JK ANATUJALI KULIKO AFYA YAKE AU SPINNING AT ITS VERY BEST?

AONDOLEWA JUKWAANI, ASEMA NI UCHOVU WA SAFARI

Frederick Katulanda, Mwanza na Exuper Kachenje, Dar

RAIS Jakaya Kikwete jana alizidiwa ghafla wakati akihutubiwa waumini wa Kanisa la African Inland (AICT) kwenye Uwanja wa CCM Kirumba na kulazimika kukatisha hotuba yake na baadaye kuondolewa uwanjani akiwa amebebwa na walinzi wake kabla ya kiongozi huyo kurejea jukwaani muda mfupi baadaye.

Rais Kikwete, ambaye alifika mkoani hapa akitokea Arusha ambako alifungua mkutano wa Chama cha Mabunge ya Jumuiya ya Madola, ikiwa ni siku chache tangu atoke Marekani kuhudhuria mkutano wa Baraza la Umoja wa Mataifa, alikumbwa na mkasa huo majira ya saa 6:29 mchana.

Rais Kikwete alikatisha hotuba yake wakati akianza kuelezea suala la kudumisha amani upendo na mshikamano, akisema:"Wakati nilipokuwa nikipita kuomba ridhaa yenu kuongoza nchi hii, kote nilikopita niliomba kudumishwa kwa amani upendo na mshikamano…"

Ghafla alinyamaza na baadaye ikasikika sauti kutoka kwenye kipaza sauti chake ambayo inaonekana kuwa ya mlinzi wake, iliyosema "Kakae".

Baadaye Rais Kikwete aliuliza kwa sauti akisema "naweza kuhutubia nikiwa nimekaa"na kujibiwa na mwenyeji wake, Askoku Mkuu wa AICT, Daniel Nungwana kuwa "unaweza kukaa", jibu ambalo lilifanya aondoke kwenye eneo ambalo alikuwa akitumia kuhutubia jukwaani na kwenda kukaa meza kuu ambayo ilikuwa umbali wa takriban mita mbili.

Mara baada ya kukaa na vipaza sauti kurekebishwa ili aendelee na hotuba, Rais Kikwete alitamka kwa sauti ya juu iliyoonyesha kuwa afya yake si nzuri wakati alipoeleza kuwa “nimechoka sana kwa sababu ya safari” na kisha kuendelea na hotuba yake, lakini sauti yake ilizidi kubadilika na kuwa inayokwaruza na akakatisha hotuba yake, akiacha waumini wakinong’ona.

Baadaye Rais Kikwete, ambaye aliwahi kupoteza nguvu jukwaani wakati akihitimisha kampeni zake za uchaguzi kwenye viwanja vya Jangwani jijini Dar es salaam, alinyamaza na kutulia huku akiwa anaangalia upande wa mashariki, shingo yake ikilalia bega la kushoto na kichwa kuegemea kwa mkuu wa mkoa wa Mwanza, Abbas Kandoro.

Dakika chache baadaye (saa 6: 35), mlinzi wake ambaye alisimama nyuma ya kiti chake, alimtikisa kwa muda, lakini rais hakuonekana kujibu kitu na ndipo walinzi wake na maofisa wengine wa usalama walipomzunguka kumkinga kuzuia watu wasimuone na baadaye kumbeba juu na kumpeleka kwenye chumba maalumu kilicho eneo la jukwaa kubwa la Uwanja wa CCM Kirumba.

Wakati akiingizwa chumbani humo, magari yote ya msafara wake yalielekea nje ya uwanja huo na kuegeshwa nje ambako kuna mlango, jambo lililoashiria kuwa iwapo afya yake isingetengemaa, angetolewa kupitia mlango huo na kukimbizwa hospitali.

Wakati harakati hizo zikiendelea, Kandoro alirejea jukwaani na kuelekea kwenye kipaza sauti. Kandoro aliwataka wananchi kutulia kwa maelezo kuwa hali ya rais ni nzuri na kwamba amepumzika kwa muda kutokana na uchovu.

"Nawaomba mtulie, Rais wetu amepumzika tu kwa muda kutokana na uchovu wa safari na yuko salama. Nawahakikishia kuwa yuko salama na huu ni uchovu tu kwani amesafiri sana kutoka nje ya nchi hadi Arusha na baadaye kuja hapa Mwanza. Hivi sasa amepumzika na atarudi hapa," alieleza Kandoro.

Kikwete alirejea jukwaani majira ya saa 6: 45 akitembea bila ya msaada wa walinzi ambao walikuwa nyuma yake na kwenda kukaa kwenye meza kuu ambako aliomba kipaza sauti na kusema maneno machache.

"Ndugu wachungaji na waumini, nguvu imerudi; nataka kutumia fursa hii kuzindua mfuko wenu maalumu; nami nachangia shilingi milioni moja,"alisema Kikwete na kuamsha kelele za shangwe na vigelegele.

Baadaye ratiba ya sherehe hizo iliendelea kwa harambee ya kuchangia mfuko maalumu wa watu wenye ulemavu wa ngozi ambao aliombwa na Askofu Nungwana kuchangia kwa kuuzindua kabla ya hotuba yake.

Askofu Musa Mwagwesela aliwatangazia wananchi kuwataka wajitokeze kuchangia mfuko huo kwa kipindi cha dakika tano, ili wamruhusu rais aondoke uwanjani hapo. Alisema ameombwa kufanya hivyo na watu wa usalama.

Zoezi hilo la wananchi na watu mbalimbali kuchangia mfuko huo liliendelea na majira ya saa 7:08 mchana Rais Kikwete aliombwa na mwenyeji wake Askofu Daniel Nungwana kuwashukuru wananchi kabla ya kuondoka.

Aliposimama Rais Kikwete alisema: "Kwanza nawaombeni radhi kwa mshtuko niliopata. Lakini umenitokea kwa ubishi wangu; ni kwa ajili ya uchovu wa safari."

Kikwete aliendelea kusema: "Nimerudi juzi saa 7:00 usiku. Nilikuwa Arusha kwenye mkutano wa bunge, walinishauri nipumzike nikasema ahaa hawa nao ngoja niende tu; waliniambia tunaona uchovu mwingi, nikasema hawa nao ahaa… nitaweza tu; nimekuja hapa… siku nyingine nitawasikiliza wanaonishauri."

