FAITH NEWS

Trouble on the mainland and in Zanzibar
At least 1,202 people were arrested in connection with violent clashes in Dar es Salaam’s Mbagala suburb on October 12 between anti-riot police and Muslim youths protesting an alleged act by a 14-year-old boy of desecrating the Quran. The riots erupted when the youths stormed a police station and demanded that the boy be handed over to them so that he could be punished.

Dar es Salaam Special Zone Police Commander Suleiman Kova said that 32 of those arrested allegedly vandalised and torched church buildings while 86 were arrested for demonstrating. He named the churches that were attacked as including Shimo la Mchanga (Tanzania Assenblies of God TAG), Kizuiani Seventh Day Adventist (SDA),the Church of Christ at Rangitatu, Kizuiani Anglican church, Agape at Kibondemaji and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT) at Mbagala Zakhiem. A car was burnt and eight others had their windows smashed.

ELCT Head Bishop Alex Malasusa appealed to Christians to remain calm as their leaders worked on the matter. “We need to meet with leaders of other Christian denominations so that we’ll come up with a joint position. We ask Christians to take part in Sunday services and pray for peace and the future of our country.” Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC) Secretary General, Fr Anthony Makundi, said the gruesome incident should remind Tanzanians of the need to embrace the culture of respecting each other’s faith. Africa Inland Church Bishop Peter Kitula said he was saddened by the incident and the country should learn techniques of solving its problems in a peaceful manner.

For his part, Council of Islamic Organisations Secretary General Sheikh Ponda Issa Ponda blamed the police for causing the turmoil. “I think the police mishandled the matter. They failed to give it its due weight when the boy was initially sent to them. Muslims were enraged by this police laxity, making them feel sidelined.”

Human rights activist Helen Kijo-Bisimba said the government delayed in taking appropriate action. “Had the authorities acted speedily, the matter would not have gotten out of hand,” she argued. But opposition party NCCR-Mageuzi Secretary General Samuel Ruhuza attributed the incident to the high level of unemployment.

People had a lot to say on social networks, as revealed in the Citizen. One wrote: ‘A prank between two school kids escalating into such a disproportionate reaction is totally inappropriate and unjustified. Religious leaders should inculcate restraint and discipline and should not justify mob justice. There should be a civilised response. The real issue here was not the Koran – the Word of Allah. It was a matter of childish argument and action by children, causing chaos by breaking the property of churches. It is mere hooliganism by children.

The view of the London Economist

On November 3, a comprehensive article headed: ‘Contagion of discontent. Muslim extremism spreads down East Africa’s coastline’ analysed some of the background. Extracts:

It is a century since cartographers drew East Africa’s coastal strip as a single territory. A map from 1876 shows “Zanziebar” stretching from what is now southern Somalia to northern Mozambique. In the colonial carve-up that followed, lines were drawn between the port cities of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam and the island of Zanzibar. The Swahili coast, named after a language created by the cohabitation of inland Bantu tribes and Arab traders and slavers, was at various times divided between four colonial countries: Britain, Germany, Italy and Portugal. Their vast possessions in the hinterland eventually became Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia and Mozambique. Yet in terms of culture, religion and geography the coastal strip, especially its swathe in the middle, has retained a distinct identity.

Rising discontent. Inequality, land grabs and corruption have soured many coastal communities in recent years. In radical Islam some now find an outlet for their anger. A spate of apparently unrelated church burnings, riots, disappearances and assassinations has swept the coast. Secessionist sentiment is rising. In Stone Town, Zanzibar, angry slogans decorate mouldy concrete walls denouncing “Muungano”, Swahili for the Union with the mainland. Since October 16 rioters have repeatedly clashed with police, following the brief disappearance of a popular local cleric. Farid Hadi Ahmed, the leader of Uamsho, or “Awakening”, which has recently evolved from a religious charity into an Islamist political movement demanding independence for Zanzibar, restrictions on alcohol consumption and a dress code for the tens of thousands of foreign tourists visiting the island every year.

Political violence is not new to Zanzibar, nor is unease among religious conservatives over the behaviour of holidaymakers. But Uamsho has succeeded in funnelling cultural and political tensions into support for radical Islamism. The group denies involvement in church burning but openly feeds resentment of Wabara, or mainland Tanzanians. Supporters are implicated in attacks on bars said to be owned by immigrants. Almas Ali, a history teacher, calls the 1964 union with the mainland a “bad marriage”. A divorce, he says, is long overdue. Grievances include the loss of tax privileges in the 1990s that hit transit trading, and Tanzania’s failure to join the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, a club of Muslim countries that locals hoped would channel aid to Zanzibar.

Islamist hotheads used to support Tanzania’s main opposition party, the Civic United Front (CUF). But in 2010 it formed a unity government with the ruling Revolutionary Party (CCM) following unrest amid accusations of voter fraud. This disappointed many Zanzibari supporters and created a political vacuum on the island. Ismail Jussa, the deputy CUF leader, says, “By the time we woke up, we found ourselves engulfed by this religious group.”

Officially, unemployment on the islands is 34% but officials at the Zanzibar Chamber of Commerce say the real rate is much higher, with youth joblessness and underemployment estimated at 85%.

Across the border, Tanzania’s business capital, Dar es Salaam, has been rocked by the worst religious riots in years. Churches were looted and burned on October 12th. Sheikh Issa Ponda, a radical cleric, has been arrested and accused of inciting violence. If the secessionist groups up and down the coast link up, they could become a powerful dissident force.

The recent discovery of gas along the coast could make things still worse. Mohamed Hafidh Khalfan, an economist at the State University of Zanzibar, fears a Nigerian-style insurgency, “Poverty is like a fuel that just needs a spark to blow it up.”

(Some observers thought that this article exaggerated the situation in Tanzania and was unnecessarily alarmist – Editor).

