VOLUNTEERING IN TANZANIA

The voluntary sector remains a foreign-oriented phenomenon in many parts of Africa. In Tanzania, for example, many of the established voluntary organisations are Western-oriented with exception of rare presence of local players like the Vodacom Foundation.

The idea of volunteering is not much different from the spirit of Ujamaa (brotherhood), an ideology which for many years has dominated our political, economic and social domains. The principles of Ujamaa emphasized, among other things, social equality and co-operation. Although fast decaying in urban areas, many of our rural communities still embrace co-operating in such activities as communal farming.

Until recently I had never involved myself with the voluntary sector .I should honestly confess that it never occurred to me that I could offer my service for free. However, meeting some British friends who have frequently been to Tanzania to work in variety of voluntary organisations has radically changed my perspective on volunteering, and that is the main focus of this article. I have been asking myself why would these people “abandon” the usual luxuries in their homes to go to “the Third World” where they are likely to be welcomed by hungry mosquitoes, hopeless criminals, unsanitary conditions, or even getting caught in crossfire between certain warring factions.

Of course, such journeys could easily be motivated by availability of sponsorship from various sources but that does not make the fact that it takes a person’s passion and commitment to help others for them to incur the trouble of raising such funds diminutive. It is even more difficult in these times when even the strongest economies find the going hard due to the current recession.

In fact, recent reports indicate that the voluntary sector in the UK has itself became a victim of the recession as funders are finding it hard to give donations or meet their previous financial pledges. Although there are signs that the recession might soon be over in some countries its impact could still affect the activities of international and local voluntary organisations working in the Third World which rely primarily on donations.

The recession has also put pressure on some Western voluntary organisation to prioritise their activities in their own countries. That would in long run, assuming the recession would last for some few years to come, lead to a decline in their involvement in several projects in the third world.

A common excuse for lack of volunteering in countries like Tanzania is lack of financial capabilities in majority of the population. The argument is, as most people are poor, they find it hard to volunteer while they are faced with the responsibility of making their own ends meet. However, I strongly believe that devoting a few hours a week would probably not affect their efforts to meet their own needs. It should be noted that even our beloved volunteers from overseas have their own commitment in their home countries but their passion to make a difference to the world beyond their own enables them to balance between their own and other people’s needs.

The on-going war against mafisadi (economic saboteurs) in Tanzania is severely affected by lack of voluntary law practitioners who could, for instance, act on behalf of the people where the government is reluctant to take required measures against mafisadi. Our law-makers, likewise, are so obsessed with partisan politics that a number of culprits have easily got off the hook simply because punishing them would shame the ruling party. Despite of their huge salaries, majority of our MPs do not have time to volunteer in community projects in their constituents. Their recent efforts to pass a bill that would give them more funds “for development projects in their constituents” through the proposed “Constituency Fund” confirms their unwillingness to offer their service to their voters for free.

With a sizeable and growing middle class, the voluntary sector in Tanzania could make a tremendous change in several community-oriented projects which are in dire need for support. Imagine how our society could gradually change if a few criminal defence lawyers start visiting our over-crowded prisons to offer free legal advice, or if our medical professionals emulate their Medicins sans Frontiers counterparts by visiting rural areas where health facilities are scarce. Our teachers are keen into providing out-of-school-hours tuitions but we all know that only students from well-to-do families afford the costs. Why not allocate a few tuition sessions for students from disadvantaged backgrounds?

The spirit of volunteering could also be useful in the fight against corruption as it could complement services offered by the state, public and private sector, and other non-state actors. The voluntary sector in the UK has also been one of the key players in job creation, and there is no reason why that should not be replicated in Tanzania in the long run.

It is true that most of us have more to worry about ourselves that volunteering to help others. However, our beloved volunteers from overseas too have their other things to do than improving our lives but they humanly chose to care for us. It certainly would make a huge difference if we put our selfishness aside, and start thinking about the wellbeing of others. If we can afford to donate huge sums of money for marriage ceremonies we could as well donate our time, knowledge, skills and experience to help those in need in form of volunteering.

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MBAGALA BLASTS: SURELY,SOMEONE HAS TO GO!

Accidents do happen! However, some accidents are avoidable especially if someone somewhere would have taken their responsibility seriously. For ages, thousands of innocent Tanzanian lives have been lost in fire, marine (e.g. MV Bukoba), rail and road accidents. It’s fair to say that most if these accidents could have been avoided had those entrusted with passenger safety been up to their tasks. Sadly, in most cases it’s the poor who end up paying the ultimate price. Occasionally, a driver would be nabbed and sent to prison while vehicle inspectors and traffic police who allowed a car that caused accident to be on road despite its mechanical failures are left untouched and unpunished. Of course, punishing them could not bring back the dead but at least it could have served as a lesson to careless drivers and their greedy vehicle proprietors.

A couple of months ago, several people lost their lives in a series of bomb explosions at a Dar suburb of Mbagala. No one knows exactly why the bombs exploded in the first place as we usually believe that bombs are in safe hands in when stored in an Army armoury. The causes of the explosions have been left to speculation since the incident report has been deeply buried in Dr Hussein Mwinyi’s filing cabinets. It should be remembered that the investigation which lead to the publication of the report must have cost a huge amount of taxpayers’ money. As if adding salt to the wound ,we are made to face another loss of public funds after, and nobody seems to care!

Dr Mwinyi pledged that he would resign should the report cite negligence on TPDF as one source of the blasts. He couldn’t be more serious. How could a report prepared by his subordinates implicate him? That’s not in the old Tanzania you and I know! As I said earlier, a resignation of the minister, or the CDF, or the officer in charge of the armoury couldn’t bring back the lives of those who died in the explosions. However, it could have served one purpose that is always ignored when human errors, mistakes or negligence play a vital role in the occurrence of an accident.

The two families who lost their beloved ones in the recent blast will be compensated. Dr Mwinyi and his deputy, Dr William Nchimbi, will very likely promise another mchakato to investigate the causes of the blast, as if they have already made the first report known to the public. What a misuse of doctorates of philosophy! One would have expected excellent performances in a ministry headed by two PhD holders. And as Tanzanians are so good at letting things go, sooner than later the Mbagala tragedies would be forgotten...until another explosion happens, which is still likely.

Expecting pressure from our opposition parties would be fooling ourselves as we all know that whatever they say on behalf of the disadvantaged would most likely be portrayed by the ruling party and its government as sheer political opportunism. Expectedly, some money-making non-governmental body identifying itself as championing for human rights would call for an inquiry, not because it believes that’s the right thing to do but rather to please its funders that it is actually advocating for human rights in our country. That’s the bitter reality about the kind of civil society we have in Tanzania. It’s not only weak in its traditional role as “the public realm of organised social activity located between the state and the private household” but it has also become a breeding ground for ufisadi and mafisadi.

It’s high time Tanzanians wherever they are to understand that we have a very gloomy future if we continue to accept everything as our destiny. Poor leadership is not our fate because we had an election in 2005, and yet we put back into power the same old party that has proved a complete failure after decades of ruling-and wrecking- our country. We have another election next year but there is every indication that the same blunder would be repeated.

We don’t have to settle for less like Simba and Yanga who are busy recruiting “international players” only to remain spectators in regional tournaments. We deserve more than what CCM has been promising to offer us during election campaigns only to come back five years later asking for more time to “finish where they left” as if they had started delivering anything out of their promises in the first place.

Mbagala resident have every reason to demand more than compensations from the people they entrusted with the task of ensuring their safety. Afterall, the little they would get as compensation would not only be incapable of bringing back the innocent lives of their beloved ones taken so prematurely due to negligence by Dr Mwinyi and his bunch of irresponsible officials but would also not be sufficient to prevent father tragedies in the future.

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MI5 TURNS 100

MI5: To defend the realm

Britain's counter-intelligence agency turns 100 next month. Historian Nigel West looks at the service's success, its secrets and scandals

by Nigel West

26 Sep 2009

Happy Birthday, MI5. The UK's counter-intelligence agency celebrates its centenary next month and my, how it's changed: from an organisation so completely veiled in secrecy that even the British government would not admit it existed, to one in which its Director-Generals now talk openly to the media – and even write books on their time there.

