Friday 31 July 2009

Stage set for regional trade fair in Mwanza

From The Citizen, Dar es Salaam
By Paulina David, Mwanza

The fourth East African Trade Fair kicks off mid next month at the Saba Saba grounds in Mwanza City, organisers said on Tuesday.

Over 350 exhibitors from Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and host, Tanzania were expected to take part in the show slated for August 14 - 23.

The Regional chairman of the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA), Mr Joseph Kahungwa, said they expected both private and public exhibitors.

The show's major objective was to position Mwanza, Tanzania's second largest city, as the strategic investment hub in the Great Lakes region, said Mr Kahungwa.

They also hoped to complement the ongoing efforts for the integration of the East African Community (EAC) member states.

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Tuesday 28 July 2009

Two Americans among passengers killed in Korogwe road accident

From The Citizen, Dar es Salaam
By George Sembony, Korogwe

Two US citizens are among the 28 people who died when a Dar es Salaam-bound bus collided head-on with a lorry at Kwakombo in Korogwe District on Sunday evening.

The bus is called Mohamed Trans while the lorry is owned by Simba Trucking of Arusha. One of the dead Americans has been identified as Kathryin Baxter, holder of passport number 089355273 issued in New Orleans, USA, in December 2000. But the other dead American has not been identified.

According to the Tanga Regional Police Commander, Mr Simon Sirro, a Kenyan called Mr Francis Kanyoike also perished in the accident. A total of 13 passengers who died in the accident have been identified so far, 11 of them men.

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Monday 27 July 2009

Thirty die in bus collides with truck

From The Citizen, Dar es Salaam
By The Citizen Reporter

At least 27 people died on the spot yesterday when a bus and a truck collided in Korogwe District, Tanga Region.

A witnesses described the scene as "deadly". The accident occurred at 7pm when the bus tyre burst, sending it colliding with the truck at the Kwa Kombo area on a highway.

The Mohamed Transit Bus was travelling from Mwanza via Nairobi to Dar es Salaam. Korogwe district commissioner Erasto Sima told The Citizen that 27 bodies had been retrieved but more had been noticed still locked under the wreckage.

He had ordered for a breakdown vehicle from Tanga town to help in the retrieval. Among those confirmed dead 21 were men and six women.

He said that 13 injured people had been sent to the district hospital. The bus which had over 40 passengers.

Saturday 25 July 2009

Airline to inaugurate international flights

From The Citizen, Dar es Salaam
By Samuel Kamndaya & Devotha John

Air Zara International will officially start operating international flights next month.

Its managing director, Mr Misha Hango, told reporters in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the company's first 110-seater Boeing 737-200 will arrive in the country soon, ready for flights that are scheduled to start on August 3.

- 'Air Zara International commences B737-200 scheduled and charter Flights from August 3, 2009,' Mr Hango told newsmen at the Tanzania Information Services (TIS) auditorium in Dar es Salaam.

Initially the company, which received an Air Service License from the Tanzanian Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) in October last year, plans to start international flights by flying from Dar es Salaam to Johannesburg in South Africa and Moroni in the Comoro Islands.

Domestic routes being earmarked by the airline include Dar es Salaam, Mwanza and Dar es Salaam - Kilimanjaro.

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Wednesday 22 July 2009

100 riders drawn for Mwanza race

From The Citizen, Dar es Salaam
By Fadhil Iddy

The Lake Zone cycling competition will take place on August 8 with more than 100 competitors taking part.

Luxa Mpilipili, secretary-general of Mwanza's Regional Cycling Association (Chabama) said the 110-kilometre competition would start in Shinyanga and end at Kambarage Stadium.

Competitors will negotiate their way from Kenyatta Road to Nzega and return to the starting points.

Cyclists from Mwanza, hosts Shinyanga, Mara and Tabora will compete in the event, according to him.

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Monday 20 July 2009

Huddersfield rallies round for Africa hospitals appeal

From Huddersfield Daily Examiner, Huddersfield, UK

VITAL medical equipment is on its way to Africa from Huddersfield.

And the astonishing generosity of health workers in the town means many lives will be saved in Tanzania.

That was the verdict of former Huddersfield consultant John Philip and his wife Christine, as they helped volunteers pack a huge container with the donated medical equipment.

The couple, who are working to help hospitals in Mwanza, Tanzania, as part of a Rotary International Project, were “staggered” by the help that had been given.

The vast array of medical equipment including operating tables, beds, cots and instruments was all donated by health professionals and hospitals across the region.

“We had a conservative estimate when we started the project that we may get equipment worth £¼m.

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Yanga undecided over camp

From ThisDay, Dar es Salaam
By Jimmy Tara

YOUNG AFRICANS Sports Club leadership has not yet decided where to set camp for the Vodacom Premier League which kicks off next month.

It is reported that Serbian coach Dusan Kondic prefers Mwanza where he believes the players will train peacefully and be able to play friendlies against teams from Uganda.

But the club’s chairman, Imani Madega, said yesterday despite the technical bench proposing to start training this week, the leadership has not decided where the camp should be.

’’The leadership is still holding talks with Kondic and a decision will be made after a few days,’’ he said. Madega, however, indicated that the team could camp in Dar es Salaam.

