Showing posts with label THE GUARDIAN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label THE GUARDIAN. Show all posts

14 Mar 2013



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Tanzanian journalists under attack

Journalists in Tanzania are being intimidated by beatings, harassment and death threats. In the latest example, Absalom Kibanda, editor of the newspaper Mtanzania (The Tanzanian), was attacked outside his home and suffered serious head injuries.
He was taken to hospital in Dar-Es-Salaam but the gravity of his injuries may require him to be flown to South Africa for special treatment.
Kibanda, who is chairman of the Tanzania Editors Forum (TEF), is also the managing editor of the Swahile daily Tanzania Daima. The attack is thought to be related to his journalistic work.
TEF secretary general Meena Neville said: "They probably just want silence him through torture and intimidation".
The assault on Kibanda comes weeks after two other disturbing incidents. In the first, Scottish police informed a UK-based Tanzanian journalist, Evarist Chahali, that they had uncovered death threats against him.
In the second, journalist Erick Kabendera has been subjected to episodes of harassmentapparently in retaliation for having testified against his former employer, the Tanzanian media mogul, Reginald Mengi, in a UK libel case in November last year.
His home in Tanzania has been burgled three times; officials have interrogated his elderly parents about their right to be Tanzanian citizens; and the couple were also told their son was under scrutiny for selling secrets to European powers.
Kabendera worked for a period in Britain in 2009 on The Times and The Independentthrough the David Astor journalism awards trust. His case has been highlighted by the former UK high commissioner to Kenya, Sir Edward Clay.
These three instances follow the murder of two journalists in separate incidents in late 2012 - Daud Mwangosi and Issa Ngumba - and last year's closure of the newspaper MwanaHalisi.
Sources: Article 19/African Arguments In Swahili: Raimwema


26 Aug 2012


New Africa: the politician fighting corruption in Tanzania

Government minister January Makamba is full of innovative ideas for harnessing technology to help his country
January Makamba
Tanzanian minister January Makamba on the campaign trail. Photograph courtesy of January Makamba
January Makamba is Tanzania's deputy minister for communication, science and technology. In 2009, President Kikwete introduced him to Barack Obama, who was much taken by his dynamism, observing that he was the sort of politician likely to help transform the fortunes of the continent.
Makamba is an interesting combination of old and new Africa. He attended university in the US, but explains that, although he is the son of a teacher, politician and public servant, it was the time spent in Tanzania's rural areas as a child that most influenced his development. "The most rewarding experience was living with my grandmother. The daily routine was testing – I'd wake at 5am, walk 8km to school, come home at 3pm and go out to herd goats." This gave him, he feels, the "empathy needed for good decision-making".
It was empathy that turned him into a politician when, in his gap year, he was manager of Mtabila refugee camp, overseeing 120,000 Burundi refugees. "Witnessing that misery made me political." It made him "philosophical". But Makamba has emerged as a politician who does more than philosophise. He is an innovator with formidable drive. He is determined to unshackle his country from reliance on aid. He set upBumbuli Development Corporation to borrow $10m from Wall Street philanthropists, invested in bonds with dividends to be spent in his constituency. "We decided not to find an NGO to help us but start our own – and not make it a charity. We have had a flurry of NGOs with little impact. This corporation would be a driver for development and private enterprise. It would be a social business with huge potential." The corporation money is already funding community projects. He gives an example: "Fifty per cent of our fruit and vegetables used to be spoiled before going to market." Now, a "new aggregation centre" is putting this right.
His most exciting innovation, launching next month, is a new text message anti-corruption campaign, a global naming-and-shaming project. "Only 6.9% of corruption cases are currently reported. We want to solve the problem. Almost everyone in Tanzania has a mobile." He sets the scene: "At a hospital you are asked for a bribe. You have a USP code, you enter the location and details of the bribe and send it to a web platform: it will appear as a dot on a map so everyone can see that at a certain hospital a bribe was asked for."
Africans he admires
Fred Swaniker Ghanaian founder of African Leadership Network.
Malusi Gigaba A minister in South Africa, and a voice of reason and reassurance

24 Jan 2011

Makao Makuu ya MI6 jijini London
Makao Makuu ya Shirika la Utangazaji la Uingereza (BBC) jijini London

Mashirika ya ushushushu ya Uingereza,MI5 na MI6,leo yalitarajiwa kuieleza Mahakama Kuu ya hapa kwamba siku zijazo  taarifa za kiusalama zitazokusanywa nje ya nchi hazitawekwa hadharani kortini hata kama zimepatikana kwa kuwatesa watuhumiwa (torture).

