The country celebrated 40 years of independence on 9th December. President Mkapa, addressing a large gathering at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam said: “We have been independent for 40 years; it should not take us another 40 years to complete our independence by winning the war against poverty …. With determination, initiative and cooperation Tanzania can succeed in getting rid of poverty. The debt relief which Tanzania has obtained, the correct social and macro-economic policies being pursued as well as peace, stability, solidarity and natural resources constitute a firm basis upon which to accelerate the war on poverty” he said.

He pardoned 4,000 prisoners particularly those with HIV/Aids, cancer, TB, those above 60 years of age, and women who were pregnant or breast feeding. The President also reduced sentences on other prisoners by three months except for those serving for offences connected to illicit drugs, graft, banditry, rape, sodomy and cattle rustling – Guardian.

The new East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) was inaugurated on November 29 and the new East African Court of Justice (ECJ) on November 30. The budget for the East African Community (EAC) has been increased by 237% in the 2001/2002 financial year as its activities rapidly increase. Each of the three partner states will now contribute a total of US$ 1,666,387.

The Speaker of the new East African Assembly is former Tanzanian Defence Minister Abdulrahman Omari Kinana. The treaty to re­establish the EAC was originally signed on 30th November, 1999 following the collapse of the earlier community in 1977. The two Tanzanian judges appointed to the new court are Justices Augustine Ramadhani and Joseph Warioba.

When I was working as a VSO in Dodoma in the early nineties, I joined a local band playing dance and taarab music. The band was made up of about 20 musicians (varying a bit from day to day) with two guitars, a bass, keyboard, an occasional accordion and saxophone and lots of drummers. There were usually about three or four singers singing together in tight harmony. The dance songs all started off slowly (rumba) then livened up (kwasa-kwasa/mayeno) and a song could last over 10 minutes, with lots of improvised solos. It was only after a few months of playing with them that I realised that all the instruments belonged to a local tajiri (rich man) and that none of these excellent musicians could afford to buy their own instruments.

Apart from the few who played music in their spare time, the band members had a very hard life. On one occasion I remember they were on tour and eventually ran out of money in Dumila (near Morogoro) not having enough money for food let alone the fare to Dodoma. They were about to start selling off the instruments, but luckily the manager of a local guesti (guest house) let them play for their food and after a few nights with good audiences they able to return – all noticeably thinner. The band made some recordings, and we played on Radio Tanzania, but not much of this trickled through to the band members whose main income was playing at weddings and political functions, and getting tips from guests.

I am glad to say that on recent visits I have found the situation improving. It seems that Tanzanian music has finally broken the domination of Zaire/Democratic Republic of the Congo and suddenly everyone is listening to Swahili bands. In the early nineties there were hardly any Tanzanian bands on the radio (I can remember only about 3 or 4 songs by Magereza Jazz & Mlimani Park Orchestra) and their recordings were usually pretty awful quality. Now following from Diamond Sound, which was a mixed Tanzanian/Congolese band, there are a group of bands like Tam Tam (African Revolution), Twanga Pepeta (African Stars) and Chuchu Sound who all attract large audiences. These days it seems like about 75% of dance music on the radio and in the discos is by Tanzanian bands. I was also glad to find out that several of the musicians I had known in Dodoma are now doing well in the Dar-es-Salaam bands.

In September I met Muumini Mwinjuma (‘Coach wa Dunia’) who is the band leader of Tam Tam at the Lion Hotel in Sinza, and I asked him what he thought was the reason for the changes. He mentioned that several of the band members had been playing in Nairobi but had returned to Dar seeing the economic prospects reviving. There are more restrictions on pirating cassettes -‘original’ cassettes are much more widely available and the bands (or anyway band owners) see more of the proceeds. Also the quality of the recordings has vastly improved – there is a studio in Dar and CD’s are available (though at TShs 12,000 (£10) a time they are not yet widespread). A big reason for the popularity is having songs in Swahili with meaningful lyrics that people can enjoy. The latest album from Tam Tam (Maisha Kitendawili – Life is a riddle) deals with difficult issues like Aids (‘Ndani kwetu limeingia Nyambizi – tujihadhari ­ kuna hatari’ – A monster has come among us – we should be on our guard, there is danger) as well as love songs. It seems that Tanzanians have finally developed their own style.

