Compiled by Donovan Mc Grath

2009 marks the third year of Jakaya Kikwete’s presidency in Tanzania. Elections are scheduled for October 2010 and Kikwete, whose popularity is not as high as it was a year ago, is widely expected to achieve a second and final five-year term of office. However, such optimism is not without its challenges. There is an impending Bill that approves the amalgamation of several rival parties, strengthening the opposition. Old allies, like former-prime minister Edward Lowassa and businessman Rostam Aziz, may also challenge the president. Lowassa, who was forced to resign after being implicated in a corruption case of which he claims innocence, is currently thought to be considering presidential ambitions. It is Kikwete’s ‘moves against high-level graft in government and the ruling CCM’ that has earned him rivals among former allies – Extract from THE AFRICA REPORT (No 14. Dec – 08 Jan 09): ‘The CCM will want to maintain the tradition of allowing the sitting president to serve a second term, but powerful cliques are fighting Kikwete’s determination to reinstate a leadership code of conduct that will forbid business people from holding office and running their private companies concurrently. If this pressure were to threaten his hold on power, the president could yet go after more high-profile politicians and bureaucrats accused of corruption.
‘Another area of pressure on Kikwete comes from Zanzibar’s main opposition party, the [Civic United Front], which hopes to force Zanzibar’s President Amani Abeid Karume and conservative ruling party members into a power-sharing government before the 2010 elections.
Karume reneged on an earlier deal to do so but now says a coalition could follow the next elections, after he steps down.’

Under the headline: ‘Africa’s hungry tribe’ (OBSERVER MONTHLY Dec 08), freelance journalist Alex Renton expresses the plight of the Maasai of northern Tanzania who are experiencing increasing hunger due to high-prices of staple food. Focusing on a Maasai family living close to Oldonyo Lengai, ‘God’s Mountain’, near Engaresero village, Arusha, the reporter explains how they have resorted to selling family heirlooms in order to survive.
Extracts: ‘…[B]eaded bracelets, anklets, necklaces and chokers in the white, blue and yellow of the Kisongo clan. Some were studded with discs of tin or silver. One Maasai woman was selling her inheritance: wedding gifts, pieces from her mother. All were for sale to the tourists…
She had to sell something, or the family wouldn’t eat that night… There were no animals healthy enough to sell, so to put food in their children’s bellies they had to sell jewellery or beg or borrow money.
‘The principal problem is the global price of food staples – driven up over the past couple of years by the international oil price and the demand for biofuels.’
…A 25kg container of maize grains, enough to feed a family of five for a week, costs up to Shs 10,000 (£5). That may not sound much – but it is nearly double what it was in January.
‘…The biggest problems, though, lie with the volcano, Oldonyo Lengai… When it exploded at the beginning of the year the displacement of people fleeing it also disrupted the food supply.’ – Thanks to Roy Galbraith for sending this – Editor.

Over 80% of the Tanzanian population is employed in the agricultural sector. Tanzania has approximately 44m hectares of fertile land, of which only 10.2m hectares at present is being cultivated. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that President Kikwete promises to invest heavily in agriculture. However, there is a major drawback as THE AFRICA REPORT (Dec 08-Jan 09) reported. Under the headline: ‘Roadblocks to Tanzania’s green revolution’, the reporters highlighted the difficulties faced by foreign companies who wish to invest in the country.
Extract: ‘Tanzania’s sugar industry […] has tripled following the privatisation of four government-owned producers in 1998, but in the last ten years there has been no new foreign investment in the sector. “I imagine that [the lack of investment] is because they [foreign investors] have not been able to find the land to set up a new project,” says Ashwin Rana, general manager of Kagera Sugar and chairman of the Tanzanian Sugar Producers’ Board. One producer, Kilombero Sugar Company, owned by South Africa’s Illovo Sugar, has been waiting to expand its production on a plot of 2,000 hectares to which it has been legally entitled since it bought its plantation in Morogoro ten years ago. There are villagers on the land and [the] government has been slow to relocate them or find a replacement plot. Illovo lost interest and in 2007 took the $200m it had earmarked for Tanzania and invested it in sugar plantations in Mali and Zambia.’

