ITALIAN mountaineer Bruno Brunod climbed Africa's highest mountain in a record five hours and 38 minutes.
We took six days, two guides, seven porters and a cook, and didn't make it all the way but still had the experience of a lifetime.
Iconic Mount Kilimanjaro is one of Tanzania's biggest drawcards, luring travellers who want something more physical than lying on a Zanzibar beach or viewing Serengeti wildlife from a safari vehicle.
As one of the world's tallest peaks that can be climbed without technical skills, Kilimanjaro is an accessible challenge and thousands reach the summit each year.
But that doesn't mean it's easy. To put the climb in perspective, Australia's 2228m Mt Kosciuszko is slightly higher than the park gate at the start of the Kilimanjaro trail.
At its highest point, Kilimanjaro reaches 5895m above sea level. The world's tallest freestanding mountain - actually a trio of dormant volcanoes - rises dramatically out of the plains.
Landscapes change from lush farmland to tropical rainforest, an open moorland of heath and wildflowers, a Mars-like alpine desert and, finally, the ice-capped summit.
Apart from the strenuous summit attempt, we averaged about six hours a day carrying just a daypack.
It is only possible to climb Kilimanjaro through a licensed agency, which provide guides and porters. This makes the trek an expensive proposition, and the park and hut fees alone exceed $900. But it does mean someone else does the cooking, cleaning and set-up.
We opted for the Marangu route, the only one that has huts to sleep in (on all other routes you need to camp). The porters walked ahead with most of the equipment and the cook usually had a snack waiting on arrival at each overnight stop.
By the time we reached the final hut at 4700m, we'd already walked for six hours that day, the fourth of the trek.
It was about this time the hike stopped being fun and started being a test of willpower.
We had about six hours to rest and refuel before heading back into the cold. Summit attempts generally leave at midnight so climbers can watch the sunrise from the top.
But on our attempt the wind blew strong and icy, bringing the temperature down to minus 18C.
Our guides had woken us at 11pm to dress - at this altitude, even that felt like running a marathon.
After 3½ hours of pain we reached Hans Meyer Cave at 5180m, the halfway point of the summit stretch.
We were still an hour from the top when dawn started to break. Watching the sunrise from the roof of Africa, a mile above the clouds, was an unforgettable, magical experience. But it was only a brief moment before we had to push on.
The last leg, a near-vertical scramble over rocks, seemed to go on for ever. Reaching the crater rim was a relief but by now we were too tired to feel anything resembling elation.
Exhausted, we collapsed on the freezing ground, from where we could just peer into the icy volcanic cone.
Pushing our bodies to their limits and beyond also left us feeling we could take on the world.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Kenya, Uganda fail US aid test again, Tanzania passes
Kenya and Uganda have once again been deemed ineligible for a special US development aid programme that is providing Tanzania with nearly $700 million over the next five years.
According to “scorecards” issued last week, Kenya fails to qualify for the Millennium Challenge assistance because it falls short of an anti-corruption standard for the fourth consecutive year.
That finding will have disappointed Foreign Minister Moses Wetang’ula.
He stated in an interview during a September visit to the United Nations that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had assured him that Kenya would soon be approved for a Millennium Challenge grant.
In addition to failing the anti-corruption test that countries must pass in order to qualify for the aid, Kenya was judged to be lagging in regard to rule of law, immunisation rates, health expenditures and fiscal policy.
The country was given passing grades on 12 criteria, including political rights and government effectiveness.
Uganda is not entitled to receive Millennium Challenge funds because it meets one less than the minimal number of standards for potential eligibility.
Uganda fails on measurements of political rights, civil liberties, immunisation rates, health expenditures, girls’ completion of primary education and fiscal policy.
Tanzanian and American officials are meanwhile completing preparations for a Millennium Challenge programme aimed at greatly improving the country’s road and electricity networks.
The scope of this initiative suggests that Kenya and Uganda could also receive substantial infrastructure aid if they were to pass the performance tests established by US monitors.
The $698 million development assistance compact with Tanzania is the largest package of aid among 16 that have so far been approved for developing countries.
The agreements total $5.5 billion, with more than half that amount going to eight countries in black Africa: Benin, Cape Verde, Ghana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique and Tanzania.
According to “scorecards” issued last week, Kenya fails to qualify for the Millennium Challenge assistance because it falls short of an anti-corruption standard for the fourth consecutive year.
That finding will have disappointed Foreign Minister Moses Wetang’ula.
He stated in an interview during a September visit to the United Nations that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had assured him that Kenya would soon be approved for a Millennium Challenge grant.
In addition to failing the anti-corruption test that countries must pass in order to qualify for the aid, Kenya was judged to be lagging in regard to rule of law, immunisation rates, health expenditures and fiscal policy.
The country was given passing grades on 12 criteria, including political rights and government effectiveness.
Uganda is not entitled to receive Millennium Challenge funds because it meets one less than the minimal number of standards for potential eligibility.
Uganda fails on measurements of political rights, civil liberties, immunisation rates, health expenditures, girls’ completion of primary education and fiscal policy.
Tanzanian and American officials are meanwhile completing preparations for a Millennium Challenge programme aimed at greatly improving the country’s road and electricity networks.
The scope of this initiative suggests that Kenya and Uganda could also receive substantial infrastructure aid if they were to pass the performance tests established by US monitors.
The $698 million development assistance compact with Tanzania is the largest package of aid among 16 that have so far been approved for developing countries.
