‘No Marburg Confirmed In Tanzania’, But Mpox Remains ‘Public Health Emergency’

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In: Tanzania Foreign Investment News, Top News
‘No Marburg Confirmed In Tanzania’, But Mpox Remains ‘Public Health Emergency’

Monrovia — The Director General of the African Centers for Disease Control, Jean Kaseya, has said the center stands ready to support Tanzania and other countries in the region where suspected cases of the infectious Marburg Virus Disease have been identified. The World Health Organization earlier this week issued an alert warning of a possible outbreak in the country, although the Tanzanian Health Ministry has said tests conducted on available samples did not show the existence of Marburg in the East African nation.

“As of the 15 of January 2025, laboratory results from all suspected individuals were negative for Marburg Virus,” Tanzanian Health Minister Jenista Mhagama said in a statement. This would have marked the country’s second experience with the highly infectious disease that recently killed over a dozen people in neighboring Rwanda. Tanzania previously reported an outbreak of Marburg in 2023 in the  Kegara region, said to have been the epicenter of the new suspected cases.

At the Africa CDC online briefing on Thursday, Kaseya also said another infectious disease, Mpox, “remains a public health concern”. He said that while in December 2024, the disease had afflicted 20 countries, a new country – Sierra Leone – has been added to the number after recent outbreak there. Sierra Leonean health authorities said on January 10 that two cases of Mpox had been confirmed in the country and dozens of contacts are being traced.

With thousands of confirmed cases of Mpox across Africa and more than 1000 people having died of the disease  – mainly in Central Africa – Kaseya emphasized the need to increase testing, a theme he’s heralded before. The Africa CDC boss said over the next few months the continental health watchdog will deploy additional epidemiologists and community health workers to areas considered hot spots of infectious diseases in the region.

Source: allafrica.com

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ZEC kuandikisha wapigakura wapya 78,922

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In: Swahili News

Unguja. Tume ya Uchaguzi Zanzibar (ZEC), inatarajia kuandikisha wapigakura wapya 78,922 waliotimiza umri wa miaka 18 kwa mujibu wa takwimu ya Sensa ya Watu na Makazi ya mwaka 2022 katika uandikishaji wapigakura awamu ya pili kwa mwaka huu wa 2025.

Mwenyekiti wa tume hiyo, Jaji George Kazi ametoa kauli hiyo leo Januari 17, 2025 alipofungua mkutano wa wadau wa uandikishaji wapigakura wapya awamu ya pili kwa mwaka 2025 katika ukumbi wa Baraza la Wawakilishi Wete, Pemba.

Shughuli hiyo inatarajiwa kuanza Februari Mosi katika Wilaya ya Micheweni, Mkoa wa Kaskazini Pemba na kumalizikia Wilaya ya Mjini, Mkoa wa Mjini na Magharibi Machi, 2025.

“Uandikishaji huo ni matayarisho ya uchaguzi mkuu wa mwaka 2025 pia ni wa mwisho kuelekea uchaguzi huo,” amesema.

Akizungumzia lengo la mkutano huo amesema ZEC ina utaratibu wa kukutana na wadau kila linapotokea jambo muhimu ambalo linahitaji kuwashirikisha.

Amesema tume kupitia mikutano hiyo pia inasikiliza maoni, hoja na mapendekezo yatakoyosaidia kuendesha shughuli hiyo kwa ufanisi.

Amesisitiza kwamba, uandikishaji utawahusu wapigakura wapya ambao hawajaandikishwa kwenye daftari la kudumu la wapigakura.

Kazi hiyo amesema itafanyika kwa muda wa siku tatu kwa kila wilaya na kwa mujibu wa ratiba iliyotangazwa na Tume.

Amewataka wananchi waliotimiza sifa kujitokeza kutumia haki yao waweze kushiriki uchaguzi mkuu na kuwakumbusha huduma za uendelezaji wa daftari zinaendelea katika ofisi za Tume ya Uchaguzi za wilaya muda na saa zote za kazi.

Hata hivyo, amewataka wananchi na wadau wa uchaguzi Zanzibar kudumisha amani katika kipindi chote cha uandikishaji kama walivyofanikisha katika Kisiwa cha Pemba.

Amesema matumaini yake ni kwamba, wataendelea kushirikiana.

