Two die of poisonous food

From Daily News, Dar es Salaam
By DAVID AZARIA in Sengerema

TWO family members of Mwabaluhi ward in Sengerema district, Mwanza region have died and four others still recuperating at the designated district hospital.

They are suspected to have taken poisoned food.

The fatalities are Aisha John, 2, and Shida John, 10, who died on Saturday in the afternoon while receiving treatment at the hospital.

Grieved villagers assisted the family after learning that the entire family suffered from serious vomiting and diarrhoea.

Speaking in serious pain from the hospital bed, the mother of the deceased, Monika Mashauri, 25, said on Friday afternoon she prepared ugali with fish for lunch and consumed the same in the evening.

Read full story.

Cases of gender based violence in upswing

From Daily News, Dar es Salaam
By DASSU STEPHEN in Mwanza

THE war against gender based violence needs to be intensified in order to bring about genuine women emancipation in Tanzania, the Kivulini Women's Rights Organization Programme Manager, Policy and Advocacy, Celestine Nyenga, has said.

"A path to gender equality and women emancipation still faces lots of challenges and obstacles as we can still witness gender related violence remains pervasive in our society," she said.

Mrs Nyenga was addressing a news conference on Thursday on preparations for the commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of violence against women and fight against gender related violence.

Read full story.

Experts warn of extreme weather in East Africa

From The Citizen Daily, Dar es Salaam
By Zephania Ubwani

As the world is preparing for the Durban Climate Change Summit next week, experts have warned of increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events, in the East African Region.The director general of the Tanzania Meteorological Authority (TMA) Dr Agnes Kijazi said here on Monday that recent flash floods, which caused injuries to people and destruction of property was a matter of concern.

These included floods associated with strong winds which swept Mwanza, Entebbe and Bukoba towns on the shores of Lake Victoria as well as landslides which continue to wreak havoc in mountainous areas in eastern Uganda.

She made the remarks when speaking at the start of a regional training workshop on severe weather forecasting and warning services, sponsored by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and which attracted experts from six countries. She said due to the global warming, a key factor for the changing climatic phenomenon, there was a likelihood of increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events like intense storms, droughts and floods.

Read full story.

Mosquito spraying should never cease

From Daily News, Dar es Salaam
Editorial

MOSQUITOES, particularly many species of female mosquitoes, are blood sucking pests and dangerous vectors of diseases such as malaria.

Their elimination is, therefore, a matter of paramount importance. It is a matter of life and death. Mosquitoes come in various types, the most known being anopheles for their malaria-infection notoriety.

Any effort, therefore, towards the elimination of mosquitoes is a commendable move worth all encouragement.

According to officials of the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP), the second round of the Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) operation will begin at the end of this month in 18 districts of the Lake Zone regions of Mwanza, Kagera and Mara.

Read full story.

15 killed as bus collides with lorry

From The Citizen Daily, Dar es Salaam
By Phinias Bashaya

Bukoba. At least 15 people died on the spot and 13 others were seriously injured yesterday in an accident involving a bus and a lorry in Biharamulo District, Kagera Region.The mid-morning accident occurred when the Taqwa bus travelling to Bujumbura from Dar es Salaam collided with a lorry.

The Biharamulo District Hospital assistant chief medical officer, Dr Michael Abila, confirmed that the bodies of seven men and eight women had been received at the hospital, adding that only four had been identified. He said most of the injured were in a critical condition.

There were hectic scenes at the hospital as doctors and nurses struggled to save the lives of the injured, who included a one-year-old child believed to have lost his mother in the accident.

There were plans to transfer some of the victims to Mwanza for specialised treatment.

Read full story.
Read also 'Road accidents cost billions' by Ludovick Kazoka - in Daily News.

Floods cause delay at Mwanza Airport

From Daily News, Dar es Salaam
By DASSU STEPHEN in Mwanza

HUNDREDS of passengers were on Monday stranded at Mwanza Airport for several hours after heavy rains led to floods at the facility and suspension of flights.

The 'Daily News' witnessed hundreds of stranded passengers at the Mwanza Airport who were waiting for the situation to return to normal.

Officials said the situation was caused by torrential rains and could not easily be avoided.

The Acting Mwanza Airport Manager, Mr David Matovolwa, told this paper that heavy rains that began on Sunday evening led to floods in most parts of the airport compound.

"When it reached on Monday at 9.10 a.m the area was heavily flooded and hence we declared a closure of all activities and that means no flights were allowed to land or take off from here," said the manager.

The manager said the aircraft that suspended landing due to the floods included, Dash 8, CRJ 540 that were travelling from Kahama to Bulyankulu and Dar es Salaam to Mwanza respectively.

