Category Archives: Issue Number

M.V. BUKOBA – THE SEQUEL

Posted on by
Reply

The report of the judicial commission investigating the loss of the MV Bukoba, which sank in Lake Victoria with the loss of 700 lives last May (TA No 55) was published on September 6 and spread the blame widely – the Tanzania Railways corporation’s Marine Division for operating the vessel without due care (it had a long-standing stability problem yet on its final voyage it was overloaded, there was improper storage of cargo and inadequate ballasting); the division was said to have been characterised by gross negligence , inefficiency and corruption; the government was blamed for buying a defective ship (although this was partially because of a lack of expertise on the Tanzanian side and the crisis in Lake shipping caused by the collapse at the time of the East African community’s Lake steamer services; this had placed Tanzania in a weak bargaining position with the suppliers); and the Belgian shipbuilders (BSC) for supplying a vessel which did not correspond to the specifications and for not giving the users adequate guidelines on the extremely delicate handling the ship required. The report also described as ‘regrettable’ the failure of the Belgian government to finance promised rehabilitation work on the ship. The Belgian government has since refused to pay compensation to the victims stating that the shipbuilders (who are believed to have gone out of business) were responsible. But the matter remained under discussion in the Belgian parliament.

The Director of Public Prosecutions announced on November 27 that criminal charges were being prepared against a number of people in connection with the tragedy.

$768 MILLION IN NEW INVESTMENT

Posted on by
Reply

Potential investors turned up in great numbers at two investment conferences, in Dar es Salaam (November 5-8) and London (November 6). The first, the Tanzania International Investment and Technology Forum, was sponsored by UNIDO and the second, which was devoted to East African cooperation, by the Financial Times.

The Dar Forum was clearly very successful as it attracted $786 million in new investment from more than 400 foreign investors representing 220 companies. Four joint-venture contracts and 75 letters of intent were signed by local companies and state agencies with foreign partners. The investments were in gold mining, soap manufacture, oilseeds, a dairy plant, a petroleum pipeline from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza, a hydro-electric plant in Morogoro, diamond and gemstone mining, construction of hotels, shoe manufacturing, cutlery, cotton yarn, fruit juice manufacturing and coffee processing.

CRITICISM
But Tanzania came in for heavy criticism especially at the London seminar for the way in which its Investment Promotion Centre (IPC) treated investors compared with the warm welcome they received in Uganda. One British businessman called it the , Investment Prevention Centre’ because of its bureaucratic nature and negative attitude. Even the new IPC head, Mr Samuel Sitta, was quoted in the Express (September 12) as saying that he found the centre too tardy and riddled with red tape. Staff at the IPC seemed to love controlling rather than inviting new investment he said; some investors had to go to seven different offices with the same set of documents. At the London seminar Foreign Minister Jakwaya Kikwete put a lot of the blame on the IMF. It was the IMF that had insisted that tax exemptions could be approved only by the Ministry of Finance and not by a ‘one-stop’ investment centre. He felt that the situation would soon be resolved.

THE ADVANTAGES
But Mr Kikwete also pointed out that Tanzania was the largest country in East Africa in terms of size and population; it was better endowed with resources than the other two countries; it was stable, peaceful and had been cohesive since independence; it had just undergone a peaceful transition from a one-party to a multi-party system of government; there was plenty of land; the industrial sector was more or less virgin territory; there were numerous training facilities available for use by the private sector.

A MUCH BETTER DEAL FOR INVESTORS
President Mkapa, in a highly significant pro-private enterprise opening speech at the Dar es Salaam forum (delivered by Vice-President Dr. Omar Ali Juma) promised a much better deal for foreign investors. He said that the government planned to drop visa requirements for citizens of countries of ‘ strategic investment interest and trade importance to Tanzania’, and provide long-term work permits to foreign investors promptly. He said that he would restructure the IPC, would reduce bureaucracy, would streamline the taxation system, fight corruption and rationalise labour laws. He assured investors of protection, peace and stability, things which Tanzania had enjoyed since independence. British aid minister Baroness Chalker at the London seminar pointed out that corruption depended on two parties; investors should stop offering bribes.

TANZANIA’S BIG SPLASH
Regular visitors to the vast World Travel Market at Earls Court in London (November 11-14) were astonished to see the transformation in the scope and style of Tanzania’s stand. Among the African stands only that of South Africa was larger. Dynamic Natural Resources and Tourism Minister Juma Ngasongwa, having just returned from a similar assignment in South Africa, led a party of some 20 private companies who had arranged displays at the impressively laid out stand. Potential tourists were invited to hire a private yacht on the coast, to travel by private train, to flyover the Serengeti in a balloon, to watch birds or ride horse back and engage in a whole range of other activities. Tanzania’s 12 national parks, seven game reserves, 50 controlled areas, its conservation park, its marine park, beaches, historical sites and other attractions are now finally receiving significant international publicity.

The minister had reacted forcefully immediately after an attack on two tourists in the Serengeti National Park on September 8. He announced that security patrols had been strengthened, the number of rangers at each lodge had been increased and those out on patrol had been instructed to shoot bandits on sight. A new helicopter would soon be helping with security in the park. A US$ 25 million film with a cast of 200 entitled ‘The Maasai’ and intended to further promote Tanzanian tourism is to be made in Arusha starting in May 1997.