The agreements total $5.5 billion, with more than half that amount going to eight countries in black Africa: Benin, Cape Verde, Ghana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique and Tanzania.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
BREAKING NEWS
MRAMBA YONA LAND IN COURT
Two former ministers appeared before the Kisutu Resident Magistrate's Court in Dar es Salaam yesterday charged with abuse of office and occasioning loss of over 11bn/- to the government. Basil Pesambili Mramba and Daniel Ndhira Yona, who were minister for finance and minister for energy and minerals, respectively are facing a total of 13 counts. They pleaded a plea of 'not guilty' before Resident Magistrate Hezron Mwankenja.
The accused were remanded until December 5, after failure to meet bail conditions including depositing 3.9bn/- cash and secure two reliable sureties. He also ordered them to surrender their passports and restrained them from leaving Dar es Salaam without the court's permission. Though they appeared composed as the prosecution read the charges against them, Yona was sweating profusely as he kept on wiping his face.
Members of the public booed at them as they were being taken to remand after failure to meet conditions of bail. Investigations into the case have not been completed, the prosecution told the court. Members of the prosecution team are Principal State Attorney Boniface Stanslaus, Senior State Attorney Frederick Manyanga and three officials from the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), Hole Joseph, Benn Linkon and Tabu Mzee.
The then ministers, who are defended by advocates Michael Ngalo, Joseph Tadayo, Sam Mapande, Mafuru Mafuru and Elisa Msuya, arrived at the court premises in a PCCB vehicle, Toyota Land Cruiser GX registration number T 319 ATD. They also boarded the same vehicle when they were taken to Keko Remand Prison. Their arraignment was witnessed by several people who jammed at the court premises early in the morning after learning that the duo would be brought there to answer criminal charges.
The charges against the two former ministers are not related in any how on the scandal surrounding the External Payment Arrears (EPA) account of the Bank of Tanzania as previously stated by a section of the media. Both accused are facing jointly five charges of abuse of office and one count of occasioning loss to the government, while Mramba alone faces eight similar counts. It is alleged that the duo committed the offences between 2002 and 2007 at their respective offices.
The prosecution alleged that between August 2002 and May 28, 2005, being employed as ministers, the duo abused the authority of their offices by doing several decisions. They include arbitrarily procuring M/S Alex Stewart (Assayers) UK and its subsidiary company, M/S Alex Stewart (Assayers) Government Business Corporation to sign and execute gold production assaying agreement in Tanzania in contravention of Public Procurement Act and Mining Act, respectively.
The prosecution alleged that the former ministers left the Alex Stewart (Assayers) Government Business Corporation to sign an addendum extending gold production assaying agreement for two years from June 14, 2005 to June 23, 2007 in contravention of the said Acts. It is alleged further that the duo invited Dr Enrique Sugura of the said company to formalise the two years extension before the Government Negotiation Team was convened to work on the matter.
The accused also abstained from attending the mining assayer's fees issue and submitting the agreement to the Attorney General for vetting as it was recommended by the team consequent upon which act an addendum extending the gold production assaying agreement for two years. Between June 2003 and May 28, 2005, serving as ministers, wilfully and by their failure to take reasonable care or discharge their duties in reasonable manner, the duo unjustifiably allegedly processed a gold production assaying agreement with a clause number 4.3.1.
The prosecution alleged that the said clause led to unjustified tax exemption in favour of M/S Alex Stewart) Assayers) Government Business Corporation, thereby occasioning loss to the government to the tune of 11,752,350,148/-. While Mramba alone, the prosecution alleged, between October 10, 2004 and November 15, 2005, as Minister for Finance, abused the authority of his office by arbitrarily doing several unjustified decisions.
They include ignoring the recommendation by the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) not to grant tax exemption to M/S Alex Stewart Assayers) Government Business Corporation.
He also allegedly processed and issued Government Notices (GN) No. 423/2003, 424/2003, 497/2004, 498/2004, 377/2005,378/2005, which granted tax exemption to the whole of withholding income tax payable by the said company contrary to the recommendations given by the TRA.
Between 2003 and 2007 in the city, as Minister for Finance, wilfully and by his failure to take reasonable care to discharge his duties in a reasonable manner, Mramba unjustifiably allegedly signed the said government notices. The said notices, according to the prosecution, had the effect of exempting the said company from paying income tax, thereby occasioning loss to the government of the said 11bn/-.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Background: Bretton Woods Set World Finance Order in 1944
European leaders have been calling for a new "Bretton Woods" agreement to rescue the world economy from the current crisis in the global finance system. But what exactly is Bretton Woods?
They hope that Saturday's summit in Washington of 20 leading economies will lay the basis for a new international finance order, similar to the 1944 agreement in the New Hampshire resort town of Bretton Woods.
World War II was still raging when delegates from 44 Allied nations met for the first three weeks of July, 1944, to set up a new system of rules and institutions that would regulate the international monetary system.
It was clear that European currencies would not be able to meet rising demands for international liquidity, so the delegates agreed to peg the currencies of industrialized countries at a fixed rate to the US dollar.
In the wake of the Great Depression
The goal was to avoid the sort of problems of currency fluctuations that plagued the international monetary system during the 1930s as the world recovered from the Great Depression.
In 1944, the US currency was still backed by gold, to the tune of $35 to the ounce, and was seen as the strongest currency in the world.
"At bottom, the Bretton Woods system rested on one simple assumption -- that economic policy in the United States would be stabilizing," writes Benjamin Cohen, a professor of international political economy at the University of California in Santa Barbara.