The lives of Albinos in East Africa, reports the ECONOMIST (17 Jan) are at risk from a ‘horrendous trade’. Tanzania’s Head of Police, in Dar es Salaam, distributed ‘free mobile phones to several hundred locals with albinism.’ Extract: ‘Each phone comes with a “hot line” to the police. Albinos text in their location if they suspect they are being tracked by gangsters determined to kill them and harvest their body parts. ‘According to the Tanzanian Albino Society, at least 35 albinos were murdered in Tanzania last year to supply witch doctors with limbs, organs and hair for their potions.’ This is not solely a Tanzanian problem as the killing of albinos has spread to Kenya, Uganda and Burundi. Thank you Simon Hardwick for this item – Editor

The WEST AUSTRALIAN (2 Dec 08), under the headline: ‘100 years ago: Antediluvian Monsters’, published a short article about an important archaeological discovery made in Tanganyika during the early period of German colonial rule: ‘The German Government is sending an expedition to investigate the remains of gigantic antediluvian animals discovered by Professor Fraas in the southern portion of German East Africa. The bones of the hind leg of one animal are 11½ feet long, while the spine is a third longer than that of any animal yet discovered.’ Thank you Douglas Gledhill for sending this item – Editor

‘Game hunting in Tanzania has over the years become a well-established industry and an important source of income for the government,’ writes Mike Mande for the EAST AFRICAN (19-25 January). There are 54 licensed hunting companies operating in the 158 hunting blocks located in the game reserves across 42 districts. This is an increase of the 1988 accounts that stated there were only 21 hunting firms and 128 hunting blocks during that period.
Between 2004 and 2007, Tanzania earned $48m from game hunting. The country’s game fees for each animal hunted are charged according to species. ‘For example, [the] fees for shooting an elephant can be as high as $20,000 while baboons are only charged $110; birds range around $30 each…
‘Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Shamsa Mwangunga said that 25 per cent of the earnings from hunting fees and licences go to the villages of the area where hunting takes place through the respective district councils. This money, according to Mrs Mwangunga, “is used to provide social services…‘The government sees the policy of 25 per cent contribution to district councils as part of its poverty alleviation effort.’

A recent letter to the Editor of TANTRAVEL brought readers’ attention to the poor state of the materials documenting slavery that are held in the Roman Catholic Museum at Bagamoyo.
On a recent visit, the historian Jeffrey A. Homburg noticed that much of the material (documents, photos, and artefacts) ‘is fast being destroyed by light, and heat … The labelling is also very poor and includes errors.’ The historian calls for outside intervention: ‘This is a World Heritage collection, and some action should be taken immediately to save it from oblivion.’ Thank you Liz Fennell for sending this item – Editor

Abdulaziz Y. Lodhi, the distinguished professor at Uppsala University, Sweden, wrote an interesting article in HABARI (Journal of the Sweden-Tanzania Society. Issue No 1, 2009) on the impact of Arabic on the Swahili language. His main argument: ‘Arabic in East Africa has minimal formal and academic recognition in spite of its historical predominance on the East African littoral and the rim of the Indian Ocean in general.’ Lodhi begins with a brief historical background on the status of Arabic, Swahili and English in Zanzibar and Tanganyika during the colonial era.
Extract: ‘…In 1890 when the Sultanate of Zanzibar became a British protectorate, Arabic had been the sole language of administration commerce, diplomacy, education, and liturgy in Muslim East Africa. Swahili gradually replaced Arabic in many fields during the 30 years of German occupation of Tanganyika, but after the First World War and the British takeover of Tanganyika, English was formally encouraged and spread there at the expense of both Arabic and Swahili.’
The article then briefly discusses the historical context of Arabic as a medium of instruction in Zanzibar where its use fluctuated according to colonial and post-colonial government policies, and then noted that Arabic, the spiritual language of the Muslims, which ‘is also the “Latin” of Swahili … is included in neither the programs of the Institute of Kiswahili Research (IKR), nor the Department of Kiswahili and African Languages at the University of Dar es Salaam. Only an extramural course is occasionally offered at the Institute of Adult Education in Dar es Salaam, but at the university, no graduate course in Arabic is offered. This is despite the fact that approximately 42 percent of Swahili vocabulary is of Arabic origin.
Towards the end of the article Lodhi restates his argument by saying: ‘there is an abundance of Arabic grammatical or structural loans in Swahili, which the other languages of East Africa borrow freely from Swahili…Arabic continues to make important contributions to the development of the modern Swahili lexicon, and indirectly the lexicon of other East African languages…However, it is English which is the largest language contributor to East Africa today, but its contribution is limited to nominals belonging primarily to the fields of modern technology and science.’

Disney returns to the genre of wildlife films on the big screen after an absence of almost fifty years – THE OBSERVER (11 Jan) wrote about The Crimson Wing, scheduled for UK release in the autumn, which highlights the plight of 1.5m flamingos that feed and breed on the shores of Lake Natron, a shallow soda lake at the foot of Ol Doinyo Lengai (Mountain of God). It is believed that a new soda ash mine, proposed by the Indian conglomerate Tata Chemicals, would be disastrous for the wildlife around the lake. Thank you Liz Fennell for sending this item – Editor

