Ongeri John writing in the Dar es Salaam Express has reported that Tanzania has been silently campaigning among poor countries asking them to turn down bids by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to remove all trading restrictions by 2012. Tanzania, a WTO signatory, believed that making the world a free trade area would only help to enrich developed countries further and wreak havoc on weak economies. Industries and Commerce Minister Iddi Simba was quoted as saying that Tanzania had begun to miss WTO negotiation sessions after the realisation that it had nothing to gain from the talks. “Our position is that Tanzania has a poor industrial base without the technology to produce high quality but low priced products to compete with those from developed economies,” he said. Simba added that this was Tanzania’s position even on its membership in the East African Community (EAC) which expected to become a free trade area in four year’s time.

THE ZANZIBAR DECLARATION
Minister Simba continued his campaign when, between July 22 and 24 trade ministers from 49 developing countries came together in Zanzibar and declared that they were prepared to take part in a forthcoming WTO conference at Doha, Qatar, but only on condition that the negotiating principles they had laid down in their ‘Zanzibar Declaration’ -long term duty free access for products from LDC’s, simplified rules of origin, understanding of their special structural difficulties, reversal of marginalisation of LDC’ s -were dealt with at the meeting. Minister Simba concluded by saying: “Most of us are not ready, psychologically, materially and technically for a new trade round. WTO Deputy Secretary General Ablassa Ouedraogo pointed out however that globalisation was inevitable.

Britain’s new High Commissioner to Tanzania presented his credentials to President Mkapa on August 9. He is Richard Clarke who has served previously in Caracas, Washington DC and Dublin. Immediately prior to his new appointment he was Head of the Policy Planners in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He replaces Bruce Dinwiddy who bade farewell to President Mkapa on July 25. There has also been a change in the position of Tanzania Desk Officer in the Foreign Office. Claire Lewis who recently returned to the UK from the political section of the High Commission in Delhi has taken over from Jennifer Townson. Meanwhile, six months after the departure of Tanzanian High Commissioner in London, Dr Abdul Shareef, there is still no news about his replacement.

At the end of the three month long trial in New York of four followers of the Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, allegedly involved in the bombing of the Dar es Salaam and Nairobi US embassies that killed 11 Tanzanian, all were convicted on May 29. The jury was out for 12 days before reaching its verdict. The Tanzanian who was involved, Khalfan Khamis Mohamed (27), who admitted helping to make the Dar bomb, got life imprisonment after his mother had flown to America to plead for his life. He was said by his defence counsel to have acted out of ‘deep, deep religious beliefs’ thinking that it was part of a holy war. Among witnesses at the trial were: a former Nissan service manager who is Japanese; a Tanzanian driver who reported that he had sold the Nissan truck used in the bombing for $6,000 to Ahmed Ghailani and Skeikh Ahmed Swedan; a Tanzanian welder who said that Swedan had hired him to alter the truck, make containers for batteries to be stored in the back and drill holes to attach partitions that he was told were for storing fish; and a cleaner who cooked and cleaned for some of the accused at their Amani Road residence. After the bombing Mohamed told an FBI agent that he was not sorry that Tanzanians had been killed. He said “Allah will take care of them.” The US has offered $5 million reward for Osama bin Laden and other fugitives.

The Guardian reported that the government has banned eight magazines and suspended three tabloids for allegedly publishing indecent photographs that corrupt the society and thwart campaigns to combat HIV/AIDS in the country. The Swahili tabloids which have been banned for six months include Cheko, Zungu, Kombora, Mama Huruma and others. The statement cited five issues of Cheko which showed half­naked women. This demeaned them, he said. ‘Publishing pictures of half naked persons seen making love shows that it promotes amorous behaviour and frustrates the move by the government and the society to fight against the killer disease, AIDS. However, the Media Institute of Southern Africa, the Association of Journalists and Media Workers and the Tanzania Union of Journalists jointly expressed serious concerns about the ban and said that the Minister’s action had been “draconian and a negation of freedom of the press and freedom of expression which are core pillars of any democratic and tolerant society.”

Mtanzania reports that the government has decided to supply hospitals and dispensaries with the anti-malaria drug FANSIDAR instead of Chloroquine which is being phased out.

The government has started registering special villages for the Hadzabe community in Arusha region. The community has for many years been living in the bush. Government hopes to educate the Hadzabe Community so that they realise the importance of farming and livestock keeping ­Guardian.

