Shein rejects Zanzibar power-sharing deal

ZANZIBAR president Ali Mohamed Shein yesterday dashed hopes for another government of national unity (GNU) in the troubled archipelago, saying doing so would be unconstitutional given his “overwhelming” 91.4 per cent election rerun victory.

The formation of a coalition government between Zanzibar's two leading parties - the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and opposition Civic United Front (CUF) - succeeded in easing a political stalemate after the 2010 polls similar to the one currently prevailing in the Isles.
That move led to CUF’s secretary general Seif Sharif Hamad becoming the Isles first vice president while several other CUF members were chosen as cabinet ministers and deputy ministers in the GNU.
But this time around, President Shein said here that since no opposition party garnered the required constitutional threshold of 10 per cent of the vote in the March 20 polls rerun, overwhelming winners CCM would go it alone and form its own government.
The polls rerun was boycotted by CUF, which continues to insist that its presidential candidate Hamad was winning in the original election last October which was annulled in controversial circumstances midway during the vote count.
In the absence of CUF, Shein's closest rival in the presidential race, Hamad Rashid Mohamed from the Alliance for Democratic Change (ADC), got a measly 3 percent of the total vote at the election rerun.
In the Zanzibar context, a GNU is a power-sharing system of government which incorporates representatives of political parties that won at least 10 per cent of the presidential vote.
This is according to section 39(3) of Zanzibar’s 1984 Constitution, as amended in 2010, which Shein quoted in his inaugural address to the Zanzibar House of Representatives here yesterday to drum home his assertion that such a power-sharing deal wasn’t possible this time.
He also noted that CCM had a clean sweep of all 54 House of Representative constituency seats as none of the opposition parties managed to get even a single seat.
“Zanzibaris have made their choice by denying such a possibility (of a coalition government) and giving CCM the room to rule the country alone,” he said.
He said the appointment of Ambassador Seif Ali Idd as second vice president was done according to section 39(6) of the Zanzibar constitution, which states that for a person to hold such a post, he or she must be appointed from within members of the House of Representatives and from the political party of the president.
Dr Shein said he was forced to clarify the matter because of claims that he has refused to appoint a first vice president.
“Why should I have to appoint someone who does not qualify for the post? This would be violating the country’s constitution,” he stated.
He also moved to refute speculation that Zanzibar may be forced to go through yet another general election rerun after last month's disputed exercise, insisting that the next election in the Isles will be held in 2020 as scheduled, and not before.
On the niggling issue of donor dependence, Shein said his government will work hard to enable Zanzibar to become financially self-reliant.
According to the Minister for union affairs and the environment in the Union government, January Makamba, Shein has done the right thing in not appointing a first vice president so far because no one (in the opposition) is qualified to hold such a post constitutionally.
Meanwhile, hours after delivering his inaugural speech to the House, Shein appointed seven House of Representatives members, including three opposition presidential candidates who participated in the polls re-run.
Members of the opposition appointed by the president to serve in the House include Hamad Rashid Mohamed from the ADC party, Said Soud Said (African Farmers Party's - AFP), and Juma Ali Khatib (ADA-TADEA).
The other four appointed members are all from the ruling CCM party; former state minister Mohamed Aboud Mohamed, former Tanzania (Union government) presidential hopeful Amina Salum Ali, Moulin Castico, and Ambassador Ali Karume.

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UN offers 420m/- for cassava processing plant

The UNCDF head of country, Peter Malika

 The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) has pledged 420m/- to improve a cassava processing factory run by the Frederic and Jocelyne Scheer African Starch Development Company Limited (FJS) in Bungu Village in Tanzania’s western region.

 

FJS is a US-based foundation that promotes creative projects to generate sustainable employment in Tanzania.

 

The funds will be used as working capital and for new machinery aimed at raising cassava-flour production to sustain food security, create jobs, steady farmers’ revenue and improve their livelihoods. 

 

According to FJS, one of the main obstacles cassava farmers are faced with is selling their crops to generate steady revenue since they are capable of improving their own productivity and raise the crop’s output, but face challenges of finding markets to sell the product due to poor road infrastructure from the harvesting areas. 

 

Therefore, attractive markets such as Dar es Salaam where 250 tonnes of cassava are sold daily cannot be a target market for cassava farmers since the long trajectory from Bungu Village is costly due to poor roads infrastructure and the lack of refrigeration, making it difficult to transport fresh food.

 

The UNCDF head of country, Peter Malika, explained that with the new investment, the cassava starch and flour plant will be able to produce approximately one tonne of cassava flour a day that are meant to cover local and international demand.

 

“The factory aims at empowering local cassava farmers whom, thanks to the cassava flour, will be able to access more profitable markets for their products,” Malika added. 

 

According to FJS, cassava farmers are only able to distribute their crops within a 30 miles radius area due to absence of refrigeration. However, with cassava flour they will be able to deliver their products beyond Tanzania. Cassava produce is a USD2.86 bn industry which accounts for 2.1 per cent in African and exports to the global market.

 

Tanzania ranks 8th in Africa in cassava production worth USD 369,000 which is equivalent to 0.63 per cent of the total exported produce from Africa with Ghana topping the list by exporting a total of USD 33.9 million worth of the crop, which is equivalent to 58 per cent. 

 

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), cassava consumption demand growth is estimated at an average of 3.4 per cent. The crop is cultivated in many regions of Tanzania such as Mwanza, Mtwara, Lindi, Shinyanga, Tanga, Ruvuma, Mara, Kigoma, and Coast. Tanzania is the largest country in East Africa, covering an area of 940,000 km2, 60,000 of which is inland water.  In Coast Region, cassava is one of the main food crops. It is estimated that the annual production of fresh cassava is seven million metric tonnes. In sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia cassava is staple food and is eaten by over seven hundred million people. Cassava flour can also be used to make biscuits, cake, bread and other products. Cassava has potential for industrial use in production of starch and bio fuel.

 

The leaves are also used for food in many communities in Africa, including Tanzania. The crop is an important subsistence food, especially in the semi-arid areas and is sometimes considered as a famine reserve when cereals fail, due to its drought tolerance.

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Govt, private sector team up to address shortage of nurses

The Deputy Minister for Health, Gender, Elderly and Children, Dr Khamis Kigwangala

 The government is working with the private sector to address a massive shortage of nurses and midwives which now stand at 51 per cent.

 

Dr Khamis Kigwangala, the Deputy Minister for Health, Gender, Elderly and Children, announced yesterday in Dar es Salaam during the inauguration ceremony of the Salama House to support the Aga Khan University’s Health Programmes in East Africa.

 

The house, fully financed by the Federal Republic of Germany at a total cost of €1.2million, will provide a modern science lab and skills lab - essential for modern nursing pedagogy- increasing the number of enrollment from the current 43 to 60 students.

 

“We are looking to increase training of nurses and midwives at all levels both in rural and urban areas. There will also be special focus on developing community health workers and traditional birth attendants,” Dr Kigwangala said.

 

The deputy minister said the government will, during this financial year, hire over 10,000 health officials.

 

Dr Gerd Muller, the Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development of the Federal Republic of Germany, speaking at the ceremony, said his government was concerned with the level of community health especially in rural communities.

 

“We have to double training capacity of nurses and midwives... the programme should target rural areas,” he said. “We need access to health services for all people, not only those in urban areas.”

 

Dr Muller announced that his government in collaboration with their Tanzanian counterparts would work on modalities to initiate an exchange programme for nurses and midwives.

 

“There are competent nurses in Germany who don’t get places for practical training; we hope this is an area that we can all benefit from,” the minister stressed.

 

The minister noted the high rate of maternal mortality in the country, calling for strategic cooperation to reduce the menace.

 

Al-Karim Haji, the vice president - Finance and chief financial officer at the Aga Khan University announced that the institute had secured a €17million grant from Germany to improve nursing and midwifery in the East African Community (EAC).

 

He detailed that as of now at least 600 students from Tanzania and 2,100 from EAC have benefited from AKU training.

 

“We’re working to harmonise nurses and midwifery standards and training among EAC member states. We receive numerous support from all the benefiting members,” he said.

 

Dr Richard Sezibera, the outgoing EAC secretary general, told the gathering that the region was working on improving the sector and others.

 

According to him, health is critical for the function of the Common Market and harmonising the sector would eliminate the need for Yellow fever vaccination requirements for travelling in the region.

 

The secretary general said the region had also received €60million from the Federal Republic of Germany to strengthen the immunisation campaign in the East African Community.

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Germany donates aircraft to help in war on poaching

Christof Schenck, CEO of Frankfurt Zoological Society

 The German government has donated an aircraft to Tanzania to reinforce anti-poaching efforts in Selous Game Reserve, located in southern part of the country.

 

Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development of the Federal Republic of Germany, Dr  Gerd Müller, handed over a symbolic key of the ‘Husky aircraft’ worth 498,292,000/- to Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Prof Jumanne Maghembe. 

 

According to their joint statement issued yesterday , the aircraft will be deployed by Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) in close cooperation with the Tanzanian Wildlife Management Authority (TAWA) for surveillance of wildlife in the Selous Game Reserve and to support the fight against poaching.

 

Speaking at the hand-over ceremony held at Matambwe Airstrip in the game reserve, the German Minister said: “Poaching threatens biodiversity in many of Africa’s remaining wilderness areas and undermines security of nations and the livelihoods of people.”

 

Müller added: “Handing this aircraft over to the Tanzanian authorities and FZS is an important cornerstone of our longstanding support for the Selous Game Reserve and the adjacent communities.”

 

 “For a large area like the Selous Game Reserve, one of the largest uninhabited protected areas of Africa, aerial surveillance is vital,” said Minister Maghembe. He thanked the German government for the support in countering the recent upsurge in poaching. 

 

“This aircraft will also help the Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority carrying out wildlife and habitat monitoring in the Selous as one of Tanzania’s biodiversity hotspots of global relevance,” he added.

 

The group visited the Rufiji River in the Selous Game Reserve to discuss the conservation challenges on-site. They also met with representatives of the private sector to explore ways to combine wildlife conservation and sustainable tourism. The German Ambassador Egon Kochanke underlined that “The Selous Game Reserve is not only one of the largest protected areas in Africa but also the centrepiece of the new Tanzania Wildlife Authority.” 

 

The area has been hit very hard by poachers: Between 2009 and 2014, the population of approximately 45,000 elephants at that time has been decimated to approximately 15,000. Today, all of Tanzania is estimated to have about 45,000 elephants, 60percent less than in 2009.

 

“Poaching is a severe threat to biodiversity,” said Christof Schenck, CEO of Frankfurt Zoological Society, “not only because it can lead to local extinctions of targeted species like elephant and rhino, but because their disappearance can harm the ecosystem altogether. Frankfurt Zoological Society is committed to contribute to halting the deterioration of the Selous.”

 

In 1982, the Selous was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today, the Selous is regarded as a World Heritage Site ‘in danger’. By UNESCO standards, extraction of mineral resources and large-scale land use change are prohibited. “Now is the time to enhance protection of the area to enable wildlife populations to regrow and to restore the secured status of the World Heritage Site,“ says Schenck.

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Shein to deliver speech in Z'bar House of Reps

Zanzibar President Dr Ali Mohamed Shein

 Zanzibar President Dr Ali Mohamed Shein is tomorrow expected to deliver his inaugural speech at the Ninth House of Representatives meeting as majority of Zanzibaris  still remain tense  on the way forward over the existence of the Government of National Unity (GNU).

 

Among issues that Dr Shein is expected to address is the coalition government as the vacancy of the First Vice President remains open after the appointment of Ambassador Seif Ali Iddi as Second Vice President. House of Representatives clerk Yahya Khamis Hamad briefed the press that Dr Shein would address the house on Tuesday.

 

“I have the honour to announce to you that Dr Shein will deliver his inaugural speech since he was re-elected on Tuesday,” he said.

 

Meanwhile, former Zanzibar Law Society President Awadhi Ali Said called on Dr Shein to find the best way of continuing with the GNU so as to avoid another political stalemate in the isles.

 

However, the ZLS former president stressed that the amendment of the 2010 constitution had only considered one opposition party, Civic United Front (CUF), leaving others aside.

 

“They had only looked at the present political situation at that time by considering one party and putting the others aside without realising  that things may change unexpectedly,’’ he said.

 

According to him, the government should change some sections of the constitution that were amended to accomodate small opposition parties by allowing them to join the coalition. 

 

Following the nullification of October 25 General Election in 2015 due to a number of irregularities, Zanzibar conducted re-run polls in March 20 whereby the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) chairman Jecha Salim Jecha announced incumbent President Ali Mohamed Shein the winner after garnering 91.4 per cent.

 

Despite Dr Shein’s victory, the isles have been left in another political stalemate after none of the opposition camp, beside the main opposition Civic United Front (CUF) which boycotted the election re-run, hardly got the share of votes required by the Isles constitution to form a government of national unity (GNU).

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

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Kigoma airport to attain international status

Minister for Works, Transportation and Communication, Prof Makame Mbarawa

 

 The government has specified July 2016 as the timeframe for the beginning of a second phase expansion work of Kigoma airport.
Minister for Works, Transportation and Communication, Prof Makame Mbarawa said on Friday while in the region that the tender for the project would be opened later this year. 

 

He said expansion of the airport would allow it to accommodate international flights while also opening tourist opportunities along the Lake Tanganyika West Zone.

 

More than Sh40bn, funds from the European Investment Bank (EIB) has been set aside for the project.

 

“I call upon all residents who will be compensated for relocation to immediately leave their homes after the compensation to pave way for the project implementation” Mbarawa stressed.

 

A statement from the ministry said the airport facelift would include construction of  runway from the current 1,800 metres to 3,100 metres to allow landing and takeoff of larger planes like Boeing 737.

 

He also requested Kigoma residents to avoid friction and disputes which might delay the project and be cooperative enough to Airport and Civil Aviation Authorities for smooth implementation of the project.

 

Speaking at the occasion, Kigoma Urban MP, Zitto Kabwe (ACT-Wazalendo) urged fellow residents to welcome the project which will boost tourism in the region for the people to benefit through expanded investment opportunities.

 

“We are grateful that we have the government in power that sees the importance of investment in Kigoma. I keenly appeal to you fellow citizens to avoid disputes but instead provide the necessary support to the project which will boost economic activities in the region,” Zitto said.

 

He assured Prof Mbarawa that the airport would open up the skies in the western zone as more tourists are likely to visit the famous national parks found in Kigoma namely, Gombe and Mahale.

 

Civil Aviation Authority manager in Kigoma Godlove Longole requested the government to remember to also finance the construction of security wall (fence), control tower, passenger’s lounge and improve fire brigade services at the airport to make sure that workers performed their duties accordingly.

 

The Airport manager, Mohamedi Issa pledged close supervison of the construction work to make sure that job accomplished matched the money spent for the airport to attain Code 4C status to provide services to bigger

 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

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TCU bans New Intake at SJUIT

Minister for Education and Vocational Training Joyce Ndalichako.

St  Joseph University of Tanzania (SJUIT) will run next academic year due to start in October without new students, succumbing to pressure by the nation’s high academic overseer organization, Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU) that barred the new entry pending settlements of academic discrepancies.

 

The academic hitches defying TCU standards that led to the latest intake freeze in a row of other sanctioned harassments involving closure of the Catholic Church-run Songea and Arusha campuses, included an allegedly poor quality education.

 

The decision by TCU at the SJUIT Luguruni campus in Dar es Salaam comes barely a month after it revoked the registration of the subsidiary campus in Songea and Arusha for failure to meet the quality assurance standards.

 

The Luguruni campus was then spared, pending the release of evaluation report from TCU before the commencement of the second semester this week.

 

However, it was all not that bad news for the struggling university as TCU released the evaluation report this week, saying it would not revoke approval of the remaining Luguruni and Boko campuses in Dar es Salaam.

 

“TCU has made its evaluation and found out that the existing challenges at the  Luguruni campus can be solved at the university’s administrative levels under our supervision” the TCU Executive Secretary Professor Yunus Mgaya  told the Guardian on Sunday on Friday.

 

 “We allow commencement of their daily academic activities on a condition that they do not enroll new students for this academic year until the outlined challenges are settled,” he said.

 

The Commission, among others, has ordered the university authority to equip the institution with an adequate number of qualified lecturers including Ph.D. holders and professors, to increase the number of workshops, laboratories and other facilities. 

 

Earlier, students at the university staged a strike in a protest against high tuition fees and low quality education, but the Minister for Education and Vocational Training Joyce Ndalichako ordered them to go back to classes, amid pledges she would work with the university authorities to address their claims.

 

However, Professor Mgaya confirmed to this paper that TCU is currently scrutinizing the International Medical and Technological University (IMTU) on its way to Kampala International University (KIU), the two institutions notoriously chronic in violation of the commission’s values centred on the provision of quality education.

 

 “This is the nationwide exercise to awaken universities into proper implementation of their duties and challenging them into delivering quality university education,” he said. 

 

He said a team of experts from the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, a professor from Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) and TCU started evaluation processes at IMTU earlier this week.

 

He said the report on IMTU may be released to public if so deemed necessary, noting the commission  was especially keen in inspecting a number of universities whose records call for consistent scrutiny.

 

 “We cannot do it all alone because it is an exercise that needs a lot of human resources, that’s why we have to involve professors and officials from relevant ministries in this,” said Prof. Mgaya.

 

In February TCU  revoked accreditation of St Joseph University College of Agricultural Science (SJUCAST) and St Joseph University College of Information (SJUCIT) based in Ruvuma region and Saint Joseph Arusha Campus barely five years since its establishment, citing gross underperformance.

 

Following the revocation, more than 3,603 students of the three constituent colleges were transferred by TCU to other higher learning institutions with immediate effect.

 

According to section 5(1) of the Universities Act, Cap.346 of the Laws of Tanzania, the Commission is mandated among other things, to oversee and regulate quality as well as the general management and performance of universities.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

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