Speaking at an Eid Baraza in Arusha: “The government cannot tolerate stubborn clerics. We will be keen to restrict the operations of these people …I want to warn potential preachers of hatred.” He said the government would continue protecting the freedom of worship.

Speaking at a seminar in Arusha: “I have directed the government to recruit doctors and nurses without wasting time on interviews. If need be the public service law should be amended”. He also recommended that retired medical personnel be retained on contract terms as long as they are capable of and are willing to working – Mtanzania..
President Kikwete With George Bush in Washington

Following accusations that he had damaged relations with Kenya by accusing it of instability during talks with President Bush in Washington in September he said: “President Bush raised the issue of Kenya’s political situation as a good friend who would not like to see anything bad happen to the country.” Kenyan Assistant Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula had earlier protested, saying it was unacceptable for Kenya to be discussed by other countries, especially Tanzania, a member of the East African Community.

Interviewed by the ‘Boston Globe’ he launched a blistering attack on developed countries for imposing difficult lending conditions on developing countries. He said aid in the form of grants and loans was usually tied to outrageous conditions. “We’re poor countries. Poverty is an obvious qualification for aid…. Tanzania had qualified for the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) after working extremely hard to meet set conditions… but some conditions imposed on developing countries were “mere humiliation.” – The Guardian.

Speaking at a travel forum in New York in September he urged Americans to invest in Tanzania to promote industry and welcomed them to visit the country as tourists for their ‘dream’ holidays. After mentioning the main tourist attractions including the national parks, Mount Kilimanjaro and pristine beaches, he also invited tourists to trace the footsteps of 19th century explorers like Dr David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley, as well as those seeking to look into ancient civilizations dating back to the 13th century in Bagamoyo, Zanzibar and Kilwa. Several people who attended the forum were said to have been thrilled by Mr Kikwete’s presentation. “He is a super statesman, simple and very eloquent,” a don at New York University told the ‘Daily News’.

Speaking at the Tanzania Peoples Defence Forces Lugalo camp he said that the government would employ all possible means to build a small but competent, professional and powerful army. He pledged to double its budgetary allocations and work with friendly partner countries for professional training

Speaking to RC’s and DC’s in Arusha he said that his government would not write off debts caused by dishonest individuals within co-operative unions. It was high time that members of the cooperatives held their leaders responsible when they were in the red. “These are independent organisations not answerable to the government. Members freely elect their leaders who embezzle funds and then they ask us to bail them out. We are telling the embezzlers their days are numbered” – Mtanzania
“Innocent citizens should not be made to pay for the irresponsibility of senior workers in local governments. The President said the current laws on management of public funds, particularly on embezzlement, should be amended. He said from his personal point of view, the law governing the use of public funds wrongly dealt with suspected swindlers as disciplinary cases. ’This is a serious joke! Public funds tricksters are charged as disciplinary offenders, while in actual fact, they are criminals or economic saboteurs,” he said. The President also questioned the logic behind public funds swindlers being investigated by the Prevention of Corruption Bureau (PCB). “The PCB is specifically charged with dealing with corruption cases and not theft,” he said. He called on the concerned authorities to rectify the situation forthwith – Guardian.

A thirteen-year-old boy who benefited from President Kikwete’s benevolence after incurring severe burns, made a passionate appeal to the nation to make him life president. Hassan, who hails from Tabora incurred severe burns in a 1999 fire accident. When Kikwete was on the campaign trail ahead of the last general election, Hassan braved the shoving and scuffling of the mammoth crowd to reach the dais where Kikwete was seated to appeal for medical assistance. Touched, Kikwete, then Foreign Minister, responded by ordering the regional administration to ensure that Hassan was taken to hospital for specialised treatment. His mother, Aziza Hassan, said she had lost hope that her son would ever lead a normal life because she is poor and could not afford specialised treatment. She was very grateful to President Kikwete after he lived up to his promise of footing her son’s medical bills – .
Guardian.

