Category Archives: Issue 96

WOMEN ACHIEVE

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Dr Anna Tibaijuka, Under Secretary General of the UN and Executive Director of UN Habitat, has been given the ‘Goteborg Award for Sustainable Development’ which is widely considered equivalent to the Nobel Prize for the environment. It is awarded by the City of Goteborg in Sweden. In accepting the award, which comes with a cash prize of $147,000, she spoke in Swedish and said that the money would be channnelled to the UN Habitat’s support for young people living in slums. This provoked mirth among the Tanzanian government delegation, who vehemently shook their heads in mock disappointment. “How dare she? We cannot come all the way to this cold country and not be rewarded even with a cup of tea” one of them joked loudly.

In Stockholm she launched her book ‘Building Prosperity: and Economic Development’.

And, in Tanzania, US Ambassador Alfonso Lenhardt has presented the 2010 ‘Tanzanian Woman of Courage Award’ to Ananilea Nkya, Executive Director of the Tanzania Media Women’s Association (TAMWA) for her efforts to promote equality, opportunity and justice for Tanzanian women and girls. The Ambassador stressed that education will enhance women’s participation in the country’s economic activities and free them from early marriages, pregnancy and HIV/Aids. “For a bird to fly straight and high, both wings must be equally strong and developed. Both men and women must fully possess social and political rights and have equal opportunity to go for higher education”, he said. He said Nkya was given the award due to her efforts in using the mass media to raise awareness, speak out on gender-based violence, train women journalists and help repeal laws that limit women’s rights. He said that Nkya had designed a media campaign against a Zanzibar law which made pregnancy out of wedlock a crime and managed to spearhead amendments to the Marriage Act which currently allows girls younger than 18 to be married. He said that Nkya trained women politicians in 2005 aiming to increase their numbers in politics. As a result there were 1, 500 women candidates compared to 200 in previous elections. He said that through TAMWA, the government passed the ‘Sexual Offences Special Provision Act of 1998’ which criminalized FGM and increased the punishment of rapists to 30 years in jail.

Nkya is the third recipient of the Tanzania Woman of Courage Award since the US Embassy initiated it. The other recipients are Helen Kijo-Bisimba, Executive Director of the ‘Legal and Human Rights Centre’ in 2008 and Anne Malecela, MP for Same East in 2009 – Guardian.

KILIMO KWANZA – INITIAL STEPS

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The first steps have been taken in President Kikwete’s ‘Kilimo Kwanza’ (Agriculture First) policy designed to inject fresh vigour into the agricultural industry.

Repossession of idle land
The government has initiated a countrywide move to revoke title deeds of idle land neglected by proprietors for more than twenty years. Some 115 plots totalling 177,000 hectares in Morogoro Region alone are to be repossessed.

According to the Daily News, 115 plots totalling 177,000 hectares have been identified in Morogoro Region alone and will soon be repossessed by the government. Funds are being allocated to facilitate surveys of other identified idle land ready for development in Manyara and Tanga Regions.

More engineers to be trained

Prime Minister Pinda test drives a tractor


The government has given the Arusha Technical College the job of training irrigation, agro mechanical and civil engineers to support the ‘Agriculture First’ drive.

Prime Minister, Mizengo Pinda said shortage of qualified irrigation engineers is holding back government efforts to boost agriculture. “We are facing a significant shortage of irrigation and related field engineers to serve in agriculture and irrigation schemes,” Pinda said.

The Guardian reported that the population of approaching 40 million people, 80 per cent of them farmers, was facing a shortage of over 250 irrigation engineers and 1,300 technicians in the irrigation field. Tanzania, with more than 44 million hectares of agricultural land, three of the largest 10 lakes in the world and a large network of rivers, uses less than one per cent of its arable land for Irrigation.

High quality cassava flour
Furthering the objectives of Kilimo Kwanza, a $4.5 million project funded by the Common Fund for Commodities, which will be implemented by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, is being launched. The aim is to raise the profile of cassava, in the form of high quality cassava flour, so as to make the crop a profitable and stainable source of income – The East African

TANZANIA IN THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

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Compiled by Donovan Mc Grath

An East African Federation: Big ambitions, big question-marks – The Economist 05.09.09
‘The idea of a United States of East Africa is less far-fetched than it was.’
Extract: ‘In 1967 [Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya] founded the East African Community (EAC) with a view to federation. Little progress was made; the EAC collapsed in 1977 … In 1999, however, the project was revived.’
‘Tanzania has usually been the one to put the brakes on the EAC, fearing it will be overrun with land speculators and better-educated Kenyans and Ugandans. But Tanzania’s president, Jakaya Kikwete, now says his people should stop moaning and prepare for a common market…’ Thank you Jill Bowden for this item – Editor.

Another kind of World Cup to kick off on the Serengeti – The East African (22-28 Feb 10)
‘A coincidence of football matches in South Africa and another kind of matches on the Serengeti plains is set to boost Tanzania’s tourism revenue from this year. The Tanzania Tourist Board acting managing director Amant Macha said the wildebeest bulls would be fighting for the most beautiful females in the Serengeti plains between May and June this year.
Mr Macha said that when football teams and fans from all over the world start to arrive in South Africa in June for the world cup battles, the stage will have also been set for animal fights beyond sex in the Serengeti National Park.’

BAE admits guilt over corrupt deals – The Guardian Weekly 12.02.10
Following 20 years of denial, BAE has agreed to pay penalties of almost $470m after the military company pleaded guilty to charges of false accounting and making misleading statements.
Extract: ‘… The Serious Fraud Office said … that some of the $47m penalty BAE was to hand over to the UK would be “an ex gratia payment for the benefit of the people of Tanzania”… BAE will not face international blacklisting from contracts, because it admitted false accounting, not bribery.’ Despite BAE’s guilty plea, there is the worry that no individual will be brought to account. Vince Cable, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “… The British government was up to its neck in this whole business. Government ministers were almost certainly fully aware of what was happening.” Thank you Sister Lucia for this item – Editor.

