ATCL to acquire another aircraft

From Daily News, Dar es Salaam
By PIUS RUGONZIBWA

THE Air Tanzania Company Ltd (ATCL) will soon acquire another aircraft, following a deal reached between the London-based Alexander Forbes Company, which has agreed to pay compensation involving the Boeing 373 accident in Mwanza early this month.

ATCL Acting Managing Director, Mr William Haji said in Dar es Salaam today that the Insurance Broker has agreed to strike a deal and would take full charge of the damaged aircraft.

“We have principally sealed a deal with Forbes which insured the aircraft by 100 per cent, on grounds that they will secure a new plane which will arrive any time as soon as procedures are completed,” he explained.

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Health insurance fund moves to better services to members

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

The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) plans special health care centres in all its six operation zones in the country, starting with Dodoma Region, in a bid to improve services for its members.

NHIF central zone director Christopher Mapunda, said to start with, the fund is constructing the centre for the central zone at Dodoma near the regional hospital premises. It is estimated to cost Sh5 billion when completed.

Mr Mapunda said the successfully implementation of the Dodoma centre, would allow the fund to replicate the health centre in other five zones.

Currently, NHIF has six zones which are central zone that includes Dodoma, Singida and Morogoro regions; eastern zone that covers Dar es Salaam, Coast, Zanzibar, Mtwara and Lindi regions and the lake zone with Mwanza, Mara and Kagera regions.

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Damaged ATC plane insured for US$ 2.5m

From The Guardian, Dar es Salaam
By The Guardian Reporter

The damaged Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) B737-200 aircraft which recently crash landed at the Mwanza airport was insured for US$ 2.5.

A reliable source with insight into ATCL has told the travel news website ETN the damaged plane was being written off and the insurance company was going to pay the lessors full compensation for the loss of the aircraft.

The value of the insurance is about US$2.5 million, the website says, adding that arrangements were being put into place to secure a replacement aircraft within a few week before the place crash landed at Mwanza airport.

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Tuberculosis cases on the increase in Mwanza

From The Guardian, Dar es Salaam
By Grace Chilongola

The number of tuberculosis patients in Mwanza Region has been increasing annually, whereby last year a total of 5,385 cases were reported.

This was revealed yesterday by regional TB co-ordinator Dr William Byemelwa.

He said over a period of five years the number increased tremendously, from 4,517 in 2005 to 4,905 in 2008.

He attributed the increase mainly to lack of education among the people on how the disease is transmitted.

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Disconnections underway to fix water bill dodgers

From The Citizen Daily, Dar es Salaam
By The Citizen Reporter, Mwanza

The days of illegal water consumers in Mwanza City are numbered, says the Mwanza Urban Water and Sewerage Authority (Mwauwasa).

Its director general, Dr Justus Rwetabura, observed at the climax of Water Week celebrations here recently that some city residents had their water pipes illegally connected, while others were tampering with its metres.

He said Mwauwasa would embark on a crackdown on illegal consumers of the precious liquid, including those accumulating water bills for up to three months.

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Procurement officials ‘steal colossal sums’

From The Citizen Daily, Dar es Salaam
By Jane Kajoki, Mwanza

The government is incurring great losses every year as a result of unscrupulous procurement officials inflating prices of various goods, it has been observed.

Officiating at a five-day seminar recently, the Mwanza acting regional commissioner, Lt Col (rtd) Serenge Mringo, said 80 per cent of the government budget is spent on procurement of goods for provision of social services, but a big chunk went into procurement officials’ pockets.

He said members of the public always blame political leaders for engaging in corruption while it was actually being committed by unscrupulous government officials involved in the procurement of public goods.

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Youth clubs undertake to fight social problems in unique style

From The Citizen Daily, Dar es Salaam
By Joseph Mtebe

Young people play a critical role in efforts to resolve social problems affecting local communities, including human rights abuses and the HIV/Aids scourge, a youth conference recently held in Mwanza concluded.

