Chama Cha Mapinduzi cadre and Minister Kingunge Ngombale Mwiru.

The agency has secured a plot to construct a data collection centre and also to serve as a disaster recovery site and further plans to build district offices.

He assured Tanzanians that information collected will remain secret and appealed to the public to fully participate and provide enough cooperation to agency officials when the exercise starts in other areas.

The registration of citizens started as a pilot project last year with civil servants in Zanzibar and Tanzania Mainland as well as for Kilombero and Dar es Salaam residents being the first to participate.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Villagers allege discrimination at border immigration centre

Residents of Mtwara living on the border with neighbouring Mozambique have accused the government of abandoning the Kilambo Immigration Centre.

They complain that they can no longer acquire emergency travel documents that were before issued at the centre.

The villagers of Tangazo, Mahurunga, Kataya and Kilambo wards further alleged that service was stopped some four years ago and they have since then been forced to rely on only phone conversations to reach their relatives in Mozambique.

For example, Salumu Issa, a resident of Kilambo village, Tangazo ward, explained that the centre is not closed but rather it is alleged to be discriminately addressing only foreigners’ issues and neglecting the locals.

“We’re forced to travel some 35 kms from the border to get documents at Mtwara town,” he complained.

“When we’re in Mtwara town, apart from paying 10,000/- as fees for the documents, we also to incur other travel, food and accommodation costs which just make life unbearable,” he added.

He explained that hiring a motorcycle to and from Mtwara town costs more than 30,000/- an amount that the impoverished villagers cannot afford.

He also revealed a matter tjsat threatens national security that he associated with the discrimination at the immigration post saying because of the high and unaffordable fees many enter to and from Mozambique illegally.

Kilambo Village Executive Officer Issa Kachala admitted that the they are having major issues with the border immigration centre.

“Many residents here are either married to Tanzanians or Mozambicans, which means there is no way they could live without visiting their parents, grandfathers, sons and daughters on each country,” he said.

Tangazo ward councilor, Mohamed Said, also acknowledged the complaints from fellow villagers but asserted that the regional government was working on the matters.

Mtwara District Commissioner, Wilman Kapenjama promised to convene a meeting of the District Defense and Security Committee to discuss the issue.

“I’ll convene a meeting of the District Defense and Security Committee to deliberate the matter. We shall ensure that the Kilambo Immigration Centre provides service to the villagers equally,” he pledged.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Water source pollution triggers crisis in Zanzibar

Zanzibar is experiencing a severe shortage of water with its main sources short by some 12 million litres due to environmental degradation.

Zanzibar President Dr Ali Mohamed Shein disclosed this during a meeting with Chama Cha Mapinduzi members at Kisiwani in Unguja.

“Water production has dropped from 60 million litres per day to 48 million litres and this will have severe impact on our residents,” he said.

He associated the shortage to a decrease in production at the Mwanyanya and Mtopepo sources where he said environmental degradation has caused the depletion.

He also attributed the problem to aged distribution infrastructure built during the colonial era.

Dr Shein said the government has already secured 64.4b/- from the Africa Development Bank to overcome the situation.

The money will be used in the rehabilitation of pipes to ease distribution of water to both Unguja and Pemba islands.

According to the Zanzibar leader, the project will benefit four regions in Unguja and Pemba.

To supplement the efforts, China will also drill nine water wells. And meanwhile, Zanzibar has a Japanese-supported project for strengthening water services.

“The government is working hard to ease the shortage of water to ensure that people have access to safe and clean drinking water,” Dr Shein emphasized.

He said his government’s intention is to ensure that 95 percent of urban dwellers have access to water and for75 percent of rural dwellers to do the same.

As the Zanzibar government struggles to ensure availability of water to its citizens, Members of Parliament (Union) have disapproved budget estimates for the Ministry of Water tabled by Minister Prof Jumanne Maghembe last week saying was not sufficient to meet the countries needs.

He had suggested via the budget that only 398bn/- be allocated for the 2013-2014 budget a value far less than last year’s 465bn/- despite tremendously increased demand.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

'Daudi Mwangosi Fund' launch for Press Freedom Day (May 3)

In an effort to recognise and honour reporters working in dangerous situations, Tanzania is set to launch the ‘Daudi Mwangosi Fund’ this Friday while marking Press Freedom Day (May 3).

