Tanzania woos DRC, Burundi for trade
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By Our Reporter
Posted Thursday, October 31 2013 at 10:06
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BURUNDI CAN TELL UPANDE UPI SIAGI IMEKOLEA
DODOMA- The Tanzanian government has initiated talks with neighbouring Burundi and Democratic republic of Congo (DRC) with a view of establishing economic and trade relations in the backdrop of weakening relations within the East Africa Community (EAC).
The Tanzanian minister for East Africa Cooperation, Mr Samuel Sitta, said in Dodoma yesterday Tanzania has not been sitting idle after three partners in the regional groupings started "sidelining the remaining two partners".
Mr Sitta said economically, it is sensible to work with the DR Congo now because the country holds immense economic potential in the region.
That is why the government was concentrating on implementing a project of construction of a railway line from Uvinza in Kigoma Region to Msongati in order to connect the country with the DR Congo.
"Our problem now is that a road linking us to Goma in DRC goes through Rwanda. But we will construct the rail to Msongati from Uvinza," he said.
He also said Tanzania looks at Burundi because it is cost effective for the country businessmen to use Dar es Salaam instead of Mombasa port.
He noted that a Bujumbura businessman who opts for Mombasa port travels 900km more compared o the one who uses Dar port.
Feeling left out
For some months now Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda have opted to forge ahead with integration agenda in the absence of Tanzania and Burundi. The three partners have reached a point of debating a protocol to speed the formation of political federation.
However, Mr Sitta appeared to be cautious when reacting to the questions from Members of Parliament stressing that time was not yet ripe for Tanzania to take bold steps as reaction to what three EAC members were doing.
"It pains if our partners are acting behind our back. But on this issue I would like to advice you that we should heed a counsel by former President Ali Hassan Mwinyi who said that a best way of dealing with a liar is to give him space," he said.
Mr Sitta noted that the government was now very cautious on its engagements in EAC activities. He noted that because the three countries have sometimes been inviting Tanzania to their activities, the government has been careful on where it sends its representatives.
I've just read an opinion poll conducted by an intermational touristic company,about what touristic destination one preffer to visit between Mombasa and Zanzbar,95% prefered Zanzbar to Mombasa! We are far from you guys in touristic industry and more still to come!
Mkaburu ,mhindi hapewi umilki yeye kama yeye na hawezi kukodishwa ardhi bila kushirikiana na mTz, nadhani wataalamu wa Land Act watakupa ufafanuzi zaidi.Niliposema Chigali wataalamu wa IT in E.
A nilikuwa natumia mtindo wa uandishi wa mwandishi mmoja Tz anaitwa Nyaronyo Mwita Kicheere.
ETI WAZUIA WAKENYA WANAOTAKA KUNUNUA ARDHI KIHALALI.NI SAWA NAYE MCHINA,MAKABURU WA S.A,INDIA NA WANASIASA WENU WAFISADI WANASICHINJA HIZO ARDHI NA KAGAWANYA.BAKIA HAPO UKIPIGA KILELE ZA COW.UTAKUTA MWANA SIO WAKO ATA HIYO ARDHI UNAPOISHI WEWE
The Problem of Land Grabbing in Tanzania
Posted on October 18, 2011 by mattindigo
We recently announced that we have funded ActionAid in support of a project to map incidents of land grabbing in rural Tanzania. It's a huge problem affecting vast swathes of the country, as the following update from ActionAid clearly shows:
Halima Ali with her son Hamsa Shabani, 6, at home in Mhaga village, Tanzania. Photo: Tom Pietrasik/ActionAid
Halima and her community lost their land to a UK biofuels company. They were promised fair compensation and badly-needed social services in exchange – but none of these promises have been kept. Halima is now struggling to survive and is campaigning to reclaim the rights of her family and community.
Halima Ali says her involvement in local politics is motivated by a desire to have women's voices represented in village decision-making. She has found it increasingly difficult to feed her family since they lost access to common land now owned by the company. Ali used to rely on this common land to derive an income from timber collection and charcoal production. Without access to nearby wells now on the biofuels plantation, Halima now has to travel 6.5km to collect water during the dry season.
