Swahili Time

Je, Mheshimiwa Harrison Mwakyembe Alipewa Sumu?

2012-01-30T02:00:00.000-08:00

Hivi karibuni, Mh. Harrison Mwakyembe alipelekwa kutibiwa nje ya nchi kutokana na ugonjwa wa ajabu aliyopata. Watu wengi walisema kuwa huenda aliwekewa sumu shauri ya maoni yake makali dhidi ya serikali hasa kuhusu mafisadi. Kuna mdau SM ameleta maoni yake.

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Mh. Harrison Mwakyembe

NIMESADIKI NA NIMEAMINI MH.DR.MWAKYEMBE ALIWEKEWA SUMU

Ndugu zangu waTz leo hii nimeamini ndugu yetu na mTz mwenzetu Dr. H.Mwakyembe aliwekewa sumu, kutokana na sababu zifuatazo kwa upeo wangu ila simlazimishi mtu yeyote akubaliane na sababu zangu:
A: Mh.Samwel Sitta somo yangu amekuwa akitumia vyombo mbalimbali vya habari km Tv na magazeti kutoa shutuma hizo akiamini ni ukweli bila hata serikali kumunyoshea kidole au kumchukulia hatua yyte huku ikitambua hawa wote ni viongozi waandamizi wa serikali tena katika ngazi za juu za kitaifa, hata leo vyombo vya habari vimemonesha mh.Sitta akisema katika mhadhara wa wakristo mjin Dar, na kwa kujiamini kabisa akitaka mamlaka husika zitoe ripoti ya uchunguzi km Dr. Mwakyembe hakulishwa sum wamprove wrong.

B: Mh. Samwel Sitta ni rafiki wa karibu sana wa Dr. H. Mwakwembe, hivyo inawezekana kabisa Mwakwembe anamtumia Samwel Sitta na amemwambia ukweli wa tatizo lake ndiyo maana Sitta haogopi kulisemea swala la Mwakwembe kulishwa sumu tena mbele yake yeye Mwakyembe leo alipokuwa anatoa ushuhuda katika kanisa la ufufuo jijin DSM na Mwakyembe hajakataa kumkanusha Samwel Sitta

C: Dr. Mwakyembe leo amesema katika ushuhuda wake kanisani anatarajia kutembelea makanisa yote nchini ili awaambie wananchi wa kikristo kuwa nguvu za shetani( pengine waliomwekea sumu) zimeshindwa na anazikemea kwa jina Mungu aliye hai, hii inathibitisha kuwa ugojnwa wake haukuwa kwa sabb ya makusudi ya Mungu bali wanadamu mafisadi

D: Leo waheshimiwa kadhaa walikuwa pamoja na Dr. H.Mwakyembe pale kanisani alipomaliza kotoa ushuhuda (testimony) nao wakaanza kusema hawatarudi nyuma katika kutetea wananchi wao waTZ lakini pia hawatakoma kupambana na mafisadi wanaohujumu nchi yetu na rasilimali zake, mh Annakilango Malecela alikuwepo na alisema pamoja na mh.Lembeli

Kwa sababu hizo nimeamini Dr. Hallison Mwakyembe aliwekewa sumu, na ndio chanzo cha matatizo yanayomkabili kamanda wetu mpambanaji, LAKINI kwa nini yeye anatoa habari kwa njia ya mzunguko( indirect) sana? Anyway tuzidi kumwombea naona leo walau ameanza ku-recover taratibu.

Naomba kuwasilisha wadau:

Umuhimu wa Shanga - Wakubwa Tu

2012-01-28T13:00:00.000-08:00

Nilivyogundua umuhimu wa Ushanga

Imeandikwa na Dada Chiku

Haya Akina Dada,

Somo leo ni USHANGA. Kwanza Ushanga ni nini? Kwa kimombo, ni beads. Ukipita mitaa Kariakoo, utakuta kila rangi na design zinauzwa na akina mama wa kiMasai (Wanafanya Consultation pia). Zile ndogondogo kabisa siyo hizo kubwa za kuvaa kwenye nywele. Ni pambo muhimu mno kwenye mwili wa mwanamke. Hata kwa watoto wadogo, aliyevaa shanga, unajua ni msichana huyo.

Sasa mimi nilijfanya nime’zungu’tika, na kuaacha kuzivaa. Hasa baada ya ushanga niliyovaa kukatika na kumwagika nikiwa kwenye daladala. Uhusiano na boy-friend wangu ilikuwa kwenye Plateau…..yaani flet. Huyo boy-friend mimi nilimpenda sana. Nikaenda kwa Aunti wangu Temeke na kumwelezea shida yangu na kumwaomba Ushauri.

Aunti akanipeleka chumbani kwake. Akaniambia nivue nguo. Nilisita kwanza, lakini alisisitiza nivue. Nikavua. Akatazama mwili wangu, akasema, kweli mwili wako bado nyororo, lakini umekosa kitu kimoja muhimu….USHANGA!

Nilipigwa Butwaa… Ushanga! Aunti alisema, ndio umekosa Ushanga. Alienda akafungua sanduku yake, akanipa enye rangi ya light blue, njano, na red. Nikazivaa kiunoni Aunti akaanza kutabasamu, akaniambia, haya vaa sasa na nenda kwa boyfriend wako. Uone kama mambo ni tofauti.

Nilienda nyumbani, niloga na kuvaa nguo ya Outing. Nikapanda daladala na kwenda mjini. Nilikutana na boyfiriend wangu Posta Mpya …tukaelekea kwenye disko. Tulikuwa tunacheza madensi, halafu blues, ya Boyz to Men ikaanza kupigwa. Wenye disko walipunguza taa. Mimi na boyfriend wangu tukakumbatiana na kuanza kucheza Blues. Miili yetu iligusana na akaana kunipapasa taratibu kufuatana na beats za muziki. Nilifurahi sana. Akateremsha mikono yake kwenye kiuno changu. Alivyogusa ile shanga aliyonipa Aunti akawa kama mwili wake imekufa ganzi. Alisisimuka we! Akanishika kwa nguvu, niligundua kuwa mboo yake ile kuwa ATTENTION!

Akaniuliza taratibu na kipole , "Chiku mpenzi, umevaa nini?"
"Nikamjibu kwa aibu , " Nimevaa Ushanga mpenzi".
Akasema, " Mimi najua kuwa ni ushanga ila tangu tuwe marafiki hujazivaa"
"Kweli, mpenzi. Aunti amenipa leo"
"Huyo aunti wako mjanja, anajua mambo"

Wimbo ulivyoisha tukaondoka kwenda nyumbani kwake. Siku hiyo sex ikawa nzuri kuliko siku zote ambazo nilikuwa naye. Alikuwa na furaha mno. Kesho yake kazini kwake, akawa anatabasamu mpaka wenzake wakamwuliza ‘Vipi’. Na mimi nilipanda daladala kwenda Kariakoo, nilinunua shanga nyingi za kila rangi. Baada ya hapo nilienda duka na kumnunulia Aunti Zawadi ya Khanga kama shukrani.

Niliporudi Temeke kwa Aunti, alipoona natabasamu tu alijua mambo ni OKAY!

Akina Dada, ni muhimu sana kuvaa ushanga. Ni njia moja ya kumtia ashki mpenzio.

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* Nimerudia hii posti baada ya kupata maombi kutoka kwa wasomojai kadhaa. Posti ya awali ilikuwa 7/15/09.

Statement from Save Lamu Organisation

2012-01-28T05:23:00.000-08:00

STATEMENT FROM SAVE LAMU ORGANISATION
Friday, January 27, 2012

Today the Minister of Lands, Orengo and yesterday the PS of Transport, Dr. Cyrus Njiru downplayed the plight of the people of Lamu over the Lamu Port-Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor. They keep ignoring that Lamu people are not only demanding land rights and are not against the lamu port but asking for transparency, information, consultation, and mitigation for the whole LAPSSET project. And still keep using the old constitution to violate the land rights of the people of Lamu.

Yesterdays comments by Mr. Orengo that the Lamu people are squatters on GOK land so the port must go on since they are squatters on GOK land were therefore very arrogant.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrIwY3eLKkg&list=UUekTpzKodObpOcmvVCFUvTw&index=7&feature=plpp_video. The new constitution clearly states that there is no government land but only Public land. In article 62(2) it says:

"Public land shall vest in and be held by a county government in trust for the people resident in the county, and shall be administered on their behalf by the National Land Commission..."

Since we have no County government yet and their is no National Land commission, they think the land is theirs automatically yet the constitution is very clear that the County government is holding it in trust for US not the GOK. Why can't they wait till we have our county government is in place to start the project? Why an't they rush to create the National Land Comission Bill before tehy carry out the port?? Because they want to steal while they still can just like Kilindini... WAKE UP TO THE REALITY PEOPLE!!

So people of Pwani, people of Kenya, I ask you to wake up to their clear arrogance. They want to marginalize the people of Lamu the same way the people of Mombasa were with the Kilindini port. The same way they took Masaai land and converted it into national parks without benefit-sharing. Today, the Kilindini port is closed and run down after all of them pocketed their own money. And the people of Mombasa... not even a house or title to show for it. The Masaai the same. When will the people of Pwani and Kenya as a whole join forces against this clear oppression? Tumechoka! Nimechoka! The new constitution is very clear. It must be followed!! No excuses. No ifs. No buts!

February 8th, 2012 is the court date for the port case in Malindi ...http://www.savelamu.org/press-release-lamu-residents-file-legal-petition-on-the-multi-billion-lamu-port-project/.... I say my dear friends, we should show them that while the people of Lamu may be weak, the people of Pwani are a force to reckon with and the people of Kenya are a BIGGER force to reckon with!!

No more corruption, no more oppression... a port but with information, consultation, and mitigation!!

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   ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) - A Sudanese official says Sudan will immediately release loaded oil tankers it has detained in its port and wants to end a dispute over payments for oil with its neighbor South Sudan.
   Landlocked South Sudan began halting oil production last week after accusing Sudan of stealing $815 million worth of the south's oil and detaining the oil vessels in Port Sudan.
   Sayed al-Khatib, spokesman of Sudan's negotiation team, says Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir decided Saturday to "release the vessels detained in Port Sudan as soon as possible".
   Al-Khatib also says Bashir is ready to sign an agreement with South Sudan's president Salva Kiir "by the end of today".

Ikulu Yatoa Tamko Kuhusu Ndege ya Rais

2012-01-26T08:41:00.000-08:00

Kwa kweli ninapenda jinsi Ikulu inayojitahidi kutoa Press Release siku hizi. Enzi za Mwalimu mtu angepelekwa huko 'MAHALA' na kuminywa mapumbu ili ashike adabu kumsema Rais.

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*TAARIFA KWA VYOMBO VYA HABARI*

Gazeti laTanzania Daima la leo, Jumatano, Januari 25, 2012, kwenye ukurasa wake wakwanza limechapisha habari yenye kichwa cha habari, *“Ndege ya JK utata: Iko nje kwa miezi miwili. Serikali yakwama kuilipia.”