ASIANS
Uganda’s formidable President Museveni, on a state visit to Tanzania on September 21, lectured the Dar es Salaam business community on ways in which Tanzania could profit from Uganda’s highly successful experience with investment and revenue collection. “I understand that some people here don’t like Indians” he said. “They argue that they are corrupt and bribe the indigenous people. If the indigenous accept bribes from them they are stupid (applause) …. if you don’t want Indians here I’m ready to take them to Uganda ….. five years ago Uganda collected $40 million in taxes; this year I am expecting US$900 million …. suppose I had 1,000 Indians like Madhvani in Uganda, I would be generating US$36 billion annually in taxes and Uganda would become a donor nation!”.

EAST AFRICAN COOPERATION – MANY POSSIBILITIES

Posted on by
Reply

At another meeting in London on November 20, under the auspices of the Royal African Society, the three East African High Commissioners in London talked about East African cooperation. One speaker said that a possible future benefit of such cooperation might be the appointment of only one High Commissioner for the three countries!

Tanzania’s High Commissioner Dr. Abdul-Kader Shareef put some flesh on the bones of the proposed cooperation arrangements now being actively discussed at the headquarters office in Arusha by describing some of the possibilities – an easing of previously restricted social interaction across borders; common strategies on foreign debt; the creation of a critical mass in terms of the market; cooperation on environmental issues – the Serengeti and the Maasai Mara were one continuous ecosystem; the pooling of telecommunications facilities; stemming the loss of professionals; the assembly of the huge capital requirements if energy resources were to be properly developed; and the advantage of a unified approach when dealing with the issue of instability in neighbouring countries.

IMF APPROVES BIG LOAN

Posted on by
Reply

As if to reinforce the other favourable developments, Tanzania’s financial crisis was greatly eased by the decision on November 8 of the IMF finally to approve Tanzania’s Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) totalling US$234 million.

World Bank Resident Representative in Dar es Salaam Ron Brigish was quoted as saying that this could open the floodgates for balance of payments support and donor contributions to Tanzania’s development. Two weeks later the British government announced that it had approved a £24 million grant of programme aid for imports support, civil service reform costs and budgetary support.

The IMF loan is to be released in six equal half-yearly instalments over a three year period. The funds are being used to boost foreign exchange reserves in the Central Bank to enable Tanzania to purchase urgently needed medical and educational supplies.

Tanzania was said to be hoping that a beginning might be made in new international debt relief programmes at the next Paris Club meeting scheduled to be held in January 1997. Although revenue collection had improved and was totalling Shs 44.3 billion each month, some Shs 20.0 billion of this had to be paid in debt servicing. with government personnel needing to be paid, only Shs 4.7 billion was left each month for all other expenditure although the minimum needed was Shs 15 billion per month.

The World Bank announced on November 7 that it had established a ‘Heavily Indebted Poorest countries Trust Fund’ (HIPC) to be managed by the IDA to provide debt relief. Forty one countries being considered for possible assistance have been placed in four categories. Tanzania is in the second group i.e. ‘Possibly stressed’. Countries in the first group containing Burundi, Sudan and Zaire were described as ‘Unsustainable’. ‘Sustainable’ countries included Ghana, Kenya and Yemen.

ZANZIBAR AND THE UNION

Posted on by
Reply

The valiant attempt by Commonwealth Secretary-Secretary General Chief Emeka Anyaoku to resolve the political deadlock in Zanzibar (TA No. 55) appears to have failed. Apparently a compromise agreement was worked out under which certain members of the opposition CUF party would have joined Zanzibar’s CCM government, but this did not prove acceptable to entrenched party interests.

Meanwhile the tension was eased when CUF leader Seif Shariff Hamad was finally allowed to address a meeting at Malindi grounds in Unguja on August 17 – the first time since the elections in late 1995. He suggested the creation of a transitional government to be headed by a neutral Zanzibari acceptable to both parties prior to the holding of new elections.

The Daily News reported that police arrested 25 CUF supporters on September 17 a few kilometres outside Zanzibar town for unlawful assembly. They were watching a video of the CUF by-election campaign in Temeke and were later released pending further investigations. Some 200 teachers who were alleged to have ordered their students to boycott classes in Pemba last March have been pardoned.

The state of the 32-year old Union between the then Tanganyika and Zanzibar dominated discussions on August 19 in the Union parliament when opposition MP’s insisted that the Union was illegal because the original articles were never ratified by either parliament. But this was denied by Attorney-General Andrew Chenge who said that on April 25 1964 both the Tanganyika parliament and the Zanzibar Revolutionary Council had agreed to the new constitutional arrangement. The opposition went on to ask for a referendum to determine the future of the Union.

On complaints that Zanzibar was over represented in the union parliament Mr Chenge said that, although Zanzibar had only 700,000 people compared to 29 million on the Mainland, both sides had been independent and sovereign states; they were united on the basis of equality as sovereign states and not on the basis of the size of the population.

Meanwhile, Zanzibar has established its own Revenue Board even though the carefully constructed and well financed Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), created under a 1995 Act of the Union parliament, has only recently started operating. The TRA seeks to harmonise tariffs between the two sides but this is something which is also being strongly resisted by Zanzibar which benefits from its lower tariffs. In a sometimes heated debate on a proposed joint finance commission, a Zanzibar CCM MP (Mr Simai Makame) developed the argument further by saying that there should be equal representation of both parties on the commission to strengthen the Union; also because the mainland had far more sources of income than the Isles and that heavy taxes were appropriate for the mainland to protect local industry but not for the Isles because they had little industry. One of the financial problems being faced by Zanzibar, following the cut off of aid by many donor nations because of alleged abuse of human rights, is being greatly eased under an arrangement described in the East African on September 9. Revenue collected by the Union government, including that received from foreign aid and profits of the Central Bank, is to be split in future in the proportion 95.5% to the Mainland and 4.5% to Zanzibar.

