Tag: GreatLakesNews

{Some Tanzanians have expressed mixed reactions about President John Magufuli rule as he marks one year at helm saying his tenure has been a difficult one. However, several of them have praised him for implementing most of the election promises he made during the October 2015 general elections campaign.}

The President faces an uphill task to reform the nation economy with new strategies in place while seeking to deliver promises made to Tanzanians. In the last three years, Tanzania economy has been on upswing but still face challenges, according to recent European Union and World Bank reports. Currently, Tanzania economy has been growing at an average of 7.9 percent in the last quarter and is projected to grow at an average of 7.2% per annum.

Speaking in separate interviews with the ‘Daily News’, political, economic analysts, representative of civil society organizations and members of the general public said President Magufuli has rolled out a number of good development programmes and the country is now moving in a right direction.

“He has taken austerity measures to reform the economy and is strict on corruption and waste management of public funds,” said Professor Prosper Ngowi, an economist and Lecturer at Mzumbe University.

“He campaigned to fight corruption, unnecessary expenditures and tax evasion and he has done it,” the analyst said noting however that, while there has been progress on economic strides, the development has not been reflected to majority of Tanzanians.

He called for intensive investment in agriculture and manufacturing sectors and control of multiplicity of taxes to benefit investors and the general public. Sikika Executive Director, Mr Irenei Kiria also complemented President Magufuli first year administration saying there are some changes in the sector but noted, a number of issues are pending.

“There are many challenges in the health sector which require urgent attention and funding. Improvement in revenue collection should translate in the improvement of social services such as healthcare,” the Sikika Executive Director said.

“It appears the President has good intention but needs to take his time to grasp the challenges and get best advices from technocrats, competent ones some of whom may have opposing views,” he said.

The Head of State gained local and international popularity when he sacked the Muhimbili National Hospital Chief after his surprise visit to the hospital where he found patients sleeping on the floor. He also dissolved the Hospital Governing Board on discovering the scanning and diagnostic machines (MRI) were not working and in poor conditions. Dr Bashiru Ally, a Lecturer and Political Scientist at the University of Dar es Salaam said he was shocked by a wave of ghost workers which has been costing the government, a monthly cool bill of 19bn/-.

“The government has to develop proper accounting systems to ensure war on corruption, poaching and misuse of public offices is successful,” the scholar said pointing fingers on Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) and Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA).

Dr Bashiru asserted the nation is facing critical challenges with regard to weaknesses in policy and other laws which spur corruption in public offices. He suggested the government should take a leading role to lure private sectors in building our economy. On education sector, he said, although the President has lived to his promise on free education, he still has to invest in building skills and technical ability.

“There is no strong polytechnics yet to feed the industrial sector. There is a need to channel sufficient resources to improve tertiary education,” Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) Executive Director, Dr Hellen Kijo-Bisimba praised the overall performance of President Magufuli administration.

“He deserves accolade,“ the lawyer said but quickly noted the administration has not been performing well in promoting and defending human rights. “Some people have been pulled from offices and have not been arraigned in court. He has banned political rallies until 2020.

This contradicts him because Tanzania is a democratic, multiparty country,“ the activist challenged the President’s move. Meshark Juma, a trader in Dar es Salaam said the first year of President Magufuli in office has been rough on his side.

“Nothing has changed. We have just witnessed problems and there is no business like we used to. I find it difficult to feed my family,” he said.

{The Ministry of Foreign Affairs permanent secretary, Mr James Mugume, said the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process will begin with a presentation from the delegation from Uganda.}

The United Nations is set to review Uganda’s performance in the promotion of human rights over the last five years.
The review is set to be conducted in Geneva, Switzerland today.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs permanent secretary, Mr James Mugume, told Daily Monitor that the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, which is aimed at helping improve human rights situations in all UN member states, will begin with a presentation from the delegation from Uganda.
The delegation is led by Foreign Affairs minister Sam Kuteesa. It also includes officials from the Uganda Human Rights Commission and representatives from Civil Society Organisations.

“After the presentation we expect Uganda’s Peer Review Report to be discussed and adopted on Monday next week,” Mr Mugume said.
Uganda was first reviewed in October 2011, a process which elicited a number of recommendations, some of which the country was quick to reject.
While it rejected calls to scrap the death penalty and allow access to ungazetted detention centres popularly known as safe houses, saying requests to access them would be considered on a case by case basis, Uganda undertook to train security forces to respect freedoms of expression and assembly.

