Pinda: Public officials not to blame for Mtwara chaos

Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda has said that no one is to be blamed on the Mtwara gas saga, saying every public official played their role to rescue the situation.

Pinda gave the stance yesterday during the premier questions and answers sessions in the Parliament.

He was responding to a question raised by a leader of opposition in the house, Freeman Mbowe, who wanted to know whether the government is planning on taking legal actions on high-ranking officials in Mtwara, who in one way or another contributed to the conflict.

“At this point, we haven’t yet decided to do so, as we believe every public official in the region played their role to calm the situation…we should not reach a point of pointing fingers in this matter,” he said.

He stressed: “Mtwara and Lindi regional authorities tried their level best to calm the situation, but the main problem I have discovered is that people were not informed on the potential benefit of the project. So I don’t see a reason of punishing regional leaders over the matter.”

The PM further revealed that the Mtwara crisis was partly contributed by lack of sensitisation to local communities in the area.

He also pointed fingers at some politicians who instigated the saga for political gains.

“We have learnt that there are some people who used the crisis to scale-up their political mileages for the forthcoming general elections,” he said, urging the MPs to stick to finding a permanent solution on the matter.

He however stressed the need for effective participation of people on key issues, attributing the recent crisis to poor participation in the process.

He also told the House that the contracts that the government enters with investors will be availed to the parliament when it’s necessary.

“Contracts are not as confidential as some people think…they can be available through agreed procedures, whereby the parliament can access them through the Speaker’s office… however, they can not be available to the public as the documents have some technicalities that need to remain confidential,” the Premier stated.

Earlier, Pinda said that the situation in Mtwara has normalised as no chaos has been reported after his intervention, calling investors in various sectors to continue with their activities.

The premier briefed the House that over 50 investors have shown interest to invest in gas-related projects in the region.

He also revealed that the Mtwara chaos has caused a loss of colossal amount of money and led to destruction of private and public properties.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

MPs to raise more funds for students

The government has been tasked to come up with a Bill to amend the Education Fund Act and Higher Education Students’ Loan Board Act, so as to find sustainable means of increasing funds in the higher education sector in the country.
Speaker of the National Assembly, Anne Makinda made the directives here yesterday when summing up the debate on a private motion tabled by Iramba East MP, Mwigulu Nchemba who proposed the need for the government to come up with more Higher Education Fund.
She said MPs have agreed that the government should come up with the stated Bill in an effort to generate more funds to cutter for the increasing demand of funds by students pursuing different courses in the country.
“All MPs here have agreed to ensure that the Bill comes up in this debating chamber for debate before becoming a law,” she said, adding that the Bill will play an imperative role in ensuring that Tanzanian students access loans.
Presenting the government’s motion, Education and Vocational Training Minister, Dr Shukuru Kawambwa agreed to bring the proposed Bill in the House as stated by the lawmaker in his private motion.
He revealed that amendments will include the Education Fund Act no. 8 of 2001, and the Higher Education Students’ Loans Board Act no.9. Cap. 178 so as to include recommendations made by the special committee of the ministry and that of Iramba West MP.
The minister agreed on the proposed strategies to establish the fund that will be tailored with some banking components as well as with some of the proposed sources of funds such as education bonds, issuing loans with interest rates and imposing some taxes for mobile phone users.

“All these measures are geared to boost the education fund to assist students pursuing different courses in higher learning institutions,” Dr Kawambwa said.
In his motion, Nchemba asked the government to come up with a Bill that would establish the education fund. “The law will point out where the money to improve the fund would come from,” he said, while showing his concern over the increasing number of students wishing to join higher learning institutions.
“Our children pursuing higher education are in trouble because of the current system of issuing loans. That is why I think it is important to have a system that assures students to get 100 percent loans, contrary to this system,” he said.
Irrespective of their political differences, MPs concurred with the MP’s private motion because of its timeliness.
Margaret Sitta, (Speacial Seats, CCM) commended the motion saying, “This will make students do better in their studies as some students spend most of their time at the Higher Education Students’ Loan Board looking for loans.”
She also noted that the move will also give room for students to study what they want as some of them end up pursuing some courses just to get loans.
Mbozi West MP, David Silinde (Chadema) said that the establishment of the fund also needs to go hand in hand with giving it teeth to easily recover the loans.
Ludewa lawmaker, Deo Filikunjombe (CCM) asked Tanzanians to use the opportunity to start contributing to education sector as they do for wedding ceremonies.
“We need to inculcate a habit of contributing to education,” he said, adding that loans demand for students have been mounting every year, posing a serious threat to the sustainability of higher education in Tanzania.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Heated debate over state of education

Deficiencies in the country’s educational system and the corruption encroaching on it, stirred a heated debate in the House yesterday, after a private motion was moved by legislator James Mbatia calling for a House committee to probe the issue.