The Bretton Woods agreement also set up the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the predecessor of the World Bank to carry out the agreement and regulate the international monetary system.
While the IMF and World Bank continue to operate, the fixed currency system fell apart as the US increased its deficit spending during the Vietnam War and Great Society years of social outlays of the 1960s.
It became ever clearer that the US could no longer back the dollar with gold, and Washington suspended the gold standard in 1971 to allow it to float to its own level. By 1973, industrialized countries agreed to let their currencies also float free.
The Bretton Woods agreement was formally signed on Dec. 27, 1945, after Germany conceded victory to the Allies.
They hope that Saturday's summit in Washington of 20 leading economies will lay the basis for a new international finance order, similar to the 1944 agreement in the New Hampshire resort town of Bretton Woods.
World War II was still raging when delegates from 44 Allied nations met for the first three weeks of July, 1944, to set up a new system of rules and institutions that would regulate the international monetary system.
It was clear that European currencies would not be able to meet rising demands for international liquidity, so the delegates agreed to peg the currencies of industrialized countries at a fixed rate to the US dollar.
In the wake of the Great Depression
The goal was to avoid the sort of problems of currency fluctuations that plagued the international monetary system during the 1930s as the world recovered from the Great Depression.
In 1944, the US currency was still backed by gold, to the tune of $35 to the ounce, and was seen as the strongest currency in the world.
"At bottom, the Bretton Woods system rested on one simple assumption -- that economic policy in the United States would be stabilizing," writes Benjamin Cohen, a professor of international political economy at the University of California in Santa Barbara.
The Bretton Woods agreement also set up the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the predecessor of the World Bank to carry out the agreement and regulate the international monetary system.
While the IMF and World Bank continue to operate, the fixed currency system fell apart as the US increased its deficit spending during the Vietnam War and Great Society years of social outlays of the 1960s.
It became ever clearer that the US could no longer back the dollar with gold, and Washington suspended the gold standard in 1971 to allow it to float to its own level. By 1973, industrialized countries agreed to let their currencies also float free.
The Bretton Woods agreement was formally signed on Dec. 27, 1945, after Germany conceded victory to the Allies.
East Africa seeks to raise awareness on Internet governance
East Africa ICT stakeholders have launched an Internet governance course targeting policy makers to address gaps exposed at this week's regional meeting.
The lack of participation and deep understanding of Internet governance issues is a sign that more awareness is needed, said Mwende Njiraini, a telecoms engineer who outlined the course content.
New! Watch this Network World Webcast - Oracle Database Security for Security Administrators - Live WebcastStrathmore University and the Kenya College of Communications and Technology, both in Nairobi, will offer the course, but other institutions in Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda were encouraged to establish such courses as well.
"The course aims to provide deeper understanding, develop regional perception on Internet governance issues and enhance use of Internet in socioeconomic development," Njiraini explained.
It will target government officials, academia, civil society, media, the private sector and others who are involved in the policy making process, added Alice Munyua, coordinator of the Kenya ICT Action Network.
The course will include classroom sessions and online tutorials, while graduates of the program will be required to complete public awareness projects.
This week's regional Internet Governance Forum exposed the need for increased awareness on critical Internet resources, such as management of root servers, legal dimensions of Internet governance, jurisdiction and arbitration, intellectual property rights, copyright, and data protection.
The lack of participation and deep understanding of Internet governance issues is a sign that more awareness is needed, said Mwende Njiraini, a telecoms engineer who outlined the course content.
New! Watch this Network World Webcast - Oracle Database Security for Security Administrators - Live WebcastStrathmore University and the Kenya College of Communications and Technology, both in Nairobi, will offer the course, but other institutions in Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda were encouraged to establish such courses as well.
"The course aims to provide deeper understanding, develop regional perception on Internet governance issues and enhance use of Internet in socioeconomic development," Njiraini explained.
It will target government officials, academia, civil society, media, the private sector and others who are involved in the policy making process, added Alice Munyua, coordinator of the Kenya ICT Action Network.
The course will include classroom sessions and online tutorials, while graduates of the program will be required to complete public awareness projects.
This week's regional Internet Governance Forum exposed the need for increased awareness on critical Internet resources, such as management of root servers, legal dimensions of Internet governance, jurisdiction and arbitration, intellectual property rights, copyright, and data protection.
Stocks surge after China stimulus
Asian markets have risen sharply, a day after China announced a huge investment plan to kick-start its slowing economy.
Stocks leapt in Japan, China and Hong Kong, buoyed by China's efforts to sustain its growth rates, on which many Asian economies depend.
About $586bn (£370bn) is to go into housing, infrastructure and post-earthquake reconstruction in China over the next two years.
Correspondents say the package is a response to falling growth and exports.
There will also be significant cuts in company tax, while banks will be allowed to lend more to projects involving rural development and technical innovation.
The government also promised a shift to a "moderately easy" monetary policy.
"The investment expansion should be done swiftly and forcefully," a State Council meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao concluded.
"It's a huge package," Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency after a meeting of the Group of 20 finance officials in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
"It will have an influence not only on the world economy in supporting demand but also a lot of influence on the Chinese economy itself, and I think it is good news for correcting imbalances."
Market bounce
Chinese stocks rose sharply, with the Shanghai Composite Index ending 7.3% higher at 1,874.80.
Market bounce
Chinese stocks rose sharply, with the Shanghai Composite Index ending 7.3% higher at 1,874.80.
