Thursday, January 29, 2015

PROFESA IBRAHIM HARUN LIPUMBA MANHANDLED BY POLICE IN DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA

By Gadiosa Lamtey, THE GUARDIAN TANZANIA.
28th January 2015
http://www.ippmedia.com/media/picture/large/lipumba1-jan28-2015.jpg

Civic United Front (CUF) chairman, Professor Ibrahim Lipumba, in a police van in Dar es Salaam yesterday after being arrested allegedly for taking part in an illegal demonstration.

Police in Dar es Salaam have  arrested Civil United Front (CUF) National Chairman, Prof Ibrahim Lipumba and 32 other party followers  allegedly  for holding a demonstration without permission.

The party followers who were marching in memory of their fellow party followers who were killed in Zanzibar in 2001. 

By the time  this paper was going to bed they were still being interrogated at the Central Police Station.

“We arrested 32 CUF followers – two women and 30 men including Prof Lipumba for holding a demonstration without a permission. We are interrogating them at the Central Police Station and we may give them bail for  those who will meet the conditions afterwards,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police who is also Chief of Police Operation for Dar es Salaam Zone, Simon Sirro in an exclusive interview with this paper.

However, he said, the police are still looking for other party members who managed to escape the arrest.
He said the suspects will appear before court today once investigations were complete. 

According to eye witnesses, before arresting Prof Lipumba and his party followers, police fired gas canisters to disperse the members.

“Prof Lipumba arrived here with a letter from the Central Police Station saying the  demonstration had been cancelled . However, we disagreed with decision because our intention is in memory of 60 people- who lost their lives in Zanzibar. So we decided to go to Mbagala. But when we reached Mtongani roundabout the police arrested us ,” said one of the eye witnesses who preferred anonymity.  

Prof  Lipumba had difficult time to convince the party  members to cancel the planned demonstration.

“There were two groups one at Temeke area while the other at Zakhiem. As he was telling the group at Temeke that the police had cancelled the demonstration due to suspicion  terrorism related acts, the group disagreed,” said the sour.

According to the source, after informing the group, he was leaving for Zakhiem to deliver the same message the followers were behind him.

“When the police saw him in the procession  on the  way to Zakheim, they thought the demonstrations  was going on as planned,” said the source.
Another party follower Salum Kitindo said the government is not fair when it comes to demonstrations by oppositions parties even if the demonstrations were peaceful.

“We wonder why police use too much force to arrest innocent  people . This shows that the opposition parties were a threat,” he said.
Another member of the party Mohamed Mbaga said CUF leaders sent the  letter to police  three days before. 
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

NIGERIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE MUHAMMADU BUHARI SABOTAGED


 
29th January, 2015
PRESS RELEASE:
BUHARI’S CERTIFICATE SAGA:
DON’T MANIPULATE THE JUDICIARY

Chukwunweike Okafor , an Abuja-based lawyer and a senior partner at Emerald Attorneys & Solicitors, has approached the Federal High Court, Abuja, seeking a special hearing to determine the eligibility or otherwise of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress [APC], Muhammadu Buhari, over his academic qualifications.

While we are aware of the provisions of Section 31(5) of the Electoral Act that allows a person that has reasonable grounds to believe that false information has been given by a candidate in his affidavit or document submitted to INEC, in support of his nomination form, to challenge the eligibility of the candidate, we have good reason to suspect that the complainant is acting under influence.

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) suspects foul play in this development. Our suspicion is based on two grounds. The first is the desperate moves being made by the Federal Government to disqualify the APC presidential candidate. Nigerians were told that Buhari had no secondary school certificate until the candidate’s school principal released the result of his Cambridge examination. The principal received several death threats for this.

MURIC is also in possession of a statement allegedly issued by the National Secretary of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), Mr. Isaiah Adetola, in which he alleged that the Federal Government was attempting to use the union as a political tool.

Mr. Adetola alleged that JUSUN was manipulated to go on strike in order to prevent the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court from pronouncing on the eligibility of President Jonathan to contest for a second term in office. According to the secretary, the same union is now being used to call off the strike in order to use the courts to scuttle the 2015 polls.

MURIC warns the Federal Government against manipulating the judiciary for the purpose of satisfying its whims and caprices. We also appeal to the judiciary not to allow itself to be used by desperate politicians.

Preparations for the 2015 general elections have gone too far and Nigerians are fully charged for the exercise. Expectations are very high on all sides and any careless intervention can lead to a general commotion.

Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

MADAI UFISADI MPYA KUTIKISA BUNGE LA JAMHURI YA MUUNGANO WA TANZANIA JAN. 2015

Ufisadi mpya kutikisa Bunge, asema
Mwenyekiti wa PAC, Zitto Kabwe 
Na Mwandishi Wetu, Mwananchi
Posted;  Jumanne,Januari, 2015  saa 8:9 AM
KWA UFUPI
·       PAC kusoma ripoti ya kashfa tatu kubwa kesho Dodoma
·       Jengo la watu mashuhuri Uwanja wa Ndege ni balaa
·       Misamaha ya kodi, nyumba ya mbunge kutawala vikao
 
