Iranian charged with possession of 97 kilo of heroin

Iranian national Ali Haji (L) and his co-accused, all Tanzanians, at Kisutu Resident`s Magistrate Court in Dar es Salaam yesterday. They were charged with possession of 97 kilos of illicit heroin. (Photo: Omar Fungo)

Horror as 180 people perish in ferry accident Zanzibari

President Jakaya Kikwete and Zanzibar President Ali Mohamed Shein look at the bodies of children who died when a ferry plying between Zanzibar and Pemba capsized Saturday night.

Some survivors of Nungwi current tragedy are stationed at Mnazi Mmoja Hospital in Zanzibar.

From ISSA YUSSUF in Zanzibar, 10th September 2011 @ 12:44, Total Comments: 0, Hits: 1028

GRIEF reigned across the spice islands of Unguja and Pemba yesterday as their residents tried to come to terms with a fatal dawn marine accident at Nungwi, 72 kilometres from Unguja, which claimed over 180 lives.

The Zanzibar President, Dr Ali Mohamed Shein, who visited the scene of accident and comforted survivors at a Maisara grounds rescue centre in Unguja, announced three days of mourning beginning today, in which flags will fly at half mast.

A State House statement said 180 bodies were recovered by last night and 579 survivors rescued from the accident involving a Pemba-bound Mv Spice Islanders, which sank at around 2 am yesterday. Apparently no foreigner was in the ferry.

Sixty of the survivors were critically injured while 100 others were treated at Mnazi Mmoja hospital in Unguja and released. The statement said the dead would be buried at a common cemetery.

The survivors claimed that the accident was waiting to happen and blamed Malindi port authorities for allowing an overloaded vessel to set off. The figures released so far add up to 759, but extreme estimates say up to 1,000 passengers could have been on board the ferry, whose capacity is suspected to be half the number or lower.

The ferry, which left Malindi harbour at 3 pm on Friday, is believed to have been hit by a strong current at Nungwi. It overturned on one side and started sinking gradually.

Omar Said, one of the survivors, said their calls to reduce the number of passengers or cancel the journey, were ignored by port authorities and the ferry's crew.

''Some people cancelled their booking. The boat started to experience difficulties after 1pm, and began to sink, prompting screaming from scared passengers,'' he said, adding:

''At 2 am the boat came to a standstill and everyone knew it was the end of life. The first rescue team arrived at 7 am, I was floating with a life jacket.''

A Police helicopter was used to locate survivors around the scene of accident, said a member of the rescue team, Mr Ali Shamte. ''Some survivors were floating on mattresses, wood, sacks containing flour and rice and anything else that was afloat.''


President Shein was joined in the mourning by Vice-Presidents Seif Shariff Hamad and Seif Ali Iddi as well as cabinet ministers, political party and religious leaders.

source Daily News

MISS UNIVERSE TANZANIA 2011, NELLY KAMWELU PRE-APES IN HER NATIONAL COSTUME

 

Miss Universe Tanzania 2011, Nelly Kamwelu pre-tapes in her National Costume onstage at Credicard Hall on September 7, 2011. She is preparing to compete in the 2011 MISS UNIVERSE® Competition on September 12 at 9:00 p.m. ET broadcast LIVE on NBC from Credicard Hall in São Paulo, Brazil.


Miss Universe Tanzania 2011, Nelly Kamwelu works with Director Ron de Moraes as she pre-tapes in her National Costume onstage at Credicard Hall on September 7, 2011. She is preparing to compete in the 2011 MISS UNIVERSE® Competition on September 12 at 9:00 p.m. ET broadcast LIVE on NBC from Credicard Hall in São Paulo, Brazil. Vote for Nelly Kamwelu into the semifinals on http://missuniverse.com/members/profile/599572/year:2011

JK Arrives In Nairobi

President Dr.Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete receives a bouquet of flowers from Faith Wambui shortly after he arrived at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi for the Horn of Africa Crisis summit to be held at UN Gigiri conference centre in Nairobi.(photo by Freddy Maro)

African Barrick Gold Launches Maendeleo Fund To Strengthen Community Investment In Tanzania

 

DAR ES SALAAM,

• Creation of the largest corporate community development fund in Tanzania
• Annual budget commitment of $10 million

African Barrick Gold (ABG) today announces the launch of the Maendeleo Fund which has been established to coordinate and govern ABG's community investment programmes in Tanzania. ABG's Board has approved a $10 million annual contribution to the Maendeleo Fund, which forms part of the Company's commitment to contribute to sustainable development in Tanzania and help improve quality of life in the communities where it operates. ABG has committed significant resources to a range of community development projects in Tanzania to date. The launch of the Fund significantly increases the Company’s commitment and will serve as a centralized focal point for future initiatives.