Under the heading ‘Turning henna painting into an art’ Ashura Kilungo writing in The Express (August 5) described the work of Zanzibari artist Shawana Mohamed, who earns her living by painting women with henna, a type of dye used to decorate women with figures and patterns. Extracts from the article: ‘Shawana Mohamed, who was born in Zanzibar and now lives in Dar es Salaam, started enhancing female beauty with henna seven years ago after she had curiously studied older gurus excelling in the intricate art of henna decor, and shot to fame at a very young age. The steep fees for henna demands that the painter be careful, as most people expect to have value for their money after coming out of the painting session with nothing less than what bewitches the male eye ….. the dye gives a reddish-brown finish. Henna, like other traditional cosmetics including wanja, for eye lashes and mdaa which reddens the lips and tongue, is widely used by women living in Bagamoyo, Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Kilwa and Zanzibar. Although it has nowadays gained a liberal use among different types of women, it was originally used by female Muslims brides out to attain a gorgeous look during their wedding ceremony. Shawana charges brides Shs 10,000 to Shs 15,000 and women coming to be decorated as a matter of routine between Shs 5,000 and Shs 7,000. In most cases, Shawana creates the designs herself to marry the complexion of the woman.

During celebrations in March on the 50th anniversary of the British Council in Tanzania, Parliament thanked the Council for its assistance. The paper quoted Speaker Msekwa as saying that he was satisfied with the cooperation between the Council and the House and wished it to continue. Council Assistant Director Sharon Crowther launched a ‘Directory of Tanzanian Alumni in the UK’ and said that more than 700 Tanzanians had studied in Britain over the last 50 years – The Guardian.

Minister of Defence Philimon Sarungi told MPs in June that some 15,000 Tanzanians joined the Army during the Second World War of whom 2,225 died. He said that in 1999 the Tanzania Legion with the help of district commissioners had collected the names of 426 surviving veterans. They were given Shs 29.5 million by the British Commonwealth ex Services League.

The School of Oriental and African Studies hosted an exhibition in June entitled ‘Princess Salme – Behind the Veil: the Life and Writings of Sayida Salme’ put together by Said El Gheity, Director of the Princess Salme Institute. The Princess was the only known woman in the 19th century Zanzibari Court, who breaking the tradition, taught herself to write, which she did in secret by copying calligraphy from the Koran onto a camel’s shoulder blade.

Tanzania has been officially admitted to the International Cricket Council (ICC). This means that the national team will now compete in the world championship as an independent team in the same arena as such cricket giants as Australia, Pakistan, India and South Africa.

The Guardian reported on July 20 that during recent months a special police crackdown had identified 103 stolen cars, many stolen in South Africa. Some Tanzanian owners of the cars were protesting that the cars were being identified by South African Insurance agents rather than the legitimate South African owners who had probably claimed the insurance and then sold the cars.

Majira (August 6) reported that young Muslims were trying to take over the management of mosques in Dar es Salaam. The paper quoted leaders of the mainstream Muslim Council (BAKWATA) as saying that the youths were extremists influenced by Iranian ideology and were accusing BAKWATA of being government puppets. Meanwhile, in Zanzibar, according to Mtanzania women have been warned that they would be flogged in public if they were to wear short dresses. The message came in a clandestine letter circulated by a Muslim group calling itself “Lions of God”. In early August this group cordoned off Darajani Street and started attacking women wearing short skirts saying that they were indecently dressed. They beat up one woman and tore her dress before she managed to escape into a shop. She was rescued by police.

Foreign Minister Jakaya Kikwete has told Parliament that the government had purchased 66 buildings for its embassies to avoid heavy rental payments. Arrears of rent had reached $550,000 in New York, $192,000 in Moscow and $40,000 in Lagos -Mtanzania

An item in the Guardian on August 10 indicated that the MP for Muhambare, Mr Chrisant Mzindakaya’s interests were not confined to sugar (see articles above). He pointed out in the House that research in some countries had revealed that boys grow big breasts after eating chicken because the chickens are fed with drugs meant to be taken by women for birth control. Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye responded by advising poultry keepers to check the feeds they were using for chickens so as to avoid the side effects experienced by men in other countries.

There will be a concert of sacred music in aid of the Mazinde Juu Girls School in Lushoto on September 30th at 3pm at the St Joseph’s RC Church in Wembley. The soprano Una Barry, who has raised money for water and educational project in Tanzania over many years, will give the recital with organist Tim Story. Details: 020 8902 008.

