majaribio2

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يجوز للشهر الكريم من وحي القرآن الحاجب عليكم السلام والسعادة والازدهار

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Mitandao ya jamii ya Facebook na Twitter imetengeneza kizazi kinachoendekeza umimi kupita kiasi kiasi kwamba watu hawajali masuala mengine huku wakiwa na tamaa kama watoto wadogo kuona watu wanasema mazuri kuhusu wao,picha zao,wanayoandika kwenye mitandao hiyo,nk.

Kuendelea kuwepo kwenye mitandao hiyo kwa muda mrefu kunamwacha mtumiaji akiwa na mgogoro wa kujitambua (identity crisis),tamaa ya kutambulika katika namna ileile mtoto mdogo anamwambia mzazi wake, "Mama,nimefanya hivi."

Baroness Greenfield,profesa wa taaluma ya madawa (pharmacology) katika Chuo Kikuu cha Oxford,anaamini kuwa kukua kwa urafiki wa mtandaoni-sambamba na matumizi makubwa ya michezo ya kompyuta-vinaweza kupelekea kuuchanganya ubongo.

Hii inaweza kusababisha upungufu kwenye kukazani mambo ya muhimu,hitaji la kutamani kusifiwa na uwezo mdogo wa mawasiliano yasiyohitaji kutumia maneno (non-verbal communication) kwa mfano kumwangalia mtu usoni wakati wa maongezi.

Zaidi ya watu milini 750 duniani wanatumia mtandao wa Facebook kuonyeshana picha na video na mara kwa mara hubandika maelezo kuhusu mienendo na mawazo yao.

Mamilioni pia wamejiunga na mtandao wa Twitter ambao huwawezesha watumiaji kusambaza ujumbe mfupi na picha kuhusu wao wenyewe.

Baroness Greenfield,mkurugenzi wa zamani wa taasisi ya utafiti ya Royal Institution alisema, "kinachonipa wasiwasi ni ile hali ambapo unaweza kutarajia mtu atawaza au kusema nini ambayo ni hali ya kawaida huko Twitter."

"Kwanini mtu ahitaji kujua umekula nini wakati wa kifungua kinywa?Inanikumbusha jinsi mtoto mdogo anavyosema, 'mama angalia ninachofanya' "

"Ni kama mgogoro wa kujitambua.Kimsingi,hali hii inaufunga ubongo kwenye kuhusisha wakati/muda"

Mwanataaluma huyo alidai kuwa baadhi ya watumiaji wa Facebook wanajisikia wanapaswa kuwa "watu maarufu wadogo wadogo" (mini celebrities) ambao wanaangaliwa na kunyenyekewa na watu wengine kila siku.

"Wanafanya vitu vinavyoendana na Facebook kwani njia pekee wanayoweza kutumia kujitambulisha kwa umma ni kwa kuwafahamisha watu wengine kuhusu kinachoendelea kwenye maisha yao."

"Ni kana kwamba watu wanaishi katika dunia isiyo halisi bali dunia ambayo kinachomata ni nini watu wanafikiria kuhusu wewe au kama wanaweza kubonyeza kwenye picha au ulichoandika," alisema Profesa huyo.

"Fikiria kuhusu madhara kwa jamii ikiwa watu wanajali zaidi kuhusu nini watu wengine wanafikiria kuhusu wao kuliko nini wanachofokiria kuhusu wao wenyewe."

Mawazo ya mwanazuoni huyo yaliungwa mkono na Sue Palmer,mtaalam wa fasihi andishi na mtunzi wa vitabu,ambaye alisema kuwa wasichana hususan wanaamini wao ni bidhaa ambayo lazima iuzwe kwenye Facebook.

Alisema: 'Watu walizowea kuwa na picha ya kuchora (zinazowaonyesha wao) lakini sasa tunaweza kujichora wenyewe mtandaoni.Ni kama kuwa mshiriki kwenye shoo yako mwenyewe ya TV ambayo umeiunda na kuiweka hadharani kwa dunia kuiona.'

CHANZO: Habari hii imetafsiriwa kutoka gazeti la Daily Mail

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50 Cent - From hip-hop to Hollywood
Curtis Jackson, aka 50 Cent, is moving into movies. He tells Kaleem Aftab about his next lead role and his $200m production company
Friday, 29 July 2011

Well, it's a pretty fair exchange: in exchange for not being able to walk around in the mall, you can buy everything in it." Curtis Jackson, aka 50 Cent, is fairly relaxed about the price of fame. Nor does he have to worry about heeding the mantra of his first album Get Rich or Die Tryin'. Album sales galore, a burgeoning film and writing career and several sound investments – including a multi-million dollar payday when the vitamin water company he had shares in sold to Coca-Cola – have seen the latest estimates of his wealth hit half a billion dollars.

Eight years after his debut album turned the former New York drugs-runner into an international superstar, the 36-year old proffers the following assessment of his wealth and success: "I see money as a facilitator," he elaborates. "If airlines don't have a plane that goes to where you want to go, a private jet will. If a studio doesn't go after a project and think it's the right project for right now, I can go and get it made. I think that to some people I may appear a little off, but they're just not on the same page as me."
His back story has been told many times, most notably on that best-selling debut album, which in turn inspired Jim Sheridan's 2005 movie, starring Jackson, and in his autobiography From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon a Time in Southside Queens. Briefly, Jackson grew up in Queens, New York. His drug-dealing mother died when he was aged eight, he was bought up by his grandmother, and started dealing crack at the age of 12. Then, just days before he was about to film his first music video, the rapper was shot multiple times in front of his grandmother's house.

It was his musical hero Tupac who made the "thug life" tag a badge of honour for rappers and to start with 50 Cent tried hard to live up to the stereotype: "My first CD contained all of the dysfunctional behaviour that was affecting me. And you become your music to the general public, so I became exactly what the CD was in their eyes. Having it go on to be the widest-selling hip-hop album and sell 12 million CDs worldwide made it intense. So people have a perception of me that's going to be like that until I continue to be successful in other fields. Eventually that will open people's minds up so they think in different ways about me."

One of the ways he's trying to change those perceptions is through film. I meet him after the international premiere of his new film, Things Fall Apart, in Aruba. He wrote, produced and stars in the film, all under his real name Curtis Jackson, distancing himself from his musician persona. "Growing up, I had to be two people anyway," he says. "I had to be aggressive enough to get by in the environment that I grew up in, and I had to be my grandmother's baby in the house. You wouldn't believe it, but I wasn't allowed to curse in the house at all."

I admit that I have quite a fondness for his third cognomen "Fiddy" but apparently only close friends or Robert De Niro get to call him that. Jackson met De Niro and Al Pacino when he appeared with them in Righteous Kill in 2008. "It's interesting being around them, because when you are around someone that has that much aura, and so much attention focused on them, I get a chance to be a regular guy on the side, so it's kind of cool to hang out with them."

Try as he might, Jackson has so far failed to find that breakout role that will make people see him as something other than a rapper-turned-actor. In his only major starring role, Get Rich... he pretty much played himself, in the newsroom comedy Morning Glory he did play himself, Righteous Kill saw him play a drug dealer who meets with an untimely death, and Joel Schumacher's lamentable Twelve found him selling drugs once again.

So it's no surprise that he had to write and produce himself to land a lead role. Things Fall Apart is another tale from Jackson's childhood in which he plays a promising young American footballer whose chances of a professional career are dashed when he is diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. "Charles Pringle was my best friend growing up," explains Jackson. "Some of the dialogue in the film is close to what he actually said to me. Over 12 million people will die this year from cancer and hopefully this film will help us to become more conscious of it.

