Miaka ya themanini kulikuwa na Waziri mmoja wa kike...; sikumbuki alikuwa Waziri wa nini. Mama huyu naye alikuwa anapenda sana trip za nje, alichotaka ni kijisababu chochote, yeye atatinga. Siku moja alikutana na waziri mmoja wa Nigeria akamwamabia nia yake ya kwenda kutembelea Nigeria, yule jamaa akamjibu yule mama casually tu kuwa "anakaribishwa." Mama kusikia vile, akafunga safari hadi Nigeria bila kuwa na mwaliko wowote wa kiserikali, mradi tu kuna waziri wa Nigeria alisema anamkariobisha. Jambo hilo lilileta tafrani sana ya kidiplomasia kwa sababu serikali ya Nigeria haikuwa na taarifa za ugeni huo, na wala balozi wa Tanzania huko Nigeria wakati huo (Mwasakafyuka???? -sikumbuki jina sawasawa) naye hakuwa na taarifa za kibalozi kuhusu ujio wa huyo mama. Unfortunately, mama yule baada ya kuadhjirika huko Abuja, akapaeleka malalamiko yake kwa Rais Mwinyi kuwa balozi wetu hakumtendea heshima, na kusabisha balozi yule kafukuzwa kazi.
Rais wetu pia anapenda sana vitrip, anachohitaji ni kisababu tu cha kwenda huko hata kama kiwe kisababu kidogo namna ipi, yeye atakwenda tu. Kuna nchi nyingi zitakazoshiriki mkutano huo: Tanzania, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cape Verde, Kenya, Uingereza, Afrika Kusini, Mali, Ethiopia, Ureno, Msumbiji, Senegal, Ubelgiji, Equatorial Guinea na Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Congo (DRC). Ni Tanzania, Ethiopia na Cape Verde tu ndizo ambazo zimewakilishwa na viongozi wa nchi. Cape Verde inaeleweka kuwa ni koloni la zamani la hispania na kisiwa kinachoitegemea sana Spain kutokana na ujirani wake, kwa hiyo kiongozi wa Cape Verde kwenda Spain ni jambo la kawaida sana. Meresi Zenawi wa Ethiopia naye ni kama Kikwete tu. Zaidi ya hao wawili hakuna Rais mwingine wa Afrika aliyehudhuria mkutrano huo japo unahusu Afrika kwa sababu ni mkutano mdogo sana. Hebu angalia ratiba yao:
Registration
09h00 09h30
Welcome address
Jesús Caldera, Vice-president, IDEAS Foundation, Spain
Elena Valenciano, Secretary for International Policy and Cooperation, PSOE, Spain
Ebrahim Ebrahim, Deputy Minister, Department of International Relations and Cooperation/Head of African National Congress International Relations Department, South Africa
09h30 10h30
Opening panel :
Elena Valenciano, Secretary for International Policy and Cooperation, PSOE, Spain
Leire Pajín, Secretary for Organization, PSOE, Spain
Manuel Chaves, Vice-President, Spain/ President of PSOE
Kgalema Motlanthe, Deputy President, South Africa
10h30 11h30
The progressive agenda of Africa
Speakers:
Ebrahim Ebrahim, Deputy Minister, Department of International Relations and Cooperation/ Head of the African National Congress International Relations Department, South Africa
Ousmane Tanor Dieng, General Secretary, Socialist Party/Chair of the Socialist International Africa Committee, Senegal
Dr. Siphamandla Zondi, Director of IGD, South Africa
Discussants:
Paul Nugent, President of AEGIS, Europe
Carlos Mulas, Director, IDEAS Foundation, Spain
11h30 12h00
Coffee Break
12h00 14h00
Towards sustainable economic growth and further equality in Africa
Speakers:
Ernst Stetter, Secretary General, FEPS, Belgium
Basilio Ramos, Minister of Health/ Vice-president of African Party of Independence of Cape Verde, Cape Verde
Modibo Diarra, Pathfinder Foundation/President Microsoft Africa, Mali
Margaret Kamar, Member of Parliament, Orange Democratic Movement, Kenya
Discussants:
Patricia Mamonare Chueu, African National Congress Women League National Executive, South Africa
Fernando Jorge Cardoso, Research Director and Head of the Africa Program at the Institute for Strategic and International Studies (IEEI)/ head of EARN, Portugal
14h00 15h00
Lunch
15h00 17h00
Migration, opportunities and inclusion
Speakers:
Juan Moscoso, Member of Parliament, PSOE, Spain
Aminata Traoré, Scientific Committee of IDEAS Foundation/Director of Centre Amadou Hampaté Bâ, Mali
Matlotleng Matlou, CEO, Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA)
Joel Netshitenzhe, African National Congress National Executive Committee Member, South Africa
Discussants:
Colette Tshomba, Fr Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, RDC
Winnie Kathurima-Imanyara, Change & Strategy Director, Housing Finance, Rehani House, Kenya
17h00 17h30
Coffee break
17h30 19h30
Progressive Leaders´ Panel: Towards a new progressive political era in Africa
Introduced by: Jesús Caldera, Vice-president, IDEAS Foundation, Spain
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, President, Spain
Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President, United Republic of Tanzania
Pedro Pires, President, Republic of Cape Verde
Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Amos Sawyer, Former Interim President, Republic of Liberia
Pascal Affi N'Guessan, President Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), Republic of Ivory Coast
Kwabena Adjei, President National Democratic Congress (NDC), Republic of Ghana
Ousmane Tanor Dieng, General Secretary, Socialist Party/Chair of the Socialist International Africa Committee, Republic of Senegal
20h30 23h00
Dinner for participants
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero ni Waziri Mkuu siyo Rais,