A NEW CONSTITUTION?
Some 60 delegates at a two-day conference of lawyers, government and political leaders in Dar es Salaam in late November recommended that the Tanganyika Law society should draft a new Union constitution. The sole resolution called on the society to immediately embark on mobilisation of resources to re-write the basic law of the land. The Friedrick Ebert Stiftung of Germany agreed to provide financial assistance.

Former CCM Secretary-General Horace Kolimba surprised delegates by saying that the time could never be more opportune than now to undertake such a task; CCM had always denied the need for a new constitution. Registrar of political Societies George Liundi also agreed on the need.

SCHOOL DAYS IN BRITAIN AND TANZANIA

Posted on by
Reply

morning
I wake in darkness. Through the morning coolness and a packed ground comes the steady ‘thud, thud, thud’ of Zawadi preparing breakfast with her sister. The ‘Today’ programme on Radio 4; the six o’clock news with Jumbe Omari Jumbe. Outside, the soft rain cuts through the cold mist which blurs the orange street lights as I wait for my morning lift. Jodie furrows her brow, brushes crumbs of toast and chocolate off her chemistry homework and glances at the furious action on the video. seven-thirty, the sun already high in a pure sky, I walk slowly up through the village towards the school; footsteps and dragged leaves behind pause briefly into ‘Shhhikamoo’ and then Zawadi rushes away to beat the late bell.

assemblies
Spread like a net over the slopes of the school grounds, the students slash the grass short, each in their assigned area. Prefects and class monitors supervise. Those near the drive stand to attention “Good Morning Sir” and my bag rushes away ahead of me. The bell is rung again and students sweeping their classroom hurry to join their fellows on the parade ground. The Headmaster arrives and teachers join the students at attention, sing the National Anthem as the Flag is raised. “Good morning, everybody!” “Good morning, Sir!”. The Headmaster addresses the school for some ten minutes in English. School fees must be paid soon. Next week, pupils who have not yet paid fees for at least half the year of 4,000 shillings (or roughly four pounds) will be sent home to get it. Attendance is poor. People are picking oranges to earn money instead of coming and studying! The students have brought in woven palm leaves to contribute to a school income generating project; these are stacked under the prefect’s direction and then they go into their classrooms. Zawadi’s form have an English lesson first.

Jodie is chatting with three friends, eating crisps. The boy’s half of the room buzzes with last night’s big football match, seen live on TV. The ref was a MORON! …• “Morning all” I say, entering with the register. “Sir, you’re so sad!” says Jodie. After a few minutes I persuade them to stop discussing Manchester United, East Enders and the fate of baby seals long enough to answer the register. I hastily collect parent’s notes from those who have been absent. Then we go off to assembly. The room, cleaned by contract cleaners the previous evening, is already messy with chewing gum wrappers and trodden-in crisps.

“Good morning, Year 10”. ‘MmmmmmggMsss’. The Head of Year addresses the students in English. She reads a short story with the moral ‘always treat other people the way you want to be treated yourself’. This is taken from a commercially produced book of such stories specifically aimed at school assemblies. She goes on to talk about the problem of bullying which has been surfacing again. Jodie kicks the leg of her friend’s chair and asks her what lesson is first? French.

modern languages
Both teachers address their students in a foreign language. “If I had a lot of money I would buy a nice house”. “Who can give us another sentence like that? .. Quiet … Four thousand miles apart, two girls stare at their desks … Quiet ….

“Zawadi!”. “Jodie!” “Have a go” … Quiet … muffled laughter … a long. long pause, then … (both) “If …. I have .. ah, … had a lot of money …. I go in America”.
“Excellent! Thank You, … let me help you improve the second part”.

Later, both classes are working in pairs to prepare short dialogues to be performed in front of their friends. The English students are basing their work on their French textbooks; the Tanzanian students are using English story books provided by the British Council. Jodie and Zawadi are encouraged by their success and try hard. However, they find the work difficult. There are so many words to look up. Many of the teacher’s instructions, although simple, are hard for them to fully grasp. By the end of a full lesson using a foreign language, both feel themselves adrift in mists of incomprehension.

chemistry
Both Chemistry teachers say in English “Today we will investigate what happens when we add certain kinds of things, certain substances, to water”

Zawadi’s teacher starts at the top-left corner of the board, writing and dictating, still in English. ‘To dissolve is defined as to change into a liquid state, especially by the process of immersion in water. The resultant solution will be determinalistically configured in its own chemical properties by 1. The valency and ….. ‘ For Zawadi the mists have thickened to deep fog. In her exercise book, the second sentence reads: ‘The resultand solution will determinally configured in by the nature of the nature … ‘

Jodie, freed from the confusions of French, can at least put her energies into struggling with Chemistry. Her teacher asks: “What properties might we measure during such an investigation?” Some students suggest ‘temperature’, ‘colour’, ‘mass’. Jodie wants to suggest ‘pH’ but doesn’t want to be called a ‘keener’ by her friends. Next, the class are shown a video on ‘solutions’. It demonstrates various laboratory investigations and shows some industrial and commercial applications such as the clothing and fashion business. Afterwards, the class work in small groups in a well equipped laboratory. Jodie respects this teacher and wants to try hard but she has very little confidence in herself. She can’t see the point of trying to measure too accurately. The teacher has to spend some of her time with a group of boys who are being quite noisy. Eventually, one of then breaks Jodie’s flask with a coin thrown from across the room; the teacher tells him to stand outside.