Dar es Salaam. Kamati ya Bunge ya Hesabu za Serikali (PAC) kesho itawasha moto upya bungeni wakati itakaposoma ripoti maalumu ya Mdhibiti na Mkaguzi Mkuu wa Hesabu za Serikali (CAG), ikitarajiwa kuibua kashfa tatu nzito ikiwamo ya misamaha ya kodi.
Kashfa nyingine zinazotarajiwa kuibuliwa kesho ni, ufisadi katika gharama za ujenzi wa jengo la watu mashuhuri (VIP) katika Uwanja wa Ndege wa Kimataifa wa Julius Nyerere (JNIA) na uuzaji wa nyumba ya Bodi ya Korosho.
Habari zilizolifikia gazeti hili jana na kuthibitishwa na Mwenyekiti wa PAC, Zitto Kabwe zilisema kuwa, tayari kamati hiyo imepokea ripoti ya ukaguzi huo ambayo inaonyesha ufisadi wa kutisha katika maeneo hayo matatu na mengineyo.
Masuala hayo matatu pia yaliibuka wakati wa vikao vya kamati za Bunge vilivyomalizika Dar es Salaam wiki iliyopita, huku bodi ya korosho ikibanwa kuhusu nyumba yake aliyouziwa Mbunge wa Kibaha Mjini (CCM), Silvestry Koka.
Kwa mujibu wa habari hizo, ripoti hiyo inayoonyesha jinsi ufisadi wa kutisha ulivyofanywa katika ujenzi wa jengo la (VIP Lounge) na Serikali inadai ilitumia Sh12 bilioni kulijenga, lakini mthamini wa majengo ya Serikali ameeleza kuwa jengo hilo lina thamani ya Sh3 bilioni.
Katika suala la misamaha ya kodi, PAC imepokea taarifa kutoka kwa CAG ikionyesha kuwa misamaha hiyo iliyokuwa imefikia Sh1.5 trilioni mpaka Juni 2013, lakini baada ya mwaka moja misamaha hiyo imeongezeka hadi Sh1.8 trilioni mpaka Juni 2014.
“Kwa mwaka moja tu, misamaha ya kodi imeongezeka kwa zaidi ya Sh300 bilioni. Kiasi hiki ni kama escrow fulani (Fedha za Akaunti ya Tegeta Escrow, Sh306 bilioni),” chanzo cha habari kilidokeza.
Katika vikao vya kamati hiyo, Mamlaka ya Mapato Tanzania (TRA) ilieleza kuwa misamaha ya kodi imepanda kutoka Sh1.4 trilioni mwaka 2012/13 hadi Sh1.8 trilioni mwaka 2013/14, chanzo kikiwa ni misamaha ya kodi katika miradi mikubwa. Ilisema kati ya misamaha hiyo, Sh676 bilioni zinatokana na misamaha ya kodi inayotokana na Ongezeko la Thamani (VAT) na kuwa hali hiyo itapungua iwapo nchi itaanza kutumia Sheria ya Kodi ya Ongezeko la Thamani (VAT).
Pia, TRA ilifafanua kuwa mpaka sasa wafanyabiashara na kampuni kubwa zimefungua kesi katika mahakama ya rufaa wakipinga kulipa kodi ambayo inafikia Sh1.7 trilioni.
Mvutano mwingine unaotarajiwa kuibuliwa katika ripoti hiyo ni uwasilishwaji wa utata wa uuzwaji wa nyumba  ya Bodi ya Korosho.
Awali, hati ya nyumba hiyo ilikuwa ya Taasisi ya Kilimo Tanzania ambayo ilifutwa mwaka 1963, kabla ya mtu mwingine kuibadilisha hati na kuiuza kwa Koka mwaka 2011.
Makamu Mwenyekiti wa Bodi hiyo, Mudhihir Mudhihir alisema Koka aliuziwa nyumba na taasisi hiyo ambayo haikuwa mmiliki halali.
Alisema nyumba hiyo iliuzwa kwa Sh300 milioni na katika juhudi za bodi kufuatilia taratibu za kuirudisha, ikagundulika kuwa hati imeshabadilishwa, kusisitiza kuwa uuzwaji wa nyumba hiyo ulifanyika kimakosa bila kufuata sheria na taratibu.
Juzi Katibu Mkuu Kiongozi, Balozi Ombeni Sefue alikaririwa akiwataka wananchi kutoa taarifa kuhusu makusudio ya kuuza nyumba za Serikali na mashirika ya umma, kutokana na madeni mbalimbali ili ziweze kukombolewa kabla ya kuuzwa.



Monday, January 26, 2015

LAZARO ole KIPEIYANI GRADUATES WITH A LAW DEGREE AT 80 !!!

wonders will never cease !!
80-Year-Old Grandpa Earns Law Degree
2015-01-26 12:12:04.553 GMT



By Hazla Quire
     Jan. 26, 2015 (All Africa Global Media) --

 80 - year- old Lazaro Ole Kipeiyani was among the 75 students who graduated
last weekend from the Arusha Center of the Open University where
he was taking a bachelor's degree in law.

     He attended the graduation ceremony on crutches support
having been involved in a hit-and-run accident last September. A
Toyota Noah hit him while crossing the road as he was walking
from the Open University Premises, returning home after writing
examinations .

     At the ceremony his wife was supporting the him in his
movements. Despite his eight decades of life and recent
accident, Ole Kipeiyani was in bouncing health. He is a father
of four and has four grandchildren .

     Neither the accident nor his advanced age deterred him from
attaining his lifetime ambition. "I used to help local residents
to compile a number their legal writings before taking cases to
courts," he explained adding that the task prompted him to take
law studies for real.

     A former civil servant under various offices, Ole Kipeiyan
is also a holder of Degree in Theological studies, though he did
not clarify how he was making use of the latter.

     The Arusha Regional Commissioner, Mr Daudi Felix-Ntibenda
was surprised by the 80-year-old Open University graduate and
during the occasion of him gracing the ceremony, he took the
initiative to award Ole Kipeiyan with 100,000/- instant cash.

     It was female students on the other hand, who topped the
bill when it comes to the performance at the Open University in
Arusha with all the top three awards being bestowed to them
during the graduation ceremony.
     The best students were named Ms Anna Mahenge, Bertha
Gilbert and Elisifiwe Kileo.

     The Regional Commissioner said it a was shame for Open
University in Arusha to operate from a tiny rental structure and
promised to help the college get a plot on which the official
campus is to be constructed.

     Meanwhile the Open University has recorded great
achievements, including establishing learning and exams centres
in practically all regions of mainland Tanzania as well as
Zanzibar and Pemba, in addition to extending to other countries
such as Kenya, Rwanda and Namibia.

