Bureaucratic wrangle adds to
passport woes
By Angela Mazula
While the government is blaming lawyers for issuing affidavits to those who
don’t have birth certificates when seeking passports, lawyers are pointing
fingers at the agents who use top officials to get passports.
According to advocacy officer Harold Sungusia, from the Legal and Human Right
Centre (LHRC), about 70 per cent of Tanzanians do not have birth certificates,
which makes it hard for them to get passports; it is a prerequisite to have a
birth certificate for passport application.
“If everyone has their own birth certificate there won’t be a need to look for
affidavits from lawyers,” observed Sungusia.
Although the government is blaming lawyers for issuing affidavits that sometimes
reach non-Tanzanians, Sungusia said the blame should be directed to the
bureaucratic structure at the Immigration Department that forces people to use
illegal means to obtain passports.
Sungusia explained: “It is the right of every Tanzanian to possess a passport as
people don’t have national identity cards which government promised long time
ago. It could have been easier to get a passport if we had national identity
cards.”
However, Herbert Chilambo, Public Relations Officer of the Immigration
Department, emphasised on lawyers issuing affidavits to non-Tanzanians by
saying, “Although we haven’t nabbed anyone yet, we know that some of them have
been doing that as we came across some non-citizen applicants who have genuine
affidavits.”
Chilambo said “the immigration knows that passport is the right of every
citizen, but people should follow the right procedures.”
He said the department was aware that there were some public servants,
government officials, retired immigration officers, businessmen and individuals
who pose as agents and are being used by some passport applicants.
Chilambo, however, could not clarify why some people were opting to use agents
instead of approaching the department directly.
In 2002, about 879 people were deported from abroad because they had broken the
immigration regulations in the concerned countries. In 2003, about 760
Tanzanians were arrested for flouting immigration rules.
Dispute delays national ID
By Business Correspondent
The Ministry of Home Affairs has said the delay in printing the national
identity card was caused by disagreement on tender awarded to a private printing
firm.
Closing up his ministry’s budget estimates for the financial year 2004/2005 in
the National Assembly Tuesday, Minister Omar Ramadhan Mapuri assured Members of
Parliament that the absence of ID cards would not affect the permanent voter
register.
He told lawmakers that the government had in its 2004/05 budget proposals set
aside funds for a feasibility study on the national IDs.
Mapuri said the feasibility study would start immediately after the budget
estimates were approved by the House and would last six months.
He explained that the government had cancelled a tender initially awarded to a
private firm for printing the national IDs after a disagreement with the
company.
But the Minister did not tell the House about the course on the disagreements.
Earlier, the opposition advised the government to issue bona fide Tanzanians
with identification cards before establishing the planned permanent voter
register.
The opposition camp’s spokesman for home affairs, Frank Maghoba (CUF), said the
identity cards would determine the exact number of Tanzanian eligible voters.
National ID cards are also the main obstacles for obtaining passports in the
country, leaving the Immigration Department to establish one’s citizenship by
affidavit or certificate of birth, and causing unnecessary delay in obtaining
the passport.
NBC listing procedure stalled
By Business Correspondent
The pre-primary procedure for listing the National Bank of Commerce (NBC) on the
Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE), the oldest and the biggest bank in Tanzania,
has been temporarily put on hold.
DSE CEO Jonathan Njau told this reporter over phone he did not know why NBC
stopped the pre-primary listing procedure.
Earlier, sources said NBC wanted the primary listing to be done before this
year-end. But the biggest obstacle was how many shares should be reserved for
workers and what modality should be employed for purchasing them.
Treasury and NBC sat late in May to discuss the listing matter and the latter
was to determine the workers’ share allocation. However, the matters were not
resolved due to some changes at NBC’s helm.
The government through Treasury owns 30 per cent stake in NBC, and according to
one of the privatisation criteria, the government after sometime was supposed to
sell its shares to the public through the Dar es Salaam bourse.
