Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Former President urge Tanzanians to uphold existing peace
FORMER President Benjamin Mkapa has urged Tanzanians
to uphold existing peace and tranquility especially at this time when the
country is nearing general election scheduled for next Sunday. Talking to
residents of Muheza District in Tanga Region recently, Mr Mkapa stressed the
need for peace in attaining development. “We should maintain peace if we want
to achieve progress,” he said. He noted that Muheza residents and Tanzanians at
large should be aware of the fact that each individual was responsible for the
country’s peace and security. “I have some experience in regard to elections,
we should be very careful,” he explained. He called upon citizens to elect
leaders who will be able to lead the country into mid-level economic status. He
said that it was only CCM that is capable to produce such leaders and told the
gathering that Amb Adadi Rajabu was the best choice to represent Muheza in
Parliament. “I know Rajabu, he is a hard worker and capable leader,” he said. Ambassador
Rajabu who is vying for Muheza parliamentary seat through CCM said he will work
hard to bring development to the people of the area. “I want to assure you that
I have zeal and am capable of dealing with problems facing Muheza,” he added. He
promised to work with other leaders in achieving set objectives. “I will make
sure that Muheza will have industries so that youth will get employment after
completing their education,” he noted. The former president also held meetings
in Handeni and Pangani.
Dr Shein vows to work together with Magufuli in defending nation
Zanzibar's CCM presidential
candidate, Dr Ali Mohammed Shein has assured people in the isles of more
cooperation with the Union presidential candidate, Dr John Magufuli in
safeguarding the nation. Dr Shein said he knows many of the challenges in the
Union but assured Zanzibaris that he will work hard to ensure that they are
sorted out before the end of his second term in office. "I promise to work
with Dr Magufuli to strengthen the Union and also to work on its challenges for
the betterment of the two sides and the people. Our union has a long history,”
he said. According to Dr Shein, the two sides will continue to respect the
agreements inked by the fonding presidents, Abeid Amani Karume and Julius K.
Nyerere that were aimed at uniting the two sides. He made the assurance at
Binti Amran grounds over the weekend when addressing voters at a campaign rally
conducted at Mpendae constituency. The presidential candidate said CCM is the
only political party that has the capacity to safeguard the Union as it has so
far worked on some of the challenges in it. He called upon Zanzibaris to turn
out in numbers on Sunday to vote for CCM so as to give the party the power to
continue serving them. Apart from the Union matters, Dr shein said that he
feels proud to contest for another term while 90 percent of the promises made
to Zanzibaris have been accomplished. Dr Shein said that he worked tirelessly
to ensure that his government fulfills all the promises made by the citizens as
they were told during the 2010 campaigns. According to Dr Shein, the government
under the leadership of CCM worked on the projects it promised to the citizens
of Zanzibar in a move to uplift their lives and the development of the nation. "I
am standing before you looking proud because most of the promises made during
the 2010 campaigns have been fulfilled. My government worked hard to accomplish
them in time just before I contest for another term in office,” he stressed. He
mentioned some of the accomplished projects at the constituency as providing
clean and safe water, drilling four bore wells in line with constructing water
tanks for easy distribution of water to the citizens. Others are the increased
number of schools which are equipped with modern facilities and construction of
a new health facility which has experienced medical staff. Dr Shein assured the
public that his government will continue to implement all the uncompleted
projects if they vote CCM in power again. He said the government will make sure
that it quickly completes the construction of roads in Unguja. He urged them to
vote for CCM saying it is the only political party in the country that will
bring about development and is ready to work on the citizens’ needs. Seconding
Dr Shein, CCM deputy secretary general (Zanzibar), Vuai Ali Vuai called on CCM
supporters to maintain peace and harmony during voting and the release of the
results. According to Vuai, there are reports that the Civic United Front (CUF)
is preparing to initiate chaos before and after the voting. “There are already
signs of chaos but I would like to take this opportunity to call upon CCM
supporters to be calm,” he stressed. He assured them that Dr Shein is the right
person who can lead Zanzibar peaceful and bring development. Ealier, First Vice
President,Ambassador Seif Ali Idd said that CUF's presidential candidate Maalim
Seif Sharif Hamad has no capacity to lead Zanzibar as he has failed five times
in the race to State House. Ambassador Idd called Maalim Seif to accept that
CCM is a superior party that Zanzibaris believe in its leadership. “You should
only vote for Dr Shein and other party's candidates to bring you development.