Meanwhile Zawadi is copying down descriptions of similar experiments and the equipment needed, in her third blackboard full of English notes. “So, what is the definition of ‘dissolve?'” asks her teacher. The first two boys have no idea and are left standing up. Then …. “ah …. a girl .. Zawadi!” She stands up, half panic, half resignation. Silence …. Suddenly the word ‘dislove’ leaps to her from her exercise book. Clutching at the chance, she reads out the first sentence and a half. “Excellent! sit down”. The two boys are called out to the front. The teacher chuckles, “wewe! Dadako anakupitia!???”. Three strokes from the teacher’s stick. The rest of the class roar with laughter.

For homework, both classes have to write up the experiment.

break
The bell goes in my classroom. Fifteen minutes break. I rush around putting away boxes of teaching resources and computers, simultaneously interrogating a student about missing maths homework. I get into the staffroom with eleven minutes left, put teabag and water into cup. “Could I have a quick word?” says Jodie’s Chemistry teacher. She explains “….. they are outside”. I go to the door – via two more conversations with colleagues about meetings and test dates. Five minutes left. After talking to Jodie and the boy outside in the rain I rush back in. Take out teabag, add milk, listen to announcement about problems with central heating, sit down. One minute left.

Around 11 o’clock the teachers start to gather in the Tanzanian staffroom. “No tea yet? Tell them to hurry!”. We have about an hour, or as long as necessary. I send a student off with 70 shillings (about 70p) to the market to buy some deep fried cassava, chips and oranges. Students come in with jugs of hot black tea and pour it for each teacher at their desk. The Headmaster leads discussion of a few matters such as the holiday shamba rota. One student comes in and asks the duty teacher for permission to travel to his home village to collect food. Another asks permission to go to the hospital; this is quite rare now that the students have to pay 200 shillings to see the doctor themselves and then buy any drugs prescribed. Many struggle on with skin conditions, bad teeth, malaria.

During break, Jodie’s friends huddle in a sheltered doorway from the cold November wind. Boys are playing football on the field and tarmaced areas. The teacher on duty, wrapped in a thick coat, stalks along the edge of the field towards the sheds where the cigarette smokers usually hide.

The Tanzanian students stream up towards the hot dusty market. They will gather round the chip selling stalls; some to spend their 10 or 20 shillings, most just to join the conversations. Zawadi watches a group of boys re-enacting the commentary from last night’s big football match, heard live on radio. “Refu MPUMBAVU!”

I hope readers will forgive my poetic licence with some time differences.
Rob Grant

MISCELLANY

Posted on by
Reply

NEW VOLUNTEERS
A further group of 27 British VSO volunteers arrived in Tanzania in August bringing the total number to 100 in the country. They included teachers, agricultural specialists, social workers, pharmacists, technicians, accountants and educators.

THE WORLD’S SHORTEST WAR
The Daily News reported on August 27 about a photographic exhibition being put on by the Zanzibar Department of Archaeology to mark the British bombardment of Zanzibar in what was described as ‘the world’s shortest war’ – two and a half hours – a century ago. The war involved the bombardment of Sultan Khalid’s Palace (now known as the House of Wonders) to force him to hand over his powers to a Sultan of Britain’s choice. Museums Curator Professor Abdul Shariff said that from the date of the protectorate in 1890 the British were the actual rulers of Zanzibar and that the Arab Sultans were mere figureheads – Daily News

“AT THE TOP OF OUR LIST”
A year after the UN’s fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing, Susan Kindervatter of the non-profit ‘Inter Action Coalition’ said on August 22 that Tanzania was clearly in the running for a gold medal as far as implementation of the resolutions of the conference was concerned. Tanzania had presented one of the most comprehensive lists of commitments and was already taking action to increase the number of women in governmental decision-making positions to a minimum of 30% by the year 2,000 she said. The other front runners were the Philippines and Uganda – The Express, Dar es salaam.

THE END OF THE LITTLE THEATRE
The celebrated Dar es Salaam ‘Little Theatre’ which has seen many fine performances over several decades, will shortly be converted into an apartment hotel with 48 flats, swimming pool, bar and restaurant and conference facilities. Investors include players and actors of the theatre – Business Times.

WHICH ARE THE HISTORIC BUILDINGS?
In the last issue of TA there was an article headed ‘The Demolition of Dar’. On September 15 a Mr Mchume wrote to the Daily News on the same subject. He deplored the planned transformation of Dar es Salaam into a concrete jungle and listed the buildings he thought should be preserved. These included the Cosy Cafe, The White Fathers building, St. Joseph’s Cathedral, the Arab Mosque, the British Council Library, Ocean Road Hospital, the Forodhani Hotel, the Lutheran Church and the Botanic Gardens. There were many others he said.

A TERRIBLE YEAR
Anne Outwater writing in the Daily News (October 19) reported that for the chimpanzees at the Gombe Stream National Park 1996 had been a terrible year. Following cold and rainy weather in March many chimps had come down with serious respiratory infections and one third of the population of about 30 were reported either dead or missing. The regional veterinarian had recommended daily antibiotic treatment but getting the chimps to take the pills proved difficult. So each pill was divided into six or seven bananas and “luckily, chimps never get tired of bananas”.

