Je, ni kweli hii?

`Ukibakwa ukaambukizwa VVU, wahi hospitali utapona`

2007-08-25 09:49:14
Na Gaudensia Mngumi.

Wanawake na watoto wanaobakwa na kuambukizwa virusi vya Ukimwi, wanaweza kutibiwa na kupona iwapo watawahi hospitalini ndani ya saa 72, imefahamika.

Wanawake na watoto hao watatibiwa na kupona kwa kutumia dawa za kupunguza makali ya Ukimwi (ARVs).

Hata hivyo, aliyebakwa au kulawitiwa, atalazimika kwenda hospitalini katika kipindi kisichozidi saa 72 vinginevyo dawa hizo hazitafanya kazi.

Hayo yalisemwa na daktari wa magonjwa ya wanawake na mtaalamu wa masuala ya Ukimwi, Dk. Suleiman Muttani jijini Dar es Salaam.

Aliongeza kuwa, aliyebakwa ama kulawitiwa na kuambukizwa na VVU, atatakiwa atumie dawa hizo kila siku kwa wiki nne mfululizo.

Alitoa ugunduzi huo kwenye mjadala wa namna ndoa za utotoni na vitendo vya ubakaji vinavyochangia maambukizi ya Ukimwi.

Mjadala huo ulindaliwa na Chama cha Waandishi wa Habari Wanawake Nchini (TAMWA).

Dk. Muttani ambaye ni Mkuu wa Hospitali ya Temeke jijini Dar es Salaam, aliitaka jamii kufahamu kuwa huo ni ukweli maambukizi ya Ukimwi yanaweza kuondolewa kama aliyebakwa na kuambukizwa atawahi hospitalini.

Alifafanua kuwa, mtu anapodhalilishwa kingono, atatakiwa kuwahi hospitalini, kufanyiwa mahojiano, kupewa ushauri nasaha na kuchunguzwa damu na iwapo ana VVU, ataanza dawa mara moja.

Hata hivyo, alisema iwapo hana VVU, dozi hiyo haitamsaidia kwani ameathirika na kwamba atapewa ushauri nasaha wa namna ya kuishi kwa matumaini na kuchunguzwa zaidi.

Aliongeza kuwa, aliyebakwa atapewa ARVs pale atakapokubali kupimwa VVU na iwapo atakataa hatapewa dawa hizo.

Lakini kwa watoto sharti hilo haliwahusu, kwani hawana ridhaa kutokana na umri wao mdogo, alifafanua.

Kwa upande mwingine, alisema wanaobakwa wanaweza kufika hospitalini kupewa matibabu bila kupitia polisi kuchukua fomu namba tatu, lakini wanapohudumiwa warudi polisi kwa ajili ya fomu hiyo kama taratibu zinavyotaka.

Kwa mujibu wa taarifa za ubakaji za Kituo cha Msaada wa Kisheria (WILAC) cha jijini, unyanyasaji wa watoto kingono ni mkubwa na nyakati hizi wazazi na jamaa wa karibu ndiyo watuhumiwa.

Mtoa mada wa asasi hiyo Bi. Scholastica Julu, alisema zipo kesi zinazofikishwa WILAC zikiwalalamikia wazazi wanaume kuwa, mbali na kuwanajisi watoto huwanyonyesha watoto wachanga uume wao.

Kadhalika, watu wanaojiita kaka wa hiari ambao ni wanaume marafiki wa familia, huwabaka watoto wa kike wa familia za marafiki zao.

Vikongwe nao ilielezwa kuwa hubakwa, kulawitiwa hata kuuawa kikatili na pia kuchukuliwa sehemu zao za siri.

``Kuanzia 1998 hadi sasa, kuna wafungwa 15,140 magerezani wa makosa ya kujamiana pamoja na mahabusu 2,687 wa kesi hizo wanaosubiri hukumu,`` alisema Bi. Julu.

• SOURCE: Nipashe, Jumamosi 25 Agosti 2007

ZITTO KABWE’S SUSPENSION AN EPISODE OR AN EPITAH?

Issa Shivji

The suspension of Honourable Zitto Kabwe from parliament is not simply an episode. It is a beginning of an epitah on the last twenty years of reckless privatisation and exploitation of national wealth and resources. The suspension was an occasion for the people to give vent to their accumulated grievances, problems, and frustrations.