Barrick Gold to spin off African business – Daily Telegraph Overseas Edition 24.02.10
The initial public offerings (IPOs) market has apparently come to a standstill in the current economic climate. However, a shot in the arm could come from the world’s largest gold miner, the Canadian-listed Barrick Gold. Gary White writes: The mining company ‘plans to list its Tanzanian assets as African Barrick Gold (ABG) on the London Stock Exchange. The new company will contain between 8pc to 10pc of Barrick assets, valuing the business at about $3.7bn (£2.4bn) [… making] it one of the biggest gold producers listed in London, and a potential new entrant in the FTSE 100.’
‘ABG also intends to seek a future listing on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange in Tanzania. Parent Barrick Gold made a recommended offer for Australian-listed Tusker Gold, which also operates in Tanzania… Proceeds from the IPO will go to the parent company, which plans to use them to fund development projects. Thank you John Sankey for this item – Editor.

Ground Work – African Decisions (Issue 1, Jan 10)
Here, Sean Christie’s article examines some of the obstacles regarding investment in the mining industry. The author begins his piece by posing the question: ‘How easy is it to invest in African mining? The Canada-based Fraser Institute’s Annual Survey of Mining Companies serves as ‘the most trusted source’ in order to arrive at a good understanding of Africa’s investment appeal.
Approximately 3,000 companies involved in exploration, development and other mining activities contribute to the yearly survey. The focus is on how public policy (i.e. regulation and taxation), political and security issues affect investment in exploration.
Of the 71 jurisdictions surveyed this year, 10 are African… [However,] the survey cannot … examine in any detail the causality behind the statistics.
Tanzania is among the four African countries chosen for Christie’s commentary due to its ability to ‘illustrate trends that have broad applicability as regards investment appeal throughout Africa.’
‘If you compare Tanzania’s eighth place in terms of pure mineral potential with a 48th place for its policy, it is obvious that, as with South Africa, investors have a serious problems with Tanzanian mining policy.
The major source of discontent has been a raft of proposed changes to the way in which mining companies are taxed. The history of tax regulation is echoed all through the region – in Zambia, DRC, and as far away as Sierra Leone…
‘In Tanzania, the World Bank’s interventions legalised the repatriation of profits and led to the passing of laws that reduced tax rates and custom duties on certain imports – laws that still applied (to the fury of Tanzanian civil society groups) during the millennial commodities boom…’

Costs now the main issue in ivory debate – The East African (22-28 Feb 10)
‘The hard choice: Does it make sense for the country to continue spending $75,000 annually to secure its stockpile?’ This is the dilemma faced by the Tanzanian government over its stockpile of over 12,000 tusks.
Extract: ‘Tanzania’s stockpile of 12,131 tusks – weighing 89,848.74 kilogrammes is estimated to be worth $12 million in the Asian markets … ‘Protecting the stockpile has raised the cost to $1.5 million over the last 21 years since trade in ivory was banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites).
‘Tanzania and Zambia have asked for a one-off permission to sell their stockpiles in the international markets. However, if Kenya and other East African Community countries opposed to the application succeed in blocking the request, President Kikwete’s government fears it will not only be stuck with the possibility of protecting the ivory, but besides, the country will have to spend an additional $2 million to build two strong rooms to store it.’
Conservationists are worried that allowing limited sales on occasions could create a market demand for ivory, enough to trigger a new wave of poaching. The effects on tourism in the region is another concern (see a related EA article in this section of TA).

Makutano: A meeting point for artists – The East African (7-13 Dec 09)
In a review of ‘…Makutano, meaning “meeting point” in Kiswahili, an annual event bringing Tanzanian artists and artisans the paper wrote: “This year’s fair was held at the Diamond Jubilee Hall in Dar es Salaam …2009’s participants included: ‘Wonder Welders’ … whacky recycled art creations … made by people with disabilities; Made in Zanzibar’ … a group of artists … promoting local, fair trade Zanzibar-made crafts, clothes and accessories’, amongst others.

Military air traffic control – for a country with no air force – The Guardian Weekly 12.02.10
Extract: ‘… The World Bank and the International Civil Aviation Organisation judged that Tanzania’s purchase was unnecessary and overpriced. ‘But the $44m deal looked even worse when the UK’s Serious Fraud Office found that a third of the contract’s price had been diverted into secret offshore bank accounts. Claire] Short, Britain’s Minister of International Development at the time, who later resigned from the government, said …: “Every way you look at it, it the deal was outrageous and disgraceful … Tanzania didn’t need a new military air traffic control, it was out-of-date technology, they didn’t have any military aircraft – they needed a civilian air traffic control system and there was a modern, much cheaper one. Everyone talks about good governance in Africa as though it was an African problem, and often the roots of the ‘badness’ is companies in Europe”.’ Thank you Sister Lucia for this item – Editor.

New tourism law puts Tanzania on the spot over one-off ivory sale – The East African (22-28.02.10)
Extract: ‘The East African parliament has passed a new law that opens space for the region to debate freely whether Tanzania should go ahead with the controversial sale of its ivory stockpile.
‘The EAC Tourism and Wildlife Management Bill was passed into law at a session of the East African Legislative Assembly held in Kampala, Uganda from February 8-19. It awaits assent by the Heads of State of the five partner states.
‘The legislation will establish a Commission … who will be responsible for the overall supervision, coordination and management of the tourism and wildlife industries in the region.
‘Kenya and Rwanda accuse Tanzania of betraying the East African Community’s spirit of consultation by pushing for a one-off sale of its 90 tonnes of ivory …
‘Top of the Commission’s agenda is to review Tanzania’s reluctance to call off the sale. “The Commission will advise us on whether the sale of ivory is beneficial to the region and designate hunting areas as well,” said Kenya’s representative to the EALA..