The main changes were as follows:
Anthony Diallo became Minister for Livestock Development. He was replaced at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism by Prof Jumanne Maghembe.
Home Affairs Minister, Captain John Chiligati, took over from Prof. Maghembe at the Labour ministry. Veteran cabinet minister Joseph Mungai became Home Affairs Minister, and was replaced by Stephen Wassira at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Co-operatives.
Dr Ibrahim Msabaha left the Ministry of Energy and Minerals to become the Minister for East African Co-operation. His office was taken over by Nazir Karamagi from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Marketing.
Minister of Infrastructure Development Basil Mramba, moved to Industry, Trade and Marketing and was replaced by East African Co-operation Minister Andrew Chenge.
Dr Shukuru Kawambwa (Livestock Development) replaced Mr Wassira at the Water ministry.

But, according to the East African (22nd October) the business community and opposition parties had dismissed the changes as cosmetic and ‘too little too late’. The President was attempting to mask massive graft allegations and there were economic dangers ahead. The Government’s debt stock had ballooned by $310 million since the beginning of last year and now stood at US $9.38 billion. The paper said that the verdict of the majority was that the President was living in utopia and that his populist approach to serious national issues was bringing the economy to its knees.

There have also been changes in political parties.
According to Majira Donge MP Ali Ameir Mohammed has been elected secretary of the CCM parliamentary committee which controls the activities of MP’s, with 120 votes, defeating George Mkuchika (64) and Ruth Msafiri (12). This was described as a victory for an influential CCM group calling themselves the ‘net workers’ (wana mtandao) who played a pivotal role in the presidential nomination of Kikwete last year. It had been expected that Ameir, a Zanzibari, did not stand much chance and the election was postponed four times. Mkuchika used to be close to Kikwete since their days as CCM youth but last year he decided to not to back Kikwete’s nomination. The net workers were also said to have arranged for Dr Fortunatus Masha to be elected as an MP in the East African Legislative Assembly as a representative the opposition, defeating strong candidates like Prof. Beregu and Prof. Wangwe. He is the father of Deputy Minister Lawrence Masha who was said to belong to the network.

Meanwhile the opposition is again reported to be facing internal squabbles. According to Mtanzania, CHADEMA ex-Secretary General Dr Amani Kabourou was said to be planning to defect to CCM. In the 1990’s Kabourou gave CCM a good run for their money when he won the Kigoma parliamentary seat with a big majority. As an outspoken MP he was appointed Chairman of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee. After losing the Kigoma seat in the last election, he was said to to have found himself to be on a different wave length from the new CHADEMA Chairman, Freemen Mbowe, and the ‘young Turks’ in the party such as Zitto Kabwe, the MP for Kigoma South. The last straw was when he was subsequently replaced as Secretary General of CHADEMA. The paper reported that his defection would be announced in Hai district as that is the home ground of Mbowe.

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Mbowe himself is studying for under and post-graduate degrees at various universities in Britain, the US and Japan. He told Mwananchi that he was working for a BA in Philosophy, Political Science, International Relations and Economics at the University of Hull while at the same time reading for an MBA from Japanese and American universities. The whole programme was to take three years, he said, adding that, since it was tailor-made, he would not be obliged to be at the universities all the time.

The picture above shows Mrs Maajar presenting her credentials to the Queen. A few days later, on November 12, Mrs Maajar and her husband received the devastating news that their only son Hassan, who was schooling at the Waterford/Kamhlaba School in Swaziland, had been
killed in a road accident. The subsequent funeral in Dar es Salaam was attended by many prominent people including President Kikwete and former Prime Ministers Warioba and Kawawa. Several young men who were at school with Hassan spoke about him. His father gave thanks
to all who had helped the family and described how he had flown to Johannesburg from London and then via Maputo to Swaziland. The friends of Hassan, together with his father, had flown from Swaziland to attend the funeral. After the funeral gathering a meal was provided for all and Muslim prayers were said.