If you want to experience it yourself I would recommend you try the Tam Tam CD! These are available from Mr M Baraka who is the band owner of both Twanga Pepeta and Tam Tam at twangapepetas@hotmail.com. For other African music try ‘Stern’s Music’, 293 Euston Road, near Warren Street station in London, or www.sternsmusic.com
Jacob Knight

The Guardian has reported that Tanzania is to receive over US$ 3 billion in debt relief after reaching ‘completion point’ under the enhanced framework of the ‘Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative’. The additional relief, which will be spread over a 20-year period, will be used to strengthen support for social sectors as envisaged under the Tanzania Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, prior to the relief, Tanzania’s foreign debt stood at $6.6 billion and it was now expected to fall to $5.8 billion in 2002. The World Bank said that the government would reduce debt servicing by 47% which would enable it to allocate more funds to education, health, water, roads and poverty eradication.

Tanzania will become the fourth country after Uganda, Bolivia and Mozambique, to qualify for substantially increased assistance under the enhanced initiative following its successful implementation of all the stipulated requirements.

FREE PRIMARY EDUCATION
The government has confirmed the abolition of primary school fees and the World Bank has announced its approval of a US$ 150 million interest-free credit to expand school access and increase school retention at primary level (Thank you Roger Carter for sending this item -Editor).

The first results of these policies were announced by President Mkapa who said that Tanzania had enrolled over 1,100,000 pupils in standard one this year, a 41 % increase over the 779,000 pupils enrolled in the year 2000. Speaking at the Tanzania Consultative Group meeting in Dar es Salaam, Mkapa said that this success was due to timely financial support to Tanzania’s Education Sector Development Programme (ESDP) and the Primary School Development Programme.

THE WAR ON POVERTY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
On efforts to wage war on poverty the President said that though considerable progress had been made in preparing and costing sector­specific interventions to alleviate poverty, international financing mechanisms had not changed to suit the progress made. “Existing international financing mechanisms are, it seems to us, still largely similar to those of the preceding years. There is a pressing need to review them, in order to ensure realistic, effective, and more flexible support for interventions aimed at reducing poverty” he said. More flexible and untied forms of international assistance were critical to Tanzania’s poverty reduction efforts at this stage, when it was becoming increasingly important to embark on more cost-effective and imaginative programmes to uplift the poor. On the country’s economic performance, the President said reforms so far undertaken had paid off as Tanzania had started to distinguish herself as a country with improved investment prospects. He said that investment, as a per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had started to increase and the overall rate of real GDP growth had accelerated to about 5% in 2000 with a projected 6% growth for the current calendar year. “Despite these welcome developments, the general economic performance still falls short of what is needed in order to meet our poverty reduction targets; we need to attain a much higher economic growth rate” observed President Mkapa. On poverty eradication efforts in hard hit rural areas the President said there must be new and deliberate efforts to help peasants increase crop production and sell at a profit.” No amount of investment and increased production in manufacturing, mining or tourism will be sufficient to sustainably lift an economy that depends on agriculture for 45% of its GDP, unless there is progress in agriculture,” he said.