‘A new sweetened malaria drug for children will be introduced in Tanzania early [2009] after official approval from the Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA)’, writes the EAST AFRICAN (Nov ’08) Special Correspondent Mohamed Issa.
Extract: The tablet has a pleasant taste and speedy solubility, which eases administration for malaria’s youngest victims…
‘Malaria kills almost one million people each year, mostly children. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that of all malaria-related reported deaths, nearly 85 per cent are in children 5 years old and younger.’ The introduction of this latest ant-malarial drug is due to the fact that ‘many young children cannot swallow whole tablets and crushing them is an inefficient procedure.’ This latest drug in the fight against malaria is described as: ‘The new sweetened, fruit-flavoured Coartem dispersible anti-malarial tablet …’

January’s edition of NEW AFRICAN published an interesting article that connects Tanzania, USA and Russia through the life of Lily Golden. Golden, who is described as a Russian African-American professor of history, has an extraordinary family background, which includes African, Native American, Jewish and Russian ancestry. Born in Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan, in 1934, Golden is the widow of Kassim Hanga, the Zanzibari nationalist who became one of the masterminds of the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution. The couple met in Moscow in 1957 and married three years later when he returned to the Russian capital to study economics. Hanga was a parliamentarian in the pre-independent Zanzibar Sultanate, then a British protectorate. During the coup he was appointed vice-president of the “revolutionary” government. He later became minister for union affairs in the interim union government of Tanganyika and Zanzibar following the merger between the Republic of Tanganyika and the People’s Republic of Zanzibar on 26 April 1964. 10 years ago, their daughter Yelena, a Russian TV-star, went on a trip to Zanzibar to discover her family roots and met her paternal grandmother among scores of relatives.

Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a disease that affects poor people in Africa, India, South America, South Asia and the Pacific. Mandy Turner, writing for the GUARDIAN (24.11.08), reports on its sufferers in Tanzania. Its painful and debilitating symptoms include fevers and grotesquely swollen limbs.
Extract: ‘While malaria can be contracted from a single bite, LF needs hundreds of bites from mosquitoes infected with male and female worms, which must enter the victim’s body, find each other and mate. An estimated 120 million people [worldwide] have the disease – around 40 million have been severely incapacitated and disfigured by it. Disturbingly, a further 1.3 billion are at risk of infection.’
‘One-third of people infected … live in Africa … There is no cure for LF; the damage done to the lymphatic system is permanent …. The pathogenesis of the drug is still not fully understood. But there are drugs that can break the cycle of transmission …’
Ten years ago the World Health Organisation (WHO) launched the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis based on a two-drug, once a year of at-risk communities. The WHO recommends a minimum of five rounds, before mass drug administration can be stopped.’
The Guardian reporter interviewed LF sufferers from various parts of Tanzania, an LF endemic country, where there is a concerted effort to eliminate the disease. President Kikwete has ‘launched a campaign to raise a further Shs 500billion (£250,000).’ Thank you Roy Galbraith for sending this item – Editor.

‘More refugees leave as UN, Tanzania closes camps’ reads the headline in THE EAST AFRICAN (January 5-11). Tanzania’s Burundian refugees (TA No 92) are continuing to return to their homeland as the peace process between major rebel forces and the Burundi government enters its final phase.
Extracts: ‘The long wait to return home by Burundians who fled to Tanzania to escape ethnic conflict is finally coming to an end, with the last camps closing down. As of January 2009, only a single camp hosting less than 50,000 refugees will be left …’ Approximately 165,000 Burundians have expressed their wish to stay on in Tanzania by submitting their applications for citizenship.

An editorial in the Kenyan newspaper THE NATION (October 21) quoting from the Tanzanian paper The Citizen wrote: ‘Hardly a day after President Kikwete called for a crackdown to stem the killing of albinos another horrendous case was reported. An albino girl was on Sunday night slain in Kahama, Shinyanga. It’s not surprising that the story has gone all over the world. The international community is rightly puzzled about the madness that has befallen our country. That the killers stormed the Standard Three pupil’s home, killed her and chopped off her body parts before the very eyes of her terrified parents, speaks volumes about how cruel and inhuman these criminals can be. Serious measures must be taken now to stem the killings. Police cannot be everywhere, but the wananchi can. We should unite to fight the primitive acts by criminals driven by senseless superstition’ – Thank you Keith Lye for sending this – Editor.

Tanzania has a large population of refugees from neighbouring countries and London’s GUARDIAN WEEKLY REVIEW (September 26) devoted a piece under the headline: ‘Last of the exiles return’. Extracts: ‘Peace has now returned to Burundi, and many who fled 30 years ago are returning home. 85-year-old Michael Bihonzi is among many who fled the ethnic massacres that started in 1972 and which consequently left up to 200,000 people dead, reports Xan Rice. Bihonzi, who found peace and safety in a Tanzanian refugee camp, climbed on board a truck with 23 of his children and grandchildren, and headed across the border with a cash grant of $40 from UNHCR, the UN refugee agency that is managing the repatriation effort. ‘More than 450,000 refugees have already returned. Now, with the last active rebel group in Burundi showing willingness to lay down its arms […] Tanzania has decided to close its remaining refugee camps near its western border.’

