Lending to Live?
By Timothy Kitundu
Can we compete with the Tsunami in the race of getting international
aids to survive this year with as much as 41 per cent of the nation’s revenue
being dependent on grants and loans? Perhaps we can, as experts point out, these
grants only contribute to the cause of esoteric research and elite projects,
hardly aiming at changing peoples’ lives. It is not exactly something to be
proud of. And with the Tsunami striking the Asian coast draining huge amounts of
international resources and aids towards rehabilitation and reconstruction of
the affected areas, can we, as a nation rest in peace with over 41 per cent of
our budget revenues coming in form of international assistance?
The apprehension that the amount of grants, funds and aids whatever you call
them, might reduce after Tsunami attracting the major pie of international
attention and funds is looming large over the nation.
We wanted to ask the experts whether the country will suffer with such a huge
amount of money from all international donors being diverted towards the Tsunami
funds. But we were even more amazed to find the answer. The experts claimed most
of the international aid received by the country largely cater to research and
esoteric causes, benefits of which hardly trickle down to the masses.
So, experts are optimistic. Even after the UN criticizing US and Europe, who are
among the main donors to Tanzania and other African countries, for allocating
inadequate resources amounting to GBP 1 billion or US$1.8 billion about Tsh. 2
trillion.
Here in Tanzania, grants amount to Tsh.1,367,025 million for the year 2004/05.
This is almost 41 per cent of the total revenue of Tsh 3,347,538 million for the
country.
Professor Francis Matambalya of the Faculty of Commerce and Management of the
University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) told The Express that volumes of donations
coming into Tanzania were trivial amounts for donors. Prof. Matambalya, who is a
Lead Researcher, Trade and Integrated Studies (TRISP) and a Promoter,
Professional Master of Science degree in Trade Policy Management also pointed
out that even if donations were stopped, there would be no impact because, “Most
donations that come to Tanzania are focused on the elite – political, academic
and intellectual especially those doing research and ministries that coordinate
projects,” he said. “For example a director is earning more than the earnings of
one village in Tanzania hence, foreign donations have very little impact to the
ordinary Tanzanians,” he said. “In the actual sense, it is a very small segment
of the Tanzanian population that is donor dependent, as the common people
consume or depend on what they produce, in other words, donor funding is
artificial,” he said.
Tanzania receives about US$ 1.4 billion, about Tsh.1.4 trillion, in foreign
funding. That is about 30 per cent of its GDP whereas the World Bank estimates
that the amount of aid needed for Tsunami disaster victims stands at US$ 5
billion about Tsh. 5 trillion. Between 15 to 20 per cent of bilateral ‘tangible
aid’ originate from Department for International Development UK (DFID) and UNDP
that reaches the beneficiaries at macro level. About 49 per cent of funding is
from the EU and the remaining 51 per cent is used by the foreign elites.
Others also believed that the donors will be kind enough not to reduce the
funding. “The disaster can probably affect the timing of the disbursement due to
slight change in priorities on their side, but I strongly believe that the
donors will eventually live up to their commitments,” said Prosper Chale, a
Researcher with the Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF).
As for a possible crisis in case of the cut in donor support, Chale felt that
the country was supplemented and grants were not substituting our efforts. “Long
term policy of the government is needed to reduce dependence on external
funding. This can be achieved by broadening the tax base, by harnessing the
resources from the informal sector more effectively,” he said.
In fact it was more strategic reasons than actual relief to Tsunmai, he felt.
“The three hardest hit countries; Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka are among
the important investment destinations for Japanese capital – and Japan is the
largest donor so far in Tsunami relief donations,” he said.
The involvement of the US, according to Chale is to a large extent for security
reasons especially in Indonesia, the largest Islamic nation.
Health costs blamed for
poverty
By Angela Mazula
Prohibitive costs to health care which include expenses owing to corruption are
forcing majority of Tanzanians to live in abject poverty. Not only it forces one
out of every five Tanzanians not to have enough food to eat on a regular basis,
but it also drains their resources in a major way.