     The General Secretary for the Open University Students
Organization at Arusha Center, Mr Kassim Mfinanga, said it was
time OUT expands further into rural areas in order to serve
majority of Tanzanians living there.

Copyright Arusha Times. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media
(allAfrica.com).

-0- Jan/26/2015 12:12 GMT

TANZANIA'S "NYUMBA NTOBU" EXTRAPOLATED REASONS


Tanzania: Marriages of convenience


By Florence Majani  
WRITING FOR MAIL AND GURDIAN
 
Tanzanian women are marrying each other to escape domestic violence.
Safety: Mtongori Chacha (left) and her wife, Gati Buraya, with their children. The women say their union saves them from abuse by men. (AFP)
It is 12.30pm and an older woman emerges from her tiny mud house. A younger woman is making some porridge outside.

These two women are husband and wife: they are traditionally married and they have children.
This practice is called nyumba ntobhu in western Tanzania. It is a traditional form of same-sex marriage. The two women share a bed as a couple, they live together, bear children in their union; they do everything a married couple would, except have sex.

In the Mara region, nyumba ntobhu allows older women to marry younger women in order to have children of their own and assist with the household chores. Women say nyumba ntobhu also helps them overcome problems of gender-based domestic violence.

Mtongori Chacha (56), who is married to a woman, Gati Buraya (30), says the traditional practice arose as a result of male violence against women.

It is also an alternative family structure for older women who do not have sons to inherit their property and whose daughters have moved away to their husbands’ villages. It offers a form of security for elderly women so they do not live on their own.

Chacha and Buraya have three children. Chacha says she decided to marry Buraya because she was unable to have children in her previous marriage to a man, who she says physically abused and tortured her.
To bear children, women who are married under nyumba ntobhu usually hire a man and pay him when the younger woman falls pregnant.

The hired man will also enter into an agreement with both women that he will not demand paternal rights to any children born out of the agreement.

The older woman is the guardian of the children and they usually take her surname.
Chacha says the man who impregnates the younger woman is paid with food or a goat.
In some rare cases, a man may return to claim a child, but Chacha says this can be avoided by choosing a man who is not known in the village or who is known to be irresponsible. These men are known as “street men”.

“I decided to run away from my marriage as I was humiliated and sometimes beaten nearly dead. At 45 I was not able to have children and I had to look for a new family to give me an heir to my property,” Chacha says while she feeds two of her children.

She says she could not accept the fact that she would die without children of her own. Her parents were rich and had many cattle so she chose to marry another woman who would give her children.

“Here, a woman will pay a lobola like any system of marriage in African culture, and the ‘wife’ is supposed to obey and live under the rules of her ‘husband’. Nyumba ntobhu is blessed by all the family members and accepted by the society,” says Chacha.  Nyumba Ntobu has nothing to do with lesbianism.

Agnes Robi (61) says she decided to pay six cattle to marry Sophia Bhoke Alex (25) after her six daughters moved away.

“She has given me one baby girl already, while we are still praying for her to get a baby boy who would take over this compound when I die,” Robi says.

It’s not uncommon for women to be prohibited from inheriting property in Tanzania. Initially, the culture of women marrying women was practised as an option for barren women. It enabled them to claim the children borne by the other woman as their own. This was a way of providing security for their old age.

Bupe Matambalya says she witnessed her older sisters “beaten nearly dead” by their husbands and decided that she would never marry a man.

Some villagers discourage the practice, saying it leads to an increase in the spread of HIV.
In some cases, nyumba ntobhu can be a polygamous marriage. The older woman will marry two younger women, who will both bear her children.

But nyumba ntobhu does not always save women from domestic violence. Take the case of Jesca Peter (25). She experienced domestic violence and humiliation even from her nyumba ntobhu husband.

“I was married to Nyambura, a 63-year-old woman. She had paid a dowry of six cattle and I moved into her compound. Within a few years of that marriage, Nyambura demanded that I have to look for my own food,” she says.

She says her union with Nyambura was unhappy and she was used “as a slave to just work and produce on her farm and look after her cattle”.

“She wanted children from me, which I bore her, but the relationship was unfriendly.
“We lived like a cat and dog. I was simply a slave for her,” says Peter.

She fled from the marriage and her parents had to return the cattle paid as a dowry.
Tanzania’s Minister of Information and Culture, Fenela Mukandara says gender violence is prevalent in  Mara region, which is why nyumba ntobhu is becoming more common.

“When women decide to marry each other and live by themselves, it means there are extremely violent acts in that place.”

Monday, January 19, 2015

SELOUS GAME RESERVE IN TANZANIA GETS A BOOST !!!

ews

$9.41m grant to aid study on Selous park


Animals at the Selous game reserve, Tanzania. PHOTO | FILE 
By HELLEN NACHILONGO

Posted  Saturday, January 17   2015 at  15:09
In Summary
  • The impact assessment project aims at ensuring that the environment and other sustainable aspects of the reserve are considered in policy, planning and programme-making.  
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Tanzania is to receive an €8 million ($9.41 million) grant from Germany to carry out a strategic environmental impact assessment in the Selous Game Reserve. This follows a declaration from the World Heritage Committee that the park is in danger of widespread poaching that is decimating wildlife populations. 
“The process of signing the grant has started; probably before the end of January or February, the funds will be in,” said Benson Kibonde, the chief warden at Selous Game Reserve. 
The impact assessment project is expected to take off immediately after the money is received. It aims at ensuring that the environment and other sustainable aspects of the reserve are considered in policy, planning and programme-making.  
“The assessment study will among other things determine the impact of human activities on the reserve and whether it houses other minerals apart from uranium, oil and gases,” said Mr Kibonde. 
Mr Kibonde said it was important for the country to carry out the strategic environmental impact assessment before it entered into any mining development agreements with investors because “they might discover other minerals in the process of exploring, and it would not be good to be taken by surprise.” 
The Selous Game Reserve is one of the largest protected areas in the world, covering a total area of 55,000 square kilometres. It was listed as being in danger from poaching at a meeting of the Unesco World Heritage Committee in Doha in June last year. 
Until recently, the reserve was relatively undisturbed by humans. Now a plan is in the works to build a hydroelectric dam on the Rufiji River. Elephant poaching has also become so rampant in recent years that the Environmental Investigation Agency has referred to the reserve as one of the worst elephant “killing fields” in Africa.
The reserve hosts one of the most significant concentrations of elephant, black rhinoceros, cheetah, giraffe, hippopotamus and crocodiles. It also has a high variety of habitats including Miombo woodlands, open grasslands, riverine forests and swamps.