KILWA – FROM DECAY TO DEVELOPMENT

Posted on by
Reply

In our last issue an article under this heading described the development now underway of the significant natural gas deposits at Songo Songo, Kilwa and mentioned the indignation of many people in southern Tanzania because the gas is not to be used in Kilwa but piped to Dar es salaam for conversion into electricity. The Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDF) has since placed large advertisements in the press to explain why this decision was taken. Firstly, it was said to be cheaper and safer to transport gas than electricity and none of the energy was lost en route (compared with up to 20% in the case of electricity); it was easier to hook in the gas along the route for other uses (16 villages would have their own gas-generated power stations) but this would be very expensive with high tension electric wires; power generation alone would not have been economical unless industrial use of the gas was included in the project and this could be done only in Dar es Salaam where large industries existed. The advertisements emphasised that the pipes would be made of special material that could not be easily punctured and would be laid a metre underground.

A big fertiliser plant employing 2,000 people is expected to be built at Kilwa Masoko. Gas at Mnazi Bay is to be used to provide electricity to Lindi and Mtwara.

BUSINESS NEWS

Posted on by
Reply

Exchange Rates (December 1):
US Dollar = T Shs 605-615
£ Sterling = T Shs 850-1000

Although there was some opposition and there had been delays in presenting the matter to parliament the Bill ending the 29- year old state MONOPOLY OF INSURANCE was finally passed on November 5. The National Insurance Company (NIC) and the Zanzibar Insurance Company are to remain wholly owned by the two governments but they have been given two years ‘to clean their slates’ – Daily News.

The Tanzania Revenue Authority has begun publishing lists of registered TAX CONSULTANTS, the only persons authorised to offer advice on taxation matters. Persons who have been refused registration have been instructed to stop practising immediately – Business Times.

The LOANS AND ADVANCES REALISATION TRUST of Tanzania which was formed in 1991 to recover the bad debts of 93 firms (with a total debt to banks of $45 million) has brought in $9.0 million from sale of the assets of 59 of the firms – the East African.

The National Agricultural and Food Corporation (NAFCO) which has a new board of directors is now producing 50% of Tanzania’s requirements of WHEAT. with 38,000 tonnes in stock, the Chairman requested the government to stop importation of foreign wheat which was destroying NAFCO’s market Daily News.

The government has repaid £13.6 million to the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) out of a £20.0 million LOAN RESCHEDULED in 1990. CDC disbursed £8.0 million in 1995 for investments in power generation, agro-processing, tourism and financial institutions – Business Times

FUEL PRICES were increased by about 6% on September 1 due to the dwindling value of the shilling and increased prices of crude oil. Regular gasoline went up from Shs 335 to Shs 350 per litre – Daily News.

Five NEW COMMERCIAL BANKS were due to open before the end of 1996 to add to the fifteen already operating. The new banks are the Exim Bank, the Wall Street Banking Corporation, savings and Finance Bank, The Akiba Commercial Bank and the Mercantile Bank of Pakistan – East African.

From January 1, 1997 the MONOPOLY ON THE IMPORTATION OF REFINED PETROLEUM PRODUCTS held by the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) is to be removed. Tanzania has long opposed this move which the World Bank had been pressing for (the refinery was considered outdated and inefficient) because it considered the refinery as of strategic economic importance. It was hoped that this change in policy would reinforce international confidence in President Mkapa’s commitment to free market economic policies – Africa Analysis Tanzania is to benefit from THREE NEW CREDITS from the World Bank/International Development Association (IDA): $26.3 mi 11 ion to improve the management of water resources; $ 31.1 million for the second phase of a national agricultural extension project and $35 million for Lake victoria to help conserve its biodiversity and genetic resources; this project includes assistance to buy equipment for 25 to 30 new irrigation networks and moves to streamline the operations of organisations managing the Pangani and Rufiji river basins – World Bank News.

Tanzania Breweries Ltd. (TBL) whose production went up 56% in 1995 following its entry into a JOINT VENTURE AGREEMENT with South Africa/s Indol International, was hoping that by Christmas 1996 its best selling brand ‘Safari Lager’ would be on sale in Kenya. It has also started selling on the local market a new brand with an alcohol content of 4.45% per half litre bottle – ‘Kilimanjaro Premium Lager/. Tanzania consumes some 20 million crates per year of which half comes from TBL, a quarter from Kenya and the rest from smaller producers – the East African.

Zanzibar could become an OFF-SHORE BANKING CENTRE – the first such tax haven in Africa. A locally registered mining company, Tanzalite International, is said to be in discussion with the Zanzibar Investment Promotion Agency on the possibilities – Business Times.

Dar es Salaam held its first MOTOR SHOW from October 13 organised by the 21-member Tanzania Motor Traders Association (TMTA). Chairman Pravin Mevada said that it had been a success and business enquiries had been received. Asked about possible future car assembly in Tanzania Mr Mevada said that with current sales volumes it was unlikely to be economic. The Vice-Chairman of the TMTA has criticised what he described as the ‘dumping’ of second hand cars; Tanzania imported only 4,600 new cars in 1995 compared with 41,400 second hand cars. – Daily News and the Express.

There was a drop in COFFEE PRODUCTION in Tanzania in the 1996/97 season about 42,000 tonnes compared with 53,000 tonnes in the previous season. Regional figures: Mbeya, Mbozi, Mbinga and Songea 12,000 tonnes; Kilimanjaro about 15,500; Bukoba some 13,000 tonnes. Planting of new seedlings was necessary if production was to be revived – the East African (November 11).

