11 March 2006

Aliyenacho ataongezewa...



Hii habari imeletwa na Mwanablogu MtiMkubwa. Naomba tuisome vizuri ili tujue kabisa ni wapi tunakoelekea, habari hii hapa chini...

Kuna msemo kwenye maandiko matakatifu ya Biblia unaosema walionacho wataongezewa na wale wenye kidogo watanyang'anywa. Msemo huu unadhihirika sana nchini Tanzania kwa jinsi waliokuwa navyo wanavyoongezewa au wanajiongezea. Siku za nyuma nilipata kutuma ujumbe kuulizia kwamba "..kati ya madaktari na wabunge nani anastahili kulipwa zaidi?.." Niliuliza swali hili baada ya kupata habari kwamba waheshimiwa wabunge walipokutana kwa mara ya kwanza moja ya mambo waliyoyasimamia kidete ni kutaka kujiongezea mishahara. Wabunge walipotaka kujiongezea mishahara wala hawakufukuzwa kazi kama walivyofanyiwa madaktari wa hospitali kuu ya Muhimbili. Suala lao limefunikwafunikwa na umma wa Watanzania haujui hatima ya azima hiyo ya waheshimiwa wabunge. Hii si mara ya kwanza waheshimiwa wabunge kujiongezea mishahara. Mwaka 1975 walipojiongezea mishahara umma haukuridhika. Wanafunzi wa Chuo kikuu cha Dar es Salaam wakaandamana kupinga azimio la waheshimiwa wa wabunge. Matokeo ya maandamano hayo si kwamba bunge au serikali ilibatilisha ongezeko la mishahara bali iliwafukuza wanafunzi wa Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam!

Kuna baadhi ya mambo yanayonikera sana nchini Tanzania. Mojawapo ni ukiukwaji wa haki za binadamu na ufujaji wa nguvu (abuse of power). Ufujaji wa nguvu unafanywa na wazazi majumbani, walimu mashuleni, viongozi makazini, viongozi wa kisiasa, na walinzi wa usalama wa raia. Polisi, FFU, magereza na wanamgambo ni wafujaji wakubwa sana wa nguvu. Mtanzania wa kawaida akimuona moja kati ya walinzi hawa wa usalama huwa anatishika badala ya kujisikia yupo salama. Walinzi hawa wa usalama wa raia wamejenga tabia ya uonevu na dhuluma zilizokithiri dhidi ya Watanzania masikini. Wiki hii tumeshuhudia walinzi hawa wa usalama walivyoshiriki kwenye zoezi la kuwadhibiti wapiga debe na wafanyabiashara ndogo ndogo kwa amri na ridhaa ya serikali. Matokeo ya zoezi hilo limeua raia wawili na kujeruhi raia na polisi ambao idadi yao hatujaijua.

Binafsi yangu nimeliongelea sana suala la ufujaji wa nguvu za vyombo vya dola dhidi ya wananchi na viongozi wa kisiasa, ndugu, jamaa, na marafiki zangu wengi sana. Nilipata kumueleza kiongozi mmoja wa kisiasa kwamba Tanzania akitokea psychopath kama Foday Sankoh wa Sierra Leone atapata wafuasi wengi sana na upesi sana. Kiongozi huyo wa kisiasa akastuka sana na kuniuliza "..atawapataje?.." Nikamwambia "..wale Wamachinga wanaoonewa, kunyanyaswa na kudhulumiwa na vyombo vya dola ni potential recruits wa rebels katika nchi yoyote.." Akaniuliza "..unafikiri Wamachinga wanaonewa kiasi hicho?.." Nikamjibu "..Si kwamba wanaonewa tu bali wanauawa na wanaichukia sana system!.." Akasema "..una ushahidi wowote?.." Nikamwambia "..Ushahidi wa kwanza mauaji ya Kilombero.." Akanijibu "..Hayo yalishughulikiwa.." Nikamwambia "..Nani alinyongwa kwa sababu ya mauaji ya Wasafwa Kilombero?.. Akanijibu "..Ukifuatilia wapo waliowajibika.." Nikamwambia "..Nina hakika hakuna kiongozi yoyote wa ngazi ya juu aliyefukuzwa kazi kwa sababu ya mauaji yale. Hata mauaji ya Shinyanga waliofukuzwa kazi na kuhukumiwa walikuwa ni watendaji wa chini wa juu walilhamishwa hamishwa na wengine wakarudi na kuwa Rais, Makamu wa Waziri Mkuu, na nafasi zingine za kisiasa!.." Akaniambia "..Hatuzungumzii mauaji ya Shinyanga..Nataka ushahidi kama kuna walinzi wa usalama waliowahi kuua Wamachinga.." Nikamwambia "..Tukifuatilia tutapata ushahidi.." Akaniambia "..Usiseme maneno kama haya yanaweza kukutia matatizoni.." Nikamwambia "..Nisiposema na kukuambia mtu kama wewe ili upelekee kwa wakubwa wenziyo, Mtakuja kustuka siku moja Wamachinga watakaposhika silaha dhidi ya vyombo vya usalama..Mtatahayari siku Watanzania wapole watakapokuwa washenzi kama Wasierra Leone au Waliberia!.." Yale niliyoyazungumza na huyo bwana wiki hii yamekuwa. Tafadhali usichoke kusoma habari kaamili hiyo hapo chini kama ilivyoripotiwa na shirika la habari la Uingereza BBC:

Tanzania suspends street clean-up

Street vendors say moving away from the town centres hits business
A police crackdown on street vendors and bus ticket touts in Tanzania has been suspended for six months after violent clashes left two people dead.
Prime Minister Edward Lowassa said he was halting the operation to allow local authorities and vendors alike more time to prepare for the change.
Vendors and touts have been blamed for a rise in petty crime.
The two deaths occurred on Wednesday in the town of Mwanza along the shores of Lake Victoria in the north.
Four hours of rioting began after police and security guards confiscated vendors' wares and shops and offices in the town were shut down, according to Tanzanian newspaper Mwananchi.
"Many" people were also injured before anti-riot police quelled the violence with tear gas.
Kiosks were also demolished and vendors removed in the capital, Dar es Salaam.
'Adequate preparation'
Mr Lowassa, who originally envisaged completing the clean-up within three months, told the BBC's Swahili service that municipal officials were being given time to plan the clean-up "in a more respectful manner".
With the kiosk's income we could send the children to school and pay for the rent - now we are left with nothing

unnamed street vendor
Vendors facing eviction also needed time to "prepare themselves adequately", he added.
The prime minister said that those traders already moved on would be allowed to continue their business elsewhere because it was the government's policy to "ensure income for everyone".
But vendors complain their new trading spots are not in the town centres and therefore they are being denied their right to a living.
"With the kiosk's income we could send the children to school and pay for the rent," a woman in Dar es Salaam told the BBC as she piled up the remnants of her stand.
"Now we are left with nothing."
The BBC's Vicky Ntetema in Dar es Salaam says the streets of the city looked bare on Friday after the demolitions.
Crimes are often committed in broad daylight in front of the street vendors who do not warn the victims or volunteer information to the police.
Many of the vendors say they were given licenses and paid taxes and they expect compensation from the government for destroying their property.

07 March 2006

Anaishi Royal Palm Hotel....


Hii habari amenisukumia Kaka yangu mkubwa 'MtiMkubwa' kwa vile ni nyeti sana nimeona nami niisukume kwa wananchi wazalendo wenzangu ili tuweze kuijadili kwa kina, haya tuendelee jamani...


Naam,

Tanzania ni nchi yenye miujiza anuai. Tuna miujiza ya kiasili kama vile Ngorongoro, Mlima Kilimanjaro, Ziwa Tanganyika na mengineyo. Pia tumejaaliwa kuzua miujiza ambayo yaweza kumstaajabisha hata mtoto mchanga aliyezaliwa leo. Moja ya miujiza hiyo ni ule wa kuuza mali za umma zilizoimarishwa kwa mtaji wa umma wa Watanzania masikini. Mojawapo ya mali za umma zilizouzwa na serikali ya awamu ya tatu ni majumba ya serikali yakiwemo ya mawaziri.