The ceremony’s organising chairperson, Tumaini Mwailenge, made the announcement during a press conference held yesterday.

Themed “Safer and better working conditions for journalists in East African Region” the two day forthcoming Press Freedom Day will be held at the regional level in Arusha.

East African Community Secretary General Dr Richard Sezibera is the expected chief guest.

“The fund will help reporters access such services as healthcare in the unfortunate event of being injured while on duty,” he explained.

“The recent abduction and torture of the chair of Editor Forum Absalom Kibanda and threats against journalists call for effective interventions and that includes setting up the fund,” he said.

This year’s commemoration of the World Press Freedom Day is expected to attract about 200 delegates from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.

Other expected representatives are from community media, diplomats, politicians, media institutions’ representaives and local journalists.

It is also expected that a report on the state of the media in Southern Africa, authored by the Media Institute of Southern Africa, will be presented.

Also, country papers on the safety of media, particularly on the safety of journalists in EAC member countries will be presented.

Veteran journalist Salim Said Salim will also present a paper titled ‘Media transformation in East Africa: the case of Tanzania’.

Another old hand journalist Atillio Tagalile will present the ‘Country media situation (safety and security of journalist in Tanzania) paper and Tobias Rahim from UN Tanzania Office will present a paper on ‘Human Rights situation, government commitment and process.’

The event has been jointly organised by MISA-Tanzania, Media Council of Tanzania (MCT), Tanzania Media Fund (TMF), Union of Tanzania Press Clubs (UTPC), United Nations-Tanzania (UN) and the Tanzania Citizen Information Bureau (TCIB)
Others are Media Owners Association of Tanzania (MOAT), Tanzania Editor’s Forum (TEF), Arusha Press Club and East African Journalists Association (EAJA).

The UN General Assembly declared May 3 the World Press Freedom Day to raise awareness on the importance of freedom of press and to remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under article 19 of the universal declaration of human rights.

It is also to mark the anniversary of the declaration of Windhoek, a statement of free press principle put together by African newspaper journalists in 1991.

Last September Daud Mwangosi, a Channel Ten correspondent who was brutally killed by police while on duty in Nyororo village, Iringa. Other incidents include the killing of Kigoma-based Issa Ngumba and numerous threats to various journalists.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Dar to host ‘Dream Women Business Conference' May 11

Over 250 women entrepreneurs are expected to take part in a Vodacom-Dare to Dream Women Business Expo & Conference at the Golden Jubilee Tower in Dar es Salaam on May 11.

The Fifth Economic Women conference and Business Expo, whose theme will be ‘Building Business Beyond Tomorrow’, will be hosted by Dare to Dream Foundation in collaboration with Vodacom Tanzania and CRDB Bank.

Among the targeted beneficiaries are all women, including emerging female entrepreneurs running their own small and medium-sized businesses.

Vodacom Tanzania Vodacom Foundation Manager Grace Lyon said in the city at the weekend that the conference will feature industry leaders who will talk about global opportunities, business technology, marketing and financing.

Some of the prominent speakers at the conference will be Ugandan author and motivational speaker Rehmah Kasule, CEDA International founder and President Ambassador (rtd) Mwanaidi Sinare Maajar, Partner and Advocate of REX Attorneys, and Joy Nyabongo of Service Excellence.

Lyon said among the topics for discussion will be hints on how to turn small firms into marketable businesses, ways women-owned businesses can access financing, ways to build customer bases by tapping into growth communities with buying power attracting the perfect customers, ways to create loyal customers, and how to brand businesses how – all in line with Vodacom Foundation’s initiatives and programmes.

Participants who have not gone into business yet are expected to benefit by listening to accomplished and well-learned panelists, and gain marketable tools by attending workshops on how to turn their passion into thriving businesses they will ultimately be proud of.

The conference is seen as an opportunity for people to discover ways to turn their businesses into powerhouses and gain strategies they can easily implement and empower themselves.

Dare to Dream Foundation managing director Emelda Mwamanga said Tanzanian women are “determined to stay competitive despite a harsh economic environment and they aim to build businesses that endure”.

She cited lack of confidence and self-motivation among small women entrepreneurs as the main reason behind their failure to excel in business, adding that the conference would recommend ways to succeed.