Chinese exports have been a key driver of the economy
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock average closed up 5.8% to 9,081.43, helped by the weaker yen, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 3.39% at 14,726.59.
European shocks were also given a lift by the Chinese news.
The UK's FTSE 100 index ended the day up 38 points or 0.9% to 4,404, while Germany's Dax advanced 87 points or 1.8% to 5,026.
However, BBC Shanghai correspondent Chris Hogg said much uncertainty remained over the details of the package, and US stocks ended lower on Wall Street..
"What's not clear is how much of the sum announced is new money, in addition to current budgets," he said.
"And we don't know how the total money will be divided up between the different spending proposals and plans for tax relief".
Companies likely to benefit most from the government's investment plans did best, including banking, steel and construction firms.
Factory closures across the border in southern China have badly depressed China's manufacturing sector.
Commodity cuts?
Analysts said the stimulus package would not save China from the effects of the global financial slowdown, but could help to protect it.
China, and Asian economies who increasingly depend on it as an export market, had become used to double-digit growth figures.
But in the third quarter of this year growth slipped to 9%, its lowest level in five years.
Though this might be considered healthy elsewhere, the fall has been taken as a worrying sign in China where the government has relied on rapid growth to maintain political stability.
Interest rates
The Chinese government has cut interest rates twice in recent weeks, and began considering ways to avert a more dramatic economic slowdown in October.
These included measures to stimulate the property market, prompt construction of low-cost housing, and increasing export rebates on thousands of products.
Figures on Monday showed wholesale price inflation fell in October, which analysts said made the chance of another rate cut more likely.
Producer price inflation declined to 6.6% in the 12 months to October from 9.1% in September, according to the National Bureau for Statistics.
"Monetary policy is completely free to act to counter to any downside risks," said Ken Peng, an economist with Citigroup in Shanghai.
"It's still necessary for monetary policy to complement the fiscal package."
President Hu Jintao is to travel to Washington later this week for a global economic summit meeting.
Stocks leapt in Japan, China and Hong Kong, buoyed by China's efforts to sustain its growth rates, on which many Asian economies depend.
About $586bn (£370bn) is to go into housing, infrastructure and post-earthquake reconstruction in China over the next two years.
Correspondents say the package is a response to falling growth and exports.
There will also be significant cuts in company tax, while banks will be allowed to lend more to projects involving rural development and technical innovation.
The government also promised a shift to a "moderately easy" monetary policy.
"The investment expansion should be done swiftly and forcefully," a State Council meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao concluded.
"It's a huge package," Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency after a meeting of the Group of 20 finance officials in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
"It will have an influence not only on the world economy in supporting demand but also a lot of influence on the Chinese economy itself, and I think it is good news for correcting imbalances."
Market bounce
Chinese stocks rose sharply, with the Shanghai Composite Index ending 7.3% higher at 1,874.80.
Market bounce
Chinese stocks rose sharply, with the Shanghai Composite Index ending 7.3% higher at 1,874.80.
Chinese exports have been a key driver of the economy
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock average closed up 5.8% to 9,081.43, helped by the weaker yen, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 3.39% at 14,726.59.
European shocks were also given a lift by the Chinese news.
The UK's FTSE 100 index ended the day up 38 points or 0.9% to 4,404, while Germany's Dax advanced 87 points or 1.8% to 5,026.
However, BBC Shanghai correspondent Chris Hogg said much uncertainty remained over the details of the package, and US stocks ended lower on Wall Street..
"What's not clear is how much of the sum announced is new money, in addition to current budgets," he said.
"And we don't know how the total money will be divided up between the different spending proposals and plans for tax relief".
Companies likely to benefit most from the government's investment plans did best, including banking, steel and construction firms.
Factory closures across the border in southern China have badly depressed China's manufacturing sector.
Commodity cuts?
Analysts said the stimulus package would not save China from the effects of the global financial slowdown, but could help to protect it.
China, and Asian economies who increasingly depend on it as an export market, had become used to double-digit growth figures.
But in the third quarter of this year growth slipped to 9%, its lowest level in five years.
Though this might be considered healthy elsewhere, the fall has been taken as a worrying sign in China where the government has relied on rapid growth to maintain political stability.
Interest rates
The Chinese government has cut interest rates twice in recent weeks, and began considering ways to avert a more dramatic economic slowdown in October.
These included measures to stimulate the property market, prompt construction of low-cost housing, and increasing export rebates on thousands of products.
Figures on Monday showed wholesale price inflation fell in October, which analysts said made the chance of another rate cut more likely.
Producer price inflation declined to 6.6% in the 12 months to October from 9.1% in September, according to the National Bureau for Statistics.
"Monetary policy is completely free to act to counter to any downside risks," said Ken Peng, an economist with Citigroup in Shanghai.
"It's still necessary for monetary policy to complement the fiscal package."
President Hu Jintao is to travel to Washington later this week for a global economic summit meeting.
Epidemic of strikes in Tanzania's higher institutions
A PICTURE is worth a thousand words, right? Technically you could replace every article of a similar length with a single picture. It is just that since beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, a thousand persons looking at the same picture might not see the same messages, positive or negative.
Some of us need extra help with our sense of imagination. For some people, you have to draw and label the lines and shades in a picture. So let me paint my picture with a thousand words.The pictures of students and teachers on TV screens and on newspaper pages in the past few weeks have been colourful to say the least. Students dragging others from buses or classrooms to force them to join the strikes amounts to violence.
