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Friday, 26 June 2015
Thursday, 25 June 2015
Tanzania borrowing page from Ethiopia on Commodity Exchange Market'
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The government has said the Commodity Exchange
Market will officially start operations when the recommendation study
from the transaction adviser is complete.
Ministry of Trade and Industry, Uledi Musa
Wednesday, 24 June 2015
MPs endorse 22.4trn/- for 2015/2016
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The National Assembly has endorsed 22.4trn/- budget
for the 2015/16 fiscal year and defended the toll increment on
petroleum products insisting that 276bn/- will be collected and
directly channeled to electricity and water projects.
Finance Minister Saada Mkuya
Winding up the budget speech in the House yesterday, Finance
Minister Saada Mkuya affirmed that the new levy would effectively be
applied from July 1st, 2015.
Tabling the budget estimates mid this month Mkuya said the levy for
diesel per litre had increased from 50/- to 100/-, petrol from 50/- to
100/- and kerosene from 50 /- to 150/- per litre.
The Minister expounded that the move does not mean to punish
Tanzanians but to make them contribute to the country’s
socio-development. She said: “We have been striving to come up with an
independent budget…this can only be possible if wananchi take part in
the development process. We just want 100/- from every fuel user.
According to Mkuya they had agreed that funds to be collected from
the increased toll on fuel be also used to speed up implementation of
water projects in rural areas. She said that 90bn/- out of 276bn/- will
be directed for water projects.
She cautioned legislators not to politicise the fuel levy issue
since it is geared to ensure economic growth from the grass roots level.
She noted that it is very difficult to unlock the economic potentials
in the villages without electricity.
“With reliable power we are going to economically empower rural
dwellers…we can even reduce the rural to urban movement of people,” said
Mkuya adding the coming budget had reduced donor dependency to 6.4 per
cent only.
The minister said that despite 27 per cent of MPs complaining on
the matter, the government had resolved to maintain it because its
primary objective was also to control oil adulteration which cost the
nation 600bn/-.
“This is the government commitment…I want to assure you that no
single shilling shall go in the treasury. The money will only be spent
on water and electricity projects,” she said noting the use of kerosene
had also decreased from 1.8 million litres per day to 130,000 million
litres per day.
Commenting on elders’ pension, she said the government had decided
to increase it by 100 per cent from the proposed 85,000/- to 100,000/-
per month. She said they also had set aside budget to identify all the
elders countrywide so that they were included in the pension system.
Mkuya said other elders apart from public servants will be getting
10,000/- per month whereas the government needs to raise a total of
140bn/- each month as Tanzania had 1, 200, 000 elders according to the
national census of 2012.
“It is our wish to pay every elder but the problem is how to reach
them…we have been losing almost 6bn/- every year due to pension payment
complications,” said Mkuya insisting after the identification process
the elders will be taking their money from specific centres.
She said the government had been doing well on economic growth
despite the small poverty reduction rate. She said the economy grew by 7
per cent but the poverty reduction rate was only 2 per cent. She
however noted that from 2007 to 2012 the poverty had been reduced by 6.2
per cent.
Mkuya said that so far the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) had taken various
measures to control the shilling depreciation one being releasing US
dollar in the market. She said that governor had been releasing USD 10
million every week and that until now there was USD 400 million in the
market.
According to her, the shilling depreciation was due to various
factors including the decrease on country exports, increased shilling
circulation in the market and high demand of US dollar by investors who
are now depositing their money in foreign countries over fear of post
election chaos.
Announcing the results of budget voting exercise, the Clerk of the
National Assembly, Dr Thomas Kashilila said the budget had been passed
by 83 per cent of the MPs. He said total number of MPs was 294 but 59
out of them did not vote.
He said that 219 legislators voted ‘YES’ and 74 voted ‘NO’ with
Chadema’s Mpanda Urban legislator, Said Arfi choosing not to vote.
However, three opposition MPs voted ‘YES’ to the budget. They are
Maswa West MP John Cheyo (Chadema), Wawi MP, Hamad Rashid Mohamed (CUF)
and Bariadi West Member of Parliament John Shibuda (Chadema).
Dr Mengi urges SMEs to list on Dar bourse
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IPP Executive Chairman Dr Reginald Mengi holds a
copy of a Yetu Microfinance plc prospectus when launching sales of the
institution�s shares in Dar es Salaam yesterday.
Early marriages pose risk of HIV/AIDS - UNFPA
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The girls who were married at the age of under 18
years are more likely to die from birth complications and be infected
with HIV/AIDs than women in 20s because they are married to older and
more sexually experienced men.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that over the
next ten years more than 140 million girls will be married before their
18th birthday.
According to the report, if the present trends continue, 1,382,000
of the young girls born between 2005 and 2010 will be married/in union
before age 18 by 2030.
This was divulged over the weekend by the non-government
organization C-Sema’s child protection and outreach coordinator, Michael
Kehongoh during the “Nijali Media Dialogue” as part of the activities
to celebrate the Week of the African Child, in Dar es Salaam.