RUCTIONS IN ZANZIBAR COALITION

Just as in Britain’s coalition government, tensions between the two rival camps within Zanzibar’s government of national unity (GNU) can boil over from time to time. In Zanzibar it happened when First Vice President Seif Shariff Hamad publicly accused Zanzibar President Ali Mohammed Shein of not curbing alleged excesses of the security apparatus.

Addressing a public rally at Kibanda Mait, Mr Hamad, who doubles as Secretary General of the main opposition Civic United Front (CUF), charged that, under cover of cracking down on perpetrators of chaos linked to Uamsho, the Police Force, intelligence service and what he characterized as ‘rogue elements’, were harassing innocent civilians. While declaring that the GNU would not be wrecked, he nonetheless accused the rival camp within the government of clandestinely carrying out moves aimed at sabotaging the partnership.

SWISS MILLIONS – ZITTO SHOT DOWN

Parliament on November 10 rejected a proposal by CHADEMA’s Kigoma MP Zitto Kabwe to form a select committee to probe some $196 million allegedly lodged in Swiss banks by 13 public officials. Instead it resolved that the matter be handled by government organs in collaboration with international investigators. Speaker Anne Makinda said the report on the outcome of the investigations should be tabled in Parliament in April 2013. Dismissing Zitto’s proposal, she said it should have been tabled separately as a private motion. This provoked a heated two-day debate in the House in November on what should be done to recover the money, with most MPs supporting Kabwe. Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda said the matter was sensitive and needed handling with care, but he assured the public that no stone would be left unturned in attempting to expose the culprits. This was a matter of national interest and nobody would be spared or protected.

Kabwe said he had no qualms with the decision, since the motion was after all adopted by the House and he would raise the matter again at the next sitting in April if no progress had been made.

NEW MISS TANZANIA

Miss Tanzania 2012

Miss Tanzania 2012

Glitz and glamour were reported to have filled the Blue Pearl Hotel recently as Brigitte Alfred from Sinza was crowned the new Miss Tanzania for 2012 in a hotly contested final.

Brigitte (centre) beat 28 other contestants to win a Toyota Noah and TShs 8 million. Eugene Fabian (left) from the Lake Zone emerged as the first runner up, and received TShs 6 million while the third place went to Edda Sylvester (right) from Temeke, who got TShs 4 million.

“I’m so happy and excited for the award, I promise not to let Tanzanians down in the Miss World event,” said the happy new queen as she stood in front of her grand prize. Brigitte is the eighteenth contestant to take the Miss Tanzania crown since its re-inception in 1994.

BOYS TO BOYCOTT CIRCUMCISION?

Elders in Mara Region have embarked on a campaign to convince boys to boycott circumcision as a protest against global condemnation of female genital mutilation (FGM). The season was due to start in December. The elders hope that their move to prevent boys from getting the cut will evoke anger among practitioners who will then enforce a revival of both female and male circumcision on the pretence that it is an order from the ancestors to cleanse the community, failure of which would lead to punitive measures.

A survey by The Citizen in Serengeti, Tarime and Rorya districts found that campaigns for the revival of FGM appealed to clan elders and most of them would gladly support the practice. “Some of the boys have threatened to boycott the initiation rite unless girls are also involved. They claim that during initiation boys and girls walk together as couples, a situation they believe makes the process colourful”, said an anti-FGM parent.

BUSINESS & THE ECONOMY

by Valerie Leach:

For those interested in the development of Tanzania, the encouraging article which follows (and other articles in this issue) outline, in detail, the beginning of a veritable industrial revolution in the country. Tanzania is changing – and very rapidly – Editor.

Inflation
The rate of inflation, while still high at 12.9% in October 2012, is falling – down from 19.8% in December and 17.9% in October last year. The rate of increase in food prices has also fallen steadily from 26.2% in January to 15.0% in October. Energy prices in the same period have fallen, though erratically, from 30.1% in January to 18.4% in October 2012. (www.nbs.go.tz)

Economy performing strongly
According to a statement issued by Mr Paolo Mauro, who led a team from the International Monetary Fund to Dar es Salaam in September–October, the Tanzanian economy has continued to perform strongly. “Economic activity has remained robust, with gross domestic product (GDP) growth projected at 6.5-7% in 2012. The current account deficit is large at 16% of GDP, reflecting strong aggregate demand, foreign direct investment related to natural gas exploration and development, and large oil imports for power generation to substitute for hydroelectric sources, owing to the severe drought. External vulnerabilities are made more manageable by the adequate level of foreign reserves. The budget deficit for 2011/12 at 5% of GDP was lower than programmed. Revenue collection was strong and government spending was well-contained, though not all domestic expenditure arrears were cleared by the end of the fiscal year.

The 2012/13 budget appropriately balances the need for sustained fiscal consolidation, preserving social spending, and creating room for critical infrastructure investment. External non-concessional borrowing has been in line with maintaining a sustainable debt outlook.

According to a Press Release from the IMF: “Economic growth is projected to remain buoyant in 2013, though risks remain. In particular, near-term challenges relate to the need to preserve ample and reliable electricity supply while ensuring the financial viability of the national power utility TANESCO, where sizable outstanding payment arrears have built up vis-a-vis suppliers following the emergency power plan introduced in late 2011.

“The outlook for the medium-to-long term is promising, with recent large off­shore natural gas discoveries. The current priority is to design and implement a regulatory and fiscal framework, integrated with the government budget, for the natural resource sector, ensuring that Tanzania’s population benefits fully from its natural resources.

“The Bank of Tanzania aims its tight monetary policy at bringing inflation down to single-digits in the next few months, complementing other efforts in this area by fiscal and structural policies. The government budget aims at containing the deficit to 5.5% of GDP in 2012/13. The IMF Mission welcomes the measures that the authorities are taking to improve public financial man­agement and urges the government to prepare rapidly an action plan to address challenges in the electricity sector.” (IMF press release, www.imf.org).