So does the action of striking teachers throwing chairs at their leaders in a meeting hall. He called off the strike on finding out their actions were deemed unlawful by a court of the land. Should union leaders defy court orders?Since that court ruling, teachers have been going to school but doing zero teaching in class. That amounts to theft of the future of young minds. Theft similar but of a different magnitude to that of economic saboteurs.
Are they being paid salaries at the end of each month to silently 'teach' from their offices? No visible action has been taken by authorities despite evidence that indicates the slow strikes have crippled teaching all over the country this year. Who will pay for the learning denied to primary and secondary students in public schools?
Pretty soon the long arm of the law will catch up with teachers and students who break the law. Maybe forces of the crown will be forced to use forceful means to quell the epidemic of strikes that have bedevilled Bongoland in the past year or so. When force becomes first aid, we can join the ranks of Kenya and Zimbabwe where law enforcers are not so restrained and results of their handiwork end up in hospitals and beyond.
Our police should have arrested law breakers but they chose to err on the side of caution. So far so good.Before long the calm that has characterised Tanzania since independence may become a veneer of peace, tranquil on the surface but a simmering volcano lurking underneath. We risk losing the moral high ground of peace and tranquillity, losing the enviable title of the island of calm in Africa. Just because a few rowdy students whip their colleagues into a frenzy of mass hysteria, culminating into grand assembly of offspring of lumpen proletariats and bourgeoisies, chanting and ululating, reminiscent of 'ndombolo' and 'mdundiko' dances in the wee hours of the morning.
We have seen hordes of pseudo-intellectuals on TV, who dared to call themselves 'wasomi', struggling to juggle TVs, DVD players, impressive music systems and their suitcases large and small, as they scrambled to leave campus after they were booted out. These striking students of education, science or humanities will breed rebellious future teachers. What will they teach our grandchildren when they seem bent on earning a degree not yet offered in regular universities, Bachelor of Striking and Rhetoric with honours (BSR Hons.)?
The defiant, fire-breathing future intellectuals have vowed to fight on and strike again upon being reinstated at some unknown future date. You want to know how they spend their money, loaned or otherwise? Visit Mabibo hostel or any other dormitories of these potential future servants of the public.TV antennae growing like a forest of potted plants on windows for all to see. A cacophony of sound that passes for music flavours will assail your ears, unless you are deaf to the obvious. May be they got those from hire-purchase shops? When do they seriously study, these music and vision lovers?
They want loans for every student to be raised to 100 per cent. Give us 100 per cent loans or else what? Crucify the loan givers? Why not apply at banks for your loans? This is what happens in Europe and North America. Students apply for loans for studies at the local bank. That way, they know they must work hard to pass all examinations in order to pass with flying colours so that they will land good jobs after graduation. You can bet the western students do not necessarily spend their loan funds to buy stereos and TVs for their student rooms.
Our students have made a flying start with striking frequency. We know they will in theory repay the loans at some future date. But who will pay the costs of their present day strikes? The costly disruption of studies for those intent on serious learning; when will local and foreign students on and off-campus study for their degrees? What about the thousands of Chang'ombe, Mlimani, Muhimbili, Ardhi lecturers, cleaners, administrators, repairmen, cook, secretaries and other workers who will be paid while Universities are closed? There will be bills accumulating, for electricity, water and other services that the universities had budgeted for, to cover periods when classes are in session.
Should the universities and colleges take bank loans to cover budget deficits caused by disruption of classes? There will be return fares in thousands of shillings from sweating parents and guardians who can not afford the additional unbudgeted costs. Should parents sink further into debt because their boys and girls behave like we owe them extreme favours? It would seem like since the new semester started, the young women and men are in combative mode, striking to keep the iron hot.
They raise legitimate issues regarding how student loans are administered. For example, that there may be students from well-to-do families getting loans equal to 80 per cent of costs while some from poor families only qualify for 60 per cent. They should present the evidence for such an allegation to the public. Let the public judge and law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute. Accusations are not sufficient justification to cause open and hidden loses to public resources through strikes.
It may be time for Universities and colleges to strike back. Uproot the bad apples before it is too late. The nation cannot afford the costly strikes nor can it afford the culture of settling legitimate concerns through illegitimate means that seems to be taking root. We sent those youngsters to study. We do not need them back home so soon. They must do their part. They must remember sacrifices which others have made to get them where they are. They should pay back in kindness.
Some of us need extra help with our sense of imagination. For some people, you have to draw and label the lines and shades in a picture. So let me paint my picture with a thousand words.The pictures of students and teachers on TV screens and on newspaper pages in the past few weeks have been colourful to say the least. Students dragging others from buses or classrooms to force them to join the strikes amounts to violence.
So does the action of striking teachers throwing chairs at their leaders in a meeting hall. He called off the strike on finding out their actions were deemed unlawful by a court of the land. Should union leaders defy court orders?Since that court ruling, teachers have been going to school but doing zero teaching in class. That amounts to theft of the future of young minds. Theft similar but of a different magnitude to that of economic saboteurs.
Are they being paid salaries at the end of each month to silently 'teach' from their offices? No visible action has been taken by authorities despite evidence that indicates the slow strikes have crippled teaching all over the country this year. Who will pay for the learning denied to primary and secondary students in public schools?
Pretty soon the long arm of the law will catch up with teachers and students who break the law. Maybe forces of the crown will be forced to use forceful means to quell the epidemic of strikes that have bedevilled Bongoland in the past year or so. When force becomes first aid, we can join the ranks of Kenya and Zimbabwe where law enforcers are not so restrained and results of their handiwork end up in hospitals and beyond.