Two decades of neo-liberal reforms has produced a deeply divided society and an utterly fractured politics. At one pole, there is a small group of filthy rich (walalaheri), who have used all means, fair and foul, to accumulate wealth. At the other pole, are the large majority of the wretched poor (walalahoi), who are desperately trying to keep body and soul together. Under Mwalimu, the ratio between the highest and the lowest wage/salary income earners was something like 1 to 8. The current one is 1 to 50, and that is an underestimate because it does not take into account unofficial, informal, and unaccounted incomes.

Every year over 800, 000 young persons are released on the labour market; hardly one-tenth of whom find formal jobs. Meanwhile, privatisation and capital-intensive investments continue throwing out more and more as redundant. Adding salt to the wound, politicians justify dubious foreign investment deals as creating jobs, as did Minister Karamagi in this episode. By his own account, he chased $800 million investment all the way to London because it would create 600 jobs. At that rate, Hon. Karamagi would have to make over 100 trips every month to London to sign $800 million worth projects to absorb the new entrants on the job market.

It is the elite who make such calculations to justify or condemn but the people know instinctively through real life experience that we are only rationalising the loot of our national resources. That is what neo-liberalism is all about. Looting of natural resources and making of profits by converting public goods – education, health, water, electricity, land, bioresources - into private commodities is the driving force of globalisation. The Thatchers and the Reagans of this world were the forefathers and foremothers of the neo-liberal phase of imperialism. The Foxes ( Mexico ) and the Mkapas ( Tanzania ) became the fathers of undisguised compradorialism on the continents of ‘the wretched of the earth’.

Use of public office for private accumulation, a ‘sin’ during Mwalimu’s time, has been cleansed and legitimised. Businessmen enter politics to protect their ill-gotten wealth while politicians use public offices to acquire illegitimate wealth. ‘Accumulate, accumulate’ has become the name of the game. Politics has become business as business has captured politics. The third phase president symbolised and rationalised this process. He is one of the few politicians who practised what he preached, as recent revelations in THISDAY have shown.

We have witnessed scandalous privatisation and other contracts – IPTL, TTCL, TANESCO, CITY WATER, RICHMOND , KIWIRA COAL and BULANYHULU GOLD. When Zitto proposed a private motion to investigate the signing of Buzwagi deal, he deeply touched the feelings and aroused the discontent of the people. He was giving public expression to private doubts and suspicions. When he was unceremoniously suspended, fuel was added to the fire. Private anguish became public anger.

Steeped in the orgy of accumulation, our rulers failed to gauge the mood of the public. The reaction was unexpected. It was unprecedented. In a desperate attempt to rescue the situation, the Bunge, under the signature of the Clerk to the Assembly, issued a Statement on the legality of the suspension. It ended by issuing more threats: Beware you, the ‘so-called activists’, lest the heavy hammer of law befall you! That was provocative. The “so-called activists” are threatening to flood the streets with demonstrations.

Two days after the Bunge Statement, the Deputy Speaker Mama Makinda, flanked by two vice-chairmen of parliamentary committees, both CCM and both legally trained, gave a press conference. She argued that the suspension had nothing to do with the private motion but everything to do with the words used by Hon. Zitto. She deployed the standard, albeit tired, rationalization. People reacted the way they did because they were ignorant of parliamentary procedures. The parliament therefore was intending to educate the people on its workings. Let us see who needs to be educated.

What was the ignorance about? It was about the interpretation and application of the Kanuni za Bunge. Both the Statement and the Deputy Speaker argued that Zitto was penalised under rule 59(3). Under rule 59(3), an MP, who is alleged to have told a lie on the floor of the House in terms of rule 50(1), can be punished on a motion proposed by any other member of parliament and carried. Moreover, the penalty is not specified; so, the Statement seemed to imply, any punishment could be applied; the sky is the limit.

It is true that different lawyers can have different interpretations of the same provision. Only the courts have the last word. However, it is also true that some interpretations are credible; others are not. No reasonable lawyer worth his or her salt would advance an interpretation, which is obviously unreasonable or does not make sense. I will briefly clarify what the rules say.
Rule 50(1) forbids any member from telling a lie in the House. The speaker or any other member of parliament may require an MP to prove his or her statement in which case the member concerned is required to provide the proof within the time given by the Speaker for this purpose.

Under rule 59(3), an MP who has been given time to prove h/er statement fails or neglects to do so within time, then the Speaker shall impose a penalty on him or her provided in rule 59(2). The maximum penalty provided in rule 59(2) that may be imposed by the Speaker is to exclude the concerned MP from the House until the end of the meeting for that day.