Awali, akiwasilisha taarifa na utaratibu wa uandikishaji wapigakura wapya na uendelezaji wa Daftari la Kudumu la Wapigakura, Mkurugenzi wa Uchaguzi, Thabit Idarous Faina, amesema wanatarajia kuweka wazi orodha ya wapigakura waliopoteza sifa na wanaohamisha taarifa zao kama inavyoelekezwa katika kifungu cha 19 na 31 cha Sheria ya uchaguzi na 4 ya mwaka 2018.

Hatua hiyo amesema itaenda sambamba na uwekaji wazi orodha ya wapigakura walioandikishwa katika uandikishaji wa awamu ya pili.

Amesema ZEC inaendelea kutoa huduma ya ujumbe mfupi wa maneno (sms) ambao wapigakura wanaweza kujua taarifa zao kwa kutumia simu ya mkononi kwa mitandao yote iliyosajiliwa Tanzania na huduma hiyo ni bure haina makato.

Amewaomba wananchi na wadau wa uchaguzi kwa ngazi tofauti kushirikiana na Tume kufikisha ujumbe huo ili kuwahamasisha wenye sifa za kujiandikisha kufika vituoni wakiwa na kitambulisho cha Mzanzibari mkazi.

“Kila mwananchi ana wajibu wa kwenda kituoni kuangalia jina lake, kuona jina la mtu ambaye hahusiki kuwemo kwenye daftari hilo, ama kwa kufariki dunia au kwa namna nyingine yoyote,” amesema.

Maulid Ame Mohammed, Mkuu wa Kurugenzi ya Huduma za Sheria akiwasilisha mada ya nafasi ya sheria katika uandikishwaji na uendelezaji wa daftari la wapigakura amesema kwa mujibu wa Katiba ya Zanzibar ya mwaka 1984 kila Mzanzibari aliyetimiza miaka 18 ana haki ya kujiandikisha na kupiga kura katika uchaguzi unaofanyika Zanzibar.

Akifunga mkutano huo wa wadau, Kamishna wa Tume hiyo, Awadh Ali Said amewataka wadau kutambua majukumu yao na kuwa wa kweli katika changamoto zinazojitokeza wakati wa uandikishaji ili kazi hiyo ifanyike kwa ufanisi bila ya uvunjifu wa amani.

Mratibu kutoka Umoja wa Watu wenye Ulemavu Zanzibar (UWZ), Juma Kombo Hijja amevishauri vyama vya siasa kuwahamasisha wapigakura kwa kauli za kistaarabu na siyo kutoa kauli ambazo zinaviashiria vya uvunjifu wa amani kwani viashiria hivyo vitasababisha kundi la watu wenye ulemavu kutojitokeza na kushiriki kikamilifu.

Mkutano huo wa siku moja, umeshirikisha wadau wa uchaguzi, zikiwemo taasisi za Serikali na binafsi, vyama vya siasa, makundi maalumu, vyombo vya ulinzi na usalama na vya habari.Continue Reading

Tanzania’s Maasai Are Being Forced Off Their Ancestral Land – the Tactics the Government Uses

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In: Tanzania Foreign Investment News

Tanzania has a long and troubling history of evicting communities from their lands. This has happened under the guise of expanding protected conservation areas, which make up over 40% of its territory.

In recent years, the Maasai of the Ngorongoro district – a region renowned for abundant wildlife and the iconic Ngorongoro Crater – have been the target of these evictions. They’ve faced threats to their nomadic lifestyle, centred on cattle herding.

The government claims the evictions are necessary to protect the environment from a large Maasai population. Currently, around 100,000 Maasai reside within the protected area.

The reality, however, is that the right of the Maasai to use that land is being taken away by the government. The land is then leased to expand lucrative wildlife tourism and elite hunting grounds. Tourism, mostly driven by wildlife, constitutes over 17% of the country’s GDP.

The evictions have become more frequent, more violent and more widespread under Samia Suluhu Hassan, who assumed the presidency in 2021. Over the past few years, Maasai have been shot, detained and abused by government forces. This has sparked an outcry from local communities, activists and academics.

Among these voices is Maria Tsehai, a prominent Tanzanian activist who was recently abducted, and then released, in Nairobi, Kenya. Her abduction – likely part of the broader crackdown against Tanzanian government critics – has drawn attention to the repression of those opposing policies to relocate Maasai communities.

I have over several years researched conservation policies and practices in east Africa, including Tanzania.

