McHANCY REPORTER NewZ

THE Ministry of Minerals has set aside 46 areas covering 281,533.69 hectares in different parts of the country for small scale miners, the Deputy Minister Dotto Biteko, announced here yesterday.   He told the National Assembly that since the year 1996, the government through his ministry has been allocating special areas for small scale miners countrywide and that they will continue doing so on availability of such areas. The Deputy Minister was responding to a question by Upendo Peneza (Special Seats-Chadema), who sought to know when the government would provide small scale miners surveyed areas with minerals like gold, including Moroko area in Geita Region and other areas in the country. He explained that in Geita Region, the ministry has already allocated different areas and providing mining licences to small scale miners. Such areas include Nyarugusu where 41 licences have been issued. Other areas with the number of licences issued in brackets, according to the Deputy Minister ar

A TANZANIAN Member of Parliament (MP), Ms Mboni Mhita has been elected as the President of the Youth Caucus of the Pan African Parliament (PAP).   Her nomination was announced before the National Assembly, here yesterday, by the Chairperson of the House, Mr Andrew Chenge, after the question and answer session, when reading an announcement from Speaker Job Ndugai regarding the matter. Mr Chenge told parliamentarians that the MP for Handeni Rural under the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) was elected to the presidency during the ongoing PAP meeting in Midrand in South Africa. Ms Mhita, he disclosed, won the post during an election session held on May 14, 2018, after defeating a Chadian MP, who was seeking re-election. The new president, according to Mr Chenge, will hold the post for three years effective from now. “On your behalf, I take this opportunity to congratulate Honourable Mboni Mhita for this honour, not only to this Parliament but also to the nation as a whole. In addition, w

THE Vice President (VP), Samia Suluhu Hassan, yesterday received surgical equipment from the Kuwait Embassy in Tanzania, worth nearly 200m/-, for children with hydrocephalus and spina bifida complications.   Similarly, the VP launched the surgical room where the equipment would be installed while appraising the Embassy’s efforts in supporting the health sector in the country. “I have been informed that Kuwait government has been supporting Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute and donated blood bank with various equipment worth about 150m/-,” she said. On his side, Deputy Minister for Health, Community Development, Elderly and Children Dr Faustine Ndugulile chipped in saying that through the government and other stakeholders’ support, Tanzanian hospitals are now capable of conducting delicate surgical operations professionally. Kuwait Ambassador, Mr Jasem Al-Najem commented that the given aid was part of 500,000 US dollar, set aside by his government to support Tanzanian children with var

THE government is gearing up to steamroll an ambitious five year agricultural sector transformation plan focused on four areas. Speaking in Parliament yesterday, the Minister for Agriculture, Dr Charles Tizeba, mentioned them as close monitoring and control of proper use of renewable water services, land, environment alongside increasing improvement and construction of irrigation schemes and infrastructures.   He was tabling ministerial budget estimates amounting to 170bn/- for recurrent and development expenditure for the 2018/19 financial year compared to 214bn/- of the preceding one. The minister said the transformation to be undertaken under the second phase of the National Agricultural Sector Development Plan, includes changing of farmers’ mindsets. Dr Tizeba said overhauling the operations and handling of agricultural issues would be among the highlights of the initiative. He named the four areas as increasing production and productivity, an eye being cast on how farmers run th

A NEW programme has been launched to improve the public access to HIV/AIDS and opportunistic diseases subsidised drugs in various Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) Centres.   The plan was unveiled by the Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Ms Ummy Mwalimu, saying that the government wants to end the problem by allowing VCTs and selected Health Centres to release the drugs every three month. The drugs which are currently unavailable in the institutions, pose a challenge to the patients who require the prerequisite medications, after becoming susceptible to opportunistic infections in their struggle to access the subsidised drugs in the government institutions. “There is no need to command and disturb patients to pick the drugs everyday at the hospitals or centre. This plan must be reviewed,” she pointed, while announcing that the new plan should start this July. “We have the records of the patients. I don’t see why they should not be given t