TANZANIA IN THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Posted on by
Reply

(In order to make this part of the Bulletin as interesting and representative as possible we welcome contributions from readers. If you see a mention of Tanzania in the journal, magazine or newspaper you read, especially if you live or travel outside the UK, please cut out the relevant bit, indicate the name and date of the journal, and send it to the address on the back page. If you do not wish your name to be mentioned please say so. We cannot guarantee to publish everything we receive but if your item gives a new or original view about Tanzania we certainly will – Editor)

MWALIMU AT HOME
The NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL devoted a full page in its September 1 issue to ’74-year old African elder statesman Julius Nyerere’ who was visited at his house in Butiama (Musoma); several of his 24 grandchildren were around. Nowadays he spends many of his mornings working in his maize fields and returns to the house at 2pm to have lunch with his wife of 43 years. Most afternoons he spends time in his library reading history, writing essays and later he often plays ‘bao’ with the best players in the village. He always wins! Every evening he attends Mass at the Roman Catholic church. (Thank you Elsbeth Court for this item – Editor).

THE BACK SEAT
A report by the organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has noted that Swedish aid to Tanzania since independence had totalled $3 billion but that the aid had ‘deterred rather than enhanced development and had led to aid dependency’. It should be reduced and then ended. Head of the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (SIDA) Bo Goransson said he was extremely surprised by the report. “We do not think it is OECD’s task to make suggestions as to what an individual donor does with its aid. He said that the Tanzanian leadership must share the blame for the ‘failed vision’ of self-reliance but he admitted that in dealing with Tanzania “we did take more responsibility than was necessary. The effect was that Tanzanians were moved from the driver’s seat to the back seat in development planning …… We have now started a new process of co-sharing in decision making to ensure that projects are owned by recipient countries” he said – EAST AFRICAN, October 21.

TANZANIA’S IMAGE NOT DAMAGED
During a recent long interview in the French magazine ‘PARIS MATCH’ Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye was asked whether he thought that Tanzania’s image might have been affected in French-speaking countries (where Tanzania was described as having been previously I qui te unknown’) due to the travails of Burundi and Rwanda. He replied “I don’t think it has damaged our image …. Tanzania has been praised by the international community for what it has done for refugees …. when you have a district like Ngara with 200,000 inhabitants and then, within one month, you get 500,000 people coming in you can imagine the pressures …. schools had to be used to accommodate the refugees, forests were destroyed …. if refugees passed though your farm they would cut your bananas or take your maize …. many had terrible wounds and our dispensaries were greatly affected …… ”

UNRELENTING MEDIATION EFFORTS
To coincide with its East African seminar in London the FINANCIAL TIMES (November 5) published a six-page supplement. It said that if East African co-operation reached fruition no one would be able to claim more credit than President Benjamin Mkapa. The recent rapprochement between the Kenya and Uganda presidents, who had been barely on speaking terms, had been largely due to his unrelenting mediation efforts. However, such commitment verged on the chivalrous because, while landlocked Uganda’s interest in sweeping away the barricades blocking its access to international trade seemed clear, Tanzania’s was far less obvious. Its lumbering bureaucracy remained a brake on development and the country was running trade deficits with both Uganda and Kenya.

However, the article went on: ‘Yet Mr Mkapa’s behaviour is not so foolhardy as it may seem. While the short term might be risky, the long-term benefits could be enormous’. Tanzania had huge tracts of unsurveyed and unexploited land; there was gold and minerals and the country was just beginning to recognise its failure to market its extraordinary tourist attractions; it would soon be exporting power to Kenya.

‘A SHARED SOFTNESS’
Two Ugandans and four Tanzanians put on an art exhibition in Kampala in August: Elaine Eliah writing in the EAST AFRICAN (August 26) contrasted their art. The Ugandan prints were ‘explosions of colour’ but there was a ‘softness about the Tanzanians’ styles’ probably due to their greater maturity: the Tanzanians were all significantly older. George Lilanga, from Newala ranked as one of Tanzania’s ‘master artists’ and was proficient in sculpting, pen and ink and batik painting as well as being an expert printmaker. Robino Ntila from Mdanda in Mtwara Region was described as pre-eminent in etching techniques and Francis Inmanjama’s work (he comes from Zanzibar) was said to show detailed realism in its depictions of wildlife and humans; his soft pastels ‘resembled illustrations in old books’.

BAD NEWS ON MALARIA
In what its editorial described as ‘bad news’ the LANCET (September 14) said that the very promising malaria vaccine known as SP166 which was tested in Tanzania last year had been found to offer no protection following a three year study in Thailand. ‘Any notion of actually eliminating the disease I , the Lancet wrote, has long since been abandoned; the operative term is still ‘control’.

A SYSTEM WITHOUT PARALLEL
Under the heading ‘Tanzania: a second garden of Eden’ PEOPLE AND THE PLANET (Vol. 5 No. 1) featured the ‘tree gardens’ of the Chagga people of Mount Kilimanjaro. It described them as an inspiring model of how tropical rainforest could be sustainably managed. Chagga farmers cultivated up to 60 different species of trees on areas of land typically the size of a soccer field. Known locally as vihamba the farms comprised multi-story tree gardens. They originated on patches of forest land where useful species remained standing while other parts were gradually replaced by what was now the main cash crop – coffee. Coffee had arrived at the Kilema mission from the island of Reunion in 1885. Long before the colonial period the Chagga tapped water in steep, remote gorges, digging canals and hollowing out tree trunks to conduct it as irrigation water to settlements on mountain ridges.