In the meantime, Yanga players continue to undergo off-camp training at the Uhuru Stadium in the city. Madega said they expected foreign players to join the team this week after finalising transfer formalities. Only Cameroonian Jama Robert Mba has been cleared by his club Canon Yaounde to join the Mainland champions.

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Monday 13 July 2009

Government to deploy environment team in mines

From The Citizen, Dar es Salaam
By Patty Magubira, Mwanza

The government will next month recruit environmental officers and post them to all districts with mines to ensure mining activities do not pollute the environment.

The minister of state in the Vice-Presidents' Office (Environment), Dr Batilda Buriani, said recently that the government would also deploy community development officers in those districts to mend damaged relations between mining firms and communities surrounding them.

Dr Buriani said the government's intention was to recruit environment officers for all districts in the country, but owing to Potential Acid Formation (PAF) liquid from North Mara Gold Mine (NMGM) stockpiles and tailing ponds seeping nto Tigithe River, it has resolved to urgently recruit them for all districts with mining activities.

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Malaria wreaks havoc in Mwanza, states RC

From The Citizen, Dar es Salaam
By Paulina David, Mwanza


About 10 per cent of malaria patients in Mwanza Region, died of the disease last year, Mwanza regional commissioner Abbas Kandoro, has said.

Mr Kandoro said out of 1,158,392 malaria patients in the region last year, 1,214 died of the disease.

Speaking here late last week during the launch of a campaign to fight the scourge, Mr Kandoro said malaria was the leading killer disease in the region.

The campaign aims at distributing treated mosquito nets to all children aged below five years.

He said a total of 50,524 malaria patients were admitted at various health facilities, out of whom 646 were children.

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Saturday 11 July 2009

61 districts to face acute food shortage

From The Citizen, Dar es Salaam
By Faraja Jube, Dodoma

Sixty one districts in Tanzania are at risk of facing food shortage in 2009/10, a recent evaluating on food shortage has revealed.

An evaluation of food situation in the country conducted between May and June this year revealed that various areas in the country would face food shortage between this month and March next year.

The deputy Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Dr Mathayo David Mathayo named the regions as Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Dodoma, Iringa, Shinyanga and Singida.

Other regions identified to have food shortage due to poor production during 2008/09 are Tabora, Lindi, Mtwara, Ruvuma, Manyara, Morogoro, Pwani, Mwanza, Mara, Mbeya and Tanga.

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Friday 10 July 2009

Precision Air doubles Mwanza - Nairobi flights

From Wolfgang's East Africa tourism report

Not soon after launching their flights between Mwanza, located on the shores of Lake Victoria and Nairobi, operating four flights per week, Precision Air announced that they will double that number shortly. Precision is Tanzania’s premier airline, privately owned between Tanzanian citizen shareholders and Kenya Airways, and now operates the largest fleet of aircraft in the country. They were recently re-certified by CASSOA (see related column item) and are fully compliant with IATA’s e-ticketing directives and its operational safety audits IOSA.

The added flights now give travelers daily options to fly to the eastern part of Tanzania and either do some fishing or enter the Grumeti sector of the Serengeti for their safari, avoiding an otherwise much longer journey via Arusha. In turn, the Mwanza business community can now fly to Nairobi for business on a daily basis, nonstop, compared to requiring connecting flights through Kilimanjaro International Airport.

Thursday 9 July 2009

New wave of albino killings a cause for concern

From ThisDay, Dar es Salaam
Editorial

’’THOU shalt not kill’’ is not only a commandment God gave to Christians but humanity at large to an extent that societies worldwide respect the sanctity of life and have put mechanisms to preserve it.

It is shocking, however, that for weird reasons some social deviants thrive on killing others for various reasons including financial gains. In Tanzania for example, some people have resorted to killing fellow human beings simply because they have a different pigment. Albinos have been the main target of these people who in most cases act on the advice of traditional healers who demand human body parts for rituals.

It is unfortunate that for this and other reasons, albino killings are resurfacing again. The social anomaly is fast rearing its ugly head to an extent that no day passes without media reporting on fresh albino killings. In other words, our media are now awash with the resurfaced albino killing stories.

Recent reports from Mwanza that a decapitated body of an albino was found in a cave are not only shocking but inhumane. The incident occurred at Kishiri-Igoma area in Mwanza where the deceased, Jesca Charles (28), was killed by unidentified people who chopped off her legs and arms before dumping her body in a cave.

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New Jersey parishioner collects sewing machines for poor in Africa

From Catholic News Service, Washington DC, United States
By Chris Donahue

Clare S. Liptak is combining her Catholic faith with a love of sewing to help the poor in Africa stitch together a better life.

Liptak, a member of Mary, Mother of God Parish, collects fabric and sewing machines to send to women in Tanzania to sew clothes for themselves and their families. She and her friend Kathleen "Kat" Wilson have 140 sewing machines in storage at Mary, Mother of God and another 19 at Liptak's home.

Liptak shipped 30 machines to Tanzania in 2008. This summer, she hopes to send 50 more along with fabric, sewing supplies, carpentry tools, equipment for a culinary program and children's books. The container being used to ship the items is supposed to be loaded Aug. 7.

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