One of the core DSE listing procedures required the listing firm to have three
years track of good profit before being granted a go-ahead. NBC has been making
profit since being privatised to ABSA Group in 2000.
NBC did not want to comment on the issue, but said the listing was part of the
bank’s core strategies.
Nation to benefit from
stronger ties with EU
By Timothy Kitundu
Tanzania has been selected among the southern African countries who are members
of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), to be a beneficiary of the
promotion of trade and development through a series of discussions to be held
under the Economic and Partnership Agreement.
Other countries included in the initiative are Angola, Botswana, Lesotho,
Mozambique, Namibia and Swaziland, which form the Southern African Development
Community (SADC). South Africa will participate as an observer and in a
supportive capacity.
According to the EU weekly report, the EU and seven southern African countries
have decided to join forces and promote trade and development by launching
negotiations for a region-to-region Economic and Partnership Agreement (EPA).
“By opening up trade between both regions and setting up clear rules for trade,
the EPA will contribute to the economic integration of the region,” stresses
part of the report
Tearing down barriers to trade among themselves is a necessary complement to the
almost full access to the EU market already enjoyed by these countries. In the
EPA negotiations trade is one of the tools to ensure development, which is its
main objective.
“By initiating negotiations on a regional basis, our partners have already taken
a big step towards deepening and accelerating their own economic integration. If
at the end of these negotiations, the Southern African region stands as a
stronger region, able to define its common interest and improve jointly the
environment for business and investors, we will all have won,” said the report.
Tanga port set to work to
capacity
By Abduel Kenge
TANGA Port, the second largest harbour in Tanzania, has projected an increase in
its handling capacity to 87.7 per cent by the end of this year.
The Port, which has handling capacity of 500,000 tonnes per annum, presently
utilises 76.5 per cent of that. As for its target to collect revenue amounting
Tsh. 358 million in 2003/04 financial year, it has so far managed to generate
Tsh. 317 million in the first six months.
According to statistics made available at the 28th Dar es Salaam International
Trade Fair (Saba Saba) that ended last week at the Tanzania Harbours Authority
(THA) pavilion, Tanga Port capacity utilisation began rising in 1996 when it
handled 29.6 per cent of its capacity that rose gradually in 2000 to 39.7 per
cent before the port achieved 57.6 per cent in 2001 and lately 76.5 per cent.
Based on the report, a large volume of goods handled at the port are exports
fuelled partly by privatisation process, which has spurred Tanga Region’s
economic growth.
Annual traffic totals 194,000 tonnes, including 66,000 tonnes of imports and
129,000 tonnes of exports. This includes 6,500 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units
(TEUs) in container traffic, Bulk, liquid bulk and break bulk cargo.
Principle imports via Tanga Port are chemicals, machinery, petroleum products,
vehicles, consumer goods and food grains; and exports are coffee, seed beans,
sisal fibre, sisal twines forest products
Also cargo trafficking growth at the Port follows the 1997 rehabilitation which
increased the number of ship calls at Tanga. Regular callers at the Port
include, P&O Nedlloyd, MAERSK line, Global Container Line, MITSUI OSK Line, Sea
Trade and Inch Cape.
Earlier, the Port was generating losses due to the deteriorating Tanga economy,
following the collapse of sisal and closure of big industries including
phosphorous fertilizer factory and salt mining activities.
DAHACO shares steal the show
By Business Correspondent
The Dar es Salaam Airport Handling Company (DAHACO) dominated trading at the Dar
es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) in June.
According to DSE Monthly Market Report of June, the DAHACO counter moved 178,432
shares in 80 deals. The company was followed closely by Tanga Cement Company,
traded under Simba.
Simba counter had 178,042 shares traded in 75 deals and Tanzania Cigarette Co.
(TCC) counter had 139,165 shares transacted in 52 deals
The Tanzania Breweries Ltd (TBL), which controls about two-thirds of the
bourse’s market capitalisation, traded 35,985 shares in 44 deals.