But I don't want to become a spokesperson for cancer. I could have done that without making this film. I thought to be part of a project that has some personal value was interesting. I try to be part of projects that have some sort of artistic integrity. It was a passion project and that helped me to have the discipline to make the physical transformation."

Indeed, the most remarkable moment of Things Fall Apart comes after a time lapse when Jackson goes from bodybuilder physique to gaunt and skinny. The actor lost 60lbs in three months, citing Tom Hanks in Philadelphia, Robert De Niro in Raging Bull and Christian Bale in The Machinist as inspirations. In difficult dieting moments, he would find solace by reading interviews online in which the actors talked about how tough it was to lose weight.

A keen sports fan – he follows only basketball star Carmelo Anthony and his best friend, the boxer Floyd "Money" Mayweather, on Twitter, though he has 4.7million followers – Jackson is now back to his physical peak. When we meet, he's wearing a natty suit and sunglasses adorned with gold cheetahs for arms. This is dressing "business", he says, and in keeping with that mode he wants to talk about the $200 million (£120m) he has raised for his company Cheetah Vision to make 10 films, in the action genre and in which he will appear: "The first of the 10 is Setup, which stars myself, Bruce Willis and Ryan Phillippe. My character has a revenge plot. And then there is Freelancers with Robert De Niro and Forest Whitaker in which I play a rookie police officer." Also upcoming is Vengeance with Danny Trejo.

Jackson feels strongly that he's capable of transcending artistic fields: "When you make it in one portion of art, people doubt you in others. I don't take it personally," he says. "I think it's a reflection of how they feel about themselves. They doubt themselves in different areas and they just reflect that off on you. When I'm passionate about something I pretty much get to it. People say, 'He's a rapper, he can't act'. I guess they forgot about Will Smith, right? And they forgot about Mark Wahlberg, and they forgot about Queen Latifah. They forgot about a lot of people."
Jackson has also turned to books and next year will publish Playground a tale of a 13-year-old facing up to the consequences of his actions, aimed at teenagers who have been bullied in school.

Mall boast aside, he feels that emotional well being cannot be sated by mere untold riches: "When you grow up without money, money feels like it's the answer to all your problems, because every problem in front of you is financial. But when you acquire money, you realise that it just creates other problems, and they have nothing to do with money."

His major problems at the moment seem to be largely music related. His fourth album, Before I Self Destruct, flopped in 2009. That album was attached to a film that 50 Cent wrote and directed, which in turn flopped. His fifth album, inspired by his experiences listening to dance music in UK clubs, has been continually delayed. "That album", he says. "Will only play in the comfort of my own home". Recently he announced that he expects his next record to drop in November – and he's feeling the weight of expectation: "I've got a lot of pressure on me releasing the next record. I'm still trying to top my first album. I don't think I can match the actual sales on that record, but I can match the energy."

'Things Fall Apart', 'Vengeance' and 'Setup' are released later this year

SOURCE:The Independent

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Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria on an agar plate. (Center for Disease Control)

No matter how jaded you become, there is always room to be awed by the little shimmers of magic nature deals us on a regular basis. There's something just plain cool about a world that offers up coral shaped like organ pipes, peppermint shrimp, and monkeys feasting on fermented leaves. A handful of unrelated studies this week added a few more life forms to Earth's roster of biological weirdness.

The smallest — but easily the most dramatic — of the new critters are the suicide-bomber bacteria discovered by researchers at the University of Oxford and ETH Zürich (think Switzerland's MIT) and reported in a paper in The American Naturalist. Known by the misleadingly unremarkable name Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the little bugs have a nasty habit of blowing themselves up and releasing a spray of toxins when too many of their fellow Pseudomonas aeruginosa are in the vicinity. The detonation kills some of the bystanders and reduces competition for food among the survivors.

This seems like an awfully egalitarian act, especially for a bacterium, but the paradoxical reason behind the suicide is to increase the deceased's chances of leaving descendants. That ought to be pretty hard when you've just blasted yourself to bits, but according to ETH team-leader Fredrik Inglis, the behavior is likeliest to occur in “clonal” bacterial communities, in which all individuals share the same genes. In this situation, it doesn't much matter who survives to divide and who doesn't, since the whole reason all creatures — ourselves included — are impelled to reproduce in the first place is to pass on their genes. If everyone's got the same DNA blueprint, the next guy's descendants are as good as your own. The Inglis team admits that they can't say what causes any single bacterium to be the one that takes a bullet for the team, but the research is already pointing in other, more practical directions. Studying how bacterial toxins work and interact could help explain how bacteria themselves cause disease.

A better — and decidedly less messy — way to ensure that you pass on your genes has been perfected by the self-fertilizing female scale insects, as reported in a study in The American Naturalist, also by researchers at Oxford. Hermaphroditism – in which the same individual produces both male and female gametes – is hardly unknown, but it is rare, occurring in less than 6% of all animal species. The scale insects, take it to a new, and arguably ickier, level. Instead of producing two kinds of gametes and simply allowing the male variety to fertilize the female variety within the body, these bugs produce eggs that are fertilized by a parasitic tissue derived from leftover sperm from the female's father. That's an odd family arrangement that could get a lot odder before too long: According to a mathematical model developed by study author Laura Ross and her team, once the parasitic “fathers” become widespread within a population, the need for males in that population may be eliminated entirely.

Prolific reproduction can mean high-speed evolution, with every generation offering a chance to introduce upgrades to the product line, and no one's doing that better than the rapidly evolving fanged frog known as Limnonectes, which, according to a study by evolutionary geneticist Ben Evans of McMaster University, is flourishing in nine different varieties on the Philippines island of Sulawesi — each variety different enough to qualify as a separate species. All of the species have their own unique body size, amount of foot-webbing, and method of raising their young. The reason for this explosion of species is that the island is relatively free of frog competition — unlike the Philippine archipelago at large, in which the Limnonectes must fight for resources alongside the Platymantis species. Sulawesi Limnonectes are thus free to experiment with all kinds of adaptive innovations, as opposed to coming up with just one sturdy model that can go toe to toe with the competition.

All this clever R&D is an enduring feature of evolutionary biology, which is good for the planet, good for biodiversity — and really good for the scientists who go hunting for new critters. Nature is one manufacturer, after all, that never runs out of ideas.

Tara Thean is a TIME contributor. Find her on Twitter at @TaraThean. You can also continue the discussion on TIME's Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.

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Ya Rupert Murdoch na somo kwa wabunge wetu

Evarist Chahali

Uskochi

27 Jul 2011

Toleo na 196

MOJA ya matukio yatakayobaki kama historia, kwa mwaka huu, hapa Uingereza, ni lile lililojiri wiki iliyopita ambapo tajiri mkubwa wa vyombo vya habari duniani, Rupert Murdoch, alihojiwa na kamati moja ya Bunge dogo(House of Commons) kuhusu tuhuma za udukuzi wa simu (phone hacking simu).

Murdoch, Mmarekani mwenye asili ya Australia, pamoja na mwanaye James, walihojiwa na Kamati ya Bunge ya Utamaduni, Vyombo vya Habari na Michezo kuhusiana na kashfa ambayo tayari imesababisha tajiri huyo kufunga lililokuwa gazeti lake maarufu duniani la News of the World. Gazeti hilo linatuhumiwa kuwa kwa miaka kadhaa limekuwa likifanya udukuzi wa simu za watu mbalimbali kwa minajili ya kupata siri zao.