Mwaka jana,mahakama ya rufaa ilitupilia mbali kesi kwa kile ilichokiita jaribio la kudhoofisha kanuni ya msingi ya sheria: mshtakiwa lazima aone na kusikia ushahidi uliotumiwa kujenga kesi dhidi yake.

Sasa mashirika hayo ya usalama wa ndani (security) na ujasusi (intelligence) yanapambana na uamuzi huo.Baadhi ya vyombo vya habari vya hapa,magazeti ya The Guardian na The Times,na Shirika la Utangazaji la Uingereza (BBC)-chombo cha umma hicho kama TBC1,Daily News na Habari Leo-pamoja na vikundi vya haki za binadamu vya Liberty na Justice,vilitarajiwa kutoa hoja mbele ya majaji waandamizi kabisa wa hapa kuwa kama hoja ya mashirika hayo ya kishushushu ikikubaliwa,itabomoa nafasi ya kesi kuwa ya haki na kumomonyoa  imani ya umma kwa maamuzi ya mahakama.Mawakili wa taasisi hizo za habari na haki za binadamu walitarajiwa kudai kuwa kanuni hizo ni muhimu hasa panapokuwa na madai ya maafisa wasiomudu majukumu yao ipasavyo (incompetent) au kutenda makosa.

Shauri hilo linatokana na madai ya raia (citizens) sita na mkazi (resident) mmoja wa Uingereza waliokuwa wakishikiliwa katika jela ya kuhifadhi watuhumiwa wa ugaidi ya Ghuba ya Guantanamo,kwa kile wanachodai ushirika wa siri kati ya MI5 na MI6 na mamlaka za Marekani.Watuhumiwa hao waliyataka mashirika hayo ya ushushushu kuonyesha ushahidi wa nyaraka kuhusu ufahamu wa  mashirika hayo katika uamuzi wa siri wa Marekani kuwapeleka jela hiyo,na ushiriki wa MI5 na MI6 katika suala hilo.

Japo watuhumiwa hao wameshafikia makubaliano ya fidia inayokisiwa kuwa mamilioni ya pauni za Kiingereza  (baada ya kuachiwa kutoka Guantanamo),mashirika hayo ya kishushushu yanataka kuanzisha kanuni mpya kwamba hakuna taarifa ya kiusalama itakayowekwa hadharani kwenye kesi yoyote ile ya madai au ya jinai.Tayari MI5 na MI6 wameshaonyesha wasiwasi wao katika mgogoro wa kitambo sasa kati yao na majaji wa mahakama kuu juu ya shinikizo kwa mashirika hayo kuonyesha ushahidi wa kuhusika kwao katika mateso aliyopewa (mmoja wa watuhumiwa hao) Binyam Mohamed,mkazi wa Uingereza aliyeshikiliwa kwa siri katika jela nchini Pakistan na Morocco kabla ya kupelekwa Guantanamo.Majaji waruka pingamizi la aliyekuwa 'Waziri wa Mambo ya Nje' (Foreign Secretary) wa hapa ,David Miliband,na kuweka hadharani muhtasari wa taarifa za (Shirika la Ujasusi la Marekani) CIA kwa MI5 na MI6.

Kama mashirika hayo ya usalama na ujasusi yakishinda madai yao,taarifa yoyote ya kiusalama na/au kijasusi inayohusu kesi ya madai au jinai itaonyeshwa kwa majaji na waendesha mashtaka pekee na sio washtakiwa au hata mawakili wao.Badala yake,taarifa hizo zitaonyeshwa kwa "mawakili maalumu" waliohakikiwa kiusalama (vetted).

Mwaka huu, Serikali ya Uingereza inatarajiwa kuchapisha muswada kupendekeza kipengele cha sheria kinacholitaka Bunge kuzuwia ushahidi wa uliopatikana kwa njia za ushushushu kuwekwa hadharani kortini,hatua ambayo inapingwa na majaji.  

Habari hii nimeitafsiri (kadri nilivyoweza) kutoka toleo la jana la gazeti la The Guardian la hapa Uingereza.Lengo la kutafsiri na kuiweka habari hiyo hapa bloguni ni kutoka changamoto kwa vyombo vyetu vya habari-hususan vya umma-kusimamia haki za jamii.Wengi wetu tumekuwa tukihudhunishwa na namna TBC,Daily News na Habari Leo,taasisi za habari zinazoendeshwa kwa fedha za walipakodi (pasipo kujali itikadi zao za kisiasa) wanavyoendesha shughuli zao kana kwamba ni vyombo vya habari vya CCM.Ikumbukwe kuwa vyombo vya habari ni mhimili  wa nne wa utawala wa nchi (pamoja na Bunge,Mahakama na Serikali),na hivyo kuwa na wajibu wa kutopendelea au kuegemea upande wowote dhidi ya maslahi ya umma.
    

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