Police quiz Mbowe over video

 

Dar es Salaam. Chadema chairman Freeman Mbowe was yesterday grilled for an hour by detectives at police headquarters in Dar es Salaam after he was summoned to report and submit a video containing evidence of the recent Arusha bomb blast.

Mr Mbowe was summoned on Tuesday but failed to turn up because of party commitments.

His lawyer also was having other responsibilities thus informing the police that he would report Wednesday. Yesterday, Mr Mbowe reported at the police headquarters at around 2pm.

He was accompanied by the party lawyer Peter Kibatala and other senior party officials, according to the opposition party’s director of information, Mr John Mnyika.

Police sources told The Citizen that Mr Mbowe was asked to submit a video that implicates the police in the June 15 Arusha bomb blast that claimed lives of four people injuring several others.

Contacted, police spokesperson Advera Senso did not want to divulge details, and instead blamed the social networks for circulating rumours, saying they were meddling into the normal duties of the law enforcers.

“This is not a big deal because anyone can be summoned to appear before the police. But I want to warn people that the police force does not work depending on anyone’s interest,” she said.

Mr Mbowe declared that the bombing had been planned and carried out by the police. He further claimed that high-resolution video footage and photographs were available, which clearly showed the perpetrator, who was wearing police uniform. The opposition party leader vowed to make the footages public and assured people that they had been deposited at a secure location.

However, Chadema officials have been giving pronouncements on different occasions that they would not hand over the video because the law enforcers were the ones accused.

Yesterday, Chadema secretary general Willibroad Slaa and Mr Mnyika told The Citizen that Mr Mbowe stuck to his guns and told the police he would not release the video until an independent body to investigate the matter was formed.

“This is the party’s Central Committee’s stance that we cannot handover our evidence to people who are accused and who we are no longer trusting,’’ said Dr Slaa.

His sentiments were echoed by Mr Mnyika who said the party had written to President Jakaya Kikwete asking him to form an independent team to investigate the incident.

“Although Mr Kikwete has not responded to our letter yet, we urge the police not to rush into this matter. Let them be patient and wait for an independent tribunal which is yet to be formed by the head of state’’ said Mr Mnyika, who is also the Ubungo MP.

Although Mr Mbowe was allowed to leave the police premises, the party’s lawyer Peter Kibatala was asked to submit in writing on Friday the reasons as to why the party was not ready to release evidence of the video.

Mali: Ahead of Polls, UN Urges Mali Officials to Expedite Electoral Procedures for Refugees

With the first round of Mali's presidential elections scheduled for Sunday, the United Nations refugee agency is calling on Malian authorities to quickly make public voters' lists and speed up distribution of electoral cards in neighbouring States for out-of-country voters.
"This is especially important as refugee camps and sites are located in remote areas, where access may become difficult with the rainy season now settling in," UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Adrian Edwards told journalists in Geneva.
He added that the Malian authorities have said they are considering alternatives to allow refugees to vote in case of further delays.
Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger host some 173,000 refugees who fled Mali in the wake of a northern rebellion of ethnic Tuareg groups and a violent insurgency of Islamist extremists which displaced hundreds of thousands over the past year.
UNHCR's role in the elections is to facilitate their participation and ensure the voluntary nature of the electoral process in a safe environment.
"Our role is humanitarian and non-political only," Mr. Edwards stressed, adding that the refugee agency in June conducted formal and informal surveys in major refugee areas through discussion groups and to explain the UN agency's neutrality in the process.
"The surveys found that refugees were generally in favour of being included in the elections, that they have good awareness of the situation in Mali, and that some believe the elections will help peace and stability - a fundamental condition for many refugees in deciding whether to return to their country," he said.
In total, 19,020 refugees have voluntarily registered to take part, out of 73,277 refugees aged 18 and above.
Names were then verified against the biometric civil registry, which was last updated in 2011 and used to establish the electoral lists.
"UNHCR is concerned that only a low number of names of refugees interested in voting were found in the registry," Mr. Edwards said.
In Burkina Faso, and according to Malian registration teams, 876 out of the 3,504 registered refugees were found in the civil registry; 8,409 out of 11,355 registered refugees in Mauritania, and 932 out 4,161 registered refugees in Niger.
"In other words, only around half the refugees who have volunteered to take part in the election have so far been found in the registry," summarized Mr. Edwards.
In addition, there are reports that Malian authorities have only provided a few Numéro d'Identification national (NINA) voting to refugees in Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger representation, UNHCR said.