Miongoni mwa yaliyoandikwa kwenye habari hiyo ni pamoja na “Ukata unaiokabili Serikali umesababisha kukwama kuilipia ndege hiyo maalum ya Rais…Ndege ya Rais mahususi kwa ajili ya safari za namna hiyo imezuiliwa njebaada ya Serikali kukwama kulipia gharama za matengenezo yake…Kutokuwepo kwa ndege
kumesababisha Rais Kikwete na ujumbe wake wa watu 14, ulioondoka nchini jana kwenda Davous, nchini Sweden kuhudhuria mkutano wa dunia wa uchumi, kuondoka na ndege ya Shirika la Ndege la Qatal”.

Limeendelea Gazeti hili la Tanzania Daima kudai kuwa kwa sababu ya kutokuwepo kwa ndege hiyo ya Rais gharama za safari hiyo ya Rais zimeongezeka na ziara hiyo ya Raisya siku nne kuhudhuria mkutano huo
itagharimu kiasi cha shilingi milioni 300. Aidha,Gazeti hili linadai kuwa mkutano huo hauna tija kwa taifa, kwamba Rais Kikwete amehudhuria mikutano hiyo mara nyingi lakini hakuna faida iliyopatikana kwa taifa.

Kwa hakika, maandishi na kauli hizi za ovyo na zisizokuwa za kweli za Gazeti la Tanzania Daima zinalenga kuupotosha umma wa Tanzania bila sababu za msingi na hivyo kuusababishia umma chuki isiyokuwa na msingi kwa Rais.

Katika kuuelezea umma ukweli wa safari hiyo ya Mheshimiwa Rais Kikwete tunapenda kutoka ufafanuziufuatao:

Kwanza, kama tulivyoeleza, kwa usahihi, katika taarifa yetu kwa vyombo vya habari jana jioni, Mheshimiwa Rais Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete amekwenda katika mji/kijiji chaDavos, nchini Uswisi kuhudhuria Mkutano wa World Economic; Forum (WEF) unaoanzaleo. Rais Kikwete hakuwenda katika mji wa Davous, nchini Sweden kama linavyosema Gazeti hili. Aidha, Rais Kikwete na ujumbe wake umesafiri kwa ndegeya Shirika la Ndege la Qatar na siyo Qatal kama linavyoripoti Tanzania Daima.

Pili,Serikali haijakwama, kwa sababu zozote zile, kulipia matengenezo ya kawaida (routine maintenance) ya Ndege ya Rais. Hili limefafanuliwa vizuri na ipasavyo naMtendaji Mkuu wa Wakala wa Ndege za Serikali, Rubani Kennan, Paul Mhaiki jana. Isipokuwa nivyema kuongeza kuwa matengenezo ya ndege hiyo yalimalizika juzi tu, Jumatatu,Januari 23, mwaka huu, wakati ndege hiyo ilipofanyiwa safari ya majaribio (testflight) kule Savannah, Georgia, Marekani na wala siyo miezi miwili iliyopitakama linavyodai Tanzania
Daima. Hivyo, madai kuwa ndege hiyo imezuiliwa nje kwamiezi miwili sasa kwa sababu ya Serikali kushindwa kulipia gharama zamatengenezo ni porojo tu zisizokuwa na msingi.

Tatu, nivigumu kujua Gazeti la Tanzania Daima limepata wapi habari kuwa safari hiyo yasiku nne inagharimu kiasi cha sh. milioni 300. Ukweli ni safari ya MheshimiwaRais Kikwete na ujumbe wake ni ya siku nane, kama tulivyoeleza jana, ambako atahudhuria mikutano ya WEF na ule wa Wakuu wa Nchi Wanachama wa Afrika (AU) mjini Addis Ababa, Ethiopia atakapowasili Jumamosi, Januari 28, 2021. Hivyo, si kweli kwa Gazeti hili kudai kuwa nauli tu na matumizi ya safari ya Mheshimiwa Rais ni shilingi milioni 300 kwa siku nne tu.

Nne, Tanzania Daima linadai kuwa safari za Mheshimiwa Rais mjini Davos hazina tija na wala faida yoyote. Huu pia ni uongo mwingine wa dhahiri wa Gazeti hili.

Tunapenda kukumbusha faida chache tu zilizotokana moja kwa moja na Mheshimiwa Rais Kikwete kushiriki mikutano ya WEF kama ifuatavyo:

(a) Moja, ni kubuniwa na kupitishwa kwa Mpango Kabambe wa Uendelezaji Kilimo katika Ukanda wa Kusini mwa Tanzania wa Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) uliozinduliwa wakati wa WEF mwaka jana.

Mpango huu utakaotekelezwa kwa pamoja na sekta binafsi na sekta za umma kwa kushirikisha Serikali ya Tanzania, Mashirika ya Kimataifa, Makampuni ya imataifa unalengakuleta faida zifuatazo:

(i) Uwekezaji wa kiasi cha dola za Marekanibilioni 3.4 katika kilimo cha Tanzania na kuongeza uzalishaji wa kilimo hichomara tatu katika miaka 20 ijayo.

(ii) Kuchochea uzalishaji mkubwa wa mazao ya chakula na biashara kwenye eneo ya hekta 350,000.

(iii) Kutengeneza kiasi cha ajira 420,000 za kudumu.

(iv) Kuwatoa kwa namna ya kudumu kiasi cha watu milioni mbili katika umasikini.

(v)Kuleta usalama wa kudumu wa chakula kwa kuhakikisha kinapatikana chakula cha kutosha kwa Tanzania na nchi za jirani.

(vi) Kuboresha miundombinu ya umwagiliaji, barabara, reli, nishati na bandari katika eneo lote la Mradi wa SAGCOT.

(vii) Kuwahakikishia wakulima masoko ya mazao yao,kuwawezesha kupata dhana za kisasa, na waanzishia
mifumo ya kisasa yaumwagiliaji.

(viii )Kuingizia wakulima mapato ya kiasi cha dola za Marekani bilioni 1.2 kila mwaka. (Kiasi cha dola za Marekani milioni 50 zinaendelea kuingizwa katika mfuko wa uanzishwaji wa Mpango wa SAGCOT utakaotelekezwa kwa kuanzia katika maeneo ya Sumbawanga (Rukwa), Ihemi na Ludewa (Iringa), Kilombero (Morogoro), Mbarali (Mbeya), na Rufiji (Pwani)

(b) Pili, ni uwekezaji kabambe wa kiasi cha dolaza Marekani milioni 20 katika mfumo wa upakuaji wa mbolea kwenye Bandari ya Dares Salaam unaofanywa na Kampuni ya Yara International, moja ya makampuni makubwa zaida ya uzalishaji wa Kampuni ya Yara International, moja ya makampuni makubwa zaida ya uzalishaji wa mbolea duniani.

Yara International ni mmoja wa washirika wakubwakatika SAGCOT na uwekezaji wake unalenga kuhakikisha kuwa Tanzania na hatamajirani wanapata mbolea ya kutosha kwa ajili ya kuimarisha kilimo.

(c) Tatu, mikutano ya WEF ni shughuli moja inayomwezesha Kiongozi wa chikukutana na kufanya mazungumzo na wakubwa wote duniani – wawe wa siasa, wabiashara, wa uchumi, wa uwekezaji, wa kijamii – katika jitihada zake zakuitangaza Tanzania kama kituo muhimu cha uwekezaji.

Katika siku tatu zijazo, kwa mfano, Mheshimiwa Kikwete miongoni mwa watu; wengine atakutanana Bwana Bill Gates wa Bill& Bellinda Foundation, Naibu Waziri wa Uchumi,Nishati na Kilimo wa Marekani Bwana Robert Hormats, Rais wa Benki ya Dunia Bwana Bob Zoellick, aliyekuwa Waziri Mkuu wa Australia Bwana Kevin Ruud, Mkuu wa Shirika la Misaada ya Maendeleo la Marekani Bwana Raj Shah, Mtendaji Mkuu wa Benki ya ABSA Bi. Maria Ramos, na Waziri Mkuu wa Thailand Bi. Yingluck Shinawatra.

Tunapenda kumalizia kwa kusisitiza, kwa mara nyingine tena, kuwa ni vyema Gazeti laTanzania Daima lijiridhishe na usahihi na habari zake kabla ya kuzichapishakama inavyoelekeza misingi mikuu ya uandishi wa habari na weledi wa kazi hiyo.Uandishi wa habari za uongo unaleta hofu na kuanzisha uzushi usiokuwa na sababu zozote miongoni mwa wananchi na hiyo siyo kazi ya uandishi wa habari.

*Imetolewa na*:
*Kurugenzi ya Mawasiliano ya Rais*,
Ikulu, *DAR ES SALAAM*.
25 Januari, 2012

Ziara ya Matonya Ulaya

2012-01-25T16:15:00.000-08:00

MATONYA ATUA ATHENS GREECE LEO 25 JAN 2012 SAA 18.30 TAYARI KABISA KUJIANDAA NA TOUR YAKE YA EUROPE AKIANZIA NA MUNICH TAREH.28 JAN. SWISS 04 FEB .HOLLAND 11 FEB. ATAREJEA GREECE 18 FEB, NA KUENDELEA TENA BELGUIM/SWEEDEN/NORWAY NA N.K

Tofauti Kati ya Rais Obama na Mitt Romney

2012-01-24T20:15:00.000-08:00

Huyo mgombea uraisi wa Marekani kupitia chama cha Rpeublican, Mitt Romney aliwahi kuwa Gavana wetu hapa Massachusetts. Kila siku alionyesha jinsi alivyotajiri na asiyejua wala kujali maisha ya mtu wa kawaida anayeamka kwenda kazini asubuhi na kurudi nyumbani huko akifikiria atalipaje kodi. Kodi ziliongeka. Kuna siku waandishi wa habari walimwuliza kuhusu bei za vyakula kashindwa kujibu.Watu wengi hawana ottoman wala nafasi ya kuiweka! Sasa tunasikia kuwa analipa kodi kwa asilimia ya chini kuliko mtu wa kawaida. Mwacha awe mgombea kupitia kiti cha Republican. Hawezi kumshinda Rais Obama!

Wake Up Lazy Africans!

2012-01-23T14:17:00.000-08:00

Walevi wakinya pombe bila kujali kuwa kuna mafuriko! (Picha kwa hisani ya Michuzi Blog)

Nimepata kwa email: Ni Maoni ya MZambia

Zambia Insights

Friday, 13 January 2012

By Field Ruwe

They call the Third World the lazy man’s purview; the sluggishly slothful and languorous prefecture. In this realm people are sleepy, dreamy, torpid, lethargic, and therefore indigent—totally penniless, needy, destitute, poverty-stricken, disfavored, and impoverished.

In this demes...ne, as they call it, there are hardly any discoveries, inventions, and innovations. Africa is the trailblazer. Some still call it “the dark continent” for the light that flickers under the tunnel is not that of hope, but an approaching train. And because countless keep waiting in the way of the train, millions die and many more remain decapitated by the day.

“It’s amazing how you all sit there and watch yourselves die,” the man next to me said. “Get up and do something about it.”Brawny, fully bald-headed, with intense, steely eyes, he was as cold as they come.

When I first discovered I was going to spend my New Year’s Eve next to him on a non-stop JetBlue flight from Los Angeles to Boston I was angst-ridden. I associate marble-shaven Caucasians with iconoclastic skin-heads, most of who are racist.