Its foundations were inauspicious to say the least. The perceived intelligence disaster of the Boer War prompted the Committee of Imperial Defence to review the failure of the British Secret Service. However, it was discovered that no such organisation existed. So the CID recommended the creation of a new branch of government, the Secret Service Bureau, the origins of MI5.

It was headed by Captain Vernon Kell, a veteran of the Boxer rebellion in China (and an occasional Telegraph correspondent); while Director-General, he was known simply as "K". The Bureau launched with a tiny staff consisting of a single ex-Scotland Yard detective and three clerks; compare this to today when the occupants of Thames House (MI5) and Vauxhall Cross (MI6), on opposite sides of the river, number several thousand.

Kell's great success was the arrest in the opening days of the First World War of the entire German spy ring in Britain, which conveniently centred on a barber's shop in north London. The arrest of Karl Gustav Ernst, his assistant Wilhelm Kronauer, and 21 of their network effectively eliminated what had been intended as a large enemy operation. It also ensured that when, in January 1916, the Secret Service Bureau was split in two and assigned the cover names MI5 and MI6, the "Imperial Security Service" would be perceived as too valuable and important an instrument to disband at the end of hostilities.

MI5 would remain under Kell's control, exercising independence from successive political administrations while avoiding causing embarrassment, until the end of his tenure in June 1940. Indeed, his only confrontation with any prime minister occurred when Stanley Baldwin demanded MI5 place Edward VIII's American lover, Wallis Simpson, under surveillance. Kell initially refused the order, but eventually relented, having been persuaded by his deputy and senior staff that the operation was indeed intended to defend the realm.

Most Cabinet ministers were content to allow MI5 a large measure of freedom because of the quality of the information it gathered. This was often gleaned from informants inside the Communist Party of Great Britain, or from secret sources such as KASPAR, a microphone concealed in the central London offices of the Young Communist League. MI5 also had the benefit of MASK, the clandestine wireless messages transmitted to and from the CPGB's covert radio located in Wimbledon. For three years until March 1937, when the CPGB changed its code based on a popular edition of Treasure Island, MASK ensured that discreet counter-measures stymied every Communist-inspired scheme, strike and coup. It also offered proof that the CPGB was not a legitimate political party, but a sinister outfit controlled from Moscow.

Since Kell's departure, MI5's 14 successors have ensured the Security Service has been free of political influence. Staffed mainly by women, it has tapped telephones, intercepted mail, opened diplomatic bags, recruited sources, managed double agents, liaised with Allied agencies and maintained a watch on suspected spies, saboteurs and subversives for 100 years without engendering the scandals that have hamstrung its counterparts in Europe and the United States.

As far as is known, it has suffered hostile penetration on only four occasions – two of which were during the Second World War. The first concerned William Rolph, a retiree who had volunteered to spy for the German intelligence organisation, Abwehr. When MI5 confronted him, he committed suicide in his office in Piccadilly. To avoid arousing the suspicions of the Abwehr, however, MI5 asked the coroner to record that Rolph had died of a heart attack. The second saw secretary Celia Luke, a Communist Party member, leak information from MI5's famous registry. She was dismissed, but not prosecuted.

Apart from the Cambridge-educated Anthony Blunt, who worked for MI5 from June 1940 to October 1945 while reporting simultaneously to the NKVD, the Soviet Union's secret police organisation, only Michael Bettaney, an Oxford graduate, has passed on classified material from inside MI5. He was arrested in 1983 and sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment.

Early in the Second World War, MI5 achieved a breakthrough by allowing a Welsh nationalist, Arthur Owens, to transmit a daily weather report from his prison cell in Wandsworth to the enemy. Owens had been recruited by the Nazis and was arrested in 1939. However, he agreed to work as a double agent, and contacted his German handlers from jail.

Owens gave access to the Abwehr's top-secret communications across Europe which, protected by an Enigma machine cipher, were thought to be impregnable. However, Owens' daily transmissions were re-ciphered on the enemy's Enigma channels, thus allowing cryptographers at the signal's intelligence service's headquarters in Barnet to crack Germany's Enigma codes.

Postwar austerity, combined with a reluctance to be accused of acting like the Gestapo, ensured that MI5 would find its work hampered against Communist subversion and Soviet espionage. Limited resources and a growing reliance on tips by well-informed defectors resettled in the US reduced MI5's status within Whitehall.

It was the ill-fated and brief affair conducted in 1961 by the war minister John Profumo that demonstrated how vulnerable the British system of government was to a poorly planned entrapment operation. Unaware of any relationship between Profumo and Christine Keeler, MI5 sought to persuade Eugene Ivanov, an identified GRU officer based in the Soviet naval attaché's office, to defect by recruiting his friend, the society osteopath Stephen Ward, to act as an intermediary. Caught in the middle was Profumo, whose career then collapsed as he attempted to conceal his affair. He had been approached by the Cabinet Secretary to assist MI5 and Ward in honeytrapping Ivanov, but had misinterpreted the encounter as a warning to distance himself from Keeler.

The MI5 molehunter Arthur Martin, when asked what he had achieved during his lengthy counter-espionage experience, had replied "bringing down the Macmillan government". Certainly, the Denning Report, which was laudatory about the role and performance of the Security Service, alerted the public to the kind of operations that had been conducted behind the scenes to protect the country against Kremlin-orchestrated subversion.

If publication of the Denning Report, which revealed for the first time the mandate given to MI5 by the Home Secretary, marked the end of an era of deference, it also provided a temporary respite from political interference and supervision. Unknown to the Cabinet, MI5 had been wracked by the fear that it had suffered hostile penetration by at least one mole. The details would emerge in 1986 with embittered retiree Peter Wright's book Spy Catcher, a breathtaking glimpse at MI5's dirty laundry.

Three years later MI5 was legitimised by the passage of the 1989 Security Service Bill which, guided by Stella Rimington, the first woman Director-General, gave the Service statutory powers and requirements. There followed a dramatic change in role, with the collapse of the Soviet threat and the acquisition of the lead responsibility for countering domestic terrorism, then focused on Northern Ireland.

The application of classic, conventional counter-intelligence methodology, which challenged the Provisional IRA as if it were a hostile intelligence agency, proved dramatically successful. But it was the unanticipated appearance of home-grown Muslim extremists that ended an era of complacency and a political desire to dismantle a security apparatus that was seen to have outlived its usefulness.

There were insufficient resources to deploy against known threats from radical zealots, and there followed the tragedy of a suicide plot hatched by fundamentalists whose individual dossiers, initiated by telephone intercepts and physical surveillance, had been shelved by an inexperienced MI5 officer. The officer, on that fateful occasion, was unable to fulfil MI5's motto: "To Defend the Realm".

 Nigel West is the author of 'TRIPLEX: Secrets from the Cambridge Spies' (Yale University Press, £17.50), out tomorrow

SOURCE: The Daily Mail

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WATU WAZIMA HOVYOO!

HIZI SIO HARAKATI ZA SIASA BALI NI UTOTO.NA UTOTO HUU UNAENDELEA KWA VILE CHAMA TAWALA KINA IMANI YA KUTOSHA KUWA WANAOCHEZEWA SHERE (WAPIGA KURA) BADO WAKO USINGIZINI,NA KINACHOENDELEA (UTOTO HUO) NI SAWA NA NJOZI.

HEBU SOMA HII,KISHA TAFAKARI:

Makamba amfuata Spika Sitta Urambo, ampigia magoti

*ASEMA HANA UGOMVI NAYE, ASEMA ALIKUWA MLEZI WA NDOA ZA WANAYE

Na John Dotto, Tabora

KATIKA kile kilichoelezwa kwamba, ni kujisafisha mbele ya Spika wa Bunge, Samuel Sitta, CCM imesema ipo pamoja naye katika kutekeleza majukumu yake kama Spika wa Bunge la Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania.

Kauli hiyo ilitolewa jana na Katibu Mkuu wa CCM, Yusufu Makamba; ikiwa ni siku chache baada ya Mwenyekiti wa CCM, Rais Jakaya Kikwete kuondoa utata uliotokana na maazimio ya Halmashauri Kuu ya chama hicho ulioonyesha kuwa wabunge wanaopiga kelele dhidi ya ufisadi, wanakichafua chama na serikali yake.