Hii si mara ya kwanza kwa Rais Kikwete kukumbwa na mikasa hadharani. Aliishiwa nguvu ghafla wakati akihutubia mkutano wa mwisho wa kampeni kwenye uchaguzi mkuu mwaka 2005. Alitolewa viwanja vya Jangwani na kwenda kupatiwa matibabu.

Lakini saa chache baadaye CCM ilitoa taarifa kuwa afya ya mgombea wake wa kiti cha urais ni nzuri na kwamba, mkasa huo ulitokana na rais kuwa alifunga na uchovu wa safari nyingi za kampeni hizo.

Alikumbana na mkasa mwingine mjini Mwanza Oktoba 15, 2005 wakati akiwa kwenye kampeni za kuwania kuingia Ikulu. Alikuwa akisimikwa kuwa mtemi wa kabila la Wasukuma kabla ya mtu mmoja, Lucas Omahe Garani, 34, ambaye ni mganga wa jadi, kujipenyeza hadi jukwaani na kujaribu kumvuta miguu, lakini akawahiwa na watu waliomzunguka Kikwete.

Alikuwa akisimikwa utemi na kikundi cha waganga kutoka Kituo cha Utamaduni wa Kisukuma cha Bujora ambacho kinamilikiwa na Kanisa Katoliki, Jimbo Kuu la Mwanza.

Garani, ambaye kwa sasa anatumikia kifungo cha miaka 13 jela kutokana na kosa hilo, alidai kuwa alifanya kitendo hicho kupinga uamuzi wa kikundi hicho cha waganga kumsimika chifu hadharani na mchana, kitu ambacho alidai kinakiuka mila za kisukuma.

Garani mkazi wa Mtaa wa Nyakabungo jijini Mwanza alikuwa anafanya kazi ya kutunza bustani ya ofisi za Dayosisi ya Victoria Nyanza ya Kanisa la Anglikana.

Kabla ya kuzidiwa na kukatisha hotuba yake jana, Rais Kikwete alilipongeza kanisa hilo kwa kutimiza miaka 100 na kwa kutoa huduma mbalimbali katika sekta ya afya na elimu.

Alisema serikali inatambua mchango wa mashirika ya dini na kusisitiza kuwa unapotaja maendeleo ya nchi hii, huwezi kukwepa mchango huu wa mashirika ya dini.

Hali haikuwa shwari kwa wananchi waliokuwa kwenye uwanja huo licha ya matangazo ya Kandoro kuwa afya ya rais ni nzuri. Kulikuwa na minong'ono mingi kutokana na kila mmoja kuuliza nini kimetokea kabla ya Askofu Mussa Magwesela kuwaambia waumini kuanza maombi maalumu kumuombea rais kutokana na hali iliyomkumba ghafla.

"Waumini wote naomba tumuombee mpendwa rais wetu; tumuombee Mungu amrejeshee afya yake,"alisema na mara moja waumini wakaanza maombi ya mmoja mmoja.

Hata hivyo, taarifa iliyotolewa baadaye na Kurugenzi ya Mawasiliano Ikulu ilidai kuwa Rais Kikwete alilazimika kupumzika kwa dakika chache "baada ya kumaliza hotuba yake” katika sherehe hizo kutokana na kuzidiwa na uchovu.

"Nguvu imerudi…napenda sasa kuchukua nafasi hii kuzindua rasmi uchangiaji wa shughuli za kanisa lenu na mimi naanza na mchango wa Sh 1,000,000," taarifa hiyo ya Ikulu ilimkariri Rais Kikwete ikieleza kuwa baada ya mapumziko mafupi alirejea na kuendelea kushiriki shughuli hiyo.

Ilieleza kuwa Kikwete alianza kusikia uchovu wakati akisoma hotuba yake mbele ya maelfu ya waumini wa Kanisa hilo.

Taarifa hiyo inaeleza: "Mheshimiwa Rais Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete leo, Jumapili, Oktoba 4, 2009, amelazimika kupumzika kwa dakika chache katika chumba cha mapumziko kwenye Uwanja wa Kirumba mjini Mwanza mara tu baada ya kumaliza hotuba yake wakati wa sherehe za miaka 100 tokea kuanzishwa kwa Kanisa la African Inland (AICT) nchini Tanzania.

"Mhe. Rais amelazimika kupumzika kutokana na kuzidiwa na uchovu kufuatia shughuli nyingi mfululizo katika siku za karibuni. Baada ya mapumziko hayo, Mhe. Rais aliendelea kushiriki katika shughuli hizo hadi mwisho wa shughuli hiyo ya AICT."

Taarifa hiyo inaeleza kuwa Kikwete alikiri kupata matatizo hayo, akisema kuwa yalitokana na kutofuata ushauri wa wasaidizi wake waliomtaka apumzike baada ya kurejea kutoka Marekani. Taarifa hiyo imeeleza kuwa washauri walimtaka asiende Arusha kufungua mkutano huo wa mabunge na baadaye kumzuia asiende Mwanza.

Taarifa hiyo ya Ikulu inasema: "Kwa kweli mshtuko huu wa leo ni matokeo ya ubishi wangu. Nilishauriwa na wasaidizi wangu nipumzike baada ya kurejea nyumbani kutoka Marekani. Niliambiwa nisiende Arusha ama kuja hapa. Lakini nikakataa. Siku nyingine nitawasikiliza zaidi."

Taarifa hiyo ya Ikulu imeeleza kuwa rais amekuwa na shughuli nyingi katika miezi kadhaa iliyopita na kwamba hakuwahi kupumzika kutokana na ratiba ya shughuli hizo kufuatana.

Ilisema ndani ya siku 15 zilizopita Kikwete alikuwa New York, Marekani kuhudhuria Mkutano wa Baraza Kuu la Umoja wa Mataifa (UN), juzi na jana alikuwa mjini Arusha na jana na leo mjini Mwanza alipokutwa na tukio hilo.

Taarifa hiyo ilikumbusha kuwa Septemba 20 Rais Kikwete aliondoka kwenda nchini Marekani kuhudhuria Mkutano wa Baraza Kuu la Umoja wa Mataifa (UNGA) na tangu hapo hajapumzika.