Lengo la makala hii sio kueleza kwa undani kuhusu kashfa hiyo; bali kuonyesha namna wenzetu hawa wanajivyojitahidi kadri wawezavyo kuweka kando kujuana pale inapohitajika kusaka ukweli kuhusu masuala yenye umuhimu kwa jamii.

Murdoch amekuwa na mahusiano ya karibu na wanasiasa mbalimbali hapa Uingereza na huko Marekani huku akitumia vyombo vyake vya habari kuwasapoti wanasiasa anaotaka washinde kwenye chaguzi kwa matarajio ya kudumisha himaya yake ya kibiashara ambayo imesambaa nchi kadhaa duniani.

Lakini ukaribu wake huo na wanasiasa haukuweza kumwepusha kuwekwa kitimoto na kamati hiyo ya bunge ambapo alibanwa vilivyo na wabunge.

Awali, tajiri huyo na mwanaye walionyesha kutotaka kuitikia mwito wa kamati hiyo kuhudhuria mahojiano hayo, lakini tishio kwamba hatua za kisheria zingechukuliwa hatua zao liliwafanya wabadilishe mawazo.

Siku moja baadaye, Waziri Mkuu wa Uingereza, David Cameron, alilazimika kukatisha ziara yake barani Afrika ili kuhudhuria kikao cha dharura cha Bunge na kutoa tamko rasmi kuhusiana na suala hilo la hacking.

Cameron anaguswa na kashfa hiyo kwa vile aliyekuwa Mkurugenzi wake wa Habari, Andy Coulson (aliyelazimika kujiuzulu wadhifa huo kutokana na kashfa hiyo) alikuwa mhariri wa gazeti la News of the World huko nyuma.

Laiti wabunge wetu Tanzania wangepata fursa ya kuona jinsi Waziri Mkuu huyo alivyobanwa na maswali ya wabunge mbalimbali kuhusiana na uamuzi wake wa kumwajiri Coulson, ninaamini wangeweza kubaini kwa kiasi kikubwa mapungufu yao katika kuibana serikali yetu iwapatie majibu ya maana kwa maswali mbalimbali yanazowasilishwa bungeni.

Lakini kama hiyo haitoshi, kashfa hiyo tayari imesababisha kujiuzulu kwa aliyekuwa afisa wa juu kabisa wa polisi wa hapa, Sir Paul Stephenson, pamoja na aliyekuwa msaidizi wake, John Yates. Wawili hao pamoja na maafisa wengine wa Scotland Yard wanatuhumiwa kuwa na ushirika usiofaa na vyombo vya habari vya Murdoch, sambamba na tuhuma za kupokea rushwa.

Hadi hapa unaweza kujiuliza: Kwa nini hadi sasa hakuna mtendaji yeyote wa chombo cha dola huko Tanzania aliyewajibishwa katika kashfa ya wizi wa fedha za EPA; japo ni ukweli usiopingika kuwa kufanikiwa tu kwa wizi huo ni mapungufu ya wazi ya viongozi hao na taasisi wanazoziongoza.

Kwa bahati nzuri au mbaya, wakati matukio hayo yakijiri hapa Uingereza, huko nyumbani nako kulitokea matukio mawili makubwa. La kwanza ni kujiuzulu kwa aliyekuwa Mbunge wa Igunga kwa tiketi ya CCM, Rostam Aziz na jingine ni sakata la tuhuma za rushwa dhidi ya Katibu Mkuu wa Wizara ya Nishati na Madini, David Jairo.

Kama alivyobainisha mwenyewe kwenye hotuba yake ya kujiuzulu, uamuzi wa Rostam unatafsiriwa na wengi kama kuepukana na tuhuma zilizokuwa zikimwandama kwa muda mrefu kuhusu ufisadi. Wakati uamuzi huo unaweza kustahili pongezi kwa vile kujiuzulu si utamaduni uliozoeleka katika Tanzania yetu, baadhi yetu tunaendelea kutarajia kuwa vyombo vya dola vitatekeleza wajibu wake na kumchunguza mfanyabiashara huyo.

Ikumbukwe kuwa wakati wa kampeni za Uchaguzi Mkuu wa mwaka jana, mgombea urais kwa tiketi ya CCM, Rais Jakaya Kikwete, alimpigia kampeni Rostam na “kumsafisha” kwa utetezi kuwa hajawahi kushtakiwa kwa kosa lolote lile.

Kila anayafahamu mwenendo wa nchi yetu anafahamu bayana kuwa kati ya muda huo hadi Rostam anajiuzulu, hakujawahi kutokea tukio lolote lile la kuashiria kinyume na utetezi wa Kikwete kwa mfanyabiashara huyo.

Haihitaji japo kozi ya muda mfupi ya uchambuzi wa siasa kubashiri kuwa kilichosababisha Rostam ajiuzulu sio “kelele za akina Nape na Chiligati” pekee; bali ukweli kuwa “kelele” hizo zilikuwa na Baraka za Mwenyekiti wa Taifa wa chama hicho; yaani Rais Kikwete.

Swali linalohitaji majibu ni ni hili: Kwa nini Rais Kikwete alim-kapenia Rostam na “kumsafisha”; ilhali wakati huo alikuwa na tuhuma ambazo hatimaye ziliibua dhana ya “uvuaji gamba” ya CCM na kuanzisha “kelele za kina Nape” ambazo mwishowe zilimfanya Rostam “kukubali yaishe”?

Hapa, simaanishi kuwa kila mwanasiasa anayejiuzulu wadhifa wake anastahili kuchunguzwa; bali ninaamini takriban kila Mtanzania anafahamu kuwa tuhuma za ufisadi dhidi ya Rostam hazikuanza jana na haziwezi kumalizwa kwa uamuzi wake wa kujiuzulu.

Kama Rostam amejiuzulu kwa vile yeye alikuwa miongoni mwa “magamba” yaliyopaswa kuvuliwa, na magamba hayo yanamaanisha tuhuma za ufisadi, basi lazima vyombo vya dola vianze uchunguzi dhidi yake haraka.

Kuhusu Jairo, tukiweka kando kichekesho cha kumsimamisha kazi kwa siku 10 “ili ajibu tuhuma zinazomkabili” (sijui kuna mahabusu wangapi huko mahabusu walipewa japo siku 1 ya kujitetea kabla ya kutupwa selo), na tukiweka pembeni kusuasua kwa Waziri Mkuu Pinda kuchukua hatua dhidi ya mtendaji huyo (huku akimtupia mpira bosi wake Kikwete), kisichoingia akilini ni kwa nini Katibu Mkuu wa wizara ahangaike kuhonga wabunge ili bajeti ya wizara ipite!

Sote tunafahamu anayewasilisha bajeti ni waziri wa wizara husika. Kama kuna mtu “anayeumbuka” pindi bajeti ya wizara ikikwamishwa, ni waziri na si katibu mkuu wa wizara husika. Kwa nini basi Jairo abebeshwe mwenyewe lawama. Vipi bosi wake (waziri)? Vipi wakuu wa idara? Vipi asasi za wizara zilizotoa fedha hizo za rushwa kinyume cha taratibu?

Kwa nini tusihisi kuwa mtendaji huyo alikuwa akitekeleza maagizo aliyopewa na mabosi wake? Swali la msingi zaidi ni je mabosi hao wanaishia ngazi ya wizara tu au ni zaidi ya hapo?

Lakini suala hili la Jairo linaweza kutupa mwamko wa namna fulani kuhusu muundo wa sasa wa serikali ambapo licha ya waziri mkuu kuwa mkuu wa shughuli za serikali bungeni, mkuu halisi wa serikali ni Rais. Katika mazingira ya siasa za kibabaishaji, ni rahisi sana kwa waziri mkuu kukwepa majukumu muhimu kwa kisingizio cha “mwenye uamuzi wa mwisho ni Rais”.