“My name is Walter,” he extended his hand as soon as I settled in my seat.

I told him mine with a precautious smile.“

Where are you from?” he asked.
“Zambia.”
“Zambia!” he exclaimed, “Kaunda’s country.”
“Yes,” I said, “Now Sata’s.”
“But of course,” he responded. “You just elected King Cobra as your president.”
My face lit up at the mention of Sata’s moniker. Walter smiled, and in those cold eyes I saw an amenable fellow, one of those American highbrows who shuttle between Africa and the U.S.

“I spent three years in Zambia in the 1980s,” he continued. “I wined and dined with Luke Mwananshiku, Willa Mungomba, Dr. Siteke Mwale, and many other highly intelligent Zambians.” He lowered his voice. “I was part of the IMF group that came to rip you guys off.” He smirked.

“Your government put me in a million dollar mansion overlooking a shanty called Kalingalinga. From my patio I saw it all—the rich and the poor, the ailing, the dead, and the healthy.”

“Are you still with the IMF?” I asked.
“I have since moved to yet another group with similar intentions. In the next few months my colleagues and I will be in Lusaka to hypnotize the cobra. I work for the broker that has acquired a chunk of your debt. Your government owes not the World Bank, but us millions of dollars. We’ll be in Lusaka to offer your president a couple of millions and fly back with a check twenty times greater.”
“No, you won’t,” I said. “King Cobra is incorruptible. He is …”
He was laughing. “Says who? Give me an African president, just one, who has not fallen for the carrot and stick.”
Quett Masire’s name popped up.“Oh, him, well, we never got to him because he turned down the IMF and the World Bank. It was perhaps the smartest thing for him to do.”
At midnight we were airborne. The captain wished us a happy 2012 and urged us to watch the fireworks across Los Angeles.
“Isn’t that beautiful,” Walter said looking down. From my middle seat, I took a glance and nodded admirably.“That’s white man’s country,” he said.
“We came here on Mayflower and turned Indian land into a paradise and now the most powerful nation on earth. We discovered the bulb, and built this aircraft to fly us to pleasure resorts like Lake Zambia.”
I grinned. “There is no Lake Zambia.”
He curled his lips into a smug smile. “That’s what we call your country. You guys are as stagnant as the water in the lake. We come in with our large boats and fish your minerals and your wildlife and leave morsels—crumbs. That’s your staple food, crumbs. That corn-meal you eat, that’s crumbs, the small Tilapia fish you call Kapenta is crumbs. We the Bwanas (whites) take the cat fish. I am the Bwana and you are the Muntu. I get what I want and you get what you deserve, crumbs. That’s what lazy people get—Zambians, Africans, the entire Third World.

”The smile vanished from my face.

“I see you are getting pissed off,” Walter said and lowered his voice. “You are thinking this Bwana is a racist. That’s how most Zambians respond when I tell them the truth. They go ballistic. Okay. Let’s for a moment put our skin pigmentations, this black and white crap, aside. Tell me, my friend, what is the difference between you and me?”
“There’s no difference.”
“Absolutely none,” he exclaimed. “Scientists in the Human Genome Project have proved that. It took them thirteen years to determine the complete sequence of the three billion DNA subunits. After they were all done it was clear that 99.9% nucleotide bases were exactly the same in you and me. We are the same people. All white, Asian, Latino, and black people on this aircraft are the same.”

I gladly nodded.

“And yet I feel superior,” he smiled fatalistically. “Every white person on this plane feels superior to a black person. The white guy who picks up garbage, the homeless white trash on drugs, feels superior to you no matter his status or education. I can pick up a nincompoop from the New York streets, clean him up, and take him to Lusaka and you all be crowding around him chanting muzungu, muzungu and yet he’s a riffraff. Tell me why my angry friend.” (Hii ni Kweli Afrika Kote Jamani!!!!)

For a moment I was wordless.\

“Please don’t blame it on slavery like the African Americans do, or colonialism, or some psychological impact or some kind of stigmatization. And don’t give me the brainwash poppycock. Give me a better answer.”
I was thinking. He continued.

“Excuse what I am about to say. Please do not take offense.”I felt a slap of blood rush to my head and prepared for the worst.“You my friend flying with me and all your kind are lazy,” he said. “When you rest your head on the pillow you don’t dream big. You and other so-called African intellectuals are damn lazy, each one of you. It is you, and not those poor starving people, who is the reason Africa is in such a deplorable state.”

“That’s not a nice thing to say,” I protested.

He was implacable. “Oh yes it is and I will say it again, you are lazy. Poor and uneducated Africans are the most hardworking people on earth. I saw them in the Lusaka markets and on the street selling merchandise. I saw them in villages toiling away. I saw women on Kafue Road crushing stones for sell and I wept. I said to myself where are the Zambian intellectuals? Are the Zambian engineers so imperceptive they cannot invent a simple stone crusher, or a simple water filter to purify well water for those poor villagers? Are you telling me that after thirty-seven years of independence your university school of engineering has not produced a scientist or an engineer who can make simple small machines for mass use? What is the school there for?”

I held my breath.“Do you know where I found your intellectuals? They were in bars quaffing. They were at the Lusaka Golf Club, Lusaka Central Club, Lusaka Playhouse, and Lusaka Flying Club. I saw with my own eyes a bunch of alcoholic graduates. Zambian intellectuals work from eight to five and spend the evening drinking. We don’t. We reserve the evening for brainstorming.”

He looked me in the eye.“And you flying to Boston and all of you Zambians in the Diaspora are just as lazy and apathetic to your country. You don’t care about your country and yet your very own parents, brothers and sisters are in Mtendere, Chawama, and in villages, all of them living in squalor. Many have died or are dying of neglect by you. They are dying of AIDS because you cannot come up with your own cure.

You are here calling yourselves graduates, researchers and scientists and are fast at articulating your credentials once asked—oh, I have a PhD in this and that—PhD my foot!”

I was deflated.“Wake up you all!” he exclaimed, attracting the attention of nearby passengers. “You should be busy lifting ideas, formulae, recipes, and diagrams from American manufacturing factories and sending them to your own factories. All those research findings and dissertation papers you compile should be your country’s treasure.

Why do you think the Asians are a force to reckon with? They stole our ideas and turned them into their own. Look at Japan, China, India, just look at them.”He paused. “The Bwana has spoken,” he said and grinned.

“As long as you are dependent on my plane, I shall feel superior and you my friend shall remain inferior, how about that? The Chinese, Japanese, Indians, even Latinos are a notch better. You Africans are at the bottom of the totem pole.”He tempered his voice.

“Get over this white skin syndrome and begin to feel confident. Become innovative and make your own stuff for god’s sake.”At 8 a.m. the plane touched down at Boston’s Logan International Airport. Walter reached for my hand.“I know I was too strong, but I don’t give it a damn. I have been to Zambia and have seen too much poverty.” He pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled something.

“Here, read this. It was written by a friend.”He had written only the title: “Lords of Poverty.”Thunderstruck, I had a sinking feeling. I watched Walter walk through the airport doors to a waiting car. He had left a huge dust devil twirling in my mind, stirring up sad memories of home. I could see Zambia’s literati—the cognoscente, intelligentsia, academics, highbrows, and scholars in the places he had mentioned guzzling and talking irrelevancies.

I remembered some who have since passed—how they got the highest grades in mathematics and the sciences and attained the highest education on the planet. They had been to Harvard, Oxford, Yale, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), only to leave us with not a single invention or discovery. I knew some by name and drunk with them at the Lusaka Playhouse and Central Sports.
Walter is right. It is true that since independence we have failed to nurture creativity and collective orientations. We as a nation lack a workhorse mentality and behave like 13 million civil servants dependent on a government pay cheque. We believe that development is generated 8-to-5 behind a desk wearing a tie with our degrees hanging on the wall. Such a working environment does not offer the opportunity for fellowship, the excitement of competition, and the spectacle of innovative rituals.

But the intelligentsia is not solely, or even mainly, to blame. The larger failure is due to political circumstances over which they have had little control. The past governments failed to create an environment of possibility that fosters camaraderie, rewards innovative ideas and encourages resilience. KK, Chiluba, Mwanawasa, and Banda embraced orthodox ideas and therefore failed to offer many opportunities for drawing outside the line.
I believe King Cobra’s reset has been cast in the same faculties as those of his predecessors. If today I told him that we can build our own car, he would throw me out.“Naupena? Fuma apa.” (Are you mad? Get out of here) Knowing well that King Cobra will not embody innovation at Walter’s level let’s begin to look for a technologically active-positive leader who can succeed him after a term or two. That way we can make our own stone crushers, water filters, water pumps, razor blades, and harvesters.

Let’s dream big and make tractors, cars, and planes, or, like Walter said, forever remain inferior. A fundamental transformation of our country from what is essentially non-innovative to a strategic superior African country requires a bold risk-taking educated leader with a triumphalist attitude and we have one in YOU. Don’t be highly strung and feel insulted by Walter. Take a moment and think about our country.

Our journey from 1964 has been marked by tears. It has been an emotionally overwhelming experience. Each one of us has lost a loved one to poverty, hunger, and disease. The number of graves is catching up with the population. It’s time to change our political culture. It’s time for Zambian intellectuals to cultivate an active-positive progressive movement that will change our lives forever. Don’t be afraid or dispirited, rise to the challenge and salvage the remaining few of your beloved ones.

Field Ruwe is a US-based Zambian media practitioner and author. He is a PhD candidate with a B.A. in Mass Communication and Journalism, and an M.A. in History

I-What?

2012-01-22T11:28:00.001-08:00

Dr. Asha Rose Migiro Anaondoka Umoja wa Mataifa

2012-01-21T01:51:00.000-08:00

UN Deputy Secretary General Dr. Asha Rose Migiro

Kutoka The Citizen

Saturday, 21 January 2012

By Mkinga Mkinga
The Citizen Reporter

Dar es Salaam. - Dr Asha-Rose Migiro is leaving her high profile posting
as deputy secretary-general of the United Nations.* Having served the
UN for five years as the second in command following a surprise
appointment in 2007, she is expected home in the next few weeks.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon appointed her upon his election to
succeed Dr Kofi Annan, possibly as a reward to Tanzania, which was
said to have played a key role in helping the former South Korean
foreign minister win the job. Dr Migiro was the first woman to land
the post.

A former foreign minister herself, she is leaving at a time when Mr Ki
Moon is lining up a new team to carry forward his agenda after he was
re-elected last year for a second and final five-year term.

The permanent secretary in the ministry of Foreign Affairs and
International Cooperation, Mr John Haule, confirmed the news
yesterday.* The PS said Dr Migiro’s tour of duty at the New York based
UN headquarters was over. “We have not received an official document
from the UN, but I’m aware that her tenure is almost ending,” Mr Haule
said on the phone. “She also confirmed this development on Thursday.”

The PS noted that the UN was undergoing major reforms that were bound
to affect its offices worldwide under the “Delivering as One”
programme. “But we at the foreign affairs are not the spokespersons on
Dr Migiro,” Mr Haule added.

Separately, a source in Washington told The Citizen yesterday that
news of her imminent departure from UN was circulating among close
friends and Tanzanians living in the city.

