Tanzania ranks the fifth for uranium production in Africa

TANZANIA is expected to be among the top five producers of uranium in Africa after the completion of Mkuju River Uranium Project, which is in the final stage of trial, the Uranium One Chief Operation officer, Mr Andrey Shotov said on Wednesday this week. He told journalists that in the coming two years they will start mining activities, the project expected to boost the country's economy. “We are finalizing the Mkuju River project, we are looking forward to start trial as in the coming two years,” he said. According to Mr Shotov, the project started seven years ago and that it has reached to the implementation stage after various research studies were conducted. He said the project is expected to provide employment to various Tanzanians and promote various economic activities across the country. “Mkuju River Project in Tanzania is among the world’s most promising uranium projects. The project is currently maintained in the active status as research work and preparatory operations are under way,” he said. MANTRA Tanzania Mnaging Director Mr Frederick Kibodya said that Mkuju River Project would be the first uranium mine in the country. He said since establishment of the project, over 200m/- US dollar have already been used in exploration, constructing infrastructure and supporting local communities. “The projects will increase national income and employment to many Tanzanian. Tanzania will be the leader in mining technologies,” he said. He said upon the completion Mkuju River Project would employ 1,600 people.

DRC slashes its visa fee by 50pc

THE government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has announced the reduction of Visa fee for Tanzanians and Ugandans by half from 100/-US dollar to 50/- US dollar with effect from November 1, 2016. The decision has come a month after the DRC Ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Jean- Pierre Mutamba and the Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency (TTFA) Executive Secretary Capt Dieudonné Dukundane as well as Chief Operating Officer Mr Sayiba Tambwe Patient met with DRC high level officials in Kinshasa to discuss the matter. According to the statement released by DRC’s Director General of Immigration Mr François Beya Kasonga the move is part of Visa harmonisation process for Central Corridor Member Countries, in which Burundi, DRC, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda are involved.

Already Burundi, DRC and Rwanda enjoy Visa free movement among themselves under the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries (CEPGL) arrangement. Harmonisation of Visa was also one of the agreed issues during the 7th Ordinary Meeting of the Inter-State Council of Ministers of the TTFA held in Dar es Salaam on August 11, 2016. Commenting on the new development Capt. Dukundane hailed DRC Officials for this move that will reduce struggles and facilitate trade within Central Corridor member countries. He also commended the useful guidance provided by the DRC Ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Mutamba towards the achievements made so far throughout this process.

Environmental polluters in Lindi region to face prosecution

PRIME Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, has ordered immediate arrest and prosecution of environmental polluters in Lindi Region, decrying the alarming rate of dirtying the surroundings in the southern region. The premier, addressing a public rally in Lionmdi town on Wednesday this week, he directed the regional authorities to take stern measures against the culprits, warning that if the current trend continues unabated, the region is likely to turn into a desert, with most of the water catchments badly affected. He said instead of clearing the forest every year, sesame farmers should use their farms permanently for the cash crop growing, noting that sustainable agriculture should always support environmental conservation. Mr Majaliwa noted that the tree cutting would not only lead to desert but also shortage of food due to adverse effects on the water catchments. He said the government has this year spent about 75m/- on a borehole project, more than double the 35m/- spent on similar project in the past due to declining water sources. Lindi Regional Commissioner (RC), Godfrey Zambi, directed the ward and village leaders in the region to beef up security at areas surrounding forests, threatening stern actions against any leader failing to conserve the environment in their areas of discretion. “Those who are implicated in bush fire and cultivating near water catchment areas will now face the wrath of law,” said Mr Zambi.