Oops … Auntie’s bloomers are laid bare by revealing expense claims – The Times 13.11.09
‘When the DJ Chris Moyles decided that he wanted to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief, Andy Parfitt, Radio 1’s controller, was only too eager to help…’
Extract continues: ‘However, needing warm mountain clothing for the trip, the Radio 1 boss chose to bill the licence-fee payer for the cost. ‘His expenses bills … reveal two claims – £346.85 for Kilimanjaro “essentials” and a further £194.98 for “specialist clothing”. These were necessary, the BBC said, because of “the conditions Andy would be facing”.’ Thank you John Sankey for this item – Editor.

How solar power shines a light into the heart of darkest Africa – The Times 27.11.90
This article, which forms part of the newspaper’s Christmas Charity Appeal, comments on how solar power is transforming lives in Tanzania.
Extract: ‘… A hidden tragedy … unfolding across Africa every day. A tragedy that is claiming more lives each year than unclean water. It is, in fact, the greatest killer of all … Respiratory diseases caused by toxic smoke kills 1.5 million women and children every year… The reason is simple: with less than 2% of the rural population of Africa having access to electricity, numerous millions breathe in poisonous fumes every day. … Solar power is a solution to Africa’s energy problems … Tanzania … benefits from some of the highest levels of sun exposure in the world, making solar ideal as a main source of electricity. It is also green and durable… To buy kerosene and single-use batteries costs a small fortune for villagers living on the edge of subsistence. The power of the sun, on the other hand, is free [apart from the panel and kit, which, in some cases, can pay for itself in a matter of weeks].’ Solar Aid is the UK-based charity behind solar power in Africa.

Tanzania Special New African style
January 2010’s edition of the New African magazine ran a ‘Tanzania Special’ issuing a splendid image of the country. The following is an extract from three of the articles:
We begin with ‘Welcome to Tanzania’:the writer Alan Barnard, states: ‘They say there are seven wonders in the world but there are more in Tanzania…’ The article continues: ‘As a tourist destination, mainland Tanzania can be considered the world’s largest natural game park… a green jewel shining in a sea of blue.’ Throughout the article, readers are treated to a geographical and historical tour around the country starting with Mbeya in the south and Arusha in the north. Other areas include Lake Tanganyika, the Rift Valley, Lake Victoria, Mwanza, the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanga (the original capital) and Dodoma (present day political capital). The article ends by saying: ‘There is no place like Tanzania. It represents something we all look for on this war-torn planet: One country. One continent. One world. Welcome to that world. Welcome to Tanzania. Karibu sana.’
The next part of the special looks at Tanzania as ‘The Land of Opportunity’, also written by Alan Barnard. According to this report, ‘The government’s Vision 2020 programme, meant to move Tanzania into middle-income status by 2020, is on course; but the real success will depend on how much the economy attracts investors, and sustains growth.’
Extract continues: ‘Tanzania has always been the home of idealism … There is still a loyalty to the socialist roots that inspired the nation … under the late President Julius Nyerere … Agriculture remains the key to Tanzania’s independence … the country’s chief asset is the land itself …Tourism is … an important source of revenue … but the absence of a homegrown industry is a cause for concern.’
The report continues by saying: ‘… The opportunity for growth is mind-boggling. Tanzania is often described as a sleeping giant … one that welcomes investors and makes it easy for them to do whatever they want to do… Here, China has taken the lead. By investing directly in Tanzanian infrastructure, China has already begun to change the landscape. The new football stadium in Dar es Salaam aptly crowns a significant partnership between China and Tanzania …’And investor’s number one champion is the president himself, Jakaya Kikwete.’
‘Sending Money Made Simple’ is the third in NA’s Tanzania Special. According to this report, ‘Vodacom Tanzania has revolutionised money transfers in the country, thanks to an innovative service called M-PESA that enables money to be sent via mobile phones.’…. ‘Prior to the introduction of Vodafone M-PESA, money transfer services in Tanzania were mainly offered through personal contact, courier services and financial institutions…’Now businessmen are able to make payments quicker as well as anywhere, day or night… With M-Pesa, one can spend, send and receive, according to Dietlof Mare, the Vodacom Tanzania managing director. “With an M-Pesa account, one can transfer money to anyone with a mobile phone number. Apart from that, people are also able to pay their utility bills, cable television subscriptions, repay loans, pay tuition fees … [I]t is difficult to build banks in every village but with M-PESA we have been able to penetrate regions not reachable by many”.’

‘Tourism is a curse to us’ – The Observer Magazine 06.09.09
‘The Masai have been herding cattle across the great plains of Tanzania for generations, their nomadic lifestyle helping to preserve the wildlife of East Africa. Now, they are being forcibly evicted so that tour operators can turn their homelands into vast “nature refuges” for wealthy holiday makers’, writes Alex Renton.
Extract: “Arabiya”, as it is called by the locals, is ‘a safari camp complete with mansion, a runway capable of taking large jets, a fleet of off-road vehicles and a branch of the UAE phone network. This is the field headquarters of Ortelo Business Corporation (OBC) … set up in 1993 by a UAE defence minister close to the Dubai royal family…This sweep of low hills and savannah is just one of many tracts of land that the dollar-hungry Tanzanian government has pawned to foreign investors…In Tanzania, the process of removing pastoralists from the plains started in 1959, when the British colonial government made the great grass sea of the Serengeti – in Masai the name means endless plain – a human-free wildlife reserve…’Then in 1961, a Tanzanian government took over. More national parks were created, and evictions followed. In 1973 the government of Julius Nyerere went back on the deal the Masai had done with the British, and excluded them from the crater of Ngorongoro…’ Thank you Roy Galbraith for this item – Editor.

East Africa’s first astronaut – New African (March 2010)
‘Ashish Thakkar, an East African-born businessman, cannot wait to board SpaceShipTwo, the Virgin Galactic vessel that will soon be transporting him and other tourists into space on the world’s first commercial passenger spaceship …’

Extract continues: ‘He has lived in Uganda most of his life. His father and grandmother were born in Uganda, his mother was born in Mwanza, Tanzania, but the family lived in Kenya where Thakkar partly went to school. The family also lived in Rwanda and went through the genocide and were refugees for a few weeks.

