It is a fatal accident, as Tanzanians mourns for their fellows

The wrackage of a car in which 16 Tanzanians perished in Uganda on Sunday.

About 16 Tanzanians have perished in a grisly road accident which occurred in Uganda on Sunday last week. Ugandan Police confirmed the incident saying the victims were from attending a wedding party of their daughters Dr Annette Ibingira and her husband Dr Treasurer Ibingira at Kampala Parents' School. According to the Daily Monitor, the accident occurred when one of the tyres of the Fuso truck registration number UAH 970P burst and it rammed into the Tanzania bound Coaster, registration number T540 DLC that had carried the victims. Some of then victim names identified by Ugandan police, New Vision writes, are Dativa M. Shayo, Fred Haule, Esther Gorreth Teo, Einoth Laizer, Bonny Edmund Mgambo, Rehema G. Teo, Esther A. Muisigira, Edward Kimayo and Boniface Venance Kimayo who was found with a pistol in his waist.

Medical researchers invents new malaria drugs

Malaria drugs keep on changing year after year as Medical research are working throughout in search of better treatment. Breakthrough  in the fight against the deadly malaria is on the horizon, with Arusha-based researchers coming up with new drugs. The African Technical Research Centre (ATRC) is behind the discovery of the new drugs --SumiShield and SumiLove --touted as the lasting solution to the malady. Working with A to Z Mills at Kisongo Matheves here, ATRC parades SumiShield as an indoor residual spray (IRS). The A to Z Chief Executive Officer, Kalpesh Shah, said here during the weekend that SumiShield drug, with a new mode of action chemistry based on the neonicotinoid insecticide clothianidin, is designed to help in combating insecticide resistance. He noted that benefiting from a non-repellent formulation and low mammalian toxicity, SumiShield 50WG is simple to use and has light-weight packaging for easy transportation. Resistance is one of the major issues facing the global fight against malaria, affecting 75 per cent of countries. Rotating insecticides is one of the key strategies to avoid resistance but nearly 90 per cent of affected countries fail largely due to lack of choices. The drug has non-repellent formula, meaning that resting mosquitoes could be exposed to the drug for longer than other insecticides, increasing mortality and reducing the chances of developing resistance. Field trials have also shown that SumiShield 50WG has residual efficacy of at least six months after spraying. SumiShield is said to have a low mammalian toxicity through skin contact and is practically non-toxic to bird and aquatic life. Mr Shah said the facility has played major part in war against malaria by facilitating survival of mother and baby through use of the company's manufactured resistant drugs. 

He said that through the centre, A to Z will continue supporting Tanzania and Africa in researches on various pesticides for the fight against the deadly disease. In addition to the achievements, Mr Kalpesh said that A to Z in collaboration with their Japanese partners – Sumitomo, have established another field research centre at Mabogini area, in Kilimanjaro region. He said that the station will work under ATRC Mothers Centre in Arusha, noting that he preferred having the centre at Mabogini where there are rice fields that retain water for almost the entire year, offering one of the main mosquitoes breeding areas. "Today we launch this facility almost a year since the death of former CEO and founder of A to Z, Mr Anuj Shah (RIP), the centre will work hard to find the lasting solution and ensure we have the best drugs to eradicate malaria in the country and in Africa, " said Mr Kalpesh. Launching the drugs, Japanese Ambassador to Tanzania Masaharu Yoshida said he was happy at the discovery of the new drugs, as malaria has been too perilous to Tanzanians and Africans. He said the centre, which is jointly owned by a joint venture with Japan's Sumitomo and A-Z, has been working well to help researches on pesticides that help to combat diseases and pesticides in crops. "I have been hearing the good work you do and today I have come to see myself; in five years you have worked for a lot of antibiotic treatments, including drug nets and storage bags," he said. The ambassador promised that the Japanese government would sustain support to Tanzania in various sectors, including medical researchers, to address deadly diseases. Sumitomo's Chief Executive Officer, Atsuko Hirooka also attended the event. Mosquitoes prefer stagnant water within which they lay eggs. They most commonly infest ponds, marshes, swamps and other wetland habitats. However, they are capable of thriving in a variety of locations and can successfully grow in numbers even when not in their natural habitat. Many mosquito species use water containers as egg-deposit sites.

Tanzania government up in arms against fraudulent investors

Cheating and laziness are among the most notorious attitudes that cause the development plans not to grow as required. In view of this, the fifth phase government under Dr. John Magufuli  has seen the need to snatch away the important investment potentials whose owners have totally failed to develop. To facilitate the government’s move, on Monday this week, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa ordered all government leaders without cashew nut farms to refrain from cash crop business."If you don't have a cashew nut farm, you have nothing to do with the crop's business. You are only duty-bound to follow up, reprimand and take appropriate actions, if necessary, to facilitate trading of the cash crop," the Premier argued while officiating at the cashew nut stakeholders’ meeting in Tanga. "As the government encourages new farmers in the cashew farming, you should use the opportunity and farm, if you indeed wish to engage in the business," he directed. Mr Majaliwa tasked the Cashew nut Board of Tanzania (CBT) to properly advise the government on the best possible ways to develop the crop, noting that the government believes if all stakeholders played their respective roles effectively, the crop will immensely benefit the country. "It is important that all parties evaluated themselves to see if they were fulfilling their responsibilities as required," he said, directing the cooperative leaders to ethically execute their duties. 