It also committed to the investigation of allegations of torture, human rights’ violations and use of excessive force by members of the armed forces and prosecution of those found culpable and to adequately compensate victims of torture.
It was expected to have implemented those commitments before the next review, but now with only days before the exercise, the Opposition and civil society, however feel that the country has not made any progress in improving its record on human rights.
The FDC spokesperson, Mr Ibrahim Semujju Nganda, told Daily Monitor that whereas there has been a semblance of improvement, especially in the manner in which officers handle suspects, it has been as a result of pressure.

“From the operations of the police, the changes only arose after we invoked the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act and sued individual police officers including (the Inspector General of Police) Gen Kale Kayihura. I think they got embarrassed and they are now more cautious, but not because the country is due for a review,” Mr Nganda said.
DP secretary general Mathias Nsubuga said the country has retrogressed over the last five years.
Mr Nsubuga pointed at the events of July 12 and July 13, when stick and electric cable-wielding police officers battered Dr Kizza Besigye’s fans who had lined up along roads in Nakasero and along the Kampala Gayaza Road to cheer him, and the Force’s defiance of an order directing them to leave Dr Besigye’s home in Kasangati as proof of the retrogression.

In a recent document, the Human Rights Network Uganda also poked holes in the human rights record in the last five years, accusing the police of arbitrary application of sections of the Police Act, selective application of the Public Order Management Act and infringing on the freedoms of members of the Opposition.
However, Mr Mugume dismissed the criticism as unfair, saying a number of laws such as the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act, which now makes it possible for individuals to be held personally responsible for their actions, have since been put in place.

{A United Nations spokesman on Thursday rejected the claim by Kenya’s UN ambassador that a special inquiry resulting in the sacking of a Kenyan UN commander had a “pre-ordained outcome.”}

“There was, of course, no pre-ordained conclusion” to the investigation of the performance of UN military leaders in South Sudan, said spokesman Stephen Dujarric.

Referring to Dutch retired Major Gen Patrick Cammaert who headed the investigation, Mr Dujarric told reporters at UN headquarters, “We trust him, and we value his work, and we value his judgment.”

“Mr Cammaert went in with an open mind,” the UN spokesman added in his press briefing at the world body’s headquarters in New York.

Mr Dujarric also took issue with Ambassador Macharia Kamau’s statement less than an hour earlier that the Kenyan commander of the UN Mission in South Sudan (Unmiss) had not undergone “normal induction” prior to taking up his post in June.

Induction courses, which take place twice a year, “are focused on how to deal with the UN system,” Mr Dujarric said. “It is not a course for senior military leaders in terms of decision-making. So I don’t believe that had any impact on the force commander’s ability to do his work.”

Asked if there is a chance of reversing the UN secretary-general’s decision to sack Lt Gen Johnson Mogoa Kimani Ondieki, Mr Dujarric said, “Not that I’m aware of.”

QUELL THE ROW

But the UN spokesman also sought to quell the row that culminated in Kenya’s decision on Wednesday to withdraw all its soldiers and police from Unmiss.

“I can’t stress how much we value Kenya’s support for peacekeeping over the last decades, the work that Kenyan troops have done and we hope will continue to do,” Mr Dujarric said.

“The decision taken by the secretary-general was not a decision about Kenya,” he added. “It was a decision about a force commander.”

A public summary of the report on Maj Gen Cammaert’s investigation said that Unmiss leaders had failed to adequately defend the mission’s headquarters in Juba against anticipated violence in July involving government troops and rebel forces.

The inquiry also found that Unmiss ignored pleas to repulse an attack by South Sudanese soldiers on a civilian compound near the mission’s offices. A journalist was killed in the course of that rampage and several female residents of the civilian compound were sexually assaulted.

{The Burundian government has served notice that it could withdraw its troops from the African Union (AU) force fighting militants in Somalia, they cited the non payment of troops as the main reason for the threat of withdrawal.}

The Defence Minister, Emmanuel Ntahomvukiye, on Thursday told parliament that the soldiers had not received their monthly allowance which is supposed to be paid by the European Union (EU).

According to him, the $800 (£640) allowance was in arrears for 10 months. Over that period, soldiers are only receiving their low army wages.

The decision of the EU to cut off its funding for the troops is tied to the ongoing political crisis in the country.

Burundi is the second largest contributor to AMISOM the AU intervention force fighting al-Shabab insurgents in Somalia. Their over 5400 troops come behind Uganda who have over 6000 troops.

Somalia is in the process of conducting its elections and the issue of security is high on the agenda. Recent withdrawals of troops by the Ethiopian government has led to the retaking of towns by al-Shabaab.

Ethiopia have flatly denied that the withdrawal of troops funded by their government is linked to internal anti-government crisis. An al-Shabaab leader however said recently that protests back home informed the move.

AMISOM troop contributing countries include Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. Police contributing countries also include Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Uganda.