‘… As a representative of three East African countries – Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania – he will engage in a round of meetings with the presidents of the three countries before the flight. He met President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania on 16 October 2009, and is due to meet Presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Moi Kibaki of Kenya.’

Hunted down: Maasai evicted so foreigners might play – New Internationalist (No 428, Dec 09)
This current issue features widely in international media (see ‘Tourism is a curse’ in this edition of TA, ‘Maasai evicted and imprisoned to make way for safari hunting concession’ in TA (No 95) – Editor.
Extract: ‘In July [2009] the Tanzanian Field Police violently and unlawfully evicted 25,150 people from eight villages in Ngorongoro District that are traditionally used for dry-season grazing by pastoralists. Homesteads were burned, women raped, people were beaten, shot at and imprisoned…
‘The eviction was carried out in order to clear the area for hunting in the Loliondo Game Controlled Area, which borders the Serengeti National Park and is famous for its wildlife breeding grounds. The area is controlled by a company from the United Arab Emirates called the Ortello Business Corporation (OBC).
‘The villagers have responded by demanding their rights. Fifty women marched on Dar es Salaam … but President Jakaya Kikwete refused to see them…
‘This is not the only land dispute that Manyara’s village is contesting. A US company, Thomson Safari [i.e. Thomson Family Adventures], bought 4,000 hectares of prime land under disputed circumstances in 2006, denying the Maasai grazing and water rights on land they have been dependent upon for decades…
‘A new Wildlife Act, which is waiting to be signed by the President, states that Game Controlled Areas cannot be situated where there are villages. In other words, villages must be removed from the area before the Act comes operational…’ Thank you Jerry Jones and Sister Lucia CSP for this item – Editor.

Katrina Manson in Dar es Salaam – Spectator 19.12.09
In the City Life section of the Spectator magazine is a critique of Tanzania’s market economics.
Extract: ‘Two … ferries … On one, a tradesman clutches a bag of tomatoes, heading south to the villages along the coast. On the other, a tradesman clutches a bag of tomatoes, heading north to the throng of the town…
‘It might be a haven of peace – the translation of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s commercial capital – but the duplication and needless extra expense is thanks to the strange social reality that no one wants to buy from their neighbour. “There’s no trust in this country,” a senior diplomat tells [the author] over lunch. “And trust is how business gets done.”
‘… [S]ince liberalisation, Tanzania seems to have plumped for hair of the dog in its effort to mop up its socialist hangover. The private sector operator of the container port, for example, is performing so badly that the port authority is stepping in … The country is slipping down the scale of “good place” indices, both for corruption and the difficulty in doing business. Businessmen, miners and diplomats tell me foreign investment is a synonym for stealing, and foreigners are seen as parasites …
‘It’s true that foreigners have done little to ingratiate themselves here … Currency traders moan that they are waiting for this week’s fresh supply of NGO dollars to pump up the shilling. And the donors – cosy in their modern idyll in the north of the city, home to bars named George and Dragon and O’Willies Irish Whiskey Tavern, and the waiting list for the yacht club – make such dependence all too easy.’

Massive strides towards education and poverty reduction – The Global Edition of the New York Times 11.02.10
‘The Tanzanian government’s Mkukuta development strategy is increasing household incomes, educating young people and protecting the health of all citizens.’
Extract: ‘After reaching several United Nations Millennium Development Goals and completing an enhanced Highly Indebted Poor Country’s Initiative (HIPCI) ahead of schedule, Tanzania has cleared the path for the next phase of its Mkukuta Strategy…
‘Education [is] a priority in Tanzania since independence … but a shortage of teachers and staff remains a stumbling block. The government says this is an area in which Tanzania still requires foreign assistance…
‘With regards to human rights, Tanzania has attracted international censure for the terrible treatment and killing of its albinos … [Prime Minister] Pinda blames rural witch doctors for encouraging the murder of albinos and perpetuating the myth that certain body parts confer luck and healing powers…
‘President Kikwete [has] charged the MP Al-Shymaa Kway-Geer, a former airline clerk with albinism, with improving the lot of Tanzania’s albinos. Prime Minister Pinda has adopted three albino children…
“The government is doing everything possible to eradicate the killing of albino citizens, ” says Pinda. “We have to come up with solutions. Education is one of them …”‘

Wealth of regional talent on display at Sauti za Busara – The East African (8-14 Feb 10)
Extract: ‘The seventh edition of Sauti za Busara international music festival … held in Zanzibar from February 11-14 …
‘The fete, which touts itself as the world’s most friendly festival, will feature 40 performers from the region and beyond.
‘… The festival will definitely be a baptism of fire for [Juliana] Kanyomozi [Uganda] – the only female artiste to have won Artiste of the Year (2008) from the now defunct Pam Awards – since organisers require that artistes perform live and the challenge for her will be to make the transition from singing layback to live.
‘… She has gone on to enjoy cross-border appeal by adding Kiswahili songs to her repertoire. The songs Usiende Mbali featuring Tanzanian youthful crooner Bushoke and her recent collaboration with Burundian Afro pop musician Kidum on Haturudi Nyuma – which is enjoying massive radio airplay on regional FM radio stations – have enhanced her regional cross-border appeal.
‘Scheduled to perform at midnight on February 12 is Kiswahili singer Nyota Ndogo. Celebrated both locally and internationally …’

Savings Drive – The East African (22-31 Jan 10)
Extract: ‘Tanzania will shift to locally produced natural gas to run state-owned vehicles instead of petrol and diesel.
‘The move, which is likely to face stiff opposition from oil importers will save the government more than $15.3 million every year used to fuel over 8,000 vehicles.
‘The Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation has prepared a master plan for the effective implementation of the project.
‘The master plan will make it mandatory for government motor vehicles to be configured so they can use natural gas.
‘Yona Killaghane, managing director of TPDC, told The East African that 30,000 households in Dar es Salaam will also benefit from the natural gas project…
‘According to TPDC, the country saved $3.7 billion between July 204 and October last year through the use of natural gas.
‘The principle research officer at TPDC, Joyce Kisamo, said the benefits of using natural gas are immense. “Even the environment and forests are targeted in the master plan, as less carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide will be released into the atmosphere”…’