Rule 59(3) also provides that any other MP, who thinks that the lie told by the concerned MP is so serious that it undermines the honour of the House, may propose a motion to suspend the concerned MP from performing his or her parliamentary duties for the duration stated in his or her motion. Such motion is then deliberated upon and a decision made in the same way as other motions.

The Statement and the press conference argue that the punishment imposed on Mr. Zitto was a result of the motion proposed by Hon. Mudhihir Mudhihir under rule 59(3).

In my view, the application of 59(3) is dependent upon the happenings in 50(1). Three things must have happened before rule 59(3) comes into play. First, the MP concerned must have told a lie. Second, the Speaker must have given him time to prove the statement, which is alleged to have been a lie. Three, the MP must have failed or neglected to prove it and the Speaker did not use his powers to exclude him or her for the day.

Were these three conditions satisfied before Hon Mudhihir Mudhihir was allowed to propose his motion? First, what was the lie? The lie has to be identified before its truthfulness can be proved. The Statement seems to say that when contributing to the debate on the budget speech of the minister, Zitto had given an oral notice that he intended to bring a private motion for the appointment of a parliamentary committee to investigate the signing of the Buzwagi contract. Among other things, Zitto said that the Minister’s answer on the issue was incorrect and that he had “deceived” the parliament. This was the lie identified in the Statement, after the fact, not by the Speaker at the time it was uttered. This was considered a lie because after Zitto had moved the motion and the minister had replied “it was clear that the minister had not deceived” (words of the Statement). Therefore, Zitto had failed to prove his statement, therefore Hon. Mudhihir Mudhihir was within rule 59(3) to propose the motion, and therefore it was correct for the parliament to impose the penalty it did.

It does not require a great legal mind to discover that this argument does not satisfy the conditions of rule 50(1) and 59(3). There was no ruling by the Speaker when Zitto gave his oral notice that he had told a lie in the course of his speech. There was no statement by the Speaker identifying the lie. There was no Order by the Speaker giving Zitto time to prove his statement. Because no time was given, there could not be any point in time when the time expired. And, because there was no time given and no expiry of time, in law, Hon. Mudhihir Mudhihir had no basis for moving the motion.

The only reason I have gone into details is to show that the attempt to lean on law was a frantic attempt to justify the unjustifiable. Even if the official interpretation made sense and could hold, and even if it could be shown that the suspension was legal, it would make no difference to the perceptions of the people. For the people, Zitto was demanding accountability on their behalf. The Executive not only arrogantly refused to account, but used its party muscle in parliament to punish him unjustly. At the end of the day, the mining issue is a political issue, not a legal one. An action can be legal but not legitimate in the eyes of the people. In this case, it was neither legal nor legitimate.

We are beginning to witness the rise of a demand for ‘resource democracy’. People are demanding not only that their resources be in the hands of the nationals but also that the people should control them. People are fed up with the looting of their resources whether the looters are nationals or foreigners, white, black, pink, or blue.

© Issa Shivji
Issa Shivji was a professor of law at the University of Dar es Salaam until his formal retirement in 2006.

Chanzo: http://mjengwa.blogspot.com

State lacks control over money sent abroad

Norwegian authorities don't have adequate control over the money that immigrants send back home, according to a report for the foreign ministry.

No one knows just how much money is sent from Norway to other countries, but it's estimated to amount to tens of millions of kroner a year.

The peace research institute PRIO issued a critical report on Friday, financed by the foreign ministry and its aid agency Norad, that criticized authorities for not allowing the so-called hawala system of money transfers available in other countries.

That system operates outside conventional financial institutions and helps its customers transfer funds quickly and inexpensively. In Somalia and parts of Iraq, it's effectively the only alternative for money transfers.

Norway banned it, however, fearing it would be used for money laundering, tax evasion and financing for terrorism. The PRIO report says that instead, it could have helped track suspicious transactions and regulate overseas funds transfers.

The report also shows that the conventional banking system can be slow, expensive and irrelevant in countries with underdeveloped banking services.

Well-regarded services like Western Union and FOREX/Money Gram can handle foreign funds transfers quickly, but they're expensive for users.

State officials noted that many legitimate foreign money transfers are of critical importance to immigrants' families in developing countries.