Kwa mujibu wa Ikulu Kikwete alirejea nchini kutoka Marekani saa 7:00 usiku wa kuamkia Ijumaa baada ya kusafiri kwa zaidi ya saa 19 na Ijumaa asubuhi alisafiri kwenda Arusha kufungua mkutano huo wa 55 wa Chama cha Mabunge ya Jumuiya ya Madola.

Wakati huohuo, Ofisi Binafsi ya Rais (OBR) imetangaza kuwa itaangalia upya ratiba ya rais kwa namna ya kumpunguzia mlundiko wa shughuli hata kama yeye binafsi ni “mpenzi mkubwa wa kuchapa kazi na kutumikia wananchi”.

OBR ndiyo husimamia upangaji ratiba za rais.

CHANZO: Mwananchi

Read More

THE SUN DIVIDED,LITERALLY

The Sun. Not the celestial near the earth, round which the earth and other planets revolve. I am talking about the UK’s bestselling newspaper. Its popularity is partly due to its normally informal journalistic style, with its “news in brief” on page 3 depicting semi-nude models being one of its main distinguishing features. It is also known for its strong nationalistic views, anti-European Union and anti-immigration stances. The Sun could as well be described as a right-leaning paper together with The Daily Express, The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Mail.

On its front page last Wednesday, the newspaper declared that Gordon Brown, the incumbent British Prime Minister, and his Labour Party have already lost the next British election. In its editorial, the paper announced that it switches sides, and would support The Conservative Party in the election. However, its Scottish version, The Scottish Sun, while withdrawing its support for Labour, has distanced itself from its English by not endorsing any Scottish political party.

Apart from selling reportedly 1 million copies a day, The Sun is also famous for its supposed reputation of backing British election winners. It is argued that the paper was responsible for Neil Kinnock’s defeat and it was a driving force for Tony Blair to become the Prime Minister after successive Labour defeats.

But is The Sun really a paper that makes election winners? Some observers doubts that popular claim, especially in this age when the internet has emerged as the most powerful in almost every sphere of our lives. Remember how Obama won the last US Elections?

Some analysts argue that in its decision to switch sides The Sun has just followed what many of the recent polls indicate about the coming British elections that the Conservatives would defeat Labour. They also claim that the newspaper is just representing opinions of most of its readers who seem to be disgruntled by the Labour Party.

However, The Sun might get it wrong this time because despite Labour’s poor performance, the Conservatives have so far not actually proved how they would be a better alternative to Labour. I first came to the UK in 2002 when Labour was already in power, so I wouldn’t pretend to know how good or bad the Conservatives were. However, their CV doesn’t look impressive from what I have heard. It is even bad news to non-Whites as the Tory still looks a Whites party despite its recent efforts to become all-inclusive. Of course, it is not as evil as the racist British National Party but there is still a sense of uncertainty among such groups as the ethnic minorities.

I still think Labour deserves another term. British voters should be sympathetic to Gordon Brown & Co in the way they have handled the credit crunch, particularly by looking beyond the UK’s borders. They should also not forget what The Tories did to this country prior to Labour getting into power.

As for The Sun’s decision to back potential election winners...well,if its US “sisters”- Fox News and The Ney York Post-couldn’t make John McCain win or Barack Obama lose the election, then even The Sun could have got it wrong come the next British elections. And didn’t the same newspaper campaign against Alec Salmond and his Scottish National Party in the previous elections, and he still managed to win?

After all, it is the British voters, not The Sun, who would be the real winners or losers regardless of the paper’s position.

Read More

A MOTHERWELL FC FAN KNOWN AS MR MOTHERWELL FOOTBALL CLUB

A long die fan of the Scottish Premier League side, Motherwell Football Club, has changed his name to, guess what! Motherwell Football Club. Formerly known as Fraser Boyle, Mr Motherwell Football Club expressed his excitement on the prospects of his new name. “It’s more recognizable,” he told a BBC Scotland reporter. However, Mr Motherwell Football Club’s idea has not won her mom’s heart. She said she couldn’t understand why her son decided to change his name.

Well, if a child born on Sunday could be named Sunday, why not a die-hard Motherwell fan adopts his club’s name!But imagine someone had decided to change their name to Kajumulo Football Club...!!!

Read More

MAISHA BORA KWA KILA MTANZANIA: TANESCO YATANGAZA MGAO

HATIMAYE Shirika la Ugavi wa Umeme Tanzania (TANESCO) limetangaza mgawo wa umeme nchi nzima kutokana na upungufu wa maji kwenye vituo vya kuzalisha umeme vya Kihansi na Pangani.

Hatua hiyo ya TANESCO imekuja miezi michache tu baada ya Mkurugenzi Mkuu wa shirika hilo, Dk. Idris Rashid, kuonya kuwa taifa litaingia gizani iwapo mitambo ya Kampuni ya Dowans yenye uwezo wa kuzalisha megawati 100 haitanunuliwa.

TANESCO ilikuwa na mpango wa kununua mitambo ya Dowans ambayo ilirithi mkataba kutoka Kampuni ya kuzalisha umeme wa dharura ya Richmond iliyobainika kutokuwa na uwezo wa kuzalisha nishati hiyo...ENDELEA

Read More

GANGSTER JUSTICE: TRIGGER-HAPPY TANZANIA POLICE FORCE

Polisi waua raia 33 bila ya hatia kati ya 2007-2009

Na Waandishi wetu

MAUAJI ya mkazi wa Segera yaliyotokea katikati ya wiki hii yamefanya idadi ya raia waliouawa na askari wa Jeshi la Polisi bila ya hatia kufikia 33 katika kipindi cha miaka miwili (2007 hadi 2009), kwa mujibu wa takwimu za Mwananchi Jumapili.

Mwananchi huyo, Idd Mtimbasi ambaye ni fundi redio wa Segera, aliuawa wakati wananchi walipofunga barabara itokaye Chalinze kwenda mikoa ya kaskazini wakipinga kuporwa ardhi. Polisi aliyekuwa kwenye gari la fedha la benki ya CRDB alifyatua risasi iliyomuua raia huyo katika harakati za kutawanya wananchi kutoka barabarani.