Strategic Oil Reserve
In an effort to stabilise oil supplies and cushion shortages, the Government is to set up a strategic oil reserve. The Deputy Minister for Energy and Minerals, George Simbachawene has said that the Government is in talks with the Government of Oman for supplies for the oil reserve, preferring this government-to-government arrangement over reliance on private traders. Joint efforts between this Ministry and the Ministry for Transport are also underway to speed up the functioning of single point mooring for improved oil discharging capacity at the port of Dar es Salaam which will be sited further out in the ocean to help decongest the port (East African).

Large deposits of gas
In late October, there was a meeting in Dar es Salaam of high-level gas industry professionals. There, the Chief Secretary, Mr Ombeni Sefue warned that the recent discoveries of large gas deposits in southern Tanzania will not lead to an overnight transformation of the national economy. Although these discoveries should help jump start economic growth, Mr Sefue emphasised the importance of ensuring that the gas resources are managed sustainably. Initially, the gas will be used nationally to shore up electricity generation. A World Bank specialist at the same meeting, Mr Albert Zeufack, advised that Tanzania needs to have the right infrastructure in place before the country is opened up to oil and gas investors. “For Tanzania to take full advantage of its resources, the country needs to invest in investing. This involves building the capacity to invest efficiently and profitably by developing human capital.” (Citizen).

Transport
Improvements to infrastructure, needed for Tanzania to be able to take full economic advantage of its favourable geographic location, were highlighted by Minister Mwakyembe in his speech to the Britain-Tanzania Society in London on 10 November 2012 (and see lead article above).

The Minister highlighted the governance of the ports and the actions he has taken to dissolve the Board of the Ports Authority and install a new Board with younger members.

While improvements have been made to the roads system in the past few years, too much heavy traffic is loaded on the roads and more cargo needs to be moved onto rail. The Government intends now to maintain the rail infrastructure, permitting companies to have their own rolling stock.

Mining
A ban on the export of raw tanzanite was introduced in 2010 as part of the Mining Act. The main buyers have been in the US and more recently in Europe, the Middle East and the Far East, with exports valued at between $100 and $300 million. In November 2012, Diamond International, the world’s largest tanzanite buyer and one of the largest jewellery retailers, announced that it will create a gemstone processing plant on the outskirts of Arusha. The plant will employ about 200 local workers who will be trained to cut and polish tanzanite for the export market (www.TanzaniaInvest.com).

After several false starts, uranium mining in the Mkuju River area is expected to be started by the Russian company JSC Atomredmetzoloto (ARMZ) who are in the final stages of negotiating a licence with the Government to construct a plant there starting in early 2013. The firm will be required to furnish plans for relocation, resettlement and compensation of people within the mining areas, as well as for the proposed treatment and disposal of ore and minerals recovered. An earlier dispute over income tax and stamp duty resulting from the firm’s acquisition of the uranium mining site from Uranium One is reported to have been settled. In October, the Government issued an environmental impact cer­tificate which allows the project to go ahead (East African).

Energy
A research note from Ecobank is quoted in The East African in November with an estimate of $994 million to go into offshore natural gas exploration in East Africa in the next twelve months – most of it in Tanzania and Mozambique. There will be investment in drilling 33 exploration wells, infrastructure, development of pipelines, liquefied natural gas plants, power plants and storage tanks. An export market can be opened up for industrial use in Japan, China, India and South Korea.

In Tanzania, plans shave been announced to increase expenditure from $9 million in 2012 to $15 million in 2013 in recognition of the value of a dedicated operations infrastructure for oil and gas exploration in Tanzania. The company responsible has set out to develop the only world class facilities in the region with field maintenance facilities built in Mtwara which are said to exceed North Sea standard. Estimates of recoverable natural gas reserves have recently been revised from 28.74 trillion to 33 trillion cubic feet. (www.TanzaniaInvest.com)

In Mtwara, President Kikwete recently launched the construction of a Mnazi Bay and Songosongo Natural Gas processing plant and transportation pipeline. Tanesco has been directed to start building the plants under a project which is expected to be completed within 18 months. President Kikwete clarified that “Construction of the power plants should go parallel with laying of the gas pipelines because waiting until the project is completed will delay production of electricity”.

The processing plant will be owned by the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) and should generate more than 3,000MW of electricity, above the country’s target of 2,780 megawatts by 2015 for national use and should allow for surplus selling to neighbouring countries. The project should allow Tanzania to meet more than half of its power generation from natural gas, with 30 per cent from heavy oil and 15 per cent from hydro plants. The project is to be jointly implemented by China Petroleum and Technology Development Company (CPTDC), a unit of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and the TPDC.

Foreign Direct Investment
According to the report titled Where to Invest in Africa – 2012 Edition recently released by the Rand Merchant Bank, Tanzania is the 10th most attractive destination for investment among 53 African countries. The ranking is based on three factors: market size, as measured by GDP at purchasing power parity for 2012; market growth rate, as reflected by estimated annual real GDP growth rates between 2011 and 2017; and an operating environment index, which captures the business environment. This index comprises four indicators: economic freedom, corruption, efficiency and business friendliness.

Tanzania’s prospects are bolstered by the discovery of oil and gas, especially the deep-water gas prospects off Tanzania’s coast.

When it comes to the security of investments, Tanzania, together with Botswana and Namibia have the most transparent, fair and efficient legal systems.

In relation to infrastructure, Tanzania still lags behind for the quality of overall infrastructure; not surprisingly the reports highlight that Tanzania stands out among the countries that should provide most of the opportunities for infrastructure construction businesses.