CUF has nothing new to offer to Zanzibaris who are already confident with CCM's
leadership,” he said.
Meeting to discuss El-Nino starts today in Naivasha
East African bloc countries are set
to meet in Kenyan town of Naivasha today for a regional consultative meeting on
impending El Nino impact and preparation for early action, organisers said on
Sunday. The Inter-Government Authority on Development (IGAD) through their
specialised institution IGAD Climate Predictions and Applications Centre
(ICPAC) said the Oct. 20-21 meeting will be used to create awareness about the
effects of El Nino. “The organisers expect to use the consultative forum to
facilitate national and regional experts to create awareness and provide an
update of the predicted El Nino event including preparedness at community level
across the region," IGAD said in a statement released in Nairobi. The
consultative meeting, which falls under the ICPAC Greater Horn of Africa
Climate Outlook Forums (GHACOFs), is expected to bring together climate
scientists, communication experts, policy makers including ministers of finance
and ministers responsible for disaster risk management from the Greater Horn of
Africa. ICPAC is the specialised IGAD institution based in Nairobi, mandated to
provide timely climate warning information, which covers IGAD members' states
as well as Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. The meeting comes as aid agencies have
warned of the sub-Saharan Africa region is at risk of acute hunger as food
production situation is set to further worsen with the looming El Nino. The
agency said a series of climatic shocks in 2014 and 2015 decimated harvests,
leaving many people dependent on food aid to survive. Floods and droughts in
southern Africa resulted in significant declines in maize production, the
regional staple. But the agency warned that the worst is yet to come. The
El Nino climate phenomenon, characterised by a warming in the Pacific Ocean, is
set to strengthen over the coming months and persist into 2016. When El Nino
occurs, rainfall patterns shift, increasing the risk of extreme weather events.
Also expected to participate at the IGAD meeting are parliamentary committees
on agriculture and infrastructure in the member states, climate experts and a
wide range of user communities. "There will also be representation from
the National Red Cross/Red Crescent and the International Federation of Red
Cross," it said. The ICPAC Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forums
(GHACOFs) are seasonal forums for the release of the climate outlook for the
upcoming season to facilitate early action. GHACOF has made enormous
contribution to the improvement of the quality of the seasonal rainfall
outlook, biomass prediction and dissemination of climate information and
prediction products for disaster risk management.
Veteran journalist rendered homeless in Dar
Veteran journalist Simeon
Ileta who retired recently now lives in difficulty, after his house was burnt
down by fire that was caused by electrical fault at his Tegeta Wazo residence
in Dar es Salaam. For about a week now, he sleeps outside where there is
neither blanket nor shelter to provide him with cover. “The fire outbreak
razed down everything including valuables that were inside my house,"
lleta said in an interview with journalists who went to comfort him at the
weekend. The incident occurred on last Wednesday midnight when Ileta and his
wife and his family were asleep. Efforts by neighbours and residents in the
area to try to put off the fire failed to bear fruits as it had already spread
in the entire house and scorched its walls. “We tried to call the firefighting
office, but to no avail," said Ileta, who added: "later we decided to
ask for help from Wazo Hill cement factory firefighters, who by the time they
arrived at the scene the fire had already scorched everything.” “To some
extent, however, the Combat Fire from the Cement factory helped to prevent the
fires to spread out to the neighbouring houses," he added. Explaining
further, Ileta said that the incident occurred at midnight when he, his wife
and two children were asleep. "On the material day there was a funeral in
the neighbourhood and I was late to return home from the funeral. A few minutes
while resting on my bedroom, I heard my neighbours shouting fire, fire, after a
roar and a huge explosion. I rushed to find out as I was asking where is my
wife? Where is my wife? he said. “I wanted to go inside so as to save her, but
they grabbed me and prevented me from returning inside,” he said. “I latter
came to realize that my wife was safe and resting somewhere at a corner of our
compound,” he said. Ileta, now retired is a veteran journalist, who began his
career at the government daily English paper, The Daily News in 1973, before he
joined the Tanzania news Agency (Shihata) and later the Foreign Service in
Zambia. On his return home, he became editor of several newspapers, including
This Day and Kulikoni, and latter The Guardian on Sunday.
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