In an exclusive interview, AFRICA REPORT (October-November) asked Tanzania’s President Kikwete some pertinent questions regarding the country’s economy, the fight against corruption and, as he is currently chairman of the AU, his thoughts on democracy in Africa. The paper wanted to know why ‘statistics on malnutrition and sanitation remain appalling’ even though ‘Tanzania has a record of sustained growth and investment’? The President explained that ‘the huge investment’ Tanzania has made is just ‘beginning to translate itself.’ A sustained economic growth [7%] over a period of ten years will double the country’s GDP. ‘We are now seeing the result of that. It is close to $20bn from $15bn seven years ago.’ In a brief explanation of Tanzania’s economic history, the President said there was a time when there were empty shelves in the shops, which were then owned by the state. However, with the start of the economic reforms in 1986, under the leadership of President Ali Hassan Mwinyi, the economy began to turn around. Mwinyi allowed anyone who had the money to bring goods into the shops. “We came from very difficult beginnings, to the extent that if today somebody preached socialism, we would think he must be crazy.”

In a report published in THE EAST AFRICAN (October 13-19) Tanzania has opposed the consensus reached by Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Kenya that residents in one of the partner states can acquire land in another, saying that it is too early for the country to fully open its lands to other East Africans. One of the barriers to committing to the acquisition of land seems to be Tanzania’s land tenure system which declares that ‘all land is publicly owned by the head of state in trust for the whole nation with different legal regimes applying to rural and urban areas.’ “In Tanzania, you must have big investments to acquire land,” said Barack Ndegwa, a director in the Kenyan Ministry of EAC Affairs. It should be noted that Tanzanian negotiators declined to speak to the East African. Apparently, language sparked off another disagreement. According to Edith Kateme, Burundi wanted “access” to lands in the five-member states whereas Rwanda insisted on the word “acquire”. Kenya and Uganda opted for “may access”. There was hope that the issue could be resolved during the meeting in Zanzibar in November.

‘Now make way for us”. [Norway learns:] ‘A lesson in sustainability from Tanzania’, reports the economist Michael Fergus in HABARI, the journal of the Sweden-Tanzania Society. Fergus’s article debunks the ‘persistent, and very depressing myth that much of the infrastructure built in rural Africa in the 1970’s and 1980’s financed by the West, turned to dust, as soon as the donor left.’ A study (published in November 2007) of the water and sanitation schemes in Tanzania and Kenya, supported by Norwegian development aid, gives a complete lie to this myth. It shows that between 70% and 90% of the schemes built between 20 and 30 years ago are still working well. To the surprise of donor agencies, villages in the remote Tanzanian regions of Kigoma and Rukwa, in the spirit of kujitegemea, self-reliance, have managed to maintain a high percentage of water aid investments without assistance from the Tanzanian government.

The EAST AFRICAN (18th August) reported on a new export market being developed in the East Usambara mountains in Tanga region. Under the ‘Amani Butterfly Project’ insects are exported to the UK, USA, Switzerland, France and Germany. Depending on the species, butterfly pupae are sold for between $1 and $2.50 each. On arrival at their destinations they are cultivated in butterfly houses which charge fees to tourists wanting to see tropical butterflies flying under glass roofs. Since 2003 the project has paid more than $70,000 to butterfly farmers.

Columnist Melanie Reid informed readers of THE TIMES (May 26) of the disturbing plight faced by Tanzanian escorts (guides and porters) who accompany some 25,000 Western tourists on their quest to climb Africa’s tallest peak, Mt Kilimanjaro. In stark contrast to their Nepalese counterparts, working on Mt Everest, who are well-fed and well-clothed and who are now ‘recognised and recompensed for the unique skills they offer the developed world at play’, Tanzanian guides are extremely low-paid and ill equipped by the companies that organise the lucrative trips. According to Reid, ‘Up to 20 guides and porters die on Kilimanjaro every year[…] These young men exist in a ruthless free-market economy vying with each other for the jobs, and risking their own health with enforced lay-offs and lack of proper re-acclimatisation,’ says Reid. Porters (who carry 20kg packs containing water, food, firewood and the tourist’s possessions) earn $3 a day; guides up to £10. ‘Allegedly,’ says the columnist, ‘some companies do not pay their staff any salaries at all, but let them rely on tips.’ – Thank you John Sankey for sending this Editor

Several international media (including BBCSwahili, and MSNBC) reported the ceremonies held in Kenya and Tanzania in memory of the victims of the al-Qaeda bomb attacks on the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. The attacks, which took place on August 7, 1998, killed over 200 people and wounded 5,000.

