Team to probe embezzlement allegations

From The Citizen, Dar es Salaam
By Beatus Kagashe

Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) has sent auditors to Mwanza in a move to ascertain the loss that three top officials have allegedly caused the state firm.

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Tanzania Moves to Build Laboratory Capacity

From PBS NewsHour, Washington D.C., United States
By Talea Miller

Shortages in laboratory supplies and trained technicians in Tanzania cause delays and gaps in diagnosis that can put patients' health at risk.

At Mwanza's Bugando Hospital, one of the largest in Tanzania, laboratory workers sometimes must wait months for necessary supplies to run common medical tests.

Omany Kapande, a lab technician, said delays in the supply line and a lack of training slow productivity.

"We will perform tests but be waiting for the reagents for up to three months" said Kapande.

The CD4 count machine used to determine the level of an HIV infection couldn't be used for a month because the chemicals were not available. The hospital and surrounding facilities that rely on the lab had to make treatment decisions without knowing CD4 counts of patients during that period.

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Controversy brewing over airport plans in Greater Serengeti

From eTurboNews Group, Haleiwa, USA
By Wolfgang H. Thome

Old plans, brought down by committed conservationists and angry area residents a few years ago, seem to rear the ugly head again, as efforts to build a major airport in the Serengeti district region are apparently once again being tabled.

Whatever ulterior motives the promoters may have could neither then nor now be established with certainty, but suspicion is well advised when dealing with such grandstanding.

But what more level headed and well informed individuals from Tanzania have pointed out to eTN is the fact that there are international airports between Arusha and Moshi (Kilimanjaro International) and in Mwanza at Lake Victoria offering enough spare capacity for international flights into the country for years to come.

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Canadian group vows to fight Tanzania albino murders

From Canada.com Network, Ontario, Canada
By George Obulutsa, Reuters

A Canadian rights group says it will not rest until there is an end to the murder of albinos in Tanzania - a minority often hunted down for their body parts to be used in witchcraft.

Since 2007 at least 53 albinos have been killed in various parts of the east African nation, with most incidents occurring in the remote northwest regions of Shinyanga and Mwanza, where superstition is deep-seated.

"We will not rest and we will not silence our voice until every single one of those 53 victims has received the vindication due to them ... We will not rest until albinos can walk safely in this country," - Peter Ash, founder and director of Under The Same Sun, told Reuters in an interview.

Picture text: Peter Ash, founder of the non-profit organization Under the Same Sun meets a little girl with albinism in the Mwanza region of Tanzania where the majority of the murders have occurred in this October 2008 handout photo.
Photograph by: Handout, Rick Guidotti/Positive Exposure

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Minister queries status of ship

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


The minister for the East African Cooperation, Dr Diodorus Kamala has expressed dissatisfaction with failure by theCommunity (EAC) Research Vessel, RV Jumuiya to achieve its assigned tasks in time.

Dr Kamala said shortly he inspected the research vessel at Mwanza South Port on Thursday that the vessel has so far not recorded any meaningful work, as it had only surveyed Kisumu and Mwanza Ports instead of the entire lake.

RV Jumuia is equipped with a weather station to provide the EAC partner states with latest meteorological information to guide economic activities by about 30 million East Africans residing on Lake Victoria basin.

Dr Kamala said he would take the issue to the forthcoming meeting of the EAC Council of Ministers for deliberations.

The minister appeared surprised on noting that some parts of the research vessel were replaced with others immediately after the vessel arrived in Mwanza city, questioning the whereabouts original parts alleged to be faulty.

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She will get to help youngsters

From The Evening Courier, Halifax, UK
By Colin Drury


A TEENAGER who spent two months doing voluntary work in Tanzania has been offered a full time job there.

Sophie Whittaker, 19, of Mytholmroyd, impressed so much during her time at the Mwanza City boys orphanage she has been asked to go back on a permanent basis.

The former Calder High pupil will start a job at Kuleana Street Children in December after she finishes a gap year travelling around South East Asia and Australia.

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TCCIA: Make use of trade pact

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

Mwanza Region has benefited from EPA funds by improving the infrastructure and producing quality cotton, dubbed 'white gold' in the region.

Members of the business community here have been urged to exploit opportunities offered by the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) to bolster their enterprises and invigorate the country's economy.

The private sector development advisor with Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA), Mwanza chapter, Mr Tamim Amijee, said they are also entitled to support from the agreement.

He said they could obtain funds from the European Union (EU) and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) trade regime if they devised reasonable business plans.

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