MISCELLANY

Jayantilal (Andy) Keshavji Chande has been invested by Queen Elizabeth II into the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire as an Honorary Knight Commander. The Order dates back to 1917, having been created by King George V. It recognises outstanding contributions to society. Mr Chande has been closely associated with a large number of educational, social welfare and charitable institutions in Tanzania and has also contributed greatly to UK-Tanzanian bilateral relations. Amongst his many activities over many years, Mr Chande has been a member of the Executive and Legislative Councils, a leading light in the Tanzania Red Cross, World President of The Round Table, Vice-President of The Britain-Tanzania Society and the Representative of The Royal Commonwealth Society in Tanzania.

A fish of the famous species coelocanth, which appeared to vanish 65 million years ago, was caught by fishermen in Kilwa in mid-September. The Chairman of the National Committee which is researching the fish, Professor Phillip Bwathondi, said that the coelacanth was found only by chance as it was being dried ready for sale. It weighed 40 kilograms and was 1.32 metres long. It was transferred to the marine park in Dar es Salaam.

The Government has set aside Tshs 54 million to be used in seeking a national dress for Tanzania. Education Minister Joseph Mungai told journalists at the Maelezo auditorium in the city that dress designers would be called upon to enter the fray by presenting samples of dresses they had made or were designing for consideration as a national dress. He called on interested designers to register themselves with the Regional Administrative Secretaries (RAS) in their respective regions so that their names could be included in the race for a national dress. He said the designers would then be required to present their samples to the RAS’s who would present them to the National Coordinator of National Dress -Mwananchi.

At the August 25 -30 Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit meeting in Dar es Salaam in September, which was attended by some 25 heads of state, President Mkapa was given a standing ovation when he called for an end to the sanctions against President Mugabe by the European Union and the US. President Mkapa said “It has not worked, it will not work, and it only makes the life of the ordinary people in Zimbabwe unnecessarily difficult.” The SADC summit also supported the call to reinstate Zimbabwe as a member of the Commonwealth from which it was suspended when the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union began implementing its land distribution policy in 2000.

President Mkapa was out of action in hospital in Switzerland in November and December. As this issue of Tanzanian Affairs went to the printers he was said to be recuperating following a hip operation.

There was a demonstration in Dar es Salaam on 10th October against the death penalty. Chairman of Amnesty Internationa1’s Tanzania Chapter Israel Magesa told the demonstrators that President Mkapa had never assented to any execution since he came to power in 1995. However, some 100 criminals sentenced to death by the courts over these years were still waiting in jails wondering what their fate would be -Guardian.

Tanzania collected 14 medals as seven of its companies gained prizes at agricultural exhibitions held in Rostock, Germany from April to October last year. Premier Frederick Sumaye urged Tanzanians to change their attitude and invest more in non-traditional agricultural products which now had a bigger market than the traditional ones. He made the call when he presented prizes to the winners. He said that during this interim period when markets for traditional products like coffee, cotton, tobacco and others have declined, it was important that “we make changes in our agricultural production and start producing crops which will be accepted and are competitive in international markets.” He named the products that could be cultivated as flowers, spices and vegetables.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.