Opinion
Analysis
Aga
Khan Hospital expansion important
Last week President Benjamin Mkapa laid a foundation stone for the phase II
expansion of the Aga Khan Hospital in Dar es Salaam. The symbolic ceremony was
witnessed by his Highness the Aga Khan and Minister for Health, Anna Abdallah.
The ceremony marked the beginning of the hospital’s expansion. It is expected
that upon completion, various medical services will be improved; and the
hospital will accommodate more patients at a time.
We have been told that the hospital’s special units, including five new
operating theatres are expected to be constructed and the capacity of the
Intensive Care Unit (ICU) be improved to accommodate more critically ill people.
The construction will also improve maternity wards.
This is indeed good news. Previously, patients were forced to travel abroad
seeking for such services at exorbitant costs. Now, the service will be
available in the in the country.
Minister Abdallah expressed optimism that the completion of the phase II
construction would pave the way for major open heart surgery to be conducted at
the hospital. Currently, Tanzania’s heart institute is the only institute
performing such operations.
In many cases, Tanzanians have had no option but to travel abroad especially to
India seeking medical services, including surgeries and orthopaedic treatment.
With commitment like that of the Aga Khan Hospital, many people will be relieved
of that struggle.
We would also wish to commend the government for waiving various taxes to health
institutes like the Aga Khan Hospital. This is important for the betterment of
heath services. If hospitals are burdened with taxes, it is unlikely that the
services provided will be affordable to most people.
The Aga Khan Hospital will continue to receive tax exemptions on imported
medicines, medical equipment and vehicles; this is indeed a sign of development.
A humanitarian
crisis close to home
The world’s largest humanitarian crisis is currently unfolding in DRC Congo.
This stated Jan Egeland, United Nation’s Undersecretary General for Humanitarian
Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator last week. The crisis is resulting in
numbers of deaths that matches a tsunami once every six months, according to
Egeland.
Egeland’s comparison clearly shows the absurd number of people that are killed
in the wars in the DRC. The tsunami in Asia and east Africa took 300,000 people,
and just as many are killed in the DRC every six months. If one takes the number
of deaths as an indicator, the country is the world’s worst ongoing humanitarian
crises.
In a world where news coverage also means international acknowledgement and thus
humanitarian help, Darfur has received more recognition than the crisis in the
DRC. And far more aid and support has reached Sudan.
In DRC, three million people are in need of help in order to survive, said
Egeland.
Once in a while the countries of the Great Lake’s Region come together. The
meetings and seminars tend to end with the same conclusions: We are dealing with
a terrible situation, people are dying and the number of refugees is increasing.
Solutions are scarce and action plans non-existent.
The conflict is problematic because it does not fit into the model of how
conflicts should look. There are not two clearly defined opposing sides that are
fighting each other in outright combat.
Solutions are hard to come by because most of the time they start from the wrong
end: Giving answers to problems that don’t correspond with the reality on the
ground.
So what is the rest of the world doing? Not much, is the sad answer. And if any
action is taken, they are marred by uncertainties and vague formulations.
The UN’s peacekeeping force, Monus, is with its 16,000 participants, the largest
ongoing operation by the UN. Last week, UN gave the fighting militias two weeks
to disarm – what will happen if they don’t remains to be decided.
So what is the African Union doing? On Wednesday last week, it declared that it
is planning to send 7,000 soldiers to the DRC to disarm the fighting groups.
However, the operation lacks financial backing.
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CCM unity crucial for success
By Evarist Kagaruki
Last week we questioned the former Zanzibar Chief Minister, Dr.
Mohamed Gharib Bilal’s real intentions behind his decision to challenge
President Amani Abeid Karume’s re-nomination as CCM’s presidential candidate in
the October general elections. We posed the rather vexing questions: Doesn’t he
have confidence in Karume’s leadership? Or is he trying to spoil the President’s
chances of being re-elected by creating political circumstances that would make
CCM go to the polls a divided and weak party? And if so, why?
As I was still trying to figure out the possible answers to these questions,
another (controversial) CCM member and prominent businessman in Zanzibar,
Mohamed Raza, announced his intention to join the nomination race to contest the
presidency of Zanzibar in the forthcoming elections. Then I decided I should
write more about this issue which is dominating political palaver in the streets
of Dar es Salaam – presumably even beyond.
Raza, just like Dr. Bilal, says because he believes CCM is a democratic party,
he wants to broaden the party’s democratic base on this question of presidential
nomination by joining the race. But what is perhaps most interesting about
Raza’s declared intent to pose yet another undesirable challenge to President
Karume’s nomination, is his concerns over the issues of Zanzibar’s economy and
the problems bedevilling the Union (between Tanganyika and Zanzibar), which he
relates to each other. Talking to the BBC Swahili Service on March 17, he cited
these as the main motivating factor behind his presidential aspirations.
While he praises Karume for his efforts in moving Zanzibar’s economy forward
(something no honest Zanzibari will deny), Raza believes that the “lopsided”
nature of the present structure of the Union inhibits economic sovereignty and
progress of the Isles. So, he says, he wants the presidency so that he could
ameliorate the situation (of course that is easier said than done)! If these are
his real intentions, then he means well.
However, as we pointed out in the previous article, CCM has a well-established
practice of allowing the Union and Zanzibar presidents (who hail from the ruling
party) to complete their two terms. And Dr. Bilal and Raza – indeed both CCM
members – know this very well. So, commonsense directs that these two members’
defiance of their own party in this issue could mean just one thing: splitting
the party, and narrowing the chances of President Karume’s re-election!
Assuming the allegations about the “worsening” within CCM-Zanzibar are
well-founded, and if the present frantic competition for presidential nomination
within the party in the Isles reflects a divided CCM, then, come October, CUF
should be laughing all the way to the polling stations! Because, as one
newspaper correctly put it, if a united CCM could win the elections in Zanzibar
by a laser-thin margin, then, definitely, the divided ruling party’s chances of
winning the next elections (even by the narrowest margin) become slimmer.
I share the widely held view that Karume’s nomination as CCM’s Zanzibar
presidential candidate is a foregone conclusion. I do not see him being
jettisoned in favour of any other CCM presidential contender. But, for CCM, the
crucial question now should be: After Karume’s nomination, what next? The
obvious losers of the nomination, each of whom is believed to have a sizeable
following within the party, will certainly pray that they all lose (bora tukose
wote!) – that is, including president Karume (at the polls)!
This is the scenario I can see unfolding on the political horizon of Zanzibar
after Karume has been named and confirmed the CCM presidential candidate. It
raises the prospect of a difficult CCM campaign for President Karume’s
re-election and enhances the political fortunes of CUF. The way I see it, this
is going to be the most unpredictable election we have seen in Zanzibar since
the advent of a multiparty system in the country.
I think that CCM’s defeat at the polls in October (whether in Zanzibar or on the
Mainland) would be the worst kind of “present” for President (and Chairman)
Mkapa when he leaves office at the end of his term later this year. Naturally,
he would be proud to go into retirement sure that his successor is a CCM man (or
woman) and that the person in Zanzibar State House is none other than Karume.
But, that is possible only if CCM starts its electoral campaign as a united,
winning party. At least for Zanzibar, I see that possibility is very dim. A
house divided can not stand!