TOL Ltd. which slumped to below half its primary market trading of Tsh.550 over
five years ago, traded 30,608 shares in 15 deals to overtake Tanzania Tea
Packers (TaTePa), which traded 3,382 shares in six deals.
DAHACO and Simba counters closed the month at Tsh. 580 and Tsh. 860 per share,
respectively, while TBL and TCC counters closed at Tsh. 1,340 and Tsh. 1,740 per
share, respectively.
TATEPA counter closed at Tsh. 450 per share and TOL wound business at Tsh. 330
per share.
Although DAHACO and Simba dominated the bourse in June, controlling Tsh. 20.88
billion and Tsh. 54.76 billion of the market, respectively, TBL controlled the
biggest slice of Tsh.395.2 billion at June-end.
TCC followed TBL, with a market capitalisation of Tsh. 174 billion. TOL at the
end of June, had market capitalisation of Tsh.10.56 billion and at the bottom
was TaTePa with Tsh. 6.88 billion.
The monthly report says a total turnover of Tsh. 556.63 million was recorded for
the month of June from 565,644 shares transacted in 272 deals. Total market
capitalisation at the end of the month of June was Tsh. 662.28 billion.
Programme to benefit SMEs
By Business Reporter
The International Trade Centre (ITC) in collaboration with the Centre for
International Business Development (CIBD) has embarked on a capacity building
programme focused on a number of local enterprises, it has been learnt.
The pioneers of the programme are particularly looking for five Small and Medium
Enterprises (SMEs), who upon qualification would receive, among other things,
free training to improve their capacities.
Remmy Temba, CIBDS Executive Director, said in Dar es Salaam recently that the
contest is open to all enterprises in the export-oriented manufacturing sector.
“The different enterprises will be required to join the programme to benefit
from it,” he insisted.
According to Temba, CIBDS is optimistic that this is a good way for capacity
building among the enterprises to enable them generate employment, particularly
during this time when the unemployment rate in the country is very high.
For his part, ITC Senior Advisor on Training Capacity Development, Roger Megelas
who is based in Geneva, said it was difficult for Tanzanian firms to be
competitive; hence a need for them to make use of such opportunities was vital.
The initiative as a whole is aimed at bringing about changes towards economic
development.
$145m business at DITF
By Timothy Kitundu
The just ended 28th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF) has resulted
into historic-export orders to the tune of US$ 37 million (Tsh.40.7 billion)
since the fair was established in 1976.
Total imports, also reached all time higher, recorded a US$ 87 million (Tsh.95.7
billion) orders while local orders totalled US$ four million (Tsh. 4.4 billion).
The Acting Director General of the Board of External Trade (BET), Kusirieli
Mwasha said recently in Dar es Salaam that the DITF, according to their survey,
recorded a total of US$ 145 million (about Tsh.159.5 billion) of business volume
this year.
According to Mwasha, the eight days of the fair attracted spot sales amounting
to US$18 million (about Tsh.19.8 billion) and the business trend was better
compared to previous years.
Mwasha said goods that sold in bulk were textile products, hides and skins and
household furniture. As for exports, enquiries were mainly for honey, cashew
nuts and hospital equipment and laboratory reagents.
Others were handicrafts, leather goods, beer, spirits, toilet soaps, textile
products, hides and skins furniture and electrical appliances.
Import orders were mainly on leather goods, wool, handicraft, ethnic dolls,
machines and plants, spirits, shoes and beer.
Other enquiries were on services such as telecommunications, education, trade
promotion, tourism, real estates, health sector, brokering, auction services and
consultancy, waste management and banking.
“In the near future, we are going to ensure that concrete strategies are put in
place to ensure the whole organisational structure of DITF is improved,” he
said.
Among the aspects that would be taken care of, according to Mwasha, are the
disturbances by some exhibitors, including the use of loudspeakers probably to
lure visitors to visit their pavilions.