Kwa bahati mbaya, hakuna mahala ambapo wananchi au wawakilishi wao (wabunge) wanapata fursa ya kumbana Rais (isipokuwa wakati wa Uchaguzi ambapo kwa wakati huo maji yanaweza kuwa yameshamwagika na hayazoleki).

Hivi katika umasikini huu mkubwa tulionao kuna umuhimu kweli wa kuwa na Rais, Makamu wa Rais na Waziri Mkuu ambao kimsingi mmoja tu kati yao angeweza kutekeleza majukumu ya vyeo vyote hivyo vitatu?

Na kama inafika mahala Waziri Mkuu anakuwa kama Naibu Waziri (kwa maana ya Naibu kusema “mwenye kuweza kujibu swali hili ni Waziri” na Waziri Mkuu kusema “mwenye uwezo wa kutoa maamuzi haya ni Rais), basi, pengine ni muhimu kwa mabadiliko tarajiwa ya Katiba yakaangalia uwezekano wa kuunganisha nyadhifa hizi mbili (urais na uwaziri mkuu).

Kuna wanaolalamika kuwa ziara za Rais Kikwete nje ya nchi zinaelekea kuvunja rekodi. Lakini pengine kama Rais ndio angekuwa “bize” kwa kukabiliwa na majukumu ya uendeshaji wa serikali kila siku (kwa kuunganisha wajibu wa Rais na Waziri Mkuu), basi, huenda hata huo muda wa ziara mfululizo za nje ya nchi zingepungua.

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Kuna watu wana umuhimu wa kipekee kwa blogu hii na maudhui yake kiasi kwamba kuwatakia heri ya siku ya kuzaliwa kwenye Facebook wall yao pekee ni sawa na utovu wa nidhamu.Didi Vava,Mtanzania mwenzetu mwenye makazi yake huko Marekani,ni mdau mkubwa wa blogu hii,na ni miongoni mwa Watanzania wanaoguswa sana na jinsi nchi yetu inavyotafunwa na mafisadi wakisaidiwa na kiza cha mgao wa umeme.

Basi Mdau Didi, mimi binafsi na wasomaji wote wa blogu hii tunakutakia kila la heri kwa siku hii na katika maisha yako kwa ujumla.

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Na Nova Kambota,

Nasema wazi Anne Makinda hana la kujivunia na pengine hata wanahistoria hawana la kuandika juu ya mwanasiasa huyo ambaye ni dhahiri sasa nyota yake inazidi kufifia kila sekunde.

Yanayoendelea na yatakayoendelea kutoka Bungeni ni ushahidi wa wazi wa udhaifu wa spika Makinda, Job Ndugai, Jenista Mhagama na Simbachamwene ambao kwa nyakati tofauti wameonyesha dhahiri kuwa sasa wameshindwa kazi.

Sitaki kuibua malumbano yasiyo na tija bali nataka niweke wazi kuwa tatizo si wapinzani bali udhaifu wa Makinda na wasaidizi wake.

Ni mwehu gani leo hii hakumbuki mikiki ya Dr Slaa wakati wa spika Sitta? je yalitokea haya tunayoyaona sasa? je nikisema Sitta “KAMFUNIKA” Makinda nitakuwa naongopa? NARUDIA TENA tatizo ni Makinda na wasaidizi wake!

Tangu awali wenye kuona mbali walitoa angalizo kuwa spika aliyechaguliwa kwa kigezo cha jinsia “HAFAI” na leo hii wote tu mashahidi kuwa sasa “MAKINDA ANAWABEBA WALIOMBEBA” amelivuruga Bunge na kweli limevuruga .

Kawafanya wapinzani kuwa na roho ya “KUPAMBANA” dhidi yake na wasaidizi wake na kwa bahati mbaya hana uwezo wa kulitatua hili si yeye wala “wasaidizi wake”

Watanzania hawapaswi kushangaa “eti wabunge wanataka kupigana” nini cha ajabu? au Deo Filikunjombe kutaka “kupigwa makofi?” lipi la ajabu? Lema, Msigwa na Lissu kutolewa nje ya Bunge? nini cha ajabu? pendekezo la wabunge kupimwa akili? haya yote hayana budi kutokea, hebu jaribu kufikiria haya yasipotokea watanzania mtaamini vipi kuwa “HII NI NCHI LEGELEGE?”

Nova Kambota Mwanaharakati,
+255717 709618
novakambota@gmail.com
www.novakambota.com
Tanzania, East Africa
Ijumaa, Julai 29, 2011.

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Bunge lachafuka
Wednesday, 27 July 2011 21:31

WENJE ATOLEWA KWA NGUVU, MBUNGE CCM ANUSRIKA KUPIGWA
Neville Meena na Habel Chidawali, Dodoma
MBUNGE wa Nyamagana (Chadema), Ezekia Wenje, jana alijikuta akitolewa bungeni na askari (wapambe) wa Bunge waliotii amri ya Mwenyeviti wa Bunge, Sylivester Mabumba, aliyeongoza kikao siku hiyo.Katika tukio ambalo ni la kwanza kutokea tangu kuanza kwa Bunge la Kumi linaloongozwa na Spika Anne Makinda, Mbunge wa Ludewa, Deo Filikunjombe (CCM), alinusurika kupigwa na wabunge wa kambi ya upinzani baada ya kuwakejeli Chadena akisema waache mambo ya kitoto.

Mabumba alitoa amri ya Wenje kutolewa nje baada kukaidi amri ya Mabumba kumtaka akae chini mbunge huyo wa Nyamagana alipokuwa akiomba mwongozo, katikati ya mabishano yaliyokuwa yakiwajumuisha wabunge wengine wakati huo.Wakati Wenje akisisitiza kuomba mwongozo kwa maelezo kwamba jambo analotaka kusema "lina maslahi ya nchi", Mabumba ghafla aliwaita askari (wapambe) wa Bunge na kuwaamuru wamtoe nje kwa kukiuka kanuni za Bunge.

Kabla ya kuwaita askari hao, Mabumba ambaye ni Mbunge wa Dole alikuwa amemwamuru mara tatu Wenje akae chini, lakini hakutii akisema: "Nina jambo la dharura ambalo ni kwa maslahi ya Taifa".

"Sargent Ant Arms, mtoe nje mheshimiwa Wenje," alisema Mabumba na hapo askari watatu waliingia na kumtoa nje Wenje, tukio ambalo liliacha kukiwa hakuna utulivu bungeni.

Pamoja na kusindikizwa na askari wa Bunge, baadhi ya wabunge wa Chadema na NCCR Mageuzi walitoka nje wakimsindikiza Wenje.Walipofika nje ya ukumbi wa Bunge walianza kumlalamika kwamba, Mabumba ameshindwa kuongoza Bunge na kudai kuwa anaonyesha upendeleo wa wazi katika uendeshaji wa vikao vya chombo hicho.

Nje ya Ukumbi wa Bunge
Nje ya Ukumbi wa Bunge ilizuka tafrani nyingine iliyosababisha Mbunge Filikunjombe (CCM), kunusurika kupokea kichapo kutoka kwa wabunge wa Chadema na NCCR Mageuzi baada ya kuingilia mazungumzo yao wakati wanajadili suala la Wenje kutimuliwa ukumbini.

“Tatizo lenu ninyi wabunge wa Chadema mnaishia kuwa wabishi kila wakati, jambo ambalo linawapotezea heshima kwa wananchi,’’ alisema Filikunjombe na kuongeza: “Acheni mambo ya kitoto rudini ndani kuendelea na Bunge. Sio kila siku ninyi Chadema tu, watu wamewachoka.’’