Mengi ya majumba hayo yaliyouzwa ni sehemu kubwa ya historia ya nchi yetu. Kwani majumba hayo yalijengwa na wakoloni wa Kijerumani kabla ya kujiingiza "mdhamini" wa Kiingereza mwaka 1948. Kinachofuatia baada ya kuuzwa au kuuziana majumba hayo "maswahiba" wa serikali ya awamu ya tatu ni kwamba baaadhi ya mawaziri serikali ya nne wamepangiwa kuishi mahotelini makubwa kama wafanyabiashara au watalii. Humo mahotelini wanakula vipsi na kuku, wanaogelea kwenye maswimingi puli, wanaletewa rumu sevisi, na gharama zinginezo nyingi na kubwa!

Nimepungukiwa na ya kuandika lakini naomba usichoke kusoma maelezo zaidi hapo chini:


Uproar over Tanzania's hotel ministers
By Vicky Ntetema
BBC News, Dar es Salaam


Many Tanzanians are outraged by the revelation that dozens of ministers have been staying in luxury hotels since the beginning of the year at the taxpayers' expense.

The Courtyard is popular with tourists at more than $109 a night
All ministers are supposed to be given subsidised housing but the new ministerial homes have not been completed after the existing buildings were sold off to civil servants by the former government.
So some of those named since President Jakaya Kikwete took office last December have been staying in hotels, at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars a month.
This expense has been strongly criticised at a time when more than 3m people are on the verge of starvation due to prolonged droughts.
The newcomers into cabinet were given until the end of February to vacate their hotel rooms or pay the bills from their own pockets.
Yet the government has admitted that 36 ministers and their deputies, who come from outside Tanzania's commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, have not yet been re-housed.
Walking distance
Although the government does not want to reveal the exact names of these temporary dwellings, it is an open secret that some of them stay in expensive hotels which cater for top class tourists and international executive high fliers.

It's like home - we serve international cuisine and there is no doubt that security is very high

The Courtyard's Abysai Mashambo
One of these is The Courtyard in one of the upmarket areas of the commercial city of Dar es Salaam, within walking distance of most ministerial office buildings and State House.
Rates for rooms at this five-star hotel range from $109 to $189 per night.
The Courtyard's spokesperson Abysai Mashambo says ministers like this costly hotel for many reasons.
"It's a very quiet place - it's like a home; it's not very far from the city centre; we serve international cuisine - continental, Indian, African and there is no doubt that security is very high," he says.
"The ministers take rooms which suit the budget of the government - because the government pays for them. They don't pay from their pockets."
Not all ministers enjoy the comfort of such luxurious hotels.
At least two deputy ministers are accommodated at the three-star Landmark Hotel, about 7km (four miles) from Dar es Salaam city centre, in the overcrowded Ubungo area.
Most local residents whose houses are dwarfed by this five-storey hotel are either unemployed or have low-paid jobs.
Here the rooms cost about $40 to $60 per night.
Baffled
The scheme to build government quarters started last year under the leadership of retired President Benjamin Mkapa, after most official homes were sold off to civil servants, including ministers, at what were seen as give-away prices.

These houses for ministers and deputy ministers will not be sold

Minister Juma Akukweti
The policy was unpopular and authorities blamed for what many saw as a misuse of public funds.
Many were then baffled by the government's decision to spend taxpayers' money on hotel bills for new appointees, leaving retired civil servants in the affordable state accommodation.
The ministry of infrastructure development last month reassured Tanzanians that ministers would move into their new homes by the end of February.
John Kijazi, the ministry's most senior civil servant, says that the delay has been caused by the construction hitches encountered at the start of building.
He said he could not put a figure on how much the taxpayers will have to cough up to foot the hotel bills until every single minister had moved into their new homes.
Rubble
Builders at the Msasani Peninsula on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam are working tirelessly to complete the finishing touches on some bungalows - the official residences for cabinet members.

The houses will have servants' quarters and large gardens
But one minister and his wife could not wait any longer and have moved in amid the rubble.
I found Minister of state in the prime minister's office in charge of Coordination and Parliamentary Affairs Juma Akukweti and his wife inspecting their three-bedroom house close to the Indian Ocean beach.
"I am quite comfortable. I like the house - the rooms are quite spacious. I have a big family, as an African that's usual. This is enough for my family," he said.
He promised that these newly constructed houses with servant's quarters and spacious back and front yards - some as big as a football pitch - would not be sold off to ministers in 10 year's time.
"These houses for ministers and deputy ministers will not be sold. If one wants to buy a house - ask from a bank. But these ones are not for sale. And that's okay."
With this assurance, I left the happy minister and his family to settle into his new house.