The Dar es Salaam Express (September 6-12) complained about parking restrictions near State House in Dar es Salaam. Excerpts:

‘Most of us are aware of the fact that we are not allowed to park opposite the State House. One of these days though, someone is bound to forget that. The beach opposite is an attractive spot and considering the fact that hot days are almost upon us making beaches more attractive, you might want to just park there for a second to check where the boundary of ‘no parking’ ends. Make not that mistake. The signboard is not something you could hope to find in a million years unless you treasure hunt there. Somewhere in between, hidden and perfectly covered by tree branches, the sign informs you that you cannot park. Up to where though, no mention of it….. Don’t be mistaken to think that now that you have reached the Tanganyika Swimming Club, where you can park if you are a member, along its walls you may park too. You will no sooner be looking around before you are arrested on suspicion of wanting to do damage to the State House and its occupants…. Of course you could still walk around and even lounge at the very place but not in your car. Your car can threaten state security. It doesn’t help that Dar has no open beaches anymore. One of this city’s great pleasures was to drive through open beaches on Saturday afternoons….. Gone though are those lovely careless days. Now you have to be alert to political situations while distancing yourself from ‘high places.’….. The complaint is not about making the area opposite the State House parking free. Obviously state security is a serious issue. Let not those regulations become a catching game though between the security and citizens. No parking boards, or any other boards with messages for the public are meant to be seen. What is the meaning of hiding the sign boards under the tree then?’

It was the end of the trip and we still had not found the map. And then, suddenly there it was: not the map we had been looking for but one infinitely more lovely. Meticulously hand painted (on hardboard), it was hidden away in an empty room at the Village Museum in Dar es Salaam. There in front of our eyes we saw the evocative names of the Gorowa of Babati, the Barbaig of Katesh, the Maasai of Longido, Mkuru and Monduli Juu, the Wa-Meru of Mulala, the Wa-Arusha Ngires’I and Ilkiding’a, the Pare of Kisangara, Usangi and Mbaga, the Sambaa of Lushoto and Mtae, the Chagga of Machame, and the Swahili of Pangani and Gezaulole.

These were the villages and cultures that we had been visiting together in the previous two and a half weeks. I took the photographs, my son Matt the video (we needed the map for this), while our Tanzanian companion Tatah Mlola, a specialist in “Cultural Tourism”, found elderly people to talk to in his mission to record the oral history and customs of Tanzania’s one hundred and nine tribal groupings. ”

In Nyerere’s day we could not really talk about our different cultural roots” said Tatah. “That’s probably why this beautiful map has not been out on show. But now we feel integrated and secure enough in our national identity so that we can acknowledge and appreciate the different cultures and histories within the country. And that in turn means that we can share these cultures with visitors from other countries. It’s an important new strand to our tourist industry, and one that resonates increasingly with tourists disenchanted with the package tour (non) experience. It’s becoming a world wide movement. We call it Cultural Tourism … others call it Community Tourism … many bundle it up in the imprecise and perhaps misused concept of ecotourism”

Our trip together had its origins in a casual conversation with Tony Janes of the Simply Tanzania Tour Company. He had told me about the Tanzania Cultural Tourism Programme, a partnership between the Dutch Development Agency SNV and the Tanzania Tourist Board. “It’s a fantastic programme because it involves rural villages in tourism, and the money goes into development projects in each village chosen by the villagers themselves. One village has built four new classrooms onto its school in just four years. The visitors also get a huge amount from it”. Later I was to discover that the programme had won an International award for socially responsible tourism.

I had just made some important changes to my life…. wind down being a management writer and consultant, to become a serious photographer instead. Also find a way to reconnect with Africa, my roots, and Tanzania in particular where I had lived and worked for 4 years in the late sixties. This sounded like just what I was looking for. A speculative email, an exploratory visit to Arusha during a family holiday to Zanzibar, an offer they could not refuse, and hey presto, they had the photographer they were looking for. They wanted to make postcards of each village to provide an added revenue stream. “You don’t know anything about video do you” casually remarked Miet Van Spittael, the TCTP Marketing Adviser, “We need one to show at International Tourism Fairs but we don’t have any budget!” Well I did have some experience….. and this was a challenge, (and it seemed an inspiration) which others responded to. Suddenly I had a sponsor for the hire of the special video camera, a professional video editor in Amsterdam, a cameraman, and a Tanzanian musician in London composing special music.