‘A DIFFICULT MARKET FOR OUR ADVERTISERS’
An article in the EAST AFRICAN (September 30) compared attitudes to TV advertising in Kenya and Tanzania. In Kenya advertising was throwing off its previously staid image and now testing viewer’s tolerance in hitherto taboo areas such as sex and politics. A very successful Barclays Bank advert had featured a robot dancing to a Zairean-style kwasa kwasa beat; the dancing cash machine was a great hit but some people hated it because the robot danced in a physically suggestive manner. Despite protests, this and other similar advertisements had remained on the air in Kenya.

But in Tanzania things could have been different. A range of factors including a long period of socialism was said to have rooted in the people a deep multi-cultural sensitivity. with its rural and conservative nature, Tanzania was difficult to handle for a globally inclined industry like advertising. A Mr. Sam Madoka was quoted as saying that Tanzania’s resistance to some commercials from Kenya was a commendable insistence on the country’s own identity and protection against the dumping of western concepts. Another advertiser said that “lack of a tangible knowledge of our cultures by expatriates results in the misrepresentation one sees on commercial TV in Kenya”. Others disagreed. Africa could not live in isolation from the rest of the world they said.

MILES AHEAD IN POLITICAL CULTURE
Kenyan journalist John Githongo has been writing in the EAST AFRICAN (October 21) about his long love affair with Tanzania. Extracts: ‘Nyerereism has made Tanzania an extremely refreshing place to visit ….. it is miles ahead of Kenya in political culture; notably absent from the recent by-election was the fierce abuse and threats that are typical of Kenya … then there is the refreshing way the media covered the Dar poll; the ITV went out and interviewed supporters of all parties …… both of Tanzania’s presidential transitions had been carried out peacefully and President Mkapa’s predecessors have not been aggressively marginalised in any way …… but there are two sides to the coin; Kenyans complain that everything takes too long in Dar especially financial transactions … the hunt for profit just isn’t taken seriously …. there is a subsistence mentality …. but I’m an optimist about Tanzania’s future and we in Kenya have a lot to learn from the country’.

REAL MEN
The London TIMES ran a series of articles on feminism and masculinism in mid-October and Lotte Hughes, who said that she had had a long romance with one of them, wrote about the ‘real men’ the Maasai. ‘Warriors dance, sing, cry (I’ve seen warriors weep and shake when their mothers shave off their locks at the Eunoto ceremony), show tenderness, laugh, fight a little, talk a lot to their sweethearts, take care of their families ….. they may look tough but they are true gentlemen with perfect manners ….. sex is guilt-free for both men and women and though Maasai society is patriarchal and polygamous I found that women have a fair amount of power …. these men are attractive because they are “centred”, self-assured without arrogance …. unlike British men who hang back when the going gets tough, these warriors defend their territory and their girlfriends …. to my surprise I rather liked it!’

UMOJA
The first issue of a quarterly newsletter entitled UMOJA has been published by the Tanzania Association in London. The members of the association, which elected a new Executive committee in 1995 (the chairman is Dr. G Mutahaba) are Tanzanians resident in Britain and Ireland. The newsletter contained an article on the increasing numbers of Tanzanians applying for political asylum in Britain. It said that in 1955 about 1,500 people from Zanzibar, including 43 unaccompanied children, had claimed that they were political refugees. Some 800 Tanzanians had been turned away by the immigration authorities. It was this influx that had prompted the British government to impose tighter visa restrictions. The article quoted Foreign Minister Jakaya Kikwete as telling the Britain Tanzania Society earlier that there was no political crisis in Tanzania to justify people fleeing the country.

‘A SYMBOLIC FORUM’
In an article critical of the arrangements being made for the trial of Rwandans on charges of genocide, Michela Wrong wrote in the FINANCIAL TIMES (September 25) that the choice of Arusha as a venue had proved a bone of contention. ‘A sleepy base for tourists climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, the town is a five-hour drive from the nearest capital Nairobi and communications range from patchy to nonexistent’. Cells and bullet proof partition walls reinforced to withstand terrorist attack had to be built from scratch ….. only 21 people had been indicted and Judge Richard Goldstone, chief prosecutor for both the Yugoslav and Rwandan tribunals, had admitted that the total might never exceed 40. That would turn Arusha into a symbolic forum rather than a realistic attempt to mete out justice to the thousands who had tried to eliminate a troublesome minority. But for those trying to rebuild Rwanda, such symbolism still had its value.’

The TIMES reported on November 19 that documents left behind by the fleeing Hutu extremists in Zaire had revealed plans to attack the Arusha centre to free three of the accused; they were said to be staying in conditions which resembled a four-star hotel. Tanzanian soldiers guarding the centre were said to have shown an ability to be corrupted and a Maasai spiritualist, who had access to the prisoners, might have been prepared to help (Thank you Andrew Gaisford for the first item – Editor).

LIONS AND AIRSTRIPS FOR FLYING DOCTORS
BBC WILDLIFE (December 1996) reported that mass vaccination of some 10,000 dogs living on the western borders of the Serengeti National park (around Musoma and Mwanza) would commence shortly. It would prevent a repeat of the 1994 distemper epidemic that had wiped out a third of the 3,000 lions.