Our police should have arrested law breakers but they chose to err on the side of caution. So far so good.Before long the calm that has characterised Tanzania since independence may become a veneer of peace, tranquil on the surface but a simmering volcano lurking underneath. We risk losing the moral high ground of peace and tranquillity, losing the enviable title of the island of calm in Africa. Just because a few rowdy students whip their colleagues into a frenzy of mass hysteria, culminating into grand assembly of offspring of lumpen proletariats and bourgeoisies, chanting and ululating, reminiscent of 'ndombolo' and 'mdundiko' dances in the wee hours of the morning.
We have seen hordes of pseudo-intellectuals on TV, who dared to call themselves 'wasomi', struggling to juggle TVs, DVD players, impressive music systems and their suitcases large and small, as they scrambled to leave campus after they were booted out. These striking students of education, science or humanities will breed rebellious future teachers. What will they teach our grandchildren when they seem bent on earning a degree not yet offered in regular universities, Bachelor of Striking and Rhetoric with honours (BSR Hons.)?
The defiant, fire-breathing future intellectuals have vowed to fight on and strike again upon being reinstated at some unknown future date. You want to know how they spend their money, loaned or otherwise? Visit Mabibo hostel or any other dormitories of these potential future servants of the public.TV antennae growing like a forest of potted plants on windows for all to see. A cacophony of sound that passes for music flavours will assail your ears, unless you are deaf to the obvious. May be they got those from hire-purchase shops? When do they seriously study, these music and vision lovers?
They want loans for every student to be raised to 100 per cent. Give us 100 per cent loans or else what? Crucify the loan givers? Why not apply at banks for your loans? This is what happens in Europe and North America. Students apply for loans for studies at the local bank. That way, they know they must work hard to pass all examinations in order to pass with flying colours so that they will land good jobs after graduation. You can bet the western students do not necessarily spend their loan funds to buy stereos and TVs for their student rooms.
Our students have made a flying start with striking frequency. We know they will in theory repay the loans at some future date. But who will pay the costs of their present day strikes? The costly disruption of studies for those intent on serious learning; when will local and foreign students on and off-campus study for their degrees? What about the thousands of Chang'ombe, Mlimani, Muhimbili, Ardhi lecturers, cleaners, administrators, repairmen, cook, secretaries and other workers who will be paid while Universities are closed? There will be bills accumulating, for electricity, water and other services that the universities had budgeted for, to cover periods when classes are in session.
Should the universities and colleges take bank loans to cover budget deficits caused by disruption of classes? There will be return fares in thousands of shillings from sweating parents and guardians who can not afford the additional unbudgeted costs. Should parents sink further into debt because their boys and girls behave like we owe them extreme favours? It would seem like since the new semester started, the young women and men are in combative mode, striking to keep the iron hot.
They raise legitimate issues regarding how student loans are administered. For example, that there may be students from well-to-do families getting loans equal to 80 per cent of costs while some from poor families only qualify for 60 per cent. They should present the evidence for such an allegation to the public. Let the public judge and law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute. Accusations are not sufficient justification to cause open and hidden loses to public resources through strikes.
It may be time for Universities and colleges to strike back. Uproot the bad apples before it is too late. The nation cannot afford the costly strikes nor can it afford the culture of settling legitimate concerns through illegitimate means that seems to be taking root. We sent those youngsters to study. We do not need them back home so soon. They must do their part. They must remember sacrifices which others have made to get them where they are. They should pay back in kindness.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
’Obama to push US-Tanzania relations to greater heights’
OUTGOING US Ambassador to Tanzania, Mark Green, is confident that President-elect Barack Obama will foster the existing ’broad and deep’ relations between the two countries.
’’American engagement with Tanzania is broad and deep, and we expect it to remain such in the new Obama administration. Our poverty-fighting measures promote economic growth through support for wealth creation, food security, infrastructural development and other key components of what the Tanzanian government has asked us to do,’’ said ambassador Green in an op-ed article titled ’Democracy in Action.’
In the opinion article focusing on the just-concluded US presidential elections, ambassador Green added: ’’We will also continue to engage actively with Tanzania’s military and police services, promoting peace and security by supporting efforts to improve capabilities in such areas as maritime security, peacekeeping support, and trafficking-in-persons interdiction.’’
He noted that the US was working with Tanzanians to strengthen and enrich democratic institutions throughout the country.
’’Our programmes address health care issues, particularly HIV/AIDS and malaria, strengthen education through the refurbishment of schools, and as important, assist in this country’s difficult fight against corruption by supporting transparency and accountability initiatives at the local and national level,’’ he said.
Ambassador Green, who is expected to end his tour of duty in the country early next year, noted that former
US President Abraham Lincoln had defined American democracy as government ’’of the people, by the people, and for the people.’’�
He said since then, Americans have by and large viewed this phrase as the defining path of their electoral system.�
He added: ’’Americans appreciate the kind words and gracious gestures of support President-elect Obama has received from throughout the world, including here in Tanzania. We wish the best to all ’wananchi’ as this nation defines its own political history and seeks to determine its short, medium, and long term democracy goals as it strengthens its own sense of ’we the people’ for Tanzania’s future.’’
An opinion poll carried out by a US think-tank before the election established that more than three-quarters of Tanzania wanted Obama to win the presidential race.
After his election, the question has become -- What will Barack Obama be able to accomplish for Africa once he becomes president?
As in much of the world, hopes for his presidency are high.