Access to financing also remains Tanzania’s most problematic factor for doing business in the country. The report is available at http://www.rmb. co.za/GlobalMarkets/pdf/whereToInvestInAfrica/RMB_wtia.pdf -(www. TanzaniaInvest.com)

Chinese investment reaches $1 billion
Mr. Lu Youqing, the Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania stated at the recent Huawei ICT Star programme for Tanzania education in Dar es Salaam that total investment of Chinese companies in Tanzania last year reached $1 billion. This makes China now the second largest provider of Foreign Direct Investments to Tanzania. Mr Youqing underlined that such investments from China are directed to local value addition of the products, which has resulted in the creation of more than 80,000 jobs and the reinforcement of the ties between Tanzania and China. The Huawei ICT Star programme for Tanzania education is aimed at fostering ICT training and development in Tanzania. Mr Bruce Zhang, Managing Director of Huawei Tanzania, said “This programme will be in partnership with the government of Tanzania and it will work with students starting from primary to university level.” (www.TanzaniaInvest.com)

Manufacturing performance
The recently released report, The Tanzania Industrial Climate Report, a product of a partnership between UNIDO and the Government of Tanzania, says that despite the past and current efforts to boost industrialisation in Tanzania, manufacturing still accounts for less than 10% of national GDP, making Tanzania one of the least industrialised countries in the world.

The report presents a quantitative assessment of the performances of the manufacturing sector in Tanzania, highlights the challenges and opportunities for Tanzanian industries and offers a number of high priority and practical industrial policy recommendations.

The areas of policy focus highlighted in the report include: the effect of regional integration on Tanzanian industry and the challenges ahead, the domestic and international opportunities that emerged in the new global market for manufacturers, the key role of modern skills for industrial development and the likely “quick-win” scenario of a resource-based industrialisation process. The report is available at: http://www.tanzaniainvest.com/downloads/Tanzania-Industrial­Competitiveness-Report2012-UNIDO.pdf

EDUCATION

by Anne Samson

The government is continuing with plans to improve the quality of education. Deputy Minister for Education and Vocational Training, Mr Philipo Mulugo, said at the launch of the Tanzania Beyond Tomorrow (TBT) Programme that ‘The government is committed to improving education and life skills in our community through technology so that people are better equipped to compete in the global labour market. ’The five-year TBT programme, in partnership with Camara International Organisation, is set to start in 2013 with Camara initially providing 30,000 computers at ‘affordable prices’. The aim is to equip teachers with capacity and knowledge in the use of computers. Fifty five schools in Dar es Salaam should see computers next year (Daily News).

The Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority is to sponsor 17 students at university this year as part of the government’s investment in information technology education (Citizen). Science education also dominates. The new Josiah Kibira University, Bukoba, ‘aims at supporting the government in mitigating the shortage of secondary school science teachers’ by training 400 teachers (Daily News). United African University of Tanzania is developing Electrical Engineering programmes and asks parents to encourage their children to ‘venture into science subjects’ (Daily News) Deputy Minister for Communication, Science and Technology, Mr January Makamba, noted that Tanzania needs a policy ‘that allows and recognises student’s talents and creativities to promote innovation’ (Guardian).

300 Mtwara and Lindi youths are to benefit from a project sponsored by VSO and the British oil and gas exploration company BG. The two-year project, involving VETA, will see 24 persons trained to build human resource capacity and create jobs in the area (Citizen). Uranium mining company Mantra Tanzania, waiting to receive its operating licence, has pledged to support education by sponsoring initiatives for students. It funded the recent Tanzania Schools Exhibition in Dar es Salaam (Daily News).

The Zanzibar government is to buy more desks for pupils while development partners help to build schools. Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, Ms Mwanaidi Saleh, said ‘each district will have at least one modern school with a computer room, a library, and a laboratory’ (Daily News).

French – the Tanzania Institute of Adult Education will co-ordinate a project establishing French language resource centres throughout Tanzania as part of a project with the French Embassy. The aim is to improve the level of French and address the shortage of French teachers in the country. Fifteen French language inspectors received training in Reunion (Citizen).

At an award ceremony of honorary doctorates to Mr Godfrey Sabas Ngaleya and Bishop Mathias Rueben Ng’andu, Morogoro Regional Director, Mr Joel Bendera, acknowledged how far education has developed in Tanzania since Uhuru. He stated: ‘People may have their different views, including the demand for quality education, but the fact remains that this country has made tremendous strides. If we didn’t have the ward secondary schools, where would all those children who passed their primary examination be today?’ Mr Ngaleya’s 2005 book on entrepreneurship is to become a standard textbook in schools. (Daily News)

However, on 11 October Salma Maoulidi contributed a piece to the Daily News on how education today compared with the aim of the 1977 constitution to remove the class divide amongst Tanzanians. She concluded: ‘that there is no Minister, Principal Secretary, MP, RC or DC who sends their child to a ward school. If national leaders, who make and implement policy, don’t want to subscribe in deed to policies they pass, or swear to uphold, why should the common person be expected to stomach the same?’

In launching the new Annual Teachers Awards Ceremony,the chairman of the Education and Expedition Agency Association, Emmanuel Mjema, challenged the government ‘to provide direct financial incentives to teachers in public and private schools countrywide so as to help improve the country’s education standard.’ The first ceremony was on 25 November (Guardian).

A study by Haki Elimu and the University of Dar es Salaam entitled ‘Are students failing national examinations or are national examinations failing students?’ reported that ‘There is evidence that the curriculum is poorly implemented because the majority of teachers do not fully understand the requirements of the curriculum. The teaching and learning environments are also generally poor…..While the content of the curriculum seems to be competent based, the assessment procedures are not wholly based on this philosophy.’ Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Training, Mr Celestine Gesimba, rejected the findings, stating that the Institute of Education was better qualified to conduct the research as ‘they are the experts in this area [of curriculum]’ (Citizen).