Friday, January 16, 2015

Mali offers good lessons to Tanzanian mango growers on markets

 Mali offers good lessons to Tanzanian mango growers on markets – Amagro
 
By Beatrice Philemon, The GUARDIAN, TANZANIA.
14th January 2015
 
Hamad Mkopi (C)an agronomist with the Association of Mango Growers.

Mango growers in Tanzania have been advised to have a packing-house and other processing facilities where the fresh fruits are kept in the wait in cold so that they could be exported while they are fresh.

Hamad Mkopi, an agronomist with the Association of Mango Growers in Tanzania (AMAGRO) who was in Mali last year told The Guardian on Monday that Tanzanian mango growers need to have a packing-house so that they can benefit from the huge market for fresh mangoes which they have in Middle Eat and other neighbouring countries. Mkopi was accompanied by other AMAGRO members during the visit.

He said the best way to do this is to have the government invest in this area by building a big packing-house that could be used by all farmers including those engaged in the production of other fruits.
Alternatively, Amagro has called on donors who can support them in-terms of funding to do so so that they can build the facility. 

He said Amagro is also of the view that instead of giving the money directly to the association, the donor can just build the facility and hand over the same them on agreement.

“With the support of donors, mango farmers will be able to start building up their own packing-house and its mango industry to serve export markets on a much larger scale,” he said.

“Just look, in Mali growers have a good packing-house for mangoes and this facility has helped them to export fruits that meet customer needs to Europe,” he said.

Elaborating on the tour which was organised by Amagro members in Mali, he said, in April, 2014 four members were paid a tour to Mali to see how mango growers operate there as a way of improving their ventures once they return home.

The trip was organised by the International Trade Centre. While there, they met with farmers engaged in mango produces, government officials, mango buyers including officials from the institutions that supervise mango growing that country, he said.

According to him, mango growers in Mali have advanced greatly as they have proper equipment for mango harvesting, have packaging materials, a way to fend off diseases, as well as a packing-house for export mangoes. 

Besides, in Mali mango growers have managed to secure a huge market in European because they focus on organic farming. 
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Monday, January 12, 2015

FROM THE INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE - 12/1/2015

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
"Let us be peace and joy" 
Tom Feeley
Cost Of War
 
Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered In US War And Occupation Of Iraq "1,455,590"

Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America's War On Iraq:  4,883

Number Of  International Occupation Force Troops Slaughtered In Afghanistan : 3,484
Cost of War in Iraq & Afghanistan
Total Cost of Wars Since 2001
  

THE LIMITS OF MUSLIM IMMIGRANTS TO EUROPE

Asylum-seekers: The limits of tolerance in Europe
Source: http://www.embassynews.ca/opinion/2015/01/08/asylum-seekers-the-limits-of-tolerance-in-europe/46555/?mlc=669&muid=0
Even in fairly open countries like Sweden and Germany, anti-immigrant sentiment is being laid bare.
Flickr Photo: Tim

People against the anti-Muslim immigration Pegida group participate in a rally in Berlin. Gwynne Dyer
Published: Thursday, 01/08/2015 9:31 pm EST
Last Updated: Thursday, 01/08/2015 10:29 pm EST
The language of the immigration debate in Germany has got harsh and extreme. German Chancellor Angela Merkel attacked the anti-immigration movement in her New Year's speech, saying its leaders have “prejudice, coldness, even hatred in their hearts.” The “anti-Islamization” protests all across Germany on Monday fizzled out in the end. Eighteen thousand people showed up at one rally in Dresden, where the weekly protests by the Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West (Pegida) began last October, but that hardly counted because there are few Muslims—indeed few immigrants of any sort—in Dresden. Anti-immigrant sentiment in Western countries is always highest where there are few or no immigrants. In big German cities like Hamburg, Berlin and Stuttgart that do have large immigrant populations, the counter-demonstrators outnumbered the Pegida protesters 10-to-one. But the debate is not over. Germany is taking in more immigrants than ever before: some 600,000 this year. That’s not an intolerable number for a country of 82 million, but it does mean that if current trends persist, the number of foreign-born residents will almost double to 15 million in just 10 years. That will take some getting used to—and there’s another thing. A high proportion of the new arrivals in Germany are Muslim refugees. Two-thirds of those 600,000 newcomers in 2014 were people from other countries of the European Union where work is scarce or living standards are lower. They have the legal right to come under EU rules, and there’s really nothing Germany can do about it. Besides, few of the EU immigrants are Muslims. The other 200,000, however, are almost all refugees who are seeking asylum in Germany. The number has almost doubled in the past year, and will certainly grow even larger this year. And the great majority of the asylum-seekers are Muslims. This is not a Muslim plot to colonize Europe. It’s just that a large majority of the refugees in the world are Muslims. At least three-quarters of the world’s larger wars are civil wars in Muslim countries like Syria (by far the biggest source of new refugees), Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and Libya. Many of these refugees end up in other predominantly Muslim countries (like Lebanon, where between a quarter and a third of the population is now Syrian refugees). But Europe is relatively close, and a much better place to be if you can get there: each asylum-seeker who is accepted by Germany gets free accommodation, food, medical care and clothing. Adults also get $160 a month. Moreover, if they make it to Europe, the war cannot follow them. Every country has an obligation to accept and protect legitimate refugees seeking asylum, but in practice some dodge their responsibilities. Last year the United Kingdom, which has 65 million people, accepted less than half as many refugees as Sweden, which has 10 million people. But even the best-intentioned countries, like Germany, are starting to show the strain. It’s easy to mock the fears of Germany’s so-called Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West—only five per cent of Germany’s population is Muslim. But nine per cent of the children born in Germany in recent years have Muslim parents because of the higher birth rates of Middle Eastern immigrants. If the current wave of asylum-seekers continues—and there is no particular reason to believe that the Syrian civil war will end soon—then Germany will add another two million Muslim immigrants to its population in the next decade. And they too will have higher birth rates than the locals. With its current asylum policy, Germany could be 10 per cent Muslim 10 years from now. You might reasonably ask: what’s wrong with having a 10 per cent Muslim population? But it’s hard to think of a Muslim country that would welcome the relatively sudden arrival of a 10 per cent Christian minority with equanimity. And special thanks to the Islamist thugs who committed the massacre at Charlie Hebdo in Paris on Wednesday for making it even harder for Europeans to see the difference between terrorist fanatics and ordinary Muslims. Most Europeans still try to see things in proportion and not judge all Muslims by the acts of a few, but they are failing more frequently. People are people, and their tolerance has limits. Even in Sweden, the most heroically open country in Europe, where they are expecting more than 100,000 asylum applications this year, former prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said just before last September’s election: “I’m now pleading with the Swedish people to have patience, to open your hearts, to see people in high distress whose lives are being threatened. Show them that openness, show them tolerance.” Once more, the Swedes did that. The mainstream parties, all of which share that vision of Sweden, have formed a coalition government that has pledged not to slam the gates shut on asylum-seekers. But the anti-immigration party, the Sweden Democrats, more than doubled its vote and became the third-largest party. Even in Sweden, time is running out on tolerance. Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist who writes a weekly column for Embassy. editor@embassynews.ca