Amongst those given awards by the Queen recently are sister Maria Lia Schwarzmuller for services to leprosy relief (OBE) Catherine Joan Allen for services to education (MBE) and Dr Elizabeth Annie Hills for services to health care in Tanzania (MBE).

A modern Shs 13.6 billion office building to accommodate the British High Commission, the embassies of Germany and the Netherlands, the EC Delegation and Britain’s Department for International Development, is being built at the corner of Mirambo and Garden Avenue in Dar es Salaam. According to the British High Commission’s Ian Gleason, quoted in the Guardian, this would be the first time worldwide that the four partners had developed a shared building.

Certain US Scientists have come to the conclusion that the famous snows on top of Mount Kilimanjaro will completely vanish within two decades because of global warming, felling of trees, forest fires and overpopulation.

‘Panic hit the streets of Tabora yesterday as the tall, menacing figure of Idi Amin was seen marching down the main drag … he was accompanied by an entourage of fully armed semi-naked Kakwa warriors …. 37 of his children brought up the rear. .. ‘ – from the Guardian (April!).

The idea of a ‘village museum’ seems a curious paradox ­is it a village, or is it a museum? Perhaps it is neither in the conventional sense. It is certainly not a living village, but rather a collection of authentic furnished homesteads representing some of Tanzania’s many different rural cultures. Nor is it a museum in the traditional sense (there is not a glass case to be seen). All 16 houses can be entered, and there are plenty of objects to see and handle. The Kiswahili word ‘makumbusho’, ‘reminders’, is more apt here than the English ‘museum, with its classical muse associations. Herein lies not only the unique charm of the place, but also the real importance of the site.

The museum was founded in 1967 by two anthropologists, Tom Wylie and Peter Carter. The idea was not original, but in the Tanzanian context it had a particular significance at that time. By representing the diverse cultures of the newly-independent nation, it was like a microcosm of the country as a whole. From the start, the museum was built by Tanzanians, for Tanzanians. Representatives of the different ethnic groups built their own distinctive houses on the 8 ha site. The location in Dar es Salaam (next to the New Bagamoyo Road) was also significant, enabling people who had moved to the city to retain contact, and take pride in, their rural roots.

Since its inception, The Village Museum -in common, it must be said, with most rural life museums in the UK -has had its ups and downs. By the early 1990s, it was apparently suffering from a serious shortage of funds and qualified staff and was threatened with closure. Since 1993, however, there has been a remarkable revival in fortunes. Staffing arrangements were restructured giving The Village Museum access to greater expertise. A grant through the Swedish African Museum Partnership (SAMP) enabled repairs to be carried out and new houses to be constructed. More recently, responsibility for the museum has passed from the Education Ministry to Tourism and Culture showing a new awareness of the site’s potential.

So what of the museum today? Undoubtedly it is in very good hands. The Director General and staff of the National Museums of Tanzania have a strong sense of the museum’s responsibilities to the wider community and are keen to support its future development. The Curator, Jackson Kihiyo, who is a social anthropologist, has energy and imagination as well as a clear vision for the museum. It was a great pleasure to welcome him to Norfolk for a week’s visit in September. He has recently franchised the operation of the museum cafe to a first rate caterer who specialises in traditional dishes. Dance displays are now presented every week-end, while artists and craftspeople (such as Petre Paulo Mawige, a clay sculptor of striking originality) work on site on a commission basis.

More significantly, perhaps, has been the development, since 1994, of the Ethnic Days programme, when, for two or three days (and attended by thousands), groups of people from particular ethnic groups present a cultural festival of music, dance, popular crafts and foods. They also bring with them records of their own lives, histories and traditions, which museum staff will compile into books for posterity. The Maasai book will be published soon. The museum’s Education Officer, Lucina Shayo, runs an imaginative programme for schools and has also raised funds and organised special events for some of Dar es Salaam’s ‘hidden’ children -the blind, disabled and mentally handicapped.

So what of the future? Clearly, The Village Museum has a great deal going for it. But it also has its difficulties. Shortage of funds can cramp new initiatives. There is no photocopier or printer, no OHP or slide projector and only one computer with E-mail but not internet access. The overall visitor experience could be enhanced by improved interpretation on site -the existing panels are informative, but brief, and lacking the photographic references which could help ‘people’ the houses. A new guidebook is needed. The many different species of trees and shrubs on site could be labelled, and trails devised to focus on natural history or maths activities. A themed adventure playground would help to cater for family needs, and everyone would benefit from more seats around the site.