EAC’S citizens in Diaspora to get support while in violent crimes

EAST African Community (EAC)’s citizens encountering violent crimes in foreign countries will get support from their country embassies, thanks to EAC Anti-Trafficking in Persons Bill, 2016. Before the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) passed the Bill here yesterday, several members debated it extensively, with Ms Susani Nakawuki asking embassies abroad to increase efforts in helping the EAC citizens in difficulties. “The primary concern of the Embassy or Consulate should be the safety of citizens, arranging for medical assistance, providing guidance on regulations and contacting next of kin in the event of violent attack, accident or death,” she said. Ms Nakawuki accused many EAC member embassies abroad of not offering enough support to the victims, arguing that it’s high time changes were made amid this era of escalating human trafficking in the pretext of searching jobs. She said most of the victims were women as another legislator, Adam Kimbisa drummed up for increased control of the permissions to leave the country. “Details of where our citizens are going (abroad) should be made available before the leaving approval.” Ms Dora Byamukama, who moved the Bill, Mr Martin Ngoga and Ms Maryam Ussi who presented the Committee on Legal Rules and Privileges report on behalf of the substantive Chairperson, Mr Peter Mathuki, asked all members to endorse the proposed legislation. The Bill now awaits the assent of the EAC Heads of State in line with Article 63 of the Treaty of the Establishment of the EAC. Should the Heads of State assent the Bill, it will become an Act of the Community, taking precedence over the laws of the partner states on the matter. The Bill seeks to provide a legal framework for the prevention of trafficking in persons, prosecution of perpetrators of crime, provision of protection mechanisms and services for the victims of trafficking and strengthen partnerships against trafficking in persons in regional bloc.

Donors appreciates the implementation of TASAF programmes

DEVELOPMENT Partners are satisfied with implementation of the Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF) productive social safety net (PSSN) programme which is on track in achieving its objectives. They have urged government to substantially increase its budget allocation to the PSSN and also explore additional funding sources. Mission Task Team Leader, Muderis Abdulahi Mohammed, made the remarks at the Joint Review Mission Wrap-up Meeting held in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday this week after having carried out field visits in Pemba, Mkalama, Muheza, Chato and Mbarali recently. “Most of the processes of the conditional cash transfers (CCT) are well stabilised and operate adequately. Compliance records for health and education grew from 37 percent and 28 percent in July 2015 to 82 percent and 81 percent respectively in May 2016,” said Mohammed. However, compliance with co-responsibilities is over 95 percent in health and over 90 percent in education whereby children aged between 6-18 years enrolled in schools with 93.8 percent attendance, he said. “Ninety one percent of households with children below the age of five years attend health facilities regularly,” he noted. On average 58 percent of households voluntarily joined the Community Health Fund (CHF) to overcome risks and shocks in time of need. Considering the Budget shortage, Mohammed said the mission has recommended maintaining of public works roll-out only to 44 project authority areas (PAAs) which are about 300,000 households until more budgets become available. He noted a good progress towards instituting e-payment system to digitalise cash transfers and increase financial inclusion in a flexible distribution. Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Amina Shabani, said the TASAF programme needs to be enhanced and sustained, expressing the government’s commitment to fully support the projects. “The government extends recognition to the DPs for their invariable support,” she said. TASAF Executive Director Ladislaus Mwamanga pointed out that the programme intended to reach 10 percent of the entire population but has surpassed the limit. “The project has already covered 1.1 million poor households which is equivalent to 15 percent of the total population in 161 Project Authority Areas (PAAs) which is close to 10,000 villages,” noted Mwamanga.