Aftenposten English Web Desk
Nina Berglund/NTB

Miss Popularity Tanzania 2007

Vodacom wameandaa shindano la miss popularity litaloenda sanjari na Vodacom miss tz 2007 ambapo mdau unapewa fursa ya kumchagua miss popularity na kujiweka kwenye mkao wa kushinda shilingi milioni 10 endapo utakuwa ulipiga kura nyingi kupitia SMS yenye namba ya mrembo atayeshinda pamoja na tiketi mbili za vvip za kuangalia mchuano huo siku ya Septemba 1 pale lidaz klabu. Pia wapiga kura wengine 1,000 wataokuwa wamepiga kura kibao watapata tiketi 2 za kawaida kila mmoja.

Waandaji wanasema unachotakiwa kufanya ni kutuma sms yenye namba ya mrembo hapo chini kwenda namba 15500 kisha send....inakuwa kitu na boksi

Chanzo: http://issamichuzi.blogspot.com/

Flag Carrier Purchases Revenue Accounting System From Dubai Firm

Tanzania's flag carrier, Air Tanzania Corporation (ATC), has awarded a contract to Mercator, the Dubai-based airline IT solutions provider, to run its passenger revenue accounting operations.

Source: http://www.rootly.com/topics/world/africa/Tanzania_Flag_Carrier_
Purchases_Revenue_Accounting_System_From_Dubai_Firm/

Both Tanzanian and Maasai by tribe, Carola Kinasha was born in Longido, a remote village near the Kenyan border, as one of 8 children.

Click here for more about Carola

Delay hits BoT audit :Still no auditor in place

Bank of Tanzania: Twin Towers in Dar es Salaam.
____________________________________

-Work to be pushed forward a further week or more.

THISDAY REPORTER
Dar es Salaam.
Thursday, 23rd. August 2007.

THE long-awaited investigation of alleged dubious payments from the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) appears to have become further delayed, with the government unable to appoint an international auditor for the exercise last week as per announced schedule.

THE long-awaited investigation of alleged dubious payments from the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) appears to have become further delayed, with the government unable to appoint an international auditor for the exercise last week as per announced schedule.

The investigation in question involves a special audit of the central bank’s external payment arrears account, in the wake of widespread reports of suspicion surrounding the mysterious ’disappearance’ of up to $200m (approx. 260bn/-) in foreign exchange from the account.

When THISDAY tried to contact Ms Meghji yesterday for her comment on the apparent delays in naming the BoT auditor, she was reported to be out of office on a short leave. However, the deputy Controller and Auditor General (CAG), Frank Mhilu, confirmed that the audit contract has yet to be awarded to anyone.

’’We are still finalizing our negotiations with the audit firms that submitted their bids for the contract. This is a technical assignment that requires careful handling,’’ Mhilu told THISDAY in an interview in Dar es Salaam.

He hinted that the final bid evaluations could be concluded during the course of this week, with the successful bidder to be offered the contract for signing purposes next week.

This is the stage that will herald commencement of the arduous task of going through the BoT financial records for 2005/06 with regard to the controversial EPA account, in line with the government’s stated commitment to conclude the special audit by October this year.

Although a number of international audit firms are believed to have initially expressed interest in the contract, only two KPMG and Ernst and Young are understood to have actually applied for the job by the June 28 deadline.

Mhilu confirmed to THISDAY yesterday that the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has been keenly monitoring the BoT situation since the latest reports of improper payments cropped up, was involved in drafting terms of reference to be used in the planned special audit.

According to these terms of reference, the scope of the exercise will include assessment of all transactions from the EPA account during 2005/06, as well as verification, monitoring, and control procedures related to the account.

The finance ministry earlier tasked the CAG’s office with the job of selecting an international auditor for the audit, and it is understood that the government has already suspended all payments from the targeted EPA account (also known as the external commercial debt account) for the time being.

Meanwhile, the IMF itself recently announced plans for its own, broader ’safeguards assessment’ of financial controls and resources management within the BoT - to complement the government-led special audit exercise as a further effort to verify allegations that millions of US dollars were channelled from the EPA account to various shadow (shell) companies.

According to IMF policy guidelines, a ’safeguards assessment’ is a diagnostic exercise carried out by IMF staff to ’’help prevent the possible misuse of IMF resources and misreporting of information.’’

The central bank, with governor Dr Daudi Ballali at the helm, has lately also been under fire for similarly fishy expenditure with regard to the construction of the bank’s Twin Towers headquarters in the city, whose overall cost is said to have been so inflated that it now exceeds $340m (approx. 425bn/-).