Kauli ya ilikuwa kama kumwaga petroli kwenye moto, kwani kundi la wabunge wa Chadema na NCCR Mageuzi ambao kwa wakati huo wakiongozwa na Moses Machali (Kasulu Mjini NCCR), walimvaa kama nyuki mbunge huyo na kuanza kurushiana maneno makali.

“We mjinga kweli, hapa sio wabunge wa Chadema hata sisi wa NCCR-Mageuzi tupo tunachojadili ni maslahi ya nchi sio ushabiki wa vyama, toka hapa mshamba wewe,’’ alisema Machali.

Mbunge wa Viti Maalum (Chadema), Susan Kiwanga, alimwambia Filikunjombe aache hadithi za kijinga kwani wananchi wa eneo lake wanaporwa chuma, lakini yeye (Filikunjombe) anashindwa kuwatetea badala yake anarukia mambo yasiyomuhusu.“Tuondolee ujinga wako hapa, wananchi wako katika maeneo ya Liganga wanaporwa mali usiku na mchana unashindwa kuwatetea leo unapotuambia tuna akili ya kitoto, hivi unataka Watanzania wafe ili ninyi mshangailie,’’alisema Kiwanga.

Wabunge wengine waliomwandama zaidi Mbunge huyo ni, Machali (NCCR-Mageuzi), Peter Msigwa (Iringa Mjini-Chadema), Mariam Msabaha na Susan Kiwanga wote wa Viti Maalum (Chadema) ambao walimzingira mbunge huyo na kuanza kumrushia maneno ya kejeli.

Hali ilizidi kuwa mbaya baada ya wabunge wengine wa Chadema, Godbles Lema (Arusha Mjini), Joseph Mbilinyi (Mbeya Mjini) na Vicent Nyerere (Musoma Mjini) walipoingilia ugomvi huo na kutaka Filikunjombe awaombe radhi, lakini alikataa.Kama si busara iliyotumiwa na Mbunge wa Kondoa Kusini, Juma Nkamia (CCM) hali ingekuwa mbaya kwani idadi ya wabunge wa Chadema ilipozidi yalisika maneno kuwa mbunge huyo apigwe, ndipo Nkamia alipofika na kuokoa jahazi akimtaka Filikunjombe aondoke katika eneo hilo.

Maelezo ya Wenje
Wenje aliwaambia waandishi wa habari nje ya ukumbi wa Bunge kuwa kitu alichokifanya hakikustahili adhabu kama aliyopewa kwa kuwa alikuwa sahihi. '' Pale mimi nilikuwa sahihi kabisa kwani sikutaka kuzungumzia suala la Lissu bali nilikuwa nazungumzia suala la masilahi ya Watanzania wote. Ikumbukwe kuwa kuna samaki walioingizwa bila polisi kujua na sasa wako sokoni wananchi wanakula hiyo ni hatari, sasa mwenyekiti anasema kuwa nitoke hajui kanuni yule,'' alisema Wenje.

Mbunge huyo alisema kitendo cha Mwenyekiti kuamuru atolewe nje kwa amri ni kukiuka kanuni na kwamba hajui kwani aliposema suala la dharula ni pale kunapotokea vita si kweli. '' Kanuni ya 47 (1-3) ndiyo niliyotumia na inaniruhusu kabisa kuomba mwongozo huo, kwani wananchi wanaumia halafu tunaambiwa hadi kuwe na vita, kama si umbumbumbu ni nini basi," alihoji Wenje akiwa ameshika kitabu cha Kanuni za Bunge.Kwa upande wake Mbunge wa Arusha Mjini, Godbles Lema (Chedema) alisema kinachomsumbua Mwenyekiti ni kutokujua kanuni.

Chanzo cha mtafaruku
Mbunge wa Singida Mashariki, Tundu Lissu (Chadema) ndiye aliyeanzisha balaa ndani ya ukumbi wa Bunge baada ya kueleza kuwa Naibu Waziri wa Nchi, Ofisi ya Waziri Mkuu, Tawala za Mikoa na Serikali za Mitaa (Elimu), Kassim Majaliwa amesema uwongo bungeni.

Lissu alisema Majaliwa alipokuwa akijibu swali lake namba 313 kuhusu michango kwa wananchi, amedanganya kuwa wananchi hawalazimishwi kutoa michango hiyo na kusisitiza kuwa ana ushahidi unaothibitisha kwamba michango hiyo ni lazima.

“Mheshimiwa Mwenyekiti, Serikali haitumii nguvu katika kuwatoza wananchi michango hiyo, bali wanashirikishwa katika kuibua, kupanga na kuendesha miradi yao wenyewe,’’ alisema Naibu Waziri Majaliwa.Baada ya majibu hayo, Lissu alisimama na kulieleza Bunge kuwa Naibu Waziri alisema uongo huku akinukuu barua ya Mkuu wa Wilaya ya Singida iliyotolewa Mei 2,2005.

"Naomba kwanza niseme kwamba mimi namheshimu sana Mheshimiwa Naibu Waziri na kwa kweli huwa nakuwa mzito sana kusema Waziri amesema uongo. Lakini katika majibu haya naomba nitoe tamko kwamba, Mheshimiwa Naibu Waziri ameliambia Bunge hili uongo, na naomba nipewe nafasi ya kuthibitisha uongo huo leo leo, tena kwa ushahidi wa maandishi," alisema Lissu na kuongeza:

"Mheshimiwa Mwenyekiti, naomba sasa niulize swali dogo la nyongeza".Kabla ya kuuliza swali hilo, Mabumba alisema: "Mheshimiwa samahani naomba... Mheshimiwa umekiri katika maelezo yako kwamba Waziri ameshindwa kukuridhisha, maelezo yake hayalingani na swali lako. Kwa hiyo hutakuwa na nafasi ya swali la nyongeza nimtake Mheshimiwa Waziri, No! Nikutake wewe unipe ukweli kuhusu suala hili".

"Tafadhali naomba uliambie Bunge hili ukweli wa suala hili na bahati nzuri umesema hapo ulipo uko tayari kutoa maelezo haya. Tafadhali nafasi ni yako," alihitimisha Mabumba.

Baada ya kupewa fursa hiyo, Lissu alisema Naibu Waziri, Majaliwa si kwamba ameshindwa kumridhisha na kusisitiza kuwa Majaliwa amesema uongo.

"Ndiyo maneno niliyoyatumia, …Naibu Waziri amesema uongo na uthibitisho ni kwamba mimi mwenyewe hapa Bungeni, nina barua ya tarehe 2/5/2005 iliyoandikwa na aliyekuwa Mkuu wa Wilaya ya Singida wakati huo, anaitwa Kepteni James Yamungu, ambayo kichwa chake cha habari kinasema; ‘Amri Na.1 ya Mkuu wa Wilaya ya Singida’ na inalazimisha wananchi kulipa michango".

Kabla hajamaliza kusoma barua aliyokuwa ameishika mkononi, Mbunge wa Mbozi Mashariki, Godfrey Zambi (CCM), aliomba mwongozo akisema kipindi hicho hakikuwa cha kutoa uthibitisho bali wabunge walipaswa kuendelea na mjadala wa maswali.Mwenyekiti alikubaliana na utaratibu huo, hivyo kumtaka Lissu awasilishe maelezo husika na kielelezo cha barua baada ya saamoja.