At a conference to publicise the findings of the four year Pedagogy and Leadership Project, Education Commissioner in the Ministry of Education and Training, Ms Eustella Bhalalusse, encouraged those attending to use the findings to improve the quality of teaching English. The study,which involved the University of Dar es Salaam and which ran from 2009 to 2012, took place in four urban Primary schools in Manzese ward, Kinondoni District (Daily News).

Korogwe Council is to implement a programme of inspections to ensure that education is being delivered as it should be and to achieve a pass rate above 95%. The focus of the inspections will be discipline, ensuring teachers are at school teaching on time and that they are adhering to the curriculum (Citizen).

The government rejected a proposal by budget partners that they directly fund social-related projects. ‘Donors could not set priorities for Tanzania’ and monitoring such funding would prove difficult. However ‘government and donor parties agreed to enhance the dialogue on results.’ Budget support for 2012/3 is just under $500 million (Citizen).

TANZANIA IN THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

by Donovan McGrath

Kicking them off their land
On 13 August 2012, the online campaign organisation Avaaz.org sent a global message over the internet saying: ‘Middle Eastern kings and princes are about to force up to 48,000 people in Tanzania from their land to make way for corporate sponsored big game hunting. But Tanzanian President Kikwete has shown before that he will stop deals like this when they generate negative press coverage.’ The online reader is then asked to ‘Click to deliver a media blitz that will push President Kikwete to stop the land grab and save these Maasai.’ – Habari (Sweden-Tanzania Society, Nr 3 2012). As at the beginning of December over 900,000 people have signed the online petition.

Malimu’s legacy: Socialism, restraint and fitness

Julius Nyerere (juliusnyerere.info)

Julius Nyerere (juliusnyerere.info)


In a well-written piece, journalist Elsie Eyakuze shares her thoughts on the build up to Nyerere Day. Extract: ‘…This month the Tanzanian media has seen an increase in Nyerere content. We’re about to commemorate Mwalimu on the 13th anniversary of his passing, in the fine tradition of deifying the founder of the nation…During the weeks building up to the day itself, the archives open wide and out flows a stream of footage of the first president. Black and white reels of historic visits to this or that country, with this or that revolutionary leader. There he is peering interestedly at a farm or factory, striding along and brandishing his baton. That baton! … Nyerere intuited that said people appreciate a little flash in a leader, some visual markers of his uniqueness. The short-sleeved socialist suit was his most fiendishly sly gift to the political class. A slim man, Nyerere managed to choose a style of clothing that was entirely hostile to excess and the potbellies it generates… Socialism, restraint and fitness have never had a better meeting ground.

The best material, of course is made up of Nyerere’s public addresses. This is the age of 30-second attention spans, when grand oratory has fallen out of fashion. But Mwalimu found a way around this limitation: he was a quipper… What is hard to explain is how this great man of another era manages to remain genuinely popular today. The majority of Tanzanians living now were born long after he gave up the reins of power. His economic policy was a disaster that we’re still recovering from, and there are things about the Ujamaa villagisation exercise, among other initiatives, that do not reflect well on Mwalimu. And yet here we are, continually riffling through the stacks of material he left behind whenever we are in need of clarity about Tanzanian politics and other things more universal. Why? Maybe it was the simplicity of his era that allowed him to develop a leadership style that was distilled and potent. There were no opinion polls on his popularity to confuse matters, no investigative journalists, none of the screeching catfights of a nascent multiparty democracy. Things moved slowly then, so speeches could be written and delivered that had deep thought behind them, not just bullet points and key words. Leadership had to be demonstrated consistently, and courage probably still had a place in policy-making. And, of course, the scale of ambition in political life was entirely different: Rather than simply looking to survive another election it was possible to pursue the really big visions, like dignity or integrity or self-reliance. We don’t make them like that anymore, and clearly we wished we did. Happy Nyerere Day.’– East African (October 13-19, 2012).

Tanzania’s invisible web revolution
‘East African governments are in the grip of internet fever. They have built thousands of miles of fibre-optic cable and intend to connect even the most remote villages to super-fast broadband. So is the web really transforming lives?’ Extract continues: ‘… Tanzania borrowed $170m (£105m) from the Chinese government and raised a further $80m to build a vast fibre-optic cable network, stretching 7,500km (4,600 miles) in a ring around the country. It hopes to transform Tanzania into a tech powerhouse to rival its neighbour Kenya, which built a smaller network more quickly and is already regarded as the regional hub for technology.

But there are already worrying signs for the government. The people of Bagamoyo are concerned that the government is doing too little to promote its vision. Rehema Nzige, who teaches Information and Communications Technology (ICT) at Bagamoyo’s Institute of Arts and Culture, says she has heard little about the new broadband network… The lack of engagement is partly because the internet is intangible, and the work to build the new infra­structure has largely involved burying cables in remote areas away from the cities. It is a quiet, invisible revolution, but its effects are definitely beginning to be felt in Bagamoyo, where trade in cheap Chinese smart phones is booming, and internet cafes are starting to struggle. “People used to come to check their mail, Facebook and the like,” says Mahbub Nurdin Faqi, who runs the Sunrise web cafe. “But now everything is on the phones. People only really come to our cafe to print out an attachment or to send a document.”… The first undersea cable arrived only in 2009, so it is an impressive feat of engineering – carried out by Chinese firm Huawei – to have laid so much cable… “Communication is everywhere in Tanzania,” says Science Minister Makame Mbarawa. “All mobile phones around here have the internet. Villagers are using the internet and their phones to find out the price of things at the market before they even set out. Farmers are using the internet to plan better for what weather is coming.” Phones apps have been developed to help farmers, but it is hard to judge how successful they will be. Mr Mbarawa raises an important point about the internet in Tanzania. It is almost exclusively mobile, fixed lines connected to homes hardly exist… What the government really wants is to connect all schools, colleges and universities, and create scientific research centres and modern public libraries. It wants hospitals and health centres linked up, and wants to bring cheap, quick internet connections to everyone in Tanzania… A tall order for a country that still ranks among the world’s poorest… [S]o far the real revolution is largely limited to the cities…’ – BBC News Africa (online 2 October 2012) Thank you Tim Watkins-Idle for this article – Editor.