“We have heard that she applied for an extension of her contract,”
said one of the sources in an email communication.* “But that is
likely not going to happen as sources close to her say she is planning
to return home.”
*
Dr Migiro is said to be in the process or organising how one of her
children, who is enrolled in school in New York, can complete her
studies without interruption.

She was the third deputy secretary-general and the first African woman
to hold the prestigious post that was established by the General
Assembly at the end of 1997 as part of reforms in the United Nations
to help manage secretariat operations and ensure coherence of
activities and programmes. The position was also meant to elevate the
organisation's profile and leadership in the economic and social
spheres.

In his New Year address, Mr Ban said he intended to build a new team
that was strong on substance and diverse in composition—what he called
“a team that works as one”.

He added: “Leading by example, I have placed priority on mobility,
combining fresh perspectives and institutional continuity and
synergy.”

With these criteria in mind, he said, he was undertaking a thorough
review of the entire team and its management structure.

http://thecitizen.co.tz/component/content/article/37-tanzania-top-news-story/19047-migiro-leaves-un-post.html

Tele Semina na Mwalimu Christopher Mwakasege

2012-01-18T14:42:00.000-08:00

Mwl. Christopher Mwakasege

LIVE TELE -SEMINAR BY MWAKASEGE JAN 28 2012

Dear Friends,

We would like to invite you once again to the Special Live Tele-Seminar in which Mwalimu Christopher Mwakasege from Arusha Tanzania will be teaching and praying live for the needy who are in a Diaspora on Saturday Jan 28,2012.

This seminar will be telecommuted live all over the world . Regardless of where you are at,you can still participate.

Tele-Seminar Details:

Date: January 28th 2012

Time: 9am [Central Time-MN/TX etc] , 10am[Eastern Time] , [7am-Pacific Time]

Teleconference: Call 218-895-2851 Pass-code:9102011

Due to the high volume of callers,would advise you to log in even few minutes ahead of time in order to be there on time. You keep on logging in till you get in.Prayers will start 30-minutes before the Seminar.

Should you have any question,please do not hesitate to Contact MANA MINISTRY(USA) at:-

Telephone:Toll free 1888-481-6077 //6513340163

Email: info@mikutano.com

For more information about the Speaker you can also visit http://www.mwakasege.org/

Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday Morning and please share these info with others !!

MANA MINISTRY (USA)

www.mikutano.com

In Memoriam - Reverend Douglas Gregory Whitlow

2012-01-18T08:15:00.000-08:00

Reverend Douglas G. Whitlow
1951-2010

Rev. Douglas Gregory Whitlow (12/11/51 -1/18/10)

Time flies. It was two years ago today that you left us. I miss you, your stepsons miss you. You are missed by your parents, Brothers, Sister, nephews, nieces, cousins and Congregation members.

REST IN ETERNAL PEACE

Utaratibu wa Mazishi wa Marehemu Mh. Regia Mtema

2012-01-15T15:15:00.000-08:00

Sekretarieti ya Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) imefanya kikao cha dharura leo, Januari 15, 2012, chini ya uenyekiti wa Katibu Mkuu, Dkt. Wilbrod Slaa, pamoja na mambo mengine, kupanga utaratibu wa chama na viongozi wake wakuu, wakiongozwa na Mwenyekiti wa CHADEMA taifa, Mheshimiwa Freeman Mbowe kuendelea kushiriki kikamilifu kwenye maombolezo, heshima za mwisho na hatimaye maziko yaliyopangwa kufanyika Ifakara.

Wakati huo huo, Kamati ya Uogozi ya Wabunge wa CHADEMA, imefanya kikao cha dharura, kufuatia kifo cha Mbunge wa Viti Maalum, Regia Estelatus Mtema, Pamoja na mambo mengine kamati imezingatia, uzito msiba uliotokea na kupitisha azimio kwamba wabunge wote wa CHADEMA watashiriki katika kutoa heshima ya mwisho kwa marehemu Januari 17, 2012.
Aidha, wabunge wote watasindikiza mwili wa marehemu wa marehemu hadi Ifakara na kushiriki mazito yaliyopangwa kufanyika Januari 18, 2012. Viongozi wakuu wa chama, wabunge wa CHADEMA, hivi sasa wanaendelea kujumuika nyumbani kwa Baba wa Marehemu Regia Mtema, eneo la Tabata Chang'ombe, pamoja na familia, viongozi wakuu wa serikali na bunge katika kuwafariji wafiwa.

Pia pamoja na heshima za mwisho kibunge na kichama kutolewa Jumanne, Januari 17, 2012, familia imeandaa ibada Januari 16, 2012, katika Kanisa la Parokia ya Segerea, kuanzia saa 9, alasiri, ambapo mwili utaagwa na ndugu, jamaa na marafiki.

Taarifa zaidi zitaendelea kutolewa, kutokana na mashauriano kati ya familia, chama na Ofisi ya Bunge.

Imetolewa, Januari 15, 2012
John Mnyika
Mkurugenzi wa Habari na Uenezi

Ajali ya Meli Costa Concordia - Titanic 2012

2012-01-14T07:36:00.000-08:00

Mwaka 1912 meli ya fahari, Titanic, ilizama katika bahari ya Atlantic. Titanic iligonga kipande kikubwa cha barafu (iceberg) na sehemu ya chini ikachanywa hivyo maji yaliingia kwa wingi na kusababisha meli kuzama. Watu 1,600 walipoteza maisha yao. Baada ya Titanic kuzama sheria za kusafirsha abiria baharini zilibadilika sana zikizingatia usalama wa wasafiri.

Usiku wa kuamkia leo karibu miaka 100 tangu ajali ya Titanic, meli ya fahari Costa Concordia imezama kwenye pwani ya Italia. Meli iligonga kitu baharini na sehemu yake ya chini kachanwa. Kwa bahati nzuri ilizama karibu na ardhi. Meli hiyo ilikuwa na wasafiri zaidi ya 4,000. Kati yao watatu wamethibitishwa kufa na 70 wamepotea hawajuliani walipo.

Walioponea ajali ya Concordia wanasema kuwa zile boat za kuokoa abiria zilikuwa bure maana meli ilizama upande ambao ilikuwa zirushwe majini. Aibiria wengi waliamua kujitosa baharini na kuogelea hadi wafike kwenye ardhi.

Pia, wanasema kuwa hawakuwahi kufanya zoezi ya jinsi ya kushuka kwenye meli kama ikipata ajali, hivyo watu wengi hawakujua wafanye nini!

Wadau, kila ukipanda kwenye ndege Mhudumu (au video) anakuonyesha milango ya kutokea ikitokea dharurua na jinisi ya kuvaa zile life vests. Kwenye meli hawafanyi hivyo kweli?

Kwa habari zaidi someni:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16558910

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-16560737

Meli Costa Concordia baada ya ajali na kabla ya kuzama.

Waokoaji

Meli Costa Concordia ikiwa imelala ubavuni kwenye pwani ya Italia

Mbunge Mh. Regia Mtema Afariki Katika Ajali ya Gari

2012-01-14T05:20:00.000-08:00

Mh. Regia Mtema (Mbunge CHADEMA)

Habari zilizothibitishwa na Jamii Forums ni kuwa Mbunge wa Viti Maalum mkoa wa Morogoro kupitia Chama cha CHADEMA, Mh.Regia Mtema, amepata ajali na kufariki dunia eneo la Ruvu Darajani. Ndugu wa karibu wanasema alikuwa anakwenda kukagua Kiwanja alichopewa na Wazazi wake.

Habari za kifo cha Mh. Regia Mtema, zimethibitishwa pia na Cloud FM wakimhoji RPC wa mkoa wa Pwani. Marehemu ndiye aliyekuwa akiendesha gari, na ajali imetokea wakati akijaribu kulipita gari jingine. Gari lake halikugongana, bali aliingia porini, na gari kupinduka.

Mungu aillaze roho yake mahala pema mbinguni. Amen.

**********************************************

TANZIA

Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) kimepatwa na majonzi makubwa na kinasikitika sana kwa kifo cha Mjumbe wa Kamati Kuu ya Chama Taifa, Mheshimiwa Regia Mtema ambaye pia ni Mbunge wa Viti Maalum na Waziri Kivuli wa Kazi na Ajira. Mheshimiwa Regia Mtema amefariki leo tarehe 14 Januari 2011 kwa ajali ya gari katika eneo la Ruvu darajani.

Katika uhai wake marehemu Regia Mtema amefanya kazi mbalimbali za kisiasa na kijamii katika taifa. Marehemu Regia Mtema amezaliwa tarehe 21 mwezi Aprili mwaka 1980 na kusoma shule za sekondari kidato cha kwanza mpaka cha sita katika shule ya sekondari ya Forodhani na Shule ya Wasichana ya Sekondari ya Machame. Marehemu Regia Mtema alipata shahada yake ya kwanza (Bsc Home Economics and Human Nutrition) katika Chuo Kikuu cha Kilimo cha Sokoine.

Mara baada ya kuhitimu masomo yake marehemu Regia Mtema alifanya kazi katika taasisi mbalimbali kabla ya kujiunga na CHADEMA na kuteuliwa kuwa Afisa Mwandamizi katika Kurugenzi ya Vijana ya CHADEMA na baadaye kuteuliwa kuwa Afisa Mwandamizi katika Kurugenzi ya Mafunzo ya CHADEMA nafasi ambayo aliishikilia hadi mwaka 2010 alipoteuliwa kuwa mbunge wa viti maalum.

Viongozi wakuu wa CHADEMA wakiongozwa na Mwenyekiti Freeman Mbowe ambaye pia ni kiongozi wa kambi rasmi ya upinzani bungeni, Katibu Mkuu Dr. Wilbroad Slaa, wajumbe wa kamati kuu, wakurugenzi wa chama makao makuu na wabunge wamejumuika hivi sasa na familia ya marehemu katika kipindi hiki kigumu.

CHADEMA inatoa pole kwa familia ya marehemu Regia Mtema, wanachama wote na wananchi wa Mkoa wa Morogoro hususani wa Jimbo la Kilombero kutokana na msiba huu wa ghafla katika wakati ambapo mchango wake ukihitajika kwa chama na kwa taifa.

Taarifa zaidi kuhusu taratibu za maziko, itatolewa mara baada ya kukamilisha majadiliano baina ya familia ya marehemu, chama na Ofisi ya Bunge la Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania.

Mipango ya mazishi ya marehemu inapangwa nyumbani kwa Baba wa Marehemu Regia Mtema, Ndugu Estelatus Mtema, Tabata Chang'ombe. Ratiba ya maziko itatolewa baada ya kukamilika kwa taratibu zinazopangwa na familia ya marehemu, Ofisi ya Bunge na chama.

Mungu ailaze roho ya Marehemu Regia Mtema, mahali pema peponi. Amina.