Tanzania: People Living With HIV/Aids Dodge Clinics

MORE than 13 per cent of people with HIV who are on antiretroviral (ARV) medication are not attending clinics.
The patients who are about 8,889 are not honouring their clinics in Mwanza Region. The Co-ordinator of the antiretroviral therapy (ART) programme , Dr Moses Ringo, said they are now working out on a strategy to bring them back to attend the clinics.
The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in an attempt to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle.
The use of multiple drugs that act on different viral targets is known as antiretroviral therapy (ART) and in other countries highly active antiretroviral therapy(HAART) . HAART decreases the patient's total burden of HIV, maintains function of the immune system and prevents opportunistic infections that often lead to death.
He said the problem of dodging clincs was serious in Mwanza Region, where the patients are boycotting the clinics without notice, thus leaving the project administrators in suspense.
He said about 1,601 under 12 and 15 children who are on ARV treatment, are also not taken to the hospital according to schedule. He said the project faces a number of challenges as the majority of patients were shying away from attending clinics.
"Annually we are supposed to serve 55 per cent of people living with HIV but so far only 27 per cent attend, " he said.
Dr Ringo said the campaign to call back to clinics people on ARV medication will start in Magu, Nyamagana and Geita districts where majority of them has chosen not to go on with medication.

Israel ready to help TZ in gas

 

 Israeli ambassador to Kenya Gil Haskel, has said his government is ready to support Tanzania so that it optimises benefits from its natural gas reserves.

In an exclusive interview with The Citizen, the envoy said Israel has the right technology that could be deployed to help Tanzania achieve economic gains from the sector.

Without the technology and expertise of its own, Tanzania will depend on major foreign oil and gas firms for the exploration and exploitation of the huge reserves, experts say.

But Mr Haskel said the success of Israel -- which helped Tanzania to set up its National Service (JKT) 50 years ago -- in the gas sector could be replicated in the country.

“Israel is further ahead on gas exploration. Israel has been dealing with gas issues for decades now and I, therefore, believe that we have something to offer to Tanzania in case we are requested to do so,” said Mr Haskel.

He said Israeli firms have enough experience and skills to share in the area, but this can only happen if the two states were to agree on the matter.

“I think it is something that could be discussed between the government of Tanzania and the State of Israel,” he said.

The envoy who was in the country to attend the commemoration of 50 years of the National Service, said Israel has been exploring off shore gas in the Mediterranean Sea.

Commenting on the commemoration of 50 years of the National Service, he said Israel was honoured to initiate the programme in July, 1963 and that the first batch included only 11 recruits from different regions in the country.

He said 50 years of the National Service also marks more than 50 years of good and close relationship between Tanzania and Israel.

“I am here in the country to mark the fruits of good relations between Israel and Tanzania, and I am happy that we are the ones who initiated the National Service programme in the country,” said

NEMC fines ex-city boss, orders hotel demolished

Vice President Mohamed Gharib Bilal chats with food vendors Coletha Jerome (Left)  and Siwazuri Kimbachi in Mbagala, Dar es Salaam.

The National Environment management Council (NEMC) has ordered the demolition of a hotel owned by a former Mwanza City director.

NEMC issued the order after it was found that Royal Sunset Beach Hotel was built less than 60 metres from Lake Victoria, contrary to environmental conservation regulations.

NEMC legal officer Machare Suguta said the council also fined the proprietor, Mr Wilson Kabwe, Sh10,000,000.

But Mr Kabwe said from Dar es Salaam that the hotel was built according to regulations.

“The laws permit one to construct temporary infrastructure within that distance from the lake shore. None of the structures is permanent,” he said.

Two NGOs have also been fined $10,000 (Sh16 million) each for using forged stamps and other documents and issuing fake environmental impact certificates (EICs) to four prominent companies.

Suguta said Mwanza Environment and Conservation of Nature (MEC) and Mwanza Region Environment Conservation charged customers Sh5 million for a certificate.

“Only the minister responsible for environmental conservation is empowered to issue EICs. We have established that these officials from the NGOs have been conducting illegal inspections of industries and hotels built along the lake shores, claiming they were NEMC officers,” said Suguta.

In Dar es Salaam, Vice President Mohamed Gharib Bilal , yesterday began a two-day tour of the city to assess the cleanliness and sanitation situations.

He said city authorities needed to put in place comprehensive waste management strategies. “Dar es Salaam produces at least 4,000 tonnes of solid waste daily, but only 50 to 52 per cent of the amount is collected and taken to dump sites,” Dr Bilal said. “Urban populations are increasing rapidly, and our cities and towns will be too dangerous to live in unless massive improvement of waste water management is undertaken,” he added

Earlier, Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner Said Meck Sadick said Temeke, Ilala and K

The Minister of State (Vice-President’s Office, Environment), Dr Terezya Huvisa, said Tanzania needed to take urgent measures to improve waste disposal.

