20 HOURS BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH
By Kizito Makoye, in Zanzibar
Shock, hope, despair…the pilot and two passengers aboard the
Cessna-172 Charter Aircraft experienced a myriad emotions soon after take-off at
3.35 pm on a Tuesday, two weeks ago, their plane suffered an engine failure mid
air and sank in the Indian Ocean off the Bagamoyo Coast. But in the end, it was
the survival instinct that kept them going during the 20 hours of
holding-on-to-life-by-a-threadbare, including a traumatic night, in the freezing
waters.
The Express managed exclusive interviews with the pilot and two passengers of
Tropical Air flight 5H/PDK, whose engine failed 10 minutes after it took off
from the Dar es Salaam International Airport (DIA) on November 30.
Gabriel Richard, the jolly 33-year-old pilot had got himself a new job he
described lucrative, just two months ago, flying small aircraft for Tropical
Air.
That day, Richard was in high spirits but also sober and accurate as a pilot
should be, ready to fly the four-seater Cessna over a stone’s throw distance to
Zanzibar. The sky was crystal clear when the plane took off at half past three
in the afternoon.
Since aircraft such as Cessna are not advised to fly in clouds, Gabriel was
flying at a low altitude, with a magnificent aerial view of Dar es Salaam City.
With two years’ experience in aviation industry, he knew anything could happen
while flying and remained prepared for any eventuality.
“As a pilot you have to be prepared for any eventuality since the job involves
many risks,” Gabriel observed.
Gabriel and his two passengers were probably lucky to survive the disaster.
It was not the first time for renowned businessman Abdulmajid Abdulrahman Ahmed
(51) to hire a small aircraft. His wife, Aziza Ali Salum(45), was recovering
from an illness and was brought to Dar es Salaam for treatment.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to take off…fasten your seat belts… in the
event of any emergency landing in water there is a life jacket in front of your
seats…we will be flying 4,000 feet above sea level,” Gabriel gave the usual
instructions to his passengers before take-off. He then plugged in the personal
headphone he had bought in Australia for US$ 1,000 and listened to guidelines
from the control room. The plane started to move slowly towards the runway,
ready for take-off.
In the next five minutes, the plane speeded up and took off quite safely.
Gabriel was bound to fly at 1,500 feet above sea level.
According to Gabriel, everything in the cockpit was normal, so were the
readings. But the plane suddenly started to destabilise as they were approaching
deep sea, off the Coast of Bagamoyo.
“When I experienced the problem, the first thing I did was to make a call to
Zanzibar control tower. I told them about the altitude at which we were flying
and that the engine had just stopped,” he recalled.
Despite the pilot’s frantic efforts, the problem was seemingly out of hand and
he had to tell his passengers the plane will make an emergency landing in the
next few minutes.
“As I said, we were flying at a very low altitude, the only option I had was to
instruct my passengers to put on their life jackets as the plane started to
descend. There was no time for any discussion,” Gabriel explained.
He said, “I told them clearly that as soon as the plane lands in water, they
have to get out quickly as it was almost certain the plane could sink into the
water immediately.”
He believes the plane hardly took a minute to land in water from the 1,500-feet
altitude. The passengers were scared but there was not much time for panic. They
were about nine nautical miles (approximately 18 kilometers) from the Coast of
Bagamoyo.
Abdulmajid Ahmed, who was sitting next to the pilot, and his wife, who was
seated behind the pilot, are still very shaken.
“We realised there must be something very wrong, the pilot got very excited when
I asked him if there was any problem. But he said ‘no problem’. The sound of the
engine suddenly vanished,” he recalled.
“I had to console my wife who was completely devastated as the plane seemed to
just fall. We were yelling ‘Allah Akbar!! Allah Akbar’ (literary, God is great.
God is great) until it landed in water,” he shuddered
According to Abdulmajid, the plane eventually landed in water with a big impact
splashing water all around. He and the pilot managed to get out quickly, but it
was a bit difficult for Aziza Salum since she was trapped in the back.
After great effort, they freed her and threw her in the water. The plane
immediately sank in deep water. The passengers and pilot had no time to look at
their personal belongings because of the risk involved.