{Six companies have expressed interest to invest in the pharmaceutical and medical equipment manufacturing, Industries, Trade and Investments Minister, Mr Charles Mwijage, said here yesterday.}

Mr Mwijage, addressing the National Assembly, named the potential investors as JNS Solution, which will come up with 1V Fluid and China Dalian International Economic Development Group Co. Limited that will bring in the medical equipment factory.

Others are Zinga Pharmaceutical Limited, the producer of various medicines; Boryung Pharmaceuticals Co Limited, a Korean company that manufactures anti-biotics, Aga Khan Foundation Network for manufacture of pharmaceuticals, as well as Hainan Hualon for production of medicines.

According to the minister, the government has tasked five public institutions to come up with conducive investment environment for private investors seeking to inject their resources in the pharmaceutical and medical equipment industry.

The tasked institutions are the Medical Stores Department (MSD), National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), Tanzania Investment Bank (TIB), Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA) and Tanzania Industrial Research and Development Organisation (TIRDO).

Mr Mwijage was answering a question by Khadija Nassir Ali (Special Seats – CCM), who wanted to know why the government imports drips instead of setting up factories in each hospital to produce the product. Responding, Mr Mwijage said among the products which are expected to be produced by the industries will be 1V1 Fluids and gauze, which will be manufactured from cotton.

The minister also called on interested investors in drip manufacture to visit the Ministry of Health, which has special guidelines for setting up such factory.

The new investments in pharmaceutical and medical equipment industry will offer a big relief to Tanzanians, as the latest findings show that the country wastes a lot of money on importation or procurement of medicines from agents or middlemen.

{In May Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE:FCX) announced the sale of its Tenke Fungurume copper mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to China Molybdenum (CMOC) for up to $2.65 billion, a crucial part of the Phoenix-based company’s debt reduction program.}

Central to the deal is a right of first offer owned by Toronto’s Lundin Mining (TSX:LUN) which through a Bermuda-based company indirectly owns 24% of Tenke.

Then there’s DR’s state-owned Gecamines, a 20% direct owner of the mine, which opposes the Freeport-CMOC deal and is asserting that it also has a pre-emptive right to acquire Freeport’s 56% stake.

Fast forward six months and the different parties, including the DRC government, are still locked in discussions over the high-grade mine that last year produced 203,965 tonnes of copper and just over 16,000 tonnes of cobalt that would satisfy all parties.

Reuters reports the DRC’s prime minister Matata Ponyo Mapon this week came out strongly in favour of the Freeport-CMOC deal saying he ” strongly hope this involvement (by China Moly) will be rapidly put in place and see no obstacle preventing it”:

Matata offered unconditional support for the deal, saying it represents “the best and most certain solution for the Congolese workers and their families”, referring to China Moly as “a solid partner” for the heavily indebted Gecamines.
Gecamines expressed displeasure with the Freeport-CMOC deal ever since its announcement in May. Apart from seeking international arbitration in Paris, the company is pressuring parties to come to an alternative arrangement going so far as to say it could block the deal:

“As long as the rights of Gecamines are not respected, THERE WILL BE NO DEAL,” Yuma wrote in a text message to Reuters
Lundin’s strategy
Last month Freeport extended Lundin’s ROFO for the fourth time to November 15 suggesting a larger deal involving CMOC, Gecamines and perhaps others may be in the works.

If Lundin manages to secure the same terms as the Freeport-CMOC agreement its stake could be worth in the region of $1.2 billion, but the extension suggests a new deal could be negotiated that could see Lundin become a major shareholder (and perhaps operator) together with Gecamines and CMOC.

Lundin, which this year is forecast to produce around 250,000 tonnes of copper including its share of Tenke, has been on the acquisition path and in March made a deal to acquire the promising Timok copper project in Serbia owned by Freeport and Canada’s Reservoir Minerals.

At the time Lundin CEO Paul Conibear said that Timok, would “fill Lundin’s copper pipeline”, but a few months later the deal fell through, ironically through a ROFO exercised by Reservoir Minerals which now owns 100% of Timok after a takeover by Nevsun Resources.

In July Conibear told Bloomberg that after losing the eastern European property, Lundin would like to be active in M&A but was holding back due to a lack of quality targets.

Tenke did not make it into that conversation, but Lukas Lundin in a wide-ranging interview at the end of August said “the best opportunities are in base metals” and he’s keen to see Lundin Mining of which the family owns about 13%, “resume its acquisition spree.”:

“China Molybdenum would likely be “OK” as a partner “but it’s a different culture and they’re not very experienced miners so I’m sure it’s going to be more work for us,” Lundin said.
Apart from suggesting Lundin Mining could be appointed operator of the mine over the Chinese, the Swedish billionaire added that “bigger is better,” when asked what size asset he’s hunting for.