The world goes to Bagamoyo
A festival that began under a mango tree now draws international partici­pants to the newly-built multi-million shilling theatre at Bagamoyo. Extract: ‘Cultural groups from across Africa and Europe gathered at the Taasisi ya Sanaa na Utamaduni (Bagamoyo Institute of Arts and Culture, known as Tasuba) from September 24 to 29. Participants showcased traditional dance and music performances, acrobatics, exhibitions and workshops. The one-week event is the biggest arts festival in Africa… With cultural groups from Kenya, Malawi, France, Zambia, Sweden, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Denmark, Uganda, Norway, Ethiopia, South Africa and local traditional cultural groups, the festival drew large audiences. This year, Tasuba … chose the theme “Arts for Promoting Tourism.” The festival dates back to the early days of the Bagamoyo College of Arts, when it was established to display the works of the students and teachers at the institution.

Since the event started in 1982, the festival has grown to an annual one-week event … Due to the lack of sponsorship, the institute says it would like people from the community to take part in the festival and help create a heritage that includes African, Arab, Latino and European culture.’– East African (October 6-12, 2012).

Zanzibar refugees back
Extract: ‘Thirty-eight Zanzibaris who fled political violence in 2001 and spent a decade in Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya returned home . . .’ Special humanitarian flights were organised by the UN. ‘However, scores of relatives and friends who turned up at [Zanzibar Airport] were disappointed as tight security and protocols prevented them from meeting their loved ones immediately upon their arrival. . . More than 2,000 supporters of the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) fled Zanzibar at the height of post-election violence in 2001, with many seeking refuge in Kenya, where they lived in Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp.’ – Habari (Sweden-Tanzania Society, Nr 3 2012).

Tanzania completes population census
Extract: ‘The Tanzanian government has projected that the just concluded census will show a 33 per cent increase in population since the last count 10 years ago. An official at the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) told The East African that the country probably has 45 million people, compared with 34 million in 2002… Tanzania conducts a census every 10 years, but this has not been regular due to financial constraints. The country held its first national population census in 1967. There have been mixed reactions with some people refusing to be counted … Some people have already been taken to court for refusing to be counted… The seven-day census was conducted throughout the country, and President Jakaya Kikwete had urged people to stay at home and be counted.’ – East African (September 1-7, 2012).

British tourist, 61, stung to death by swarm of bees on holiday in Tanzania
Extract: ‘A British tourist holidaying in Africa has been stung to death by a swarm of bees. Mick Bryan, 61, and his 43-year-old wife Jacqueline were attacked at a campsite in Tanzania. The couple, from Ramsey in Cambridgeshire, were about to have lunch when the swarm descended and started to sting them. Mrs Bryan ran for help but her mechanic husband … collapsed and died later in hospital…’– Daily Mail (online 25 January 2012).

National parks and wildlife under threat from global climate change
The photograph accompanying this article shows hippos and flamingos scratching around in a wide dry area of Lake Manyara. Extract: ‘…The water depth of Lake Manyara, which makes up two-thirds of Manyara National Park, has shrunk by 200 times since 1920 due to persistent drought, threatening the survival of the park. Lake Manyara National Park attracts over 100,000 tourists per year, nearly 10 per cent of Tanzania’s annual tourists. Yustina Kiwango, Lake Manyara National Park Ecologist, said that initially the lake’s depth averaged six metres but lately the water’s depth has been at just 0.3 metres, a twentieth of its original depth… Allan Kijazi, director general of Tanzania National Parks, told The East African the authority is building dams and drilling boreholes in the national parks to provide additional water sources for the animals. Mr Kijazi said that the other national parks hard hit by global warming are Serengeti, Mkomazi, Mikumi and Saadani … Conservationists are worried about the survival of wild animals, saying if the situation continues, the country faces losing its wildlife, which will adversely affect tourism.’– East African (October 6-12, 2012).

Big Hitter: First Afghan Champ
Extract: ‘Afghan Hamid Rahimi celebrates after winning the first professional men’s boxing match ever in the country. Rahimi beat Tanzanian Said Mbelwa in Kabul for the WBO intercontinental middleweight belt.’– Times.

Walk This Way
The following is taken from an interview by Aboubakar Omar Famau, who speaks to retired diplomat Walter Bugoya, a confidante of former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere, about Tanzania’s ‘second independence’. Extract: During the period of the Arusha Declaration (1967), Walter Bugoya was a civil servant who was also involved in the party (TANU). Mr Bugoya described Nyerere’s mood on the day of the declaration: ‘… he was at his best. Of course he was a fantastic speaker… he also had a fantastic sense of humour and people were just mesmerised, because also these were the preoccupations of the people.’ Bugoya’s most vivid memory was of Nyerere’s speech at Mnazi Mmoja ground…’ it must have started at about 4pm, but we had all been gathered there for three hours before. Nyerere began as a typical teacher, explaining the background of the declaration – where we had come from, the developments that we had made and why this was now the declaration upon which we were going to build a society of equal people. After the declaration – I think the speech ended at 7pm – the banks were taken over, they were nationalised…..All the banks were surrounded by the military and for some of us who were very excited we thought: “Oh … there you are, this is fantastic, we are taking over.” … there were massive demonstrations across the country supporting the declaration. And it went on for, gosh, years – us discussing the declaration… this was the new independence… Before, independence was basically the end of colonial occupation.’ Asked if the state had enough money to invest on behalf of the people, Bugoya said, ‘The state could borrow from different sources… Don’t forget the world then was divided basically into two camps: socialist and capitalist… the socialist economy seemed to us more rational. That is why the Arusha Declaration was drafted. It was our blueprint for building a socialist society.’ When asked how important the Arusha Declaration was to the history of Tanzania, Bugoya said, ‘It was extremely important. It changed the mind-set of our people. Even today, so many years afterwards, attempts to kill the declaration amount to nothing.’ The retired diplomat thought it was a good question when he was asked if the declaration had done what it should have for the Tanzanian people: ‘There are some people in this society who think it did more harm than good. I don’t share that opinion at all. I think that the declaration was the basis of the society. Whether one was rich or poor, one felt free and did not fear leaders- and you even had a certain degree of gender equality.’ The final question was if the interviewee had ever heard Nyerere admit that the declaration did not work. Bugoya, who was a close associate of Nyerere and his one-time speech writer, replied: ‘No, no. If you look at the statement Nyerere made ten years later, he admitted that mistakes had taken place and he was aware of the shortcomings of socialism. But he did not agree that socialism had failed. In fact, I would argue that how could socialism have failed when it never actually happened in the first place?’ -BBC Focus On Africa (October-December 2012).