Thursday, January 8, 2015

FARMERS IN GAIRO DISTRICT CLAIM TTHEIR MONEY FROM MAIZE SALES TO THE NATIONAL FOOD RESERVE AGENCY [NFRA]

Shame on the government for delaying maize payments to farmers while it  always  claims  that farming is the backbone of the economy in this country!!!
 
 
By The Guardian Reporter, Tanzania.
8th January 2015

Gairo, Morogoro
 
More than 200 farmers in Gairo District, Morogoro Region are up in arms against National Food Reserve Agency which has yet pay them money for the maize they have sold to it.
 
The farmers have even threatened to take the law into their hands – break the maize warehouse and take back their maize – if their money is not paid in.
 
Speaking at different intervals with this paper, the farmers said they have sold 2,500 metric tonnes to NFRA but payment has become a difficult issue.
 
One of the farmers, Yahaya Wangiu, said they resolved that they get back their maize if NFRA has failed to pay them since the farmers are unable to fend their families.
 
“If the government has failed to pay us for the maize, let them open the warehouse so that we take our maize and sell to other sources,” noted Wangiu.
 
Another farmer, Rashid Malole, told this paper that the farmers are unable to pay school-fees for their children due to the delays in getting their money.
 
He said life has become tough especially at this time around as students cannot be tolerated without school-fees and other necessarily facilities.
 
“Imagine the new farming season has begun and we don’t have money to buy farm inputs. If the money continues to be delayed, it means we won’t manage to indulge in farming this year,” he said while noting that they cannot afford hiring tractors nor sending their children to school if the money is not paid.
 
Due to the said situation, the farmers recently decided to hold peaceful demonstrations up to the office of the District Commissioner, Hadija Kalamagi.
 
However, the farmers were welcomed by the District Administrative Secretary, who identified herself by one name Sevelini.
Sevelini asked the farmers to be patient and demanded them to put their complaints in writing.
 
“The District Commissioner is in another meeting but has directed me that you put your claims in writing and take them to him. But the information at hand is that you will be paid your money within this month,” she said.
 
She said the information about the payment is from deputy minister for Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperation.
However, the farmers did not say the date or month they delivered their maize.
 
During last harvest season, Tanzania recorded over 500 million metric tonnes of maize up from 350 million tonnes recorded last year, representing a 123 percent increase. 
 
Rice harvests also recorded at least 118 per cent increase in the same season.
 
“We have lot of surplus maize and rice which National Food Reserves Agency (NFRA) cannot afford buy,” Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives minister Christopher Chiza told The Guardian in exclusive interview recently.
 
“Our capacity is to buy 200,000 metric tonnes…but we are doing our best to ensure that we get a market for the maize and rice,” he said.
 
“ To start with, WFP has agreed to buy at least 200,000 tonnes from NFRA in phases…they will start with 60,000 tonnes and then purchase more thereafter,” he explained.
 
“We commissioned NFRA to buy 200,000 tonnes at 500/- per kilo. This is the best price so far and the galas that we have cannot accommodate more than this,” he added.
 
“WFP will buy maize from NFRA and hence create space for the agency to buy more maize from the farmers,” he went on to explain.
 
“In fact, we have given the go ahead to NFRA to borrow at least 20bn/- from CRDB bank for buying the grains,” the official noted.
 
As for Kenya buying maize and rice from Tanzania, he said Kenya also had good harvests but with time they might still need addition maize and rice. 
 
“We sealed a deal with South Sudan to allow our traders to sell maize and rice there,” Chiza said.
 
“Already 1000 tonnes have been sent partially as food relief and partially for sell,” he added.
 
“Also, our Embassy in Democratic Republic of Congo is discussing with the government there to allow our traders to sell there,” he said.
 
In mid August last year, the government appealed to individual traders and agencies to buy and export the surplus maize following bumper harvests of the grain experienced in the Southern Highland regions but to date, even the private sector has remained reluctant to purchase the surplus.
 
Karimu Mtambo, Director of Food at the Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives Ministry maintained that the government’s capacity to purchase the surplus maize was limited.
 