Speakers at the conference organised by Plan International at the Nyanza Hall have said the government alone and a few private players cannot address the problems facing the majority of people in the country.

And Plan International is attempting to help the youth play a more critical role in tackling social problems. The global body has for years been assisting youth groups in Mwanza to reach out to their communities, to help address some of the social ills affecting communities in the region.

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Armed gang grabs explosives at mine

From The Citizen Daily, Dar es Salaam
By The Citizen Reporter

Police in Geita District have arrested a suspect linked to a robbery at Geita Gold Mine (GGM) during which several boxes of explosives were stolen.

The acting Mwanza regional police boss, Mr Nonosious Komba, said an armed gang stormed into the mine at around 2am yesterday.

The robbers tied up a security guard, identified as Nyandu Shunde, and relieved him of his firearm before stealing 14 boxes of explosives whose value could not be immediately established.

Mr Komba said the incident was reported to the police, who pursued the robbers, one of whom was arrested and the firearm grabbed from the security guard recovered. Police also recovered 12 boxers of explosives stolen during the raid.

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Barrick team probe accident

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

Mining operations resumed at Bulyanhulu Gold Mine in Kahama District on Friday, three days after the accident that left three employees dead.

At the same time, a team of Barrick Gold Corporation senior investigators was already at Bulyanhulu to determine the cause of the accident, according to the firm's public relations executive Teweli Teweli.

Operations at the mine were halted on Thursday as the company mourned the employees who were crushed by a falling rock some 900 metres down the pit.

The dead were identified as Dickson Kadelema, 36, Vedastus Wilfred Tandise, 33, and Joel Matthew Nicholas, 34. While Kadelema had been with the mine since 2003, Tandise and Nicholas were recruited in 2007.

Mine staff paid their last respects to their departed colleagues and the bodies were transported to their respective final resting places.

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Mwanza couple arrested for theft of Kenyan baby

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

The fate of an infant feared to have been stolen from Kisii district in Nyanza Province, Kenya, hangs in balance at Weil Bugando Medical Centre (WBMC) following the infant’s mother’s failure to show up, it has been learnt.

The infant was found being raised by a couple suspected to have stolen her from her real parents in the neighbouring country last month, prompting the police officers here to send the child to the referral hospital pending appearance of her biological parents.

The Tanzanian couple who was found with the baby was released on bail after being arrested at Mabatini suburb in Mwanza City and being interrogated on March 6, this year.

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Three workers die in mine accident

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

African Barrick Gold (ABG) yesterday declared dead three Bulyanhulu Gold Mine workers, who were trapped underneath a collapsing rock at the mine situated in Kahama district, Shinyanga region.

The employees, who lost their precious lives in the tragic rock fall incident, according to ABG Public Relations and Communication Manager, Teweli Teweli, are Dickson Kadelema, 36, Vedastus Wilfred Tandise, 33, and Joel Matthew Nicholas, 34.

While Kadelema was a Jumbo operator at the mine employed in 2003, Tandise and Nicholas were recruited as miners in 2008 and 2007 respectively, Teweli said.

“Words cannot express the deep sorrow we feel for the tragic loss of life of our colleagues,” ABG Chief Operating Officer, Mr Dave Anthony, was quoted as saying in a statement availed to The Citizen here yesterday. “Thoughts and prayers of all the ABG employees were with their diseased colleagues' families and friends,” he said.

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Gold mine suspends operations

From The Citizen Daily, Dar es Salaam
By The Citizen Reporter

Bulyanhulu gold mine has suspended all mining activities and concentrated in efforts to rescue its three workers who have been trapped after a piece of rock fell.

Statement released by the company yesterday noted that the fall occurred between 2 and 3:00am, some 900 meters below ground.

“The ground fell on a Jumbo machine and three employees are trapped,” said African Barrick Gold Public Relations and Communications manager, Mr Teweli Teweli in a statement.