On Thursday 2nd October, FOXNEWS.com wrote under the headline: ‘Dance Turned Stampede Kills 20 Children in Tanzania’. Extracts: ‘At least 400 children aged 5 to 13 were inside the hall in the town of Tabora when the stampede occurred. [The children] were dancing to English and Kiswahili songs [while they celebrated] the Islamic Eid al-Fitr holiday.’ Police Commander Daudi Siasa said, “The children were trapped inside the hall, which has a capacity to accommodate maximum 200 people, but the number was more than double inside at the time.” President Kikwete sent condolences to the children’s families and dispatched a senior cabinet member to investigate.

In its ‘Country Profile on Tanzania’ by Walragala Wakabi in October the NEW INTERNATIONALIST awarded star ratings to various aspects of Tanzania today. In income distribution it awarded three stars, for life expectancy two, literacy three, freedom five (‘a thriving and powerful media and civil society’) and for its treatment of sexual minorities one star. On the latter it wrote: ‘Homosexuality is illegal; new laws have criminalised lesbianism and same sex marriage is punishable by imprisonment for seven years.’ On President Kikwete it wrote that he had maintained the neo-liberal and pro-privatisation policies of his predecessors….. but he had pussy-footed about the lingering issue of the relationship between mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar which feels marginalised and wants greater autonomy – the rising friction between the two has become a threat to what has hitherto been among the most politically stable countries on the continent’ – Thank you Sister Lucia for this – Editor

TZUK NEWS (September-October) published a story written by Gloria Mutahanamilwa about Boniface Hima (25) who is training to be in the British army where he hopes to be working as a Royal Engineer. Extracts: Hima is a born again Christian and I asked him how he mixed his strong Christian beliefs with a job in the armed forces. He replied: “If you read the Bible, there were wars and killings and God didn’t condemn Moses when he killed and buried someone with his own hands. He went on to say that if he were asked to go to the front line nothing would stop him as he had taken an oath of allegiance swearing to be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and her heirs and successors.

Royal Engineer Boniface Hima (photo courtesy Mr & Mrs B.Hima)
He is enjoying every minute of his training and is encouraging other ethnics to join. The writer concluded: “I am left with one big question. If Tanzania and the United Kingdom should ….where would his allegiance lie?”

Who owns Obama? was the question posed in the EAST AFRICAN on November 10. Everyone knows that Kenya owns half of him but, according to the Tanzanian ‘Weekend African’ Obama is actually a quarter Tanzanian. The president-elect’s grandmother on his father’s side, the paper claims, hailed from Kowak village in Tarime District close to the border with Kenya.

(In order to make this section as interesting and representative as possible we welcome contributions from readers. If you see a mention of Tanzania in the journal, magazine or newspaper you read, especially if you live overseas or travel outside the UK/Tanzania, please send us the relevant item together with the name and date of the publication. We greatly value the many contributions we receive for this section of TA. – Editor)

Judith Melby writing in CHRISTIAN AID NEWS (Summer 2008) gave her view that Tanzania was not getting the financial returns it should be getting at the Geita Gold Mine: Extracts:
‘When Tanzania entered into contracts with mining companies in the 1990s, the World Bank was urging governments to develop private investments and provide incentives to attract foreign capital. Peter Kafumu, Commissioner for Minerals, says negotiating with the mining companies and their experienced lawyers was intimidating, and likened it to facing a traditional African weapon: “The companies are holding a panga by the handle and we are getting the sharp end.” Instead of reaping the rewards of a bonanza, Tanzania has lost hundreds of millions of pounds because the royalties levied on extracted gold are so low and mining companies have reportedly minimised their tax liability by inflating their losses.

AngloGold Ashanti’s (AGA) mine in Geita, one of Africa’s biggest open-cast mines, produced 308,000 ounces of gold in 2006 but AGA would only start paying corporation tax in 2011- 11 years after starting operations. Yet the company’s own annual reports showed that it made operating profits of US$93million from Geita between 2002 and mid-2007.

The residents of Geita had little to show for AGA’s gold boom. The town has few paved roads and intermittent electricity, and water is still drawn from wells. The town’s population has exploded from 20,000 to 120,000 as men flock there in search of work. Geita District Hospital was built in 1956 and probably has not seen much upgrading since. It is busy, with about 250 outpatients a day and 160 inpatients. Many wards have two patients to a bed…..’

‘Tanzania’s Environment Body Gets Tough on Developers.’ This is the heading of an article in the EAST AFRICAN (June 16) explaining that the National Environment Management Council (NEMC) has warned that development projects of almost all kinds must undertake environmental impact studies before launching projects. The Council stated its intention to take stern measures against any violations of the environmental law.