Kwa mujibu wa taarifa mbalimbali zilizoripotiwa kwenye vyombo vya habari nchini, matukio hayo ni pamoja na lile lililotokea mkoani Kilimanjaro ambako watu 14, miongoni mwao wakiwa ni raia wa Kenya, waliuawa na jeshi hilo kwa kwa kupigwa risasi kwa tuhuma za ujambazi.

Watu hao wote waliuawa katika tukio ambalo Jeshi la Polisi lilidai kuwa lilitokana na kurushiana risasi, lakini wananchi waliibuka baadaye na kukanusha taarifa hizo huku wakidai waliouawa hawakuwa majambazi.

Waliouawa katika tukio hilo ni Hannah Kingara, mkazi wa Kiambu, ambaye ni mkurugenzi wa kampuni ya ulinzi ya Annkan, aliyekutwa na kitambulisho cha kazi namba 6256476, huku wengine wakikutwa na hati za kusafiria za nchi hiyo.

Wengine ni Simon Maina Ndabuki, Moses Kuria Kamau, David Njuguna Mbugua, Peter Maina Waweru, William Muiruri Kamau na Phillipo Irungu Wanjiru, wakazi wa maeneo mbalimbali jijini Nairobi. Wengine ambao pia ni wakazi wa Nairobi ni Rudovick Giceru Kariuki, John Gikonyo Buku, Zacharia Mwangi Kamathiro na Jeremiah Macharia.

Mkoani Dodoma watu nane waliuawa katika matukio mawili tofauti, sita kati yao wakiuawa katika kijiji cha Mloda baada ya kufuatiliwa na polisi. Habari zinasema kuwa polisi waliwafuatilia kwa madai kuwa walikuwa wamepora fedha na vitu mbalimbali kutoka kwa abiria kwenye Barabara ya Dodoma-Mtera.

Polisi iliripoti kuwa watu hao, ambao walikutwa katika kijiji cha Mloda, waliuawa na wananchi wa kijiji hicho, lakini wanakijiji walikanusha kuhusika na tukio hilo, jambo lililozua maswali mengi miongoni mwa wananchi.

Tukio lingine lilitokea wilayani Mpwapwa mkoni Dodoma Aprili mwaka huu wakati watu wawili waliodaiwa kuwa ni majambazi, waliuawa kwa kupigwa risasi na polisi.

Katika matukio mengine yaliyotokea jijini Dar es Salaam, polisi walituhumiwa kuwaua Zakayo Mwapi ambaye ni mkazi wa Kimara, Rashid Tuga (Gongo la Mboto) na Thomas Mwingira ambaye ni mkazi wa Yombo Bwawani.

Katika tukio la Mei 24 mwaka huu lililotokea eneo la Kimara Stop Over, Zakayo Mwapi, 24, aliyekuwa dereva teksi aliuawa kwa kupigwa risasi na ofisa wa polisi wa kikosi cha askari wa dharura. Kijana huyo alitii amri ya polisi waliovalia kiraia ya kumtaka asimamishe gari, lakini akakataa kushusha vioo, jambo lililomfanya askari huyo amfyatulie risasi na kumuua.

Tukio hilo lilitokea wakati polisi hao wakifuatilia majambazi waliohusika katika matukio mawili ya kupora kwa kutumia silaha katika eneo hilo.

Watu walioshuhudia tukio hilo walisema baada ya mahojiano ya muda mrefu na dereva huyo, walisikia mlio mkubwa ambao ulitumika kuvunja kioo cha gari na baadaye mlio wa bunduki kabla ya polisi hao kuita gari na kuupakia mwili wa kijana huyo.

Jijini Arusha watu watatu waliuawa katika matukio matatu tofauti likiwemo la mfanyabiashara Ramadhani Mussa ambaye aliuawa baada ya kupata mateso makali kutoka kwa polisi hao. Watu wengine ni Shadrack Motika, 22, na Ewald Mtui, 36, ambao waliuawa kwa kupigwa risasi wakidaiwa kuwa ni majambazi.

Tume iliyoundwa na mkuu wa mkoa kuchunguza tukio hilo ilibaini kuwa watu hao waliuawa kimakosa na hawakuwa majambazi.

Matukio mengine ni yale yaliyotokea mkoani Mara ambapo watu watatu waliuawa kwa kupigwa risasi na polisi Februari 18 na Mei 7. Iranda Matoka, 26, na Abbas Adek, 23, waliuawa kwa kupigwa risasi Mei 7, wakati Jacob Waibina aliuawa kwa risasi Februari 18.

Katika tukio la Mei 7 mwaka huu watu hao waliuawa wakati polisi walipokabiliana na wakazi wa kijiji cha Moharango walioandamana kwenda kituo cha polisi Utegi, wakitaka kuachiwa huru kwa wazee wanne wa mila. 



Wazee hao waliojulikana kwa majina ya Kahanga Mwando, Odila Runyola, Saba Kahanga na Wasaga Mganga, walikamatwa kwa madai ya kutishia kumroga na kumuua mkazi wa kijiji hicho, Joseph Ngondi. 


Kwenye mji wa Tunduma mkoani Mbeya, kulitokea machafuko Juni 28 wakati wananchi walipovamia kituo cha polisi kwa kuwa askari walimuua mfanyabiashara Frank Mwachembe kwa tuhuma za ujambazi.

Baada ya tukio hilo jeshi la polisi liliunda tume ya kuchunguza tukio hilo kabla ya kuukabidhi mwili wa marehemu kwa ndugu zake ambao waliuzika kijijini kwao Imezu mkoani Mbeya.

Tukio lingine ni lile lililotokea Julai 14 ambapo polisi walidaiwa kumkamata na kumpiga Lucas Mwaipopo na kusababisha kifo chake.

Kutokana na tukio hilo wananchi zaidi ya 300 wilayani Kyela walivamia kituo cha polisi kwa lengo la kuwateka askari waliohusika na tukio hilo. Askari watatu na wananchi 15 wanashikiliwa na Jeshi la Polisi kutokana na kuhusika kwenye vurugu hizo zilizosababisha watu watatu kulazwa hospitali kwa kujeruhiwa na risasi.