This year, 14 countries participated in the fair compared to 11 last year. A
total of 29 companies from outside Tanzania and a total of 287 companies in all
took part in the fair this year.
TCCIA a holistic
business body
By Moses Lusamba
Encompassing virtually the whole nation, the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce,
Industry and Agriculture now has regional chambers in all the 21 regions of
Mainland Tanzania and over 67 district branches.
TCCIA Executive Director Mariot Kalanje told The Express at his office in Twiga
House, Dar es Salaam, that his chamber was there for all business sectors and
that it was the single largest holistic business association, which facilitates
business within Tanzania and outside its borders.
Kalanje said among TCCIA objectives was to promote and assist businesspersons to
become successful and also provide an effective business representation at
various forums.
He added that the association advocates and lobbies for free flow of business
information, promotional events, counselling services, trade opportunities,
business contacts, import/export regulations, training and advisory services.
At present, the chamber has 5,000 members belonging to two categories; the first
is corporate members who receive personalised services through TCCIA
headquarters and ordinary members, who are catered to at their sub branches,
district branches and regional chamber centres.
Kalanje said TCCIA analyses the training needs of the business community and
formulates tailor-made training programmes for its members, where they get to
meet experts from the University of DSM, Sokoine University of Agriculture
(SUA), ESRF and sometimes even from out of Tanzania, mainly from Sweden. He
added that topics covered during workshops include business skills, taxation,
sales and marketing, information technology for business and accounting.
The director observed that TCCIA provides an effective platform for its members
to exhibit their products by regularly organising trade fairs inside and out of
the country. It is also an associate member to various local and international
bodies such as EAC, SADC, COMESA, the International Chamber of Commerce, he
said.
Despite its success, some problems still face TCCIA like financial crunch
although solutions have been identified in the form of various income-generating
activities such as membership recruitment, training, organising business
delegations and cost-cutting steps such as economical use of telephones and
vehicles. Another problem is low membership, the director said, although the
campaign has been undertaken in all the 21 regions of Tanzania Mainland.
DITF exhibitors told to work
on quality
By Salome Mtunguja
The government has advised local exhibitors who took part at the just ended 28th
Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF) to improve the quality and
affordability of the goods they make.
This was revealed by Dr. Asha Rose Migiro, Minister for Community Development
Gender and Children, at the official closing of the Fair.
Migiro said statistics have it that during the eleven days of this year’s trade
fair, a total of 580,000 people visited the fair grounds as compared to 430,000
visitors over a similar period last year.
About women’s participation, Migiro said, over the years, women’s participation
in the DITF has progressively increased and the quality of their products highly
improved through Equal Opportunities For all Trust Fund (EOTF) under first lady
Mama Anna Mkapa.
She said EOTF would continue to support women entrepreneurs and it is indeed the
right move towards the government’s goal to alleviate poverty.
“I wish to commend EOTF and to call upon their NGOs to continue working with
these groups to enhance their participation in the coming trade fairs as it is
one of the means through which products made by women find their way the
external markets,” she said.
Panasonic introduces one-year
warranty
By Issa Abdul
Panasonic, a leading global manufacturer of consumer electronic and home
appliances, has launched a new warranty programme for its brands.
The Deputy General Manager for sales, Kamran Khan, said in Dar es Salaam
recently that from now on, all commodities purchased by consumers would be under
a one-year warranty programme.
He said the aim of introducing the programme was to get closer to the customers.
Kan said his company had also opened its new first authorised service centre in
Dar es Salaam; the centre is called Unitronics.
Kan added he was confident that his company was in a better position to sell its
products after its global unification with the Matsushita Electric Company
Limited. Under the global unification, all products manufactured by Matsushita
Electric Company will have the Panasonic trademark.
He explained that the unification process took place in May this year and that
the brands of National, Panasonic and other home appliances had already turned
to the Panasonic trademark. The unification has taken place across the Middle
East, Asia and China, except Japan, where Kan said the company would continue to
use the national name.