“The event will bring together successful women entrepreneurs and those who are starting their journey to success. The novices will learn from those who have excelled through lectures, mentoring and one-on-one encounter,” she said.

According to Mwamanga, the event is designed to change the way small and medium women entrepreneurs operate and move them to “greater heights of success heights”.

“As the theme shows, the conference is designed to educate the women on how to operate sustainable businesses that will last for 30 and even more years,” noted.

She said experts from CRDB Bank, which is one of the major sponsors of the conference and expo, will speak on how best to access credit facilities and lead businesses to success.

“Participants will also learn on how to market their businesses using various channels, including the social media. Those with products will have an opportunity to showcase their products and speak on their products and businesses in general,” said Mwamanga.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Higher learning loan application schedule commences Wednesday

Loan application for 2013/2014 academic year for both new and continuing students will commence on Wednesday.

The Higher Education Students’ Loans Board (HESLB) announced in Dar es Salaam yesterday where it was specified that the applications are to be done online at, http: //olas.heslb.go.tz.

The HESLB Director for Communication, Cosmas Mwaisobwa explained that brochures instructing on how to apply are available at various higher learning institutions, district education offices, and at the HESLB head quarters and its zonal offices.
The information is also available on the Board’s website www.heslb.go.tz.

New applicants are required to pay 30,000/- non-refundable application fees while the continuing fifth and sixth years will be required to pay 10,000/-.
The second, third and fourth year students who paid Tshs 30,000/- during 2009/2010, 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 academic years, will not be required to pay any application fee this time.

Applicants should be citizens of Tanzania, have registration from recognized higher learning institutions in Tanzania, do not have any other alternative funding and must have passed examinations for continuing students.

The application period is approximately one month and the deadline is set for 30 Junethis year.

"Applicants should adhere to the deadline and strictly follow all the application instructions," he cautioned and warned that HESLB will not extend the deadline under any circumstances.


SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Reinvestment at Dar port paying off

The motor vehicle imports through the Dar es Salaam Port during an eight-month period ending February this year increased by 50 per cent to 83,440 units from 55,819 units handled during the corresponding period ending February 2012.

Records by the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) show that for the period spanning between July 2012 and February 2013, the Dar port handled 83,440 units of motor vehicles with almost 10,000 units arriving in the month of February.

The records show that while vehicle imports through the Dar es Salaam port increased to 7,091 units in July 2012 from 5,915 units for the same month in 2011 but the motor vehicle traffic almost doubled to 11,230 units in September 2013 from 6,757 units in September 2011.

The Dar es Salaam Port has recently reported increased overall cargo traffic, crediting improved efficiency with the business boom.

More specifically, Ruzangi said in a press statement released recently in Dar es Salaam that overall cargo traffic handled at the Dar Port between July 2012 and February 2013 increased by 20 per cent to 8,314,000 tonnes from 6,935,000 tonnes handled during the corresponding period in the year 2011/2012.

TPA Acting Corporate Communication Manager, Janeth Ruzangi, has attributed the impressive performance of the port to heavy investments in cargo handling equipment and human resource training.

The spokesperson said in her statement that liquid cargo and dry bulk cargo increased by 21.6 and 32 percent, respectively, during the period.

TPA has invested 10.4 million Euros (over 20bn/-) in the purchase of four modern cranes for loading and offloading containers at its ports of Dar es Salaam and Tanga.
The authority has also invested adequately in the training of people operating the state-of-the art machines.

“The modern equipment and training of our staff have boosted the morale of workers and reduced machine breakdowns, keeping our overall operational efficiency high,” said Ruzangi was quoted as saying in Dar es Salaam recently.

Dar es Salaam port, which also serves transit cargo to and from the landlocked countries of DRC, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda, currently boasts of being among the most competitive ports within the East African region.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Local govt officials accused of vandalism

Tegeta residents have accused their local government officials of orchestrating vandalism of water pipes occasioning severe suffering of 120 households who have for four consecutive days gone without water.

Speaking at the scene where the pipes were destroyed to apparently allow stagnant water to flow, Pastor Joshua Kajula accused the municipal leaders of authorizing the breaking of the pipes without consultation.

“We have no water since Friday, they knew that there were water pipes but ignored them,” he complained.