Mkurugenzi wa Upelelezi wa Makosa ya Jinai (DCI), Robert Manumba hakutaka kuzungumzia wimbi hilo la mauaji ya raia wasio na hatia na badala yake akamtaka mwandishi aongee na msemaji wa Jeshi la Polisi, Abdallah Msika ambaye aliomba aandikiwe maswali ili aandae majibu.

“Kwa sasa nipo safarini Mbeya ambako tumekuja kwa ajili ya maadhimisho ya Wiki ya Usalama. Wewe niandikie maswali halafu uniletea ofisini Jumanne na nitayajibu,” alisema Msika.

Katibu mkuu wa Chadema, Dk Willibrod Slaa amemtaka rais kuingilia kati suala hilo akidai litapoteza imani kati ya chombo hicho na wananchi.

Alisema ili kuhakikisha suala hilo linakomeshwa, rais anatakiwa aingilie kati na kuhakikisha tume zilizoundwa kuchunguza matukio ya polisi kuua raia wasio na hatia zinawekwa hadharani na wahusika wanachukuliwa hatua.

Alisema vitendo hivyo ambavyo vimeshamiri hapa nchini ni hatari kwa usalama wa taifa kwa kuwa kama vitaachwa viendelee vitawakatisha tamaa wananchi na kuwafanya kufuatilia haki zao wao wenyewe.

Habari hii imeandaliwa na Geofrey Nyang’oro Hussein Kauli na Mussa Mkama.

CHANZO: Mwananchi

Read More

A BLOGGER'S DILEMMA

Most bloggers crave for a high number of visitors. But how “high” is enough? Tens of visitors a day? Hundreds a week? Thousands a month? Or a million at all time? A couple of months ago, I was one of those who were so obsessed with such numbers. First thing I would do when opening my page is looking at my blog’s stat counter, and rarely did I find any encouragement from the figures I saw. I would frequently Google for “how to drive huge traffic to your blog”, and most likely install one app or another that claims to do wonders to any aspiring blogger who is craving for more visitors to their blogs. However, the changes were hardly noticeable.

I believe I was not the only one doing that as evidenced in several blogging forums where many people seemed to be as troubled with traffic as I was. However, I gradually started to realise that before thinking of a million visitors I had first to be satisfied with the fact that someone out there bothers to visit my blog, regardless of their numbers. I also started to absorb a bitter truth that a blog like mine focusing on events and news analysis and commentary could hardly compete with photo-blogs, especially as majority of Tanzanians, arguably, seem to be fond of pictures than words. After all, they say a picture could speak a thousand words!

So I am done with the “traffic mania” but here comes a new headache. Originally, my blog was created to serve as an archive for my articles which appeared in a number of Tanzanian newspapers. As some of these were not available online, the only way for those who couldn’t buy hard copies of such papers (for example those living overseas) was for me to put my articles in the blog. Unfortunately, some people were not happy with my articles and ordered me to stop writing. I therefore had to look for ways to keep my blog alive as its function as an archive for my articles became extinct.

The blog then became a place for news and event analysis with some commentary where needed. I should confess that I initially didn’t like doing that as I felt I was trying to become an expert on other people’s written work (in the case on news commentary).I also felt like underutilising my skills because most of I was now doing was copying and pasting other writers’ articles and analyse their contents. For someone who is fond of writing comprehensive article, this new approach was like jumping into someone else’s ride when I was capable of riding my own.

Back to my new “headache.”I have been introducing my blog to most new people I meet, most being non-Swahili speakers. As I have not been capable of finding an app which translates a Swahili blog into other languages, these new visitors usually end up complimenting about how my blog looks but not its contents.

As I am planning to transform my blog from one which primarily focused on local (Tanzanian) affairs to more international issues, I feel I am obliged to take my non-Swahili speaking readers into consideration by coming up with more English posts than before. I understand that by so doing I am likely to lose readership from some Swahili speaking readers but it’s a balancing act I deem necessary for my blog to establish a strong online presence and wider/diverse readership.

A couple of months ago, a fellow blogger, Mzee wa Changamoto, commented on one of my posts in which I discussed a “blogger’s dilemma”: should a blogger write about issues that his visitors expects him to, or should he just stick to what he feels relevant to write about? Neglecting a balancing act, is blogging about things you want your readers to read or what your readers expect to find in your blog? In his view, which I still find relevant, Mzee wa Changamoto who blogs from the US, and a regular commenter on my blog posts, a blog is a personal publication, and should therefore take personal outlook in its contents and perspectives, while keeping in mind readers’ expectations. Briefly, he thought it’s all about what a blogger wants to write about.

Read More

LIPUMBA,PINDA NA "PAMBA" ZA JK

PINDA ASHAURIWA AANZE KUMSHAURI JK KUHUSU SUTI ZA GHARAMA

Na Waandishi wetu

MWENYEKITI wa Chama cha Wananchi (CUF) Profesa Ibrahim Lipumba, amemtaka Waziri Mkuu, Mizengo Pinda, kuwahamasisha viongozi ndani ya serikali akianzia na bosi wake Rais Jakaya Kikwete, aache kuvaa suti za gharama kubwa kutoka Ulaya na Marekani, badala yake wavae nguo za viwanda vya ndani, iwapo ana nia ya dhati ya kuikomboa jamii kiuchumi.

Juzi Waziri Mkuu ,Pinda alitoa kauli kuwataka Watanzania kuepuka kuvaa mavazi ya gharama kubwa ikiwemo suti, akieleza kuwa halizifai kwa nchi maskini kama Tanzania. Aidha alirejea kauli yake ya kupinga matumizi ya magari ya kifahari kwa mawaziri na viongozi wengine wa serikali.

“Mtu ambaye anaongoza kwa kuwakoga watanzania kwa kuvaa suti za bei mbaya, ni Rais Jakaya Kikwete ambaye anavaa suti za hariri kutoka nchi za Ulaya na Marekani,” alisema Profesa Lipumba na kuongeza:

“Kiongozi ni kioo cha jamii, sasa kama Pinda ana nia ya dhati ya kuwakomboa watanzania, kwanza aanze na bosi wake Rais Kikwete ili aonyeshe mfano kwa kuvaa nguo zinazotengenezwa na viwanda vyetu vya Urafiki na KTM”.