Some of these projects have already been costed by museum staff, and business sponsorship is being sought to help with funding. The museum’s impressive thatched hall could provide an ideal venue for business conferences, training events and presentations, which would all help with funding (it recently made an atmospheric setting for a film festival). Next year, I plan to work at the museum in a voluntary capacity from July to December, helping with fundraising, educational resources and displays. I hope that during 2002, we will be able to host an exhibition about Tanzanian village life in Norfolk, including residencies by museum staff and craft makers. Meanwhile, some useful contacts have been established through the British Council and local Rotary clubs (who have funded a promotional leaflet).

Website http://www.homestead.com/villagemuseum/index.html is also under construction. Please take a look at it -and, of course, be sure to visit the museum when you are next in Tanzania!
Richard Wood

SHARK ATTACK
28-year old medical student Godfrey Msemwa of the Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences, was killed by what was believed to be a shark in July. He had had gone swimming with friends at Coco Beach in Dar es Salaam and cried out for help frantically waving his hands in the air but was gradually pulled out to sea. Colleagues saw the water filled with blood a few minutes later. Following this horror, the marine specialist Hugo van Lawick , Director of Ocean Safaris, set off to sea in a special shark hunting boat. He took with him a bucket of frozen cow’s blood to attract the shark. This son of the renowned British chimpanzee researcher Jane Goodall said the blood can attract a shark even from two miles away. He continued to hunt the shark and eventually managed to catch one on his line. After some hours of tussle he managed to land it. It was a Zambezi shark noted for its killer instinct. Last year the Express had reported another shark attack which had involved an official of the Japan International Cooperation Agency who had had three fingers bitten off. Coco Beach has been placed out of bounds for swimming by Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner Yusuf Makamba who also announced that a base station with satellite antennae and fast patrol boats to chase off sharks is to be established at Oyster Bay -The Express, the East African and the London Financial Times.

A RARE TOAD
Tanzania is facing an archetypal environmental issue. At stake is the future production capacity of a major new electric power station and the survival of a tiny toad scientifically known as Aspergnus nectophty. The new Kihansi Hydro power project is designed to generate electricity desperately needed for the national grid but it will only be able to operate at full capacity if it can use enough water. The tiny toad is found only in the Udzungwa ranges in Tanzania’s Southern Highlands. It is said to give birth to young ones rather than lay eggs and occupies an area of about 200 metres wide. However, if the power station were to operate at full capacity it would deny the toad sufficient water supply. It needs 20 cubic metres per second and if it doesn’t get it the environment could be destroyed leading to its extinction. TANESCO has therefore devised a temporary artificial water spray that delivers two cubic metres of water per second and has also agreed to participate in an international forum on the subject involving the National Environmental Management Council, foreign donor agencies like NORAD and the World Bank. -Daily News.

COPYRIGHT
Following the passage of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act of 1999 a new ‘Business Registrations and Licensing Agency’ has been set up. Persons found guilty of infringement of others rights will be fined up to Shs 5 million or get imprisonment for up to five years -The East African which headed its article: ‘Tanzania Copyright Act is Music to Artists’ Ears’.

SLEEP
A few days after President Mkapa called upon MP’s to help him to awaken sleeping ministers, the MP’s requested the Speaker to bring in new regulations to stop journalists from taking photographs of sleeping MP’s -The Guardian.

RICKSHAWS IN DAR
An Indian Company, David Piereis International has introduced three-wheel hooded vehicles called Rajaj or more familiarly rickshaws in Dar es Salaam.

In Swahili culture, a poet’s role is ordained by his ability to reciprocate the needs and wishes of his community. In order to perform this duty to the fullest extent, a poet must have a highly intimate rapport with his own context and therefore he must occupy a position from which he has access to various edifying sources from within the community. According to Swahili ideology, a poet can be described as one of the Mlozi wa mji (proverb meaning, ‘pillars of the town’), signifying that his presence is fundamental to the maintenance of civilised society. Poets are known within the community as Shaha or ‘Shah’, a sign of their high status; they understand more of God than ordinary people, and it is said, ‘poets go deep into the sea to find secrets’. Thus the social position given to poets in the Swahili community is one of respect and high status, defined by the acquisition of the dual qualities of heshima, ‘respect’, and elimu ‘knowledge’.