Elaborating, he said, that the authority has set maize purchase target for every region for each season and that if it happens, as is the case this season, that a particular region has harvested more than expected then the surplus is to be disposed of by other agencies and the private sector.
 
“We need to be assisted by individual traders or institutions to purchase the excess,” Mtambo insisted.
 
He said, in recognition of the dilemma, the government is assisting farmers search for markets to help them sell the surplus. 
“Farmers from these regions are informed on the availability of grain markets outside and the government has also lifted the ban on exports,” he said.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

NEW COMMISSION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND GOOD GOVERNMANCE [CHRAAG] TZ

By David Kisangs, THE  GUARDIAN, TANZANIA. 
8th January 2015

President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete
 
President Jakaya Kikwete has appointed six officials to head the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG), the Directorate of Presidential Communications said yesterday.
 
Their appointment was effective from January 6, 2015 but they will be sworn-in today at the State House in Dar es Salaam. 
 
The statement released by the Directorate of Presidential Communications Unit yesterday mentioned the appointed CHRAGG officials as Chairman, Bahame Tom Mukirya Nyanduga, Deputy Chairman, Iddi Ramadhani Mapuri and four commissioners - Mohamed Khamis Hamad, Dr Kevin Mandopi, Rehema Msabila Ntimizi and Salma Ali Hassan. 
 
Nyanduga holds a Bachelor of Law from the University of Dar es Salaam, Masters in Law from London and Diploma in Law from The Hague.
 
He has also worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Relations, served as President of Tanganyika Law Society, served as commissioner at the Africa Human Rights Commission and as an independent expert of the United Nations Human Rights in Somalia.
 
His deputy, Iddi Ramadhani Mapuri holds a Bachelor Degree from the University of Dar es Salaam, a Diploma in Rural Management and Postgraduate Diploma in Management from India.
 
He once worked as a Labour Commissioner and Director of Governance and Human Resources Development in the Ministry of Youth, Women and Empowerment in 2011.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

IN CASE YOU MISSED THIS - ENTRYWAY TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: ELLIS ISLAND


Entryway to America: Ellis Island

Entryway to America: Ellis Island
On Jan. 1, 1892, Ellis Island finally opened its doors, marking a new era of immigration. From 1892 to 1924, the island was the primary entryway to America.

From the moment its “golden doors” swung open in 1892, Ellis Island in New York Harbor played a central role in the American immigration experience. Comedian Bob Hope became an American there. So did actor Cary Grant, composer Irving Berlin, and 12 million others. The island’s federal immigration station served as the main portal into the United States during the country’s busiest years of immigration, and for three decades the words “Ellis Island” and “immigration” were inextricably linked. Today, almost half of all Americans can trace their heritage back to at least one person who passed through Ellis Island. While it no longer operates as an immigration station, the facility remains an important landmark—often dubbed “the Plymouth Rock of its day”—and still draws millions of visitors annually, many of whom arrive hoping to better understand their own family histories.

Before it transformed into a busy immigration station in the 1890s, Ellis Island had a diverse history. A small land mass located just off the New Jersey coast, the island formed from rising seas some 1,500 years ago. Native Americans called it “Kioshk” (meaning Gull Island) and used it to hunt, fish, and gather oysters. American colonists eventually did the same, referring to it as Oyster Island and taking day trips there to dig for oysters and admire the view of New York’s bustling harbor.

Samuel Ellis became the island’s private owner (and eventual namesake) in the 1780s, and in 1808, as America readied for war with Great Britain, the state of New York purchased the island and gave ownership to the federal government. A fort and other fortifications were constructed, but no military action ever occurred there. Instead, after the war, the island became a munitions dump and depository for surplus gunpowder. Many New Jersey and New York residents worried about the possibility of a huge powder explosion, and after their repeated complaints and great urging, Congress adopted legislation in 1890 to remove the excess munitions from Ellis Island. The same bill also allocated $75,000 to “improve Ellis Island for immigration purposes.”


A view of Ellis Island, ca. 1895. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images).

By that time the number of immigrants seeking entry to America had begun to swell, beginning the largest period of mass migrations in history. Until then, individual states had been charged with regulating immigration into the United States, and from 1855 to 1890, Castle Garden in the Battery served as New York’s immigration station. But as the number of immigrants continued to balloon, some Americans expressed concerns about the “desirability” of their new countrymen. They urged the government to reconsider its open-door policies.

Under the Immigration Act of 1891, the federal government took control of who was entering the country. Officials called for the construction of a new federally operated immigration station on Ellis Island, and on Jan. 1, 1892, the new Georgia-pine facility opened its doors, marking a new era of immigration. (The building burned down just five years later, only to be quickly rebuilt of fireproof brick and limestone.)
On the morning of Jan. 1, 1892, a rosy-cheeked Irish girl celebrated her 15th birthday by making history. Fresh off a 12-day boat ride across the Atlantic Ocean, Annie Moore became the first immigrant to set foot on Ellis Island and pass through its new immigration center. She and her two younger brothers had made the long trip in steerage on board the SS Nevada steamship to join their parents, who had already immigrated to New York. According to a Jan. 2, 1892, article in The New York Times: “When the little voyager had been registered [Ellis Island Commissioner] Col. Weber presented her with a ten-dollar gold piece and made a short address of congratulation and welcome. It was the first United States coin [Moore] had ever seen and the largest sum of money she had ever possessed. She says she will never part with it, but will always keep it as a pleasant memento of the occasion.”

Sunny as the picture appears, for Moore and the 12 million other immigrants who became American citizens on Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954, the arrival and inspection processes were often governed by fear, chaos, and confusion. As first- and second-class cabin passengers breezed through customs at the Hudson River piers and set off to begin their new lives, steerage passengers—working-class immigrants who were often in poor health—were hustled onto ferries at the port and whisked down the Hudson straight to Ellis Island for processing. An English immigrant once said of the shuffle: “We were put on a barge, jammed in so tight that I couldn’t turn ’round, there were so many of us, you see, and the stench was terrible.”