Mbali na Lipumba, Naye Mbunge wa Karatu, Dk Wilbrod Slaa (Chadema), aliungana na kiongozi huyo wa CUF kupinga kauli hiyo akisema inashangaza na kuonyesha wazi udhaifu wa serikali ya awamu ya nne katika kufanya maamuzi.

Dk. Slaa aliyasema hayo jana akiwa mjni Arusha anakohudhuria mkutano wa Chama cha Mabunge ya Jumuiya ya Madola (CPA).

Alihoji ,' Kama Pinda ambaye ni kiongozi mkuu serikalini analalamika kuhusu hali hiyo, Mtanzanzania wa kawaida atafanya nini?

“Kama yeye Waziri Mkuu ambaye ni mtendaji analalamika, mimi Dk Slaa nifanye nini,” alihoji mbunge huyo machachari wa kambi ya upinzani ambaye pia ni Katibu Mkuu wa Chadema.

Alimtaka Waziri Mkuu kuwa mkali katika kusimamia maadili mema kwa walio chini yake badala ya kulalamika kwenye majukwaa.

Mbunge wa Ilala Mussa Azan Zungu, alisema tamko la Waziri Mkuu ni zuri na linaonyesha wazi mkakati wa serikali ya awamu ya nne katika kupunguza gharama ambazo zinaweza kusaidia mambo mbalimbali ya kijamii.

“Jambo la msingi hapa ni kwa watendaji wote kila mmoja kwa nafasi yake kutimiza wajibu na kuyaingiza katika utekelezaji matamko ya Waziri Mkuu bila kusukumwa,” alisema Zungu.

Mbunge wa viti maalumu, Anna Abdallah licha ya kuunga mkono kauli ya Pinda, alishauri uwepo utaratibu maalumu wa mavazi ili kuepusha mkanganyiko kwa wananchi na hata watendaji serikalini.

Kwa upande wake, Balozi mstaafu ,Job Lusinde naye aliunga mkono kauli ya Pinda na kusema kuwa kiongozi huyo yuko sahihi.

Pinda alitolea mfano wa nchi ya Indonesia ambako wameamua kubana matumizi kulingana na uchumi wa nchi hiyo na kwamba hivi sasa hata rais wao ameamua kutumia vazi la kitambaa aina ya batiki kinachotengenezwa nchini humo.

Akizungumzia kauli hiyo ya Pinda jana, Lusinde alisema kuwa hata yeye amekuwa akiwashangaa viongozi wengi wanapofanya ziara zao kwenda mashambani wakiwa wamevalia vazi hilo la nchi za Magharibi, jambo alilolielezea kuwa ni kichekesho.

Alisema hata yeye wakati akiwa kiiongozi, hakupenda kuvaa suti mara zote na alikuwa haoni umuhimu wa kuvaa suti wakati kiongozi wake Hayati Baba wa Taifa akiwa na mavazi ya kawaida.

Lusinde alisema "katika kipindi cha utawala wa Nyerere hata wakati nakwenda kujitambulisha katika nchi nilizowahi kuwa balozi, nilikuwa katika vazi la ’Chu Eng-Lai’ ambalo kwa wakati huo lilikuwa kama vazi rasmi lililotoholewa kutoka China na hata picha zangu zote ukiziona utakuta niko katika vazi hilo kwa kulinda na kuenzi utamaduni wa Mtanzania”

Imeandikwa na Salim Said, Leon Bahati, Arusha na Habel Chidawali, Dodoma

CHANZO: Mwananchi

Read More

VOLUNTEERING IN TANZANIA

The voluntary sector remains a foreign-oriented phenomenon in many parts of Africa. In Tanzania, for example, many of the established voluntary organisations are Western-oriented with exception of rare presence of local players like the Vodacom Foundation.

The idea of volunteering is not much different from the spirit of Ujamaa (brotherhood), an ideology which for many years has dominated our political, economic and social domains. The principles of Ujamaa emphasized, among other things, social equality and co-operation. Although fast decaying in urban areas, many of our rural communities still embrace co-operating in such activities as communal farming.

Until recently I had never involved myself with the voluntary sector .I should honestly confess that it never occurred to me that I could offer my service for free. However, meeting some British friends who have frequently been to Tanzania to work in variety of voluntary organisations has radically changed my perspective on volunteering, and that is the main focus of this article. I have been asking myself why would these people “abandon” the usual luxuries in their homes to go to “the Third World” where they are likely to be welcomed by hungry mosquitoes, hopeless criminals, unsanitary conditions, or even getting caught in crossfire between certain warring factions.

Of course, such journeys could easily be motivated by availability of sponsorship from various sources but that does not make the fact that it takes a person’s passion and commitment to help others for them to incur the trouble of raising such funds diminutive. It is even more difficult in these times when even the strongest economies find the going hard due to the current recession.

In fact, recent reports indicate that the voluntary sector in the UK has itself became a victim of the recession as funders are finding it hard to give donations or meet their previous financial pledges. Although there are signs that the recession might soon be over in some countries its impact could still affect the activities of international and local voluntary organisations working in the Third World which rely primarily on donations.

The recession has also put pressure on some Western voluntary organisation to prioritise their activities in their own countries. That would in long run, assuming the recession would last for some few years to come, lead to a decline in their involvement in several projects in the third world.

A common excuse for lack of volunteering in countries like Tanzania is lack of financial capabilities in majority of the population. The argument is, as most people are poor, they find it hard to volunteer while they are faced with the responsibility of making their own ends meet. However, I strongly believe that devoting a few hours a week would probably not affect their efforts to meet their own needs. It should be noted that even our beloved volunteers from overseas have their own commitment in their home countries but their passion to make a difference to the world beyond their own enables them to balance between their own and other people’s needs.

The on-going war against mafisadi (economic saboteurs) in Tanzania is severely affected by lack of voluntary law practitioners who could, for instance, act on behalf of the people where the government is reluctant to take required measures against mafisadi. Our law-makers, likewise, are so obsessed with partisan politics that a number of culprits have easily got off the hook simply because punishing them would shame the ruling party. Despite of their huge salaries, majority of our MPs do not have time to volunteer in community projects in their constituents. Their recent efforts to pass a bill that would give them more funds “for development projects in their constituents” through the proposed “Constituency Fund” confirms their unwillingness to offer their service to their voters for free.

