27/11/2009 by admin.

In the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro, green comes in spots and strips, verdant patches haphazardly mingled with dry, dour desert. Kilimanjaro’s clandestine waters, collected from the clouds that often cover “the shining mountain” and leaked to the valley from the mountain’s snow cap, spring up where they will to grow grasses and offer water to wildlife.

On an early morning years ago, we happened upon a modern-day Eden at one of Kili’s watering holes in Amboseli National Park. Elephants, giraffes, buffalo, eland, gazelles and impala wandered languidly in the cool of day framed against the tallest mountain in Africa. Later, as we started our trip back to Nairobi, we drove toward Lake Amboseli and I fretted about how we would cross. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in TANBlog | 1 Comment »

27/11/2009 by admin.

PRESIDENT Jakaya Kikwete has made a pitch for Jamaicans to deepen their business links with Tanzania, which he says has an “abundance of opportunities” with a “conducive” investment climate.

President Kikwete made the remarks on Wednesday when addressing a special joint sitting of the Jamaican houses of parliament in Kingston, as part of several activities during a three-day state visit to the island which ended yesterday.

The president said while there is a long history of cooperation between the two countries, started by his predecessors, he is desirous to see the linkages cemented and developed to greater levels.

“My visit here is about that, and so far so good,” he told the sitting, adding: “I would like to see deeper cooperation between our two business communities as well.”

“We would like to see Jamaican businesses - craft, tourism and in any other sector of their choice. There is an abundance of opportunities in agriculture, mining, manufacturing; also in ICT, health and education. The investment climate in Tanzania is conducive,” President Kikwete said.

The Tanzanian economy, he added, has experienced consistent growth of more than seven per cent per annum in recent years, though it has had to revise this downward from eight to five per cent this year because of the current tough economic climate.

Kikwete also said he would like to see “closer cultural co-operation” between the two countries, and called for a partnership to develop music and sports together.

He expressed an interest in getting Jamaican coaches to help develop the talent of Tanzanian athletes, given Jamaica’s relative success especially in track and field.

“Come and work with us for mutual benefit,” he urged Jamaicans, stating that while Africa might appear to many to be “inhospitable” because of varying portrayals which are “unfortunate and untrue”,  there are also “many good things” happening on the continent.

Said the president: “Africa is a huge continent of 40 million square kilometres and 54 countries… the gross misconceptions are an affront to many countries in Africa that are doing well, and that are at peace with their neighbours and the world.”

Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding in his welcoming address commended President Kikwete for undertaking an “ambitious programme of transformation and economic liberalization, painful but necessary structural and fiscal reforms, tax reform, diversification of the economy, privatization and support for the private sector”.

“You have done well,” Golding said.

Posted in News | No Comments »

27/11/2009 by admin.

The Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) has started investigating a land allocation scam within Kahama district council.

This is after officers in the land department within the council were suspended on suspicion of allocating plots corruptly.

The PCCB commander in Kahama, Mr Elinipenda Adili, told reporters in his office on Wednesday that his office had received complaints from some residents that their plots were dubiously being sold by the land officers.
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in News | No Comments »

27/11/2009 by admin.

A study by the World Bank Dar es Salaam office has criticized the cashew nuts warehouse system, saying it does not help farmers get good prices and creates more liabilities to the government.

The statement issued today by the World Bank comes a few days after Prime Minister Pinda called for reform of the system after it was the system had high cost for the cash crop. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in News | No Comments »

27/11/2009 by admin.

A UNIVERSITY of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) professor made a call yesterday for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to indict former president Benjamin Mkapa over the alleged 2001 post-election human rights violations in Zanzibar.

The appeal was made by a university don from the school of law at the University of Dar es Salaam, Prof. Luitfried Mbunda, while presenting a paper on the media and human rights: The role of the media in promoting and protecting human rights during a workshop organised by the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance in Dar es Salaam. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in News | No Comments »