The reflecting life jackets they wore could only help them to float since the
current was too strong. They decided to tie themselves together so as not to
drift apart while struggling for rescue.
The plane gradually receded in the water with various items, including the money
the passengers were carrying, all got lost in water.
“I feel sorry about losing my money. I had Tsh. 3.6 million and US$ 2,310 in my
suitcase. I had also bought a fluorescent tubelight and some other things,”
Abdulmajid said.
“We were all confused and traumatised, surrounded by water everywhere. The drift
was too strong and my wife vomited uncontrollably as she could not withstand the
ordeal,” he recounted.
He said their efforts to swim were undermined by the strong current and at the
same time it was getting dark.
“We could see marine vessels, but they were very far, it was not possible to
swim that distance due to nature of the waves…we repeatedly waved but it was all
in vain. I had my cell phone in my pocket but it was badly damaged. I removed
the Sim Card and put it in my pocket. We were forced to remain vigilant the
entire night,” he explained.
“The following morning we could see some vessels, but they were all far away. We
could hardly bear the cold water…it was horrendous but we had no other
alternative. My Quartz wrist watch was of great help as it did not get damaged.
At around 10:30, the following morning, I told my wife I could see a dhow coming
from a distance. She was very exhausted but I tried over and over again to
comfort her and tell her we would survive.”
According to the victims, the dhow came closer and closer as time went on. It
was apparently sailing from Bagamoyo. Despite the shiny yellow life jackets the
victims had on, the seamen in the dhow did not immediately notice there were
people stranded in deep sea.
“We shouted and yelled for help but our voices were subdued by the storm.
Finally, they saw us and directed the vessel towards us,” said Abdulmajid.
“The people in the dhow were kind to us, they gave us clothes. My wife collapsed
as she was pulled in.”
Asked whether or not he would quit his profession after the ordeal, Gabriel
shrugged and said: “It was an accident like any other. I will continue with my
activities as usual. But I will certainly need a short break to visit my family
in Switzerland.”
Abdulmajid Abdulrahman Ahmed is a businessman in Zanzibar, married with seven
children.
When contacted for comments, the Director General of Tanzania Civil Aviation
Authority Margaret Munyagi said, there have been four accidents and 14 incidents
related to aircraft in the country in the first 11 months of 2004.
“An accident is considered to be an occurrence in which an aircraft is
completely destroyed or some person (s) are killed. Other occurrences are
considered as incidents,” she told The Express.
She remarked, “It is true that there has been a sudden increase in the number of
occurrences (both accidents and incidents). However, this is not abnormal in the
industry. Air accidents world wide do show random peaks.”
Earlier, on November 25, six people had a narrow escape after the Regional Air
aircraft they were flying in crashed moments after take-off from the Arusha
Airport.
The incident occurred at 9 am, when the engine of the aircraft 5H RAS, stalled,
forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing.
None of the passengers was hurt and the airline had to use another aircraft to
fly the passengers to the Serengeti National Park.
This was the second aircraft accident in Arusha this year. Another aircraft
operated by Regional Air crashed with nine passengers aboard at Mto wa Mbu in
Monduli District, shortly after it took off from Lake Manyara airstrip in
mid-March this year.
In the accident, four out of the nine passengers, were seriously injured. The
pilot had tried to make an emergency landing on the new Makuyuni-Ngorongoro road
after experiencing engine problems after take-off from the airstrip.
Sexual favours rampant in
education
By Express Reporter
Views of 3,000 Tanzanians on the most common forms of corruption in
the field of education and suggestions to combat them are contained in a booklet
jointly released by Haki Elimu and the Prevention of Corruption Bureau (PCB).
In ‘Corruption in Education’, public views suggest that corruption continues to
be a major problem in education. The most cited form was ‘sexual corruption’
where students are forced to offer sexual favours in exchange for fair
treatment.
According to the publication, other noticeable forms of corruption include
financial abuse, students being forced to work, misuse of authority and
nepotism.
In the preface, Judge Joseph Warioba writes: “This is a challenge for our
leaders, to listen to and learn from the voices of citizens and to demonstrate
their commitment to fight corruption through action.”
The publication contains a selection of 17 best essays and drawings. The winners
were selected by a panel with representatives from the Ministry of Education and
Culture, the University of Dar es Salaam, NGOs and the State House.
Speaking in Dar es Salaam Tuesday, Director General of PCB, Rt. Major General
Anatory Kamazima, said at the launch that people should be given a chance to
express their feelings on corruption, what they see in the society and, where
necessary suggest ways to curb corruption.
A Form Six student, who sought anonymity, said sexual favour in education has
been there for a long time and people in tertiary education regard it a normal
thing.
She added that most corrupt practices take place secretly between individuals
although in education it is so obvious and nobody seems to shy away from it.
Immanuel Mvula, a law student at the University Dar es Salaam, told The Express
corruption still hampers education in the country and there is no fair play in
the system.
“We should join hands with the government and NGOs to fight corruption as
education is important to everyone. As Mwalimu Julius Nyerere once said: For
poor people like us, education should be an instrument of liberation,” Mvula
insisted.
Programme Officer with Haki Elimu, Godfrey Telli, said corruption was a serious
problem facing most developing countries, and some people in the education
sector take advantage of public office for private gains.
He added corruption must be fought by all means in the society, as it was likely
to affect the country’s productivity and development efforts.
Around 40,000 copies of the booklet have been printed and will be distributed
across the country by PCB and Haki Elimu.
By Timothy Kitundu, Johannesburg, South
Africa
Tanzania is one of the Southern African countries that will be hit
hard by HIV/AIDS; estimates predict that over 16 million farm workers will die
of the pandemic come 2010.
Analysts expect that the devastation will have severe implications for the
agricultural production and food security. Between 60 and 80 per cent of AIDS
related deaths will be due to malnutrition.
James Morris, United Nations (UN) envoy for humanitarian needs in Southern
Africa was recently quoted by the New Era publication of December 3, 2004
issuing a warning that the region’s food production capacity will decline.
“The pandemic is threatening the future of nations and a bold approach is needed
to address the crisis of devastating illness and drought-afflicted agriculture,”
he said.
According to the Integrated Regional Information Networks, the epidemic is a
growing problem in Southern Africa, with HIV prevalence rates and deaths from
AIDS being higher than anywhere else in the world.
Current food aid needs in the region - the greatest being across much of
Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland and southern Malawi, the flood-affected parts of
western Zambia, and the central plateau and southeast of Angola - could not be
blamed on erratic weather.
Malawi, with a largely rural and poverty-stricken population, was an example of
the “fragility of livelihoods” in the region, and of the likelihood of a cycle
of recurring crises as far as the pandemic is concerned.
Another analyst, Scott Drimie of the Human Sciences research Council advises
that food security should be seen in context with HIV/AIDS, adding, “The
challenge is to develop food security interventions and farming practices that
adapt to the reality of HIV/AIDS affected environments.”
By Kizitto Joseph
The United Nations (UN) remains the only institute, which can ensure
peace and security during Tanzania’s civic and general elections; it is
responsible to plan and supervise the next year’s general elections to avoid
disturbances.
The Secretary for CUF, Seif Shariff Hamad issued this stern message over the
weekend in Dar es Salaam. He added that Tanzania had failed to supervise free
and fare elections.
“This is very dangerous and it is a sign of what might happen next year. CUF
insists its demand for UN to plan and supervise the next year’s general
elections instead of Director and Ward executives who want to see the victory of
the ruling party,” said Hamad.
He said the death of a 16-year-old schoolboy, Juma Omar in Zanzibar and the
three casualties in the islands, resulting in political strikes during the
exercise of registration of people, showed the country’s failure to hold
elections.
Ibrahim Lipumba, CUF chairperson, blamed the Police for not being fair when
supervising the elections. He said that at elections the Police are merely there
to ensure the victory of the ruling party CCM and not secure peace and security
for the citizens.
“The Police are too political to supervise the elections. This was seen on
November 28 during the civic elections in Dar es Salaam when the Police
intervened at places where there was signs for victory for the opposition
party,” he said.
By Kizitto Joseph
Poor organization among Dar es Salaam bus drivers and conductors and
ignorance of their rights are blamed for the failure of the work contracts
between the Union for Drivers and Conductors (UWAMADAR) and the Dar es Salaam
Bus Owners Association (DARBOA).
The Secretary for Communication and Transport Workers Union (COTWU (T)) Dar es
Salaam zone, Bahari Semvua said this over the weekend. UWAMADAR has failed to
organise its members to press for the commencement of the contract, he added.
“The power of the Union is in the hands of its members. It is now up to the
members to organize and start demanding for the contracts,” said Semvua.
He said the leaders of DARBOA have deliberately been neglecting the legal
contract, knowing that the drivers are not sufficiently organized to take
actions.
Dar es Salaam bus drivers and conductors were supposed to enter into a contract
with their employers from March 26 this year. However the contract is yet to
materialise.
‘Gender violence must be
on national agenda’
By Angela Mazula
Raising awareness about gender-based violence as a violation of
human right on a national level is one of the imperatives of Action Aid
Tanzania.
Speaking to The Express this week, Tulanoga Matimbwi a Gender Officer with
Action Aid Tanzania said the organisation is working towards strengthening local
communities to raise the awareness of violence against women.
Matimbwi said they hope to establish a forum where new and effective strategies
of eliminating violence against women can be shared.
Other strategies of the organisation include pressurising the government to
implement promises made to eliminate gendered violence.
The violence against women includes physical, sexual, psychological and economic
abuse. The problem, she said, is that Tanzanian culture, beliefs, norms and
institutions legitimize and perpetuate violence against women.
Security sector reveals dirty business
By Kizitto Joseph
The security sector has for long been able to ensure the employment
of school leavers; this is despite the underpayment and negative aspects
associated with the sector.
Youths from rural areas who travel to cities to find employment usually find
themselves employed in security companies as guards.
Tanzania has over a hundred security companies but only five pay decent salaries
of Tsh. 48,000 while the rest pay between Tsh. 7,000 and Tsh. 35,000 per month.
“I had no money last month so I had to walk to and from work every day. It is
terrible” said a security guard in Dar es Salaam last week on condition of
anonymity.
Investigation by The Express in Dar es Salaam last month revealed that most
security guards face difficult working conditions as the companies they are
working for do not care about the safety and welfare of their employees.
As a result, some employees start collaborating with bandits to steal customers’
properties on the agreement of equal division of the stolen properties.
It was also revealed that some women guards have to enter into sexual
relationships with their employers in order to secure their salaries.
“We are not at school so nobody is bound to have a friend and there is nothing
wrong if an employer or superior has a sexual friendship with his employee,”
said a women security officer.
According to the woman there are those who work as prostitutes parallel to their
job as security guards.
Girls miss exam due to pregnancy
By Kizitto Joseph
Pregnancy has been sited as the main reason for the failure of 80
students aged 15 to 17 from 102 primary schools in Tandahimba District, Mtwara
Region to sit for their Standard Seven examinations this year.
The education adviser for Action Aid Tanzania, Tumsifu Mmari said in Dar es
Salaam last week that gender inequality in schools has contributed to the drop
in girls’ performance in Tandahimba and Liwale districts.
Mmari was speaking at the launch of his research report about cruelty and
mistreatment of girls in primary schools in Tandahimba, Mtwara, Liwale and
Lindi.
According to his report, the schoolgirls faced gender mistreatment by being
withheld their basic rights to sit for examinations while their partners were
not identified.
The report added that teachers play a noticeable role in enhancing the problem
by using abusive language.
Mmari said in his report that some of the pregnancies resulted from the
schoolgirls being raped.
The report also revealed other reasons for the poor performance as lack of
enough time to prepare for studies. He said most of the girls have domestic
responsibilities after class hours and thus no extra time to study.
“Even those who manage to complete school do not do well in their examinations.
These students lack enough time to study,” said part of the report.
Govt urged to reduce workshops and spend on drugs
By Kim Aidan, Morogoro
The government and its various institutions dealing with HIV/AIDS
have been advised to reduce the number of seminars, workshops and symposia, and
instead spend money on buying more Antiretroviral drugs (ARVs).
The call was made by HIV/AIDS affected victims and various stakeholders dealing
with AIDS issues in an AIDS debate which was organised by Fighting Against AIDS
in Morogoro Region ( a Non-governmental Organisation), held at Morogoro Social
Hall recently.
They claimed that it would be better if the number of seminars, workshops and
symposia was reduced and money spent on ARVs.
Although the government has directed that people with HIV/AIDS should be given
ARVs free of charge, still their lives are in danger as the country is
economically poor and the ARVs are too expensive for the affected victims to
buy.
CUF accused of disturbing
voting
By Kim Aidan, Kilosa
It has been reported that the Civic United Front (CUF) marred the
local elections of the village chairman at Luhembe Village, Mikumi Division,
Kilosa District in Morogoro Region, on November, 28.
According to CCM officials, CUF supporters disrupted polling centres and caused
injuries to four people.
Talking to reporters the CCM Kilosa District Secretary Sembuli Botto said that
CUF members began to show their discontent immediately after discovering that
some voters were alighting from a bus that had travelled from far.
CUF members believe that this was part of CCM plan to increase voters and
started throwing stones at the polling centre, forcing voters to run away from
the scene.
Following the chaos, the Centre’s Polling Supervisor Shomari Kizenga who also is
Ward Executive Officer (WEO) at Luhembe Village decided to call off the voting
in the village to save people’s lives.
CCM in Morogoro District appeals
By Kim Aidan, Morogoro
CCM in Morogoro Municipality has appealed against the election of
eight local chairmen, and has opposed the act by CUF members of stealing votes.
Talking to reporters, Morogoro Urban District CCM Secretary, Captain Nicolaus
Mvanga said CCM appealed because of the chaos that erupted in various
localities, including the bad election administration where CUF members stole a
polling box.
Mvanga named the concerned localities as Ngazengwa (K/Ndege); Konga (Sabasaba);
Unguu A (U/Taifa); Malipula (Mazimbo); Kilala (Mazimbo); Kididimo (Mbuyuni) and
Ngasengwa (Mafiga).
At Manzese Locality in Mafiga Ward, CUF members stole the polling box and
disappeared with it after discovering that they were going to lose, it was
alleged.
The CCM Secretary has appealed to the police to strengthen the security at the
rerun of the elections to avoid repeated chaos.
Lack of funding hampers project
By Kim Aidan, Morogoro
It has been reported that lack of insufficient funds is one of the
problems which hamper the Youth Reproductive Health Project implementation in
Tanzania.
This was noted by the African Youth Alliance Project National Coordinator,
Halima Shariff during the opening of a six day workshop for 30 experts of the
project at Oasis Conference Hall in Morogoro Municipality.
Shariff said the objective of the workshop was to bring together project experts
to make preparations for the project and solicit for donors.
Tanzania, she said, is in a bad shape economically and not able to implement the
project, compared to Ghana, Uganda, Botswana which also are conducting the
project.
Special Olympics completed in Mwanza
By Sebastian Gabunga, Mwanza
The government together with district, town, municipal and city
councils, have been asked to increase the subsidies for the Special Olympics in
the country, to enable the administration of the Special Olympics for the
disabled children to succeed-nationally and internationally.
The request was made early this week by the Director of the Special Olympics in
the country, Frank Macha, when inaugurating the contest held at CCM Kirumba
Stadium in Mwanza City.
Together with the many promises made by government administrators, very little
financial assistance has been given he said.
Macha also requested the community in general to learn about the importance of
supporting the Special Olympics, so that the disabled children can get a chance
of participating in the games.
Every individual, Macha said, needs to participate in games to improve and
better one’s health, but for a disabled child it is more than that. The games
are one way of treatment and sometimes the only way to treat the disability
he/she possesses.
Officially inaugurating the contests, the Acting Mwanza Regional Commissioner
Jared Ghachocha said only Tsh. six million were collected out of the estimated
Tsh. 29 million needed for the Special Olympics held for the tenth time in the
country.
Ghachocha, who also is Ilemela District Commissioner reminded all other
stakeholders who were approached to contribute but had failed to do so, when
they were approached the second time.
Nevertheless, the contest ended on December 6, after good Samaritans contributed
while the games were in progress. These included the Ministries’ Permanent
Secretaries who were attending a seminar in Mwanza City, led by the Chief
Secretary Maternus Lumbanga who contributed between Tsh. 5,000 and Tsh. 10,000
each.