Majira reported that Registrar of Political Parties, John Tendwa, had said he would help President Kikwete in resolving the political impasse. Talking to the press after meeting leaders of 18 parties, he said he had decided to revive the reconciliation council that was formed by CUF and CCM following the signing of the Muafaka agreement. He said he was prepared to provide funding so as to reconvene the council that had been inactive for a long time. Although outwardly the situation seemed to be calm the differences were simmering. Most of the parties complained to Tendwa that they are stopped by CUF from doing political work in Pemba. Tendwa reminded CUF that the island might be their stronghold but it was not their private property. He recommended a coalition government as a way out of the current crisis. He also suggested that some ministers could be stationed in Pemba.

The Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) said in its October 2006 recent report on the disputed October 2005 elections, that there had been discrepancies, such as underage voters and others voting twice, but that these did not alter the election result. The Commission said that most of the discrepancies occurred after not before or during the polls. The ZEC Chairman Massuni declined to explain why the commission took almost a year to prepare its report. Other problems included interference by local government officials and public confusion over election regulations. Local officials (Shehas) also interfered in the registration of voters. ZEC officers tried to stop this from happening but they were overpowered. In Pemba there were gross irregularities, with some people registering twice. However, on the whole, the polls took place in a peaceful and orderly manner – CUF spokesman Salim Bimani, said that his party maintained its position that the October 2005 elections were not free and fair – Tanzania Daima.

A total of 123,443 foreign tourists visited Zanzibar in 2005, an increase of 26% as against the previous 12 months. Most came from Italy and the USA as well as from Asian and African countries. Tourism revenues had increased to one fifth of Zanzibar’s GDP last year and it is expected that tourism will account for up to 23% of the annual GDP by the year of 2010 – Sunday Observer.

The anti-malaria campaign is reported to be having considerable success. Health clinics have reported a marked decrease in the incidence of malaria in Zanzibar with the completion of the first phase of the campaign, a 54-day Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) effort that ended on 9 September. The incidence of malaria in Zanzibar has fallen from 54% in 2003 to 31% at the end of 2005, according to government records as a result of the use of treated mosquito nets.
The recent initiative had cost at least US $2 million and reached 240,000 homes, or 90% of all homes on the island, according to the government. USAID reported however that the spraying campaign – using a 10-percent solution of the chemical lamda-cyhalothrin, known as ICON – was focussed only on those mosquitoes on walls inside people’s homes and that most mosquitoes were found outside.

Before being approved as regular settlers, mainland Tanzanians will have to get special residents’ permits. These will be issued by local officials (Shehas) from their place of residence. The aim is to ensure public security by curbing the random entry of ‘foreigners’. All Zanzibaris have been given IDs which they have to keep with them all the time. Zanzibaris without IDs will be arrested and prosecuted and will face a maximum of one year of imprisonment and/or a fine of Shs 100,000. So far 493,375 Zanzibaris have been registered and given the IDs – Nipashe.

Mama Kikwete and the Ndlovukazi (photo Issah Michuzi)

Following exchange visits in August and October between Tanzania’s First Lady Mrs Salma Kikwete and The Swazi Queen Mother, the Ndlovukazi, who rules Swaziland jointly with King Mswati – Mrs Kikwete found herself under strong criticism from Tanzanian feminist activists. During her time in Swaziland Mrs Kikwete attended the famous ‘Reed Dance’ during which maidens reaching maturity dance before their King (and before hundreds of young men looking for wives!) and he chooses one to be his next bride. He has recently married his fourteenth wife.

King Mswati at the reed cutting ceremony (photo Issah Michuzi)

The East African reported that Tanzanian gender activists had condemned Mrs Kikwete for for saying in Mbabane: “The reed dance encourages girls to abstain from sex because they know if they are not virgins they will not be allowed to participate. This also prevents them from contracting HIV/Aids”. She exhorted African governments and leaders to emulate Swaziland and protect indigenous cultures.

The Tanzania Media Womens’ Association, FemAct, said that instead of supporting the ritual, Mrs Kikwete should have condemned the King for depriving young girls of their right to education, sex, economic empowerment and socialisation. This was the first time Mrs Kikwete had attracted such stinging criticism.