Imetolewa na:

John Mnyika(Mb)

Mkurugenzi wa Habari na Uenezi

Mahafali ya Kwanza Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy South Africa

2012-01-14T03:45:00.000-08:00

Shule ya Oprah Winfrey huko Afrika Kusini (Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy ilikuwa na mahafali ya kwanza leo. Wasichana 72 wamehitimu na wanakwenda kusoma vyuo kikuu. 10 kati yao wataingia vyuo vikuu Marekani. Oprah alijenga shule hiyo kwa gharama kubwa sana, na wasichana walidekezwa mfano, malazi yalikuwa bora kuliko Five Star Hotel. Vifaa na madarasa ni bora kuliko vyuo vikuu vingi duniani na hiyo ni shule ya sekondari. Yalitokea mambo ambayo naweza kusema ni kawaida kwa shule za wasichana mfano vitendo vya kishoga, wasichana kutoa mimba nk. Shule hiyo iliyoanza na wasichana 75 sasa ina wanafunzi 400.

**************************************************************

Oprah na Wanafunzi Wake

Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls celebrates first graduates

by Associated Press

Oprah Winfrey makes no apologies for spending millions on an elite school for underprivileged South African girls. But she’s also looking for ways to make her money stretch further to help more struggling Africans.
Winfrey spoke Friday on the eve of the first graduation at her school. Of the 75 students who started at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in 2007, 72 will graduate on Saturday.

All are headed to universities in South Africa and the United States to pursue such studies as medicine, law, engineering, and economics.

Across South Africa, more than half a million members of the class of 2011 disappeared before the 496,000 remaining took their final exams. Only a quarter of those who graduated did well enough to qualify for university study.

“We’re taking a victory lap here, for transformation,” Winfrey said. “Every single girl is going to leave here with something greater to offer the world than her body.”

South Africa is struggling to overcome the inequalities of apartheid, which ended in 1994. The country has too few schools at all levels, and many lack such basics as libraries and are staffed by undereducated teachers.
Earlier this week, a stampede at a Johannesburg university campus killed a mother who had accompanied her son to an in-person application day. Thousands were vying for a few hundred spots at the university.

Winfrey, who spent $40 million on her campus, said her focus was “just to change one girl, affect one person’s life.” But she acknowledged hers “is not a sustainable model for most people in most countries.”
Another new class starts at Winfrey’s school next week. But to help more young Africans, Winfrey said she would be working with established philanthropies to identify schools around the developing world that can be strengthened with money.

She hopes to adapt some of the practices of her school, including creating strong support networks for students.
“It takes a lot of support, it takes a whole team,” she said, saying teachers and communities would have to be active participants.

Her focus on girls was not among the strategies she would change. Winfrey said studies have shown helping girls helps entire communities, in part because girls and women give back so much.
“I know what it’s like to be a poor girl with your heart’s desire to do well in the world,” she added. “I chose to use my philanthropy to do what I know.”
Winfrey said she also might work more quietly in the future, to spare those she helps the kind of scrutiny celebrity draws.

The achievements at Winfrey’s school came despite turmoil in its first years.
A woman working as a dormitory matron at the school was accused of abusing teenagers soon after it was opened. She was acquitted in 2010. Winfrey, who has spoken of being abused as a child and called the allegations against the matron crushing, and has said the trial’s outcome was “profoundly” disappointing.
Winfrey settled a defamation lawsuit filed in Philadelphia by the school’s former headmistress, Nomvuyo Mzamane, who claimed Winfrey defamed her in remarks made in the wake of the scandal.

Last year, a baby born to a student at the school was found dead. The events would have been newsworthy had they involved any school, but drew particularly frenzied attention because of the Winfrey connection.
As a celebrity, Winfrey said: “All of your mistakes are amplified and show up on the evening news.”
Winfrey said there were times when she wondered if her project would fail, but she could not give up, both for herself and for Nelson Mandela, who she says inspired her to build the school.

South Africa’s education problems result from decades of blacks being denied resources and dignity under apartheid. Since the dawn of multiracial democracy in 1994, progress in righting the educational and other wrongs of the past has been slow and fitful.

Graeme Bloch, an education specialist at Johannesburg’s University of the Witwatersrand, said he is among those who worry elite schools like Winfrey’s can produce elitists. But he praised Winfrey for trying to ensure her students understood they needed to give back to their communities.

The Winfrey students, who call their school’s founder Mam Oprah, lectured in their communities about AIDS, created and ran breast-cancer awareness campaigns, even picked up trash in the streets of Henley-on-Klip, where the school is located.

Winfrey’s was among just 544 out of some 6,500 South African schools whose entire graduating class passed national final year exams last year. Many of the schools with a 100 percent pass rate were either private like Winfrey’s, or among the best public schools that had been reserved for whites under apartheid and received the bulk of public school funding.

Black students attend South Africa’s elite schools — on scholarship or because their families are among an emerging black middle and upper class. But Winfrey’s is among the few top schools that can say all the students it shepherded through the exams were from poor families, most of them black.

Laurence Corner directs the Student Sponsorship Programme, which for the past decade has raised funds from corporations and individuals to place promising students from South Africa’s poorest communities in its best schools.

Corner said that while his own program and schools like Winfrey’s can enroll relatively few students, they have wide impact.

Entire communities start to see their young people have potential, and people are inspired to become philanthropists, he said.

“It’s very important for disadvantaged communities to have role models from their own communities,” he said

Viongozi WaAfrika Washinda Njaa Afrika Kusini!

2012-01-13T14:38:00.000-08:00

Duh! Sijui nani alikuwa 'in charge' wa kusimamia mapokezi wa viongozi kutoka nchi za nje kwenye sherehe ya bethdei ya miaka mia moja ya African National Congress (ANC). Habari kutoka kwa Afrika Kusini zinasema kuwa viongozi hawakuandaliwa chakula, hadi ilibidi wapambe wao kwenda kununua take-out! Halafu vyumba vya kulala vingine vilikuwa vitupu au havikuwa na mashuka, mito, viti nk.!

Ilikuwa kasheshe kweli kweli! Ungedhani waafrika kusini wangejitahidi zaidi hasa kwa vile wanatamba kuwa wao wanatabia za kizungu kuliko waafrika wengine. Utawasikia, Oh, ukienda Jo'berg ni sawa na kwenda California!

Ila hii ni publicity safi sana kwa Nando's! Kuku wa Nando's OYEEE!

******************************************
Hungry African leaders 'had to buy own food' at ANC centenary celebrations

African leaders reportedly sent staff to Nando’s after discovering a shortage of food and bedding at their luxury accommodation.
They are often accused of living like kings while their impoverished peoples suffer. Not this time, it would seem.

African leaders who attended last weekend's centenary celebrations of the African National Congress (ANC) had to embark on some hasty shopping when they found no food or bedding at their accommodation, according to a newspaper report.

Such was the indignity that the president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, was apparently forced to dispatch security guards to fetch him some grilled chicken from Nando's.

The heads of state, including some of the continent's most feared autocrats, were "angry and disappointed" by the gaffe, an article in Volksblad said. But the South African government disputes the report and says it has received no complaints. It did acknowledge, however, that Museveni may have decided to order food in addition to that provided.

There was no shortage of logistical hiccups during the events in Bloemfontein marking 100 years of Africa's oldest liberation movement. More than 40 heads of state were put up at the Woodland Hills Wildlife Estate on the edge of the city – which might have proved less luxurious than it first appeared.

"The leaders allegedly had to buy their own bedding, food, pots, pans, glasses and bottled water because the ANC had ordered the owners of the houses it rented at Woodland Hills Wildlife Estate to remove all their possessions," Volksblad claimed. "There was apparently only liquor provided."

At least 15 women hired as housekeepers, waitresses and cleaners at the estate came forward to reveal how foreign dignitaries were treated, the paper said. Mampho Mmelaedi, who was working at the house used by Museveni, was quoted as saying: "Ugandan officials had to leave Woodlands to go and buy duvets, food and other necessities for the president as there was a bed without linen."

Motladi Metsing added: "Namibian officials went to buy food, pots, plates and glasses to cook for the president. I could see he was angry and disappointed."

Kenalemang Pula claimed the Nigerian delegation arrived on Sunday morning and had packed their bags by lunchtime. And President Thomas Boni of Benin allegedly "stormed out" of Woodlands Hills immediately.

Paul Kagame from Rwanda, Teodoro Obiang from Equatorial Guinea, Bingu wa Mutharika from Malawi and Namibia's Hifikepunye Pohamba were also denied the hospitality to which they have become accustomed, Volksblad added.

"They kept asking us if we worked for the ANC or for the South African government," one of the women told the paper. "Understandably, they kept shouting at us. We were embarrassed to be there."

Around 55 houses owned by private individuals had been rented out for an estimated 50,000 rand (£3,997) a day.

Valentine Rantsoareng, joint owner of the Rantsoareng hotel group, which was contracted to equip the houses, denied there had been a failure. "I think people who make these allegations are somewhat dissatisfied because they haven't been paid yet, but I have only now received the receipt for it," he told Volksblad. He added that some of the heads of state had deviated from the menu and "asked for chicken".

A spokesman for Nando's said: "The Nando's restaurant in question was very busy throughout the weekend. Although a number of VIPs, dignitaries and security personnel purchased meals from the franchise during this time, neither the franchisee nor Nando's South Africa can confirm that they were linked to the Ugandan president."

The South African government denied it had committed a diplomatic blunder. Clayson Monyela, South Africa's spokesman for international relations, said: "We don't know what these people are referring to. The African heads of state in Bloemfontein were looked after in terms of the standard protocol courtesies extended to heads of state.

"We have not received any official complaint from any of them. Some of them stayed over until Monday and had bilateral meetings with President [Jacob] Zuma. This is just a malicious thing and we don't know where it came from."

He added: "They may have requested one or two things that were not provided in the standard hospitality. It's not unexpected. If President Zuma wants something that isn't provided he sends his staff out to get it. That's standard."

The ANC's centenary celebrations were marred by technical hitches: accreditation was chaotic for many; a golf tournament teed off late after a mix-up over the deputy president's diary.

African heads of state missed Zuma lighting the "centenary flame" in the church where the ANC was founded because they arrived well after midnight. The president had to request a recap from the chaplain on their behalf before all returned to a gala dinner that overran until 3am.

Thousands of ANC supporters who travelled to a birthday rally were angry when they were locked out of the stadium, which emptied long before the event was over.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/11/african-leaders-nandos-anc-centenary

Eti Nyoka Mpya Agunduliwa Tanzania

2012-01-12T09:12:00.000-08:00

Wadau, eti kuna nyoka mpya mwenye mapembe na rangi ya nyeusi na njano kagunduliwa Tanzania. Wazungu washenzi sana, maana nakukumbuka watu (waafrika) wakizungumzia huyo nyoka! Mzungu kamgundua namna gani? Au tuseme, kamtambulisha huyo nyoka kwa wazungu wenzake! Hebu wanasayansi wetu watoe vyao! Huyo nyoka keshapewa jina Matilda!

Hayo mambo ya discovery, eti mzungu kagundua maziwa yetu kama Victoria na Nyasa, wakati wenyeji wanaijua tangu makarne!

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In this photo taken Wednesday, March 30, 2011 and released by The Wildlife Conservation Society on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012, a Matilda's Horned Viper is photographed in a forest habitat in southwestern Tanzania. The world's newest snake was discovered in a small patch of southwest Tanzania about two years ago and was introduced last month in an issue of Zootaxa as the world's newest known snake species.

A snake named Matilda: New species in Tanzania

By JASON STRAZIUSO

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The world's newest snake has menacing-looking yellow and black scales, dull green eyes and two spiky horns. And it's named after a 7-year-old girl.