Mbatia said in his motion that the country’s educational system is in an appalling state and that it needs urgent solutions for redress.

Things came to a head soon after the government tabled its side of the issue and the House Speaker, Anne Makinda asked the lawmakers to adopt one.

Lawmakers, mostly from the opposition, stood in favour of Mbatia, who had called on the House to form a select committee to investigate the deficiencies, taking into account that the recommendations he had made were aimed at improving the country’s education system.

Peter Msigwa (Iringa Urban, Chadema) said: “Mbatia’s motion is pertinent and should be adopted for debate if we want to improve our educational system. This sector has a lot of challenges and I think this is the time to solve the educational challenges.”

The outspoken politician said the education sector is overwhelmed by a myriad of challenges that need to be thoroughly investigated as suggested by Mbatia.

“I don’t see the reason for some MPs to be reluctant to form a special parliamentary committee to examine the scale of the problems of our educational system,” he said.

The idea was also echoed by Felix Mkosamali (Muhambwe, NCCR-Mageuzi), who added: “Things are getting out of hand”.

“We are here to ensure that the government offers better services to our people…and when we see things are not going in the right direction, we’re supposed to chip in and rescue the situation,” he said.

For his part, Joshua Nasari (Arumeru East, Chadema) asked the august House to stick to its role by taking the government to task on key national issues like education.

“We shouldn’t allow people to play with education. Let’s be serious on this,” Nasari, who is the youngest MP in the House, said.

Christopher Ole Sendeka (Simanjiro, CCM) said: “It is true our educational system is in trouble. We have seen weaknesses in its policy, curriculum and the management in entirety.”

“But we need to give room to educational experts to review the situation. The role of the parliament is not to usurp the powers of the government. So, I appeal to you (MPs) to leave the government to continue with what it is doing in reviewing the educational policy.”

Lauding Mbatia for coming up with the informative motion, Peramiho lawmaker Jenista Mhagama said: “This will somehow address the key challenges facing the country’s educational sector. But I would suggest that if we give the government a chance to accomplish its ongoing work, it would work out better.”

Kongwa MP Job Ndugai said parliamentary standing orders suggested that it would be impossible for the House to come up with a probe team because the motion is too general.

“This motion is too general. Our standing orders do not allow the House to form more than one parliamentary select team. In the circumstances, it is logical that we adhere to the government proposal, which has also incorporated Mbatia’s views,” Ndugai, who is also Deputy Speaker, said.

He also appealed to MPs not to rush into the matter, but rather take the motion as a very serious thing for the well-being of Tanzanians.

“The government will also work closely with Mbatia and the Permanent Parliamentary Committee on Social Services, so that eventually, we come up with an excellent educational policy,” Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office, (Policy, Coordination and Parliamentary Affairs), William Lukuvi suggested.

Education and Vocational Training minister Dr Shukuru Kawambwa requested the MPs to let the government accomplish its groundwork of reviewing the education policy.

Moving the motion, Mbatia pointed out that the educational system in the country is in tatters and needs very urgent solutions to redress the situation.

He said the challenges start with the policy framework, curriculum and even the improperly prepared text books used in schools.

Mbatia said he is amazed on the role of EMAC in education which has approved books that are found to contain a lot of mistakes

Citing corruption as one of the causes, Mbatia said:

“Education is the heart beats of the nation, so there is a need to find a solution to redress the degeneration and one is to form a parliamentary probe team on the matter.”

The House later resolved to leave the matter in the hands of the government as proposed by the responsible minister, Dr Kawambwa.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

JK: Govt will work on advice by APRM

 A Week after the country submitted its Country Review Report in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia under the auspices of the African Union governance assessment Mechanism, the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) President Jakaya Kikwete has promised to work on all the recommendations given by his peers.

Tanzania’ and Zambia’s Country Review Reports were reviewed by African Heads of States and Governments participating in the APRM process on January 26, 2013.

Speaking in Dar es Salaam on Friday evening in his scheduled monthly address to the nation, President Kikwete told the nation that Tanzania has finally reached major milestones in the APRM process by submitting its report to the AU Forum.

“In Ethiopia, we participated in the Ordinary Summit of AU Heads of States and Governments and in the APRM Forum where Tanzania’s and Zambia’s reports were submitted for discussions,” he said.