Tanzania has a plan – The Global Edition of the New York Times 11.02.10
Extract: ‘Tanzania is … a thriving, democratic, stable country with a long-term vision for development.
‘Tanzania’s economy boasts 7% growth over the past three years and an average of 5% over the past decade. Both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank predicted that it would grow an additional 4.7% in 2009 despite the global recession, compared to sub-Saharan Africa’s predicted average of 1.9%…
‘In addition to completing the IMF and World Bank’s Dept Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) ahead of schedule, Tanzania has embarked on ambitious projects. The Mkukuta Project aims to establish Tanzania as a middle-income nation by 2025. The Mini Tiger Plan 2020 aims to improve economic indicators, such as exports, by at least 25% by 2020.
‘Tanzania has met several of the UN’s Millennium Development Goal targets and consistently ranks in its list of “Top Ten Investment Destinations in Africa”. It topped all African nations in attracting €275 million ($393 million) in 2008.’

MISCELLANY

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FISH – LUCRATIVE DEAL
Minister for Livestock and Fisheries Dr. John Magufuli has stated that, after he had landed a lucrative deal for investment in the fishing industry, Tanzania’s deep sea is no longer a free harvest zone. The agreement with Japan’s Tuna Co-operatives Association (JTCA)is expected to earn the country over Shs 200 billion in licence fees and tax revenues annually. The contract provides for 30 fishing vessels from Japan to harvest tuna from the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone – Tanzania Daima.

“THEY PREFER TANZANIA”
The Guardian reports an announcement by the Immigration Department that of the 1,528 illegal migrants caught in 2009, 985 had appeared in court and had been repatriated between January and October 2009. A spokesman said that they preferred living in Tanzania rather than in other much less stable countries where life was unbearable. The majority of the immigrants who were caught came from Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Burundi, Rwanda and Kenya. These were classified in different groups, depending on the seriousness of their offence as some were discovered to have genuine cases but failed to follow laid down regulations. Of the 106 who came from Somalia, 75 appeared in court and were returned home while the rest were advised to follow legal procedures to acquire citizenship. Of the 486 from Ethiopia, 351 were repatriated and from the DRC 532 out of 578 were sent home.

FOOTBALL NEWS

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President Kikwete hails Cote d`Ivoire

The Ivory Coast football team was in Tanzania at the beginning of the year playing against ‘Taifa Stars’. Football fan President Kikwete presented the team’s skipper Didier Drogba with a Taifa Stars coloured jersey bearing his name and expressed his sincere appreciation to the team for honouring the invitation to tour Tanzania and play two friendly internationals against the Stars and Rwanda.

The President, who hosted a luncheon for the three teams and the host side, said that the presence of the West African side in Dar es Salaam had given the Stars a level of international coverage they had probably never received before. He said the Cote d’Ivoire’s skipper Didier Drogba’s trademark glancing header that separated the two teams during the match was followed by huge publicity across the soccer fraternity worldwide. “Thank you very much for the tour; you have played a big role in elevating the standard of our own team” he said. Despite the slim win by the visitors, the host side had gained massive applause from the fans not only in Tanzania but also across the globe – Guardian .

President Kikwete holds the World Cup as it passes through Tanzania in late 2009



And a victory of sorts
Then on March 27, Taifa Stars won an international match in the lead up to next years African Nations Championship (CHAN) to be held in Sudan. They won by a score of 6 -0 to qualify for the next stage which will see them play against Rwanda. But in this football match the unhappy opposing team was from war-torn Somalia, who had already forfeited the return match being unable to host a second stage competition match because of the state of affairs at home.

Tanzania in the final

Beach football in Durban Credit: Wilf Whitty/Amost Trust


At the end of March the final of a ‘Deloitte Street Child Football World Cup’ was held at the Durban University of Technology in South Africa. Among the many sponsors were David Beckham, Gary Lineker and Theo Walcott (who supported Ukraine). The Tanzanian team in this seven-a-side competition did very well. It reached the final against India and was defeated by only one goal.
Thank you Peter Park for alerting us to this story – Editor.

OBITUARIES

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Veteran politician and national leader RASHIDI MFAUME KAWAWA – Simba wa Vita (83) died on December 31 at the Muhimbili National Hospital.

Rashidi Mfaume Kawawa (photo Issah Michuzi)


Announcing the news President Kikwete said the nation had lost a great son who sacrificed a lot for the liberation and development of his country. He declared seven days of mourning in honour of the man who had served as Minister of Defence, Prime Minister, Second Vice-President, and Secretary General of the CCM.

Mzee Kawawa, who was preparing to travel abroad, had reported to hospital for a malaria test. The results indicated that he did not have malaria but, on his way home he suddenly felt ill. At the hospital doctors found that his blood sugar was approaching zero and his two kidneys had completely failed. Then came cardiac arrest.

Mzee Kawawa was born near Songea as the son of an elephant hunter and his first job was as a Public Works Department accounts clerk. In 1951 he realised a long-standing dream by becoming a social worker and he joined a mobile film unit engaged in government literacy programmes. When it was decided to use the unit for educational filming, he was chosen as the only Tanzanian leading actor. Then he became a star in two more films, which added greatly to his popularity.

Then, in 1953, he was given a much more stressful job. He later described his time in central Tanganyika, working among Kikuyu detainees held during the Kenyan Mau Mau movement, as “the greatest challenge of my life.”

The Tanganyika independence movement was then underway. When his civil service employment prevented him from full participation in the struggle his decision to use the unions to further independence led to his resignation in February 1956 to devote his time to the organisation of the labour movement. Kawawa became President of the Tanganyika African Government Services Association and, after that, helped found the Tanganyika Federation of Labour (TFL) and was elected its first General Secretary in 1955.