Halima Weli, Palaka, with her grandsons Adam Rashidi and Riziki Mwalimu and grandaughter Sabrna Mwalimu. Photo: Tom Pietrasik/ActionAid
Halima Weli (right) has lost land to a biofuels plantation that has acquired 8,000 hectares of land in the Kisarawe region of Tanzania.
Residents of the eleven villages surrounding the plantation are very unhappy and angry at the way they have been treated. Land has been grabbed with little or no compensation resulting in a loss of livelihood. Residents have lost access to water sources as well as the grave-sites of ancestors. Public amenities including schools, dispensaries and wells, promised as part of a compensation package for local residents, have not materialised.
The text and photos for this post were provided by ActionAid.
Hii ni suala la kuazima mkeka kwenye kilio. Hivi hawajui tunatengeza yetu ya ndani tukimaliza ndio tuanze ya kwao. Mmesahau kuwa tumewatunza nyie.
Tanzania: We belong to EAC both economically and socially. Let's find more reasons to consolidate our cooperation!.Mkuu hatuwabembelezi Congo, wacongo wenyewe waliomba kuingia SADC na wanafahamu wakiwa na opening ukanda wa east watafaidika, ni swala la muda tu. Msione tunapeta ni kwa sababu ya misingi imara iliyowekwa huko nyuma mnafikiri kwa nini hatutangi tangi?
Mkuu hatuwabembelezi Congo, wacongo wenyewe waliomba kuingia SADC na wanafahamu wakiwa na opening ukanda wa east watafaidika, ni swala la muda tu. Msione tunapeta ni kwa sababu ya misingi imara iliyowekwa huko nyuma mnafikiri kwa nini hatutangi tangi?
Burundi joins CoW in regional joint infrastructure projects
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From left: Presidents Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya) and Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) at the Summit at the Commonwealth Resort Munyonyo in Uganda. Photo/Morgan Mbabazi
By Joint Report The EastAfrican
Posted Saturday, February 22 2014 at 16:13
In Summary
- Burundi, which attended the CoW meeting for the first time, asked to be allowed to join all initiatives.
- The formal inclusion of Burundi and Tanzania in the talks for closer economic ties will reshape the political-economic map of the region, as the countries seek to heal a rift that had threatened to scuttle the East African Community.
- CoW leaders turn attention to education
- Nairobi seeks $500m to build new pipeline
Burundi now wants to participate in the implementation of joint infrastructure projects by Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan, leaving Tanzania isolated in the region.
At the same time, the so-called Coalition of the Willing partners appeared to forge ahead with plans for the standard gauge railway that will link the countries after Uganda and Rwanda said they would adopt Kenya's controversial financing approach, in which it is receiving 85 per cent financing (or $4.4 billion) from Exim Bank of China.
The model has drawn controversy in Kenya, but a parliamentary committee has finally given the go-ahead for the project.
Questions had been raised over the capacity of China Bridge and Road Corporation to build the Ksh448 billion ($5.2 billion) Mombasa-Malaba railway and over why the contract had been single-sourced.
READ: Controversy dogs firm building standard gauge railway line
It has also emerged that Uganda now wants to terminate an agreement it entered with a Chinese firm for the construction of its SGR as the fight for the contract enters a decisive phase.
READ: Uganda SGR row boils down to nine miles
Meeting in Kampala on Thursday for the Northern Corridor Integration Project Summit, Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) and Paul Kagame (Rwanda) agreed that Uganda and Rwanda would adopt the Kenyan financing approach to fast-track the construction of the SGR and report to the next Summit due in April.
The presidents said the countries must meet the March 2018 deadline for completion of the standard gauge line. This came even as it emerged that Uganda would cancel an existing deal on the SGR.