According to Mr Teweli, the mine rescue team was immediately dispatched and has been working in rotation around the clock since the incident occurred.

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Better days ahead for commuters

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

Commuter buses in Mwanza will now ply long routes recently launched by the Ilemela district commissioner, Lieutenant Col (rtd) Serengo Mrengo.

The DC reminded bus operators that it is mandatory to issue tickets to their passengers. He said the long routes were reviewed by the City Fathers in collaboration with the Surface and Marine Regulatory Authority (Sumatra) in 2007 to reduce congestion in the city centre.

The other aim was to discourage touts and noise pollution arising from haphazard honking by irresponsible bus drivers.

However, the commuter bus operators had refused to cover the long routes, demanding, among other conditions, the construction of bus stops. They also wanted a review of bus fares which, they said, were not compatible with the distances their buses cover.

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New police boss declares war on mob justice

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

Mwanza regional police commander Simon Sirro took over his new office by declaring a war against criminals, including perpetrators of mob justice, increasingly becoming common in the country.

He said he has established a mobile police post to patrol Lake Victoria islands because he was informed before arriving here that pirates were menacing the lakeside city.

He said a marine vessel with 14 police officers would make patrols on the lake round the clock.

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Healer’ renders patients unconscious, robs them

From The Citizen Daily, Dar es Salaam
By The Citizen Reporter, Geita

A guesthouse manager and his six customers have been admitted to Geita district hospital after being rendered unconscious by a traditional healer.

The hospital’s medical officer in-charge, Dr Cassian Kabuche, confirmed receiving the victims of the incident on Friday.

The Mwanza regional crime officer, Mr Deusdedit Nsimeki, said yesterday that he was not yet informed about the incident. However, police sources in Geita district said they were already looking for the traditional healer who was at large and also interrogating his lover.

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Country`s second largest city Mwanza is cleanest

From The Guardian on Sunday, Dar es Salaam
By Lucas Liganga

“By all standards Mwanza City is a clean city,” says Said Hamad Kindinda, a shoe shiner along Kenyatta road whose small business joint opposite New Mwanza Hotel is a rendezvous for politicians, football fans and city rumour mongers.

But Kindinda, a native of Kilwa District in Lindi Region, frowns at the fact that some residents in the city of 850,000 people (but unofficial population count puts the Mwanza city population slightly over one million) still do not know what cleanliness means.

“The other day a senior official with the Mwanza City Council bought a recharge voucher for his mobile phone, scratched it, recharged his phone and threw away the used voucher ignoring a nearby litter bin,” says the shoeshine.

He adds: “We told him point blank to pick up the used voucher. The official felt ashamed of what he had done, picked up the voucher and dropped it in a nearby litter bin.”

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Why ATCL`s Boeing crashed

From The Guardian on Sunday, Dar es Salaam
By Staff writer

The pilot of the Air Tanzania Boeing 737-200 that crash-landed at Mwanza airport earlier this month was forced to stage the non-fatal emergency landing amid heavy rainfall and thick layers of fog, The Guardian on Sunday has learnt.

The plane, which was carrying 45 passengers from Dar es Salaam, was heading to its final destination in Mwanza on the morning of March 2, when Captain Mwakang’ata first reported trouble to ground control.

According to communication records between the Mwanza control tower and the pilot, after being briefed about the weather conditions at the airport, Mwankang'ata said visibility was near zero and he couldn’t land safely despite being given a nod by air traffic controllers.

Mwakang’ata instead requested to land at Kilimanjaro Airport, the closest airport to Mwanza, pending an improvement in the weather in Mwanza city.

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Mwanza: From dusty town to emerging economic giant

From The Guardian, Dar es Salaam
By Lucas Liganga

When Mwanza was upgraded to city status about a decade ago, most people in the Lake Victoria port-side town didn’t buy the idea because due to being dusty and its dilapidated infrastructure, the promotion was perceived as a misnomer.