Vicky Ntetema writing in the July issue of the BBC’s FOCUS ON AFRICA explained how even Tanzania’s middle classes were now feeling the pinch as the prices of the main staple foods had gone up two fold in the past few months to 80 cents for a kilo of maize and $1 for a kilo of rice. The article quotes the case of 49-year-old pharmacist Joyce Mwasha who is fairly well paid, earning $700 a month at the city’s main hospital. Her husband is a forestry expert and together they can afford to send their son and daughter to boarding school. But they have noticed other price increases: meat is now $3 a kilo; it is $10 for a chicken and a kilo of cassava flour now costs 80 cents. She also has to spend between $60 and $100 on transport to work each month.

A highly-competitive student competition with £24,000 of prize money for the best ‘Big Idea’ (sponsored by the TIMES) attracted more than 1,000 entries from 68 universities around world. The paper reported that the winner was John Tilleman, the co-founder of ‘Solar Oven Systems’ which had developed a simple solar oven made from a piece of reflective plastic folded into a cone. Tilleman was reported to be in Tanzania to investigate the concept. He was hoping to use solar power to reduce deforestation – Thank you M. Anderson for sending this item – Editor.

According to EAST AFRICAN BUSINESS WEEK (February 25) data now being acquired in off-shore Tanzania has shown that it is possible that commercial production of petroleum oil and gas could be achieved as early as 2012. According to Dr. Philip Nelson, the Director of Petrodel Resources Ltd which has licences in Latham and Kimbiji there have been signs of “flat spots” and “bright spots” which are widespread in the seismic data from Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta. These ‘spots’ are fundamental to the discovery, development, and production of oil and gas he said. Petrodel began its survey in February to collect seismic data. The company expected to begin similar surveys at the offshore sector in Tanga later – Thank you Keith Lye for sending this and other items -Editor.

AFRICA REPORT published in its April issue a list of the top 500 companies in Africa. Way out ahead at the top of the list is Sonatrach, an Algerian hydrocarbon company which is followed by South Africa’s Old Mutual insurance company. The only Tanzanian company on the list – at number 275 – is Vodafone Telecoms. 37 of the top 50 companies in the list are in South Africa.

The EAST AFRICAN (April 21) reported that the Olympic torch had arrived in Dar es Salaam from Argentina on the night of 12th April (see last issue of TA). The torch had a trouble free journey through the Tanzanian capital, the only African leg of the flame’s journey to Beijing. The 25 kilometre route had to be scaled down to five kilometres because of heavy rains that had pounded the city and flooded several sections of the rally route. The paper said that it was, to all intents and purposes, an all-Chinese affair as Chinese citizens working in East Africa turned up at the airport and lined the streets. Only a small crowd of Tanzanians were there at the periphery.

DEVELOPMENTS, published by the UK’s DIFID, highlighted in its Issue 4 of 2008 what it described as an unprecedented joint venture between the Japanese giant Sumitomo Chemical and A-Z Textiles in Arusha (see cover photo TA 0). Sumitomo are the creators of the ‘Olyset’ anti mosquito net – the first long-lasting, insecticide-treated nets which are guaranteed to last for at least five years. They never need re-treatment, are virtually tear-proof and can be washed up to 20 times while remaining effective. The non-toxic insecticide is contained within the fibre, not coated on the outside. The Arusha factory is now one of Tanzania’s largest employers with approximately 3,200 staff, mostly women – Thank you John Sankey for sending this – Editor.

‘Eco philanthropists are now buying up vast tracts of East Africa with little interest in commercial gain. Will this be the generation to rescue Africa’s wildlife and offer affluent consumers a true wilderness experience?’ This was the subject of an article in the FINANCIAL TIMES on 17th May by Lucia van der Post in which she described an ‘African miracle’ taking place in the north-west corner of the Serengeti. Extracts: ‘Just six years ago, this vital Western corridor of the reserve was a dismal hunting block with badly controlled hunting and poaching by the desperately poor population. It had now been transformed so that all its 346,000 acres were flourishing again under the beneficent eye of Wall Street fund manager Paul Tudor Jones. He has turned the area into ‘Singita Grumeti Reserves’ and made it one of the most sensationally luxurious safari destinations in Africa…. It has created jobs for some 600 people, offered educational scholarships and founded small businesses for neighbouring residents, to bring to this corner of Tanzania something of the prosperity that eco-tourism has brought to other places….. Nobody has any illusions that this eco-tourism can ever be made to pay its way. Keeping the costs down is the most that they are aiming for. Tudor Jones is rumoured to have poured some £45 million into the project and any future profit is to be directed to the ‘Grumeti Fund’ which helps villagers to set up small enterprises –Thank you Debbie Simmons for this – Editor.

A fun event reported in the WANTAGE HERALD (3rd July) comprised 20 specially created scarecrows scattered around the village of East Hagbourne and followed the heroes, heroines and villains theme of a church fete. It attracted a lot of attention. The objective was to raise funds to equip a hospital plus solar panels and equipment for schools in Liuli, Tanzania – Thank you Geoffrey Stokell for sending this – Editor.

