KIM KARDASH
JF-Expert Member
- Sep 21, 2011
- 5,139
- 1,139
Minister Mr Lazaro Nyalandu said: "Tanzanians' blogs are full of gossip"
Tanzanians spent a total of Sh2 billion for talking through mobile phones in 2010.
However, it is amazing that most of the conversations and messages were on sexual relationships, the deputy minister for Industry, Trade and Marketing, Mr Lazaro Nyalandu, said recently.
He was talking to students who are members of Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) at the University of Dodoma (Udom) during a short meeting held at Kilimani, Dodoma.
"Unlike our colleagues from Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda who have been using blogs and their mobile phones to learn basic things like the state of markets for different products, we have spent much time making non-profit contacts; many Tanzanians' blogs are full of gossip," said Mr Nyalandu.
He said the conversations made on mobile phones for the past year reveal that Tanzanians can participate in building the country if they have a tendency to think of basic things for the community, especially strategies of production and abandoning the concept of tax evasion.
"We want all Tanzanians to pay taxes; as you can see the money used for mobile phones is more than the budget support we got from the United States for that period... I want Tanzanians to think of building their country and make sure we concentrate on basic things and abandon the habit of evading taxes," he said last month.
ooh dear..
and here comes a responce to this a week after that:
Last week the deputy minister of Industry Trade and Marketing Mr Lazaro Nyalandu surprised me when he revealed that Tanzanians spent a total of Sh2 billion on mobile phones bills. That is a lot of money spent on communication alone, I thought.
However, what even shocked me most was the disclosure that most of the conversations were on relationships and gossip!
It is sad and unbelievable that the amount spent on such trivial conversations was even higher than the budget support that we got from the United States during the same period.
The minister even expressed his concern that while youth from other countries use blogs and mobile phones to learn basic things like stock markets for different products, we spent a lot of time and money making nonprofit contacts; many Tanzanians blogs are full of gossip.
The minister's statement has been reflected in so many websites and my friends did not hesitate to forward me the links and I couldn't help but wonder. I did not know that we gossip that much! Like most of you, I thought this was a little bit harsh and farfetched, I wonder if the minister made the assumption based on experience or statistics.
So I decided to confirm this by going through my text messages to see what kind of messages I had received in the past month. My discovery was a disappointment; most of the messages I have sent or received were either on relationships or just plain gossip.
It's a fact that cell phones have had a great impact in the way we do things; business, relationship, information dissemination and much more. It's heartbreaking that for most of us the mobile phone has been a tool to cheat, gossip and indulge in unproductive ill talks.
A high number of the websites and blogs that I have visited are on celebrity gossip, relationships and love. I am in the bandwagon of Tanzanian youths who spend most of their time talking about what a celebrity did, who is dating who and the likes.
It is a known fact that we are a country that thrives on gossip, look around you; the highest selling newspapers are gossip themed as sex scandals sells stories sell more than scientific inventions. Wema Sepetu's latest love interests, the latest beef in entertainment, Shaa's new hair style -it's impossible to turn on the TV or open a newspaper without being bombarded by rumours, hearsay and the occasional fact about ‘celebrities and other prominent people.
Celebrity gossip is a multi million business that continues to fascinate the world and fills thousands of pages of magazines, websites and newspapers every week.
I am not trying to justify or condone this and the effect it has in our country but trying to understand how and why we can spend over 2 billion in meaningless communication is incomprehensible.
sex and relationship matters have in the recent past become vital in life. I would like to think that it is human nature that because we are people that's why we would like to be in the know on what is going on in other people's lives.
Curiosity is genetically inherent: Generally we are anxious to know what is happening in others' life so we start gossiping.
I don't know about you but being labelled a gossiping nation is not a very proud moment for me. Maybe with the changing trends in society and the competitiveness in the region, as a country we will have to channel our interest into more productive topics to end this love affair with gossip.
N.B. NYARANDU FOR CCM PRESIDENT CANDIDATE 2015
Tanzanians spent a total of Sh2 billion for talking through mobile phones in 2010.
However, it is amazing that most of the conversations and messages were on sexual relationships, the deputy minister for Industry, Trade and Marketing, Mr Lazaro Nyalandu, said recently.
He was talking to students who are members of Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) at the University of Dodoma (Udom) during a short meeting held at Kilimani, Dodoma.
"Unlike our colleagues from Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda who have been using blogs and their mobile phones to learn basic things like the state of markets for different products, we have spent much time making non-profit contacts; many Tanzanians' blogs are full of gossip," said Mr Nyalandu.
He said the conversations made on mobile phones for the past year reveal that Tanzanians can participate in building the country if they have a tendency to think of basic things for the community, especially strategies of production and abandoning the concept of tax evasion.
"We want all Tanzanians to pay taxes; as you can see the money used for mobile phones is more than the budget support we got from the United States for that period... I want Tanzanians to think of building their country and make sure we concentrate on basic things and abandon the habit of evading taxes," he said last month.
ooh dear..
and here comes a responce to this a week after that:
Last week the deputy minister of Industry Trade and Marketing Mr Lazaro Nyalandu surprised me when he revealed that Tanzanians spent a total of Sh2 billion on mobile phones bills. That is a lot of money spent on communication alone, I thought.
However, what even shocked me most was the disclosure that most of the conversations were on relationships and gossip!
It is sad and unbelievable that the amount spent on such trivial conversations was even higher than the budget support that we got from the United States during the same period.
The minister even expressed his concern that while youth from other countries use blogs and mobile phones to learn basic things like stock markets for different products, we spent a lot of time and money making nonprofit contacts; many Tanzanians blogs are full of gossip.
The minister's statement has been reflected in so many websites and my friends did not hesitate to forward me the links and I couldn't help but wonder. I did not know that we gossip that much! Like most of you, I thought this was a little bit harsh and farfetched, I wonder if the minister made the assumption based on experience or statistics.
So I decided to confirm this by going through my text messages to see what kind of messages I had received in the past month. My discovery was a disappointment; most of the messages I have sent or received were either on relationships or just plain gossip.
It's a fact that cell phones have had a great impact in the way we do things; business, relationship, information dissemination and much more. It's heartbreaking that for most of us the mobile phone has been a tool to cheat, gossip and indulge in unproductive ill talks.
A high number of the websites and blogs that I have visited are on celebrity gossip, relationships and love. I am in the bandwagon of Tanzanian youths who spend most of their time talking about what a celebrity did, who is dating who and the likes.
It is a known fact that we are a country that thrives on gossip, look around you; the highest selling newspapers are gossip themed as sex scandals sells stories sell more than scientific inventions. Wema Sepetu's latest love interests, the latest beef in entertainment, Shaa's new hair style -it's impossible to turn on the TV or open a newspaper without being bombarded by rumours, hearsay and the occasional fact about ‘celebrities and other prominent people.
Celebrity gossip is a multi million business that continues to fascinate the world and fills thousands of pages of magazines, websites and newspapers every week.
I am not trying to justify or condone this and the effect it has in our country but trying to understand how and why we can spend over 2 billion in meaningless communication is incomprehensible.
sex and relationship matters have in the recent past become vital in life. I would like to think that it is human nature that because we are people that's why we would like to be in the know on what is going on in other people's lives.
Curiosity is genetically inherent: Generally we are anxious to know what is happening in others' life so we start gossiping.
I don't know about you but being labelled a gossiping nation is not a very proud moment for me. Maybe with the changing trends in society and the competitiveness in the region, as a country we will have to channel our interest into more productive topics to end this love affair with gossip.
N.B. NYARANDU FOR CCM PRESIDENT CANDIDATE 2015