Stakeholders to discuss Gas utilisation master plan

STAKEHOLDERS in the hydrocarbons industry are in the final stages airing their views on National Gas Utilization Master Plan (NGUMP) before government’s releases it for public discussion. Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, Prof James Mdoe, SAID ON Wednesday this week in Dar es Salaam that the document has been in preparation since 2010. “At the moment we are finalising NGUMP, which aims at providing clear guidelines on the utilisation of the discovered natural gas,” he said. He said the meeting was crucial as it brought together stakeholders in the industry to air their views on the NGUMP draft for further improvement. The intention of the government, he said, was to ensure Tanzanians benefit from the natural resource whether directly or indirectly. NGUMP is a strategic document promoting inter-sectoral coordination in the design and implementation of the natural gas development activities. The government envisages coordinated utilization of gas on the basis of NGUMP while detailed technical and economic analysis should guide selection of the best project for implementation that will address mutual interest of the investors. Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), Acting Managing Director, Kapuulya Musomba, said the objectives of NGUMP include identifying current and future demand and supply of natural gas for local and foreign markets. “As it is a 30-year action plan, it also aims to set up a framework for development of infrastructure to supply the market and to set financing strategy for gas utilization projects,” he said. NGUMP proposes that natural gas will be utilised for cooking and cooling in the households. In forecasting households demand natural gas, an assumption is made that a typical household will demand 35.5 scfd for cooking. Musomba said the master plan was an integral part of the strategy for the implementation of National Energy Policy of 2015 regarding the utilization of the resource, the improvement of infrastructures and human capital development in the country. According to National Bureau of Statistics, it is assumed that from 2016-2045 the population will on average be growing at 1.95 per cent per annum. It is further assumed that ten per cent of households in the country will be supplied with natural gas for cooking by 2045. Over the past two years, Tanzania has discovered 50.5-trillion cubic feet of gas, of which roughly 45-trillion is offshore. This includes the nearly three trillion discovered in June by Statoil and its partner, Exxon- Mobil.

Govt to ensure legal protection of education sector in the country

IN a bid to improve the quality of education in the country, the government has said that it is making sure that all important plans are legally protected. Education, Science, Technology and Vocational Training Minister, Prof Joyce Ndalichako, disclosed this early this week in Dar es Salaam at the opening of education stakeholders’ meeting. The meeting participants included retired civil servants from the Ministry of Education, permanent secretaries, commissioners, directors and school inspectors. It was aimed at discussing challenges facing education and advise the government on appropriate measures in addressing them. Prof Ndalichako said that a number of good plans have been put in place but they are being interfered with new plans before they are implemented. “Following these challenges, we are working to ensure that all plans in my ministry are given legal power to avoid frequent changes and promote sustainable development in the sector,” she said. 

Tanzania's Education, Science, Technology and Vocational Training Minister, Prof Joyce Ndalichako,

The priority of the Fifth Phase Government, she said, is to improve the quality of education. “This involves strengthening of the education system from nursery to tertiary level, students’ qualifications, education inspectors and teaching techniques,” she said. The minister further said that her ministry is currently working on a bill that will allow the formation of a teachers’ regulatory body. She said the formation of the body will help ensure that all teachers who will be allocated to the schools meets all the required qualifications. Prof Ndalichako, however, said that the government values all views by stakeholders which aim at improving education. For her part, the Director for Schools Quality Assurance in the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Vocational Training, Marystella Wasena, said that the meeting was crucial for the development of education. “This meeting is crucial because its participants are former employees of the Ministry of Education. They have experience in the sector and some of them have acquired studies on various issues related to education. We hope that their views are important in addressing various challenges facing the sector,” she said. Gender and Development Consultant Prof Marjorie Mbilinyi commended the government efforts to ensure that all children in the country have access to basic education. The government has increased the number of schools and desks, but it should also take initiatives to improve the quality of education. She, however, said that the government should also employ more teachers and empower them with new teaching skills to improve pupils/students’ performance.

Registration conditions imposed by NIDA irks public servants in Mwanza region

THE condition for the public servants to obtain primary school certificate is one of the issues raised and which created mixed feelings as the National Identification Agency (NIDA) launched registration for public servants for Mwanza region this week in Mwanza city. The exercise which was launched for Nyamagana Municipality and carried out throughout the region up to October 17 this year requires all the registered staff to submit among other things their Primary School Leaving Certificate which was highly disputed, as many staff claimed they could not obtain them given the short duration provided for registration. One of the staff members, Mr Francis Mutunda, a teacher, said it will be difficult to obtain the certificate since he and some of the staff originated and got their primary education from outside Mwanza region, and that the given time was not enough to trace them. Earlier while opening the exercise which was conducted at the Mwanza Secondary School, the Nyamagana District Commissioner (DC), Ms Mary Tesha, said it was important for all the public servants in the municipality to be identified, registered and ultimately be issued with the national identification certificates. “This is in accordance to the directives issued by the government for its workers records to be in safe custody as well as getting rid of ghost workers in the future. So it is crucial for every staff member to be registered and in facilitating this, I ask for maximum cooperation to NIDA officers and others undertaking this exercise,” she said. Apart from primary education certificates, the public servants are supposed to submit other credentials including secondary school certificates, current salary slips, academic certificates and identification letters from the local governments. An officer from NIDA, Mr Daudi Hashim, said soon after the registration of the public servants, the exercise will continue with the rest of the residents and was scheduled to be fully completed nationwide by June next year.