According to a February 5 letter from Uganda's Works Permanent Secretary Alex Okello to the Solicitor General, the ministry acknowledges that it signed a MoU with the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation in January 2012 "for purposes of rehabilitating or upgrading of the existing railway line from Malaba to Kampala."
Okello goes on to explain that after joining Kenya and Rwanda in a tripartite agreement to develop a standard gauge railway, the MoU with CCECC has to be terminated to make way for regional negotiations. He seeks legal guidance from the Solicitor General on how this can be achieved in the shortest possible time.
The letter does not explain what aspects of the tripartite agreement make it necessary for Uganda to cancel the MoU, especially given that the same ministry is trying to enter into a new MoU with another Chinese civil contractor, the China Harbour Engineering Corporation, CHEC.
The PS's letter is also at variance with recent developments that have seen Kenya proceed to award the contract for its portion of the SGR to the China Road and Bridge Corporation, another subsidiary of CHEC's parent China Civil Construction Corporation, which is undertaking construction of the Kampala-Entebbe superhighway.
Junior Works Minister John Byabagambi, who is chair of the SGR Steering Committee, ruled out the possibility of the regional SGR project being awarded to a single contractor, saying each country would manage its portions of the project although they would try to jointly approach the Chinese government for funding.
Uganda's portion of the line will cost an estimated $5 billion, not $7 billion as earlier estimated, he said.
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Burundi wameazima ule msemo wa kikwete "akili za kuambiwa....changanya na za kwako"
Duu! kwahiyo Kenya wameshindwa kuwa na forum hahahah inachekesha kweli, with less than 5USD unaweza kuanzisha forum kama hii hapo hosting na domain name included.Ingekuwa premier ya ICT wangeshindwa kuwa na Forum kama hii? Phew! What a stupid idea. Wamebaki kuja kuganga njaa humu khe khe khe kheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Tanzania: We belong to EAC both economically and socially. Let's find more reasons to consolidate our cooperation!.
MKUU UPO.SASA HOW ABOUT THIS STORY FROM TANZANIA
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Tanzania: We belong to EAC both economically and socially. Let's find more reasons to consolidate our cooperation!.
[TD="colspan: 3"]By Dr Hoseana Bohela Lunogelo, Executive Director, ESRF
In recent weeks there has been no shortage of headline news about the East African Community (EAC) in the wake of what is termed as exclusive “solidarity of the willing: referring to Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda (KUR)†to move ahead in some regional integration projects without involving Tanzania (United Republic of) and Burundi. In some projects KUR has brought on board Ethiopia and South Sudan (for projects such as Lamu Port, highway, new railway and pipeline projects to Juba and electricity main grid linkage with Ethiopia). Last week there were two statements attributed to some senior ministers in the government of Tanzania that “Dar is weighing up an alternative of establishing a new regional bloc that involves Burundi and DRC should the current EAC collapse†and another one that “Tanzania was not likely to lose in case the divorce took placeâ€. Interestingly, it was argued that the country cannot lose because “trade will continue to take place and businesses will continue to benefit from the arrangements of EAC customs unionâ€. I was good to hear such a qualified statement. In my simple understanding it was like saying that Tanzania was not ready and will not leave the EAC as a regional bloc, which has already reached Customs Union stage, and is currently working on a Monetary Union. In principle it’s a good idea to use our influence to convince DRC to join the EAC bloc, just as it will be good to have South Sudan. It should not be an exclusive undertaking of “either this or that†because an enlarged community is good for Tanzania’s business and will bring more transactions at our ports and our roads and railways. The improvement of operations at Mombasa port and the KUR railway is also good news for our businesses in Northern Tanzania (Arusha, Moshi, Mara, Mwanza and Kagera) for whom Mombasa or Tanga routes are cheaper compared to Dar. Let’s also remind ourselves that in recent years Tanzania has been recorded positive balance of trade with the EAC countries, whereas it is negative with SADC (see figures 1 and 2).