With a sizeable and growing middle class, the voluntary sector in Tanzania could make a tremendous change in several community-oriented projects which are in dire need for support. Imagine how our society could gradually change if a few criminal defence lawyers start visiting our over-crowded prisons to offer free legal advice, or if our medical professionals emulate their Medicins sans Frontiers counterparts by visiting rural areas where health facilities are scarce. Our teachers are keen into providing out-of-school-hours tuitions but we all know that only students from well-to-do families afford the costs. Why not allocate a few tuition sessions for students from disadvantaged backgrounds?

The spirit of volunteering could also be useful in the fight against corruption as it could complement services offered by the state, public and private sector, and other non-state actors. The voluntary sector in the UK has also been one of the key players in job creation, and there is no reason why that should not be replicated in Tanzania in the long run.

It is true that most of us have more to worry about ourselves that volunteering to help others. However, our beloved volunteers from overseas too have their other things to do than improving our lives but they humanly chose to care for us. It certainly would make a huge difference if we put our selfishness aside, and start thinking about the wellbeing of others. If we can afford to donate huge sums of money for marriage ceremonies we could as well donate our time, knowledge, skills and experience to help those in need in form of volunteering.

Read More

MBAGALA BLASTS: SURELY,SOMEONE HAS TO GO!

Accidents do happen! However, some accidents are avoidable especially if someone somewhere would have taken their responsibility seriously. For ages, thousands of innocent Tanzanian lives have been lost in fire, marine (e.g. MV Bukoba), rail and road accidents. It’s fair to say that most if these accidents could have been avoided had those entrusted with passenger safety been up to their tasks. Sadly, in most cases it’s the poor who end up paying the ultimate price. Occasionally, a driver would be nabbed and sent to prison while vehicle inspectors and traffic police who allowed a car that caused accident to be on road despite its mechanical failures are left untouched and unpunished. Of course, punishing them could not bring back the dead but at least it could have served as a lesson to careless drivers and their greedy vehicle proprietors.

A couple of months ago, several people lost their lives in a series of bomb explosions at a Dar suburb of Mbagala. No one knows exactly why the bombs exploded in the first place as we usually believe that bombs are in safe hands in when stored in an Army armoury. The causes of the explosions have been left to speculation since the incident report has been deeply buried in Dr Hussein Mwinyi’s filing cabinets. It should be remembered that the investigation which lead to the publication of the report must have cost a huge amount of taxpayers’ money. As if adding salt to the wound ,we are made to face another loss of public funds after, and nobody seems to care!

Dr Mwinyi pledged that he would resign should the report cite negligence on TPDF as one source of the blasts. He couldn’t be more serious. How could a report prepared by his subordinates implicate him? That’s not in the old Tanzania you and I know! As I said earlier, a resignation of the minister, or the CDF, or the officer in charge of the armoury couldn’t bring back the lives of those who died in the explosions. However, it could have served one purpose that is always ignored when human errors, mistakes or negligence play a vital role in the occurrence of an accident.

The two families who lost their beloved ones in the recent blast will be compensated. Dr Mwinyi and his deputy, Dr William Nchimbi, will very likely promise another mchakato to investigate the causes of the blast, as if they have already made the first report known to the public. What a misuse of doctorates of philosophy! One would have expected excellent performances in a ministry headed by two PhD holders. And as Tanzanians are so good at letting things go, sooner than later the Mbagala tragedies would be forgotten...until another explosion happens, which is still likely.

Expecting pressure from our opposition parties would be fooling ourselves as we all know that whatever they say on behalf of the disadvantaged would most likely be portrayed by the ruling party and its government as sheer political opportunism. Expectedly, some money-making non-governmental body identifying itself as championing for human rights would call for an inquiry, not because it believes that’s the right thing to do but rather to please its funders that it is actually advocating for human rights in our country. That’s the bitter reality about the kind of civil society we have in Tanzania. It’s not only weak in its traditional role as “the public realm of organised social activity located between the state and the private household” but it has also become a breeding ground for ufisadi and mafisadi.

It’s high time Tanzanians wherever they are to understand that we have a very gloomy future if we continue to accept everything as our destiny. Poor leadership is not our fate because we had an election in 2005, and yet we put back into power the same old party that has proved a complete failure after decades of ruling-and wrecking- our country. We have another election next year but there is every indication that the same blunder would be repeated.

We don’t have to settle for less like Simba and Yanga who are busy recruiting “international players” only to remain spectators in regional tournaments. We deserve more than what CCM has been promising to offer us during election campaigns only to come back five years later asking for more time to “finish where they left” as if they had started delivering anything out of their promises in the first place.

Mbagala resident have every reason to demand more than compensations from the people they entrusted with the task of ensuring their safety. Afterall, the little they would get as compensation would not only be incapable of bringing back the innocent lives of their beloved ones taken so prematurely due to negligence by Dr Mwinyi and his bunch of irresponsible officials but would also not be sufficient to prevent father tragedies in the future.

Read More

MI5 TURNS 100

MI5: To defend the realm

Britain's counter-intelligence agency turns 100 next month. Historian Nigel West looks at the service's success, its secrets and scandals

by Nigel West

26 Sep 2009

Happy Birthday, MI5. The UK's counter-intelligence agency celebrates its centenary next month and my, how it's changed: from an organisation so completely veiled in secrecy that even the British government would not admit it existed, to one in which its Director-Generals now talk openly to the media – and even write books on their time there.

Its foundations were inauspicious to say the least. The perceived intelligence disaster of the Boer War prompted the Committee of Imperial Defence to review the failure of the British Secret Service. However, it was discovered that no such organisation existed. So the CID recommended the creation of a new branch of government, the Secret Service Bureau, the origins of MI5.

It was headed by Captain Vernon Kell, a veteran of the Boxer rebellion in China (and an occasional Telegraph correspondent); while Director-General, he was known simply as "K". The Bureau launched with a tiny staff consisting of a single ex-Scotland Yard detective and three clerks; compare this to today when the occupants of Thames House (MI5) and Vauxhall Cross (MI6), on opposite sides of the river, number several thousand.