Tanzania's Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa

The Premier said the government will never entertain low and delayed payments to farmers, adding that in this season, the government does not expect to see a repeat of challenges, including cashew nut shriveling, that hindered efficiency in the previous season. The cashew nut withers six months from the time of harvest to selling. "But, it takes less than six months to complete the buying of all cashew nuts, so in essence, the farmer is not responsible for cashew nut shrinking," the Premier stressed. Mr Majaliwa threatened stern disciplinary measures against anybody found responsible for the spoilage of farmers' produce. "I hereby direct all leaders at all levels to seriously work on this." He also banned Warehouse Receipts Regulatory Board from charging crop storage fees because it's not their job. "You are only responsible with the issuance of licenses," he said. However, the Premier directed the warehouse owners to allow government leaders to inspect the premises before and during the cashew nut sales. He said the government leaders should be allowed to inspect the warehouses even during the cashew nut auctions to ensure all the procedures are effectively used to preserve the crop. Earlier, the Industry, Trade and Investment Minister, Mr Charles Mwijage, said Tanzania produces cashew nuts of the highest quality, globally, encouraging farmers and other stakeholders to sustain the superiority. He said the government would continue encouraging investors from both within and outside the country to invest in cashew nut processing industries for value addition. At the meeting were the Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Dr Charles Tizeba, Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children Ummy Mwalimu and Minister of State, Vice-President's Office, Union and Environment, January Makamba, among others.

Burundians decides to go back home

The first batch of some seven hundred refugees from Burundi who have volunteered to return home are expected to depart this week. According to an assistant director in the department of refugees in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Deusdedit Masusu, two batches of 350 refugees each -- out of 13,000 who have since registered to return home -- will depart in two different days. “During this month we’ve scheduled seven repatriation trips each with an average of 350 refugees adding that more refugees were expected to join the forthcoming trips.

Mass movements of refugees returning to their homeland in Burundi

 

Mr Masusu said over the weekend that some 13,000 refugees have registered to return home and the ministry expects that more would volunteer following a smooth start of repatriations. “By the end of September, we are certain that those who are now hesitating to register will do so because they will find it necessary to go back home after receiving positive feedback from returnees,” he noted. He added that all what parties were now out to ensure, the repatriations were conducted in line with procedures set out in the tripartite agreements to ensure safety and dignity to the returning refugees.

Third highest mountain discovered in Tanzania

Sitting on the highest range of the world famous Ngorongoro, a new peak called Loolmalasin has just been discovered and is currently billed the country’s third highest mountain after Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru respectively. Mr Assangye Bangu, deputy conservator at the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority says the Loolmalasin summit peaks at 3,667 metres, but another expert, Mr Juan Ramon Morales, who scaled it with all the measuring tools reckons it could be higher. “Loolmalasin should officially be the third highest point with the Tanzania landscape  and is located within an area commonly known as the ‘crater highlands’ where people are trekking from the village of Nainokanoka during popular trips towards Lake Natron.  “We scaled the peak again from another angle, where our new measurements peaked at 3,825 metres … and that’s 145 metres higher than the ‘summit’ most frequently cited,’’ Mr Morales explained. Often in a blanket of thick fog, and the fact that visitors to Ngorongoro seem to mostly concentrate on the legendary crater, it was easy for Loolmalasin to escape attention over the years but now the mountain is emerging to claim its own crown. The global trekker recommends the months of January, February, June, July, August, September and October as being the best to scale the ‘new’ Loolmalasin. Two of the country’s highest peaks are all found on Mount Kilimanjaro in Moshi, featuring the tallest summit at Kibo, peaking at 5,895 metres followed by Mawenzi at 5,149 metres, above sea level. Mount Meru of Arusha comes second highest, though its top summit towers at the height of 4,562.13 metres, lower than that of Mawenzi. Now in terms of the ‘stand alone’ factor, Loolmalasin of Ngorongoro, which has just debuted onto the skyline, becomes Tanzania’s third highest mountain after Kilimanjaro and Meru though it features the fourth tallest peak at 3,825 metres. While it is very easy to scale, according to one of the NCAA information officers, Mr Walter Mairu; Mount Loolamalasin was yet to attract its well-deserved number of tourists. “We’ve just a few who start their trekking from Elbalbal village, following a faint wild trail for about 200 metres, then wading through surrounding bush before getting to the otherwise easy and exciting mountain to climb,” Mairu said, adding that the conservation area would soon start promoting this ‘very new’ tourist feature. Wildlife rangers at Nainokanoka, however, warn about the presence of buffalo and other wildlife along the way, which means interested climbers may need wardens in addition to regular guides. Mount Hanang which stands at 3,418 metres, and protruding above Lake Balangida in Katesh was being billed the third highest feature until Loolmalasin came along. The ‘Mountain of God’ or Oldonyo L’engai at 3,188 metres in Enkaresero, near Lake Natron, should now be the fifth tallest feature despite its noisy, if awesome, rumbling active volcano.