Peter Andre visits Zanzibar
Extract: ‘After a chance meeting between Peter Andre and the chairman of Health Improvement Project Zanzibar, the Mysterious Girl singer agreed to get behind the charitable cause. The two men have been visiting Zanzibar together so that Peter can see the project and the difference it makes to the 60,000 residents. Naturally, the tanned singer took along his TV crew to film his good work for his ITV2 show Peter Andre: My Life… The first image that he posted was of him sitting with four children outside an orphanage. He said: “Here I am in Zanzibar working with my friend Dr Ru. We WILL make a difference”. . He posted a picture of himself in a hospital and said: “One of the many malaria infected children I have met in Zanzibar … Emotional but incredibly reward­ing.” Whilst on the island Peter made time to stop at one of his idols homes as he stood outside the house that Freddie Mercury once lived in. The former Queen front man was born in Zanzibar and raised in that house until his family moved to India… He said: “Loving Zanzibar. Visiting a school in Makunduchi. One of best days ever today”. — Daily Mail (online 8 February 2012).

The self-destructing syringe

Marc Koska

Marc Koska


According to the World Health Organisation, 1.3 million people a year die because of the re-use of syringes. A British designer aims to change that and he has produced a video, distributed by the charity SafePoint, which highlights the campaign by the British inventor of the ‘auto-disable syringe. He writes in the British Guardian as follows:

Tanzania is to become the first coun­try in the world to move exclusively to using syringes that self-destruct. Marc Koska, the designer, went to the Tanzanian Minister of Health to show her a video of a nurse injecting a man who had HIV and syphilis with antibiotics – and then reusing the needle on a one-year-old baby… She was distraught and said: “What are we talking about here? What’s the solution? Let’s get on with it.” A meeting scheduled for 10 minutes went on for two hours.

Koska went to the ministry with figures and explained that the clearest evidence of danger is the gap between the numbers of injections and the numbers of imported needles. “Tanzania has 45 million people and they are importing 40m syringes. With an average of five injections each a year, they need 220m,” he said. “This is not about routine childhood immunisation, for which safe syringes such as Koska’s are provided along with the vaccines, usually by Unicef, the biggest procurer.” But “they forgot the other 90%”, he said. To put it in his own colourful terms, “no one gave a rat’s arse” about what happened to children after the immunisations. In developing countries, treatment is often by injection rather than pills. “The village quack has one syringe for 200 people,” he said. “I’ve seen him take it out of his hair, use it and then stick it back in the roof of the hut where the insects are. The healthy start to life that children are given is so easily undermined.” He went on: “There is a commercial conundrum at the heart of the problem. At 3p each, syringes are very cheap to make. They are manufactured by a small number of big companies which use them as a loss leader – they package the syringes together with blood bags or catheters and charge more. Although auto-disable syringes are now as cheap to make, it involves changing over the production process, which is expensive. Companies also sell fewer syringes in the long run – because people get well.” Koska has his own company, but his charity supports the use of any quality-assured brand of auto-disable syringe. Koska hopes to persuade families to demand safe injec­tions from needles carrying a LifeSaver kitemark. In Tanzania, health workers will ask people given such injections to send a free text to the health ministry. Health workers who get 500 text “votes” receive congratulations and a status-conveying badge. Koska tells of seeing parents asked to choose the needle to be used on their child from a tray of reused ones. If families understood the danger, they would insist on a new one. Twenty-seven years ago Koska was kicking his heels in the Caribbean after a privileged upbringing, looking for something interesting to do with his life. “I had first-class honours in beach bumming,” he said. “Then in May 1984, I read an article – in the Guardian as it happened – predicting that in the future syringes would be a major transmission route for HIV. Immediately I knew that was my calling.” It took years of studying the problem and learning about plastics, before he hit on his design, in which the plunger breaks as soon as it is pulled back for reuse. He has now sold 3 billion of them and recently he finally signed a contract with the world’s biggest syringe-maker to produce his auto-disable design. Thank you Julian Marcus for sending this item – Editor.

SPORT

by Philip Richards

Rugby and golf aim for Rio 2016
Despite returning home empty-handed from the 2012 London Olympics, Tanzania is reported to be preparing for two new sports at the 2016 Games (Citizen). The Rio games will introduce golf for the first time and re-introduce rugby union (last seen as an Olympic sport in 1924 in Paris). Golf is a fast growing sport in Tanzania, with 8 clubs affiliated to the Tanzania Golf Union across the country and the 2012 Tanzania Open taking place at the Arusha Gymkhana Club in early November. Rugby union already has affiliate status with the International Rugby Board, but it is understood that the “Twigas” will first need to achieve full membership to participate in the 2016 Olympics.

