Chadema national chairman Freeman Mbowe launches the party’s election
training manual for countrywide distribution in Dar es Salaam
yesterday. On his right is the party’s deputy secretary general
(Mainland) John Mnyika.
Dar es Salaam. Chadema national
chairman Freeman Mbowe yesterday declared that the opposition coalition
will not crumble even in the wake of fears that a bruising nomination
process could end their current cooperation.
“If anyone thinks that political parties that
signed the pre-election coalition pact will be divided ahead of the
October General Election, then—that person is dreaming,” said Mr Mbowe.
The political coalition that was triggered by
opposition’s rejection of the constitution making process was launched
on October 26, last year, after four parties signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU), to field and support one candidate at all levels,
including the presidency, in the 2015 General Election.
Four opposition parties—Chadema, CUF, NCCR-Mageuzi
and NLD— signed the pact aimed at “unseating CCM” in this year’s polls.
The parties are members of the Coalition of Defenders of People’s
Constitution (Ukawa).
Addressing the party’s local government leaders in
the city who participated in the civic polls held in December last
year, Mr Mbowe emphasized: “They have been repeatedly making
pronouncements that Ukawa will fight for positions but I want to state
categorically that we are still and we shall remain united until we send
CCM home to form our coalition government after October this year,’’ he
said.
Mr Mbowe launched the countrywide training to
impart skills to party members who intend to vie for various posts in
the ections. Training manuals were distributed to all participants.
Similar training ,according to deputy Secretary
General (Zanzibar) Salum Mwalimu, kicked off yesterday in other regions
across the country.
According to him, the party had already formed a three-man-team that would traverse the entire nation to popularize the party.
The team include Mr Mwalimu, the party’s deputy
secretary General (Mainland), Mr John Mnyika and the party’s lawyer,
Prof Abdalla Safari.
In Iringa region, the training was launched by Rev
Peter Msigwa who told participants that the country was at cross-roads
because the government had failed to solve problems bedeviling majority
Tanzanians.
“This country is at a very difficult situation and
the national debt currently stands at Sh29.4 trillion, meaning every
Tanzanian including the newly born babies need to cough out Sh600,000 to
clear the ballooning debt,’’ he told participants.
According to Mr Mbowe, Ukawa would clinch a
landslide victory in all eight constituencies of Dar es Salaam regions
as well as winning all the mayoral seats of the three districts—Temeke,
Ilala and Kinondoni.
The Hague. The International Court of Justice says it was not aware of a dispute between Tanzania and Malawi over the Lake Nyasa border.
Spokesperson of the legal body under the UN Andrey
Poskakukhin said here on Wednesday that no party to the conflict has
communicated with the Court over the issue.
“We are not aware of such conflict. Malawi has
not filed a case over the border dispute with Tanzania,” he said in a
briefing to visiting journalists from the developing countries.
Since 2012, Malawi had claimed that its border
with Tanzania runs on the eastern shores of the shared lake and not in
the middle of the lake as Tanzania has repeatedly insisted.
Ever since, retired presidents of Mozambique,
Botswana and South Africa have been shuttling between capital cities
within the region in a bid to resolve the dispute.
However, recently some Malawi government
officials were quoted saying they would appeal to some international
legal bodies for arbitration. The official confirmed, however, that
Somalia has instituted proceedings against Kenya with regard to a
dispute concerning maritime delimitation in the Indian Ocean.
Under the suit, Somalia is claiming parts of
Kenya within the ocean. Recently there were reports the Horn of Africa
claims extended to parts of Tanzania near Pemba Island.
Mr Poskakukhin said the Hague-based Court has
been involved in settling a number of border disputes between nations
but that the exercise has been difficult given its sensitivity. “For
Kosovo, for instance, questions have been raised over the legality of
its independence,” he said of the former autonomous state within the
collapsed republics under the former Yugoslavia.