Africa experts are optimistic but much more subdued. They say the global economic crisis and the United States’ considerable military commitments overseas may stymie Obama if he tries to intervene in conflicts in Darfur, build on President Bush’s ground-breaking AIDS programmes (PEPFAR) or take on Islamic extremists in the Horn of Africa.
Expectations have been high in Africa ever since Obama, whose father was from Kenya, travelled to the continent as a senator in 2006 and proclaimed, ”You are all my brothers and sisters.’’ He visited Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Chad and told cheering crowds that he would lobby for help back in the USA to solve their problems.
Aware of the limitations now that Obama is president-elect, African leaders have tried to tamp down their own people’s hopes.
AIDS and HIV, which infect about 22 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, is an issue where the money crunch could be particularly acute.
The US Congress has passed legislation that would triple funding for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, which provides drugs to about 1.2 million HIV-positive Africans. Because of the economic crisis, paying out that projected $48bn bill over the next five years could force cuts in other critical foreign aid programmes, experts say.
Peter Piot, the executive director of the United Nations’ AIDS programme, warned last month that even if foreign aid stays at current levels, AIDS deaths worldwide could reach 3 million per year by 2011, up from 2 million in 2007.
Treating those enrolled in programmes such as PEPFAR is getting more expensive. Many patients develop resistance to first-line drugs and require pricier second-line medications. Africa also experiences the same problems seen elsewhere in the world.
Other African issues that could command Obama’s attention when he takes office in January are violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where 250,000 have been displaced this year, and the economic crisis in Zimbabwe, where President Robert Mugabe’s government has seen inflation rise to 11.2 million. During his campaign, Obama condemned Mugabe’s intimidation of the opposition
’’American engagement with Tanzania is broad and deep, and we expect it to remain such in the new Obama administration. Our poverty-fighting measures promote economic growth through support for wealth creation, food security, infrastructural development and other key components of what the Tanzanian government has asked us to do,’’ said ambassador Green in an op-ed article titled ’Democracy in Action.’
In the opinion article focusing on the just-concluded US presidential elections, ambassador Green added: ’’We will also continue to engage actively with Tanzania’s military and police services, promoting peace and security by supporting efforts to improve capabilities in such areas as maritime security, peacekeeping support, and trafficking-in-persons interdiction.’’
He noted that the US was working with Tanzanians to strengthen and enrich democratic institutions throughout the country.
’’Our programmes address health care issues, particularly HIV/AIDS and malaria, strengthen education through the refurbishment of schools, and as important, assist in this country’s difficult fight against corruption by supporting transparency and accountability initiatives at the local and national level,’’ he said.
Ambassador Green, who is expected to end his tour of duty in the country early next year, noted that former
US President Abraham Lincoln had defined American democracy as government ’’of the people, by the people, and for the people.’’�
He said since then, Americans have by and large viewed this phrase as the defining path of their electoral system.�
He added: ’’Americans appreciate the kind words and gracious gestures of support President-elect Obama has received from throughout the world, including here in Tanzania. We wish the best to all ’wananchi’ as this nation defines its own political history and seeks to determine its short, medium, and long term democracy goals as it strengthens its own sense of ’we the people’ for Tanzania’s future.’’
An opinion poll carried out by a US think-tank before the election established that more than three-quarters of Tanzania wanted Obama to win the presidential race.
After his election, the question has become -- What will Barack Obama be able to accomplish for Africa once he becomes president?
As in much of the world, hopes for his presidency are high.
Africa experts are optimistic but much more subdued. They say the global economic crisis and the United States’ considerable military commitments overseas may stymie Obama if he tries to intervene in conflicts in Darfur, build on President Bush’s ground-breaking AIDS programmes (PEPFAR) or take on Islamic extremists in the Horn of Africa.
Expectations have been high in Africa ever since Obama, whose father was from Kenya, travelled to the continent as a senator in 2006 and proclaimed, ”You are all my brothers and sisters.’’ He visited Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Chad and told cheering crowds that he would lobby for help back in the USA to solve their problems.
Aware of the limitations now that Obama is president-elect, African leaders have tried to tamp down their own people’s hopes.
AIDS and HIV, which infect about 22 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, is an issue where the money crunch could be particularly acute.
The US Congress has passed legislation that would triple funding for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, which provides drugs to about 1.2 million HIV-positive Africans. Because of the economic crisis, paying out that projected $48bn bill over the next five years could force cuts in other critical foreign aid programmes, experts say.
Peter Piot, the executive director of the United Nations’ AIDS programme, warned last month that even if foreign aid stays at current levels, AIDS deaths worldwide could reach 3 million per year by 2011, up from 2 million in 2007.
Treating those enrolled in programmes such as PEPFAR is getting more expensive. Many patients develop resistance to first-line drugs and require pricier second-line medications. Africa also experiences the same problems seen elsewhere in the world.
Other African issues that could command Obama’s attention when he takes office in January are violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where 250,000 have been displaced this year, and the economic crisis in Zimbabwe, where President Robert Mugabe’s government has seen inflation rise to 11.2 million. During his campaign, Obama condemned Mugabe’s intimidation of the opposition
Three more fail bail test in EPA scam
Attemps to secure bail by three of the 20 accused persons in the External Payments Arrears (EPA) accounts scam hit a snag yesterday when all three failed to meet the set bail conditions again.
Bahati John Mahenge, Manase Hezekia Mwakale and his wife Eddah Nkoma Mwakale were brought before the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court for bail consideration, but were returned into remand custody until today when they appear for preliminary hearing of their case.