He told the nation that during the peer review, many African Heads of States and Governments were pleased with governance reforms in Tanzania and the report was swiftly endorsed.

The President used the address to inform Tanzanians that there are however some areas where the government received recommendations for improvement, which his government will implement.

“In general there were no areas that we were pointed fingers at. We have been congratulated for a number of reforms and we have been advised on some areas for improvement. I had a chance to elaborate on some of the issues and we promised to work on their recommendations. Our Review Report was then endorsed,” said the President.

APRM process which celebrates 10 years in March, 2013 was adopted in 2003 with the aim of fostering reforms in diverse areas of governance to make African leadership participatory and offer a cross learning resources for Africa.

Tanzania signed the Memorandum of joining the APRM in 2004, completed formation of its national structures in 2007 and completed its Country Self Assessment Report in 2011.

Speaking in Addis Ababa last week the founders of the Mechanism Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Olessegun Obasanjo of Nigeria said the Mechanism offers unique opportunities for African governments to resolve governance issues from an African perspective and solidarity.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Law, policy on ICT needed, says expert

The government has been challenged to speed up the formulation of laws and the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Policy so as to protect the National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB), which lacks legal protection.

The call was made in Dar es Salaam over the weekend by Consulting Engineer and Director of ICTs Eng Dr Zaipuna Yonah in a seminar with news editors on the progress of the National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB).

Yonah said lack of laws and policy governing the fibre optics industry is a big challenge but the task to create one is daunting since the document currently the National ICT policy of 2003 must be reviewed to match the periodic technological development.

Original funding to set up the sector in Tanzania was via a loan, 170m/-USD that came from China through the bank of Exim while 18b/- amount provided by the government itself.

NICTBB covers some 7,560 km, 5,448km being newly laid and 2,112km built by Tanzania National Electricity Supply Company (TANESCO).

Dr Yonah explained that the task to build up NICTBB is a progressive mission and already phases I and II which cover National broadband backhaul/connecting to submarine cables/cross-border connectivity have been completed. The third phase involves set up of, missing links, service layer, data centers has already been approved and more efforts are directed to raising funds.

Phase four of the metro network covers 90km in Dar es Salaam completed at 6m/- USD. The last phase, mile broadband connectivity, is still in process.

Yonah added that nine cross border connectivity stations have built in borders of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi and Zambia.

NICTBB have connected to other international broadband such as SEACOM EASSY and TEAMS. The broadband SEAs is built to join Tanzania and Seychelles a project sponsored by mobile service provider Zantel.

Operation manager, Adin Mgendi acknowledged that low funding is their major challenge. Mgendi added that poor planning of cities in the country is a big challenge that it has been very difficult in connection due to many buildings being built roughly and other authorities like Dar es Salaam Water and Sewage Cooperation (DAWASCO). 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

System to monitor marine accidents starts working

 A Special system to monitor and record marine accidents has officially started working in Zanzibar after installation of a device for tracking and monitoring vessels known as Automatic Identification System (AIS).

The Zanzibar Deputy Minister for Infrastructure and Communication, Issa Haji inspected the system over the weekend.

He said the system can monitor the movement of modern vessels but they will be required to be fixed with a special device so as to be linked to the AIS.

Director of Port Services Department Captain Makame Hassan, told the Minister that the system will help them know and identify the area and distance where the accident has occurred

However, he said the same tool will facilitate the identification of acts of piracy.

Capt. Makame said currently, Azam Marine Company LTD is to benefit from the system because the agency has facilities with ability to connect directly to the communications system.

Captain Makame, said access to the system will simplify rescue operations.

He said before the introduction of the technology they were using radio service thus posing difficulties in communication.

“This body of detailed tracking of ships is of great importance in facilitating rescue operations and respond to acts of piracy,” he said.

The tool installed which worth millions of dollars has been given by the government of France under the control of security in the western zone of the Indian Ocean and managed by the Federation of Sea Transportation Fund (IMO).

“Communications of the AIS system help to provide information over the actual ship movement at sea,” said Gavu.

The system will play a great role in Zanzibar to rescue ship accidents and loss of life. 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Human rights awareness low in the country, says official

Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance received 25,753 complaints on violation of human rights between 2001 and 2012.

The Commission’s Investigation Officer Juliana Laurent said this over the weekend during a journalists’ workshop on human rights.   

He said 24,488 of the complaints involved violation of good governance principles, while 1,265 were human rights violations.

The official said so far the commission has dealt with 63 per cent of the complaints and that some of them proved to be false and were nullified.

He also asked the public to understand their rights and good governance, saying they have started to educate people across the country. They have also developed a system to reach primary and secondary school students.

