Sunday 21 December 2014

Mwanza notorious for fake goods: TFDA

From The Citizen Daily, Dar es Salaam
By Aidan Mhando

MWANZA.Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA) has declared Mwanza as the most affected region in counterfeit goods, illicit drugs and expired food smuggled through the porous border in Lake Victoria.

Impromptu operations carried out regularly in Mwanza, Mara and Geita regions found out that the second largest city in Tanzania revealed this status.

TFDA Lake Zone manager Moses Mbamba said recently that the porous border impedes the authority’s campaigns and operations to intercept counterfeit goods and illicit drugs.

Illicit products that have been impounded included: cosmetics, human and livestock drugs, toothpaste, wheat flour, maize flour, canned milk, whereby most of the items were smuggled from Uganda.

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Monday 15 December 2014

117 girls take refuge in church to escape FGM

From The Citizen Daily, Dar es Salaam
By Anthony Mayunga

SERENGETI. The Anglican Church here has provided shelter to 117 young girls who ran away from their homes to escape female genital mutilation (FGM).

The children, most of them aged between 10 and 15, took refuge at a safe house operated by the Mugumu Anglican Church.

FGM, according to local customs, transforms a young girl into woman, thus eligible to get married.

The coordinator of a programme that helps children who oppose genital mutilation in Serengeti District, Mr Rhobi Samwel, said there were 43 children at the centre while the rest were sheltered by pastors in various areas of the district.

“We have at this centre 43 children from Serengeti and Butiama districts, while a bigger number of them have taken refuge in houses of pastors and other religious personnel,” he said.

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Sunday 14 December 2014

Govt to use armed forces to stop illegal fishing in Lake Victoria

From IPP Media/The Guardian, Dar es Salaam
By Prosper Makene 




The government is preparing to deploy soldiers from the Tanzania People's Defence Force (TPDF) on Lake Victoria in a move to combat illegal fishing activities, which have become rampant.

The wanton practice has led to reduction of number of fish in the lake, forcing some fish factories to close down.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Guardian on Monday, Livestock and Fisheries Development deputy minister Kaika Telele (photo) said the government has finally decided to involve all the armed forces’ departments - TPDF, Police Force, Prisons, and auxiliary police in combating the menace.

Telele said the decision comes after the government established that similar measures taken by Ethiopian and Ugandan governments proved successful.

“Uganda and Ethiopia have successfully curbed illegal fishing in their respective countries. This has led us to decide to borrow a page from the two in order to save our country,” he said.

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Wednesday 10 December 2014

Tanzania's albino community: 'Killed like animals'

From BBC World News, London, UK

People with albinism face prejudice and death in Tanzania. A new campaign is now being launched to end hostility towards the tiny community of about 30,000. BBC Africa's Salim Kikeke met some of them.

Mtobi Namigambo, a fisherman by trade, sits calmly on a stool outside his mud house in Ukerewe island.

Once a sanctuary for albinos, this is no longer the case. His four-year-old son, May Mosi, who has albinism, sits on his lap. Showing off his newly learnt skills, May counts from one to 10, confidently.

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Tuesday 2 December 2014

Ministers differ over airport

From The Citizen Daily, Dar es Salaam
By Anthony Mayunga

Mugumu. The dispute over the proposed Serengeti International Airport took a new twist here after the minister for Livestock Development and Fisheries joined those supporting the construction.

Dr Titus Kamani, the minister for Livestock Development and Fisheries told residents in Mugumu, the Serengeti District capital, that those who campaigned against the construction of Serengeti Airport were plotting underdevelopment of the district.

“I don’t know what is in their heads, but they have the intention of not wanting Serengeti to achieve development, despite the reserve being home to the world’s most popular animal sanctuary,” said Dr Kamani.

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Monday 1 December 2014

Mwanza business college campus to receive infrastructure funding

From IPP Media/The Guardian, Dar es Salaam
By Correspondent

The government plans to solicit funds to improve infrastructures of the Mwanza campus of the College of Business Education.

Speaking over the weekend, deputy minister for Trade and Industries, Janet Mbene said the government will purchase state of the art teaching tools and construct workers’ houses at Kiseke on the outskirts of Mwanza.

Mbene who was gracing the 49th graduation for the college said the government would raise funds from various sources to put in place a modern library, workers offices, hostels and lecture halls on the 4.2 hectare land acquired by the campus.

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