Read full story.

FCC to conduct campaigns on fake goods in Mwanza Region

From IPPMedia/The Guardian, Dar es Salaam
By Felix Andrew

In a move meant to reduce the rate of counterfeits, increase consumer protection and competition advocacy, the Fair Competition Commission (FCC) will today carry out awareness campaigns for various strategic groups in Mwanza Region.

Speaking in phone interview with this paper yesterday FCC Senior Communications and Public Relations Officer Frank Mdimi, said the seminar will draw over 60 participants from the business community, judiciary, police force, tax administration officers, regional and district trade officers and cooperative officers.

Others will be from the Regional Attorney General’s Chambers, consumer protection bodies, academic institutions and members of the press.

Read full story.

Mary: Ranked among top 10 women inventors, innovators (Feature)

From Daily News, Dar es Salaam
By JAMES MPINGA

GOOD things are happening in the Great Lakes region; so fast and with such resolve that they could redraw, or at least redefine, Tanzania’s future tourism map in just months to come. Mary Kalikawe, a senior Tourism expert who once worked as an expatriate in Botswana’s department of tourism is now making waves back home in this silent evolution - although she is too modest to admit it.

Mary has many other arrows to her bow. In Tanzania, she has since founded Kiroyera Tours and a consulting firm of her own tourism company over the past 10 years which, in 2007, won the ZEZE award for its effort in promoting Cultural Tourism at home and abroad. Her firm also owns the Kagera Museum in her native Bukoba town.

None of these would mark Mary out so significantly if it weren’t for her burning resolve to ‘decongest’ old tourism routes of the fabled northern circuit and bring fresh breath to the rock city of Mwanza and Lake Victoria – the gateway to almost every East African Community (EAC) member state and to the rest of the world.

Read full story.

Railway infrastructure for more improvement

From Daily News, Dar es Salaam
By LEONARD MWAKALEBELA and NASONGELYA KILYINGA in DODOMA

THE government is committed to revive the country's railway network to connect all parts of the country, Minister for Transport, Mr Omar Nundu told the National Assembly on Thursday.

''We are planning to revive our entire railway network in the country in the coming five years to ease transport woes,'' said Mr Nundu.

He further said that passenger trains would soon resume services to Mwanza from Dar es Salaam, after they were halted some years back. Currently, only cargo trains are operating between Mwanza and Dar es Salaam, through Tabora.

Read full story.

Mwanza Water Authority improves services

From Daily News, Dar es Salaam
By DASSU STEPHEN in MWANZA

MAKOYE Budodi, 38, thinks that he doesn’t need to walk a long distance to fetch water for domestic use. A resident of Buhongwa ward in Mwanza city, Budodi recalls the early 1990s when he used to travel at least ten kilometres in search of that precious liquid.

This father of six has this to say, ”Sometimes we used to buy a bucket of water for 500/- when water shortage was very severe. But nowadays things have changed for the better as we have plenty of water around in our neighbourhood,” he explains.

Buhongwa ward is located about ten kilometres from the city centre, and Mr Budodi’s house has no water connections, but he fetches water from the nearby tap. ”I buy one bucket of water for only 30/-. The neighbours here are not selfish as they allow many people to get access to water, and sometimes others who cannoy pay for it are simply allowed to get it free of charge”, he explains.

Read full story.

Police kill five in foiled robbery bid

From Daily News, Dar es Salaam
By DASSU STEPHEN in Mwanza

FIVE suspected bandits succumbed to police bullets in Mwanza on Friday as they attempted to rob a hardware store.

The Mwanza Regional Police Commander, Mr Liberatus Barrow, said on Friday that the incident occurred at 9.50 am near the junction between Pamba and Nyerere roads.

The suspected bandits were killed by the police force in a fierce exchange of gun fire.

The police chief explained that the suspects succeeded in entering the shop called Mukesh K. Ganatra armed with machetes and guns and the owner of the shop and his customers panicking.

Read full story.

Immature Nile Perch impounded in Mwanza

From Daily News, Dar es Salaam
By DAILY NEWS Reporter

A MONITORING, Control and Surveillance (MCS) fisheries unit in Mwanza Region has impounded over 900 immature Nile Perch fish, a species facing extinction due to illegal fishing on Lake Victoria.

MCS, which is under the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development, impounded a huge catch of prohibited fish species at the landing jet of a fish processing factory, Vickfish, located along the shore of Lake Victoria.

Fisheries regulations prohibit catching immature species and government authorities and activists against illegal fishing have repeatedly warned against illegal fishing perpetrated by unscrupulous fishermen, traders and some owners of fish processing factories.

Read full story.