He called on the Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Company (Dawasco) to find an immediate solution to the problem and to take strict measures against the authorities.

Dawasco Public Relation Manager, Irene Makene also expressed utter dismay that the officials authorised the exercise knowing well that there were water pipes and that it would affect the residents but paid no heed.

Makene explained that lot of water has been lost since the exercise was conducted costing the firm lots of money that must be accounted for.

She reassured the residents that with immediate effect the authority would reverse the situation and put to task all responsible parties and that includes the likes of Kinondoni municipal officials, councillor and area chairperson.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Friday, April 26, 2013

No one will join university through cheating-TCU

In the next few months after the form six examination results come out, the Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU) will select students who will join various universities in the country. Our Staff Writer PROSPER MAKENE interviewed TCU’s Executive Secretary Prof. Sifuni Mchome on the selection process and how TCU plans to deal with academic cheaters who use fake certificates when applying for admission into higher education institutions. Excerpts:
QUESTION: What is TCU doing to ensure the admission process goes well?
ANSWER: In order to ensure the upcoming admission is well organised, TCU plans to strengthen its human resource and capacity building. TCU together with the Higher Education Students' Loans Board (HESLB),  the National Council for Technical Education (NACTE), the National Examinations Council of Tanzania (NECTA), and the higher education institutions are working together to ensure the upcoming admission of students into higher learning institutions goes well.
TCU, NACTE and NECTA have ensured that all form six and diploma academic results are captured to enable all applicants apply through the Central Admission System (CAS) without encountering problems.
Also TCU has requested NECTA to establish a database of applicants who are holding foreign certificates so as to capture their results directly from NECTA in order to increase awareness of applicants and the public at large on how to use CAS during registration and application processes.
Q. How does TCU plan to deal with those who apply for admission using fake certificates?
A. Through the CAS there is no cheating as the results are captured directly from NECTA and NACTE databases. Therefore we expect no one will join university through cheating.
Q. Any achievements made since you introduced the CAS system?
A. We have achieved a lot through this system. With CAS, an applicant is able to apply for admission into more than one institution at once, hence reducing application costs, time spent and the cost for travelling to different institutions where admission is sought.
CAS has addressed challenges related to forgery of certificates during the application process since all applications are lodged online and the examination results for each applicant are directly accessed from the NECTA and NACTE databases.
With the use of CAS, it has been possible to determine the actual admission capacity of each institution. For the first time in the history of Tanzania, almost all eligible applicants were admitted into higher education institutions. CAS has managed to control multiple admissions as the system allocates the applicant to only one programme out of the many chosen programmes.
The system generates important data for use by researchers, policy makers and decision makers. It also has managed to notify applicants who do not qualify in the early stage of the application process.
Q. How does the Foreign Awards Assessment System (FAAS) recognise foreign academic awards? Any challenges concerning this system?
A. Any one who wants their foreign awards to be recognised has to apply electronically directly to TCU's Foreign Awards Assessment System (FAAS).
They do so by opening an electronic account in TCU website and uploading different documents which allow the assessment to take place.
Apart from the copy of the certificate/degree award, they have to upload the respective transcript, their recent photo, form four and six NACTE certificates OR their equivalent, course curriculum, an admission letter and pages of the passport showing their particulars and entry visa to the country they were studying.
All of these are to be certified by an advocate/an officer of law. They also have to scan and upload the bank pay in slip to show they have paid the necessary fee for that evaluation.
After submitting these, TCU staff checks for the completeness of the application and if satisfied that the critical information is there, the applicant is given a date on which they can collect their evaluation certificate (for Tanzanians) and letters (for foreigners).
In collecting their evaluation, they have to bring with them the original documents they have uploaded, for verification.
As for the challenges encountered, they include incomplete information - sometimes the applicants do not have in hand sufficient information to do the evaluation.
They may miss form four or form six certificates on which they need to go to NECTA and process a result slip which is normally sent directly to TCU. Some do not have degree transcripts or have a crude handwritten provisional degree certificate.
Meanwhile, some applicants scan their documents such that they have very high bytes and therefore cannot be uploaded and in some cases applicants are missing the pre-requisite to join degree level training or they cannot clearly explain their path into the degree program.
In a few cases we do set-up interviews with the applicants to verify some of the queries. That takes time and has cost implications. Another challenge is that there a few applicants who either do not know or find it difficult to do the online application. We guide them on how to do so.
Q. How many students will be enrolled in higher learning institutions in the 2013/2014 academic year?
A. TCU and NACTE institutions have the capacity to enroll 60,000 students per year in 69 higher education institutions. However, given the potential pool of applicants, it is projected that the 2013/2014 admission will be about 50,000.
Q. Any future plans?
A. In future, TCU plans to process admission of postgraduate applicants through CAS.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Tanesco threatens to terminate contract with pole suppliers