Hali ilibadilika
Hali hiyo ilimkera Mbunge wa Kasulu Mjini (NCCR-Mageuzi), Moses Machali, ambaye aliomba mwongozo wa Mwenyekiti na kutaka muda uongezwe kwa Lissu kabla ya kutoa uthibitisho wake.

“Mheshimiwa Mwenyekiti, muda uliompa Mheshimiwa Lissu kutoa uthibitisho ni mfupi na kwa kuwa Lissu ni mbunge saa tano anatakiwa kuwa ndani ya ukumbi kuendelea na shughuli za Bunge naomba mwongozo wako,’’ alisema Machali.Mwenyekiti wa Bunge hakukubaliana na ombi la Machali na kusema kuwa hawezi kuomba mwongozo juu ya mwongozo hivyo akasema alichokizungumza ndicho kinatakiwa kutekelezwa.

Yalizuka mabishano kwa muda mrefu kati ya Machali na Mabumba ambayo yalimfanya Waziri wa Nchi Ofisi ya Waziri Mkuu Sera, Uratibu na Bunge, William Lukuvi, kuingilia kati na kuwataka wabunge kutokuchukulia jambo hilo kwa jazba.

“Unajua hapa wabunge hampaswi kuliona jambo hili kuwa ni kubwa kiasi hicho, kwani hata Lissu anaweza kuomba kwa maandishi kuongezewa muda na akaleta kwa wakati wake,’’ alisema Lukuvi.Hata hivyo, kulikuwepo na majibizano na ukali wa maneno kutoka kwa Mwenyekiti ambaye alimwambia Machali: “Unaongea maneno kama tuko klabu cha pombe, unatakiwa kujiheshimu na kuzungumza kwa utaratibu mheshimiwa mbunge’’.

Wakati hayo yakiendelea, Wenje alisimama akiomba mwongozo lakini alimriwa kukaa chini na baada ya kukaidi, Mabumba aliamuru atolewe nje.

Mabumba ajitetea
Akiahirisha kikao cha bunge jana mchana, Mabumba alitumia takriban dakika kumi kujitetea kuhusu hatua yake ya kumtoa nje Wenje kwamba, alifanya hivyo kwa mujibu wa Kanuni za Bunge baada ya mbunge huyo kukaidi amri yake.

"Kwa mujibuwa Kanuni za majadiliano, mtakubaliana na mimi kwamba, Mheshimiwa Wenje alikiuka kanuni hizo maana alikuwa akibishana na kiti na mimi sikuwa nimempa ruhusa ya kuzungumza," alisema Mabumba huku akiwataka wabunge kuzingatia kanuni za Bunge.Alisema kwa mujibu wa kanuni hizo, Wenje alipaswa kutohudhuria kikao kizima cha jana kama adhabu, lakini kwa kuwa alitii amri ya kutoka nje, alimpunguzia adhabu hiyo hivyo anaruhisi kuhudhuria kikao cha jana jioni.

"Kwa mujibu wa Kanuni zetu, Wenje alipaswa kukosa kikao cha siku nzima ya leo (jana), lakini kwa kuwa ametii amri ya kutoka nje na mpunguzia adhabu hiyo anaweza kurejea ukumbini kuhudhuria kikao cha jioni kuanzia saa 11," alisema Mwenyekiti huyo wa Bunge.Hata hivyo, alisema katika mazingira aliyomkatalia Wenje kutoa hoja yake, alikuwa sahihi, kwani haikuwa rahisi kufahamu kwamba hoja ya mbunge huyo ni tofauti na kile kilichokuwa kikiendelea wakati huo.

"Wakati mwingine mazingira huwa ni magumu sana, ni kwa vipi mtu angeweza kufahamu kwamba alichokuwa akitaka kusema Wenje ni tofauti na hoja ya Mheshimiwa Lissu, ilikuwa vigumu sana," alijitetea Mabumba

CHANZO: Mwananchi

Wakati hayo yakiendelea,utoto mwingine umejitokeza Bungeni kama inavyoripotiwa katika habari ifuatayo

Saini ya Pinda yaghushiwa bungeni
Wednesday, 27 July 2011 21:32

Neville Meena na Habel Chidawali
VITUKO vya wabunge ndani ya Bunge la Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania vimezidi kuongezekana; sasa baadhi ya wabunge wanadaiwa kugushi sahihi ya Waziri Mkuu, Mizengo Pinda kwa malengo ambayo bado hayajafahamika.

Kitendo cha kugushi sahihi ya Waziri Mkuu ndani ya ukumbi huo kunawaathiri zaidi wabunge wa upinzani, hasa wa Chadema ambao wamekuwa wakipelekewa ‘meseji’ za kuwadanganywa kuwa wanaitwa na Waziri Mkuu.

Juzi jioni kabla ya kikao cha Bunge kuahirishwa, Waziri wa Nchi, Ofisi ya Waziri Mkuu (Sera, Uratibu na Bunge), William Lukuvi, alialazimika kuomba mwongozo wa Mwenyekiti kukemea kitendo hicho alichokiita kuwa ni cha kihuni.

Lukuvi asimama mara tu baada ya Bunge kumaliza kupitisha makadirio ya mapato na matumizi ya Wizara ya Kilimo, Chakula na Ushirika ambayo yalikuwa yalijadiliwa kwa siku mbili mfululizo.

“Naomba mwongozo wako kwamba, humu ndani imejitokeza tabia ambayo naona imezoeleka kidogo. “Kuna watu wanawaandikia wenzao meseji za kuwasumbua kwamba wanaitwa na mtu fulani halafu wanaweka sahihi na wakati mwingine haitokei,” alisema Lukuvi na kuongeza:

“ Nimeisikia hayo wiki iliyopita, lakini leo Mheshimiwa Joseph Selasini (Chadema) ameitwa kwa meseji inayodaiwa kuwa imesainiwa na Waziri Mkuu na hii nyingine ameitwa Mheshimiwa Leticia Nyerere (Chadema) kwamba anaitwa na Mheshimiwa Waziri Mkuu wakazungumze maneno ya maana, lakini Waziri Mkuu hana habari na wamegushi sahihi yake,’’ alisema Lukuvi.

Waziri huyo wa Sera, Uratibu na Bunge alitaka mwongozo wa Mwenyekiti kama jambo hilo linaweza kufanywa na Wabunge, ndani ya Bunge kwa wabunge kugushi taarifa ambazo alisema nyingine na zinatisha.

Mwenyekiti wa Bunge George Simbachawene alikiri kuwepo kwa tabia hiyo ndani ya ukumbi wa bunge ambayo imekuwa ikifanywa na baadhi yao na kamba inaonekana kuota mizizi.

“Nakushukuru sana Mheshimiwa Waziri, ni kweli kuna mtu amefanya hivyo na karatasi aliyoiandika ipo hapa, Kwa kweli siyo nzuri haionyeshi kama tupo serious (makini) na kazi,” alisema Simbachawene na kuisoma:

“Amemwandikia hivi, Mheshimiwa Joseph Selasini Mbunge, samahani nakuomba mara moja tuje tujadili suala moja muhimu ambalo ningependa kujua kutoka kwako. Ahsante. Mizengo Peter Pinda na sahihi”.

Simbachawene alisema Selasini alipokwenda kwa Waziri Mkuu alishindwa kusaidiwa kwa kuwa wakati huo Waziri Mkuu alikuwa makini kusikiliza hotuba ya Waziri wa Kilimo, Chakula na Ushirika katika majumuisho yake.