Our trip took us to 14 different villages in as many days. Each village knew we were coming and the purpose behind our work. This made for a special kind of relationship when photographing which was very rewarding. The lasting memories? A meal en famille with the local coordinator in Babati, whose family had decorated the house specially and greeted us with wreaths when they discovered it was Matt’s birthday. The intense dryness of the Mangati plain where the Barbaig of Dirma village subsist ….. a days walk to get water …. and an invitation to attend the funeral ceremonies for a village. Pares make Chagga jokes and vice versa …. so the stereotype of the Chagga is love for money … so how do you know a Chagga baby in the hospital? … throw a 100 shilling coin on the floor and the Chagga baby jumps out of its mothers arms to pick it up ……huge peals of laughter and slaps on the back from both sides .. The school with 300 kids that had been preparing our stunning one and a half hour welcome for three weeks …… and we nearly didn’t go. We had only just heard the news on September 12th.

So what now … the video gets its first showing on the Tanzania Tourist Bureau stand at the World Travel Market in London in mid­November. The postcards are being printed in Dubai and will be on sale in the villages. I have formed an organisation “kijijiVision” to use the photographs and video to help promote the programme worldwide. If anyone out there can suggest interested distribution channels I would be most grateful. I am making myself available to give talks about the Tanzania Cultural Tourism Programme, and the video is available for sale or loan depending on circumstances. I hope through this to encourage many more people to try this form of tourism, initially in Tanzania, but in time in the many other countries that are trying similar models. We hope to help similar schemes in other countries to promote themselves through the media of photography and video, by being the catalyst for bringing together people with relevant skills who believe that this is the future for tourism. For this is truly ‘Tourism that makes a difference’.
Colin Hastings

Further information:

Tanzania Cultural Tourism Programme: www.tourismtanzania.com.
info@tourismtanzania.com
Photographs, video, talks, links: colin@kijijivision.com

[post editor note – see www.p2psafaris.com for information on Tatah’s safaris]

[post editor note – the kijijvision website has now been moved to Majority World ]

See image for the article

British High Commissioner Richard Clarke has announced that Britain will increase assistance to small and medium enterprises. This followed a one-day tour he made of such enterprises in Dar es Salaam. He noted also that Tanzania’s trade to EU member countries had reached a surplus for the first time ever last year and its exports to Britain had surpassed last year’ exports by 27%. -Guardian.

Some 130 students from Tanzania were stranded in Nairobi after they were promised admission to American colleges. It is said that one bishop of an unknown church collected Shs 130 million from them. He then took them to Nairobi and put them up at the YMCA hostel while “arrangements” were being made for visa and travel to the USA. (Nipashe)

Pharmacies have been told to stop selling Chloroquine drugs following the introduction of SP as the first line of treatment for malaria. SP includes drugs such as Fansidar, Falcidin, Laridox, Orad or and Metakelfin -Guardian.

The Ministry of Health has issued a statement saying that visitors to Tanzania are no longer required to provide certification for yellow fever. The government has scrapped all health desks at the country’s borders and airports. However in Zanzibar visitors may still be asked for the certificate.

Residents of Kwimba, Mwanza Region, were quoted in the Guardian as being optimistic that, as the use of biogas technology spreads, the widespread killing of old people suspected of witchcraft will come to an end. One old lady said that the ‘bad old days of red eyes’, caused by wood fires in her hut were now over.

The High Court has ordered the government to pay Shs 300 million in damages to the family of General Komba, a former Director of National Intelligence, who was shot dead by two policemen in 1996 Majira.

At a Koranic recitation competition, an initiative of the Tanzania Muslim Council (BAKWATA) and the World Muslim Congress, the Chief Director of the latter for East and Central Africa, Sheikh Muhamad Lukala, said that the ceremony was aimed at rewarding the best Koran readers and alerting Muslims to religious ethics. Young boys and girls from different Madarasa, Government and Islamic schools were required to learn by heart parts of all 114 chapters of the Holy Koran but, in fact, most only knew by heart between 5 and 15 chapters. Minister for Labour, Youth Development and Sports Professor Juma Kapuya said that due to their neglect of the Koranic code, many Muslims were committing wrongs in various parts of the world. Hatred, and acts of revenge were strictly prohibited in the Holy Book.