The EAST AFRICAN (16th June) quoted the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List as describing a ‘grim’ roll-call of endangered species of birds around the world. Among the 1,226 species now threatened are the Sokoke Scops owls which feed mostly on insects such as beetles in the forests of coastal Kenya. But the birds are also found in the Usambara Mountains where a few hundred birds are still thought to reside. Global warming is affecting the bird population through long-term drought and sudden extreme weather which disrupts the natural environment of the birds.

On Sunday 13 April six Maasai Warriors ran the Flora London Marathon to raise funds for a lean water supply for their community in Eluai Village, Monduli Juu. Nguru, Lengamai, Kesika and Ninna completed the race in 5 hours 24 minutes alongside Paul Martin of Greenforce. Isaya, their leader, became ill halfway through the race and was taken to hospital as a precaution accompanied by Taico. The next day, determined to complete the race, Isaya and Taico returned to where they had dropped out and ran the remaining 14 miles, crossing the finish line in a total running time of 4 hours 45 minutes. It was then announced that they had achieved the target of £60,000 and the figure is still growing. The Warriors were supported by various BTS members including Aseri Katanga, Abubakar Faraji and their children, John and Peter Leonhardt, Trevor Jaggar and Liz and Ron Fennell – see BTS Newsletter for more

President Bush’s visit to Tanzania in February received widespread international coverage. For example, the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (February 18) reported that President Bush had signed a 5 year $698 million new aid package for Tanzania. In Arusha President Kikwete spoke about Barack Obama and the excitement of the American presidential election. “The US is going to get a new President. Whoever it is, for us, the most important thing is, let him be as good a friend of Africa as President Bush has been.”
US president Bush at a health centre near Arusha
At a joint press conference in Dar es Salaam President Bush said “America doesn’t work with thieves” and added: “The decision to back Tanzania’s efforts to fight poverty has been prompted by President Kikwete’s stand against corruption.” President Bush described Mr Kikwete as a “smart and role model leader in Africa.”

Security was extremely tight during the visit. US security officials camped on the roof a one of the buildings in the State House complex and sniffer dogs were roaming the State House grounds. President Bush arrived in a massive bullet proof limousine which was equipped to fend off heat-seeking bombs from more than 100 metres. Some of the security guards took time off in Arusha in the evening to visit the Greek Club. On the way back to their hotel they were mugged!
President Bush summed up the visit by saying: “It was very moving for us racing through the streets of Dar es Salaam to see thousands of people there greeting us. I really do want to extend my thanks.” President Kikwete gave Mr Bush a stuffed leopard and lion and Mr Bush gave Mr Kikwete a pair of basketball star Shaquille O’Neil’s athletic shoes. In April the US said it would increase the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) assistance to Tanzania by an additional $303m, bringing the total amount contributed to over $817m. Again in April they gave some $2.3 million to strengthen smallholder horticultural export market linkages for high value vegetables – Thank you Christine Lawrence and Elsbeth Court for sending parts of the above and Ron Blanche for sending another part from Singapore – Editor.

The London GUARDIAN WEEKLY REVIEW (February 29) wrote: ‘Never mind the bubonic plague, or T.B. or Aids, no disease in the history of the human species has caused more sickness or death and no disease has proved harder to defeat than malaria. It destroyed armies during the first and second world wars and counts among its illustrious victims Alexander the Great, Dante, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Oliver Cromwell and Lord Byron. Meanwhile in Tanzania Shadrack Nuru, a nine months old baby in Bagamoyo, is one of 340 babies who are part of a newly energised global campaign to defeat this tenacious killer. They are participating in clinical trials which are under way to test the efficacy of the most promising malaria vaccine yet devised. Half of the babies have been injected with the prototype vaccine known as RTS.S and half with a control vaccine.

Shadrack, because he is at the centre of a major international research project, has a much higher chance of surviving than the average baby in the country where local doctors estimate that more than 100,000 chil- dren died from malaria in 2007. The cash for the project has come from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Salim Abdullah, who heads the Bagamoyo Research Centre, was quoted as saying: “I believe we are the first generation in human history with a serious chance of beating malaria. But I would not have dreamt of saying such a thing 10 years ago when we were alone, neglected and unfunded – Thank you Sister Lucia CSP for sending this – Editor.

BIRDS, the publication of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, indicated in its May/July issue the concern being expressed by people from Lake Natron regarding a proposed new soda ash plant. This is said to threaten the only breeding site of the African Rift Valley’s millions of lesser flamingos – among the world’s most sensational wildlife experiences. The Tanzanian Association of Tour Operators was quoted as saying: ‘Over and above tour operators’ losses, the country will lose in terms of employment, taxes and the economic trickle-down effect.’ The scheme is a joint venture between the government and Tata Chemicals of India. A spokesman for Tata was quoted as saying “It could well be that this project is impossible to carry out without significant risk to the survival of the lesser flamingo, but that point, in our opinion, has not yet been reached.” Representations about the issue have been made to the parliamentary Committee on the Environment in Dar. Thank you Robert Wise for this – Editor.