In September 1960, following his first appointment to cabinet rank, he resigned from the TFL to concentrate on politics. When Mwalimu Nyerere resigned from the post of Prime Minister of the independent Tanganyika for a brief period in 1962, Kawawa replaced him until his return to office.

After 1964 Kawawa held the office of Second Vice President of Tanzania, serving as Nyerere’s principal assistant for mainland affairs, and as leader of the National Assembly.

He played a very important role during the villagisation programme of the 1970s which became one of the most difficult undertakings the government had undertaken. As the principal assistant to Mwalimu Nyerere, he ensured that the task was accomplished although it is much criticised today.
He was strict and did not tolerate civil servants who did not do their job.

Many Tanzanians believed that Kawawa would succeed Nyerere after the latter relinquished the Tanzanian presidency in 1985 but, his unwavering commitment to a state-controlled economy caused him to lose popular support to the more pragmatic Ali Hassan Mwinyi, who eventually became President.

In recent years Mzee Kawawa continued to play a significant role in Tanzanian politics and was unwavering in his support of Mwalimu Nyerere. One example was seen in 1995 when he strongly supported Nyerere’s wish that his protégé, Benjamin Mkapa, should be nominated as the CCM presidential candidate in spite of strong opposition within the party.

Thank you Bobby MacIvor, former wife of Derek Bryceson, who was Minister of Agriculture under Nyerere in the 1970’s, for sending us this personal tribute – Editor:

‘It needs only a short search in my mind to bring back a picture of Rashidi, memories come again to me, clearly and vividly. I can see a short, fairly stout and broadly smiling man, often laughing out loud. This was at the time of the lead up to Independence for Tanganyika. I knew then that I had met a man with an enormous amount of energy and enterprise and enthusiasm.

My random memories of Rashidi then, are not to quote histories written of all that had happened on special dates, but to try to show my own picture of him and the many sides to him. There was the ebullient Rashidi, the inspired, inventive Rashidi and the ambitiously determined Rashidi. He planned and implemented many of his ideas. Ideas to help his country make progress.

With Julius Nyerere as President, Rashidi must have found someone who had, I believe, chosen him to make a good balance in the leadership. Leadership for the Christian and Moslem peoples of a large country.
When I lived in a house at Msasani Bay, next door to Julius and Maria and their family, my husband, Derek Bryceson and our son and daughter would often meet them on the beach. The wide expanse of the wonderful Indian Ocean, made for us all, a tranquil and beautiful place to be. Julius sometimes called us to come and sit with him on his verandah if he was alone. He would tell us about his thoughts and ambitions and how Rashidi particularly was an extremely valuable and important person to him. A person who could help share the great and heavy responsibilities they had to carry with others in government and outside it.

I left Tanzania with great sadness after a divorce from Derek in 1974. I left behind so much, but took with me not only some personal possessions, but many treasured memories. One of the sharpest of those was of Rashidi.
After more than forty years and in a very different life in England, I sometimes think to myself of Rashidi. Rashidi in another form. As a Tanzanite, sparkling, strong, firm as a rock with a value which has no doubt.’


MICHAELA VON FREYHOLD, who died in January in Bremen, was a sociologist and anthropologist who came to Tanzania in 1968 and taught in the Sociology Department at the University of Dar es Salaam and later at the Institute for Finance Management. Her book Ujamaa Villages in Tanzania: Analysis of a Social Experiment (Heinemann, 1979) is by far the best study of the early years of ujamaa, based as it is on thorough fieldwork and observation in four villages in Tanga Region, but also placing what happened in the historical and political economy framework which she developed in her lectures, and showing how young government staff sent to do the government’s bidding, which they were not particularly comfortable with, in villages which they little knew or understood, were placed in an impossible position. The case studies show that there were many villagers who were prepared to give ujamaa farming a trial, but that they were repeatedly frustrated by unsympathetic action from government officials or forms of aid that they had not asked for and which for them were not priorities.

Michaela also wrote, less successfully, about the new breed of managers that took over factories and parastatals from 1967 onwards (her sympathies almost entirely with the workers), and on women with young children in rural areas. On leaving Tanzania she became Professor for the Analysis of Third World Development at the University of Bremen – . Thank you Andrew Coulson for this – Editor

REVIEWS

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Edited by John Cooper-Poole (UK) and Marion Doro (USA)

THE KARIMJEE JIVANJEE FAMILY : MERCHANT PRINCES OF EAST AFRICA 1800-2000. Gijsbert Oonk, Pallas Publications, Amsterdam University Press 2009. ISBN 978 90 8555 0273. Distributed in the UK by Africa Book Centre Ltd, Brighton [e-mail orders : orders@africabookcentre.com] £45

In many ways the modern economy of Tanzania was built by the Asian immigrants who arrived from the west coast of India over a period of four hundred years, albeit with a huge influx from the late 19th century. There are only a very limited number of accounts of this story, and even fewer which focus on the history of one successful extended family. Dr GijsbertGristant Oonk of Erasmus the University, of Rotterdam has told the story of the Karimjee Jivanjee family of Zanzibar and Tanzania , in an intriguing book (which a fascinating array of photographs from the mid nineteenth century onwards) published by Amsterdamhis University Press. .Oonk is a broader historian of Indian migration to Africa and so is able to place this remarkable saga in context.

Buddhaboy Noormuhamed of Mandvi, GujaratGujaratManvi, Gujurat sent his son Jivanjee to Zanzibar where he opened his first shop in 1818, initiating a series of businesses in Zanzibar and the mainland based on the export of commodities and the import of key industrial and consumer goods. These were extremely productive and profitable and are unique in having survived in various forms to this day. Critical forward looking decisions included the acquisition in the early twentieth century of agencies from all over the then industrialised world, an early investment in the sisal industry, followed by tea and coffee and then tea, the establishment of a motor car distribution business by 1927, and in a new tourist camp in the Serengeti in the late 1990s. The leading members of the family played business, political and charitable roles throughput the twentieth century and continue to do so.