Hata hivyo, mwenyekiti huyo alisema uongozi wa Bunge utafanya kila liwezekanalo kubaini ni nani mwenye tabia hiyo na kwamba ili kukomesha vitendo hivyo

CHANZO: Mwananchi

Unknown

Kama hii ni Tanzania; Basi tumelaaniwa, na aliyetulaani kafa

Tanzania is blessed with an abundance of mineral resources. In gold alone, Tanzania is estimated to be sitting on top of a US$39 billion treasure. When you factor in the large quantities of diamonds, copper, silver, gem stones, and other minerals – not to mention its wildlife, agricultural, and human resources – Tanzania should be a very wealthy country.

While Tanzania has developed into the third biggest gold producer in Africa, the country remains one of the poorest in the world. With a life expectancy of 51 years, 89.9% of the population lives on less than $2 a day. Leading some critics to argue that not only are Tanzanians not benefiting from its abundance of mineral resources, but that the multinational mining industry has contributed to impoverishing the rural poor.

The following accounts of mass displacements, violent confrontations, lost livelihoods, exploited workers, and contaminated ecosystems raise serious questions about the mining industry in Tanzania and internationally. The focus here is on communities surrounding the Bulyanhulu and North Mara Gold Mines, both owned by the world’s largest gold mining company Barrick Gold, and the Geita Gold Mine, owned by the third largest gold company, AngloGold Ashanti.

Canada, home to about sixty percent of the world’s mining corporations, leads the way in the global mining industry. But some critics have labeled the mining industry as Canada’s number one contribution to global injustice. As the industry continues to shape the world we all live in, it is the hardships endured by the men, women, and children like these that make our way of life possible.
Sheila is one of 258 men, women, and children, from Mtakuja village who were displaced in late July 2007 to make way for an expansion of the Geita Gold Mine.

“We were invaded by administration police officers in the middle of the night, who shoved us out of our houses. We were not given even a chance to take our belongings,” laments Abdallah Abedi, a former village executive officer, “we were moved here like people in a war-torn country, and now we are all tucked into a small place like prisoners who have committed the worst of crimes.”

One week after this photo was taken the villagers were informed by the local government that they would be evicted all over again from their current campsite. No provisions have been made for them, however, and they have nowhere to go.
During the day most of the adults in the camp for the internally displaced people in Geita are away looking for work. Mwajuma stays behind to take care of some of the children. All 258 of the villagers were dumped in a one-room abandoned building in the middle of the night one year ago. The Christian Council of Tanzania andNorwegian Church Aid heard about their situation and have provided the group with the tents they now call home.

In an interview with the Norwegian Church Aid, Faida Gerald says, “we have lost a lot of things including our sense of belonging, clothes and other household materials. What hurts most is that they buried even already harvested crops, which we would have sold to get some income to buy food and take care of our children.”

Their sense of loss is intensified by their feelings of betrayal by their own democratically elected government, as Faida contemplates; “I wonder what they have given to the government to subject us to all this.”
Rukindo lives in the IDP camp in Geita along with the other 258 Mtakuja villagers who were displaced to make way for the Geita Gold Mine. This picture was taken shortly after a court hearing in Dar es Salaam in their case against the company. Rukindo and three others had travelled 1300km to make their case.

But they were never even given the chance to have an audience with the judge as the case was thrown out of the court after a suspicious meeting behind closed doors between their attorney, the judge, and the team of lawyers representing the company. In the unlikely event that they can afford to continue with the case, they will have to start all over again.

Almost immediately after receiving this bad news, they received even worse news as a letter arrived from the local government of Geita informing them that the inhabitants of the camp were about to be evicted from the area they had been occupying for the past year.
Once again, the displaced have to start all over again and try to rebuild what little semblance of normalcy they had attained in the past year.
The government’s Prevention of Corruption Bureau is investigating a corruption scandal involving the compensation for some 900 people who were displaced to make way for AngloGold Ashanti’s Geita Gold Mine in Geita.

Mustafa is one of the complainants; here he is showing documents that state that he was promised over 60million shillings (55,000CAD) in compensation which he has never received.

AngloGold admits that 875 people have not received the compensation promised to them, but they claim to have given government officials the money needed to make the payments in 1999 and blame these officials “in their lust for money” for the disappearance of the funds.
Fabil used to work at Barrick’s Bulyanhulu Gold mine until 26 October 2007, when Barrick fired 1,374 of its workers en mass. Official accounts, as reported by Reuters, stated that the workers were fired for going on an illegal strike. But according to Fabil and George Mandia, the then Chairman of the workers Union at the Bulyanhulu mine, they were not on strike when they were fired.

They claim that there had been ongoing negotiations between management and the union for several months as the workers were concerned about the unfair treatment of sick and injured workers, racial discrimination between Tanzanian and expatriate workers, and unrealistic production and safety targets, among other things. On the 25th of October, the day before being fired, they argue that they had all worked their regular shifts; they did not walk off the job in protest as Barrick reported. After the regular work hours, with the permission of the management, the union had organized a meeting inside the mine site for the workers to discuss these ongoing negotiations. The meeting was disrupted when 68 armed riot police officers moved in causing a panic among the fleeing workers.

“There is no humanity in the way they have treated us!” Fabil insists, “they make us promises while we are of use to them. But then, if we become sick, or old, or start to complain about our rights, then they just spit us out like a chewing gum that has lost its flavour.”
Alex with his wife Christine and their son Spencer. Working in the mine twelve hours a day, seven days a week, for ten weeks before getting a one week break – for 1,926 shillings (1.75CAD) an hour – took a severe toll on Alex’s body. Alex had been receiving medical treatment for several months for his ailments; he was lying in his hospital bed, unaware of what was happening back at the mine, when he received his termination letter.

According to a letter from his doctor at the Bulyanhulu Medical Centre, Alex was suffering from “painful defecation, lower abdominal pain, passing blood stained stools, [and] mass protrusion per-rectum”. His treatment was never completed and he continues to suffer from many physical problems. He is unable to work; he barely even has the strength to carry his son Spencer.

The family has been surviving on the money Alex had saved up while working at the mine. But these savings will not last much longer and they do not yet know what they will do when it does run out.
Deus had worked in the Bulyanhulu mine as a supervisor for five years when he was in an accident in 2006 where a big rock fell on him. His coworkers pulled him away in time to save his life before more rocks came falling down. Barrick’s Bulyanhulu Gold Mine boasts “one of the most up-to-date and well-equipped and staffedmedical clinics in Tanzania … being operated not only for the benefit of employees and their families, but also to provide assistance to the immediately surrounding communities.”

Despite these declarations, Deus had to be flown to Dar es Salaam waiting for a total of 18 hours before receiving any treatment. His arm eventually had to be amputated, but he vividly remembers the doctor telling him that if he had received treatment earlier it would have been a very simple procedure to save his arm which any trained doctor would have been able to perform.

For a career-ending injury, Barrick eventually agreed to give him 10million shillings (9,000CAD) in compensation, far less than the 600million shillings (550,000CAD) Deus had estimated he should receive based on international standards. Barrick made several promises to him, including that he would get a plastic prosthetic arm which they flew him to South Africa for. But when he tried on the arm he found that it was only 3% functional and that they wanted to charge him 16million shillings (15,000CAD), which he could not afford.
The Mwita family lives in Nyamongo next to Barrick’s North Mara gold mine. The waste rock on the edge of the mining pit can be seen just behind their huts here.

Ongoing violent conflict between the mine and local communities have created a climate of fear for those who live nearby. Since the mine opened in 2002, the Mwita family say that they live in a state of constant anxiety because they have been repeatedly harassed and intimidated by the mine’s private security forces and by government police. There have been several deadly confrontations in the area and every time there are problems at the mine, the Mwita family say their compound is the first place the police come looking. During police operations the family scatters in fear to hide in the bush, “like fugitives,” for weeks at a time waiting for the situation to calm down.