COMESA drafts precursor rules
Business Correspondent
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has said it has
already drafted the precursor rules and regulations for the establishment of the
COMESA competition policy.
Tanzania will not benefit because it has pulled out of the COMESA trading block
and there is a lot of pressure from various associations, academics and
individuals for re-joining the trading block. But the government sticks to its
gun—no going back.
According to the reports from COMESA in Zambia, senior trade advisor Mwansa
Musonda on Tuesday this week confirmed that the drafted rules and regulations
were awaiting the approval of the COMESA Council of Ministers.
He said the rules and regulations would deal with anti-competitive behaviour and
restrictive business practices.
It is envisaged that the regional competition policy and law shall be consistent
with the provisions and intent of the COMESA treaty as well as the
internationally accepted practices and principles of competition.
Namibia, Tanzania agree to
expand co-operation
By Business Correspondent
Namibia and Tanzania have agreed to expand their social, political, economic and
cultural co-operation, according to a joint statement issued after a visit by
Namibian President, Sam Nujoma.
“Other specific areas for co-operation include trade and investment, fisheries,
mining, agriculture, education, communication and transport,” added the
communiqué published after talks on Monday between Nujoma and his Tanzanian
counterpart, Benjamin Mkapa.
Nujoma arrived in Tanzania on Saturday as part of a farewell tour to several
African countries, as well as China and Malaysia. Tanzania supported SWAPO (the
ruling party in Namibia) during its independence struggle.
While in Tanzania, President Nujoma called for bilateral trade relations between
his country and Tanzania to be stepped up.
Speaking at a State Banquet hosted in his honour by President Benjamin Mkapa in
Dar es Salaam on Saturday evening, President Nujoma said economic statistics
showed that there was a need to improve commercial trade between the two
countries.
“We must encourage entrepreneurs from both countries to interact more frequently
in order to form joint ventures and exchange expertise in various areas of trade
and investment,” he said.
The Namibian President said the world focused on economic re-generation and
promoting bilateral commercial trade and investments in order to create job
opportunities for the citizens.
“If development is to be meaningful, we must re-invest in our plentiful and
diverse resources, and encourage our people to be self-reliant and actively
participate in their economic development efforts,” he said.
President Nujoma, who was in the country to bid Tanzanians farewell before
retiring later this year, expressed delight at collective initiatives being
taken towards regional economic integration under SADC.
He thanked Tanzania for supporting Namibia’s proposals on ivory sales in the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). He said his
country had a problem of overpopulation of elephants that at times destroy
farmers’ crops and infrastructure.
Earlier, President Mkapa commended President Nujoma for his exemplary leadership
since Namibia won independence on March 21, 1991.
“On behalf of your fellow Africans, you have proven wrong those who thought the
Namibian economy would grind to a halt with SWAPO at the helm…Under your
leadership the economy has always been stable and growing, and is currently
being diversified,” he said.
He assured President Nujoma’s successor of Tanzania’s continued support and
co-operation in the years ahead. The Namibian head of state addressed the
National Assembly in Dodoma on Monday this week.
Varsity students told to be
more enterprising
By Constantine Akitanda
A former graduate of the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), John V. Mattaka,
who is self employed, has said the country has plenty of business opportunities
that need active graduates to convert them into real business.
He made the remarks recently when making a public talk on career at the UDSM,
organised by the Dar es Salaam University Entrepreneurship Forum (DUEF).
“Education we get now, is rather than A, B and C’s and considering passing in
the class alone without transforming the said education into actual living, it
is very important for graduates to become innovative and come up with
unexploited opportunities,” he stressed. Mattaka said the fight against poverty
would not be won if graduates do not want to become creative and reject the idea
of being entrepreneurial.
For his part, DUEF General Secretary Gabriel Bakilana said the organisation
promotes enterpreneurship skills among UDSM students and the society as a whole.