Matilda's Horned Viper was discovered in a small patch of southwest Tanzania about two years ago and was introduced last month as the world's newest known snake species in an issue of Zootaxa.

Tim Davenport, the director of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Tanzania, was on the three-person team that discovered the viper. Thanks to his daughter, the snake will always carry a family namesake.

"My daughter, who was 5 at the time, became fascinated by it and used to love spending time watching it and helping us look after it," Davenport told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "We called it Matilda's Viper at that stage ... and then the name stuck."

Only three new vipers have been discovered across Africa the last three decades, making the find rare and important. The Wildlife Conservation Society is not revealing exactly where the snake lives so that trophy hunters can't hunt it.

Davenport said he is not sure how many live in the wild because snake counts are hard to do. Twelve live in captivity and a breeding plan is being carried out.

Davenport, a Briton who has lived in Tanzania for 12 years, said that while many people fear snakes, most are harmless and help keep rodent numbers down. Matilda's horned viper can grow to 2 feet (65 centimeters) or bigger, he said.

"This particular animal looks fierce and probably is venomous (though bush viper bites are not fatal)," Davenport told AP via an Internet chat. "However, it is actually very calm animal and not at all aggressive. I have handled one on a number of occasions."

The Wildlife Conservation Society runs the Bronx Zoo and the Central Park Zoo in New York, and Davenport said it would be a "great option" to showcase the new horned viper at one of those locations, but that nothing has yet been decided.

http://www.atherismatildae.org/

FLOTUS - Ujumbe Kutoka kwa Rais Obama

2012-01-12T08:20:00.000-08:00

FLOTUS Michelle Obama na mume wake Rais Barack Obama

Friend --

When you become president, one thing that happens overnight is that you and everyone you love get a bunch of new nicknames.

I was already pretty used to this. But "FLOTUS," short for First Lady of the United States, is really something else.

I'm writing because our FLOTUS, Michelle, turns 48 on Tuesday, and I know I'm not her only fan out there.

Will you join me in wishing her a happy birthday?

The decision to become part of this campaign was deeply personal for a lot of people, and Michelle and I are no exception. But we both knew, like anyone else who believes in what we're trying to do here, that this was never going to be easy.

This fall, Michelle and I will have been married 20 years. The next 10 months will be harder than any we've experienced together, and I couldn't do it without her. I know she'd love to hear from you today:

http://my.barackobama.com/For-Michelle

Thanks for your support,

Barack

P.S. -- This weekend, people are getting together to volunteer in their communities in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Find out how you can join in at serve.gov.

Hasira za Mpangaji - Riwaya Mpya

2012-01-10T09:46:00.000-08:00

Mpendwa msomaji;

Baada ya kufanya utafiti wa kina juu ya uhusiano uliopo kati ya mwenye nyumba na mpangaji, nikianzia Songea 2005 na kumalizia Mwanza 2011, sasa nakuletea riwaya ya kisayansi (science fiction).

HASIRA ZA MPANGAJI ni riwaya iliyotungwa na mimi Gabriel Nombo. Inaelezea maisha ya watu kwenye sayari iliyo nje ya mfumo wa jua, extrasolar planet. Sayari yenye watu wanaopanga na wanaopangisha nyumba kama watu wa hapa duniani.

Tofauti ni kwamba, wao wameendelea zaidi kisayansi na kiteknolojia ukilinganisha na sisi wa duniani.Pia, kwa asili binadamu wa huko (aliens) wana hasira sana. Kwenye nyumba wanazoishi mifarakano ipo muda wote. Kitu kidogo tu, kwa wao, chaweza zua hasira kubwa. Tafadhali usiikose riwaya hii ya aina yake. Ipo njiani kukutembelea.

Kwa maoni au maswali, tafadhali nitumie barua pepe mapigaby@yahoo.com .

Gabriel Nombo

Mambo Msikitini

2012-01-07T06:44:00.000-08:00

Nasikia yalitokea kweli kwenye mskiti huko Bongo. Simu ya Mwumini ilianza kulia, ringtone, nyimbo ya kiinjili! Duh! Sasa imekuwa katuni/kichekesho lakini nadhani jasho yalimtokea huyo jamaa hadi nguo zake zililoa! Fundisho - zimeni simu zenu kabla ya kuingia mskitini/kanisani.

Ubaguzi Hadi Kaburini Connecticut

2012-01-07T03:48:00.000-08:00

Kaburi la Marehemu Juliet Steer

Huko Connecticut, mwanamke mweusi, Juliet Steer, mwenye miaka 47 alikufa kwa ugonjwa wa kansa. Kabla hajafa alipitia sehemu za kuzika nyingi. Aliona makaburi ya wayehudi ambao walikuwa wanakubali kuzika wasio wayehudi. Alisema alipapenda kwa vile ilionekana kuwa ni eneo enye amani sana. Kalipia kaburi na alivyofariki kazikwa huko akidhani atapumzika kwa amani kwa milele.

Sasa mwanamke myehudi, Maria Balaban (72), alivyosikia hiyo habari amekwenda mahakamani na kudai kuwa Bi Steer, afukuliwe! Anasema ni sumu kwa weusi kuzikwa na wayehudi! Anasema hataki kuzikwa na weusi na pia ndudu zake waliozikwa huko kupumzika na weusi! Balaban anasema kuwa yeye si mbaguzi. Lakini kama si mbaguzui mbona hapingi wazungu waio wayehudi kuzikwa huko?

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HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Juliet Steer was dying of cancer when she chose her final resting place in the woods of southeastern Connecticut. She picked the plot in an interfaith section of a Jewish cemetery in Colchester because it was peaceful, her brother said, and she died at age 47 in 2010.

But that peace has been broken by a lawsuit seeking to have her remains exhumed and moved because Steer was not Jewish. The dispute over Steer, who was black, escalated recently with allegations of racism against the plaintiff and of retaliation against her by fellow congregation members.

Maria Balaban, a 72-year-old white member of the Congregation Ahavath Achim, sued in state court in New London nearly a year ago, alleging the congregation broke its own rule against burials of non-Jews at its three cemetery properties when it allowed the burial of the Jamaican-born Steer, who lived in the neighboring town of East Hampton. The synagogue says its rules allow for burial of non-Jews.

Balaban, who is also a member of the conservative congregation's board of directors, has reserved plots at the same cemetery for herself and her husband, and they have relatives buried there. She didn't return several messages seeking comment, but her lawyer denies the accusations and says her background, which includes employment as a social worker, demonstrates she is not racist.

According to the congregation board's meeting minutes, Balaban was present when the board in 2009 unanimously approved setting aside a section of the Colchester Jewish Aid Congregation Cemetery for interfaith couples, their non-Jewish children and other non-Jews.

Steer is the only person buried there. Four white people have reserved plots in the interfaith section, but Balaban isn't challenging their purchase or usage of the plots, according to lawyers for both the plaintiff and defendant. The four people include an interfaith couple who are married and another couple who are not.

The congregation's lawyer, George Purtill, filed a court document last month alleging that Balaban is suing only because Steer was black. He said Balaban approved of the interfaith cemetery allowing non-Jews, contested it only after Steer was buried there and has made derogatory comments about Steer's race - among them that Steer should have been buried in the back of the cemetery, away from the Balaban family plots.

"My client is very upset by this all," Purtill said. "They created the (interfaith cemetery) to be open, compassionate and caring and feel chagrined that their goodwill towards others is being rewarded with this costly litigation."

Purtill said the interfaith cemetery was the result of the changing structure of families and the increase in interfaith and other types of relationships, including unmarried couples and civil unions. Congregation rules say burial plots in the interfaith section can be bought "by an individual for any individual without regard to religious identity."

Balaban's attorney, Martin Rutchik, denies that his client is racist and that she made disparaging remarks about Steer's race. Shortly after Purtill filed the document making the racism allegations last month, Rutchik filed an updated lawsuit to add a request for damages for emotional distress, claiming that the congregation has shunned Balaban and members have been "harsh" to her and made her feel unwanted.

A court hearing is planned for Feb. 29.

Rutchik accused the congregation of inappropriately bringing race into the case.

"I feel that this tactic used by the defendant is very unfair and is very abusive of Mrs. Balaban," he said. "This lady (Balaban) has a history that does not speak of racism."

Rutchik added that Balaban grew up in Cuba, a country with a large black population, and helped many black people in New York City when she was a social worker there years ago. She also worked at a daycare center in Willimantic, Conn., attended by many African-American children.

Rutchik said that Balaban's background "clearly demonstrates this woman was not a racist," and that she is suing solely over the congregation's failure to follow its own burial rules.

Traditional Jewish laws and practices prohibit the burial of non-Jews in Jewish cemeteries, said David Berger, dean of the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies of Yeshiva University in New York City.

"Jews should be buried with other Jews. There is such an expectation," Berger said.

But the number of interfaith cemeteries is increasing, he said, because there are more marriages between people of different faiths.

At issue in Balaban's case is language about cemetery use in an agreement between the Congregation Ahavath Achim and the former Colchester Jewish Aid Congregation that was approved when the two groups merged in 1999. The agreement says the merged congregation "shall not allow anyone of the non-Jewish faith to be buried within the confines of Rows A through H of said cemetery or any other cemetery properties of the ... congregation."

Balaban insists that means that only Jews can be buried in the congregation's cemeteries, but the congregation says the wording about rows A through H means that non-Jews can be buried in other parts of that cemetery.

The congregation's rabbi, Kenneth Alter, and members of its board referred questions to Purtill.

"I can only say it's unfortunate," said Arthur Liverant, secretary of the congregation and chairman of its cemetery committee.

Steer, who moved to Connecticut with her two brothers and two sisters in 1987, was interested in the Jewish faith, said her brother, Paul Steer of Bloomfield. While she was ill, she was talking with Alter about Judaism and asked to be buried at the interfaith cemetery, he said.

"She went up and looked at it and thought it was a peaceful place," Paul Steer said. "She believed in the Jewish religion. We were taught that Jesus was a Jew, and that's who we worship."

Steer said that Balaban's lawsuit has upset his family, but that they don't believe Balaban will win and they're not concerned their relative's body will be relocated.

"If God doesn't want it to happen, it cannot happen," he said.

Newt Gingrich Atukana Weusi Tena!

2012-01-06T12:21:00.000-08:00

(pichani Newt Gingrich)

Mgombea Urais wa Marekani upande wa Republican, Newt Gingrich, kazua mzozo leo kwa kusema weusi waache kupenda Food Stamps (hela ya chakula inaotolewa na maskini na serikali). Lakini wingi wa wanoopokea ni wazungu! Na juzi Republican mwingine, Rick Santorum, kasema weusi ni wavivu na wapenda vya bure! Hata Bill O'Reilly kamchamba kwa kusema, "Hivi huna habari kuwa wingi wa wanaopokea huo msaada ni wazungu!" Republicans wanapenda sana kueneza chuki dhidi ya weusi.

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Gingrich's NAACP, Food Stamp Remarks Stir Controversy

By Elicia Dover

Manchester, N.H.- The blogosphere piled up with headlines Thursday over a part of Newt Gingrich's campaign speech involving food stamps and the NAACP, which left the Gingrich campaign scrambling in defense to put Gingrich's comments in context.