The accused were each required to deposit in court 240m/- in cash or surrender a title deed of immovable property with the market value of the said amount. All three had brought with them the title deeds as initially required, but then the magistrate informed the accused that the title deeds had to be verified first.
Resident Magistrate Waliarwande Lema also directed that such verifications should be made by government valuers, and that such verifications should satisfy the court that the materials properties in the titles did not have any encumbrances. The other accused, Davies Magnus Kamungu and Godfrey Herry Mosha, who are enjoined in one case, are out on bail after meeting their set bail conditions.
In their cases, the accused are facing a total of 15 counts. They are charged with conspiracy, forgery, making false statements, obtaining registration by false pretences, uttering false documents, theft of over 2bn/- and an alternative count of obtaining credit by false pretences. Another 15 accused persons are still in remand, also for failure after failing to meet bail conditions.
They are Mwesiga Rutakyamilwa Lukaza and his younger brother, Johnson, who are charged with, among other counts, the theft of over 6bn/- from the Bank of Tanzania (BoT). The rest are tycoon Jayantkumar Chandubhai Patel, alias Jeetu Patel, Devendra Vinodbhai Patel, Amit Nandy and Ketan Chohan – all of whom are charged with stealing over 21bn/-, conspiracy, forgery and obtaining credit by false pretences.
Others are Marijala Shaban Hussein, Rajab Shaban Maranda, Japhet Laiyandumi Lema, who are charged with conspiracy, forgery, uttering false documents, obtaining credit by false pretences and stealing over 10bn/- from the Central Bank. The rest are BoT officials Ester Mary Komu, the Acting Director of Debt Department,
Imani David Akim Mwakosya, the Head of Bilateral and Commercial Debt Division and two Acting Secretaries to the bank, Bosco Ndimbo Kimola and Sophia Joseph Lakila. They are charged with, among other counts, occasioning loss to the government of over 2.5bn/- through their negligence. The last group are Ajay Suryakant Somani and his younger brother Jai Chhotalal Somani, also charged with stealing 5bn/-.
Bahati John Mahenge, Manase Hezekia Mwakale and his wife Eddah Nkoma Mwakale were brought before the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court for bail consideration, but were returned into remand custody until today when they appear for preliminary hearing of their case.
The accused were each required to deposit in court 240m/- in cash or surrender a title deed of immovable property with the market value of the said amount. All three had brought with them the title deeds as initially required, but then the magistrate informed the accused that the title deeds had to be verified first.
Resident Magistrate Waliarwande Lema also directed that such verifications should be made by government valuers, and that such verifications should satisfy the court that the materials properties in the titles did not have any encumbrances. The other accused, Davies Magnus Kamungu and Godfrey Herry Mosha, who are enjoined in one case, are out on bail after meeting their set bail conditions.
In their cases, the accused are facing a total of 15 counts. They are charged with conspiracy, forgery, making false statements, obtaining registration by false pretences, uttering false documents, theft of over 2bn/- and an alternative count of obtaining credit by false pretences. Another 15 accused persons are still in remand, also for failure after failing to meet bail conditions.
They are Mwesiga Rutakyamilwa Lukaza and his younger brother, Johnson, who are charged with, among other counts, the theft of over 6bn/- from the Bank of Tanzania (BoT). The rest are tycoon Jayantkumar Chandubhai Patel, alias Jeetu Patel, Devendra Vinodbhai Patel, Amit Nandy and Ketan Chohan – all of whom are charged with stealing over 21bn/-, conspiracy, forgery and obtaining credit by false pretences.
Others are Marijala Shaban Hussein, Rajab Shaban Maranda, Japhet Laiyandumi Lema, who are charged with conspiracy, forgery, uttering false documents, obtaining credit by false pretences and stealing over 10bn/- from the Central Bank. The rest are BoT officials Ester Mary Komu, the Acting Director of Debt Department,
Imani David Akim Mwakosya, the Head of Bilateral and Commercial Debt Division and two Acting Secretaries to the bank, Bosco Ndimbo Kimola and Sophia Joseph Lakila. They are charged with, among other counts, occasioning loss to the government of over 2.5bn/- through their negligence. The last group are Ajay Suryakant Somani and his younger brother Jai Chhotalal Somani, also charged with stealing 5bn/-.
Lake Victoria Mining Company Inc triples Kalemela Gold Project in northern Tanzania
Roger A Newell PhD, the president and CEO of gold mining company Lake Victoria Mining Company Inc (OTCBB:LVCA.OB), reported on 11 November the acquisition of two exploration licenses (PL 2910, PL 3006) in Lake Victoria Greenstone Belt, Tanzania, subject to final payment, thus expanding its footprint in this prominent, productive and highly prospective gold belt.
The company said the new licenses are contiguous with the existing Kalemela License PL2747. The Kalemela Gold Project will contain over 260 square kilometres at the end of the transaction. A Lake Victoria Mining Company Inc will acquire a 60% ownership of the licenses for cash, shares, as well as a three year exploration commitment under the agreement with Geo Can Resources Ltd. The company is also provided with the option to acquire up to a 100% interest in the licenses.
The company said the new licenses are contiguous with the existing Kalemela License PL2747. The Kalemela Gold Project will contain over 260 square kilometres at the end of the transaction. A Lake Victoria Mining Company Inc will acquire a 60% ownership of the licenses for cash, shares, as well as a three year exploration commitment under the agreement with Geo Can Resources Ltd. The company is also provided with the option to acquire up to a 100% interest in the licenses.
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