But, nearly ten years later, the anxieties of skeptical residents as well as short-time visitors have been calmed, for Mwanza city has grown tremendously and is an epitome of a modern Tanzanian urban centre.

Credit for that achievement is shared, in the main, by the government through creative plans and a no-nonsence approach towards whoever dares mess up things, and a responsive business community.

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Geita Legislator escapes PCCB dragnet

From The Citizen Daily, Dar es Salaam
By Frederick Katulanda, Mwanza

A legislator narrowly escaped the anti-graft body’s dragnet whose officials ambushed a party that he allegedly organised for his fellow party members late last week.

An official of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) invaded the party believing that it was organised in contravention of the recently enacted election financing Act.

The PCCB district official made the move only days after President Jakaya Kikwete directed the anti-corruption watchdog to immediately start enforcing the law.

The Member of Parliament for Nyang’wale constituency in Geita District, Mwanza Region, Mr James Musalika, had reportedly organised a party that attracted Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) leaders in the district, including councillors, at Bukwimba village last Thursday.

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Mwanza's 'Jewel in the Crown'

From Mwanza Guide 'online', Mwanza

The 32-suites Malaika Beach Resort is built on an imposing rock foundation with stunning views over Lake Victoria shoreline.

The hotel is located minutes away from Mwanza Airport and a stone's throw from Mwanza's Central Business District, providing easy access to attractions such as Rubondo island National Park and Western part of Serengeti National Park.

This makes the resort ideal for business and leisure travellers alike. Imagine feather pillows, soft towels. gin and tonic on the rocks and a exquisite gourmet meal in candlelit dining on the shores of Lake Victoria. "Heavenly" would be the best description of "Malaika" the swahili word for angels.

We are offering a 50% discount on our luxury accommodation for the months of March and April.

Please feel free to share it with friends and colleagues.

Further information and booking: joseph@mwanza-guide.com

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Find Mwanza Guide 'online' on Facebook.

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Find general information, links, pictures and video, news from Lake Zone and upcoming events in town.

Find friends, arrange meetings and upload your own, text, ideas, pictures and video.

Bookmark Mwanza Guide 'online' on Facebook, be a friend and join the global network.

Regards

The Mwanza Guide 'online' team.

Rains delay re-opening of Bukoba airport

From Daily News, Dar es Salaam
By MEDDY MULISA in Bukoba

BUKOBA Airport which was scheduled to be re-opened on February 28 this year, will remain closed following ongoing rains in the Lake Zone regions.

The Tanzania Airport Authority (TAA) Bukoba Regional Manager, Mr Komba Kamchakyo, told the 'Daily News' today that the airport had been closed for two weeks starting on February 5 this year.

He said the closure was intended to allow rehabilitation work to be completed as per contract time frame. “Rehabilitation of the Bukoba Airport was expected to be completed last month or early March, this year.

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Probe launched into ATCL plane mishap

From The Citizen Daily, Dar es Salaam
By Patty Magubira, Mwanza, and Beatus Kagashe, Dar

Investigations were launched yesterday into Monday's runway incident involving an ATLC plane at Mwanza Airport.

A team of eight aviation experts will try to establish what caused the nose wheel of the Boeing 737 to collapse as it landed on arrival from Dar es Salaam.

The plane had not yet been removed from the spot at which it came to a halt as of 4pm yesterday, making it impossible for big aircraft to use the partially blocked runway.

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21 killed, 45 hurt in Tabora bus smash

From The Guardian, Dar es Salaam
By Dominic Nkolimwa

Twenty-one people died on the spot and 45 others were seriously injured after a bus they were travelling in crashed in at Kitangiri between Igunga and Nzega towns in Tabora Region.

Tabora Regional Police Commander ASP Liberatus Barlow confirmed the accident, saying it involved a bus christened AM coach which was heading to Mwanza from Arusha.

He told The Guardian by telephone that the injured passengers were admitted at Nzega district hospital.

“The bus with registration number T316 AZR rolled twice,” adding that the accident occurred at around 4.15pm.