SESAME is set to become the fourth cash crop after cashew, coffee and cotton in the Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) following great achievements in its cultivation and marketing.   The observation was made by the Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, (Policy and Coordination), Prof Faustine Kamuzora, here yesterday, adding that the government has already directed the Warehouse Receipts Regulatory Board (WRRB) to introduce the system in its growth. “The system will facilitate in addressing a number of challenges being faced in the crop cultivation now, and hence improve its produce,” said the Permanent Secretary (PS) while opening the sesame farming stakeholders’ meeting. Prof Kamuzora hinted that the meeting has registered major achievements in application of Warehouse Receipts System, pointing out the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) usefulness in the country as a model system to be adhered to. “We should be proud of ourselves in our country

DODOMA Regional Commissioner (RC) Binilith Mahenge plans to meet authorities in his area to discuss possibilities of reducing prices of pieces of land to local investors in small-scale sunflower industries.   Dr Mahenge hinted that here recently in a press conference, saying that he was quite determined to see into it that many small-scale industries flourish in the region. “Land should not be a barrier for establishment of diverse industries in my region. I am contemplating over holding a meeting with relevant stakeholders and Dodoma City Council on that,” he said. Reports suggest that most investors of small-scale sunflower industries in the region can not acquire pieces of land to establish their factories in the region because of high prices tied on them by the City Council for any business. According to a recent survey conducted by BEST-Dialogue in Tanzania in consultations with some experts from Morogoro based Mzumbe University, most factories in the Central Zone Region are ope

MWANZA Regional Commissioner (RC) John Mongela has advised Ilemela local authority to consider erecting storey buildings in Primary Schools in its institutions to accommodate the number of pupils increasing in the area.   The RC made the observation while presiding over a ceremony to handover 60 desks to Mwenge Primary School by NMB Bank on Monday, adding that the piece of land does not expand, but the number of pupils enrolling in such institutions is increasing. He said that since the school lacks adequate land for expansion, it was high time for authorities in the area considered erecting storey buildings to keep pace with the increasing number of pupils it accommodates. Earlier, the School Committee members had complained to the authority that the number of pupils in the area was ballooning, but the classrooms were not being built because of the tiny space they have. On his side, Mwenge Primary School head teacher Mapambano Petro pointed out that the institution was built in 1974

EARNINGS from concession fees charged by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism from tourist hotels in national parks stood at 18.8bn/- between July and March, this year, the National Assembly heard here yesterday.   Responding to a question from Amina Mollel (Special Seats-CCM), the ministry’s Deputy Minister Japhet Hasunga disclosed that the amount was collected between July 2017 and March 2018. The Deputy Minister further explained that there was an increase of 11.9bn/-, which is equivalent to 174 per cent as compared to 6.9bn/- collected as concession fees in the financial year 2016/2017. He told the august House that Value Added Tax (VAT) paid to the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) as a result of such fees within the same period in the 2017/2018 financial year was 3.4bn/- compared to 1.2bn/- collected in the 2016/2017 within the same period under review. In her question, the MP had sought to know to what extent the government had implemented the Parliamentary resolution

AS the World intensifies the fight against narcotic drugs, arms trafficking and social engineering, some 800 Tanzanian seafarers, employees of Danaos Shipping Merchants Marine Company have been fired over allegations of criminal acts while on board. The news was revealed here yesterday during a consultative meeting involving Danaos administration staffs and seafarers in the wake of increasing Tanzanians from Zanzibar being implicated in the illegal businesses, including use or transporting drugs, alcohol and illegal migrants. “We had 1,000 seafarers employed by Danaos, but now we have only 200 remaining,” Head of Zanzibar Danaos Merchant Marine Institute (ZDMMI) Ali Mzee Yosouf said, adding that the increasing illegal business has prompted many countries abroad to tighten their marine transport laws on Tanzania seafarers. He said that, some dishonest seafarers have tarnished the image of Tanzania, promising to take strict measures when recruiting. ZDMMI is supported by the DANAOS Sh

THE government yesterday announced that plans were afoot to scrap 21 crop fees and cess in the 2018/19 Financial Year, as part of a broader drive to improve the agricultural sector and farmers’ welfare.   The Minister for Agriculture, Dr Charles Tizeba, told Parliament that the payments had been an obstacle to the development of the sector and farmers’ prosperity. He said the negative effects of some of the fees and cess had emerged from research that experts from the ministry had conducted, and which were found to be compromising farmers’ welfare and the agricultural sector’s development. Dr Tizeba gave the sketch while tabling the ministry’s 2018/19 budget estimates to the tune of 170bn/-. “During the 2018/2019 financial year, we scrapped 78 out of 139 crop fees and cess which were not friendly to farmers. As we move towards the industrial economy, the agricultural sector is among the most crucial in propelling the industrial sector,” he said. The minister identified the proposed f