The Fund, which commences operation immediately, incorporates ABG’s current direct community spending and will become the largest corporate community development fund of its kind in the country. Investments will focus on community development, health, education, environment, water projects, skills and training programs, and will include support to non-governmental organizations with demonstrated capacity to deliver on community development initiatives.

As part of ABG’s commitment to corporate social responsibility, the Fund will also finance various philanthropic initiatives, donations, sponsorships, partnerships and other forms of support and public investment. Due consideration will also be given to broader development initiatives that support Tanzania’s national development strategy.

The Fund will be administered by ABG’s newly established Community Investment Committee, which will meet on a regular basis to review and approve community development initiatives under the Fund.

Ambassador Juma Mwapachu, Independent Non-Executive Director of ABG commented: "Today’s launch of the Maendeleo Fund highlights the focus and ongoing commitment that ABG directs towards community development in Tanzania. In keeping with this, we are also interested in exploring partnerships with third parties with expertise and capacity at delivering sustainable community investment.”

Deo Mwanyika Vice President, Corporate Affairs at ABG commented: “The Maendeleo Fund seeks to promote a comprehensive community development strategy that will harness synergies across our operations in Tanzania. The Fund enables us to consider funding for a diverse range of projects to contribute to socio-economic development and strengthen the communities where we do business.”

ABG's Corporate Social Responsibility Charter

We are determined to work with the utmost respect for individuals, our employees, and the communities and environments in which we operate, while pursuing value for our shareholders.

Our Corporate Social Responsibility Charter guides our conduct in the fields of Ethics, our Employees, our Communities, the Environment, Health & Safety and Security & Human Rights.

About African Barrick Gold

ABG is Tanzania’s largest gold producer and one of the five largest gold producers in Africa. We have four producing mines, all located in north west Tanzania (Bulyanhulu, Buzwagi, North Mara and Tulawaka), and several exploration projects at various stages of development. With a high-quality asset base, solid growth opportunities and a clear strategy, we have the objective of increasing our existing production to one million ounces per year by 2014.

We aim to achieve this by:

• driving operating efficiencies to optimise production from our existing asset base;
• growing through near mine expansion and development of advanced-stage projects; and
• organic greenfield growth and acquisitions in Africa.

Maintaining our license to operate through acting responsibly in relation to our people, the environment and the communities in which we operate is central to achieving our objectives.

ABG is a UK public company with its headquarters in London. We are listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the symbol ABG. Historically and prior to our initial public offering (IPO), our operations comprised the Tanzanian gold mining business of Barrick Gold Corporation (Barrick), our majority shareholder.

Mr Bernard Membe met ambassadors and high commissioners accredited to Tanzania in Dar es Salaam

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr Bernard Membe, talks to the envoy of the Holy See, Archbishop Joseph Chennoth, shortly after the minister met ambassadors and high commissioners accredited to Tanzania in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday. (Photo by Assah Mwambene).

Stoner on pole for San Marino MotoGP

Casey Stoner secured his eighth pole position of the season at qualifying for the San Marino MotoGP on Saturday.

The Honda rider's fastest lap of one minute, 33.138 seconds put him ahead of Spain's Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa who qualified in second and third place respectively.

"It's been a good weekend, it's going to be a really hard race tomorrow and I think it's going to be a bit of a battle - Jorge and Dani are very close to us," Stoner said, BBC Sport reported.

Stoner, who won last week in Indianapolis, currently leads Lorenzo by 44 points in the overall standings with Andrea Dovizioso lying in third.

Despite being willed on by his home crowd, seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi could only manage 11th place on the starting grid on his Ducati.

Bolt claims 200m gold in Daegu with dominant run

Usain Bolt put his 100m nightmare behind him to claim gold in the 200m final at the world championships in Daegu Saturday.

Bolt, disqualified for a false start in the final of the shorter sprint, made no mistake this time as he powered to victory in 19.40 seconds, the fourth fastest of all time.

"I feel great. I'm still the best. After the false start on Sunday, I was extremely disappointed not to have given myself the chance to defend my 100m title," Bolt said, AFP reported.

"The 200m represented a great opportunity for me to put it behind me and move on, and I've been determined to do so all week," he added, AFP reported.

Olympic champion Bolt was defending the title he won in Berlin in 2009 and the outcome never looked in doubt once he had come safely out of his blocks and quickly made up ground on Walter Dix of the United States on his outside.

Dix took silver in 19.70 seconds with France's Christophe Lemaitre in bronze as he broke the 20 seconds barrier for the first time.