In a paper published in 2022, I unpacked the ways in which the Tanzanian authorities, in collaboration with global conservation and tourism actors, have implemented policies forcing Maasai communities to abandon their ancestral lands. This was done through conservation management plans that undermine the interests of local communities and traditional livelihoods. The ability of the Maasai to meet their needs was also limited, for instance through restricting their access to social services.

As a result, nearly all the 100,000 Maasai living within the Ngorongoro conservation area face extreme poverty.

This impoverishment is being used to justify evicting them from ancestral lands.

Evictions for ‘conservation’

When the Ngorongoro Conservation Area was established in the late 1950s, it was meant to both conserve wildlife and safeguard the interests of the Maasai. At that time it was home to about 8,000 people.

Over time, successive policies neglected and deliberately undermined the interests of the Maasai community. This has been happening for more than six decades.

Since 2022, local media have reported that about 9,778 people have relocated from the conservation area. But the intention is for most to eventually be removed.

International conservation organisations – such as Frankfurt Zoological Society and Unesco (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) – have played a part in this. They provided narratives that enabled the Tanzanian government to justify its violation of Maasai rights within the conservation area.

The former director of the Frankfurt Zoological Society, Bernhard Grzimek, in particular, advocated for the removal of the Maasai since the early days of the conservation area’s establishment.

In assessment reports, Unesco’s World Heritage Committee similarly requested the Tanzanian authorities to “voluntarily” relocate residents by “increasing incentives to relocate“. This is because the conservation area is a world heritage site.

Tourism actors are also complicit in the evictions. For them the Maasai may be seen as an inconvenience or competitors for resources, such as water.

Removal strategies

Various policies push the Maasai to relocate.

First, while local communities are allowed to live in the conservation area, this was made legally contingent on their strict adherence to nomadic pastoralism. Pastoralist lifestyles are considered compatible with wildlife conservation. This means Maasai can remain in the area only as livestock producers, reliant on seasonal migration. Permanent settlements are largely prohibited. These conditions restrict the Maasai from diversifying their livelihoods beyond livestock production.

Second, though authorities advocate for traditional pastoralism, they simultaneously undermine it. Through laws, mobility is restricted; for instance they can only graze in certain areas. Access to critical dry-season grazing areas and water points is limited. These are fundamental requirements for nomadic pastoralism. As a result, the productivity of pastoralism has drastically declined.

Third, the Maasai communities in the conservation area have, for a long time, been deprived of social services. This includes education and health. Investments by both the state and other actors in social infrastructure, such as schools and hospitals, are also prevented.

The impoverishment that the Maasai face as a result of these policies is being used as a justification for their eviction. More than 80% of the population lives under the poverty line and nearly 74% of the population have no formal education. Authorities claim that resettlement is in the Maasai’s best interest.

These tactics have thus made the Maasai more vulnerable to displacement and their land easier to appropriate. Marginalised and impoverished, many Maasai either relocate on their own or are coerced into “voluntary” resettlement.

Conservation-related injustices

The ongoing dispossession and abuse of the Maasai, and other communities in Tanzania, raises urgent questions about global conservation agendas, state power and local community rights.

This is not unique to the Ngorongoro conservation area or Tanzania. Similar land grabs and evictions of marginalised communities, under the guise of nature protection, are occurring in many places across the world. As global alarm over biodiversity loss intensifies, the drive to expand protected areas has gained momentum.

However, such conservation efforts often mask power dynamics that result in the dispossession of vulnerable populations. It is vital to scrutinise how these policies are implemented at the local level.

Without accountability and genuine inclusion of local communities, such initiatives risk perpetuating the very inequalities and biodiversity loss that they claim to address.

Teklehaymanot G. Weldemichel, Lecturer in Environment and Development, University of Manchester

Source: allafrica.com

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Bodi ya Korosho kutumia BBT kufikia malengo

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In: Swahili News

Bodi ya Korosho Tanzania (CBT) imeendesha mafunzo kwa vijana na maofisa kilimo 150 kutoka Mkoa wa Lindi kupitia programu ya “Jenga Kesho Ilio Bora” (BBT), lengo likiwa ni kuongeza uzalishaji wa korosho nchini ili kufikia malengo ya Serikali ya kuzalisha tani milioni moja ifikapo mwaka 2030.Continue Reading