Akizungumza na viongozi wa CCM wilaya ya Urambo kwenye mkutano wa ndani uliohudhuriwa na Spika Sitta, Makamba, alitumia muda mwingi kumsifia Sitta kwamba ni mtu muelewa, asiyetetereka na wala kuyumbishwa na mtu yeyote na kwamba anachokifanya ni utekelezaji wa ilani ya uchaguzi ya chama hicho.

Makamba aliwaambia wanaCCM hao kwamba, hana chuki na Sitta, kwani hata alipokuwa Mkuu wa Mkoa wa Dar es Salaam alimkaribisha katika ndoa za wanawe na akapewa nafasi ya kuzungumza kama baba mlezi, heshima ambayo alisema hataisahau katika maisha yake.

Alisema wana CCM wanatakiwa kupuuza maneno ya watu wanaodai chama kina mgogoro na Spika, kwasababu hakuna kitu kama hicho na yote anayoyatekeleza kwenye Bunge ni kwa niaba ya chama chake.

Hata hivyo, baada ya kikao cha NEC, Makamba alikuwa mstari wa mbele kudai kuwa kikao kile kina uwezo wa kumuhoji mbunge yoyote hata Sitta kama anakwenda tofauti na chama.

Makamba alinukuliwa akisema NEC ni mama na akina Spika ni watoto hivyo ina mamlaka ya kuhoji mienendo yao.

Mara baada ya kikao cha NEC, Sitta alifanya ziara mkoani Tabora na kulalamika kwamba, CCM makao makuu wamewakataza viongozi wa chama hicho mkoani kumpokea.

Hatua ya Makamba kwenda Urambo kuhutubia na Sitta, inatafsiriwa kama njia ya kuweka mambo sawa na kufuta makovu ya huko nyuma baina yake na Spika.

Kwa upande wake, Sitta alimshukuru Makamba kwa kutembelea jimboni kwake na mkoa wa Tabora kwa ujumla.

Katika mkutano wa hadhara uliofanyika baada ya kikao cha ndani kumalizika, Makamba aliwahakikishia wananchi wa Urambo kwamba CCM kipo pamoja na mbunge wao Sitta, ndiyo maana wanatekeleza ahadi zote ikiwemo ujenzi wa barabara ya Urambo Kaliua mpaka Tabora Mjini.

Akizungumzia suala la ufisadi, Makamba alisema kuwa wanaCCM wote kuanzia ngazi ya matawi wanapaswa kuungana na wabunge wanaopiga vita ufisadi, kwani vita dhidi ya rushwa ni ya wanaCCM wote.

Alisema anakerwa na watu wanaosema CCM ni chama cha mafisadi kwani ufisadi wa mtu mmoja si wa CCM na akatoa mfano kuwa dhambi ya Mkatoliki mmoja si dhambi ya Askofu Kilaini wala kanisa lote.

Makamba alimaliza ziara yake jana mkoani Tabora na juzi alipokuwa akizungumza na viongozi wa CCM wakiwemo makatibu wote wa wilaya za Tabora kwenye ukumbi wa mikutano wa CCM mkoa, aliwalaumu viongozi hao kukaa kimya wakati wapinzani wanakishambulia chama hicho kwa kukipakazia maneno machafu.

Aliwataka waamke na kukipigania chama na kuacha kukaa kimya na kusubiri makao makuu ama Makamba kujibu mashambulizi.

Baada ya kikao cha Nec kilichofanyika Dodoma mwezi uliopita, Makamba na Katibu wa Itikadi na Uenezi wa CCM, John Chilligati kwa nyakati tofauti walisema CCM imeunda kamati ya watu watatu, inayoongozwa na Rais Mstaafu, Ali Hassan Mwinyi kuwachunguza wabunge wenye tabia ya kuishambulia serikali nje ya vikao vya chama.

Habari za ndani ya kikao hicho ambazo baadaye zilivuja kwa vyombo vya habari, zilieleza kuwa Nec ilimweka kitimoto Spika Sitta kwa madai kuwa anaruhusu mijadala inayokichafua chama na serikali, huku baadhi ya wajumbe wakishinikiza anyang'anywe kadi ya CCM kwa madai kuwa anawapa uhuru bungeni watu wanaoishambulia serikali kwa ufisadi.

Hata hivyo, mwanzoni mwa wiki hii baada ya hotuba ya Rais, Chilligati alisema chama hicho hakina ugomvi wala uadui na wabunge wake wanaoongoza vita dhidi ya mafisadi nchini.

Kabla ya hapo, Mwenyekiti wa Mkoa wa Dar es Salaam, John Guninita ambaye alisemekana kumwandama Spika Sitta katika kikao cha NEC na akamwita faru aliyejeruhiwa anayetakiwa kumalizwa kabla hajasababisha madhara zaidi, naye alibadili msimamo na kuwaunga mkono wapiganaji wa ufisadi pamoja na Spika Sitta kwamba, wanatekeleza ilani ya CCM, hivyo wanastahili kuungwa mkono.

Mabadiliko haya ya siasa ndani ya chama hiki tawala na mfululizo wa matukio ya aina hiyo likiwemo la Mkuu wa Mkoa wa Mbeya, John Mwakipesile ambaye amekaririwa katika vyombo vya habari akisema hana ugomvi na Mbunge wa Kyela, Dk Harrison Mwakyembe, anayesemekana kuwa ni hasimu wake kisiasa.

CHANZO: Mwananchi

NA HAWA NDIO TUNAOTARAJIA WAREJEE KUTUTAWALA 2010!

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KUNDI LA MAFISADI LAZIDI KUIMARIKA NDANI YA CCM

Lowassa Tishio Ndani ya CCM

Nguvu ya kundi lake yatawala ndani ya NEC

KUNA kila dalili kwa aliyekuwa Waziri Mkuu na Mbunge wa Jimbo la Monduli, Edward Lowassa, kupitishwa na vikao vya juu vya Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) kuwa mgombea urais wa chama hicho katika Uchaguzi Mkuu ujao, mwaka 2010.

Taarifa za kuaminika kutoka kwa vigogo kadhaa ndani ya CCM na kwa baadhi ya wabunge wa chama hicho kikongwe nchini, zimethibitisha nia ya Lowassa kuwania kiti hicho, huku kukiwa na uwezekano mkubwa wa kupitishwa na vikao vya juu kuwa mgombea pekee badala ya Rais Jakaya Kikwete, anayetarajiwa kuomba tena nafasi hiyo ili kumalizia kipindi kingine cha miaka mitano cha kuliongoza taifa.

Taarifa hizo zimefafanua kuwa nafasi ya Kikwete kupitishwa na CCM kuwa mgombea urais haitabiriki iwapo Lowassa ataamua kuwania nafasi hiyo ambayo pia humpa nafasi kiongozi kuwa mwenyekiti wa chama.

Ikiwa imesalia miezi 13 kabla ya kufanyika kwa uchaguzi huo, tayari Lowassa anaonekana kuwa na nguvu kubwa ndani ya chama, huku akiungwa mkono na wajumbe wengi wa vikao vya juu, hususan wale wa Halmashauri Kuu ya Taifa ya chama hicho (NEC).

Siku moja tu baada ya Rais Kikwete, kuzungumza na wananchi kwa staili mpya ya kujibu maswali ya papo kwa papo, Tanzania Daima Jumapili, ilizungumza na mbunge mmoja maarufu wa CCM, juu ya mustakabali wa chama hicho kuelekea Uchaguzi Mkuu 2010, kwa sharti la kutotajwa jina lake.

“Kwa NEC hii niliyoiona kwenye kikao kilichopita, Lowassa anaweza kabisa kupitishwa kuwa mgombea urais wa CCM 2010 badala ya Bwana Mkubwa (Kikwete). Maana kwanza urais anautaka na jinsi nilivyoiona hii NEC, wajumbe wengi tayari wamesha declare interests kwa Lowassa …wengi wanamuunga mkono na ndiyo maana tumekuwa na vita kali ya makundi ndani ya chama.

“Kwa kweli Bwana Mkubwa sijui hali itakuwaje, nafasi ya kupitishwa kwake eti kwa sababu ni rais anayemaliza muda wake itakuwa ngumu sana, niseme tu kwamba haitabiriki,” alisema mbunge huyo aliyejizolea umaarufu kwa kupambana na ufisadi.

Nguvu ya Lowassa ndani ya NEC ndiyo inayodaiwa nusura imwangushe Spika wa Bunge, Samuel Sitta, baada ya wajumbe wengi kudai kwamba anaihujumu serikali bungeni, hivyo kupendekeza avuliwe uanachama, hali inayotafsiriwa kuwa walikusudia kulipiza kisasi dhidi ya hatua ya spika huyo kuunda Kamati Teule ya Bunge iliyochunguza sakata la Richmond na ripoti yake kusababisha Lowassa kujiuzulu.

Kwa upande mwingine, baadhi ya vigogo kadhaa wa CCM wamekanusha kauli ya Rais Kikwete aliyoitoa wiki hii kwamba kuna uadui miongoni mwa wabunge na baina ya wabunge na mawaziri, na kufafanua kuwa uadui uliopo ni baina ya baadhi ya wabunge na chama chao.

“Alichosema rais kwamba wabunge wana uadui hata wanafikia hatua ya kuogopana, kwamba wanaweza kuwekeana sumu, kwa kweli si sahihi, uadui uliopo si kati ya wabunge na wabunge, bali ni kati ya baadhi ya wabunge na chama chenyewe. Kwani waliotaka kumsulubu Sitta kwenye NEC ni wabunge wenzake? Si wabunge wenzake, walikuwa ni wajumbe tu wa kikao kile cha chama, ambao wengi wako upande wa Lowassa. Wao bado wana kisasi na lile suala la Richmond na wako wengi kweli,” alisema kigogo huyo wa CCM.

Lowassa ambaye inaaminika kuwa ni rafiki wa siku nyingi wa Rais Kikwete, alijiuzulu uwaziri mkuu Februari 2007, kutokana na kuhusishwa na kashfa ya kutoa zabuni ya kufua umeme wa dharura kwa kampuni ‘hewa’ ya Richmod Development Company LLC.

Baadhi ya watu walio karibu na watu hao wanadai tangu kujiuzulu kwake, amekuwa katika kundi tofauti na Kikwete, huku akiwa na nguvu kubwa ya kichama inayodaiwa kuzidisha uhasama wa kimakundi ndani ya chama hicho.

Mbali ya nguvu hiyo ya kichama, wadadisi wa mambo waliozungumza na gazeti hili, walisema uwezekano wa Lowassa kuwania nafasi hiyo ya juu kabisa serikalini unatokana na ukweli kuwa mwenendo wa hivi karibuni wa utekelezaji wa maazimio ya Bunge kuhusu sakata la Richmond umeonekana kumsafisha mwanasiasa huyo kuwa hakuhusika kabisa katika sakata hilo, kwani tayari serikali yenyewe imeshatangaza kutowachukulia hatua baadhi ya watendaji waliokuwa chini yake kwa sababu ya kile kilichoelezewa kuwa hawakuhusika katika sakata hilo.

Katika mkutano wa 16 wa Bunge, serikali ilitangaza kuwa haijawachukulia hatua baadhi ya watumishi wake kadhaa ilioagizwa na Bunge, kwa sababu ya kutobainika kuhusika na mazingira ya rushwa na kuwafanya waipe ushindi wa zabuni ya kuzalisha umeme Kampuni ya Richmond.

Miongoni mwa watumishi ambao kamati teule ya Bunge iliyokuwa chini ya Mbunge wa Kyela, Dk. Harrison Mwakyembe, ilipendekeza wachukuliwe hatua za kinidhamu na kisheria lakini hawakuchukuliwa hatua kama ilivyopendekezwa na Bunge ni Mwanasheria Mkuu, Johnson Mwanyika, huku Mkurugenzi wa Tume ya Kuzuia na Kupambana na Rushwa (TAKUKURU), Edward Hosea, akichukuliwa hatua ndogo ya kuonywa.

“Lowassa anaweza kabisa kugombea urais, kwa sababu tayari jina lake limeshatakata, maana serikali yenyewe imeshasema kwamba kina Mwanyika hawakuwa na makosa yoyote katika suala la Richmond. Sasa kama Mwanyika hakuwa na kosa basi ni dhahiri kuwa kwa mtazamo wa watu Lowassa alionewa tu, kwa hiyo anaweza kabisa kufufuka kisiasa na kugombea urais,” alisema.

Wakati hali ikiendelea hivyo, hatima ya vita hiyo ya makundi sasa inaonekana kumtegemea Rais mstaafu wa Awamu ya Pili, Ali Hassan Mwinyi, ambaye ndiye Mwenyekiti wa kamati maalumu iliyoundwa na Kikwete ili kufanya kile kinachoelezewa na baadhi ya wachambuzi wa masuala ya kisiasa kama utafiti wa kutafuta suluhu ya kuinusuru CCM kutoka kwenye vita hiyo.

Wakati kamati hiyo ina wajumbe wengine kama Abdulhaman Kinana na Pius Msekwa, ni Mwinyi pekee anayeonekana kuungwa mkono na wana CCM wa makundi yote, hivyo kuwa tegemeo pekee katika kutafuta suluhu, kwani wajumbe wenzake bado wanaonekana kuwa ni sehemu ya watu wanaochochea vita hiyo ya makundi.

CHANZO: Tanzania Daima

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ETI JK KAWATOSA LOWASSA NA ROSTAM?

Na Mwandishi Wetu

KUNA kila dalili kwamba Rais Jakaya Kikwete ameamua kuwakana marafiki zake wa karibu baada ya kuueleza umma kuwa, hana urafiki wala udugu katika vita vya kupambana na ufisadi nchini.

Akizungumza na taifa kwa staili mpya ya kuwasiliana moja kwa moja na wananchi Alhamisi wiki hii, Kikwete alionya kuwa katika masuala ya rushwa, hasa ya Richmond na Kagoda, hana udugu wala urafiki.

“Mimi niseme kwamba, katika mapambano ya rushwa hakuna udugu wala urafiki, na suala la kuamua nani ashtakiwe au nani asishtakiwe halipo katika mamlaka yangu, hilo ni la Mkurugenzi wa Mashtaka (DPP),” alifafanua Rais Kikwete.

“DPP akiridhika kwamba, mtu fulani ana la kujibu mahakamani wanastahiki kumfikisha mahakamani bila ya ushauri kutoka , kwa sababu katika vita hii hakuna rafiki wala ndugu."

Rais Kikwete alikuwa akijibu swali la msikilizaji aliyejitambulisha kwa jina la Joseph Machumu, aliyetaka kujua kwamba kashfa za Richmond na Kagoda zinachelewa kushughulikiwa kutokana na Rais Kikwete kuwa na urafiki na watu wanaotuhumiwa kuhusika.

Kauli hiyo ya Rais Kikwete iliibua maswali miongoni mwa wachunguzi wa mambo ya kisiasa, wakihoji kama ni kweli ameamua kwa dhati kuwatosa marafiki zake wa karibu waliohusishwa na Richmond au ililenga tu kufurahisha wananchi.

Kamati ya Bunge iliyokuwa ikichunguza kashfa ya Richmond ilimhusisha katika kashfa hiyo aliyekuwa Waziri Mkuu, Edward Lowassa na Mbunge wa Igunga, Rostam Aziz na watumishi wengine wa serikali.

Wengine waliotajwa kuhusika katika kashfa hiyo ni aliyekuwa Waziri wa Nishati na Madini, Nazir Karamagi, aliyekuwa Waziri wa Afrika Mashariki, Ibrahim Msabaha na watendaji wengine wa serikali, wakiwamo wanaoteuliwa na rais.

Baadhi ya watendaji hao ni Mkurugenzi Mkuu wa Takukuru, Edward Hosea, Mwanasheria Mkuu wa Serikali, Johnson Mwanyika, Katibu Mkuu wa Wizara ya Nishati na Madini, Athur Mwakapugi na wengineo.

Lowassa, Karamagi na Msabaha walijiuzulu mara tu baada ya kamati hiyo iliyoongozwa na Mbunge wa Kyela, Dk Harrison Mwakyembe kuwasilisha bungeni ripoti yake, Februari mwaka jana.

Miongoni mwa waathirika hao wa kashfa ya Richmond, ni Lowassa na Rostam pakee ambao Rais Kikwete aliwahi kukiri kuwa ni rafiki zake wakati akichukua fomu za kuwania uteuzi wa CCM kugombea urais mwaka 2005 mjini Dodoma.

Kikwete aliwataja maswahiba wake hao baada ya kuulizwa swali kwamba, alikuwa anajiamini nini hadi akateua baraza la mawaziri kabla ya kuteuliwa kugombea, jambo alilolipinga akifafanua kuwa akina Lowassa na Rostam walikuwa wanatajwa kwa kuwa ni marafiki zake na yeye kama mgombea hakuwa anazuiliwa kuwa na marafiki.

Baada ya uteuzi huo kumpitisha yeye na baadaye kunyakua urais, alimteua Lowassa kuwa Waziri Mkuu na Rostam akawa Mweka Hazina wa CCM na wawili hao walishiriki kwa kiwango kikubwa katika kampeni zilizomweka Rais Kikwete madarakani.

Lakini mara kwa mara Rais Kikwete amekuwa akieleza bayana kuwa hana ubia kwenye urais wake, isipokuwa Makamu wake, Dk Ali Mohamed Shein aliyekuwa mgombea wake mwenza.

Vilevile kitendo cha Rais Kikwete kukubali kupokea barua ya kujiuzulu kwa Lowassa kutoka kwenye nafasi hiyo ya juu, na kuondolewa kwa Rostam katika uweka hazina wa CCM kunawafanya baadhi ya watu waamini kuwa kweli Rais Kikwete hakuwa na ubia naye na kukubali maneno yake kuwa, kwenye suala la Richmond na kashfa nyingine za ufisadi hana urafiki wala udugu.

Pamoja na ufafanuzi huo wa Rais Kikwete suala la Richmond limekuwa ni tete tangu kuibuka kwake, huku likiwa limewagawa wabunge katika mapande mawili, moja likiwatetea washirika wa kampuni hiyo na jingine lenye nguvu likitaka watoswe kabisa.

Pia mgongano huo umehamia kwenye vikao vya CCM ambapo pande hizo zimeendelea kukamiana huku lile la watetezi wa Richmond likiwa na nguvu kuliko jingine linalotaka watoswe kwenye chama

Kutokana na mpambano uliopo kwenye suala hilo limekuwa likiibuka kila kukicha na ndio maana wasikilizaji waliamua kutumia nafasi hiyo adimu kumuuliza rais wao.

Akifafanua zaidi kuhusu suala hilo, Rais Kikwete alisema kampuni hiyo iliteuliwa na Tanesco katika mchakato wao. "Mimi nilipoambiwa nilisema kwamba, ni jambo zuri kumpata mwekezaji huyo."

Lakini Rais alikiri kwamba, ripoti za uchunguzi wa Richmond zinaonyesha kulikuwa na uzembe katika mchakato wa kuipata kampuni hiyo ya kufua umeme kwa sababu mchakato ulifanyika bila ya kamati kuthibitisha uwezo wa kampuni.

“Ingefanya utafiti wa kutosha, ikiwa ni pamoja na kutembelea ofisi za kampuni hiyo ili kujua uwezo wao na kurudisha ripoti kwa waziri na baadaye kwa waziri mkuu, lakini hilo halikufanyika. Yangefanyika haya matatizo yote yangeepukika,” alisema.

Alisema ukiachia mawaziri waliowajibika kwa kujiuzulu, maofisa wa chini waliofanya mchakato huo kushughulikiwa kwake hakujaridhisha.

“Tunapenda kuona kwamba, maofisa hawa washughulikiwe na mambo haya bado yanaendelea, katika vikao vijavyo tutapata taarifa nzuri kwa sababu hawa ndio tuliotegemea watuepushe na hasara hii, hivyo walistahili wachukuliwe hatua zinazostahili,” alisisitiza.

CHANZO: Mwananchi

TATIZO LA WENGI WA WAANDISHI WETU WA HABARI NI UVIVU WA KUCHAMBUA HABARI,SAMBAMBA NA KUJIKOMBA/KUJIPENDEKEZA KWA WATAWALA.UCHAMBUZI WENYE MANUFAA UNAPASWA KWENDA BEYOND RHETORICS NA KUNUKUU.UZEMBE WA KUSOMA "KATI YA MISTARI" UNASABABISHA UCHAMBUZI MWINGI KUWA RIPOTI YA KILICHOSEMWA NA FLANI.

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MASWALI NA MAONI KWA JK KUPITIA SMS,SIMU NA BARUA PEPE

RAIS Jakaya Kikwete leo ataanza staili mpya ya kuwasiliana moja kwa moja na wananchi kwa njia ya simu na barua pepe, akisikiliza hoja, kujibu maswali na kupata maoni yao juu ya mustakabali wa nchi , Ikulu imesema jana.

Kikwete, ambaye alizungumza na taifa kwa mara ya mwisho Juni 11 alipozungumza na wazee wa mkoani Dodoma, atafanya mazungumzo hayo ya dakika 90 kwa njia ya televisheni kuanzia saa 2:30 usiku wakati atakapopokea simu na kusikiliza maswali, ushauri, maoni na kujibu moja kwa moja.

Taarifa iliyotolewa na Kurugenzi ya Mawasiliano ya Rais inaeleza kuwa katika staili hiyo ya aina yake, Rais Kikwete pia atapokea ushauri kwa njia ya ujumbe mfupi wa simu (sms) kutoka kwa watazamaji na ujumbe wa barua pepe, ikiwa ni mpango wa kusikiliza matarajio ya wananchi katika jitihada zao za kuboresha maisha yao kwa kujiletea maendeleo.

"Rais atatumia aina mpya ya kuwasiliana na wananchi kwa kusikiliza hoja zao, kwa kujibu maswali yao, kusikiliza ushauri wao na kupata maoni juu ya mambo yanayohusu mustakabali wa nchi yetu, serikali yetu na maendeleo yetu," inaeleza taarifa hiyo.

"Mazungumzo hayo yatakachukua muda wa dakika 90 kuanzia saa mbili unusu usiku (saa 2:30 usiku) hadi saa nne kamili usiku."

Kwa mujibu wa taarifa hiyo, chini ya mpango huo rais atazungumza moja kwa moja kupitia vituo vya redio na televisheni vya Shirika la Utangazaji (TBC) na vyombo vingine vya utangazaji nchini.

Kurugenzi hiyo ya Mawasiliano Ikulu, ilifafanua kwamba "mbali na TBC, televisheni nyingine za ITV, TVZ, Mlimani TV, Tumaini TV na Channel Ten zinatarajiwa kuonyesha mazungumzo hayo".

Taarifa ya kurugenzi hiyo imevitaja vituo vitakavyotangaza moja kwa moja mazungumzo hayo kuwa ni TBC-Taifa, Sauti ya Tanzania Zanzibar (STZ), Radio Mlimani, Radio Clouds, Radio Tumaini, na Radio Uhuru.

Ikulu pia imetaja namba zitakazotumika kwa ajili ya maswali, maoni, hoja, ushauri utakaotolewa moja kwa moja kupitia TBC. Namba hizo ni +255-22-2772448, +255-22-2772452 na +255-22-2772454.

Pia kwa watakaotaka kutuma ujumbe mfupi wa simu watatakiwa kutuma kwenda namba 0788-500019, 0714-591589 na 0764-807683, huku wale watakaotaka kutumia barua pepe watatuma kwenda anuani ya swalikwarais@yahoo.com.

Hii ni mara ya kwanza kwa Rais Kikwete kutumia aina hiyo ya mazungumzo na wananchi baada ya viongozi wengine waliomtangulia kutumia hotuba za mwisho wa mwezi kwa kupitia redio na televisheni na pia mikutano na wazee au na waandishi wa habari.

Kikwete anaanza utaratibu huo akionekana kufuata nyayo za aliyekuwa Rais wa Philippines, hayati Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, ambaye amekuwa alikuwa na utaratibu wa kuruhusu wananchi kupiga simu na kuuliza maswali.

Lakini Rais wa Uganda, Yoweri Museveni ana utaratibu tofauti. Kiongozi huyo wa muda mrefu wa Uganda ana kawaida ya kuingilia mijadala inayoendeshwa moja kwa moja na vituo vya redio na kujibu tuhuma dhidi ya serikali yake au kutoa ufafanuzi.

Rais wa Marekani, Barack Obama husikiliza maoni, ushauri na kujibu maswali ya wananchi kupitia barua pepe.

Utaratibu huo mpya utamfanya rais apokee maswali ya aina tofauti na kumuwezesha kujua kero hasa za wananchi tofauti na vilio vya wanasiasa, hali ambayo itafanya muda wa dakika 90 kuwa mfupi kuweza kukidhi utashi.

Katika hotuba yake ya Juni 11, Rais Kikwete alizungumzia athari za mtikisiko wa uchumi na kutangaza mpango mkubwa wa kutenga Sh1.7 trilioni kwa ajili ya kunusuru uchumi.

CHANZO: Mwananchi

HIVI MPAKA LEO KIONGOZI WETU HAJUI MUSTAKABALI WA TAIFA LETU HADI AOMBE MAONI KUTOKA KWA WANANCHI?HIZO DAKIKA TISINI ZINATOSHA KWELI KUMFAHAMISHA KUWA NCHI INAELEKEA PABAYA?

JE INA MAANA ZIARA ZA KILA KUKICHA ZA VIONGOZI WETU HAZIJAFANIKIWA KUWAFAHAMISHA KERO ZA WANANCHI NI ZIPI?

NAULIZA HAYO KWA VILE HUU NI MWAKA WA 4 TANGU AWAMU YA NNE IINGIE MADARAKANI.SASA KAMA HADI LEO HAWAFAHAMU KINACHOIANGAMIZA TANZANIA....

LAKINI KUBWA ZAIDI YA KWAMBA LICHA YA UFINYU WA MUDA ULIOTOLEWA KWA WAULIZA MASWALI/ATOA USHAURI,NA LICHA YA UKWELI KWAMBA UTARATIBU HUO UNAWAPENDELEA WACHACHE WENYE ACCESS NA SIMU AU KOMPYUTA (KUTUMA BARUA-PEPE),KUNA UHAKIKA GANI KUWA KERO ZITAKAZOTOLEWA ZITAFANYIWA KAZI?KAMA USHAURI WA KITAALAM WA KAMATI YA AIKNA MWAKYEMBE KUWA WASHIRIKI WA UTAPELI WACHUKULIWE HATUA NA HADI LEO "BADO WANAPETA" KERO NA VILIO VYA WALALAHOIKWENYE SIMU/SMS/E-MAIL ZITABADILISHA KITU GANI?

KADRI 2010 INAVYOJONGEA NDIVYO KADRI VITUKO VINAVYOONGEZEKA.NA TUTASHUHUDIA MENGINE MENGI.

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UTANDAWAZI NA FILAMU ZA NGONO: Mie na Wewe Tunavyohusishwa

Unaweza kupatwa na hasira nikikuambia kuwa wewe (na mie) kwa namna flani tunahusika na kushamiri kwa biashara ya filamu za ngono, au kwa lugha mwafaka sekta ya filamu za ngono.” Najua utakuwa tayari kushika kitabu kitakatifu kuapa kwamba kamwe hujawahi kujihusisha na “uchafu wa aina hiyo.”

Katika sehemu ya pili ya kipindi cha BBC2 nilichokizungumzia wiki iliyopita kuhusu Utandawazi na Filamu za Ngono kumebainishwa mambo ambayo kwa hakika yanatuhisisha wengi wetu na kukua kwa sekta ya filamu za ngono. Tukiweka kando namna tunavyohusishwa kwa kuwa wateja wa makampuni yanayonufaika kwa ushiriki wao katika sekta hiyo (kwa mfano makampuni ya simu za mikononi, vituo vya runinga vyenye idhaa za filamu za ngono, mahoteli yanayotoa huduma ya “luku” ya filamu za ngono, nk) kuna uthibitisho kuwa baadhi ya taasisi za dini, hususan za Kikristo, zinawekeza fedha zao katika sekta ya ngono, japo sio moja kwa moja (directly).

Tunafahamu kuwa makanisa mengi yanategemea ufadhili kutoka mashirika mbalimbali ya kidini hapa Ulaya na huko Amerika.Lakini ili wafadhili hao waweze kuendelea na usamaria wema huo ni lazima wawekeze fedha zao katika mifuko au makampuni katika mfumo wa hisa.Mfano hai ulioonyeshwa katika kipindi hicho ni namna shirika moja kubwa la kidini huko Marekani lilivyowekeza mamilioni ya dola kwa mfumo wa hisa katika kampuni moja maarufu ya simu za mikononi, ambayo kama zilivyo kampuni nyingi za aina hiyo, hufanya biashara ya kuonyesha filamu za ngono kwa mfumo wa kulipia premium content.

Kwa lugha nyingine, misaada inayotolewa na shirika hilo inatokana na sehemu ya faida iliyopatikana kwa kuwekeza kwenye kampuni ya simu inayotengeneza sehemu ya faida yake kwa kuonyesha filamu za ngono. Naamini kwamba hadi hapo si vigumu kwako msomaji kuona uhusiano kati ya shirika hilo la kidini na filamu za ngono.

Lakini kuna namna nyingine ambavyo wengi wetu tunahusishwa na ustawi wa sekta ya filamu za ngono pasipo kuelewa waziwazi.Chukulia mfano huu mwepesi wa huko nyumbani. Vyama vingi vya kuweka na kukopa (Saccos) huzalisha faida zao kwa kuwekeza hisa kwenye mabenki, mifuko ya jamii (kama NSSF) au makampuni yaliyoandikishwa kwenye soko letu la “kichovu” la hisa.Kadhalika, Saccos hizo huwa na akaunti katika mabenki mbalimbali kwa vile sote tunafahamu kuwa kulaza mamilioni katika ofisi ya Saccos ni mithili ya kutangaza tenda ya kuvamiwa na majambazi.

Sote tunafahamu katika kutoa mikopo, mabenki mengi hayajihangaishi na maadili ya biashara ya mkopaji as long as ametimiza masharti ya kupata na kurejesha mkopo.Na hapo ndipo fedha zako kule Saccos zinapoweza kujikuta zikiishia kwenye akaunti ya mkopaji anayejishughulisha na filamu za ngono.

Lakini mfano mwepesi zaidi kwa mabenki ni akaunti zetu. Fedha tunazoweka katika akaunti hizo hazikai kama matangazo huko benki bali hutumika kibiashara aidha kwa kuwekeza au kukopesha.Na miongoni mwa wakopeshwaji hao ni haohao wanaojihusisha na filamu za ngono. Kwa huko nyumbani, fedha zako unazoweka benki zinaweza kabisa kuishia kwenye akaunti ya mkopaji mwenye gesti bubu wanakotengeza filamu za ngono kama sio gesti hiyo sio danguro bubu.

Njia nyepesi ya “kuua” makampuni ya filamu za ngono ni aidha kususia bidhaa zao (jambo ambalo ni rahisi kufikirika lakini almost impossible kutekelezeka kwa vile kilicho haramu kwako na kitakatifu kwa mwenzako) au kuyakatia mirija ya fedha, yaani kwa mfano kwa mabenki kukataa kutoa mikopo au kwa makampuni yanayowekeza huko kuacha kufanya hivyo au kwa biashara zinazotumia huduma za makampuni ya filamu za ngono kuachana na mtindo huo.

Ili hayo mawili ya mwisho yawezekane kunahitajika kitu kiitwacho uwekezaji wa kimaadili (ethical investment).Lakini hilo si rahisi kwa vile lengo kuu la uwekezaji, kama yalivyo maudhui ya ubepari, ni kutengeneza faida.Ni dhahiri basi kuzingatia maadili kutakwaza upatikanaji wa faida “rahisi” kama hiyo inayopatikana katika mahusiano ya kibiashara na makampuni ya ngono.

Na kwa masikini kama sie tunaotarajia misaada katika ustawi wa takriban kila sekta ya maisha yetu, ni dhahiri hatuna jeuri ya kuhoji msaada tuliopewa umepatikana kutokana na fedha za baishara ya filamu ya ngono au la.

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MAISHA BORA KWA KILA MTANZANIA: UFISADI SASA SI KOSA LA KUHUJUMU UCHUMI

Kikwete awapa mafisadi ahueni

Asaini marekebisho yaliyopitishwa na Bunge kimya kimya

Ufisadi sasa si uhujumu uchumi

Kesi za ufisadi kuwa kiini macho?

RAIS Jakaya Kikwete amesaini kuridhia mabadiliko ya sheria zinazohusu rushwa na uhujumu uchumi, hatua ambayo wanaharakati wa vita dhidi ya ufisadi nchini wanaitafsiri kwamba ina lengo la kupunguza makali kesi za uhujumu uchumi na rushwa zinazowakabili baadhi ya vigogo nchini, RAIA MWEMA limeambiwa.

Katika hatua hiyo, inayoashiria kupunguza makali ya sheria zinazotumika kuendesha kesi za uhujumu uchumi na rushwa nchini, kesi ambazo baadhi zinaendelea kusikilizwa mahakamani zikiwahusisha waliowahi kuwa viongozi wa kitaifa, Rais Kikwete, Machi, mwaka huu, alisaini marekebisho hayo ya sheria yaliyopitishwa na Bunge katika kikao chake cha Januari mwaka huu.

Hatua hiyo inatokana na kuwasilishwa bungeni kwa Mabadiliko ya Sheria Mbalimbali, ndani yake kikiwamo kipengele kinachoingiza makosa ya rushwa katika Sheria namba 200 ya Uhujumu Uchumi ya mwaka 2002 (Economic and Organized Crime Act Cap 200 R.E. 2002).

Kwa kutia saini kwa Rais Kikwete kuridhia marekebisho hayo, rushwa sasa si kosa la kuhujumu uchumi.

Raia Mwema imefahamishwa kwamba mabadiliko hayo ya sheria yaliyopitishwa na Bunge Januari, yalisainiwa na Rais Jakaya Kikwete, Machi 12, mwaka huu na kutangazwa katika Gazeti la Serikali Machi 20, 2009. Habari kwamba Rais ameridhia marekebisho hayo kwa kutia saini zilifahamika hivi karibuni tu kwa wanaharakati wa vita dhidi ya ufisadi nchini.

Uchunguzi wa Raia Mwema umebaini kwamba Mabadiliko hayo ya Sheria hiyo yamewashitua wadau mbalimbali wa mapambano dhidi ya rushwa na ufisadi ambao wanasema wakati sheria hiyo inapitishwa walipata nafasi ya kuchangia maoni, hali ambayo haikujirudia wakati wa kuifanyia mabadiliko.

“Tulikuwa tunafikiria Serikali iongeze makali katika sheria ili tuweze kuwadhibiti zaidi mafisadi na wahujumu uchumi, badala yake sasa tunalegeza sheria ili kuwasaidia, ” alihoji mdau wa mapambano dhidi ya ufisadi aliyeko serikalini ambaye anasema ameshitushwa na mabadiliko ya sheria hiyo.

Mabadiliko hayo yamo katika kifungu cha 38 na 39 cha Sheria namba 3 ya Mabadiliko ya Sheria Mbalimbali ya mwaka 2009, kifungu kinachofuta kifungu cha kwanza na cha pili katika jedwali la kwanza la makosa ya uhujumu uchumi kinachoingiza makosa ya rushwa na ufisadi.

Vifungu vilivyofutwa vilikuwa vinasomeka hivi:“Mtu yeyote atakuwa ametenda kosa (la uhujumu uchumi) ikiwa atakuwa ametenda kosa chini ya Sheria ya Kuzuia Rushwa” na “atakuwa ametenda kosa (la uhujumu uchumi) ikiwa atakuwa ametenda kosa la rushwa zaidi ya makosa yanayotajwa katika kifungu cha nne cha Sheria ya Kuzuia Rushwa.”

Kuondolewa kwa vifungu hivyo kunatoa nafuu kubwa kwa watu ambao wanatarajiwa kufikishwa mahakamani kwa makosa ya ufisadi, lakini pia mabadiliko hayo yanawavunja nguvu wapambanaji wa ufisadi ikiwa ni pamoja na vyombo vya dola vikiongozwa na Taasisi ya Kuzuia na Kupambana na Rushwa (TAKUKURU).

Habari za ndani ya Serikali zinaeleza kwamba hakuna uhakika wa moja kwa moja kwamba TAKUKURU ilishirikishwa katika mchakato wa kuifanyia mabadiliko sheria hiyo ambayo ndiyo imekuwa kwa muda mrefu msingi wa mashauri mengi inayopeleka mahakamani na kwa ajili hiyo marekebisho hayo yanagusa moja kwa moja utendaji kazi wa kila siku wa taasisi hiyo inayopigana dhidi ya rushwa nchini.

“Kama TAKUKURU wameshirikishwa basi itakuwa ni juu juu sana, lakini ninavyofahamu ni kwamba hawajashirikishwa katika hili bali Ofisi ya Mwanasheria Mkuu wa Serikali iliandaa muswada na kuupeleka bungeni kimya na wabunge wetu bahati mbaya sana hawakugundua hilo,” ameeleza mdau mmoja muhimu wa mapambano dhidi ya rushwa.

Mkurugenzi Mkuu wa TAKUKURU Dk. Edward Hosea, hakuweza kupatikana kuzungumzia Mabadiliko hayo ya Sheria yanayoipunguzia ofisi yake ‘makali’ kutokana na kile Raia Mwema ilichoambiwa ya kuwa amekuwa na vikao na kufanya kazi za nje ya ofisi.

Mabadiliko hayo ya Sheria ndogo ndogo yaliwasilishwa bungeni yakiwa na marekebisho katika sheria mbalimbali 11 ikiwamo hiyo ya uhujumu uchumi na inawezekana kwamba wabunge wengi walikosa nafasi ya kupitia sheria zote zilizoguswa na mabadiliko hayo.

Sheria nyingine zilizounganishwa katika muswada huo ambao tayari umekuwa sheria ni pamoja na ya Administrator-General (Powers and Function) Act, ya Usajili wa Vizazi na Vifo, ya Chuo cha Sheria (Law School of Tanzania), Utumishi wa Umma, Sheria ya Mfuko wa Taifa wa Afya, National Prosecution Service Act, Sheria ya Uchawi, Penal Code, Sheria ya Leseni za Usafirishaji na Sheria ya Ardhi.

Madhumuni ya awali ya kutungwa kwa sheria ya rushwa yalikuwa ni pamoja na kukuza na kuchochea utawala bora na kutokomeza rushwa na ufisadi kwa kutoa msingi wa kitaasisi na kisheria ambao ni muhimu katika mapambano hayo.

Mabadiliko haya yamekuja baada ya hatua kadhaa za Serikali ya Awamu ya Nne iliyofungua, baada ya muda mrefu, kesi kadhaa, zikiwagusa vigogo mbalimbali, karibu zote zikitumia kipengele cha makosa ya uhujumu uchumi ambacho kilisababisha wengi wao kukwama kupata dhamana.

Miongoni mwa walioshitakiwa kwa makosa hayo ni pamoja na aliyekuwa Balozi wa Tanzania nchini Italia, Profesa Costa Mahalu, mawaziri wa zamani, Daniel Yona na Basil Mramba na aliyekuwa Katibu Mkuu wa Wizara ya Fedha kwa muda mrefu, Gray Mgonja.

Mbali ya viongozi hao waandamizi, kuna mlolongo wa watuhumiwa wengine wa ufisadi ambao TAKUKURU imewashitaki kwa kutumia Sheria ya Uhujumu Uchumi, wakiwamo watuhumiwa wa EPA na ujenzi wa majengo pacha ya BoT, wote wakibanwa na sheria hiyo katika kupatiwa dhamana.

Wakati kesi hizo zikifunguliwa hasa baada ya vigogo kuanza kupandishwa kizimbani, baadhi ya watu walisema kwamba kesi hizo zimefikishwa mahakamani kama njia ya kufunika baadhi ya mambo ya ndani ya serikali.

Japo baadhi ya Watanzania walifurahia hatua hiyo ya Serikali kufikisha mahakamani baadhi ya vigogo, kumekuwa na maoni kwamba hakukuwa na mantiki ya kuwatia nguvuni watu ambao maamuzi yao yalikuwa ni ya kimchakato na kwamba kesi hizo zilikuwa ni kama mzaha katika utendaji kazi wa serikali.

“Nashangaa ninyi mnafurahia (vyombo vya habari).. Tena inaelekea kila mara wanapopelekwa mahakamani mlikuwa mnajulishwa mapema. Huu ni mzaha. Ni masuala ya kisiasa. Ni kesi zilizojaa siasa. Ukitaka kuwashitaki watu kama hawa basi itabidi ama ushitaki baraza la mawaziri au kundi zima la makatibu wakuu wa wakati huo,” alisema msomaji mmoja wa Raia Mwema.

Aliongeza: “ Haya ni matumizi mabaya ya sheria kwa maslahi ya kisiasa. Nadhani hizi ni jitihada za kufunika kesi nyingine nyeti. Nia ni wananchi wazisahau hizo.

Mramba, Yona na Mgonja, walifikishwa Mahakama ya Hakimu Mkazi ya Kisutu wakishtakiwa kwa makosa ya kutumia vibaya madaraka na kuisababishia Serikali hasara ya Sh 11,752,350,148 kutokana na kile kilichodaiwa mahakamani kwamba walitumia madaraka vibaya kwa kusababisha kusamehewa kodi Kampuni ya M/S Alex Stewart (Assayer) Government Business Corporation.

Makosa yote hayo yaliegemea zaidi katika Notisi za Serikali (GN) zilizotangazwa kati ya mwaka 2003 na 2005, notisi ambazo ndizo zilihalalisha msamaha wa kodi kwa kampuni ya M/S Alex Stewart (Assayer) Government Business Corporation.

CHANZO: Raia Mwema

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UTANDAWAZI NA FILAMU ZA NGONO

Jana nilibahatika kuangalia kipindi flani cha kuvutia katika kituo cha runinga cha BBC2.Mada kuu ilikuwa ni namna makampuni makubwa, katika jina la utandawazi, yanavyosaka faida kupitia biashara ya ngono.Tangu mwanzo wa kipindi hicho ilionekana bayana kwamba kuna mahusiano ya karibu, japo yasiyo waziwazi, kati ya makampuni yanayotengetengeneza filamu za ngono na makampuni ya biashara nyingine katika nyanja zisizohusiana na ngono.

Kwa mfano, hoteli nyingi zina huduma ya idhaa (channels) za kulipia kadri inavyoangalia zinazoonyesha ngono kwa wateja wanaohitaji.Kwa namna utaratibu huo ulivyosambaa sehemu nyingi ulimwenguni ni dhahiri biashara hiyo ina faida nono.

Mfano mwingine ni kwa makampuni ya simu za mikononi.Japo jambo hilo linaweza kuonekana geni huko nyumbani, takriban makampuni yote makubwa ya simu za mikononi yana huduma zinazomwezesha mteja kuchungulia kile kinachojulikana kama ngono nyepesi (soft-core porn).

Lakini kama kuna mahala ambapo biashara ya filamu za ngono imeshamiri vilivyo basi ni kwenye mtandao wa kompyuta yaani intaneti.Ni kutokana na kushamiri kwa filamu za ngono kwenye intaneti, hususan huduma zinazowezesha watumiaji kuweka filamu (uploading) wao wenyewe,kumekuwapo hisia kwamba intaneti “itaua” makampuni ya filamu za ngono.

Watetezi wa hoja hiyo wanadai kuwa urahisi, kwa maana ya gharama na access, wa kuona filamu za ngono kwenye intaneti unaweza kabisa kupelekea wateja wazoefu wa filamu za ngono kuacha kununua filamu hizo madukani kwa vile zinapatikana (mara nyingi pasipo kulipia senti moja) mtandaoni.

Wapinzani wa hoja hiyo wanadai kuwa kama ambavyo watu hawaachi kwenda hotelini au migahawani kwa vile tu wanaweza kujipikia nyumbani ndivyo ambavyo filamu “halisi” za ngono madukani zitakavyoendelea kuvutia wateja licha ya upatikanaji wake kirahisi mtandaoni.

Kuna hoja ya ziada kwamba wakati filamu “halisi” za ngono hutengeneza kwa kuzingatia ubora wa hali ya juu katika studio zilizo tayari kwa shughuli ya aina hiyo, nyingi ya filamu za “ridhaa” kama hizo zilizotapakaa mtandaoni zina ubora duni. Lakini hoja hiyo inavutia upinzani mwingine (kutoka kwa watetezi) kwamba nyingi ya filamu za “ridhaa” mtandaoni zina uhalisia zaidi, kwa mfano pale wapenzi wanapoamua “kuweka mambo yao binafsi hadharani” mtandaoni. Watetezi hao wanakwenda mbali zaidi na kudai kuwa filamu za “ridhaa” mtandaoni zina ladha mithili ya “kupiga kozi” (u-peeping tom).

Mfano mwingine ulioonyeshwa kwenye kipindi hicho ni namna makampuni makubwa ya ku-process malipo ynanavyorahisisha upatikanaji wa huduma ya filamu za ngono.Na hili ni maarufu zaidi kwenye tovuti za ngono mtandaoni. Mara nyingi, ili mtumiaji aweze kulipia huduma hiyo analazimika kutumia credit au debit card yake katika tovuti maalumu za ku-process malipo. Kwa mara nyingine, ni dhahiri kwamba kushamiri kwa makampuni ya aina hiyo kunaashiria faida nono kwao kwani kinyume chake yasingekubali “fedha chafu”.

Kilichonigusa zaidi katika kipindi hicho ni namna filamu za ngono, whether zile halisi kutoka studio au hizo za “ridhaa” mtandaoni zinavyochangia kubadili sexual behaviours sehemu mbalimbali duniani.Na pasipo kutarajia, mtangazaji alitoa mfano wa athari za filamu hizo kwa sexual behaviours huko nyumbani. Guess what? Ni kile ambacho wengi wanakihusisha na u-Magharibi: tendo la ndoa kinyume cha maumbile! Kwa mujibu wa kipindi hicho, wataalam wetu wa sexual behaviours huko nyumbani wanaamini kwamba filamu za ngono zimechangia sana kulifanya tendo la ndoa kinyume cha maumbile kuwa mithili ya jambo la kawaida (mainstream).


Binafsi nadhani moja ya eneo lililopewa attention pungufu tunapoangalia athari za mageuzi mbalimbali yaliyojitokeza miaka ya 80 (1980s) ni mageuzi katika tabia za kujamiiana.Hivi ni mie pekee ninayeshtushwa na kukua “kwa ghafla” kwa interest kwenye umbile halisi la mwanamke wa Kiafrika? Na swali la nyongeza, je kwanini “ghafla”, ashakum si matusi, makalio ya mwanamke wa Kiafrika yaonekane kuwa na umuhimu wa kipekee katika ku-describe shepu yake? Wapo wanaohusisha interest hiyo na kukua kwa interest kwenye tendo la ndoa kinyume cha maumbile.

La kusikitisha ni kwamba hakuna namna tunavyoweza kukabiliana na nguvu kubwa ya utandawazi. Filamu za ngono zinazoendelea kuonyeshwa katika “Drive-Inn, Avalon na Empress za uswahilini” zinazidi kusambaza tabia ambazo kimsingi zinakinzana na maadili yetu. Kipindi nachokizungumzia kilionyesha namna vijana flani huko Ghana walivyoishia kuambukizwa ukimwi baada ya kujifunza “mbinu za kisasa za kufanya tendo la ndoa” mtandaoni.Ni dhahiri pia kuwa filamu za ngono zinazoonyeshwa kwenye “majumba yasiyo rasmi ya filamu za ngono” (tukiweka kando mfumuko wa kasi wa madanguro bubu) unazidi sio tu kubomoa mila na desturi zetu bali pia kutapakaza maambukizo ya gonjwa la ukimwi.

Pengine mahala mwafaka kubaini kuwa tendo la ngono kinyume cha maumbile limekamata kasi katika jamii yetu ni pale kwa Dada Dina.Lakini hiyo si kusema kwamba suala hili linajadiliwa kwa uwazi zaidi. Kama kawaida yetu, baadhi ya mambo yanaonekana kama mwiko kuyajadili hata kama yanaathiri jamii yetu. Yayumkinika kuhitimisha kuwa unafiki ni kikwazo kikubwa kwa mijadala ya aina hiyo. Wapo “waliobobea” kwenye matendo kama hayo lakini aidha wanakwazwa na “kuonekana wa ajabu” iwapo watadiriki kuzungumzia ishu ya namna hiyo au “wanaruka kimanga” pale wanapoulizwa licha ya umahiri wao.

TAFAKARI!

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