Tanzania  Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) has given a 40-day ultimatum to two companies contracted to supply electric poles to do so beginning early next month or else the power utility would terminate their contracts.
The two companies are Mufindi Wood Poles, which was contracted to supply 821 poles in mid April and Critical Engineering Solutions Construction Company Limited, which was to supply 1,922 electric poles.
The ultimatum follows increased demand for poles from hundreds of customers waiting for the service since January this year.
Tanesco Public Relation Manager Badra Masoud admitted that her organisation faces a critical shortage of electric poles to match with customer demand for power connection.
She said another factor which has also contributed to shortage of poles was the failure by Artumas Energy Tanzania Limied to meet its contractual obligations of supplying power to Lindi and Mtwara regions.
“This has forced Tanesco to allocate more poles to the two regions for implementation of the project,” she said.
 “The 40-day ultimatum will start next month.  If the two companies failure to honour their agreement we’ll announce a new tender,” Masoud said.
She, however, said that three other companies from Tanzania and South Africa have confirmed to bring poles by early next month. The poles will be distributed to six regions.
“All regions will be distributed with electric poles but the distribution process depends on who applied first,” she noted.
She named the three firms as Rousant International   which will supply 7,514 and Maghilika Timber Company – 1,100 poles both from South Africa and Sao Hill which will supply 6,358 poles.   
Last month, Tanesco said it was facing a critical shortage of poles which hampers accessing electricity to its customers.
Some Musoma residents complained to have applied for power connection since January this year but until yesterday the service was not extended to them.
According to Masoud, Tanesco has also ordered electric poles from South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The number of customers who have applied for power connection has increased following government’s announcement in December last year of lowering connection charges.



SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Government yet to pay teachers 52bn/- in salary arrears,say TTU

Tanzania Teachers Union (TTU) has disapproved of government claims made in Parliament that 52bn/- have been paid to teachers as salary arrears, saying the matter is still under discussion.
The union urged the government to hasten the process of responding to its demands or else teachers will resort to strike.
“We’ve a document from the President’s Office (Public Service Management) Permanent Secretary showing that there are no payments made to teachers as stated by the minister,” TTU president Gratian Mukoba said.
He gave this clarification in Dar es Salaam yesterday when talking to reporters over the issue.
He said government owes the teachers 22bn/- as other allowances while 30bn/- are for salary arrears.
He claimed that the government was trying to weaken the issue in the eyes of the public to undermine teachers’ faith to their organization.
“TTU and the government are still in negotiations over the matter and no agreement has been reached,” he explained.
Mukoba accused the government of being indifferent in honouring teachers’ demands.
TTU has lodged its complaints in court to seek justice, a process which the government says, is a wrong path towards reaching amicable solution.
 “According to a letter dated February 22, 2013 from the Attorney General with reference AGCC/A130/17, although there is a case in court, negotiations ought to continue in good faith,” Mukoba quoted the letter as saying.
He said the government is forcing teachers to go on strike, adding that “we’re not scared to do so for our own benefit.”
“TTU is ready to negotiate with the government in a move aimed at strengthening the education sector,” Mukoba said.
On Wednesday, Education and Vocational Training minister Dr Shukuru Kawambwa told the Parliament that the government had paid 52bn/- as salary arrears to teachers in primary and secondary schools.
He was responding to a supplementary question by Christowaja Mtinda (Special Seats, Chadema) who had said government has failed to pay 27bn/- owed to primary and secondary school teachers.
In addition, the lawmaker had queried on the whereabouts of 500,000/- approved by the House last year as hardship allowance for teachers working in rural areas.
The MP had claimed that the money was spent on other activities in the ministry instead of being paid to teachers.
Responding, the minister said “until January this year, the government had already paid salary arrears it owed teachers.”
He, however, said that following an evaluation undertaken by TTU and the government, it was discovered that the latter had a debt amounting to 52bn/- instead of the previous 29bn/-.



SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

NEMC suspends services at Dar’s biggest abattoir

The National Environment Management Council (NEMC) has suspended animal slaughtering services at Dar es Salaam’s biggest abattoir located at Ukonga Mazizini on environmental and health grounds.
The order was issued yesterday, after a team from the national environment watchdog conducted a surprise inspection inside and outside the facility where it found that the liquid waste discharge system of was in quandary.
“After a thorough inspection of your abattoir, we have realised that you have failed to discharge liquid waste in a proper manner and this, in terms health and environmental standards, is unacceptable,” Lucy Lugusha, team leader from NEMC told the abattoir owner, Philemon Mbereko.
The environment senior officer also said: “We have come to the decision of closing down your abattoir and stop all operations as from today (yesterday) and we will submit to you the order in writing.”
Another NEMC senior environment officer, Jafar Chimgege told the owner of the abattoir to explain efforts he had made to address the complaints taken to his office by people residing in the area regarding the waste water discharged from his facility and channelled to a nearby water stream.
“I don’t remember the terms we agreed to work on, however I know little on environmental management so I am willing to receive advice from you on how I can improve the standards of my facility,” Mbereko replied.
According to him, more than 300 cows are slaughtered daily, whereby 450,000/- is issued as service fee.
Ilala Municipal Authority collects 600,000/- as levy and the veterinarian from Livestock and Fisheries ministry takes another 150,000/-.
In December 2010 former Livestock and Fisheries Development minister Dr Mathayo David directed Ilala municipal authorities to ensure that infrastructure at the Vingunguti located abattoir is fixed and the environment is improved as required by public health laws.
He wondered why the municipal authorities had failed to put in place necessary installations while the abattoir with the capacity to slaughter 300 cattle a day generates more than 20m/- a month.
The minister had also ordered that a standby generator be procured to pump water from a borehole during power rationing period.
He had also said that the DED must ensure offloaders are purchased to supplement the existing four to bring about efficiency and save time for meat supplying traders.
The minister had also ordered that toilets be immediately constructed, saying, “This place is visited by more than 2,000 people daily, but it has no toilets to serve them.”
He had pointed out that health officers should wake up and execute their duties professionally with more zeal, speed and strength.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

US, China send JK messages on Union day celebrations

President  Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete has received congratulatory messages from all over the world on today’s commemoration of the 49th anniversary of the Union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar.
In her message, Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, pledged readiness to work with President Kikwete towards achieving the AU vision.
"I am aware of the great strides that your country continues to make in the area of socio-political and economic development and its impact on stability and development in the eastern African region," she said in a statement availed to The Guardian yesterday.
The Governor General of the Commonwealth of Australia, Quentin Bryce AC said: "I am pleased that the warm relations between our countries have continued to expand over the last year, built on shared Commonwealth values, cooperation in the United Nations and significant commercial ties, particularly in mining sector".
For his part, the President of China, Xi Jinping, said since the establishment of the Union, the Tanzanian government and people have worked hard for national development.
"Since the establishment of diplomatic relations 49 years ago, cooperation between the two sides has brought achievements to all fields. I would like to work hand in hand with Your Excellency to push forward development for mutual benefits," he said.
Cuban President Raul Castro Ruz said: “I extend warm congratulations and ratify to you to continue strengthening the bonds of friendship and cooperation uniting our two countries".
In his message, India President Pranab Mukherjee said: "Our multi-sectoral engagement has expanded and deepened over the years for the mutual benefit of our people. I am confident that our relations will continue to be strengthened further in the years to come," he said.
In her message, Queen Beatrix of the Kingdom of The Netherlands, congratulated President Kikwete and wished the people of Tanzania peace and prosperity.
 Asif Ali Zardari, President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, said his country has maintained very close, cordial and cooperative relations with Tanzania in diverse fields for the last 46 years, adding that he is looking forward to strengthen the mutual and beneficial relations between the two countries.
The President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa also sent his good wishes saying he hoped to continue expanding areas of cooperation for the benefit of both countries.



SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN