President Jakaya Kikwete has appointed Dr Abdulkadir Shareef, former High Commissioner in London, as Coordinator of the ‘Brand Tanzania Initiative’. Dr Shareef, who was the President’s deputy when he was Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation in the previous government, will spearhead efforts to promote Tanzania abroad as a preferred tourism and investment destination. Under the Initiative, which will be implemented through the President’s Office, views on what should be done to sell Tanzania will be collected and forwarded to policy makers.
The German Ambassador to Tanzania has pledged TShs 8.5m/- to facilitate the renovation of the Maji Maji Memorial Museum in Ruvuma Region. At a war commemoration in Songea he said that the brutal and unacceptable repression of the Maji Maji revolt 100 years ago would always remain one of the darkest chapters in German colonial history – Guardian.
Tanzania’s ambassador to Paris, Juma Mwapachu, has been appointed Secretary-General of the east African Community – Mtanzania.
Following the publication of cartoons critical of the Prophet Mohammad, a large and peaceful demonstration arrived at the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Dar es Salaam on February 17 after all officials had left. The demonstrators carried a number of placards: ‘Danish and Norwegians must leave Tanzania immediately. You must convert into Islam?’, ‘Denmark and Europe behave yourselves or else?,’ The demonstrators stressed that the Prophet Muhammad was the only Prophet of God and no human being had a right to ridicule him. Addressing thousands of Muslims at Jangwani grounds, the Chairman of the ‘Consultative Council for Imams (Tanzania)’ said that Muslims had issued an ultimatum to the two embassies to recant. We want them to admit that insulting the Holy Prophet is a mortal sin. “They should tell their governments to enact laws which prohibit insulting religions”. He added: “If this is not done in 21 days from today, Muslims will boycott all products and services from the two countries and we will request our government to cut diplomatic ties with Denmark and Norway” – Guardian.
A recent poll by the website www.responsibletravel.com, based on nearly 60,000 responses, has placed Tanzania in the top three countries for eco-tourism. Kenya and Egypt were the other two countries finishing in the top three. The Serengeti National Park was recently named by the National Geographic Magazine as one of the 50 must-see places in the world. Over 75% of the visitors to Tanzania last year said they went for the wildlife.
Dar es Salaam is to introduce a total of 110 new buses with a carrying capacity of 150 passengers each to replace about 1,900 minibuses (better known as dalla dallas that have been operating in the city for the past 10 years. The new buses would serve more than 200,000 people per day. The mini buses will be redeployed from the city to ply feeder roads – East African
Three American tourists died and five others were injured when rocks fell on them while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. In this first incidence of its kind 23, 117 local guides and porters escaped unhurt. The incident happened at 9.30 am at Arrow Glacier near West Ridge which is 4,800 metres above sea level – Nipashe.
The film ‘Darwin’s Nightmare’ which was shown on British TV recently, has been accused of ‘smearing’ the people of Mwanza. It shows how people near Lake Victoria produce fish for the European market while they themselves end up fighting over the fins and offal while the fillet is being processed for export to Europe. The film also covers in depth the way in which the ecology of the Lake has changed dramatically over recent years and how the Nile Perch has become totally dominant.