"And so I'm prepared if the NAACP invites me, I'll go to their convention and talk about why the African American community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps," Gingrich said earlier today in Plymouth, N.H.

After a few tweets about Gingrich's comments surfaced online, several blogs were written focusing on Gingrich's comments. Some headlines included "Gingrich Singles Out Blacks in Food Stamp Remark," "Newt: Informs African Americans They Should Not Want Food Stamps," and "Gingrich to Blacks: Demand Jobs Not Food Stamps."

The Internet chatter ensued as writers discussed Gingrich's comments on race, saying he "called out the African American community."

Gingrich lead welfare reform as Speaker of the House in the early 90's and routinely speaks on improving poverty in America as a part of his "stump" speech. Though his comments are not always politically-correct or well received by some groups, Gingrich doesn't hold back in talking about his desire to help ethnic communities.

A portion of Gingrich's usual speech given to crowds includes a line in which Gingrich says more people are on food stamps under President Obama than with any other president. ABC News fact checked Gingrich's food stamp claims earlier this month, confirming that Americans on food stamps is at a record high, but mostly attributed to a weak economy.

"The fact is if I become your nominee we will make the key test very simple - food stamps versus paychecks. Obama is the best food stamp president in American history. More people are on food stamps today because of Obama's policies than ever in history," Gingrich said. "I would like to be the best paycheck president in American history."

Gingrich stirred controversy last month over his comments about poor children having no work habits or people around them to teach them how to work. Gingrich offered the solution that some school janitors should be fired and children should work part time within their school for money and to develop "pride in their community."

The Gingrich campaign immediately responded to the press over Gingrich's comments by sending out an email that said Gingrich's NAACP comments were an effort to reach out to the African American community. The Gingrich campaign pointed to Gingrich's book Real Change, in which Gingrich was critical of President Bush's "failure to address the NAACP." Gingrich said it was a "clear signal to the African American community that Republicans did not see them as worthy of engagement in dialogue."

Gingrich also chastised the 2008 Republican presidential candidates, in an appearance on Good Morning America, for skipping out on a forum hosted by Travis Smiley, which focused on the issues of black voters. Mike Huckabee was the only candidate to agree.

Gingrich said earlier this week that he was prepared to go into any ethnic community that would listen to his ideas.

"There's no neighborhood I know of in America where if you went around and asked people, 'Would you rather your children had food stamps or paychecks?" Gingrich said. "You would end up with a majority saying they'd rather have a paycheck."

Mazishi ya Marehemu Azizi Sheween

2012-01-06T08:30:00.000-08:00

Rais Jakaya Kikwete na Rais Mstaafu alhaj Ali Hassan Mwinyi na waombolezaji wakiswalia mwili wa Marehemu Azizi Sheween Afisa Ubalozi wa Tanzania huko Abu Dhabi, UAE,ambako alifariki dunia mwisho wa mwezi uiopita na mwii wake umeletwa leo Janaury 6, 2012 kutoka huko, umeagwa rasmi na kusafirishwa kuelekea nyumbani kwake Moshi kwa mazishi yanayotarajiwa kufanyika kesho.

Rais Jakaya Kikwete, Rais Mstaafu Ahaji Ai Hassan Mwinyi, Waziri wa Mambo ya Nje na Ushirikiano wa Kimataifa Mh Bernard Membe, Katibu Mkuu Kiongozi Mh Ombeni Sefue na waomboezaji kwenye msiba wa Marehemu Azizi Sheween Afisa Ubalozi wa Tanzania huko Abu Dhabi, UAE,ambako alifariki dunia mwisho wa mwezi uiopita na mwii wake umeletwa leo January 6, 2012 kutoka huko, umeagwa rasmi na kusafirishwa kuelekea nyumbani kwake Moshi kwa mazishi yanayotarajiwa kufanyika kesho.

PICHA NA IKULU

Salamu Kutoka Bongo!

2012-01-04T11:49:00.000-08:00

Nimetumiwa kwa email:

Imeadikwa na Prof. Akwanza

Pokeni salamu kutoka Tanzania. Najua LGF alishawapelekea picha ikinionyesha nikishuhulikiwa na joto la Dar.

Nataka kuwaarifu kuwa niweza kusalimika hapa Bongo kwa zaidi ya mwezi sasa.

There is a story I read (I do not remember where) some time ago. In summary it went like this: One experimentalist took a frog and put it in a cooking pot with cold water. The frog was comfortable there.

Slowly the water temperature was raised and the frog kept on adjusting to the new environment. It continued like this up to when the water reached boiling point and the frog was turned to a frog-stew. On the second
experiment the water was first brought to boiling point and then the frog was dropped in.

It immediately jumped out and it survived though with some injuries.

Why am I telling this story? Many of those I know from before are at times > at a loss when I lament at the situation I see. Wanasema macho yatazoea tu na nitaona kila kitu sawa. Yaani nitakuwa frog-stew.

My arrival in TZ after about 5-years of absence was like that frog that was dropped in boiling water. I wanted to jump from every situation I found myself. These include

1. To be told to teach a class of 208 students in a room with only 98 chairs (A108 for those familiar with FoE now CoET). Wengine  wanachungulia> dirishani. I am told this is quit common in some classes.

2. Really run down of the University of Dar-es-Salaam.  For example: my favorite walkway "Havard" cafeteria through Hall 2 to my Hall 5 residence (ili ukutane na Warembo wa Hall 3) is barely passable.

3. The traffic mess all over Dar. BTW I am NOT PROUD of what I have become, i.e. driving in Dar like the rest of them.

4. The change in the people's values, very materialistic, selfish, uncaring. This is my conclusion based on how people drive, the way they built security walls without taking into consideration those down stream they need a road too, Furthermore, the lack of care for the environment (mabonde yote yamejengwa) no wonder few hours of rain pour as we had the last two days there are no wetlands to slow down the waters and many many more.

IMPORTANT

On the other hand there are some real improvements:1. Since my arrival I have no real memorable power outage yet.

Though nlishakatikiwa maji halfway by shower thus end-up finishing the operation with a small Kilimanjaro water I had in the house.

2. LGF amenisahau kabisa, baada ya kupata safari ya hafla siku ambayo tulikuwa tukutane ( touge-in-chic. the HAVES have to  working overtime to maintain their position at the top.

3. Lot of new constructions, thou I do not like the structural system they are using: heavy concrete frame with solid block for partitioning walls. Two things: either we need to stop paying Architects by the  parcentage of the cost of the building or file mulpractice to structural engineers or both.

BOTHERING DEVELOPMENTS

1. In my opinion, some people have more money than the  government, thus they can literally do what they want, including things such as to  pay to have a road closed at peak-hour to off-load your truck. I  witnessed this with my own eyes.

2. The widening gap between the HAVES and the HAVE-NOTS is a ticking bomb.

3. The weak goverment is making it possible for the HAVES to  accelerate 2) above.

Concerning the "mafuriko" you heard in the news, If you believe those who say that it was heavy rains that caused the flooding you can well start raising funds for I have a bridge I will like to sell to you. The operative phrase should be "Environmental Degradation Caused Flooding and Loss of Bridges " With the wetlands all dessimeted there is no where for the water to be held and percolated slowlly throughout the catchment area and thus have river floww throughout the year and thus no excuse for
TANESCO to cry falling Dam levels.

Allow me to stop my rambling here. I am going to try to locate the missing LGF. Kama ukimwona mwambie namtafuta !!!!!!!!!!!!.

Akwanza

On Sabbatical at UDSM

Babu Wa Loliondo Janga La Kitaifa 2011 - Maggid Mjengwa

2012-01-03T08:25:00.000-08:00

Mh. Lukuvi na Binti yake Mwalimu Nyerere wakipata 'kikombe' kutoka kwa Babu

Imeandikwa na Maggid Mjengwa

Babu Wa Loliondo Janga La Kitaifa 2011

“Tanzania Tanzania nakupenda kwa moyo wote”,ni wimbo unaovutia ni wimbo; unaelezea wasifu wetu wasifu wa nchi yetu Tanzania kweli jina lako ni tamu tulalapo tunakuota wewe, Ndoto wakati mwingine uashiria kitu kijacho !

Naam ndugu zangu Watanzania, tukiwa tunakaribia kumaliza mwaka nchi yetu imekumbwa na majanga kadhaa likiwepo hili la mafuriko napenda kuchukua nafasi hii kuwapa pole wote waliofikwa na mafuriko najua Mungu atasimama upande wao, janga hili ni muendelezo wa majanga mengi yaliyoikuta Tanzania yetu tunayoiota utalalapo, Ambikile Mwaisapile maarufu kama babu wa loliondo ni moja ya majanga hayo .

Inayodaiwa kuwa tiba ya Babu wa Loliondo, badala ya kuwa msaada kwa taifa, imeonyesha madhara zaidi ya kiafya, kijamii na kiuchumi. Tuliandika kutahadharisha na kushauri. Tumepuuzwa; maana, kwa wengine, tiba ya Babu ilikuwa ni mradi, na kwa kweli kugeuzwa kuwa mradi wa kitaifa.

Na kilichojikita katika kuwaacha watu wetu wakitaabika ni unafiki wetu. Tuna maradhi mabaya, na ni sugu. Ndio, miongoni mwetu kuna wenye kusumbuliwa na maradhi ya unafiki. Nitatoa mfano nilipata kukaa na wasomi wawili, tena wana digrii zao. Tukazungumzia ya Babu wa Loliondo.

Mimi na wasomi wale tulikuwa na misimamo ya kufanana, tulipinga upotoshaji unaoendelea katika jamii kuwa Babu wa Loliondo, Ambilikile Mwasapile, anatibu ukimwi, kansa, kisukari na mengineyo. Na kwa vile wote tumekwenda shule, hoja kuu ilikuwa hii; kuwa hadi sasa hakuna hata wagonjwa watatu wa ukimwi waliothibitishwa kitaalamu kuwa wamepona ukimwi kwa dawa ya Babu.

Badala yake, kuna wengi wamekufa baada ya kuacha kutumia madawa waliyoelekezwa na madaktari watalaamu waliosomea tiba.

Wakati tukiendelea kuzungumza, mara akatokea mheshimiwa fulani, naye akaingia moja kwa moja kwenye mjadala. Alimtetea Babu na kusisitiza kuwa. Babu ni lulu ya taifa, lazima aenziwe. Wasomi wale afadhali wangekaa kimya, hapana, walianza kumuunga mkono mheshimiwa kwa hoja nyepesi.

Hawakuwa wapumbavu, walijifanya tu wapumbavu wakiniacha mimi nikipambana peke yangu kuziponda hoja za mheshimiwa yule. Kwa kiasi fulani, niliogopa kuona hulka hii ya wasomi wetu. Wasomi ambao, kwa unafiki, wanashindwa kutetea na kusimamia katika hoja zao za msingi. Na hii, bila shaka, ni moja ya majibu ya swali la kwa nini Tanzania ni masikini?