President orders promotion of TRA official Usaje Asubisye to commissioner PRESIDENT John Magufuli has put a lid on the row over imported edible oil at the Dar es Salaam Port by directing the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) to charge the requisite import duties for clearance of the critical commodity, to avoid its shortage in the market. He also instructed that all importers who will be found to have under-declared the imports to be dealt with, proposing on the other hand, an amendment of the legislation covering importing edible oil to curb tax cheating. The Head of State gave the instructions yesterday, during an impromptu visit at the port. He was apparently irked by dishonest importers who had been importing refined edible oil and disguising it as crude to evade taxes. Dr Magufuli directed that besides the normal tax bill, TRA should also slap fines on suppliers who falsely declared that the imported oil was crude while investigations had proved otherwise. Crude and semi-refined

THE government loses 263bn/- annually on illegal exportation of livestock and importation of livestock products, which lead to unfair competition for both local and international stakeholders in the sector.   The Minister for Livestock and Fisheries, Mr Luhaga Mpina, said yesterday during the livestock auction at Namanga in Longido District, Arusha Region, that the government had been losing revenue through illegal exportation of livestock. The minister was speaking as he launched a special national operation dubbed ‘Operesheni Nzagamba 2018’ to control revenues in the livestock sector. According to Minister Mpina, the operation will cover ports, livestock auctioning areas, airports, borders, supermarkets and all abattoirs across the country. He said his ministry had discovered that some traders had been engaged in illegal cross-border trading in livestock, animal drugs and other products.He added that recently, a total of 22,000 goats were seized at Namanga border being transported

AS a major trade and investment partner, China has reiterated that it will continue supporting Tanzania in its industrialisation agenda and poverty reduction.   The Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania, Ms Wang Ke, said in Dar es Salaam yesterday that there was a compelling need for China and Tanzania to enhance the strong bilateral diplomatic ties and brotherly relations between them, to promote the country’s development. She was speaking in Dar es Salaam yesterday, at a ceremony to launch the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM)’s Centre for Chinese Studies (CCS) whose main objectives are to undertake in-depth research on the relevance of China’s development experience to the development of Tanzania as well as promoting study tours of scholars, policy makers, business persons and politicians. Others are introducing China to Tanzanians in a comprehensive and objective manner as well as offering policy advice for China-Tanzania cooperation in an active way, among others. According to the Chi

The Central Bank of Tanzania (BOT) has authorized the merger of Twiga Bancorp Limited and TPB Bank Plc with effect from 17th May, 2018, the Deputy Governor Bernard Kibesse has announced in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday.   After the merger, according to Mr Kibesse, the name ‘TPB Bank Plc’ will be retained whereas customers, employees, assets and liabilities of Twiga Bancorp Ltd will be transferred to the newly formed TPB Bank Plc. The Deputy Governor told reporters that the decisions have been taken by BOT “pursuant to the provisions of Section 30(I) (a) of Banking and Financial Institutions Act, 2006.” Twiga Bancorp Ltd was put under Statutory Management of BOT with effect from 28th October, 2016 following its undercapitalization status. “The merger will therefore relieve the Bank of Tanzania from management of Twiga Bancorp Limited and all affairs of Twiga Bancorp Limited with effect from 17th May, 2018 will be under TPB Bank Plc.

ZANZIBAR's Second Vice-President Ambassador Seif Ali Idd has urged the secretarial cadre in the country to maintain high level of integrity and professionalism while performing their duties.   Ambassador Idd made the call when gracing the opening of the five-day professional secretaries conference at the State University of Zanzibar in West Urban yesterday. The annual event, organized by Tanzania Personal Secretaries Association (TAPSEA), has attracted personal secretaries from public and private institutions. Addressing the secretaries, Ambassador Idd said, secretarial profession is among the key skills that require high level of secrecy and reminded TASEA members to perform their tasks responsibly as they handle confidential documents in their respective daily duties. "It is important to keep secret. In your position you're exposed to many official and personal issues, so in your duties you must ensure you're very confidential to keep the government and your bosses