The continuing ups and downs of football
The national side Taifa Stars hosted Kenya in a friendly encounter in Mwanza in November. The game ended in a 1-0 victory for the hosts and will give coach Kim Poulsen some optimism for the next round of 2014 World Cup qualifying games in the new year. Unfortunately, the same month saw reports in the press that the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) had their bank account frozen and over Shs 157m deducted by the tax authorities for non-payment of taxes on the salaries of foreign coaches (Daily News).

Taifa Queens fight to maintain netball status
In September 2012, the national Tanzanian netball team (Taifa Queens) were ranked 19th in the world netball rankings, making them 4th in Africa (source: IFNA). Their status however has recently been jeopardised by a no-show at a South African tournament earlier in the year and the team is reported in the press to be struggling to fund the trip to the Six Nations tournament in Singapore (Guardian). The recently appointed coach, Mary Protas, hails from Malawi the country which is ranked number 1 for netball in Africa.

STOP PRESS – the Taifa Queens were able to attend and subsequently won the Six Nation tournament.

OBITUARIES

MARIUS DEMETRRIUS GHIKAS, Greek adventurer and coffee farmer, died in Moshi on June 10. He was buried at Korfovoun, the farm he owned for many years near Oldonyo Sambu. He attended the then Greek School in Moshi before going to Oxford for his higher education. His extraordinary life was described in Shelby Tucker’s book, ‘The last Banana’ published in 2011 and reviewed at the time in TA (highly recommended – Editor.). The book describes him as follows: ‘With his fierce hazel eyes and Yul Brunner dome that he boasted was his best feature, he belonged to an elite minority at Oxford who came from ‘the colonies’ and dressed better than most undergraduates… their English, manifesting the peculiar veneration they felt in ‘the colonies’ for the ‘home country,’ was more precise grammatically , cleaner and more poised that that spoken by most of their British contemporaries’. He ran the family coffee estate and the family financed the construction of the Moshi Hotel, the largest privately-owned hotel in East Africa at the time. Ghikas became quite rich. But all this wealth evaporated when foreign- owned properties in Tanzania were nationalised in the sixties and early seventies. Ghikas lost everything and became what is described in Swahili as fukara hohehohe (destitute beggar). Almost all the other 150 Greeks in Moshi left the country as did the many other Greeks who were prominent in the very successful sisal industry at the time. In his final years he led a penurious, hand to mouth existence. (Thank you Shelby Tucker for letting us know about this – Editor).

CAMPBELL WHALLEY, who was born in 1937 in Peru, became a Game Warden when Tanzania was Tanganyika. At the age of 22 he had been the first man to follow on foot the epic trek by John Hanning Speke which established to the outside world that Lake Victoria was the source of the White Nile. He later pointed out to the young Jane Goodall the use by chimpanzees of tools, an observation which she developed to win eventually a reputation as the world’s greatest expert on the primates. After working in the deepest gold mine in South Africa, Whalley joined a team of geologists employed by the Canadian millionaire Jack Williamson, who was challenging the De Beers monopoly in diamond mining. He later established the Mwadui Mine which still produces diamonds today. He gained such a reputation as a wildlife expert that he later escorted many celebrated visitors around Tanganyika’s game reserves, including Ernest Hemingway, John Wayne, James Stewart and Elsa Martinelli. He came to know George and Joy Adamson when they came to the Serengeti, amidst much publicity, to release into the wild the three orphaned cubs of Elsa the famous lioness. On arrival Joy had started to shoot game just before the young lions were released. Whalley pointed out to her that this was no way to teach the young lion cubs to fend for themselves and confiscated her gun. He was rewarded by her reference to him in her best selling book ‘Living Free’ as ‘an obnoxious game warden’ – From the Daily Telegraph via the ASAUK Newsletter.

IAN BUIST, who died on 27 October 2012, spent most of his career working for the economic and social development of the Third World, with a particular emphasis on East Africa. Born in 1930, he joined the East African Department of the Colonial Office in 1952 and remained in that department for nine years, with a two-year gap in 1954-6 when he was seconded to pre-independent Kenya. There he served as deputy secretary to the first multi-racial Cabinet, before being posted to Kitui as a district officer, where he acquired a life-long love of Africa. In 1961 he transferred to the newly-formed Department of Technical Cooperation and in 1962 was posted to Dar as First Secretary (Technical Cooperation) in the British High Commission. Tanganyika had become independent a few months previously and one of Buist’s tasks was to help organise the transition from the former British administrators to their African successors. He was in Dar during the army mutiny and recalled the critical moment when the then Prime Minister, Rashidi Kawawa, delivered a hand-written note to the High Commission requesting British military intervention.

Buist was involved in the talks with Kenya and Uganda about the future of the East African Common Services Authority and in 1964 was posted to Nairobi again, to help negotiate the treaty which established the East African Community in 1967. He returned to London in 1969 and was Under Secretary at the Overseas Development Administration (now the Department for International Development) from 1976 until his retirement in 1990, when he was awarded a CB (instead of the more usual CMG or CBE). (Thank you to John Sankey for this – Editor).

ANTON TURNER (38) a former Army Captain, died instantly when he was charged by a bull elephant as he led an expedition in Tanzania three years ago. On November 9 2012 his father collected his Queens Gallantry Medal at Buckingham Palace from the Queen. It had been awarded in recognition of his heroism in saving the lives of a film crew which included three children. His father recounted how his son had refused to move out of the elephant’s path. He shouted to try to drive it away but the elephant did not give up. Because Turner stood there, it gave the others the opportunity to get away and hide or take cover. He had been working for the CBBC series ‘Serious Explorers’ in which was recreating Dr David Livingstone’s journey across Africa – London Evening Standard.