More than 50 tons of maize on the farm in Butiama belonging to the late Mwalimu Nyerere, is reported in Mwananchi to have remained unsold because of a glut of supplies. It had previously been sold to prison department and secondary schools.

At a Britain-Tanzania Society showing in London of a video (November 28) of the emotional scenes at the agreement signing ceremony in Zanzibar, one member of the audience suggested that the two party secretaries-general should be called in to help in Northern Ireland. Another added: “and Afghanistan!”

Makongo secondary school student George Mwasalwiba has won a $20,000 award from the International Society of Poetry in the USA and was invited to travel to Washington to receive his award. He wrote a poem entitled ‘Africa is Weeping’ about the AIDS epidemic. At the finals of the Commonwealth Vision awards in London on November 20 a short video from Tanzania by Maria Tschai entitled ‘Fruits’ was ‘Highly Commended’ She portrayed the diversity of the Commonwealth through images of fruits -watermelons, mangoes, apples and grapefruits.

Geoffrey Stokel has sent us a report from the Wantage Herald indicating that former British High Commissioner Sir Colin Imray has become the High Steward of Wallingford.

During the last three years eight black rhinos (one male) have been transferred from South Africa to a protection site at the Mkomazi Game Reserve for breeding -East African.

The East African’s Charles Onyango-Obbo (December 3) has been imagining an ideal East African state. Extracts: ‘I would choose the Dar es Salaam city managers to run the capital…I would pick Mkapa to lead the government …..I would come to Uganda for its policy on Aids…. Kenya for economic resilience without donor aid…. In the same issue the UN Centre for Human Settlements was reported as having compared crime in East and South Africa….. Dar es Salaam – fairly similar to Durban… Nairobi – very bad – and about the same as Johannesburg …..of those interviewed in Dar, 6% felt unsafe walking about during the day (61% in Nairobi) and 61% feared walking about at night (Nairobi 75%) ….

Tanzania’s Amelia Jacob, described as an indomitable campaigner for people living with HIV/Aids and herself HIV positive, has been awarded the 2001 Africa Prize for leadership by the US-based ‘Hunger Project’ Africa Today.

The well-known newspaper publisher Jenerali Ulimwengu who was declared not to be Tanzanian has been granted a Class A Residence Permit as a foreign investor -Guardian.

Vodacom has come to the rescue of the Football Association of Tanzania by agreeing to sponsor its Premier League in 2002 -Guardian.

Ongeri John writing in the Dar es Salaam Express has reported that Tanzania has been silently campaigning among poor countries asking them to turn down bids by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to remove all trading restrictions by 2012. Tanzania, a WTO signatory, believed that making the world a free trade area would only help to enrich developed countries further and wreak havoc on weak economies. Industries and Commerce Minister Iddi Simba was quoted as saying that Tanzania had begun to miss WTO negotiation sessions after the realisation that it had nothing to gain from the talks. “Our position is that Tanzania has a poor industrial base without the technology to produce high quality but low priced products to compete with those from developed economies,” he said. Simba added that this was Tanzania’s position even on its membership in the East African Community (EAC) which expected to become a free trade area in four year’s time.

THE ZANZIBAR DECLARATION
Minister Simba continued his campaign when, between July 22 and 24 trade ministers from 49 developing countries came together in Zanzibar and declared that they were prepared to take part in a forthcoming WTO conference at Doha, Qatar, but only on condition that the negotiating principles they had laid down in their ‘Zanzibar Declaration’ -long term duty free access for products from LDC’s, simplified rules of origin, understanding of their special structural difficulties, reversal of marginalisation of LDC’ s -were dealt with at the meeting. Minister Simba concluded by saying: “Most of us are not ready, psychologically, materially and technically for a new trade round. WTO Deputy Secretary General Ablassa Ouedraogo pointed out however that globalisation was inevitable.