Through the use of various different modes of presentation, which the poet employs, he may challenge any of the existing hierarchies and institutions that form the nucleus of changing Swahili society. In order to accomplish this nature of social commentary without causing offence or even potentially endangering himself (especially in the case of political poetry), a poet relies upon a wealth of enigmatic and metaphorical language in order to make himself understood to his audience. Through the use of such richly metaphorical language and cryptic or encoded imagery, the poet’s message may remain ambiguously hidden, and in many cases an understanding can only be achieved through the application of specific social or political circumstances onto the poem’s patchwork of language and imagery. Only then will the poem’s inner discourse become clear to the audience. Indeed, in Swahili society, where the importance of speech and words is paramount, people naturally strive to cultivate speech into art, and a Swahili is often judged by his linguistic skill.

Contrary to the opinions of several non-Swahili scholars who have described Swahili poetry as ‘dull’ and unattractive, it must be emphasised that its function is not to be beautiful but to be useful. At the same time let there be no confusion that Swahili poetry, whether traditional versification or modem free verse, exemplifies the Kiswahili language in its most aesthetic form.

Swahili poetry has suffered further at the hands of foreign scholars with the constant reference to its ‘ethnic or local form’, or in the use of the term, ‘traditional poetry’. The term ‘traditional poetry’ implies that the form and content have become outmoded by another form of self-definition. The reality is quite opposite, and in fact Swahili poetry serves as functional a purpose in a modem context as it has done throughout history.

In Swahili poetry, both form and content are of equal importance, and a Swahili poet must adhere to numerous structural criteria in order to produce a piece of work that can be regarded by the community as high quality. With growing access to Swahili poetry in the media there has been an increase in poems written by amateur poets and consequently much of the poetry published in the newspapers stands accused of being mere versification at the expense of meaningful content.

Free verse has gained considerable popularity on the mainland despite strong opposition from Swahili poets who feel it represents a loss of poetic artistry and is a product of euro­centric scholarship. The debate continues until today.
Jonathan Donovan

Africa’s biggest internet service provider ‘Africa Online’ has arrived in Tanzania with exchanges in Dar, Arusha, Mwanza and Zanzibar where customers can now dial up by paying local rather than national call charges. Ten new e-touch centres are being opened every month – Guardian

Former Tanzanian High Commissioner in London Anthony Nyakyi was appointed Chairman of the National Construction Council on April 4 ­Daily News.

The Deputy Minister of Education and Culture has told parliament that corporal punishment in schools will continue “until we think of another suitable way of punishing offences in learning institutions” -Guardian.

Tanzanian botanist Sebastian Chuwa has been awarded a Lindburgh Foundation Grant for his research project ‘Balancing Ecological Diversity with Art and Music -a Community-based Program to Replant African Blackwood’ (which is used for carvings and to make musical instruments but is facing extinction). Chuwa raises and replants the Blackwood and educates young Tanzanians about its conservation -Guardian.

Some 5,000 women underwent contraception by surgery in the Lake and West Zones during the past six years. But only 25 men agreed to vasectomy -Guardian.

Following several years of good rainfall, a low infant mortality rate and the continuation of the international ban on sales of ivory, the elephant population in the 2,600 sq km Tarangire National park is picking up after the heavy poaching of the 1980’s. The number of elephants in family groups has increased from 250 in 1993 to 420 now. One female produced six infants in seven years with three consecutive sets of twins -East African.

British High Commissioner Dinwiddy was present on July 23 when Tanzania’s WBA Continental Super flyweight boxing champion Mbwana Matumla beat Andy Roberts from Britain in a technical knockout in the second round. The fight was given massive coverage in the local press.

Of the 16 people being accused of involvement in the bombing of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar on August 7, 1998 one, 26-year-old Khalfan Khamis Mohamed from Tanzania, is destined to be the first defendant in an international terrorism case to be tried on capital charges in the United States. He is charged with helping to build the bomb used in Dar and to load it on to a truck which he rode part of the way to the embassy. The defence is arguing that he played only a minor role and was the least important member of the conspiracy and therefore should not be facing the death penalty -New York Times.

According to General Secretary Prof. Sebastian Sawatt of the Rural Foundation for Sustainable Development, Tanzania is now second only to South Africa in the list of African countries with advanced bio-gas technology. His organisation was now providing consultancy to other countries and was encouraging the use of a simple $100 tubular plastic biodigesters to provide domestic energy and reduce the demand for wood -The Guardian.

The Tanzanian People’s Defence Forces (TPDF) (through a subsidiary) opened a shop in Dar es Salaam on May 12 for the sale of light weapons and explosives. Consumers, who include licensed hunters, miners, construction companies and foreign markets, are able to buy locally (in Morogoro) manufactured ammunition and imported guns. Another of the five shops licensed to sell arms is the YMCA.