Bakilana added that the core objectives of the organisation were to advocate for
more youth participating in business activities and enhance cooperation with
other organisations, both local and international, in the fight against poverty
using entrepreneurship as a major tool.
DUEF also promotes community self-employment and assists other organisations in
research on enterpreneurship, business and poverty alleviation.
So far, the organisation has assisted many individuals and organisations with
transforming business ideas into business ventures, asserted Bakilana.
Conflicts stall TASAF
projects
By Ashton Balaigwa, Morogoro
Conflicts among the village functionaries of Morogoro and Mvomero district
councils are among the causes that hinder completion of TASAF development
projects in the area.
This was revealed by Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF) coordinator in Morogoro
District, Vincent Msolla, when speaking to The Express about the progress made
on the projects, at his office last week.
Most conflicts have been caused by village functionaries, who want to personally
benefit from project funds, stalling the development of TASAF projects in the
process.
Due to this tug-of-war, some villages have been late in completing the projects
as the villagers were demoralised and did not participate in various
construction projects.
The only projects completed on time were the construction of Mtamba village
health centre, Mkambarani village health centre, Diguzi village health centre
and the construction of two classrooms in Misufini village and a water project
at Nyamtanga village.
The projects have cost Tsh.122.3 million, including contribution from the public
as well.
The coordinator said, for roads construction projects, TASAF had shelled out
Tsh. 257 million for both Morogoro and Mvomero districts. This also includes
people’s workforce.
Msolla named the completed roads in both districts as Mnagazi-Karanage,
Kibaoni-Mlinzi and Tandahi-Bagilo, which were earlier completely impassable.
Due to completion of these roads, more than 40,000 people in those areas can
travel easily and send their products to markets with ease too.
90-day ultimatum to vacate
Mindu Dam area
By Ashton Balaigwa, Morogoro
The government has issued an ultimatum of 90 days to people living within 500
metres of the Mindu Dam - a water source for Morogoro Municipal residents - to
vacate the area.
The government has also directed people and institutions conducting agricultural
activities a round the dam to stop forthwith as their activities are damaging
the water body.
The directive was given by the Minister for Water and Livestock Development
Edward Lowassa, when he paid an impromptu visit to Mindu Dam in Morogoro region
to see for himself how environmental degradation is threatening the existence of
the dam. The degradation is a direct result of human activities such as gold
mining, cultivation and construction of houses around the dam.
Lowassa ordered people around the dam to leave as they had already been paid
compensation in 1983. These people who once vacated the area, came back after a
CCM heavyweight asked them to return to guard the dam.
In addition to threatening the dam, which is the main source of water for 75 per
cent of Morogoro municipal residents, their activities also endanger other
national resources like the Morogoro–Iringa Highway, electricity lines from
Kidatu and Kihansi and the Tanzania-Zambia oil pipeline (Tazama).
Institutions said to be conducting agricultural activities around the dam are
the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and Mzinga Corporation, whose filthy
water is poured into Mindu Dam.
District councils warned
against ‘open theft’
By Ashton Balaigwa, Morogoro
The Morogoro government has warned district councils in the Region that failure
to remit workers’ legal deductions to concerned institutions is open theft and
that the government would not hesitate to take legal steps against the guilty
executive officers.
The warning was given by Morogoro Regional Administrative Secretary, Paul
Chikira, when opening a capacity building meeting for 250 members of the Saving
and Credit Cooperative Society (SACCOS), Kireka Branch, in Morogoro Region.
Chikira said the non-remittance was tantamount to depriving the members of their
future rights.
All legal deductions, he added, should be remitted to SACCOS, NSSF, PPF, and
many other legally recognised saving institutions ought to be sent at the
appropriate time.
Speaking on the Kireka course, he said, the course was important as it would
enable the people, especially SACCOS members, to learn how to start and run
economic projects.
Saving and credit cooperative societies are very important tool for fighting
poverty, as many Tanzanians are poor with low incomes, which act as hurdles in
getting loans from financial institutions.
But through SACCOS, people with low incomes can get loans.
Chikira urged the people of Morogoro Region to use the loans provided by SACCOS
to improve living standards.
Fisheries master plan in the
offing
By Sebastian Gabunga, Mwanza
The government has formulated a ten-year Fisheries Development Master Plan for
sustainable fishing, to enable ordinary people to benefit from fish catches in
ponds, lakes, rivers and the ocean across and around the country.
Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Zakia Meghji revealed this when
inaugurating the construction of a modern fish market at Mwaloni area, Kirumba,
in the City of Mwanza.
Meghji said the plan, which started being implemented in 2002 and is expected to
be completed in 2012, is being financed by the Government of Japan.
The Master Plan aims at making Tanzania self-sufficient in fish foodstuff, in
view of the population explosion.
The Minister said, under the plan, 15 projects have been identified that aim to
boost the fish catch without affecting future generations.
Construction of a modern fish market in Mwaloni, she added, is one way of
implementing the Master Plan.
According to Meghji, if fish from Lake Victoria are caught wisely, residents of
the Lake Zone can become wealthy by fishing.
Due to lack of a modern fish market, she said, the fish caught are affected by
rains and sunshine, affecting their quality.
She explained that a clean and safe environment will ensure quality fishes and
fetch competitive prices within and outside the country.
AIDS assistance for disabled
welcomed
By Ashton Balaigwa, Morogoro
The community of disabled in Morogoro Region has lauded the Executive Chairman
of the IPP Group Reginald Mengi, for donating US$ 17,850 (Tsh.19.8 million) to
conduct a course to combat AIDS in the community.
Expressing her gratitude, the chairperson of an NGO that fights AIDS in the
community of disabled, Beatrice Gwasa, said the disabled in Morogoro Region had
greatly benefited from the assistance.
Faraja Agency, in collaboration with the Federation of Disabled Association in
Morogoro region, is conducting the course.
Gwasa was giving a brief report of the seminar to Morogoro Regional Commissioner
(RC), Stephen Masishanga and said, the first phase of the course will involve
officers of the disabled associations from all districts of Morogoro region.
Although education to combat AIDS has been given to affected victims in various
parts of the country, the disabled communities have not benefited much.
Gwasa said a total of 198 disabled persons from different districts of Morogoro
Region will benefit from the assistance.
Price pressure breaks
Shinyanga Coop
By Kabele Lazaro, Shinyanga
Competition in price setting has thrown Shinyanga Region Cooperative Union
(SHIRECU) 1984 Limited into big debts and unbearable losses, it has been learnt.
Another reason that has also failed SHIRECU (1984) Limited is overemployment,
stretching its income from cotton sales.
Speaking to The Express at his office last week, SHIRECU General Manager,
Dominic Sika lamented that the liberal competitive market forces forced SHIRECU
to purchase cotton at Tsh. 280 instead from Tsh. 225 per kg last year, causing a
huge loss and loss of salaries to more than 300 workers for 15 months.
In order for SHIRECU to pull out of the debts, he said, the management had
decided to sell some of its properties, including the Kurasini Godown in Dar es
Salaam and SHIRECU godown in Shinyanga region.
The selling exercise will start any time now to obtain the Tsh. three billion
claimed by the workers for their 15 months’ salaries.
Last year, Shinyanga Region Cooperative Union failed to make any profit,
although it borrowed Tsh. two billion from the CRDB Bank to purchase 3.4 million
tonnes of cotton from farmers.
Nonetheless, the General Manager was not quite sure of the losses and the amount
of debts claimed by the workers, as the computation was still in progress.
Again this year, SHIRECU has borrowed another Tsh. three billion from CRDB Bank
for purchasing 15,000 tonnes Grade I cotton at Tsh. 300 per kilogramme.
| Business News | Forex Week | Money Market | Corporate Report |
| Business Opinion | Bank Interest Rates | Capital Market Focus |