“We had never experienced poverty before the mine came here.” They used to farm and raise livestock, “but now there are no pastures because the mine has almost taken the whole land … we have no sources of income and we are living only through God’s wishes.” They say they would like to be relocated, but the application process has been complicated, and they feel the amount of compensation they have been offered is “candy.”
This is a water hole in Nyamongo that was built by Barrick Gold near their North Mara Gold mine on behalf of the local communities (the endge of the mine pit can be seen in the top left corner). But the water appears milky and dirty and the plants around the water hole are dying, but this is the only water source available to the community.

The mine’s General Manager, Kevin Moxham, has argued that the ongoing violent conflicts with locals is to blame; “we spend a lot of time and resources to deal with crime incidents instead of funding development projects. This also reduces the cake that could have gone into improving the livelihood of the North Mara community, Tarime district and Mara region in general.”
Mabibhi Mutaguna is a resident of Nyakabale, a small farming community of about 2,000 people living near the Geita Gold mine. He suffers from severe skin problems which first started appearing about three years ago.

Mabibhi is 75 years old and has lived a full life so he says that it does not matter what happens to him – what he is really worried about is the future of his grandchildren.
Residents of Nyakabale have compiled a list of 36 deaths since the mine began operations in 2000 which they link to the chemicals from the mine. “The first unusual deaths,” according to resident Stefano Lufungulo, “occurred shortly after the Geita mine began operating … a family of four died after eating a dying rabbit they had caught near the tailings dam. Since then, a number of women have had miscarriages.”
Research compiled by Manfred Bitala in his masters dissertation, which has been approved by the University of Dar es Salaam, has concluded that “Nyakabale Village and the immediate environment are severely polluted by heavy metals from gold mining activities of Geita Gold Mines” posing high risks to “human health, livestock and other terrestrial and aquatic life and potentially to Lake Victoria Basin at large.”

Bitala calculates that the heavy metals concentration in the soil in Nyakabale is up to 6,000 times above acceptable levels set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Similarly the concentration in plants is 9,000 times above the acceptable level.
Mabibhi’s granddaughter drinking the water which residents believe has been contaminated. residents report that the water now tastes bitter and smells foul AngloGold claims that they carry out “regular monitoring around the village” and their results do not coincide with the conclusions of Bitala’s study. They point out that any problems may in fact be stemming from the old mine in the same location operated by Germany in colonial times.

Human rights lawyer Tundu Lissu argues that “the description of the deaths and other health problems reported by the villagers of Nyakabale are consistent with the symptoms associated with cyanide poisoning.”
The home of the Luhanga family in Kahama. The Luhanga’s were among the thousands of families who had been forcefully evicted in August 1996 to make way for Sutton Resources’ Bulyanhulu Gold Mine, which was bought three years later by Barrick Gold.

According to Barrick’s own report, Social Development Plan for the Bulyanhulu Gold Mine, there were anywhere between 30,000 and 400,000 people living in the area before the evictions. The company claims that the people living there were nomadic illegal trespassers. But the communities argue that some of the villages in the area had existed long before colonial days.
Deogratios is the traditional witchdoctor, or medicine man, of the community. He was among the thousands of people who were evicted to make way for Barrick’s Bulynhulu gold mine. He remembers being forced from their home by heavily armed paramilitary forces only one day after the Minister of Minerals and Energy had issued an order giving the Bulyanhulu residents one month to vacate the area.

Deogratios and his family had nowhere to go so for two months after being forced from their home they were living in the bush. During this time his wife became ill. But with their home destroyed, and without access to his medicines, the healer could do nothing as he sat and watched his wife die.

Twelve years later, allegations continue that during the evictions in August 1996 fifty-two artisanal miners were buried alive in their pits by company bulldozers. The issue has developed into a bitter international dispute involving local communities, NGOs, and the governments of Tanzania, Canada, and the World Bank.

The company denies these allegations and maintains that “the way people left this site was in a peaceful, systematic fashion”, reports in the Tanzanian press at the time reported mass confusion, looting, robbery and bloodshed as people fled from police in riot gear. Numerous witnesses have testified in sworn statements that people were being beaten up by the police and were ignored when they told officers that there were still people inside some of the mineshafts as the bulldozers were filling in the pits.

The legality of the companies’ claim to the site has also been disputed. While on the one hand Barrick claims that the people there were illegal trespassers, they acknowledge in project documents that during a visit to the site by then President Ali Hassan Mwinyi in February 1993, “artisanal miners requested the right to resume artisanal mining in Bulyanhulu, which permission was granted by the President.”

According to the Lawyers Environmental Action Team (LEAT), the company had taken possession over the Bulyanhulu area in 1996 even though “the license issued to it was over a completely different area in a completely different district in a completely different region!”

In response to the companies’ and the government’s denials Melania, a Kahama resident, has been collecting these photos of people who claim to have witnessed the killings or lost loved ones during the evictions. “…This one was there when it happened … this one lost her son … this one went back afterwards to try and dig out his friends … this one lost her home and her grandchildren …”

A number of organizations have been calling for an independent inquiry to resolve the contraversial issue including Amnesty International, the Council of Canadians,Mining Watch Canada, the New Democratic Party, Friends of the Earth, and Rights and Democracy. But when an international NGO fact-finding mission attempted to visit Bulyanhulu to investigate the allegations they were barred from entering the area by an armed roadblock, they reported that they were intimidated by the police and were given the impression that they were “under surveillance and could possibly be apprehended.”
Melania’s two eldest sons, Jonathan and Ernest were among the fifty-two miners who were allegedly buried alive during the evictions. The family owned the pit that they were working in at the time, so Melania lost her livelihood as well as her two children in August 1996.

In a recent report published by religious groups in Tanzania it estimated that “that the concentration of gold mining in the hands of large multinational companies at the expense of small-scale artisan miners has put 400,000 people out of work.”

Adding to her already considerable loss, police have since taken away all Melania’s photos of Jonathan and Ernest. The photos she holds up here are of her youngest son Mushobozi.
Barrick argues that “the Bulyanhulu project is a model of how the private sector can do its part to contribute positively to the fabric of Tanzania.” But Gudila, another Kahama resident who lost her son Joseph during the evictions, argues that despite the company’s many promises their presence has brought nothing but misery to those living nearby. “We have nothing, just look around at this place, and see what we have to put up with.”

One of the more recent and appalling incidents involves a court case where three of Barrick’s employees – Annicet Edward Ndege, Job Murama, and Shija Madata – are currently on trial accused of masterminding the rape of an eleven year old schoolgirl by one of the company’s German Sheppard guard dogs. The accused, as described in local newspaper The Citizen, are said to have picked up the girl where she was selling bread and took her to the Nyanzaga Mineral Exploration Centre on March 21, 2008, where they “undressed and forced her to be defiled by a dog for about one hour”.
Buchard, resident of Kahama:
“I want you to tell people in Canada:
We know Canada;
We know the history of Canada;
We know the Canadian people are good people;
We know they believe in human rights.
But what this Canadian company is doing here is just terrible. Before, we were happy. We lived normal lives by Tanzanian standards. But now people here are really suffering. It is very difficult to make a living and feed our children here. A lot of us have lost our homes, loved ones, and livelihoods without receiving any compensation. There should have been an independent investigation into the killings a long time ago. But at this point, all we want is for the company to just sit down at the table with us so we can discuss where we can go from here. But they never listen to us, and they are lying to people in Canada.”