By Elias Mhegera
Dar es Salaam
Tanzania’s legendary drummer Morris Nyunyusa, whose composition has been adopted by TBC as news bulletin signature deserves royalties for the piece, it has been revealed.
Nyunyusa’s drums-only melody, followed by six beeps synchronised to the last six seconds to the hour, before ‘Hii ni taarifa ya habari kutoka radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam…,” has hypnotised listeners for over half a century now.
This point of view follows an exclusive interview with Raphael Nyunyusa, third son of the late famous drummer at the deceased’s residence, Mtoni kwa Aziz Ali suburb, in the Dar es Salaam.
He says that currently the issue is no longer payment of royalties on his father’s work, but a proper place in history for his father who, with his great talents, was a vision-impaired man.
He remembers that at his father’s funeral in 1999, both the government and the then Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam, re-christened TBC, promised to give due attention to the legacy of Morris Nyunyusa.
Raphael Nyunyusa (62) says that he has been saddened by what has befallen his late father and other artists who have made a big contribution to this country, only to be neglected completely after their active engagement.
Recalling his father’s history, Nyunyusa Jnr says that Moris lost his sight at the age of three after a severe attack of smallpox. After that his mother accompanied him in most of his movements.
It was on these travels that Moris became inspired by traditional dance. He says his mother led traditional rituals and ceremonies known as “unyago”, for girls that were shortly to be married.
He says under normal circumstances males are not allowed at such ceremonies, but Nyunyusa was an exception through his almost-blindness, so girls and women were never embarrassed by his presence.
“My father shifted from marimba to drums in 1935, one year after he was baptized and assumed the Christian name of Moris, prior to that he was known as Msavila”, says Nyunyusa Jnr.
He identified his mentor in drumming as Mohamed Kalesa, who taught him on the three drums, but Nyunyusa had increased this number from 3 to 7 by 1958, before he was discovered by the Tanganyika Broadcasting Corporation, one year later.
Nyunyusa Jnr said that it was during the visit of experts from TBC that he was recorded by the late Salim Seif Mkamba for the first time in 1959, and this was subsequently followed by regular invitations from TBC to many national festivals.
The government decided to shift Moris Nyunyusa from Tunduru to Dar es Salaam in 1969. One year later he starred in representing the nation at the Expo-70 in Tokyo, Japan. After that he managed to attract international acclaim.
From 1970 he was fully employed in the ministries that dealt with culture. From time to time the department of culture has been transferred from one ministry to another.
From 1970 to his retirement in 1992, the late Nyunyusa assumed different posts, until he finally retired with the title of Assistant Senior Cultural Officer. “From his retirement to the time of his death the artist lived in the shadow of his history,” says Nyunyusa Jnr.
He says that the RTD/TBC took the step of preserving Nyunyusa’s copyright, but this has never been reflected in terms of giving his name the honour it deserves.
He remembers that during the launching ceremony of the TBC early in 2008, he was invited to represent his family and he received a certificate of appreciation, which is all he got from the radio that has used his father’s signature tune from pre-independence up to now.
He says that his father had been the ambassador for his country through his talent in more than 15 countries that he visited in Africa and Europe, despite his handicap.
He says that at the funeral ceremony, the government, through Prof Juma Kapuya, and the ruling CCM through its then Secretary General, Phillip Mangula, and the RTD director Abdul Ngallawa gave forth ‘sweet words’, but none of these have borne any fruit.
Nyunyusa Jnr said that he established the Nyunyusa Dancing Troupe, where his son Michael took a leading role and could whack 12 drums at a go, but due to scarcity of funds the troupe collapsed.
His ambition to inspire some action led him to visit the RTD/TBC several times, where he met the then Acting Director Ms Edda Sanga, he has also approached COSOTA and Temeke Member of Parliament Abbas Mtemvu.
The Copyright Society of Tanzania’s Chief Executive Officer, Yustus Mkinga, says it is very difficult for him to guarantee whether there will be payments or not, because he has not seen the contract.
He says in this case it is the Copyright Act 1966 which is applicable, but it was amended in 1999. The current law in operation is the Copyright and Neighbouring Act 1999.
Under the preceding act, the works of the late Nyunyusa receive payment up to 20 years after his death, while under the current law it is up to 50 years.
Mkinga says that since Nyuyusa was an employee, it might be the owner of his works is his employer, depending on the nature of the contract.
However, Mkinga said, under any circumstances, the family deserves a certain percentage in terms of payment. He therefore promised to make a follow up after getting all the relevant documents.
“This is not the first time that I am hearing about the Nyuyusa case, but the problem is we do not have any written document to elucidate the nature of the contract, but I will take this as a reminder and convene all the concerned parties”, he said.
For his part, the Director of Culture Development in the Ministry of Information Culture and Sports, Prof. Hermas Mwansoko, said that his ministry respects the work of the late Nyunyusa and it will continue to do so.
“We have directed the TBC to continue using Nyuyusa’s drum as a signature tune before the news bulletin, we will also honour him in many other ways, for example the naming of some halls or conference rooms after Nyunyusa”, he said.
Prof Mwansoko said that it was unfortunate that when he was handed over the department he was never told anything about Nyunyusa, but he just took the initiative to make some follow up out of a sheer interest in cultural issues.
“We will make sure that Nyunyusa gets a suitable memorial, either in Bagamoyo at “Taasisi ya Sanaa na Utamaduni Bagamoyo” (TaSUBa), formerly the Bagamoyo College of Arts, or at the Cultural Complex currently under construction at Kilomo, just a few kilometers from there, or at the Village Museum in Kijitonyama”, he said.
The Express encountered Temeke MP, Abbas Mtemvu, who said he had pursued the matter in Parliament and the responsible minister replied, he addressed the issue to Hansard for more information.
In response, on August 2, 2006, Minister Seif Muhammed Khatibu said that Nyunyusa had made a contract with the RTD and had been paid for his work,
Spokesperson of TBC Ngalimecha Ngahyoma concurred with this stance by saying that Nyunyusa was paid according to the prevailing circumstances of the time.
He said that if the radio was to pay every artist who recorded during its monopoly then it would run bankrupt. “Does it mean that all the artists who recorded during the monopoly of our radio should come for payment of royalties?”, he asked in astonishment.
Gross indiscipline reason for MKUKUTA'S titanic fall
By Damas Makangale
Dar es Salaam
MISMANAGEMENT of public finance has been the major obstacle to Tanzania’s development goals under the umbrella of anti-poverty economic vehicle Mkukuta, The Express can report today.
Stakeholders have cited misallocations of public funds, embezzlement and
over- expenditure as the major culprits behind the failure of the ambitious programme.
“We failed to deliver through the country’s economic vehicle Mkukuta because of the rampant extravagance of public funds,” says Dr Oswald Mashindano, an economist at the University of Dar es Salaam.
Acronym for Swahili version of National Strategy for Economic Growth and Reduction Poverty, Mkukuta was established in early 2005 in an endevour to have in a place a comprehensive national economic development vision.
The Economics lecturer said the proportion of expenditure does not augur with the actual resources that the country have. He said there is poor public finance management at all levels across the country.
He said despite Tanzania recording an impressive financial performance in national income, the ordinary people cannot feel the improvements reflected by the increased GDP.
The country’s GDP has been increasing dramatically and currently stands as 7.10 percent per years.
Dr Mashindano said economic growth rate doesn’t match with the reduction of income at households.“These public funds are always spent in the national, regional and district levels but at the grassroots levels nobody is benefiting with the surplus produced by the country,” he stressed.
He said the central government should cut off all unnecessary expenditure in conferences, workshops, seminars, safaris.
Dr Mashindano added the government should allocate the funds to the top- priorities areas indicated in the Mkukuta in order to effectively reduce poverty.
As an example of the income poverty, he said ordinary people receive income that differ with the actual cost of living.
“Inflation has caused the ordinary people to feel economic hardship due to the increase of prices of various items,” Dr Mashindano said.
He said the government should adhere to strict economic management principles if it’s keen on improving and reducing income poverty for individuals.
Dr Mashindano explained that Mkukuta targets were not matched with the current country’s limited resources, adding the majority of senior government officials were preparing annual plans without considering Mkukuta priorities.
“It’s important to have annual plans at ministry level which are relevant to the Mkukuta priority areas, “ Dr Mashindano stressed.
Noting that the majority of government officials at regional, district and ward levels don’t know what Mkukuta is all about, said government officials and the public needs to be sensitized on the national anti-poverty strategy.
He said Mkukuta was also failed by political pressure that led to the misallocations of the public funds from Mkukuta priority areas to less important ones, warning politics should be kept at bay in implementation of Mkukuta.
On his part, Senior Lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) Faculty of Law, Dr Seng’ondo Mvungi said Mkukuta is unrealistic due to the fact that poverty has been created by the government itself.
Dr Mvungi said the anti-poverty initiative proved unsuccessful due to grand corruption and controversial government tenders such as the Richmond fracas.
He said senior government officials who were directly implicated in the Richmond saga as main architects behind the controversial contract violated bidding procedures process that costs the country trillions shillings.
Dr Mvungi added that Mkukuta has been thespian because of the Richmond scandal and other controversial sagas that sipped of billions of taxpayers' money from government coffers.
He said the decision made by the Parliament to close discussion on Richmond scandal, which lead to the resignation of political guru and former Premier Edward Lowassa and two cabinet ministers in 2008, was wrong.
Dr Mvungi expressed his deep concern over the parliament decision, which he described as betrayal “The parliament has let down Tanzanians because MPs failed to go delve into the scandal that had gripped public attention for so long,” he said.
According to him, the MPs demonstrated reluctance to take the government head on during the final moment, adding the decision was made out of personal rather than public interest.
He said there during the implementation of Mkukuta, the country saw gross violation of law and human rights such a the case of ordinary people at Kipawa, Dar es Salaam, who were evicted by force by the government without compensation.
Presenting the Richmond report in the National Assembly on February 2008, Dr Harrison Mwakyembe, chairman of the select committee, said their findings had shown that Premier Lowassa had a hand in the whole issue.
The committee was formed to investigate circumstances that led the government to enter into a contract with Richmond Development Company LLC to generate power in 2006, when the country was facing power problems.
The select committee was formed after Members of Parliament said that they were not satisfied with the manner in which the tender was awarded to the American company to generate 100 megawatts of electricity and connect it into the national grid at a cost of Tsh 172.9bn/-
NEC out to encourage disabled voters
By Elias Mhegera
Dar es Salaam
THE National Electoral Commission (NEC) is looking for ideas about how it can serve best the disabled, prior to and during the general election, later this year.
NEC Vice Chairman, Justice Omar Makungu, said that his commission has realized the importance of seeking the views of disabled groups, because of the various impediments that they face at the time of the election campaign fever, and eventually in the voting process itself.
He said that disabled people might face difficulties in accessing information whenever they move from one area to another.
He said under such circumstances it must be taken into consideration that some of them might despair and neglect to vote, simply because they have not been provided with the essential amenities.
Instead, he urged them to participate fully at all stages and report any difficulties that they might face during that election process.
“We know you have been left aside in so many social activities, but we are asking you to share your views so that we can incorporate them into our comprehensive plan,” he said.
Justice Makungu said that the disabled must take advantage of the technologies that are associated with voters’ education, namely TV stations, radio, and news papers.
He advised them to ensure that they are on the voters’ register prior to the election so as to avoid obstacles.
He urged those who have attained the age of 18 years plus to register in time, in order to exercise their democratic right on voting day.
He promised that his commission will keep the disabled informed regularly, with regard to changes that might take place prior to the election.
He encouraged them to take advantage of available technology in order to get possession of relevant data stored on various bases, concerning the election process.
He also called on them to cooperate with various stakeholders who disseminate education to voters, namely artists, civil society, religious institutions and government bodies.
Justice Makungu said that there will be new constituencies in the forthcoming elections, but he promised that the disabled, just like any other voters, will be kept informed of those changes.
Commonwealth society for science and technology
By Express Reporter
Dar es Salaam
THE Royal Commonwealth Society has advocated development on science and technology through the club’s commitment to eradicate poverty and enhance development on education.
Speaking during the annual Commonwealth Day party in Dar es Salaam early this week, the Vice President and Honorary Representative of the Royal Commonwealth Society Sir. Andy Chande said Science and technology were key areas which the club is currently looking for development.
He said science and technology greatly contribute to wealth creation, poverty eradication and good health provision to over two billion people or citizens in Commonwealth member states.
Sir Chande said Queen Elizabeth who is the head of Commonwealth Society, has this year raised awareness around issues of science and technological development which according to her are fundamental for human development.
“At the Kampala Commonwealth meeting in 2007 the leaders called for renewed commitment to science and technology and now we have Her Majesty’s theme which reminds us that science underpins economic and social progress and that access to technology is fundamental to equitability and the practice of democracy”, Sir. Chande added.
In recent years, he said, the Commonwealth has sought to engage in many new areas almost all of which must of necessity work through science and technology which are both major drivers to economic and social development.
“Yet they alone cannot redress the development issues we are facing today. We need to broker partnerships that combine the benefits accruing from scientific and technological advances, with the capacity to deliver positive influence and change in favour of those of us who are living in developing countries”, he said.
He said that the Commonwealth’s defining feature of foreign relations is a particular form of globalisation and the global cooperation which is voluntary because the relationships between member States are based on free will.
“The Commonwealth’s power lies in the strength and clarity of its shared values. Despite their differences each and every one of the members has made a commitment to freedom and democracy; to the eradication of poverty and inequality”, he said.
He said the Commonwealth society will cherish to enhance democracy, human values and political development among the member countries. The annual Commonwealth party that was held at the Nigerian High Commissioners official residence was attended by several High Commissioners representing their countries in Tanzania. The society welcomed Rwanda as its newest member.
Global coffee future promising
By Elias Mhegera
Dar es Salaam
TANZANIA is losing substantial amounts of money through the smuggling of coffee into neighbouring countries, Tanzania Coffee Marketing Board chairman Pius Ngeze has revealed.
Speaking at the Information Services Auditorium in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday this week, Ngeze said that there was a need for consciousness-raising on the part of the stakeholders so as to understand how the problem could be resolved amicably.
He was briefing the press on outcomes of the International Coffee Organization conference, which took place in Guatemala this year from February 26th to 28th.
“We have observed that if we want to have a place on the world market we must concert the efforts of various stakeholders, producers and consumers”, he said.
Ngeze said that it was strange to find that some coffee- growers flee the local market just to sell their crop on the black market, where payments are uncertain and very risky.
He was accompanied by Zawadi Mshana, the acting manager Dar es Salaam branch, and Frank Assenga, the TCMB exportation officer.
He said that his entourage was led by the Minister for Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, Steven Wassira, and another three officials.
He named them as Adolph Kumburu, Director of TCMB, Prof James Teri, Executive Director Tanzania Coffee Research Institute, and Yusuf Kashangwa, Director of the Tanzanian Trade Centre in London.
Ngeze said that his entourage had learnt that there are many market opportunities opening every now and then but producers have failed to utilize them fully, Tanzania not being an exception.
He said that amongst distinguished guests at the conference was Ambassador Ali Mchumo, Managing Director of the Common Fund for Commodities.
Mchumo pledged in his opening speech, which is available on the website, that the CFC will in future intervene in the coffee sector and in other commodities. This is by means of considering the critical income derived from the production and trade of commodities by rural populations.
“We are also aware that although coffee has transformed itself into a global commodity, coffee remains essentially a commodity connected with poverty, mainly because it is grown or harvested by poor small-holder farmers or in poor rural areas which have not yet benefited from the global coffee industry”, he said.
For his part, Ngeze told journalists that there are new opportunities not yet fully consolidated in China, India, and Russia. He highlighted that the demand for coffee is still very high, if Tanzanians were to invest fully in the business.
He said that coffee-growing is equally affected by the global climate changes. Therefore Tanzanians should find ways of adapting to such changes in order to avoid losses.
“We should find ways of cushioning coffee producers in this country, where there is low consumption that affects the prices of coffee, for instance, to know the rate of consumption is five percent while it was just two percent in 2003”, he said.
He said that the situation is quite different even in other developing countries like Brazil, where the rate of local consumption is 17.5 percent.
Ngeze admitted that some coffee-growers have been frustrated by how co-operative unions were operating, to the extent that the government has decided to allow private companies to function in the coffee business, in order to support it.
He castigated some middlemen who exploit poor growers so that these do not receive the profits that they deserve from that lucrative business.
He called for all the authorities concerned to take immediate action against smugglers of coffee, because they weaken the government in terms of monitoring revenues, and for auditing purposes, he said that they do not even provide any statistics.
Ngeze said that smuggling reduces the monetary value but it should be dealt with step by step, by identifying first who are the culprits in the business.
He advised local producers to enter the market gradually by dealing with instant coffee, which is relatively cheap for them.
He called for a media campaign so that local consumers can change their negative attitude towards coffee products. For instance, he admitted that during his school days he used to hear that coffee was detrimental to the human being’s health.
He said that he used to hear that the use of coffee could bring high blood pressure, but currently he has realized that the reverse is the case, “coffee alerts the body and activates the mind,” he publicized.
He admitted that it was difficult for Tanzanians to invest in the roast and ground coffee business because it demands a lot of specialists so as to deliver a great-tasting brew.
“Our coffee is delicious and probably among those of the best quality in the world, but we need machines that can dispense delicious coffee like those found in the developed world,” he said.
He added that roast and ground coffee uses top quality ingredients, and it demands that the producer find exactly the right product that is in demand, that is why it should be left to the experts.
According to the internationally renowned Business Week magazine, issue of August 2008, ever since Bill Gates announced a USD 47 million grant to TechnoServe at the World Economic Forum in Davos, in January that year, the coffee industry has benefited from the grant.
The magazine says this brought major shifts in management as well. Running the Tanzanian coffee-growing project, which is getting a big chunk of the Gates grant, is Tim King, a 10-year veteran of McKinsey & Co.
The magazine added that the coffee project has been pioneered since 2002 by a couple of other TechnoServers, who ran the program on the land in northern Tanzania.
These fellows noted that about 3 million households in East Africa depend on coffee growing for all or part of their income. They had near-perfect altitude, temperature, and soil conditions.
Most of them grew Arabica beans, the better of the two main commercial varieties. Still, their crops fetched an average of six cents less than the world commodity prices for such beans on the New York Commodity Exchange.
EADB to pay over $104m to a local firm
By Timothy Kahoho
THE East African Development Bank is supposed to pay a local firm a total of US $ 104m towards execution of an arbitration award following a Court of Appeal of Tanzania judgment last Friday.
The execution of the said arbitration was attributed by a loan agreement dated 7th March, 1990, and supplemental loan dated 16th June, 1992, between the EADB as a lender and the local firm known as Blueline Enterprises Limited (BEL) as the borrower, for the loan under SDR valued at US $ 2,279,000.00.
However, the BEL utilised the SDR to purchase trucks, patrol vehicles and communication equipment, wherein the said local firm proceeded repayment plus interest amounting to US $ 1,527,358.38 until 21st January, 1995, when it stopped and thereby remaining US $ 13,754,954.00 as outstanding balance.
It was the outstanding loan which drove both parties into legal tussle from the High Court of Tanzania up to the Court of Appeal of Tanzania as Civil Appeal No. 101 of 2009, which was recently heard and determined by a panel of judges consisting Justice January Henry Msoffe, Justice Nathalia Philip Kimaro and Jastice Mbarouk Salim Mbarouk.
Accordingly, the Deputy Registrar of the Court, John S. Mgetta did deliver the judgment on 5th March, 2010, in Civil Appeal No. 101 of 2009 between the EADB, as appellant, and the , Blueline Enterprises Limited (BEL), as the respondent, to the detriment of bank in respect of execution of the said award issued by an Alternate Sole Arbitrator, Prof. Ambwene T. H. Mwakyusa.
“In the upshot, we dismiss the appeal with costs,” declared Mgetta in the judgment given by the panel of judges of the Court. Their verdict left the EADB facing liquidation for paying the BEL over US $ 104 million as a result of the said arbitration award by Prof. Mwakyusa.
“It follows that in the light of what we have endeavoured to state above on the effect in law of the order of dismissal and the notice of appeal there is no need for us to address the other aspects of the appeal,” the judges concluded in their joint judgment read by Mgetta.
They said the matter had a chequered historical background from August 31, 2005, when the said arbitrator, Prof. Mwakyusa, gave an award in favour of BEL. It should be recalled that the award to BEL was US $ 61,386,853.00 but kept on increasing due to accumulative interests that is has now reached over US $ 104 million.
The EADB had further filed Misc. Civil Application No. 85 of 2006 in the High Court at Dar es Salaam, as an application for extension of time to file a petition for an order to set aside the arbitrator’s award but was on 14/9/2006 marked withdrawn by Judge William Mandia. After that the bank filed on June 22, 2007 a petition for an order to set aside the award which was then dismissed by Judge Mandia for being time-barred.
The bank again filed Misc. Civil Cause No. 177 of 2007 in same court registry against BEL, seeking extension of time for it to institute application to set aside the same award pursuant to Section 16 of the Arbitration Act, Cap. 15 R.E.2002.
At this juncture, a counsel for BEL, Prof. Gamaliel Mgongo Fimbo, lodged an objection that similar application was withdrawn by the bank before Judge Mandia without seeking permission to institute a fresh application of the same order. The objection was therefore heard and determined by Judge Raziah Sheikh on March 26, 2009, when she struck out with costs.
It was her verdict that a panel of four counsels for EADB, involving a counsel from One Essex Court in the United Kingdom (UK), Michael Sullivan QC, assisted by Dilip Kesaria and Lugano Mwandambo, both of Kesaria & Co. Advocates, and Peter C.R. Kabatsi from the Kampala Associated Advocates, Uganda, presented oral submission before the panel of judges of the Court, thereby arguing that the bank’s survival would be in jeopardy if they could not reverse or quash the decision Judge Sheikh dated 26th March, 2009.
Sullivan had in fact alleged that the bank was in danger of being liquidated if they won't waive her ruling been delivered in favour of the BEL on the material date. He made the submission on behalf of his colleagues for the bank before the said panel of the Court.
The counsel from the UK said that there was a great danger of the bank being liquidated that would cause serious consequences for the economies of the member states of the East African Community (EAC) , thereof defeating one of its objectives as provided under the EADB’s Charter of 1984 and as amended by the Finance Act, No.13 of 2005.
The appeal was in fact an outcome of arbitration award after BEL been prompted by a suit filed by BEL as Misc. Civil Cause No. 135 of 1995 in the High Court of Tanzania at Dar es Salaam, disputing the act of EADB appointing a Receiver Manager to take over the business of the local firm. It was by that said suit that the court issued an order without the bank being heard (exparte) to restrain it and the Receiver Manager from taking over and run the BEL’s business.
At any rate, both parties latter on agreed to resolve the matter before a Sole Arbitrator, the late Hon. Francis Nyalali, who proceeded with arbitration and delivered by 30th September, 2002, an award for the BEL to pay the balance of the principal loan and interest.
Notwithstanding, the BEL had on 11th October, 2002, filed Misc. Civil Cause No. 307 of 2002 as a petition against the bank, seeking an order to set aside Nyalali’s arbitral award dated 30th September, 2002, and praying for orders that the arbitration proceedings continue before the Alternate Sole Arbitrator. The petition was before Judge Bernard Luanda that he gave a ruling on 30th July, 2003, by which Nyalali’s award was quashed and set aside hence ordering fresh proceedings of arbitration before Prof.Mwakyusa.
The BEL then lodged Misc. Civil Cause No. 135 of 2005, as an application for execution of an order issued by the High Court on 12th July, 2006, for the bank to part with total sum of US $ 68,548,653.00, while at same time the bank challenged Mwakyusa’s award to BEL by lodging Misc. Civil Cause 85 of 2006.
“This matter has had a chequered historical background,” the judges of the Court made inference of sequence of events up to June 22, 2007, when the bank filed a petition for an order to set aside the award which was dismissed by Judge Mandia for being time barred.
Regarding the current appeal, the judges jointly stated that the bank was represented before them by the same counsels, whereas BEL had the services of Prof. Fimbo.
“We commend learned counsel for efforts and industry in arguing the parties’ respective positions in the matter. Indeed, just to show how much research was put into the matter by learned counsel not less than thirty authorizes were cited,” they narrated in their verdict.
In brief, they said in the course of hearing Prof. Fimbo raised a crucial point of law, wherein Judge Mandia had dismissed the petition for setting aside the said award that instead appealing to the highest court of the land the bank resorted to file an application before Judge Sheikh. However, Sullivan responded by submitting at length claiming that the verdict of Judge Mandia did not amount to a final or conclusive determination of the matter by the lower court of law.
“In short, the application before Sheikh, J. was res judicata,” the judges concluded in their verdict to the detriment of the bank.
Women still hit by poverty despite festivities
By Damas Makangale
Dar es Salaam
Tanzania marked the International Woman Day on Monday this week with the calls for women’s emancipation echoed across the country while the latest statistics shows that about 60 percent of women in Tanzania live in absolute poverty.
International Women's Day (IWD), a major day of global celebration for women is marked on the 8th of March every year.Across the regions, the focus of the celebrations ranged from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and social achievements.
The gloomy statistics reveal the bleak situation is a result of the increasing poverty among the rural and urban population generally, the growing gap between the rich and poor; women and men; and among women themselves.
In the rural sector and the poor urban suburbs, women carry a heavier burden because by tradition, they lack property rights and adequate knowledge on existing credit facilities.
The report from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) says due to their low education level, their knowledge and skills on how to manage their work is generally low.
The report says most women also depend on poor technologies, which consume their time and energy.
To overcome this situation, Tanzania committed itself to enhance women’s economic capacity through making credit facilities available to a majority of women, building and supporting women’s entrepreneurial skills, improving their management capabilities, increase training and access to technology.
One constraint to women’s progress, according to UNDP, is lack of financial resources for monitoring utilisation of funds, while another one is the large number of the credit needy groups which the available funds cannot suffice.
The government of Tanzania’s latest women development report identified strengthening NGOs as one of the ways forward, so that they are able to provide credit to more beneficiaries and be self-sustaining.
In his address to the nation from Tabora, where day was marked at the national level, President Jakaya Kikwete said the newly-enacted Election Expenses Act would ensure women competed with men for elective posts on equal footing
The president said the law has created a level playing field, as it would ensure that no one uses their financial clout to elbow other contestants out of the race for elective posts.
He also noted that women had proved they were capable of performing, adding that those in his cabinet had not disappointed him.
Top United Nations officials marked International Women’s Day by calling for greater support to women, particularly in developing countries, so that they can be empowered and contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals ( MDGs), the eight globally agreed anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline.
“When women are denied the opportunity to better themselves and their societies, we all lose. Until women and girls are liberated from poverty and injustice, all our goals – peace, security, sustainable development – stand in jeopardy,” said UN Secretary General Ban kin- Moon