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ATCL plane crash lands in Mwanza, all on board safe

From The Citizen Daily, Dar es Salaam

By Patty Magubira, Mwanza

A total of 46 people escaped death yesterday when an Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) jet they were travelling in crash landed at Mwanza airport yesterday morning, company officials have confirmed.

The ATCL's Boeing 737-247(A) 5H-MVZ, swerved off the runway, skidded for about a kilometre after touching the runaway tarmac at the airport at around 7:45am, the airport's deputy manager, Mr Ibantao Muchunguzi, said at the scene of the accident.

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Air Tanzania B737-200 crashes in Mwanza

From eTurboNews, Nairobi, Kenya
By Wolfgang H. Thome

The beleaguered Tanzanian national airline suffered another setback yesterday, when one of its remaining aircraft, an aged B737-200 crashed while attempting to take off from the lakeside town of Mwanza.

It was confirmed by sources at Mwanza Airport that while on the take off run some of the aircraft's tires burst, sending the plane into a skid from which the crew was unable to recover, before it eventually slid off the runway to a halt.

The plane suffered extensive damage to the undercarriage, when the nose gear collapsed under the strain. The hull and at least one of the engines were also damaged, but all passengers and crew escaped without serious injuries.

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24 killed in Tanzania bus crash

From ABC News - online

A bus overturned in north-west Tanzania on Monday killing at least 24 people and injuring 56 others, police said

The bus was travelling from Arusha to Mwanza when a tyre burst and it overturned, Tabora region Police Commander Liberatus Barlow said.

He said police were still investigating but indicated that speeding might be among the causes.

The deaths were confirmed by Nzega district medical officer John Mwombeki.

Road accidents are rampant in the east African country, leading to thousands of deaths annually.

Police attribute the trend to reckless driving, bad roads and defective vehicles.

Air Tanzania B732 at Mwanza on Mar 1st 2010, veered off runway, nose gear collapsed

From The Aviation Herald, London, UK
By Simon Hradecky

An Air Tanzania Boeing 737-200, registration 5H-MVZ performing flight TC-100 from Dar Es Salaam to Mwanza (Tanzania) with 46 passengers, veered left of the landing runway 30 around 08:00L (05:00Z). The nose gear collapsed before the airplane came to a standstill with both main gear on soft ground and the nose resting on a paved surface. No injuries occured, the airplane received damage to its nosegear and right hand engine.

No Metars are available for Mwanza. Local weather reports at 08:00L indicate light winds below 5 knots from northnorthwest and scattered clouds. Around midnight there had been a thunderstorm in the area with significant rain.

Time for Tanzania to rid itself of corrupt leaders

From ThisDay, Dar es Salaam
By The Editor

PRESIDENT Jakaya Kikwete has once again demonstrated in no uncertain terms that he truly means business and is committed to waging the war against corruption to its logical, victorious conclusion.

When opening the Annual Meeting of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) in Mwanza last Thursday, President Kikwete said corruption has continued at full strength in the country, thus denying citizens their right to access crucial social services.

It is for this reason that the president called on all key stakeholders to effectively take part in this relentless fight against corruption.

As the top commander of the war, he directed PCCB to ensure full implementation of the new law on Election Expenses to give more integrity to the electoral process and democracy in general.

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Legislator Lembeli gets new Challenger for Kahama seat

From The Citizen Daily, Dar es Salaam
By Shija Felician, Kahama

A Chama Cha Mapinduzi cadre in Kahama District, has declared his intention to face the seating MP for Kahama constituency, Mr James Lembeli, during this year's General Election.

Mr Malimi Charles Ng'wabulang'wa, 52, said he was determined to improve the quality of education in the constituency by using subventions from gold mines in the district.

The incumbent MP is among a few legislatures who have vowed to fight grand corruption in the country.

He has a Masters degree in theology from Columbus University in US and another Masters degree in management and administration from Saint Augustine University of Tanzania in Mwanza.

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