A story about three human lives saved in Tanzania’s north Masailand recently was related in the November’96-January ’97 issue of MISSION AVIATION NEWS which described the apparently very difficult problem of obtaining a licence for an airstrip in Tanzania. It was said that it could take years. Forms have to be filled in by villagers who have cleared the strips and these then have to be approved by the village authorities, the District Commissioner – up to 50 miles away, the Regional Commissioner in Arusha and then, finally they have to go to Oar es Salaam. In January 1995 an airstrip at Buga had been opened which had been first identified four years earlier; 50 women had initiated the action which had led to the opening of the airstrip. Instead of a journey of six hours by road, serious medical conditions could now be reached within minutes.

Pilot John Clifford had identified 135 Tanzanian airstrips which could have a claim to exemption from the long licensing process as they were not used for tourism but only for medical and charitable work. Three new airstrips were recently licensed but seven were closed at the same time because licenses are for only two years. (Thank you Christine Lawrence for these two items – Ed.)

‘HIGH FLYING, DAPPER, GREGARIOUS BUSINESS TYCOON’
Under the heading ‘The rise and rise of Reginald Mengi’ NEW AFRICAN recently featured Reginald Abraham Mengi, the Tanzanian ‘media mogul’ who had risen from an impoverished childhood and who now owned a chain of other businesses in manufacturing (soap, chinaware, cold drinks and paper). ‘Two years ago he launched new radio and TV stations to add to his two national daily papers and three weeklies …. though his cri tics say he is expanding too fast and spending too much, his media is booming …. his success has made him many enemies and he has received hate letters …. though he says he has no political ambition ….. few doubt that deep down he has presidential ambitions’.

LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE
Under this heading OASIS, the journal of water Aid, recounted in its Autumn/Winter 1996 issue the story of Chololo village in Dodoma region. water Aid’s programme in Dodoma was said to have enabled 622,000 people to improve the quality of their lives through the provision of improved water supply coupled with sanitation and hygiene education. In Chololo the people began work on their new water supply with great enthusiasm; they established a water fund, formed committees and took part in the initial survey but later, concerns over aspects of management of the supply caused them to lose confidence in the project. It took a visit to Ng’omai village, which had successfully completed its project 18 months earlier, for the villagers of Chololo to be convinced through discussions with their peers on the issues about which they were concerned. (Thank you Roy Galbraith for this item Editor).

‘ONE OF NATURE’S SILENT WORKERS‘
This is how the INDEPENDENT on a recent obituary page described Brother Adam (Dom Adam Kehrle): monk, bee breeder and beekeeper; born Germany 1898; died Buckfast Abbey, Devon September 1 1996. The obituary, by Lesley Bill, said that he was known in all beekeeping circles from the small market trader selling his honey on a stall in a French provincial town to the big commercial apiary owners in America and he was also well-known in academic circles in every continent. His aim had always been to create a cross-breed of bees with resistance to disease; bees that were gentle to handle, that swarmed rarely and were abundant honey producers. He had travelled 82,000 miles by road and 7,800 miles by sea plus many further miles by air in his search for appropriate bee characteristics. His travels culminated in a trip to Mount Kilimanjaro in search of the black honey bee (Apis Mellifera Monticola) when he was 89. The result of all this work had been the distinctive tan-coloured ‘Buckfast Bee’ which was still produced commercially on both sides of the Atlantic.

DANGEROUS PASSAGE
The story of a group of British tourists trying to snorkel off the coast of Zanzibar was given prominence in THE TIMES in its October 14 issue. Mrs Joan Garratt from Derbyshire described how she, three other Britons and two Africans, came into heavy weather; as they turned for shore the skipper got a line snagged round the outrigger and the small boat capsized. “The skipper gathered up the floating snorkel masks and started swimming for a distant sail and we assumed he was going for help” Mrs Garratt said. “But after he had reached it and climbed in, it set sail for the shore and we never saw him again. I think he was scared he was in trouble …. It was getting colder and colder in the water … and we expected to die. It was only when a fellow tourist began waving his brightly coloured shirt that we were spotted from the coast by a fisherman …. he had a dinghy and came out to rescue us. It seemed as though his boat would capsize too. I have never been so grateful to be on dry land”. After they returned they saw a map of the area with the words ‘white sharks’ written across it!

TANZANIA’S TRAIL OF TEARS – THE SLAVE ROUTES
The October-December 1996 issue of the Tanzania Tourist Board’s publication TANTRAVEL is so filled (in its 72 pages) with interest that it is impossible to do it justice in the limited space available in this section of TA. It is a very fine production filled with beautiful illustrations, enticing advertisements and engrossing short articles. The main subject in this issue is slavery. The early history of slavery is recorded followed by Livingtone’s eyewitness account of a slave massacre, an article on Tippu Tip (the King of the slavers), on Zanzibar, the hub of the whole trade and on Bagamoyo, the slave port. Other articles feature a family’s journey from Abu Dhabi to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro and the ‘best fishing in the world’ at Mafia Island.

THE ANGLICAN CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL
The CHURCH TIMES of October 17 stated that the Rt. Revd Simon Chiwanga, Bishop of Mpwapwa has been elected Chairman of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) one of the Anglican Church’s instruments of unity, which meets every three years. At its most recent meeting in Panama in October 1996 it discussed the next Lambeth Conference scheduled for 1998 and the future role of the Archbishop of Canterbury (Thank you Mr E G Pike for this item).