Hakika, ya Babu wa Loliondo ni aibu yetu kitaifa. Katika karne hii ya 21 nchi yetu inatumia raslimali zake kufanya promosheni ya ndoto ya Mtanzania mmoja kati ya Watanzania milioni 42! Ndio, tunafanya promosheni ya jambo lisilo na uthibitisho wa kisayansi. Si tuliona, haikupita siku bila kusikia habari za Babu wa Loliondo?

Kwa sasa, tunaweza kabisa kusema, kuwa habari za huduma za Babu wa Loliondo zilitangazwa na kuufikia umma kuliko habari za Wizara yeyote ile katika Serikali ya Awamu ya Nne. Babu wa Loliondo si mchezo bwana, alikuwa na ‘maafisa habari wake’ wanaowafunika hata maafisa habari wa Wizara za Serikali.

Na katika mzaha huu wa mambo ya msingi kitaifa, tuna maelfu kwa maelfu ya Watanzania wanaotaabika na hata baadhi kufa kwa kuamini kuwa Loliondo kuna tiba, na iko Loliondo tu! , kuna Watanzania walioweka rehani mavuno yao ya mwaka mzima ili wapate nauli ya kwenda kwa Babu. Si wameambiwa, kuwa hata mawaziri wanapanga foleni ya kwenda kupata kikombe cha Babu!

Na wakishapata kikombe wanapiga picha ya ukumbusho, au labda ya kisiasa. Asubuhi yake ’maafisa habari’ wa Babu wameshatundika picha ya waziri ukurasa wa kwanza gazetini! Jimboni kwa mheshimiwa wapiga kura wake watamwona au kusikia kuwa Mheshimiwa naye anaumwa kama sisi, na amepata kikombe cha Babu!

Kikombe cha Babu ni abrakadabra, nilipata kuandika hilo. Na Watanzania, baadhi, kwa hiyari yetu, tumekubali kujifanya, wajinga na hivyo kuwapumbaza wengi wengine. Kwanini? Tulitafute jibu kwa kufikiri kwa bidii.

Hebu jiulize; wakati Shirika la Afya Duniani (WHO), Juni mwaka huu, liliadhimisha miaka 30 ya mapambano dhidi ya ukimwi, je, Tanzania, kama nchi, tulikuwa na banda la maonyesho likielezea ugunduzi wa tiba ya ukimwi iliyotokana na ndoto ya Babu?!

Labda ndio maana, magazeti yetu ya lugha ya Kiingereza hayakufanya sana promosheni ya tiba ya Babu. Maana, kama habari za Babu zingepewa uzito kama ilivyo kwenye magazeti yetu ya lugha ya Kiswahili, basi, wana jumuiya ya Kimataifa, wakiwamo wawakilishi wa mashirika ya kimataifa, huenda wangeshindwa kuamini wanachokisoma.

Maana, wawakilishi wa mashirika kama PSI na FHI yenye miradi ya kupambana na ukimwi nchini na mengineyo wangejiuliza; nini hasa wanachokifanya katika nchi yetu. Na pengine wameshatafsiriwa tunachooandika juu ya Babu kwa Kiswahili chetu!

Si ajabu basi, Ubalozi wa Marekani ulikuja na tamko lake Mei 5 mwaka huu. Wamarekani hawa, kwa kuwaonea huruma Watanzania, wameshauri watu wanaotumia tiba mbadala wasiache kutumia dawa walizopewa na madakatri na vile vile waendelee kujikinga na maambukizi.

Na wakaweka msisitizo kuwa, kuacha kutumia dawa hizo za madaktari watalaamu kunafanya dawa hizo zinapotumiwa tena kushindwa kufanya kazi ipasavyo (drug resistance). Na ajabu ya habari ya tamko lile la Wamarekani ilichapishwa katika gazeti moja tu kwa lugha ya Kiingereza - The Citizen, jina la gazeti hilo lina maana ya Mwananchi; ingawa wananchi wengi hawakupata habari hiyo kwa lugha yao!

Kwa hakika, hatuhitaji kuambiwa na Wamarekani juu ya ukweli huu na wajibu wetu. Huu ni wakati kwa wizara inayohusika kufanya jitihada za dhati kutoa tamko litakaloweka bayana kuwa tiba inayodaiwa kutolewa na Babu bado haijathibitika kitalaamu kama inaponya maradhi sugu kama vile ukimwi, kansa; na kisukari.

Wakati utafiti huo ukiendelea, umma ukumbushwe kuwa, dawa zinazotambulika kitalaamu kwa sasa ni zile zinazotolewa na madaktari wetu watalaamu. Kwamba wanaokwenda kwa Babu wana ruhusa ya kufanya hivyo, lakini, kikombe cha Babu kinaweza kunywewa pamoja na dawa za hospitalini.

Tufanye hivyo sasa, na ujumbe huo usambazwe kwa nguvu zote na maafisa wa habari wa wizara husika. Ndio, maofisa habari wa Wizara ya Afya nao washindane na ‘maafisa habari’ wa kujitolea wa Babu wa Loliondo!

Watanzania tunapita kwenye kipindi kigumu sana. Na huu ni wakati wa kutafakari kwa kina. Na nimepata kumwuliza jamaa yangu swali hili; mwanadamu ; unafanyaje unapoamka na kukuta dunia unayoishi ardhi yake imeanza kumegeka na kuchotwa na bahari? Naye akanijibu; ” Huo ndio utakuwa mwisho wa dunia!”

Aliyenijibu alikuwa amechoka kufikiri. Nilidhani angetamka kuwa, angeanza kujifunza kuogelea. Maana, kwa kuogelea majini angeweza kukutana na kisiwa, au nchi kavu.

Wanadamu tumejaliwa akili ili tuweze kufikiri. Na kufikiri ndio njia mojawapo ya kuiteka kweli. Kufikiri kunahamisha milima na hata kuiweka kando kuruhusu mwanga upite. Inakuwaje basi mwanadamu anapoacha kufikiri?

Haya ya kwa ‘Babu wa Loliondo’ ni kielelezo cha Watanzania kuamua kuacha kufikiri. Kuna umma uliojifunika vilemba vya ujinga. Umma uko gizani, ; unahitaji mwanga.

Yumkini wakatokea Watanzania wenzetu wakaoteshwa na Mungu juu ya dawa za tiba kwa mwanadamu. Na hapo wakaingiza suala la imani. Lakini, jambo hilo halituzuii wanadamu kuhoji na kudadisi. Ndio, kuuliza maswali. Na kwa Serikali, jambo hilo haliizuii kufuata taratibu zake za kawaida ikiwamo kufanyia utafiti jambo hilo na kutoa msimamo wa kiserikali.

Hata kama Watanzania watakuwa na uhuru wa kwenda kwenye tiba za imani, lakini msimamo wa Serikali uwepo. Na kwa wengi utabaki kuwa ndio mwongozo; maana, watakuwa wameufanyia utafiti. Nahitimisha.

Niwatakieni Heri ya Mwaka Mpya.

Maggid Mjengwa.

http://mjengwablog.com/

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SOMA HABARI ZAIDI ZA VIFO LOLIONDO GLOBAL PUBLISHERS:

http://www.globalpublishers.info/profiles/blogs/loliondo-1

Kuchangia Wahanga wa Mvua Dar

2012-01-03T08:01:00.000-08:00

Kuchangia Wahanga wa Mvua DSM

+255786 806028 Kwa Airtel Money

na

+255767806028 kwa Mpesa

Salamu Za Mwaka Mpya Kutoka Kwa Mustafa Hassanali

2012-01-01T07:39:00.000-08:00

Heri ya Mwaka Mpya! Happy New Year - 2012

2011-12-31T12:58:00.000-08:00

Tunaaga mwaka 2011. Tusiwasahau wale walioaga dunia mwaka huu. Tushukuru Mungu kwamba ametubariki kuweza kuona mwaka mpya!

Nawatakia wadau wote heri ya mwaka mpya! Happy New Year!

Tanzia - John Ngahyoma

2011-12-30T06:10:00.000-08:00

Nimepokea kwa majonzi makubwa habari za kifo cha mwandishi wa habari, John Ngahyoma. Niliwahi kufanya kazi naye Daily News. Rest in Eternal Peace. Amen.

Mnaweza kuona picha za mazaishi ya Marehemu John Ngahyoma kwa KUBOFYA HAPA:

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The Late John Ngahyoma

Habari za leo Wakuu,

Tumepata taarifa kwamba Mwandishi wa Habari mkongwe nchini ambaye alikuwa akifanya kazi na Shirika la Habari la Uingereza (BBC), John Ngahyoma amefariki dunia leo asubuhi.

Msiba uko nyumbani kwa marehemu Tabata, karibu na nyumbani kwa Marehemu Danny Mwakiteleko. Mwenye taarifa zaidi atufahamishe.

Tunaitakia moyo wa subira na Mungu awafariji wanafamilia wa Ngahyoma katika kipindi hiki cha majonzi ya kuondokewa na mpendwa wao.

RIP John Ngahyoma, umetangulia na wengine tutafuata.

Neville C. Meena,

Secretary General,

Tanzania Editors' Forum (TEF),

Dar es Salaam -Tanzania.

Cell: +255 - 715 -339090

+255 - 787 - 6755

Mnada wa Hazina Haukuzaa Matunda!

2011-12-29T10:56:00.000-08:00

Kwa wanaoelewa habari ya Bonds, hii habari inatisha. Yaani Benki kuu wameuza bonds chini ya asilimia 5% tu!

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DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - A Tanzanian 10-year Treasury bond auction was hugely undersubscribed on Wednesday, with the central bank selling less than 5 percent of the amount of bonds on offer.

The Bank of Tanzania had offered 20 billion shillings of the fixed-rate Treasury bonds with an 11.44 percent coupon.

It received bids worth just 0.926 billion shillings and accepted all of them, making the auction one of the country's worst bond sales in recent history.

The central bank said the weighted average yield to maturity in the auction was 16.9791 percent.

The central bank rejected all bids at a Treasury bond sale on December 15 for the second time in four months as investors sought high yields that the bank was unwilling to pay.

Bank of America Wapigwa Faini Shauri ya Ubaguzi

2011-12-21T13:26:00.000-08:00

Watu walijua kuwa Bank of America wanabagua weusi na waspanish, katika kugawa mikopo. Mweusi unakuwa na sifa zote za kupata mkopo, wakti mwingine unakuwa na sifa kumzidi mzungu lakini unanyimwa shauri ya rangi ya ngozi yako! Wakoe! Walipe hiyo faini! Washenzi sana, hata haya hawana! Lakini hayo mambo yapo tangu zamani, mweusi ukipata mkopo utaona interest rate ni kubwa kuliko ya mzungu!

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(CNN) Bank of America will pay $335 million to settle federal claims that its Countrywide unit discriminated against minority borrowers, Justice Department officials announced.

Attorney General Eric Holder said a federal probe found discrimination against 200,000 qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers from 2004 to 2008 during the height of the housing market boom. He said minority borrowers who qualified for prime loans were steered into higher interest rate subprime loans.

Bank of America purchased Countrywide in 2008 for $4 billion in a deal that made the bank the nation's leading mortgage lender at the time. The deal closed in July 2008 ahead of the meltdown in financial markets that fall.

Mnaweza kusoma habari kamili hapa:

http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/21/news/companies/bank_america_settlement/index.htm?hpt=hp_t3