A study carried out by the Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) has
revealed the trend.
Household Budget Surveys at the beginning and end of the decade indicate that
poverty rates have not declined either in rural or urban areas except for Dar es
Salaam where it recorded slight decrease.
The study said during the ten years between 1990/01 and 2000/01, the level of
inequality has increased between the rich and the poor.
The study also pointed out that the government’s endeavour to reach the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of halving abject poverty by 2015 is
unlikely to be successful.
The Women’s Dignity Project (WDP) and Research on Poverty Alleviation (REPOA)
also identified the main cause of poverty as user fees for basic health
services.
The study noted that cost of health care for the poor was enormous which
included direct as well as non-direct expenses (official and unofficial one) for
even basic care. This involved low quality of care at every level, distance of
travel to reach the health service centres and associated transport costs,
corruption and lack of accountability within public health services.
However, abolition of user fees for basic health and identifying life saving
services as a state responsibility would be the first step in achieving access
to health for all.
The government has decided to retain user fees in basic health and to rely on
exemptions and waivers as the way of ensuring access for the poor and vulnerable
groups, as shown in PRS II. This is so, in spite of all the evidence within
Tanzania and outside that user fees have been a major cause of lack of access to
basic health services for poor women and men, children, infants and youth.
Tanzania’s environmental
sustainability measured
In a report released last week Tanzania ranked 63rd out of 146 countries
surveyed in the 2005 index of environmental sustainability. The index ranks
nations on their success at such tasks as maintaining or improving air and water
quality, its natural resource management, maximizing biodiversity, overall
environmental governance and cooperating with other countries on environmental
problems.
Researchers at Yale and Columbia Universities in the US have prepared the
report. The index is the second produced in collaboration with the World
Economic Forum, which met in Davos, Switzerland, last week.
Finland, Norway and Uruguay held the top three spots in the ranking. The US
ranked 45th behind for example Japan, Botswana and most of Western Europe, but
before Britain which ranked 66th.
The lowest-ranking country was North Korea. Among those near the bottom were
Haiti, Taiwan, Iraq and Kuwait.
The report is based on 75 measures, including the rate at which children die
from respiratory diseases, fertility rates, water quality, overfishing and
emission of heat-trapping gases.
Tanzania came after Uganda (ranked 57th) but before Kenya (ranked 100th).
Although Kenya is reported as having better air and water quality than Tanzania
it scored lower on most of the other indicators. Tanzania is considered better
equipped to maintain vital environmental systems, ensure that people and social
systems are not vulnerable to environmental disturbances and is better at
cooperating with other countries to manage common environmental problems.
The report also cited a statistically significant the correlation between
high-ranking countries and countries with open political systems and effective
governments.
Kenya scored lower than Tanzania on such things as corruption and government
effectiveness, civil and political liberties and the rule of law.
As regards Uganda, its water quality is better than its East African neighbours
and it is better than both Kenya and Tanzania at international cooperation. It
also has a higher percentage of its population with access to improved drinking
water.
In its opening chapter, the Environmental Sustainability Index report said:
“Although imperfect, the E.S.I. helps to fill a long-existing gap in
environmental performance evaluation. It offers a small step toward a more
vigorous and quantitative approach to environmental decision making.”
Adding: “Environmental sustainability is a fundamentally multi-dimensional
concept. Some environmental challenges arise from development and
industrialization, other challenges are a function of underdevelopment and
poverty-induced short-term thinking – resource depletion (especially of
potentially renewable resources.”
TAWLA tables report on legal
changes
By Kizitto Joseph
A report on laws which will help the fight against AIDS has been launched.
The Director for Prosecutions, Geofrey Shaib on behalf of the Minister for Laws
and Constitutional Affairs, Bakari Mwapachu, officially launched the report in
Dar es Salaam last week.
The report follows a programme by Tanzania Women Lawyers Association (TAWLA)
under the sponsorship of the POLICY project (part of the USAID).
Maria Tungaraza, a lawyer from POLICY and responsible for the preparation of the
report together with her colleague Magdalena Rwebangira, said that research was
conducted on laws concerning about women, children and the disabled.
She said there is an urgent need to make amendments to existing laws to make
them up to date with the current situation since many laws were passed at the
time before AIDS had hit the society.
She said that in 2003 TAWLA advised the government to make the necessary
changes. It agreed and allowed for the preparations of this report.
“We believe that TAWLA’S suggestions will be of help in the battle against
HIV/AIDS,” she said.
Internet reaches Kiomoni
village
Nestory Ngwega, Tanga
Tanzania Eco-Volunteerism (TeV), a non-governmental organisation,
has spent roughly Tsh. 90 million investing in the education and communication
sectors in Kiomoni village in Tanga Municipality.
As a way of reducing the gap between urban and rural areas, TeV Administrative
Manager, John Omari said in a statement that Kiomoni village would now enjoy
Internet services.
He said the organization in collaboration with its sister company Tour Care and
overseas donors had decided to establish the Service Centre.
Tanga District Commissioner, chief guest at the inauguration ceremony said that
the centre was an example of what investors from within and outside the country
were supposed to do.
Because of lack of modern services in rural areas, many youths flock towns to
seek greater opportunities, the DC added. Improving services in villages was
therefore crucial, encouraging youths to get involved in development activities
like farming.
Country fails to arrest
maternal mortality
By Kizito Makoye
The maternal mortality rate in Tanzania is one of the highest among
developing nations, a recent UN report states.
According to the UN global report, ‘Investing in Development: A Practical Plan
to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals’, approximately 10.8 million
children under the age of five and about 530,000 million mothers of reproductive
age die every year mostly in developing nations, including Tanzania.
According to the report, a woman in Sub-Saharan Africa faces a 1 in 16 risk of
dying in pregnancy or child birth. In North America the risk is 1 in 3,700.
Reducing child mortality and improving maternal health are the two most
important challenges for Tanzania says the report, but it expresses pessimism
that the goals might not be achieved until at least 2150.
In order for Tanzania to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, the country
need to spend a total of US$ four billion per year on such things as increasing
the number of doctors and abandon fees for basic health services.
back to headlines
How one man made a difference
in the fight against AIDS
When Jeff Busch, a savvy entrepreneur, decided not to take a salary for five
years as President of his latest venture, he did it because he wanted to save.
What he wanted to save was lives.
An established investment banker in search of his next healthcare project, Jeff
Busch made two trips to South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Senegal in
1998. He found deplorable healthcare conditions and was struck by the
opportunity, not to make a profit, but to make a difference. He felt that people
were suffering from improper care – and in some instances particularly in regard
to blood transfusions — losing their lives because of lack of training and poor
conditions and equipment.
Calling on his own experience in business and public service, Jeff organized
Safe Blood for Africa (SBFA), a non-profit foundation to implement a vision for
saving people from preventable HIV/AIDS infection. Safe Blood for Africa’s goal
is to prevent AIDS transmission by ensuring that blood supplies are
uncontaminated throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Six years after his trip, he has
saved hundreds of thousands of lives, and instituted programmes to save millions
more.
“Fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS through blood transfusions is so efficient
because it can be controlled and can be of immediate benefit to millions of
people,” said Al Ayida, a native of Nigeria and the Director of Nigerian
Operations for Safe Blood for Africa. “We do not depend on behaviour
alteration, as important as that is, to stop AIDS. Rather, Safe Blood for
Africa can make a substantial difference through a relatively simple
procedure—by training local technicians in a manageable, replicable programme
that can have a massive positive impact,” he said.
In an important step towards reversing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan
Africa, Safe Blood for Africa Foundation has launched a major programme to
distribute millions of “rapid” blood transfusion test kits and to train hospital
workers in the proper use of the test kits. The relatively simple, low cost test
kits, which do not require refrigeration, detect HIV/AIDS-infected (and
Hepatitis B-infected) donated blood. Infected blood is a significant, but
controllable, cause of the spread of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. The test’s
impact is immediate, since the prevention of tainted blood’s use translates
directly into saved lives.
“Safe Blood for Africa is helping to protect the lives of people we know in
communities where we work. The effort is vital and has the potential to save the
lives of thousands of Nigerians,” said Dr. Steven Phillips, ExxonMobil Medical
Director, Global Programmes.
Safe Blood for Africa has operations in 18 countries and efforts are also in
progress to improve a blood centre in the nation’s capital—and to build on these
successes to establish a national blood service for Nigeria.
Eviction order for Mbweni
residents
By Express Reporter
Dar es salaam Regional Commissioner (RC) Yusuph Makamba vowed to
take legal action against all residents who refused to shift to the designated
areas of Mbweni instead they continue to dwell in areas which the government
declared as ‘disaster prone.’
The RC however urged people whose houses are located in areas which might be
affected by the floods to be extra vigilant with the continuing rainfalls.
Heavy rains and strong winds on Tuesday wrecked havoc in Dar es Salaam making
people homeless. Most areas of the City were seriously affected by the rains
including, Tandale, Mburahati Manzese Mwenge, Mlalakuwa, Jangwani and Mbezi.
The sprawling Mwenge bus stop was virtually turned into an ocean after the
blocked drainage systems failed to contain the water.
The rain storm, however, was a blessing in disguise as a lot of unemployed youth
embarked on ferrying business where by they volunteered to help people cross the
water thought to be contaminated with a fee of Tsh.100 to 200.
Child cruelty under
investigation
By Kizitto Joseph
The Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance is planning to
carry out an investigation on acts of cruelty and acts against humanity against
children in ten districts of Mainland Tanzania.
According to its Chairperson Robert Kisanga last Tuesday, the investigation will
last the whole month of February this year.
The exercise will be conducted in Kinondoni, Mbeya urban, Mafia, Moshi rural,
Magu, Kilwa, Kibondo, Lushoto, Tabora and Mbinga.
In these districts, he said, the Commission will receive complaints from people
about cruelty against children in the society.
He said that the investigation does not aim at taking offenders to court but at
identifying areas where the problem is rampant.
Moreover, an open investigation targeting areas not affected by this particular
exercise will begin in March and last up till May or June.
CUF
youth elected in Temeke
By Kizitto Joseph
CUF youth leadership elections for Temeke Municipality has been
conducted, bringing to the end a long conflict among the members.
The meeting, attended by 171 members, was conducted last Sunday at Mbagala
Kwanyoka.
Filled with great enthusiasm, the members were fully prepared to choose their
leaders for the coming five years.
After the elections a representative in the Youth National Assembly, a district
chairperson, treasurer and 15 people forming a district executive committee
emerged.
All candidates for the posts promised cooperation and hard work. The whole
exercise went on peacefully.
The elections should have been conducted earlier last year but mistrust among
the participants got in the way based on different views regarding electoral
constituencies.
Catholic Church donates to
school
Nestory Ngwega,Tanga
The local government in Tanga Region has praised religious
institutes for their support of community development projects in the region.
The statement was uttered by Tanga Regional Commissioner Captain (rtd) Jaka
Mwambi when he received 60 bags of cement from the Catholic Church, Tanga
diocese. The cement will be used for building a new community secondary school .
The RC said that many religious institutions are taking in active roles in
establish development projects by themselves or supporting those established by
the public.
The Roman Catholic Bishop for Tanga diocese, Anthony Banzi, thanked the
government for maintaining a good relationship with religious institutions,
which had encouraged them to take part in development.