Fem Act questioned the First Lady’s assertion that the reed dance protects young women from HIV/Aids. ‘In fact, girls who get married at the same age as King Mswati’s virgins, are more vulnerable to HIV/Aids because they lack control over their sex life and education. They are financially dependent on others.’

During her address, the First Lady said she liked the Swazi culture because it “unites maidens from rich and poor families by giving them an opportunity to socialise and work together and teaches them to adhere to their traditional tribal values and norms”.
She had been impressed to see a princess, the King’s daughter, leading the girls in the reed cutting ceremony.

The feminists were said to have also criticised Tanzania’s ‘traditionally tame media’ for gleefully carrying the remarks without the slightest criticism of the event where ‘young half-naked girls are paraded in front of the King and other guests for their pleasure’.

Contestants in Miss Tanzania 2006 (photo Issah Michuzi)

The Tanzanian Guardian then broadened the debate by publishing a long article debating the issue of tradition versus modernity. It reported that the activists had condemned Swazi traditional practices as antediluvian and an abuse of human rights. It was abusive, they said, to allow some individuals to use their high positions in society to subject women to a dance in which they dispose their body parts in public. They went further and said the purveyors of the reed dance claimed that the aim was to protect the girls from promiscuous sex but, in fact, it represented one of the most regressive aspects of African culture, which humiliated, degraded and devalued women.

However, the Guardian writer was critical of their attitude. ‘This is where our women folk go wrong’ he wrote. ‘Though I am not a Swazi, I believe that in carrying out the legendary tradition, the King does so as a state institution so that the transactions that are conducted around the dance become a continuous reproductive reality of the Swazi state. The aim of the dance is not therefore only to have the Swazi King pick a new wife or pursue his pleasures, but to reproduce the Swazi state. Furthermore, the tradition stresses the importance of the girls remaining virgin and committed to societal ideals up to the time they are ready to meet their husbands. …. ‘Only when the Tanzanian First Lady visited and attended the dance did the feminists come out to ridicule her visit…. But how many of our sisters walk naked in the city streets everyday, and yet they are not engaged in a socially meaningful programme like the Reed Dance…..In May this year, Mrs Kikwete officiated at the Miss World Tourism gathering in Dar es Salaam and the pageant girls were televised as they performed on the catwalk in half-naked swimming bikinis to be seen by the whole world. The feminists were there but did not even make a yelp. Is it because Miss World, Miss Universe, or Miss World are English, American and international respectively and the ‘Miss Reed Dance’ is Swazi, African? ….It is sad to learn that those who walk naked in the streets are praised because they display the proudly cherished Western ‘civilised’ culture…Many people are wondering what is so special about this issue, because the main elements of the reed dance are omnipresent in almost all traditional African cultures…. To be realistic, the Swazi King, the institutional setting and the guidance associated with it, offers a better way of salvaging the girls (and boys) from the shackles of the market than any other traditional institution we know of today….But relatively, and in comparison to western market values, which have almost bought most of our people….. the Swazi paradigm is far better and more African in terms of origin…..In Tanzania where we have an amalgam of cultures which brush aside everything traditional as if it is useless as we crave for Western values in the belief that they are the solver of all our cultural problems. Western norms should therefore not be let to dominate everybody’s mind and render us to remain mere copy cats.’

The Times of Swaziland also gave considerable publicity to another event during the exchange of visits. The Ndlovukazi and her entourage had suffered considerable alarm and panic when the aeroplane she was in almost failed to make a safe landing at Zanzibar airport. ‘The plane first flew in the direction of a cliff, before the pilots managed to bring it to land on the runway” said one passenger. It was said to have lost its radar. “It was really a scary situation. Everyone was shaken and a lot of them said short prayers as it struggled to land” he said.

Christian leaders have urged the government to review its policy on licensing of film production. Bishop Charles Gadi of the ‘Good News For All Ministry’ condemned the film saying it not only demeaned the country’s culture and values but also endangered peace. He said 43 sects under his leadership supported the statement by President Kikwete condemning the film. “The government has to beware of film makers who have ulterior motives,” he said.