In giving a country status in child marriage, he said “Girls who
marry older men are difficult to negotiate safe sexual behaviours,
especially when under pressure to bear children…and due to give birth
before their bodies are fully developed they are at a risk of death or
terrible injury and illness in childbirth”.
He added that child marriage occurs more frequently among girls who
are the least educated, poorest and who are living in the rural areas,
education is associated with child marriage in Tanzania.
Kehongoh said the report of Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey
2010 shows 61 per cent of women aged 20 to 24 with no education and 39
per cent with primary school education were married or in union at 18
years, compared to five per cent of women with secondary education.
Speaking on the Nijali Dialogues SOS Children's Villages Tanzania’s
National Advocacy Coordinator, John Batista said the Nijali campaign
which will run for two years is an extension of the SOS Global campaign
“Care for me!" in the Tanzanian context funded by the Austrian
Development Cooperation.
“This initiative intends to advocate for implementation of the
budget set aside for children specifically in ensuring that the
Department of Social Welfare is funded, and that social welfare
officers’ capacity to handle children issues is strengthened, and that
budget for health, education and general children services is observed,”
he said.
He said the campaign aims to ensure children throughout Tanzania
have access to services by advocating for resource allocation for
children services by local government offices through dialoques in
Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar.
Live animals saga: Team awaits travel documents
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As Members of Parliament continued to pressure the
government to return the 132 live animals and birds smuggled out of the
country last year, the government yesterday said the investigative team
formed to probe the matter was waiting for travel documents from the
Qatar government.
Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda
As a result of the saga in August 2011 the government announced a one-year ban on licences for export of live animals.
Announcing the ban, Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda said measures
would be taken to plug loopholes being used to export animals illegally.
The investigative team which was formed in 2012 to probe the
illegal export of live wild animals to Qatar had not visited the country
because the team was still waiting for the travel documents from the
Qatar government, in the United Arab Emirates.
The 132 live wild animals and 16 birds were alleged to have been smuggled out of the country in November 2010 to Qatar.
The team’s mission is to establish whereabouts of the animals and
the propose measures to be taken to ensure the animals were flown back
to the country.
The decision to send the team was reached mid-2012 following
positive response from the Qatar office of the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) which confirmed that
the 116 animals and birds were indeed in Qatar.
However, the deputy minister for Natural Resources and Tourism,
Mahmoud Mgimwa told the National Assembly yesterday that all procedures
for the team to travel to Qatar had been completed except the travel
permits from the Qatar which they were still waiting.
Mgimwa did not say the specific reasons of why until now they did not get the travel documents from Qatar government.
The deputy minister made the remark in response to a supplementary
question by Special Seat MP Christowaja Mtinda (Chadema) who had
wanted to know the reasons for the probe team formed by the government
in 2012 .
Christowaja questioned the government’s silence over the matter
while CITES confirmed that the animals were illegally kept in Qatar.
Responding, Mgimwa admitted that following the scandal the
government had formed a special investigative team which included
members from the National Assembly and the Parliamentary Committee for
Natural Resources and Tourism.
Mgimwa told the House that according to the law they cannot travel
to any foreign country without getting a travel permit from the country
of destination.
Minister added that the failure to get the traveling permit from
Qatar was the main reason of why the team had not travelled but he
stressed that the government was still processing for the permission; he
added that the committee will travel immediately after receiving the
permit.
In her basic question Christowaja wanted to know the government measures to deal with piracy challenges in the country.
Responding to a basic question, Mgimwa said that the live wild
animals in the country were in massive piracy and the government had put
in place strong strategies to control the problem.
Mgimwa told the House that some of the measures were increasing the
security at the airports, at the ports and at all borders as government
efforts to protect the wild life in the country.
Meanwhile, in August 2011 members of Parliament pressured the
government to return the smuggled live animals and birds, resulting in
the government slapping a one-year ban on the export of live animals.
The cargo alleged to have been smuggled in 2010 included four giraffes.
Govt leans on World Bank for development of urban centres
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The government will fund development of the
country’s cities and urban areas under the umbrella of the World Bank
financed Strategic Cities Project, Deputy Minister of State in the Prime
Minister's Office, Regional Administration and Local Government, Aggrey
Mwanri told legislators yesterday in the capital.
Deputy Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, Regional Administration and Local Government, Aggrey Mwanri
The deputy minister told the National Assembly that the cities
development project plan will cost 500bn/- (USD 255 million) which will
be footed by the World Bank and implemented over the span of five years
from 2013/14 to 2018/19
Mwanri’s announcement was prompted by a basic question posed by
Korogwe Urban MP Yusuph Nassir (CCM) who wanted to know why there was
bureaucracy in implementation of the projects especially in Korogwe.
In his basic question, Nassir asked why the government has not
released the expected 885m/- for the projects ear marked for Korogwe
town to fund among other things a new bus stand, market and
2.5kilometres of urban roads.
