KIkwete Vs CTI/ Sitta Vs Muungano

[Nguruvi3]

Thursday, 07 July 2011 22:59

By Sylivester Ernest, The Citizen Reporter Dar es Salaam. The Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI) yesterday differed with a statement made by President Jakaya Kikwete on Wednesday that the Mother Nature was to blame for the prevailing power crisis bedeviling the country. The CTI second vice-president, Mr Jayesh Shah, said the government should stop politicising the power woes, and should instead look for a workable and lasting solution. Speaking during his Wednesday tour of the Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF), the President defended the minister for Energy and Minerals, Mr William Ngeleja, saying he (the minister) was not responsible for the ongoing power shortage that is threatening to cripple the economy. Mr Shah told The Citizen in a telephone interview that the government must shoulder the blame for failure to take pre-emptive measures, since it is well known that Mother Nature is not a reliable way of getting electricity, more so in the face of the vagaries of global warming. "We've said this before, that the government needs to look at the possibility of having alternative sources of power…the country is in a crisis and the words the President is speaking are not helping the matter in anyway," said Mr Shah.He said Tanzania's economy would continue to shrink if the power problem is not solved quickly in the face of inflation and the falling value of the local shilling against the US dollar. Mr Shah's barbed remarks add clout to recent calls by the chief executive officers (CEOs) of different major companies who asked the government to look for an emergency plan to rescue the country's economy from a total collapse. The Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) told members of the Parliamentary Committee for Energy and Minerals in Dar es Salaam that the loss resulting from the power cuts could amount to a whopping Sh840 billion in unmet collection targets in the second half of the just ended fiscal year. While the CEOs see the problem as a national disaster, when speaking, President Kikwete said the drought problem in the country was not as serious as in countries like Kenya where presently many people were threatened by hunger. President Kikwete's defence of the minister and now, the CTI rejoinder, come in the wake of criticism that government was not treating the problem with the serious it deserves, while commentators, including ruling party MPs and their Opposition counterparts, are openly calling for the resignation of Energy minister Ngeleja. In his statement, President Kikwete also shielded Tanzania Electrici Supply Company Limited (Tanesco), explaining that nature was to blame for the problem. He said it was about time people stopped demanding that certain people take responsibilities for problems they did not create. "The power problem here has not been premeditated by Ngeleja or Mhando (William, the managing director of Tanesco)…there is no water in Mtera," the President insisted, adding Mr Kikwete said, the government was ‘sweating' on the prospect of obtaining about 300MW until the end of the year, to lessen the problem. "Tanesco is already in the process of working with Aggreko to try to solve the problem…I'm told there were disagreements regarding the cost of the project but they informed me today that they were at an advanced stage of their negotiations."

My take: Kwanza tuliambiwa mvua hazitoshi, ziliponyesha tukaambiwa Songas wanafanya matengenezo. Wiki mbili zilizopita ikaripotiwa kuwa bwawa la Mtera lina matope na kupunguza kina cha maji, sasa tunaambiwa ukame kama Kenya n.k Hili la umeme kuna kitu kinapikwa bahati mbaya hatujui, ni tatizo la kisiasa zaidi kuliko tunavyoaminishwa.
Jk anasema tatizo linatokana na mother nature, akiingia madarakani tatizo aliloanza nalo ni umeme, miaka 6 ofisini bado analalamikia mother nature. Kwa maneno mengine hana suluhu nyingine. Anamtetea Ngeleja wakati wabunge wake wanasema ajiuzulu. Hapa ni kama kamati kuu iliposema Dowans ilipwe JK akaenda ubungo plaza na kusema hata yeye inamkera kulipa.
Anasema watu wasitake mtu ajiuzulu kwa matatizo asiyoyasababisha. Je wale waliosababisha kama Richmond walifanywa nini?

Friday, 08 July 2011 22:43

By Frank Kimboy The Citizen Reporter Dodoma. The government has warned against calls for the establishment of three governments in the country as proposed by some legislators, saying the move would be a catalyst for splitting the union. The acting head of government business in the Parliament, Mr Samuel Sitta, sounded the warning yesterday while responding to MPs' comments during the debate on the vice president's office budget estimates. Mr Sitta who is also the East African Cooperation minister said the reintroduction of Tanganyika government for Mainland would create a rivalry with the revolutionary government of Zanzibar.Mr Sitta said that currently neither Zanzibar nor Tanzania Mainland contributed membership fees for being part of the United Republic of Tanzania. He said the introduction of membership fees, which would follow the introduction of three governments, would be a burden to both governments. He said experience had shown that various countries have been struggling to pay membership fees to their respective federations. "Currently Zanzibar owes the Tanzania National Electric Company (Tanesco) about Sh50 billion and pays less fees to access electricity, compared to their mainland counterparts…Tell me, if Tanganyika stood as a separate government, do you think they would have agreed with the current situation?" he posed. Mr Sitta said that rather than call for three governments, propagators of the idea should come out in the open and say whether they want the Union to be split or not. He also defended the founders of the Union against criticism by several legislators who claimed that the Father of the Nation, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, somehow forced the then Zanzibar President, Mr Abeid Aman Karume, into the Union. Mr Sitta also rubbished claims by some legislators that the Union government has been barring Zanzibar from joining international communities. He said Zanzibar has been failing to join international communities and federations due to international laws that require only a sovereign state to join. For example, Mr Sitta said, the cabinet had once requested that Zanzibar be granted the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) membership but the OIC turned down the request because Zanzibar was not a sovereign country Serikali tatu nani atalipa gharama. Kumbe Zbar wana umeme rahisi kuliko bara, sasa yule waziri wa Zbar aliyesema wanalipishwa bei kubwa aje na kukanusha maana maneno ya Sitta ni ya serikali ndani ya bunge. Hakuna ubishi kuwa wanadaiwa bilioni 50 na Tanesco, sasa trilioni moja ya serikali ya shirikisho wataipata wapi. Na suala la OIC si muungano ni OIC wenyewe kwahiyo Zbar waongee na OIC Napenda muungano lakini kwa manung'uniko ya wenzetu yasiyo na hoja za busara, ni vema wakapewa fursa.

 

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