People who were interviewed in the film have been heavily criticized. Raphael Luchiko, a watchman with the Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (TAFIRI) speaking to members of the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Environment, who had visited the institute, said that he had participated blindly in the film because of what he described as tricks that the director used to get people to participate. Amidst a hostile audience of MP’s who asked if he had yet been sacked, Luchiko, a former army man, calmly narrated the way he had been co-opted into the film. His bosses had instructed him to give Hubert Sauper, the Austrian Director, the support he needed because he spoke English. “We visited various beaches along the lakeshore” he said. “Frankly speaking, I wanted to do better so that I could be promoted. I didn’t know Sauper’s intentions. I considered him a researcher like other wazungus who come here frequently,” He added: ”Earlier, Sauper and his colleague were staying in town and asked me to take them to the fish landing sites. I advised them to stay at a guest house here, which they did it until they finished their job.”

The MP’s then demanded that the management explain why they helped Sauper to do the documentary. Acting Director of the Mwanza station, Enock Mlapoli, disclosed that the filmmaker acquired the requisite permits from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism and TAFIRI was to be there to welcome the visiting scientists. The MP for Kahama intervened and said the watchman and the management had been pawns in a scheme they were not a part of. The MP’s later withdrew their criticism of Luchiko.

The London-based magazine ‘JAMBO’ (September-November) was also hostile. It wrote: ‘Deliberate efforts were being made in various quarters to defeat Tanzania’s efforts to project a positive image of the country and ‘Darwin’s Nightmare’ had damaged Tanzania’s reputation by highlighting ‘exaggerations, half-truths and outright lies.’ The magazine quoted President Kikwete as saying Tanzania remained committed to peace and unity in the region and would never allow its land to be turned into a pro war zone.

The film has also attracted interest in the international press. The London Guardian pointed out that it had been nominated for best documentary at this year’s Oscars. In response to a statement that the film had affected sales of Nile perch in Europe, an FAO offical said that sales were down from a value of £67 million in 2004 to £61 million in 2005, but that this was more due to overfishing and low water levels than to the film.

And a film on Tanzanite mining.

Another new film is also stirring up controversy. The Guardian reported in September that a film entitled ‘Gem Slaves; Tanzanite’s Child Labour’ about the use of child labour in the tanzanite mines at Mererani near Arusha. Some tanzanite dealers had accused the regional authorities of inability to foresee negative consequences of this ‘tainted’ documentary. In 2005, the Information Services Division had issued a permit to two people, whose nationalities could not be immediately established, to make the film which was launched at the UN HQ in New York. The dealers said the film makers wanted the world to believe that over 4,000 children aged between 8 and 14 years, were employed at Mererani. “How did they arrive at that figure?” The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is supporting projects against child labour in the area under its world-wide International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour.

Si-haba, courtesy of The Norwegian Maritime Museum

Eventually, we found a fisherman who was willing to sell, and, after long negotiations, we drew up a contract for Shs 800 for a ngalawa called Si-haba which means something like ‘little but enough’ in English. The price may not seem very high nowadays but it was equivalent to £400 then when pounds were much more valuable than they are now? The contract contained a provision that the seller would sail the ngalawa to Dar es Salaam (100 kms) on a specific day to coincide with the arrival in the harbour of the Scandinavian liner the ‘Drammensfjord’. The money was to be paid on delivery in Dar.

All went well and, on the agreed date, the boat was duly delivered to the beach just inside the entrance to Dar es Salaam harbour. We tied it up to a palm tree for three days until we could arrange for a ships broker to arrange all the formalities and then for young Sjur (with the help of a friendly fisherman) to sail it across the harbour so that it could be lifted on board the liner.
We were all very happy because it seemed that we were finally going to be able to transport the canoe to Norway. But no sooner had it been lifted on to the ship than there was a serious problem. The dock workers on the ship greeted the arrival of the canoe with hostility and immediately went on strike. They refused to continue to load other goods onto the ship or even to allow the ship to leave the harbour unless the ngalawa stayed behind. They protested that people were going to make fun of this primitive canoe in Europe. Considerable diplomatic skill was required to solve the problem, which eventually involved the Dar Salaam Regional Commissioner, and the workers were eventually persuaded to let it leave.