EAC is the most advanced bloc compared to SADC (to which we are members) and COMESA (we are not members) and so if we remained in SADC after leaving EAC we cannot enjoy the benefits of EAC Customs or Monetary Union. For Tanzania not to lose from the EAC divorce we shall have[/TD]
Hivi viinchi vyote vya EA maskini hoi hiyo Kupeta ni akili fupi tuu,watu wanajitahidi kushirikiana kujenga infrastructure wewe unabeza,unafikiri reli ikijengwa Dar to Kampala/Kigali itapitia wapi? 90 percent ya hiyo reli itakuwa TZ na itapitia maelfu ya vijiji and millions of TZs na itatumiwa na kujenga TZ lakini akili za makamasi Kama zako haziwezi kuona umebaki kuita watu manyangau tuu
Duu! kwahiyo Kenya wameshindwa kuwa na forum hahahah inachekesha kweli, with less than 5USD unaweza kuanzisha forum kama hii hapo hosting na domain name included.
Mkuu wala usiwe na shaka na hizi stats za kupikwa. Kenya hawana ubavu wa Investment ya aina yoyote ile kwa nchi yoyote ya Afrika huo ndio ukoloni mambo leo. Kampuni zote zinazo invest zinawatumia makuwadi Wakenya kusajili lakini wote wenye kampuni ni waingereza. Ukishajua hilo ndio uanze kuleta mada zilizokwenda shule sio hizi za kupikwapikwa. Wangekuwa na ubavu huo wasingeweza kutumia flying toilet katika karne hii.
Wewe na akili zako za Abunuwasi unafikiri sisi tuna akili kama zako. Nyie Wanyarwanda muwe na ukarimu wa kuwasaidia Watanzania kiasi hicho cha kuwajengea reli wakati mnashindwa kuishi kwa amani ndani ya nchi yenu? Nenda kawadanganye wajinga wenzako sio hapa. Tutaendeleza nchi yetu sisi wenyewe sio kutegemea mjomba.
Khe khe khe kheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee forum zenu mnaongea lugha gani? Khe khe khe khe kheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Wacha nicheke mie mtaendelea kuwa manamba kwenye nchi yenu wenyewe. Khekhe khe khe khe kheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
for a start you one of the many cry babies in tz.they claim to know everything,but essence ni ujinga tu.look at you tz is dirt poor to start with.backward like crazy as shown na wewe.small thinkers.they only know of issues sorrounding them and they cant stomach critism au kukosolewa.the cry babies like you suffer from inferiority complex na wivu kenya ikitajwa.they think tz is a first world while living in denial.tz cant even match tiny rwanda.
for a start you one of the many cry babies in tz.they claim to know everything,but essence ni ujinga tu.look at you tz is dirt poor to start with.backward like crazy as shown na wewe.small thinkers.they only know of issues sorrounding them and they cant stomach critism au kukosolewa.the cry babies like you suffer from inferiority complex na wivu kenya ikitajwa.they think tz is a first world while living in denial.tz cant even match tiny rwanda.
Now you came out from your cacoon khe khe kheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee niambie hizo investment wamiliki wake ni nani kama sio wazungu? Utakula mawe khe he kheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedanganya wajinga wenzio kule Kibera the dirtiest shants in the world.
BTW do you know the meaning of Waltham? Ndio kasumba zenyewe hizo.
please naomba you stick to swahili.ndio utaeleweka zaidi.achana na kizungu huwezi baba.pili when you argue with a fool nobody will notice the difference kwa hivyo nakuelewi ujinga unasukumbua zaidi.so kikomo ni hapa.
Wakenya bwana wanapenda kuanzisha ligi na wabongo halafu wanakimbia .TZ ya sasa siyo ile ya zamani.
for a start you one of the many cry babies in tz.they claim to know everything,but essence ni ujinga tu.look at you tz is dirt poor to start with.backward like crazy as shown na wewe.small thinkers.they only know of issues sorrounding them and they cant stomach critism au kukosolewa.the cry babies like you suffer from inferiority complex na wivu kenya ikitajwa.they think tz is a first world while living in denial.tz cant even match tiny rwanda.