In its second quarter results Lundin Mining recorded an asset impairment related to its interest in Tenke of $772 million which could indicate that the company is going to play hardball when it comes to negotiating a price for whatever additional portion of Tenke it would be buying.

Even in its current form Tenke is a prized asset notwithstanding its location in one of the more difficult mining jurisdictions in the world. But a contemplated expansion of the mine would likely boost copper cathode production capacity towards 500,000 tonnes per year and catapult Lundin towards the top tier of producers.

{According to the IGG report released last month, a total of 709 Primary School teachers (Grade III) were shortlisted out of 724 that applied for the advertised 200 vacancies.}

Up to 200 teachers recruited in the financial year 2014/15 in Rakai District could lose their jobs following the Inspector General of Government (IGG) disapproval of the process through which they were recruited by the district service commission (DSC).
“The teachers deemed to have been recruited under suspicious conditions shall be interdicted and subjected to fresh interviews by the recently elected District Service Committee,” Ms Ali Munira, the IGG spokesperson, said.

The irregular recruitment of the teachers was unearthed by the office of the IGG which immediately disbanded the DSC comprising Mr Charles Zimaze (chairperson), Alex Mazinga ( secretary) and Jamir Kabiito (principal human resource officer). Others are Eva Ssanyu Kakembo and Denis Ssebuggwawo who were both members to the committee.

According to the IGG report released last month, a total of 709 Primary School teachers (Grade III) were shortlisted out of 724 that applied for the advertised 200 vacancies.

The IGG’s report further indicates that while the job advert clearly indicated that all applicants had to be qualified Grade 111 teachers fully registered by the Ministry of Education and Sports, 35 of those recruited did not meet that requirement. Some of them merely claimed to have registration numbers without registry certificates. The IGG report also revealed that the whole procedure did not follow ranking and merit.

{{The irregularities}}

A big number of teachers who failed English and mathematics during their college training were recruited while some people performed well in the interviews but were left out.

A case in point was Shadia Nagawa, a resident of Ssaza in Masaka Municipality, who scored 48 per cent but was not granted a job yet more than 30 applicants scored less than 40 per cent but were given jobs. The report also indicates that some applicants were recruited without being interviewed.

{{Report disapproved}}

Mr Zimaze (chairperson of the disbanded committee) said the IGG based on partial data to order their suspension. He added that Rakai has several hard-to-reach areas which made it imperative to give priority to those who convinced the committee that they would accept the locations’ hard conditions instead of recruiting urban born teachers that would be habitually absent from duty due to the local conditions.

“Some of those recruited were already volunteering and were recommended by their supervisors. Even the former CAO recommended 27 teachers for approval claiming they were already in service in hard to reach areas and being the overall supervisor of government workers in the district, we could not turn down his proposal,” Mr Zimaze said.

He attributed the disbandment of the DSC to power struggle within the Rakai District Council. The District chairperson, Robert Mugabi, however, insisted the DSC was disbanded on the directive of the IGG over favouritism, corruption and incompetence.

{{The promise}}

On May 26, during the swearing in of the district chairperson and councillors, Mugabi promised to check on ethical standards of of the DSC.

{United Nations officials “obviously value” Kenyan military and police contributions to peacekeeping operations in South Sudan, a UN spokesman said on Wednesday.}

The comment to reporters came in response to the Kenyan government’s announcement hours earlier that it is pulling all its forces out of South Sudan and disengaging from the peace process in the war-torn country.

The Foreign Ministry in Nairobi said the action was prompted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s sacking on Tuesday of Lt Gen Johnson Mogoa Kimani Ondieki, the Kenyan commander of the UN mission in South Sudan (Unmiss).

“The process leading to this unfortunate decision not only lacked transparency but did not involve any formal consultation with the government of Kenya,” said a statement by Principal Secretary Monica Juma.

Mr Ban ordered the replacement of Lt Gen Ondieki on the basis of a report by special UN investigators who cited multiple failures on the part of Unmiss leaders in protecting civilians during attacks by government and rebel forces in Juba in July.

The Kenyan Foreign Ministry said Lt Gen Ondieki was personally not to blame for what it called “systemic disfunctionality” within Unmiss.

UN spokesman Stephen Dujarric said on Wednesday that the special investigators’ report “does address issues – much broader issues within the mission.”

He added that the UN had not been officially apprised of Kenya’s announced decision to withdraw its 1000-plus troops and from Unmiss, which currently includes 13,723 uniformed personnel.

Kenya also said it was reversing its decision to contribute to a 4000-strong UN civilian protection force for South Sudan authorized by the Security Council in August.