Kosovo had a border dispute with Serbia, also one
of the republics under the former Yugoslavia. In 1999, this led to one
of the bitter wars to be fought in the Balkans.
He added that although the ICJ was the principal judicial organ of the UN, only 70 states have accepted its jurisdiction.
“Many of the countries have not supported the
jurisdiction of the Court which is under the United Nations”, he pointed
out. The UN comprises 190 member states.
This, he said, constrasted with 120 countries
which ratified the Statute of Rome which created the International
Criminal Court (ICC), also based in The Hague.
Border disputes cases handled by the Court in Africa in the
past include those between Nigeria and Cameroon, Morocco and Western
Sahara and Libya and some of its neighbours.
“ Many countries, especially those in Africa,
have not made the greater use of the Court in conflict resolution and
arbitration”, he said, noting, however, that many cases end up being
withdrawn while those pursued take between two and 10 years to wind up.
Dar es Salaam. Five top railways officials,
including Managing Director Kipallo Kisamfu, have been suspended on
suspicion of corruption and sabotage. The move comes after a report
indicating irregularities in buying 25 freight wagons worth Sh230
billion.
The other officials are Chief Engineer Ngosomwile
Ngosomile, Chief Accountant Mbaraka Mchopa, Internal Auditor Jasper
Kisiraga and Chief Procurement Manager Fedinard Soka.
Transport Minister Samuel Sitta made the move
after he received the report of a taskforce formed by his predecessor,
Dr Harrison Mwakyembe, which was charged with investigating claims that
the wagons that were imported wagons were faulty.
The new investigation will be carried out by a
team to be led by an officer from the Controller and Auditor General’s
office. Members of the team will be drawn from the Prevention and
Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), Public Procurement Regulatory
Agency (PPRA) and the Attorney General’s Chamber.
The minister has since directed the permanent
secretary in the Ministry of Transportation, Dr Shaaban Mwinjaka, to set
up the probe team, which is expected to start its work by 20 April.
The report reveals a chain of irregularities in
the procurement process. Some of the wagons were found to be defective.
And instead of paying for the wagons on instalment basis, as agreed in
the contract, the supplier has already been paid the entire Sh230
billion. The contract allows the buyer to withhold part of the payment
until the wagons are tested within a warranty period.
Mr Sitta said: “What shocked me most is that, as
we struggle to solve this issue, all the money has been paid to the
supplier contrary to the contract requirements.”
According to the minister, the report reveals that
most of the wagons are defective and can no longer function. The
committee also established that there was negligence in the follow-up at
the factory where the wagons were manufactured. And even as it clear
that the wagons were defective, the officials continued to receive more.
“This is a serious matter,” Mr Sitta said. “I cannot watch as the
nation is sabotaged by a few individuals…we will make sure they are made
accountable.”
The team investigating the allegations has three
weeks to complete its work. It has been tasked with picking out any
corrupt dealings in the transaction. The minister declared that he was
there to tackle corruption and he would not tolerate theft under his
watch. “I am doing this to show that there are people in the ruling
Chama Cha Mapinduzi who do not condone corruption,” he said.
Engineer Elias Mshana has been appointed the
acting director at TRL. The minister has also directed the TRL board to
hold an emergency meeting today to appoint qualified people to stand in
for those suspended. They join six others Dr Mwakyembe suspended a few
months ago. The officials include the deputy managing director and chief
of finance director.
Dr Mwakyembe also ordered TRL authorities to
disband the tender board and suspend all officials who travelled to
India to assess 25 wagons that were found to be of low standard.
According to earlier reports, TRL signed two
contracts with an Indian company in 2013 for the purchase of 25 freight
wagons worth Sh8.3 billion and 274 passenger wagons worth about Sh51
billion. But the minister said yesterday that the supplier has been paid
Sh230 billion.TRL has so far received 150 passenger wagons and the other 124 are
expected by the end of this month. The carriages in question were
purchased from India’s Hindustan Engineering and Industries.....