Responding, Mwanri refuted the claim that there is bureaucracy
stalling the project and explained that Korogwe town council is among 18
towns and urban centres that are to be covered by the Urban Local
Government Strengthening Programme (ULGSP).
The deputy minister said that in 2014/2015 financial year
1.6bn/- was allocated for the Korogwe town council and up to May this
year, the council had received 760m/- and the remaining money will be
released before end of this financial year.
“The government is committed to ensure all councils under the
project receive their funds as planned so as to implement the projects
effectively,” he reassured stakeholders.
The Strategic Cities Project for Tanzania development objectives
include expansion of access to urban infrastructure and services in
selected urban Local Government Authorities (LGAs) and to strengthen
management and fiscal performance of those urban LGAs.
National communication strategy on oil and gas in pipeline - ministry
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The Energy and Minerals ministry is preparing a
strategy on communication for oil and gas that is meant to provide
correct information on the sector, especially to the people where the
resources have been discovered.
The head of communication at the Ministry, Badra Masoud
Speaking during the Oil and Gas National Stakeholders’ Consultation
meeting in Dar es Salaam yesterday, the head of communication at the
Ministry, Badra Masoud, said that the move would help to do away with
misleading reports on discovery of the resources in Mtwara and Lindi
regions.
“There are so many issues which have been raised following the
discovery of gas in the two regions which are, to say the least,
misleading the public,” she said.
Being the main stakeholder in the oil and gas sector, she said, the
ministry has decided to prepare the communication strategy which would
be used to provide correct information to the public.
She said the ministry has been collecting views from oil and gas
stakeholders and the five-year communication strategy would start to be
used as soon as the draft becomes complete at the end of this month.
Masoud added that after its completion, the draft would be
presented to the stakeholders to ascertain if all of their opinions have
been included in the strategy.
She said the strategy involved Tanzanians in their respective
groups whereby they were asked to give out their views on how they want
it to be so they could get the right information and at the right time.
“Gas is a newly invented resource in the country which needs
involvement of Tanzanians on how it is going to be extracted; and the
only way to effectively the pepople’s participation is by providing
right information to them so that they can have a clear understanding of
the sector,” Masoud explained.
She added that the communication strategy would be the national
strategy when it comes to communicate all issues relating to oil and
gas.
She said gas and oil is an important sector that touches every
Tanzanian, and for that reason they want all the information that would
be provided to be correct and be given on time to avoid harbouring
different interpretations from members of the public.
Reading the opening speech on behalf of Mtwara Regional
Commissioner, Alfred Luanda, who is Mtwara Regional Administrative
Secretary said, every Tanzanian has the duty to ensure that the oil and
gas sector becomes the main facilitating agent in eradicating poverty by
boosting the economy.
He said that the best way the government can utilise the resources
the country has, such as oil and gas, is by providing the right
information and on time and collaborate with different stakeholders to
better understand the sector.
He added that the new communication strategy set up by the ministry
is the solution to seeking wisdom from every stakeholder and goes
together with the current needs of the community.
“It is important for the public to get the right information and
which reaches them on time so as to avoid misleading information because
every citizen needs to know what is going on in the sector in order to
make it easier for the government to do its work,” he explained.
For his part, Minerals Commissioner Paul Masanja said the
communication strategy is vital at this time because it would help
reduce quarrels and blames against one another.
He said that wherever good communication prevails there will not be
little or no misunderstandings. “The only thing needed is transparency,
accountability and participation of the public,” he said.
He added that after the discovery of gas in Mtwara, the public has
been expecting much and if the government will not have a good
communication strategy to explain where the country is, where it is
going misunderstandings are likely to occur.
“If we decide we can but only if we will stop being selfish and
unite as one, what the people of Mtwara and Lindi need is to understand
what the government is doing. The government too needs to know the
people’s expectations,” he said.
Govt set to reopen blocked wildlife corridors, inks USD14 million pact
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Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, Lazaro Nyalandu
The government is to re-open closed wildlife
corridors across the country, the Minister of Natural Resources and
Tourism, Lazaro Nyalandu announced yesterday.
Opting not to vote is throwing the right to govern your welfare - ACT
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Persons who opt not to vote give away their
constitutional right to determine the quality of life he or she will
live over the next five and/or ten years, women’s wing of opposition
party ACT-Wazalendo has said.
ACT-Wazalendo Flag
PPF seeking contractor for 239bn/- Dar project
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PPF Pension Fund is to secure a contractor to
construct a 239bn/- water front development project in Ununio, Kinondoni
Municipality—Dar es Salaam.
PPF
TAARIFA ZA KIFO CHA MSANII BANZA STONE ZAKANUSHWA,BADO YU MZIMA
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Familia ya Mwanamuziki Banza Stone imekanusha taarifa zinazozidi kusambaa kwenye mitandao ya kijamii kuhusu kifo cha msanii Banza Stone.