There are some important special characteristics of this saga. First, the Karimjees emanate from the close knit GuajaratiGujurati speaking Bhora community, a Shiashia group with intense community supporting bonds – a critical factor when the founder’s younger brother lost a whole cargo en route from India in the 1860s. Second, by the early twentieth century, the leading family members were unusually internationalist in their perspective, travelling regularly to Europe and in the case of Sir Yusufali Karimjee to Japan where in the 1930s he married Katsuko Enomoto. Thirdly, whilst the majority of new initiatives have been successful, they have been entered more on the basis of intuition than detailed planning. For instance, the move into sisal was triggered by a walk shared by Sir Yusufali Karimjee and a Greek plantation owner in Dar es Salaam in 1921. Fourthly, neither the Zanzibar Revolution of 1964, nor the property nationalisations on the mainland in 1971 persuaded the family to abandon Tanzania. Although many members left at that time, three remained to husband the motor business and the agricultural estates. This placed the family in a strong position when the Tanzanian economy was liberalised in the late 1980s.

Alongside this commercial success several family members have contributed both to political progress and to major charitable projects. In the colonial politics of Zanzibar, Tayabali Karimjee and Yusufali Karimjee fought very effectively against commercial decisions which negatively affected the Indian community, particularly in relation to the cloves business. Later they werehe was the main donorsdonor to the Tanzania National Library and to the Faculty of Arts at the new University of Dar es salaam. In the 1950s, AbdulkarimAbdul Karim Karimjee played a significant part in early nationalist politics and organised the huge donation by the family of the Karimjee Hall [where Tanzania’s National Assembly met recurrently until the early 21st century], and a major donation to the University of Dar es Salaam in its earliest years. Tayabali Karimjee funded Zanzibar’s main hospital [ironically renamed the V.I. Lenin hospital for more than thirty years] which continues to be the main medical facility on the island.

In a conversation with this reviewer President Nyerere opined that the Karimjees would never leave Tanzania. This book explains just why that may be true, and at the same time will be a valuable resource to any student of Tanzanian economic and social history.
Laurence Cockroft

THE CRITICAL PHASE IN TANZANIA 1945-1968, by Cranford Pratt, Cambridge University Press, digitally printed version 2009 (originally published 1976), Cambridge ISBN 978-0-521-11072-3. £24.99.

When Tanzania is rife with accounts of corruption in high places, it is not surprising that there has been a revival of interest in the incorruptible first President, Julius Nyerere, especially amongst young political activists in Tanzania. One such described Nyerere’s legacy as “generating passionate public debate aimed at bringing positive social and economic change” (Chambi Chachage in Pambazuka 452, 2009). A newly founded Chair – the Mwalimu Nyerere Professorship of Pan-African Studies has been awarded to Issa Shivji, author of the critical account, Class Struggles in Tanzania in the 1970s. The Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation’s tenth anniversary of Nyerere’s death, held in Dar es Salaam last year, was an enormous success in attracting a large and lively audience and many young people.

Hence the publication of what seemed like a new study of crucial years in Nyerere’s life as President – those immediately preceding and following independence, seemed promising. Sadly Pratt’s book is a reprint from 1976 which seems to have been reproduced by Cambridge University Press as a “digitally printed version” (complete with American spellings and occasional errors) simply because it could be done. It is disconcerting to find the present tense being used to reflect on the potential of a leader dead for a decade. Whilst it is instructive to look at Pratt’s views of this period, this book demanded an introduction, framing the debate about the events of the time and their aftermath and explaining why it is pertinent to re-issue it now.

In view of the above it is unfair to point out that Pratt has not responded to later work, such as that of Susan Geiger on the emergence of TANU as a political party, or critical or more measured accounts such as those of Yeager or Coulson, and the vast output of reflection on Nyerere’s leadership, which continues. What is amazing is the sheer ferment of analysis and critique that did go on in the decade following Tanzania’s independence which is covered here. Pratt refers to work by Cliffe, Saul, Arrighi, Ngombale-Mwiru, Shivji, Rweyemamu and many others published in the early seventies, though he distances himself from what he calls ‘Marxian scholarship’.

Pratt is clearly a fan of Nyerere’s and sometimes eulogises his contribution. He also describes him throughout as a ‘socialist’ and sees Tanzania as heading in a socialist direction, though frequently having to qualify that label. At the heart of Nyerere’s conception of socialism was a deep commitment to equality and to a form of African communitarianism; he was no Marxist. What is exceptional about this book and makes it well-worth reading even now, is the spotlight it puts on the struggle between vision and reality in the struggle to establish a nation state. We talk glibly of independence, and yet Tanzania came to this momentous moment with hardly any personnel capable of running a country or delivering public services, still reliant on colonial civil servants, with minimal industrial development and the mass of the population dependent on subsistence agriculture. As Pratt shows, in the first few years the government’s hold on power was precarious, with very little capacity to enact change. At one point Nyerere had to be rescued by the British from a coup attempt by army discontents.

Expectations were also impossibly high, though Nyerere always had a groundswell of popular support from which he was able to pull off quite audacious political acts. One of these was his welcome to African liberation movements (especially the ANC) to locate themselves in Tanzania and his active advocacy of pan-Africanism. Another was his willingness to forgo foreign aid on matters of principle, despite Tanzania’s dependence, and to accept aid from China and East European socialist countries. He intervened in the revolutionary turmoil of the newly independent Zanzibar and manoeuvred a union of the two countries which has continued to cause difficulties. But he also took a constitutional stand on ensuring that racial minorities in Tanzania enjoyed equality with African citizens – a position that was understandably unpopular, given the privileged socioeconomic position which these minorities had enjoyed in the past. Conversely he inveighed from the beginning against class privilege, ‘parasitism’ and the danger of entrenched income and wealth differentials; as well as for self-reliance and open debate. He brought the party (the Tanganyikan African National Union, TANU) very centrally into the decision making and policy formulation process and shifted within a few years to espousing a one-party state, whilst establishing democratic safeguards and a functioning National Assembly. Pratt’s account of the process whereby democratic freedoms were defined as incorporating one-party rule but the exclusion of other organised political elements (the unions and the cooperative movement were soon incorporated into the state) is an instructive one. Pratt shows how this culminated in the promulgation of the Arusha Declaration of 1967 (only six tumultuous years after independence) in which a socialism of self-reliance and planned transformation of rural production was combined with a nationalisation of the commanding heights of Tanzania’s economy (a few foreign-owned banks and processing industries).