Immigrants wait in long crowded lines awaiting their medical examinations before being granted access in America. Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Before their voyages to the United States, would-be immigrants submitted their information to the ships’ manifest logs. The paperwork included 29 questions meant to weed out those who might become “burdens” after they arrived in America. Once on the island, the inspection process took three to five hours, and included both legal and medical examinations. The latter began almost immediately. Doctors were stationed atop the stairwells to observe arriving immigrants for any obvious signs of medical issues, and inside the registry room, other physicians quickly checked new arrivals for more than 60 diseases and disabilities that would disqualify them from entering the country. These so-called “six-second physicals” included a painful check for trachoma—a contagious eye condition—in which the examiner used a buttonhook to turn an immigrant’s eyelid inside out.

Following their medical examinations, immigrants were grouped in the main building’s registry room, where they waited to present their papers and answer inspectors’ questions about age, marital status, financial situation, and employment prospects in an effort to cross-examine the information they’d provided at embarkation. It was a large room, crowded and noisy. As a Russian Jewish immigrant later recalled: “To me, it was like the House of Babel. Because there were so many languages and so many people and everybody huddled together. And it was so full of fear.”

While most passengers passed through the inspections and were set free to begin their new lives in America, the process wasn’t as smooth for some. About 20 percent of immigrants were detained on Ellis Island for days or weeks before being allowed to enter the country. Many of those detainments were due to illness, in which case the immigrant was admitted to the cramped Ellis Island hospital for observation and treatment. Immigrants who had no money or seemed “likely to become a public charge” were required to appear before a Board of Special Inquiry to plead their cases.


Photo by Fotosearch/Getty Images.

Then there was the worst-case scenario: Never seeing more of America than Ellis Island. Two percent of arriving immigrants were barred from entering the United States—which amounted to about 250,000 people during the peak years of immigration. For most travelers, this turn of events resulted in major distress—many had sold everything they owned to pay for their journeys to the United States and would thus be returning to their homelands worse off than before they left.

In 1907, the peak year for immigration, Ellis Island processed approximately 1.25 million new Americans. Masons and carpenters raced to enlarge the existing facilities and to build new ones, unaware that only a few short years later, as the country entered World War I, immigration numbers would plummet.

As the First World War raged in Europe, instead of welcoming new countrymen, the United States brought suspected enemy aliens to Ellis Island under custody. Unable to admit or deport anyone, the island soon filled up with these immigrants-in-limbo, and when the United States entered the war in 1917, still more aliens, immigrants, and detainees were sent there. More than 1,800 merchant seamen taken from German ships at various U.S. ports were also housed in a temporary detention center on Ellis Island, joined by alleged spies, anarchists, radicals, and aliens accused of sympathizing with the enemy. By the end of the war, most of them had been shipped to detention camps across the country, but during the “Red Scare” that followed, hundreds of suspected “alien radicals” were again interned on the island and later deported.

Although Ellis Island reopened as an immigration station in 1920—processing 225,206 people that year—it soon became obvious that the facility’s days as a portal into America were dwindling. For the previous two decades, “restrictionists” had been pushing for more stringent immigration laws. In the midst of World War I, they gained modest ground when Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1917, prohibiting 33 categories of “undesirables” (including illiterates) from entering the country. When that still didn’t quell the tide of immigration, another law was added: The First Quota Act of 1921, which restricted immigration to 350,000 admissions a year. The National Origins Act followed in 1924, lowering the immigration cap to 150,000 admissions annually and allowing prospective immigrants to apply for visas in their countries of origin, rendering Ellis Island’s already-sparse immigration duties obsolete.

Over the next few decades, save for a brief guest spot in World War II, the island was used primarily to detain immigrants with paperwork issues and to deport illegal aliens. To recoup the expense of maintaining the buildings, the Immigration and Naturalization Service moved its New York operations from Ellis Island to Manhattan, and in 1954 the Justice Department announced it would close all seaport detention centers, including Ellis Island. By then, only one detainee remained on the island—a Norwegian merchant seaman named Arne Peterssen who had overstayed his shore leave. He was released in November 1954, and Ellis Island’s once-“golden” doors officially swung shut.


Part of a group of illegal aliens wave goodbye to the Statue of Liberty as they get deported, ca. 1952. Photo by Buyenlarge/Getty Images.

The island’s abandoned buildings deteriorated quickly. In the decade after it closed, items that signified the immigration station’s former importance became covered in dust. Roofs leaked. Scavengers snatched up copper and fans and typewriters. It was a lonely time for the once-bustling Ellis Island.


A deteriorating corridor of Ellis Island immigration center, ca. 1955. Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Then, in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a proclamation that made Ellis Island part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. From 1976 to 1984, the island reopened to the public on a limited basis, and in 1984, a $160 million historic renovation project—the largest in U.S. history—began. The main building was carefully cleaned up. Some parts were restored to look as they did during the peak immigration years, and other areas were transformed into exhibition galleries and theaters.

The Ellis Island Immigration Museum opened to the public on Sept. 10, 1990, offering new generations a glimpse into the immigrant experience through photographs, mementos, documents, and oral histories. Today, the museum draws almost 2 million visitors annually, and four other buildings on the island have been restored.

In 2001, the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation launched the American Family Immigration History Center, allowing visitors to scour more than 25 million Port of New York passenger arrival records and 900 ship photographs for markers of their own family histories. For those who can’t make the trip to New York, the Foundation also offers the same search options on its website. Both virtual and in-person visitors can enter a person’s first and last names and approximate year of birth, then view, store, or even purchase any matching passenger records or ships’ manifest logs and images.


Getty Images


Police Nab Security Guards Alleged to Kill Pastoralist

8th January 2015

Simiyu Regional Police Commander, Charles Mkumbo.
 
Police in Simiyu have arrested four security guards suspected to have shot a pastoralist to death.
 
Leonard Lucas, Mboje Donald, Sanka Simon and Kichalula Malashia work with Mwiba Holding Ltd. at the Mwaswa Game Reserve. 
 