“City authorities need to put in place comprehensive waste management strategies that promote effective and responsible water use, treatment, and disposal, instead of relying on the 1960s stabilisation ponds,” she said.

inondoni municipalities generated 1,138, 1,188 and 2,226 tonnes of solid waste daily.

“Out of the amount produced, Temeke collects only 550 tonnes of garbage, Ilala 474 tonnes and Kinondoni 1,054 tonnes. This explains why a lot of garbage remains on the streets,” he said.

Investment in mining drops by over 20pc

 

 Reduced investment in mining could hit Tanzania’s goal of having the sector contribute at least 10 per cent of GDP by 2025.

The industry’s contribution to the national economy currently stands at 3.7 per cent.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) says in a new report that big mining companies worldwide have this year decreased their capital expenditure by 21 per cent.  This had led to projects being deferred or scaled back.

The top 40 mining companies by market capitalisation last year spent $140 billion on capital projects, but the figure has dropped to $110 billion this year.

Mr David Tarimo, PwC Partner, Tax Services, told The Citizen in an exclusive interview that Tanzania was likely to see few or no new projects in 2013, and existing ones could be scaled back  or scrapped altogether, adding that this could have a great impact on the economy.

He said resource nationalism continues to pose a big threat to mining as governments seek greater shares of profits.

“Governments are now looking at different strategies to extract a greater share from mining operations. These strategies range from increasing taxes and royalties to restricting foreign ownership,” Mr Tarimo said.

This could increase the cost of minerals which could, in turn, reduce economic growth in the jurisdictions that are driving demand for minerals. 

The impact of reduced spending had in recent months been seen through the industry’s value chain after many suppliers announced lower than expected profits, Mr Tarimo said.

The future is also not very rosy for smaller miners, who  are struggling to raise capital.  Even those who are prepared to pay high interest rates on loans cannot get credit.

“If funding does not improve soon, this will have a dramatic impact on new reserves,” Mr Tarimo said.

The PWC report titled Mine: A Confidence Crisis says being tough with mining companies might look good to stakeholders at home in the short run, but governments should consider a broader view of returns from natural resource development.

“Mining activities provide jobs, both direct and indirect, taxes, infrastructure and promote overall economic development,” the report says.

Continued resource nationalism by governments makes countries less attractive for mining investment, it warns.

“To attract mining investment governments, should provide long-term assurance to companies, for example through robust stability clauses in mining agreements.”

Regaining confidence depends on how the mining industry responds to its rising costs, increasingly volatile commodity prices and other challenges such as resource nationalism. Despite this drop in confidence, it’s not all bad news.

The report says production volumes and dividend yields are up and while prices have fallen, they have not crashed. China continues to be the industry’s most important customer.

While Chinese growth rates are slowing down, they are coming from a bigger base, so future demand for commodities still looks healthy.

Miners are trying to rebuild the market’s confidence - capital expenditures have been scaled back, hurdle rates are being increased and non-core assets are being disposed of.

Across the board, there is a shift from maximising value by increasing production volumes, to a renewed focus on maximising returns from existing operations through

EAC develops framework on youth policy

 

The East African Community (EAC) has adopted the Social Development Framework to address issues on youth policy and gender, it was announced on Saturday.

The EAC Social Development Framework; the EAC Youth Policy and the Report on Participatory Gender Audit for EAC Organs and Institutions were adopted during a meeting of Sectoral Council on Gender, Youth, Children, Social Protection and Community Development which ended on Friday.

The meeting also adopted the EAC framework for gender sensitive outcomes and indicators for the 4th EAC Development Strategy (2011-2016); the EAC Gender Mainstreaming Strategy; the EAC Gender Mainstreaming Guidelines and Checklists; and Guidelines for the establishment of National Youth Councils.

Addressing delegates, the chairperson of the Sectoral Council, Mr Mwesigwa Rukutana, Uganda’s minister of State in charge of Gender, Labour and Social Development, commended the EAC secretary general and the team of experts from the Arusha-based Secretariat for the good work of driving the social sector forward.

“A lot of progress has been registered in developing the social sector component of the EAC,” he said.

“Various documents such as the EAC Strategic Plan on Gender, Youth, Social Protection and Community Development, the Consultative Dialogue Framework for Civil Society Organisations and Private Sector, the EAC Policy on Persons with Disability, among others, have been developed,” he added.