The focus of this book is on Nyerere, but Pratt is aware that, to adapt Marx, leaders ‘make history, but not under conditions of their own choosing’. Nyerere was a remarkable, even a unique leader, a man of vision and restless intelligence, an exceptional communicator with ordinary people, fired by an optimism of the will, constantly seeking to solve problems. This is well-illustrated here. But he was faced by a universe of enormous challenges and difficulties which could not be moved by one man alone or simply through exhortation. Nyerere could not have achieved what he did without popular and party support, or expedient alliances abroad, though there is no denying the effort and intelligence he put into manoeuvring and sustaining these relationships. Pratt’s focus on the leader leads him to be fairly vague about rural transformation or the problems entailing in transforming a dependent economy at the mercy of the world’s markets. And the book comes to an end just as the scene is set for the contradictions and dilemmas to test Nyerere’s vision of Tanzanian socialism to its limit.

Janet Bujra


“BIOFUELS, LAND ACCESS, AND RURAL LIVELIHOODS IN TANZANIA”, Emmanuele Sulle and Fred Nelson
International Institute for Environment & Development. ISBN 978 1 843 69 749 7.
In Africa, many non-food crops are grown on agricultural land, but rarely has there been the opposition that we see for biofuels. If you want to understand why biofuels in Africa is such a difficult area, why opinions run strong on both sides of the debate, this book offers a well-balanced perspective and is a good place to start. As the book makes clear, biofuels in Tanzania are complicated because land is complicated. Customary laws and state centralized land administration overlap, secondary rights of pastoralists and women often disappear as property rights are formalized or transferred. When the pace of change is slow institutions may adapt, but in Tanzania 4 million hectares of land have already been requested for biofuel investment (though in reality little has been granted yet), with individual requests as large as 400,000 hectares. This book covers much ground in just 64 pages of text, and so must by definition cover some areas in less detail than the reader might want. But into this small book the authors have packed rigorous research and useful and detailed information on the current state of investments in biofuels in Tanzania, the different modalities of biofuel production, and very detailed and nuanced chapters on land access and acquisition. As is the case for many agro-processing industries, the choice is often between large plantations which allow companies more control over quantity, quality, and price of inputs; and outgrower and contract farming which offer less control but more opportunities for rural communities. In Tanzania, added complications of possible permanent loss of village customary land rights, loss of access to forest resources and grazing lands, and loss of miombo woodlands, make the authors, with good reason, wary of large-scale transfers of land for biofuels. Although I prefer not to read private sector investments described as “projects”, or of villagers “giving” land to biofuel companies, such linguistic differences do not detract from an important book in a fast-moving and still under-documented area.
Elizabeth J. Z. Robinson

LETTERS

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I have noted the astonishing news that Tanzania was the third largest recipient of international aid (official development assistance?) in 2007. I, for one, would like to think that what is driving the resurrection of the EAC to new heights, is precisely that kind of embarrassing and, I’m sorry to say, shameful news. Bar a hiccup involving the Royal Navy in 1964, and, while the OAU stood by, Nyerere’s honourable war to rid Uganda of Idi Amin in 1978, Tanzania has been at peace since internal self-government, half a century ago. Why should it still be needing so much demeaning outside support?
Tanzania is blessed with a coastline, is on a major shipping route, enjoys a large land mass with a variety of climatic zones and eco-systems, it harbours great existing and potential mineral resources, and its population is large, if ill-distributed, but not so large that the advantages of a sizeable market are outweighed overall by land-stress and pressure on resources. Yet it languishes in the arms of the aid gravy-train, for whom it is a veritable paradise – experts, official and NGO, on fabulous salaries crawling all over the place, aid funds sloshing about, too often diverted and secreted out of the public domain by the scurrilous and venal. The gap between rich and poor is, I suspect, greater today than at Tanganyika’s independence, and the purchasing power of the poorest, in real terms, lower than in 1961, certainly since the end of the 1960s.

Is Tanzania’s population still growing at a speed which means a GDP growth rate of 6-8% a year needs to be achieved? I think everyone is agreed on that, but it begs the question as to why the country can not achieve and, more important, sustain such growth rates. Is it still too small in global terms to be able to withstand outside economic shocks?
Aside from all the other well-documented, internal causes of under-development since the Independence era, the scandal of world terms of trade continue to dog the efforts of smaller states to consistently achieve higher growth rates; but to think that, even with a Doha Round resolution, those in economically-dominant positions globally are going to cede their dominance voluntarily to an extent acceptable to poorer nations, is wishful thinking.

With an internal common market the EAC is at last beginning to reach a stage where it can, like the EU, start building influence, and affect global decisions, in its own right, as a trading bloc, just as South Africa does now – remember, a century ago South Africa was four separate countries about to be amalgamated – having the size and economic muscle, if not yet to be quite a ‘ BRIC ‘ country. Following Nyerere’s vision of an East African state, Tanzania needs to hasten EAC integration towards eventual political federation or union, as its charter details. Is it a fond hope to think that an impetus towards irreversable political integration could bring to the fore a new generation of more altruistic, public-spirited politicians, sensible to a wider and more diverse population, and, through size, a more responsible standing in the world? President Kikwete is one of this younger breed of politicians, an ideal East African president?

A.D.H. Leishman