The NEW SCIENTIST (19th April) wrote: ‘Despite being one of the world’s poorest countries, Tanzania has become a role model in how to reach global targets for reducing death rates of children and mothers – putting most of its poor African neighbours to shame. So says the World Health Organisation which reported that, of the 68 nations that account for 97 per cent of the world’s childhood and maternal deaths, only 16 are on track to meet millennium development goals in children under five by two thirds and maternal deaths by three-quarters between 1990 and 2015. Between 1999 and 2004 Tanzania increased the annual amount spent on health care per citizen from $4.70 to $11.70. No other African government matched this. As a result child mortality fell by 11 per cent between 2000 and 2005 and Tanzania should be able to reach its target’ – Thank you Keith Lye for this and many other contributions – Editor.

An article in DEVELOPMENTS Issue 41 under the title ‘Net Benefit’ reported on an unprecedented joint venture to protect against malaria between the Japanese giant Sumitomo Chemical and A-Z Textiles based in Arusha. Sumitomo are the creators of the Olyset net which is guaranteed to last at least five years; it never needs re-treatment; its polythene technology makes it virtually tear-proof so it can be washed up to 20 times and still remain effective; its control – release technology enables the non-toxic insecticide to be contained within the fibre, not coated on the outside; it has a quadruple insecticide effect on mosquitoes – bite inhibition, repellency, knockdown and kill. Started in 2004, production has now reached 10 billion nets a year. Some 3,200 people, mostly women, have gained employment.

Kate Elsheby, writing in the April issue of NEW AFRICAN described a visit to ‘the mesmerising, yet little-known Katavi National Park in south-west Tanzania. There are more hippos than anywhere else in Africa. The park receives only 1,200 visitors each year in contrast to the Ngorongoro crater which recorded a record 375 cars on one day alone in August 2007. The animals at Katavi are completely wild and not like other parks where they are used to vehicles and sit watching like moody, camera-weary models. During the dry season Katavi’s crocodiles display behaviour unique to this area which resulted in the National Geographic Society coming out to film them in 2007. The crocodiles slither into caves along the riverbanks to hibernate: lying still, their heart beats slow to two beats per minute, and they remain like this for up to six weeks….’

The ANTIQUE TRADE GAZETTE (November ‘07) reported that the first European credited with successfully climbing Mount Kilimanjaro was Hans Horst Meyer. He eventually reached the summit on his third attempt; On his first he was defeated by deep snow and ice; on the second he was taken prisoner during the Abushiri revolt. In 1891 he published a book on his climbing and this book was recently put up for auction at Christie’s. Gallerie Minerva of Zurich bid £4,200 for it – Thank you John Sankey for sending this – Editor.

The EAST AFRICAN in its March 31 issue devoted two pages to the person it described as ‘Tanzania’s one-man backbench.’ It wrote: ‘Zitto Kabwe, the MP for Kigoma, is at the face of a new breed of young politicians who have lit up the public imagination by incessantly questioning authority and crusading against corruption.’ It went on: ‘Tanzanian society itself is in a state of ferment. For the first time, public pressure is mounting on leaders to account for their actions. And nowhere has this pressure for change been more evident than in Parliament where Kabwe and company have emerged as voices for reform and probity. He represents the new breed of radical nyerereist MP’s who have risen up to revive Nyerereism as an ideology of simplicity and the rejection of the empty worship of wealth…..the man has forced the government to start looking afresh at lopsided mining contracts that Tanzania has signed with multinational mining companies over the years. What CCM bigwigs did not realise was that Kabwe is riding the crest of a wave of popular resentment of mining companies because the people were perceived as not getting a fair share of the revenue from the expanding gold exports…. Kabwe is a trained Trade Economist…. At university he was suspended twice following a student strike…he joined the CHADEMA party in 1993 AND is now Deputy Secretary General. He say he will not contest the next election because he wants to undertake further studies but he is under strong party pressure to change his mind.

The NEW INTERNATIONALIST (October ’07) reported that a number of falconers in the United Arab Emirates have been in negotiations to lease land from the Hadzabe tribe, who dwell near Lake Eyasi and are one of the oldest indigenous groups on the planet. The Hadzabe apparently do not object provided they can continue to co-exist on the land. However, the article says, the Tanzanian government plans to take them off the land and relocate them in ‘shanty towns’ “Their right to their land and their way of life is under threat and protest is gathering worldwide” Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Head of the UAE Falconers Club, is being petitioned to intervene in the case by falconers and also to help to see that the Hadzabe are treated with respect – Thank you Sister Lucia CSP for sending this – Editor.