We joined the ship on its 26 day non-stop journey to Aalborg in Denmark. Then it had to be loaded on to another ship which took it to Oslo and then on it to a coastal steamer all the way to Bodo, the town where we lived, which is 100 kms north of the Arctic Circle. We also took our dog Pelle on the ship but he had to spend eight weeks on board before he arrived in Oslo for four months of ‘arrest’ in quarantine. When we met him again he was crying for more than an hour.

Si-haba is 23 feet long and 4 metres broad with two outboards of 45kgs each. It had a 9 metre sail boom and a 14 sq. metre Latinsail of cotton. But Si-haba was not well suited to the arctic with ‘malsreams’ in the narrow sounds and dangerous winds. It could move at 15 knots with a strong wind from behind. To reduce the risk when on night fishing trips we equipped it with a 4 HP outboard motor. On one occasion, with my other son Ole Christian, we did not return until 4.30 am.

Si-haba proved of great interest to the local inhabitants and also to the numerous tourists from around the world traveling on daily cruise liners from Bergen to the North Cape all the year round. We kept the boat until 1989 and then donated it to the Norwegian Maritime Museum in Oslo where viking ships and the famous Kon Tiki boat are on display. Nowadays Si-haba rests in a strorehouse at the War Marine HQ at Horten, 60 kilometres west of Oslo.
Karl Aatun

New Muslim group
Zanzibar Urban Regional Police Commander Juma Suleiman was quoted in the Guardian in November as saying that a group called Hizb ut Tahrir dedicated to uniting all Muslims in a ‘Pan-Islamic State’ had surfaced in the isles. Posters had been put up which read: ‘The solution is Khilaffa, a caliphate led by a single Islamic leader. “We knew the existence of the group but this was the first time that they had put up flyers,” Suleiman said. The group’s activities were under investigation.”
Hizb ut Tahrir is a worldwide party founded in 1953. “We are part of the international alliance believing that Muslims should be led by one caliphate,” said a group member Chande Khamis, speaking at his small mobile accessories shop in the heart of Zanzibar’s business district. “Democracy is the way of infidels, and we do not want it to be imposed on Muslim society,” adding that the group did not advocate violence. ”We want to lead a peaceful transition from a secular state to an Islamic state,” The group has faced opposition throughout its history from governments – wary of its plans to rejuvenate the caliphate, which after the early years of Islam was based successively in Damascus, Baghdad, Cairo and finally Istanbul. The leader of the caliphate was known as the Caliph, a successor to the Prophet Mohammad. Secular Turkey abolished the caliphate in 1924. Britain tried to ban Hizb Ut Tahrir in August 2005 after the July 7 London bombings but later backed off without giving a reason.
CUF spokesman Ismail Jussa, said the emergence of such groups was a result of failed democracy in Zanzibar, and distanced his party from it. “What do you expect but groups wanting to vent their anger?” he said.

Illegitimate children
CUF MP’s in Zanzibar told the House of Assembly that to allow a child born outside wedlock to inherit was to violate the teachings of Islam. This followed the tabling of an amendment to the law on registration of births and death. In future the ‘illegitimate’ child will be given the right to be registered by the father who accepts responsibility. A CUF MP objected to the amendment, saying it was tantamount to amending the Holy Scriptures and ‘that it was not acceptable’ – Tanzania Daima.

Freddie Mercury Festival
Celebrations to mark the 60th birthday anniversary of the famous British rock star, Freddie Mercury, which were to have taken place in his Zanzibar birthplace, were cancelled after protests by Muslim clerics. The festival, scheduled for the ‘Mercury restaurant’ was to have been attended by over 200 gays from all over the world. Mercury died of AIDS-related causes in London on 24th November 1991. Some Muslim bodies objected to the programme, saying it would promote ‘decadence’. Various mosques held special prayers invoking a curse on the influx of gays to the islands. Following the cancellation the participants decided to keep a low profile and left the islands – Mwananchi.