Kell's great success was the arrest in the opening days of the First World War of the entire German spy ring in Britain, which conveniently centred on a barber's shop in north London. The arrest of Karl Gustav Ernst, his assistant Wilhelm Kronauer, and 21 of their network effectively eliminated what had been intended as a large enemy operation. It also ensured that when, in January 1916, the Secret Service Bureau was split in two and assigned the cover names MI5 and MI6, the "Imperial Security Service" would be perceived as too valuable and important an instrument to disband at the end of hostilities.

MI5 would remain under Kell's control, exercising independence from successive political administrations while avoiding causing embarrassment, until the end of his tenure in June 1940. Indeed, his only confrontation with any prime minister occurred when Stanley Baldwin demanded MI5 place Edward VIII's American lover, Wallis Simpson, under surveillance. Kell initially refused the order, but eventually relented, having been persuaded by his deputy and senior staff that the operation was indeed intended to defend the realm.

Most Cabinet ministers were content to allow MI5 a large measure of freedom because of the quality of the information it gathered. This was often gleaned from informants inside the Communist Party of Great Britain, or from secret sources such as KASPAR, a microphone concealed in the central London offices of the Young Communist League. MI5 also had the benefit of MASK, the clandestine wireless messages transmitted to and from the CPGB's covert radio located in Wimbledon. For three years until March 1937, when the CPGB changed its code based on a popular edition of Treasure Island, MASK ensured that discreet counter-measures stymied every Communist-inspired scheme, strike and coup. It also offered proof that the CPGB was not a legitimate political party, but a sinister outfit controlled from Moscow.

Since Kell's departure, MI5's 14 successors have ensured the Security Service has been free of political influence. Staffed mainly by women, it has tapped telephones, intercepted mail, opened diplomatic bags, recruited sources, managed double agents, liaised with Allied agencies and maintained a watch on suspected spies, saboteurs and subversives for 100 years without engendering the scandals that have hamstrung its counterparts in Europe and the United States.

As far as is known, it has suffered hostile penetration on only four occasions – two of which were during the Second World War. The first concerned William Rolph, a retiree who had volunteered to spy for the German intelligence organisation, Abwehr. When MI5 confronted him, he committed suicide in his office in Piccadilly. To avoid arousing the suspicions of the Abwehr, however, MI5 asked the coroner to record that Rolph had died of a heart attack. The second saw secretary Celia Luke, a Communist Party member, leak information from MI5's famous registry. She was dismissed, but not prosecuted.

Apart from the Cambridge-educated Anthony Blunt, who worked for MI5 from June 1940 to October 1945 while reporting simultaneously to the NKVD, the Soviet Union's secret police organisation, only Michael Bettaney, an Oxford graduate, has passed on classified material from inside MI5. He was arrested in 1983 and sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment.

Early in the Second World War, MI5 achieved a breakthrough by allowing a Welsh nationalist, Arthur Owens, to transmit a daily weather report from his prison cell in Wandsworth to the enemy. Owens had been recruited by the Nazis and was arrested in 1939. However, he agreed to work as a double agent, and contacted his German handlers from jail.

Owens gave access to the Abwehr's top-secret communications across Europe which, protected by an Enigma machine cipher, were thought to be impregnable. However, Owens' daily transmissions were re-ciphered on the enemy's Enigma channels, thus allowing cryptographers at the signal's intelligence service's headquarters in Barnet to crack Germany's Enigma codes.

Postwar austerity, combined with a reluctance to be accused of acting like the Gestapo, ensured that MI5 would find its work hampered against Communist subversion and Soviet espionage. Limited resources and a growing reliance on tips by well-informed defectors resettled in the US reduced MI5's status within Whitehall.

It was the ill-fated and brief affair conducted in 1961 by the war minister John Profumo that demonstrated how vulnerable the British system of government was to a poorly planned entrapment operation. Unaware of any relationship between Profumo and Christine Keeler, MI5 sought to persuade Eugene Ivanov, an identified GRU officer based in the Soviet naval attaché's office, to defect by recruiting his friend, the society osteopath Stephen Ward, to act as an intermediary. Caught in the middle was Profumo, whose career then collapsed as he attempted to conceal his affair. He had been approached by the Cabinet Secretary to assist MI5 and Ward in honeytrapping Ivanov, but had misinterpreted the encounter as a warning to distance himself from Keeler.

The MI5 molehunter Arthur Martin, when asked what he had achieved during his lengthy counter-espionage experience, had replied "bringing down the Macmillan government". Certainly, the Denning Report, which was laudatory about the role and performance of the Security Service, alerted the public to the kind of operations that had been conducted behind the scenes to protect the country against Kremlin-orchestrated subversion.

If publication of the Denning Report, which revealed for the first time the mandate given to MI5 by the Home Secretary, marked the end of an era of deference, it also provided a temporary respite from political interference and supervision. Unknown to the Cabinet, MI5 had been wracked by the fear that it had suffered hostile penetration by at least one mole. The details would emerge in 1986 with embittered retiree Peter Wright's book Spy Catcher, a breathtaking glimpse at MI5's dirty laundry.

Three years later MI5 was legitimised by the passage of the 1989 Security Service Bill which, guided by Stella Rimington, the first woman Director-General, gave the Service statutory powers and requirements. There followed a dramatic change in role, with the collapse of the Soviet threat and the acquisition of the lead responsibility for countering domestic terrorism, then focused on Northern Ireland.

The application of classic, conventional counter-intelligence methodology, which challenged the Provisional IRA as if it were a hostile intelligence agency, proved dramatically successful. But it was the unanticipated appearance of home-grown Muslim extremists that ended an era of complacency and a political desire to dismantle a security apparatus that was seen to have outlived its usefulness.

There were insufficient resources to deploy against known threats from radical zealots, and there followed the tragedy of a suicide plot hatched by fundamentalists whose individual dossiers, initiated by telephone intercepts and physical surveillance, had been shelved by an inexperienced MI5 officer. The officer, on that fateful occasion, was unable to fulfil MI5's motto: "To Defend the Realm".

 Nigel West is the author of 'TRIPLEX: Secrets from the Cambridge Spies' (Yale University Press, £17.50), out tomorrow

SOURCE: The Daily Mail

Read More