For his part Emanuel Barigila an Investigation Officer said many people still do not understand issues of human rights and thus require more education.

Meanwhile Mbaraka Kambona from the commission asked the journalists to avoid writing stories the inspire violation of rights and instead educate people on their rights.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

JK: Make peace, unity shared goalCCM Chairman President Jakaya Kikwete has urged political parties to place a premium on consolidation of peace and unity, saying ordinary citizens would suffer most in case of disharmony. He said politicians in the country should refrain from promoting politics that would divide people on the basis of religion and tribe and should instead publicise policies of their parties. The President was speaking in Kigoma yesterday during celebrations to mark the 36th anniversary of CCM. He said politicians should publicise the policies of their parties and not instigate chaos because ordinary people would be the most affected in case of disharmony. He urged CCM members to look for other sources of income instead of relying on subsidies from the government, because it is not healthy for the party. President Kikwete gave the example of countries like DRCongo and Burundi who conducted politics of division, causing their people to suffer. “We politicians should not let innocent people suffer. It will be a surprise to see a politician who will be happy when people in the country are divided and engaged in blood shedding…we should use our parties for the country’s development,” he said. He also called upon the people to refuse to be used by politicians who were bent on instigating chaos in the country. Kikwete advised party members to build unity to enable the party to fulfill its promises made during the election campaigns. He said divisions within the party will not help it to win elections giving the example of Kigoma region where the party lost five constituencies, adding that in order to take them back members should strengthen their unity. The President said CCM must fulfill the promises it made during the election campaigns because people remember them and will need to know why they have not been fulfilled. Members of parliament and ward councilors should not become angry when people want to know how far you have gone in implementing promises made when asking for votes. President Kikwete said the government of CCM has managed to increase employment for teachers, improve health services and reduce maternal deaths. Earlier, Minister for Transport Dr Harrison Mwakyembe assured Kigoma residents that the train services will resume soon after completion of repair of five engines that have already arrived in the country. He said his ministry was working to ensure the problem of passengers missing tickets due to bureaucracy by some TRL staffs was contained. He also said that employees who fail to follow the directives by the government will be asked to leave. Dr Mwakyembe said his deputy will supervise the exercise today (Monday) and then the deputy permanent secretary and the last the Permanent Secretary. He said the aim was to end the practice and let passengers enjoy the service. The ceremony was attended by top political leaders from DRC Congo and Burundi. SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

CCM Chairman President Jakaya Kikwete has urged political parties to place a premium on consolidation of peace and unity, saying ordinary citizens would suffer most in case of disharmony.

He said politicians in the country should refrain from promoting politics that would divide people on the basis of religion and tribe and should instead publicise policies of their parties.

The President was speaking in Kigoma yesterday during celebrations to mark the 36th anniversary of CCM.

He said politicians should publicise the policies of their parties and not instigate chaos because ordinary people would be the most affected in case of disharmony.

He urged CCM members to look for other sources of income instead of relying on subsidies from the government, because it is not healthy for the party.

President Kikwete gave the example of countries like DRCongo and Burundi who conducted politics of division, causing their people to suffer.

“We politicians should not let innocent people suffer. It will be a surprise to see a politician who will be happy when people in the country are divided and engaged in blood shedding…we should use our parties for the country’s development,” he said.

He also called upon the people to refuse to be used by politicians who were bent on instigating chaos in the country.

Kikwete advised party members to build unity to enable the party to fulfill its promises made during the election campaigns.

He said divisions within the party will not help it to win elections giving the example of Kigoma region where the party lost five constituencies, adding that in order to take them back members should strengthen their unity.

The President said CCM must fulfill the promises it made during the election campaigns because people remember them and will need to know why they have not been fulfilled.

Members of parliament and ward councilors should not become angry when people want to know how far you have gone in implementing promises made when asking for votes.

President Kikwete said the government of CCM has managed to increase employment for teachers, improve health services and reduce maternal deaths.

Earlier, Minister for Transport Dr Harrison Mwakyembe assured Kigoma residents that the train services will resume soon after completion of repair of five engines that have already arrived in the country.

He said his ministry was working to ensure the problem of passengers missing tickets due to bureaucracy by some TRL staffs was contained.

He also said that employees who fail to follow the directives by the government will be asked to leave.

Dr Mwakyembe said his deputy will supervise the exercise today (Monday) and then the deputy permanent secretary and the last the Permanent Secretary.

He said the aim was to end the practice and let passengers enjoy the service.

The ceremony was attended by top political leaders from DRC Congo and Burundi.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN