EAC YAINGILIA KATI MZOZO WA TANZANIA NA RWANDA

Wakati Tanzania ikisema kuwa iko tayari kukaa meza moja na jirani yake Rwanda kumaliza hali ya uhasama iliyoanza kujitokeza katika siku za hivi karibuni, Katibu Mkuu wa Sekretarieti ya Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki, Dk Richard Sezibera amesema jitihada za kidipolomasia zinafanyika kutatua tofauti hizo za kimawazo. 
  

Bila kutaja taasisi wala wanaohusika katika jitihada hizo za kidiplomasia, Dk Sezibera aliwaambia waandishi wa habari jijini Arusha jana kuwa jitihada hizo zinafanyika kimya kimya bila kushirikisha vyombo vya habari “Migongano na tofauti za kimtazamo miongoni mwa viongozi wakuu wa nchi wanachama wa EAC ni jambo lisilo la afya kwa Jumuiya na linastahili kushughulikiwa kidiplomasia,” alisema Dk Sezibera.
 

Akizungumza kwa tahadhari kubwa kukwepa kuingia kwa undani kuhusu suala hilo, Katibu Mkuu huyo alisema inafaa kila linalowezekana lifanyike kutatua mgongano wowote unaotokea kati ya viongozi wakuu.
 

Mjini Dar es Salaam, Waziri wa Mambo ya Nje na Ushirikiano wa Kimataifa, Benard Membe naye alisema katika mahojiano kuwa iwapo Rwanda itaomba kukutana na Tanzania kwa ajili ya kumaliza mzozo huo Serikali itakuwa tayari kutoa ushirikiano.
 

“Tanzania tunaona kuwa hii itakuwa njia ya busara zaidi kumaliza tofauti zetu kwa njia ya mazungumzo badala ya kuendelea kuishi kwa uhasama” alisema Membe na kwamba hali ya ujirani mwema na tofauti zetu tuzimalize kwa njia ya mazungumzo.”
 

Waziri Membe alisema siyo jambo la busara kuacha mzozo huo ukakaamuliwa na mataifa ya nje ili hali nchi zenyewe bado zinafursa nzuri ya kukaa mezani na kujadiliana namna ya kutafutia ufumbuzi mzozo huo.
 

Uhusiano wa Tanzania na Rwanda unatajwa kuwa katika wakati mgumu kutokana na kauli za majibizano baina ya viongozi wa pande zote mbili. Hivi karibuni Rais Jakaya Kikwete aliisihi Rwanda kutotoa kauli za kejeli kwani kwa kufanya hivyo kunaweza kuhatarisha uhusiano uliodumu kwa muda mrefu .
 

Hata hivyo, Dk Sezibera alisema tofauti na migongano kati ya viongozi haiwezi kuathiri wala kuvunja Jumuiya ya sasa ya Afrika Mashariki kama ilivyotokea kwenye Jumuiya ya awali mwaka 1977 kutokana utofauti wa muundo na misingi ya Jumuiya ya sasa.
 

“Jambo lililo dhahiri ni kwamba tofauti za kimtazamo kati ya viongozi wa nchi wanachama (Kikwete na Kagame), haziwezi kuhatarisha uhai wa Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashairiki kwa sababu muungano huu umejengwa katika muundo na misingi imara tofauti na ule (jumuiya) wa zamani,” alisema Dk Sezibera

-Mwananchi.

EAC YAINGILIA KATI MZOZO WA TANZANIA NA RWANDA

Wakati Tanzania ikisema kuwa iko tayari kukaa meza moja na jirani yake Rwanda kumaliza hali ya uhasama iliyoanza kujitokeza katika siku za hivi karibuni, Katibu Mkuu wa Sekretarieti ya Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki, Dk Richard Sezibera amesema jitihada za kidipolomasia zinafanyika kutatua tofauti hizo za kimawazo. 
  

Bila kutaja taasisi wala wanaohusika katika jitihada hizo za kidiplomasia, Dk Sezibera aliwaambia waandishi wa habari jijini Arusha jana kuwa jitihada hizo zinafanyika kimya kimya bila kushirikisha vyombo vya habari “Migongano na tofauti za kimtazamo miongoni mwa viongozi wakuu wa nchi wanachama wa EAC ni jambo lisilo la afya kwa Jumuiya na linastahili kushughulikiwa kidiplomasia,” alisema Dk Sezibera.
 

Akizungumza kwa tahadhari kubwa kukwepa kuingia kwa undani kuhusu suala hilo, Katibu Mkuu huyo alisema inafaa kila linalowezekana lifanyike kutatua mgongano wowote unaotokea kati ya viongozi wakuu.
 

Mjini Dar es Salaam, Waziri wa Mambo ya Nje na Ushirikiano wa Kimataifa, Benard Membe naye alisema katika mahojiano kuwa iwapo Rwanda itaomba kukutana na Tanzania kwa ajili ya kumaliza mzozo huo Serikali itakuwa tayari kutoa ushirikiano.
 

“Tanzania tunaona kuwa hii itakuwa njia ya busara zaidi kumaliza tofauti zetu kwa njia ya mazungumzo badala ya kuendelea kuishi kwa uhasama” alisema Membe na kwamba hali ya ujirani mwema na tofauti zetu tuzimalize kwa njia ya mazungumzo.”
 

Waziri Membe alisema siyo jambo la busara kuacha mzozo huo ukakaamuliwa na mataifa ya nje ili hali nchi zenyewe bado zinafursa nzuri ya kukaa mezani na kujadiliana namna ya kutafutia ufumbuzi mzozo huo.
 

Uhusiano wa Tanzania na Rwanda unatajwa kuwa katika wakati mgumu kutokana na kauli za majibizano baina ya viongozi wa pande zote mbili. Hivi karibuni Rais Jakaya Kikwete aliisihi Rwanda kutotoa kauli za kejeli kwani kwa kufanya hivyo kunaweza kuhatarisha uhusiano uliodumu kwa muda mrefu .
 

Hata hivyo, Dk Sezibera alisema tofauti na migongano kati ya viongozi haiwezi kuathiri wala kuvunja Jumuiya ya sasa ya Afrika Mashariki kama ilivyotokea kwenye Jumuiya ya awali mwaka 1977 kutokana utofauti wa muundo na misingi ya Jumuiya ya sasa.
 

“Jambo lililo dhahiri ni kwamba tofauti za kimtazamo kati ya viongozi wa nchi wanachama (Kikwete na Kagame), haziwezi kuhatarisha uhai wa Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashairiki kwa sababu muungano huu umejengwa katika muundo na misingi imara tofauti na ule (jumuiya) wa zamani,” alisema Dk Sezibera

-Mwananchi.

FEZA KESSY NI MIONGONI MWA WASANII WALIOKUWA WAMEVAA VIBAYA KATIKA UZINDUZI WA VIDEO YA YAHAYA YA LADY JAYDEE

Video ya yahala ilizinduliwa rasmi jana pande za nyumbani lounge. Baadhi ya wasanii kama Feza Kessy ambaye alikuwa mgeni rasmi, Vanessa Mdee  na  Mkolon...

Pamoja  na  kuwa  mgeni  rasmi, Feza  anadaiwa  kuwa  miongoni  mwa  wasanii  waliokuwa  wamevaa  vibaya....

Vazi   lake  lilikuwa  likiyaanika  matiti  yake  hadharani, hali  ambayo  iliwafanya  hata  watoto  wayashuhudie

Was Uhuru Kenyatta invested? Was the ceremony a coronation? Did he experience ‘ascend’ to presidency?

KENYA has a new President in the person of Uhuru Kenyatta. The Custodian (9 April) had this front page feature on the event that took place on 9th April, titled: “Raila, Kalonzo retreat to SA as Uhuru in ‘invested’”.

OK we could debate this but was Uhuru “invested”? The meaning of “invest” that is close to the Uhuru Presidential investiture is the phrasal verb “invest with” which means to officially give someone power to do something. Therefore, I would have hesitated to say Uhuru was invested, unless I described the event further by saying: “Uhuru was invested with power ……”.

It would have been better to use the more common vocabulary: “Uhuru Kenyatta was sworn in as Kenya’s President”. Presidential contestant, Raila Odinga (mtani), and his running mate did not attend the ceremony since they are reported to have taken: “a flight to South Africa with their families” and were “expected back in the country tomorrow a day after Uhuru’s coronation”.

Again I would have hesitated to use the noun “coronation” in these circumstances; for, my Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines coronation as “the ceremony at which someone is officially made king or queen”. Yea? “A ceremony at which someone is officially made king or queen”. Now we ask ourselves: “Was Uhuru officially made king? No. Kings do not go through elections.

They are usually born. Some five years from now, Uhuru will be facing an election. Therefore, it is safe to say that the ceremony at which he was sworn in as Kenya’s President was not a “coronation”. Why did Raila and his principals not attend the swearing- in ceremony? According to the paper: “Sources say Raila and Kalonzo had been ‘prevailed’ by CORD MPs ‘to skip’ the swearing in ceremony….” Raila and Kalonzo were not prevailed by CORD MPs. They were “prevailed upon” by their MPs.

“To prevail on” or “prevail upon” means to persuade someone to do or not do something. Moreover I do not think Raila and Co “skipped: the swearing in ceremony”. This would mean, they had a schedule, and then found that they were running out of time for example and decided to leave out this particular activity.

In real life however, they deliberately decided not to attend. My choice vocabulary would be: “they boycotted the swearing in ceremony”. Having been prevailed upon by their MPs: “they bought the idea saying attending Uhuru’s inauguration will be tantamount to endorsing a regime whose ‘ascend’ to power they disputed……”. Now “ascend” is a verb when what we need in this sentence is a noun. There are many societies which mix up “nd” and “nt”, and it is possible that the writer of this news item comes from such a community. It is “ascent” to power not “ascend” to power.

*****

While Kenyans are celebrating the swearing in of their 4th President, Tanzania is trying to solve the jinx of who should slaughter certain animals for public consumption. A prominent businessman has come up to declare that “Fighting over animal slaughtering is shameful” (Custodian 9th April, p. 2). This disagreement has already resulted into physical clashes and deaths: “The clashes resulted in the beheading of Pastor Mathayo Machila and injuries to several others besides causing massive significant damage to property”.

We want to point out two areas of concern with the sentence on the beheading of the Pastor. One, when the writer talks of “injuries to several others”, it was necessary to be clear whether these “several others” were Pastors or not. Since it is only one Pastor who was beheaded, the sentence needed to be rewritten. Besides, it is not possible to cause “massive” damage to property which is not significant. Thus to say “massive significant” damage to property is to make unnecessary overemphasis.

A rewrite would read something like: “The clashes resulted in the beheading of Pastor Mathayo Machila and injuries to several other people, besides causing extensive damage to property”.

*****

We now make a quick hop to Makerere University in Kampala Uganda, where we are given insights into what new university entrants go through. This is in an article titled: “Freshers and their struggle to fit in” (East African Business Weekly, April 8-14, p. 17). One fresher who was interviewed had this to say: “I remember fear grasping through me when I first ‘stepped foot’ at campus”. “Stepped foot on campus?”

We disagree. The writer had the choice of either saying “set foot on campus”, or, “stepped on campus”, but not “stepped foot on campus”. Did fear “grasp” through this fresher? We would have gone for a simple word: “Fear ran through me”. Our rewrite would run something like this: “I remember fear running through me when I first set foot at the campus”.

The fresher is warned: “many of the students have failed to graduate from campus as a result of misallocating their time by wasting it on misleading events such as parties. They concentrate more on the socializing part of university life rather than ‘concentrating more’ on their academics and and perhaps balancing the two may be the best option and perhaps ‘by balancing the two’ they will realize success, especially during the first year of universities and it all depends on sense of balance”. The paragraph above has too many repetitions, and I leave it you to think of a rewrite. All the best for President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Ponda, acid attack ‘not linked’

The Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Mr Robert Manumba.

POLICE have denied reports by the international media that link the Muslim cleric Ponda Issa Ponda with the recent incident of acid attack on two British girls in Zanzibar.

A section of international media has since Saturday, when reports began filtering that Ponda had been injured during an attempt to arrest him, been telling the world that the cleric was being pursued for allegedly being involved in the attack.

The Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Mr Robert Manumba, told the ‘Daily News’ in Dar es Salaam that “the origin of such information is unknown and questionable’’. “Ponda is under arrest for hate speeches that instigated chaos in various places in the country.

We have no proof yet to connect him with the recent acid attack in Zanzibar or elsewhere in the country,” he said. Mr Manumba called on anyone with such evidence to let the police know so that they can launch an investigation.

“I wonder who conveyed such information to the international media because as far as police are concerned, we have not made such a statement. We call on any one with evidence on such allegations to report to the police,” he said.

Ponda is still hospitalized under heavy police guard at the Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute (MOI) in Dar es Salaam where he is undergoing post-surgery treatment for the wounds he sustained on Saturday.

On Monday, police in Dar es Salaam special zone announced a reward of 100m/- to anyone who will provide information that will lead to the arrest of perpetrators of incidents of acid attacks in the country. Dar es Salaam Special Zone Police Commander Mr Suleiman Kova said in the city that increased incidents of acid attacks has necessitated the move.

“I request the general public to provide information that would help the police find the suspects and allow the law to take its course through mobile telephone number 0754034224,” Mr Kova pleaded. There has of late been a series of acid attacks on several individuals, including a prominent local businessman and two British teenagers, the motive for which is yet to be established as police continue with investigations.

Meanwhile, Commissioner of Police Issaya Mngulu, who heads investigation team formed by the National Criminal Justice Forum to investigate the circumstances under which Ponda was injured, said the team is currently on field in Morogoro Municipality.

“We are already in Morogoro and the work has started. But we cannot be certain over when the work will be concluded,” he said. Mr Mngulu noted that terms of reference for the investigation have been established but hastened to say that the police were not ready to share them with the media at this point.

Meanwhile, the British High Commissioner to Tanzania, Ms Dianna Melrose, commented on the acid attack in Zanzibar, thanking the government for the pledge it had made to relentlessly hunt all the culprits.

“I would like to thank the governments of Tanzania and Zanzibar for their public condemnation of the attack and their stated determination to leave no stone unturned in finding the perpetrators -- and ensure that they are brought to justice.

This will reassure British tourists planning to travel to the island,” she said in a statement. She added: “Pending police investigations, it would be unwise to leap to conclusions about the motive for the attack or what it means for foreign visitors.

Nevertheless, we have updated our Travel Advice to inform people of the attack and reiterate the need for caution.” She described the attack as a shocking one and extended her thoughts and sympathy to the young women and their families while wishing them speedy recovery. “Zanzibar remains a popular tourist destination and most visits are trouble free.

British nationals are however encouraged to take care and to read our Travel Advice,” she advised.

Uganda to face Egypt in friendly on Wednesday

Cranes coach Milutin ‘Micho’ (File photo)

UGANDA Cranes, who eliminated Tanzania from the

UGANDA Cranes, who eliminated Tanzania from the 2014 African Nations Championship (CHAN) finals, play Egypt in an international friendly in El Gouna on Wednesday.

The Cranes are preparing to face Senegal next month in a crucial 2014 World Cup qualifier. The Pharaohs are also through to the next round of World Cup qualifiers after picking up 15 points in Group G, while second placed Guinea have 10 points.

Egypt host Uganda in a friendly in the coastal town of El Gouna, 430km from Cairo, due to the political unrest and security issues in the capital. First-choice goalkeeper Dennis Onyango, who recently joined Bidvest Wits University on loan from Mamelodi Sundowns in South Africa, is among the foreign-based players who have made the trip.

“This is a very important friendly because it’s against a giant side,” said Cranes coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic whose team last week improved to 77th place in the latest Fifa rankings. Elsewhere, African champions Nigeria meet South Africa in Durban in arguably the pick of the friendly games.

Ivory Coast welcome Didier Drogba back to their squad for the first time since the Africa Cup of Nations. The 35-year-old striker is in Sabri Lamouchi’s 23-man squad for their meeting with Mexico on 14 August.

The Elephants, who beat Taifa Stars 4-2 in a World Cup qualifier, are one of three teams already through to the play-offs, with one game left to play in the second round, which concludes between September 6 and 10. The Guineans travel to Blida next week to meet Algeria -- the third team assured of a qualifying play-off place.

The 2012 Nations Cup champions Zambia -- who lie second in their qualifying group behind Ghana -- play Senegal in Paris tomorrow. Malawi, meanwhile, play Rwanda in Kigali, with the Flames preparing for a decisive qualifier against the Super Eagles in Calabar on September 7.

Furniture industry for windfall business

Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs Saada Salim Mkuya.

LOCAL investors in the furniture industry are set to benefit, thanks to the government decision to procure

LOCAL investors in the furniture industry are set to benefit, thanks to the government decision to procure all furniture domestically, with the views of boosting small scale entrepreneurs and scale up economic growth.

The government passed a policy, obliging all ministries and departments to buy locally made furniture which are durable and provide employment opportunities to the domestic manufacturers.

Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs Saada Salim Mkuya said in an interview with the ‘Daily News’ in Dar es Salaam that the government was determined to ensure procurement of local made furniture starts effectively in this fiscal year.

“Procuring local made furniture is one of the government efforts to cut down expenditures, its implementation therefore is of paramount importance,” she noted. She said the purchase of foreign made fixtures was expensive, with most of them being of low quality and subjecting the government into heavy losses.

Ms Mkuya added that the public procurement of various goods and services should always adhere to the value for money as well as render the expected satisfaction. “The public sector depends on the range of goods and services which they procure to deliver their core services.

The goods and services must be of right quality, cost effective and available whenever needed,” she noted. The furniture sector employs a large number of youths but most of them are disappointed due to unaddressed hurdles including market unreliability.

Delays in implementing the government decision to buy locally manufactured furniture have impeded the subsector’s growth and contributions to the overall economic development.

The Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Dr William Mgimwa was recently quoted as saying the procurement of locally made furniture will be a fundamental milestone in building capacity of local manufacturers and would contribute significantly to boosting individual and national incomes.

However, poor working tools, capital deficiency, lack of creativity and limited market opportunities are some of the key impediments that hinder the progress of local furniture makers. As a result, the huge market for furniture is flooded with imported substandard carpentry products.