Simiyu Regional Police Commander Charles Mkumbo said they shot to death pastoralist Giganga Sinyau. This followed a misunderstanding that ensued after the deceased drove his cattle to the game reserve, he said.
 
The RPC explained that the guards arrested the deceased and his brother, Matofali Sinyau, for driving their cattle into the game reserve for which the guards were working.
 
He said having been arrested and their cattle confiscated the pastoralists raised an alarm. Then a group of people believed to be cattle keepers as well arrived at the scene and started pursuing the guards, the RPC said.
 
Mkumbo explained that the group started throwing arrows at the guards, and one of them hit Dotto Makanga, seriously injuring him. 
 
“The guards fired in the air to scare the cattle keepers. However, they kept on charging and throwing arrows prompting the guards to fire at the group. 
 
“One of the bullets hit the deceased who died from severe bleeding,” he said. 
 
Mkumbo said the pastoralists had driven over 2000 cattle into the game reserve when the running battle between them ensued. 
 
He said the police force was still investigating to establish whether the guards used excessive power to pursue the cattle keepers. 
 
Meanwhile, the Minister for Livestock Development and Fisheries, Dr Titus Kamani, said his ministry was working on the chronic problem of cattle keepers living near the game reserve and the investor.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

TZ GOVT. LOSES CASE ON PIRATE FISHING

By Karama Kenyunko
6th January 2015
http://www.ippmedia.com/media/picture/large/samaki-jan6-2015.jpg
Chinese nationals, Hsu Chin Tai and Zhao Haquing
The High Court in Dar es Salaam has ordered the Ministry of Livestock Development and Fishers to release the ship ‘Tawariq 1’ and 296.3 tons of fish worth more than 2bn/- properties of two Chinese nationals, Hsu Chin Tai and Zhao Haquing.

The Chinese nationals were charged for carrying out fishing activities in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in Tanzania.

A letter signed by the High Court Registrar on December 17  last year, called on the government to refer to its promises via the affidavit issued by Godfrey Nanyaro and the Permanent Secretary of the said ministry Charles Nyamlundana.

The oath on the letter said that if the accused will not be convicted in court the government will pay the cost of the fish which is 2,074,249,000/- within 30 days from the acquittal of them after being found not guilty.

The letter also showed the copy of the order that directed the fish to be sold. The order was issued by Judge Radhia Sheikh on December 11, 2009.

Earlier September 1 last year, the defence advocates submitted the letter of the said evidence before the registrar of the said court.
In the letter the advocates requested the court to give back the accused evidence submitted by the High Court in the case number 38 of 2009 before Judge Sheikh during the case.

In 2009 the two accused and other 36, were charged before the court with the offence of carrying out fishing activities in the exclusive economic zone of Tanzania and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.

But they however appealed to the court of Appeal which reversed the decision of High court and set free the accused. Immediately thereafter they were arrested and charged before the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court on August 14, last year and the DPP withdrew the charges.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

GEORGE MCHECHE MASAJU NEW TZ ATTORNEY GENERAL

By Sylivester Domasa, THE GUARDIAN, Tanzania.  
6th January 2015
 
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President Jakaya Kikwete swears in George Mcheche Masaju as Attorney General at State House in Dar es Salaam yesterday. 

The newly appointed Attorney General, George Mcheche Masaju was yesterday sworn in to succeed Fredrick Werema who resigned last month after being implicated in the Tegeta escrow account scandal.

Masaju who will be the country’s eighth Attorney General was sworn-in at the State House in Dar es Salaam, in presence of President Jakaya Kikwete.

Also in attendance at the ceremony were Vice President Dr Mohammed Gharib Bilal, Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda, Chief of Defence Forces, General Davis Mwamunyange, Chief Justice Mohammed Chande Othuman and Speaker for the National Assembly, Anne Makinda.

Others were cabinet ministers, senior government officials, members of the Attorney General Chamber as well as his family members.

Addressing journalists, Masaju acknowledge having a load of tasks to do but appealed to be given enough time to acquaint himself with his new position. 

He declined to state his priorities as the new Attorney General amid alarming corruption scandals in the country. 
Masaju who has served as Deputy Attorney General and legal adviser to the President, called on Tanzanians to trust their government and President Kikwete’s administration.

“There are a number of issues to work on… but I need some time to go through them and I will exclusively invite you in my office to inform the public,” he told journalist who were eager to know his strategies as he takes over the AG office, adding: “My doors will be open for any clarification on legal issues.”

He expressed gratitude to the President for trusting him with the new task, requesting for cooperation from the government and Members of Parliament in executing his duties.

The former Attorney General Werema resigned on December 16, after being in office for five years. 

In his resignation letter, Werema said he resorted to resign on account that his advice on the Tegeta escrow account scandal “had been misunderstood and had in turn polluted the air.”

President Kikwete accepted Werema’s resignation, thanking him “for the diligence and trustworthiness he demonstrated during his time in office.”

The previous Attorney Generals are Johnson Mwanyika (2005-2009), Andrew John Chenge (1993-2005), Justice Damiani Lubuva (1985-1993), Justice Joseph Sinde Warioba (1976-1985), Justice Mark Bomani (1965-1976) and Roland Brown (1961-1965).

According to the Constitution of 1977 of the United Republic of Tanzania, the Attorney General handles the Bills before they go to Parliament. 

Article 59(3) of the Constitution states that: ‘The Attorney General shall be the advisor of the government of the United Republic on matters of the law and for that purpose shall be responsible for advising the government of the United Republic on all matters of the law and to discharge any other functions pertaining to or connected with the law which are referred or assigned to him by the President and also to discharge such other duties or functions which are entrusted to him by the Constitution of the United Republic or by any law.’

The Constitution makes the AG a nominee of the President, who also has no security of tenure, and remains the chief legal advisor to the government. 

The AG is also mandated to promote, protect, and uphold the rule of law, and defend the public interest.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN.