edited by Donovan McGrath
Flooding in Tanzania city leaves at least 14 dead
News24 (South Africa) online: Fourteen people have died as a result of days of torrential rains and flooding in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s economic capital, police said … The number killed has been slowly rising as heavy rains have continued to hit the east African nation … Dar es Salaam regional commissioner Paul Makonda ordered primary schools closed for two days and advised families to leave inundated areas in a bid to limit the loss of life. (18 April 2018)
Tanzania: Diamond Platnumz Arrested for Sharing Indecent Content On Social Media
AllAfrica.com (Washington DC) online: Popular Musicians Nasib Abdul alias Diamond Platinumz is under police custody for posting indecent video clips on social media … Minister of Information, Arts culture and Sports Dr Harrison Mwakyembe revealed this on Tuesday April 17. Dr Mwakyembe also instructed the authorities to arrest a female Musician, Nandi after posting indecent videos on social media … He was responding to a supplementary question from Ulanga Member of Parliament, Goodluck Mlinga, who sought to know, what the government was doing against people, who are misusing social media platforms … (17 April 2018)
Tanzania launches early-age cervical cancer vaccine
BBC (UK) online: More than 600,000 girls in Tanzania have started receiving vaccines to prevent cervical cancer. Girls aged between nine and 14 are being targeted to protect them from developing the illness at an early age… Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in Tanzania and kills more women than any other form … Tanzania is the seventh African country to introduce the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine into its routine immunisation programme, after Uganda, Rwanda, Botswana, Mauritius, Seychelles and South Africa. The health minister says USD $15 will be spent treating each girl… Tanzania’s government hopes the early-stage vaccines will help to reduce the bill for cervical cancer treatment, which typically costs about USD $2,000 per patient…
(10 April 2018)
Tanzanian authors win Mabati-Cornell Prize
Daily Nation (Kenya) online: Two Tanzanian Kiswahili authors have won the 2017 Mabati-Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature. Ali Hilal Ali won the fiction category for his novel, Mmeza Fupa. The poetry award went to Dotto Rangimoto for his collection, Mwanangu Rudi Nyumbani. They pocketed USD $5,000 each… The winners of the third edition of the prestigious literature prize were announced online on January 15, 2018 by chair of the Board of Trustees, Abdilatif Abdalla. The awards ceremony followed in February in Nairobi. In their jury, the judges described Mmeza Fupa as: “Rarely does one encounter a Kiswahili novel whose writer has exhibited the nuanced mastery of artistic language which naturally flows and without traces of artificiality. In Mmeza Fupa, the various characters – main and otherwise – convey and represent the different social strata, with their attendant historical, political, psychological, cultural, rural and urban environments and concomitant contradictions.” “Although set on an imaginary island, the political novel is clearly speaking to what ails the African continent. Mmeza Fupa has opened a new door in this particular genre in Kiswahili Literature,” they added. “In Mwanangu Rudi Nyumbani, one encounters seductive metaphors and imagery, effectively and successfully used in diverse Kiswahili poetic forms and styles while articulating concerns that have direct bearing to the human condition,” the judges noted. “Dotto discusses weighty and serious matters but in a manner that doesn’t burden the reader. Instead he encourages one to keep on reading. He is a master of the craft. The volume is a great contribution to contemporary Kiswahili poetry,” they added… Ali is a budding Kiswahili novelist and poet. He was born in Kalani, Pemba, in 1989, and grew up in Wete … Ali’s initial attempt in novel and poetry writing was in 2008. His first novel, Safari Yangu, was published in 2015 by Buluu Publishing, in Paris, France. He has also contributed several poems in an anthology by five poets, Diwani ya Kurasa Mpya. Rangimoto, one of the upcoming Kiswahili poets, was born in Morogoro, Tanzania, in 1986. He completed his secondary education in 2004 at Morogoro Secondary School. Thereafter, he has been involved in small enterprise business and farming. He is a great enthusiast of Kiswahili literature, especially novels and poetry. (14 April 2018)
Tanzania’s Information minister wants Air Tanzania to hire beauty contestants
Business Daily Africa (Kenya) online: Tanzania’s information minister Dr Harrison Mwakyembe … says women participating in the Miss Tanzania beauty pageant should be considered for employment at the State-run airline Air Tanzania… [He] argues that by recruiting them, the beauty competition will be seen as a bridge to success for Tanzania’s beautiful ladies. Dr Mwakyembe spoke … while officiating this year’s Miss Tanzania’s pageant… “All they need is to undergo a three-monthtraining at the National Institute of Transport before joining the ATCL team,” he said. (9 April 2018)
Magufuli’s 24km wall helps curb theft of Tanzania’s gemstones, revenue up
Africa News (Pointe Noire, Congo) online: The government of Tanzania says revenue from its rare gemstones, Tanzanite, has risen four-fold for the first quarter of this year as against same time last year. Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa told lawmakers … that Tanzania earned over USD $316,000 from the minerals and the government puts it down to having curbed theft. The president … inaugurated a 24km wall around mines in the country’s north as a part of efforts to curb the theft and attendant loss of revenue from the mineral… John Pombe Magufuli ordered the military in September 2017 to build the wall which is estimated to have cost the government $3.5m. The blue-violet tanzanite gemstone is found only in the East African nation. Smuggling of minerals is a headache that many countries are struggling with. The move comes months after the president ordered renegotiation of mining concessions with multinational companies… (12 April 2018)
Tanzania takes historic step to save dwindling elephant population
CNN (USA) online: In Tanzania’s Selous Game Reserve … [a]lmost 90% of the park’s elephants have been lost over the past 40 years. “Tanzania has been extremely hard hit by the latest elephant poaching crisis that has hit the African continent for 10 years,” Bas Huijbregts, WWF’s African species manager, told CNN. In an effort to get a grip on the situation, a new project launched by the Tanzanian government, with support from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), is the country’s largest ever elephant collaring effort to protect the rapidly declining population… The project will span 12 months and around 60 elephants are expected to be tagged… The rangers will be able to track and identify Selous’ elephants, and respond in real-time when they are under threat. Satellite collaring is an established method of tracking wildlife and bolstering efforts to save species under threat, especially in such large areas… The majority of poaching of elephants is for ivory… In 40 years elephant numbers have plummeted from 110,000 to 15,200… Selous Game Reserve also hopes to boost the numbers of tourists. It’s a relatively underserved park compared to reserves in the north of the country… (11 April 2018)