Awareness campaign for girls is set ahead of 5th girls’ day

AS Tanzania joins the rest of the world to mark the Fifth International Day of the Girl Child next week, stakeholders are set to strengthen awareness campaigns to ensure that girls have access to education, economic opportunities and have the opportunity to influence decision making. Plan International Tanzania, said on Wednesday that throughout the week from October 11, this year, they would conduct different activities ensuring that Tanzanian girls become visible like never before and inspire others to join the global movement to ensure that they get their rights. The Country Director of the organisation, Mr Jorgen Haldorsen, said that they would commemorate the day in collaboration with the districts authorities and there will be different events - debates on barriers for girls’ education, causes of child marriage, early pregnancies and the launching of new ending child marriage projects. He said the celebrations will be held in various areas including the regions of Dar es Salaam, Mwanza and Geita as well as districts of Nkasi, Ifakara, Kibaha and Kisarawe . He noted that during the day, in each country, there will be 50 girls participating in the event. This year’s theme for International Day of the Girl Child focuses on adolescent girls and the Sustainable Development Goals; ‘Girls’ Progress-Goals’ Progress: A Global Girl Data Movement’ which set a range of international targets, including on gender equality, to be achieved by 2030. He said ending abuse and inequality that afflicts millions of girls around the world will not be realized without better statistics on the realities of their lives. “When we rally behind girls, everybody wins. Let’s have all our efforts towards giving the girls the chance to learn, lead, decide and thrive, and illustrate that the world needs to value them, help release their potential by ensuring they have equal opportunities,” he said. Governments will not end the abuse and inequality facing millions of girls without better statistics on the realities of their lives, says a report by Plan International.

Police holds a woman over suspicion on stealing a baby

POLICE in Mbeya Region is holding a woman identified as Mode Barnaba over suspicions of stealing a three month old baby identified as Peter Belino in Rungwe District. Speaking in a telephone interview on Wednesday this week, Mbeya Regional Police Commander, (RPC) Dhahiri Kidavashari said the incident occurred at Ndaga area in Rungewe village. Explaining the ordeal, the biological mother of the child who was identified as Anna Belino Fabian (25), a resident of Ndaga, reported that the suspect stole her baby when she was shaving her hair and she asked to offer a helping hand to carry the baby when the mother was treating her hair. “The woman who is a resident of Mchangani village in Rungwe district is suspected to steal the baby when she visited the home of the stolen child. She volunteered to carry the baby before disappearing with her to an unknown place until she was caught by the police,” the RPC reported. He said the mother of the stolen baby reported the incident to the police and the law enforcers launched a manhunt to look for the suspect. The suspect was later arrested at the Mchangani village bus stand while she was preparing to travel with the baby to Mbeya town. The suspect will appear before the court of law after investigations are completed. The Mbeya Regional Chief of Police has reminded parents and guardians to protect their children in order to avoid such incidents of child theft. In a separate incident, a men identified as Frank Edison (20), and Moses Mwangoka (17), are being held by the police in Mbeya for allegedly being found in possession of 45 grams of suspected narcotic drugs believed to be marijuana. The suspects were arrested on Tuesday morning this week when police conducted a crackdowns at Ilemi and Ilolo areas in Mbeya City. The suspects will appear in the court of law after police complete investigations.