According to reliable reports, this is at least four times more expensive than the cost of similar buildings in some of the world’s most expensive cities such as London, New York and Tokyo.

Dr Ballali and the BoT have also faced serious queries over controversial involvements with local mining projects like Mwananchi Gold Company Limited and the now defunct Meremeta Gold Mine Company Limited, and the Alex Stewart Assayers firm for the auditing of international gold mining operations in the country.

Religion: Joint declaration on the right to conversion

The Islamic Council of Norway and the Church of Norway Council on Ecumenical and International Relations have presented a joint declaration on the freedom of religion and the right to conversion.

The decleration states that everyone is free to adopt the religious faith of their choice.

- We denounce, and are committed to counteracting all violence, discrimination and harassment inflicted in reaction to a person’s conversion, or desire to convert, from one religion to another, be it in Norway or abroad, the declaration says.

- Freedom of religion is a fundamental principle which must be reflected in attitudes toward people of another faith. The right to change one’s religious faith is central to freedom of religion, says Olav Fykse Tveit, General Secretary for the Church of Norway Council on Ecumenical and International Relations.

- By issuing this declaration we hope to contribute to the international process on this important matter, he says.

(NRK/Church of Norway)

Rolleiv Solholm

Football: Norway - Argentina 2-1

"Man of the match" John Alieu Carew, after scoring the first goal.
____________________________

Norway beat Argentina 2-1 in a friendly in Oslo Wednesday evening. John Carew was "man of the match" and scored both goals for Norway.

Carew´s heading the second goal.
_________________________

Carew scored the first goal on a penalty in the 12th minute, after Javier Mascherano felled his Liverpool team mate, John Arne Riise.

After this, Norway dominated most of the first half, but failed on several good chances in front of the Argentine box.

Argentina took over in the second half, but then Carew headed his second goal on a pass from Jon Arne Riise.

Maxi Rodrguez reduced for Argentina six minutes before the end.

Norway had beat Argentina as it did 21 years ago.

Ullevaal stadium, 23 932 spectators.

Goal: 1-0 John Carew (penalty. 11), 2-0 Carew (58), 2-1 Maxi Rodriguez (84).
Referee: Darbo Ceferin, Slovenia.
Yellow card: Martin Andresen (38), Norway, Ezequiel Garay (61), Javier Mascherano (90), Argentina.

Norway: Håkon Opdal (Rune A. Jarstein from 46 min.) - Jarl André Storbæk, Ronny Johnsen, Brede Hangeland, John Arne Riise - Daniel Braaten (John Anders Bjørkøy from 90 min.), Bjørn Helge Riise (Alexander Tettey from 43 min.), Martin Andresen, Kristofer Hæstad, Morten Gamst Pedersen (Lars Iver Strand from 73 min.) - John Carew (Jan Gunnar Solli from 84 min.).

Argentina (4-1-3-2): Oscar Ustari - Javier Zanetti, Ezequiel Garay, Nicolas Burdisso, Gabriel Milito - Javier Mascherano - Luis González (Federico Insua from 46 min.), Lionel Messi, Maxi Rodríguez - Ezequiel Lavezzi (Javier Saviola from 46 min.), Diego Milito (Fernando Gago from 79 mi.).

Controversial Buzwagi mining deal: Ruling party MP also questioned it

-Said despite being the area legislator, even he knew nothing about it.

THISDAY REPORTER
Dar es Salaam.

A LEGISLATOR from the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) itself officially questioned the controversial Buzwagi gold mine contract signed by energy and minerals minister Nazir Karamagi, long before opposition lawmaker Zitto Kabwe also raised the matter in parliament and ended up being virtually crucified, it has now been confirmed.

According to the National Assembly’s official hansard record, way back on June 26 this year, Kahama MP James Lembeli bombarded Prime Minister Edward Lowassa with the same type of serious questions regarding why the contract was signed ’in secret’ by Karamagi - with parliament apparently kept in the dark about the whole issue.

Debating the 2007/08 budget estimates of the Prime Minister’s Office, the CCM legislator declared in parliament his dismay at reports that the government had entered into the mining contract with Barrick Gold for the Buzwagi area, with residents of surrounding villages including himself as their MP being told nothing by the authorities.

This was a good six weeks-plus before Kabwe, the Kigoma North MP representing the opposition CHADEMA party, raised his own private motion on the issue at which point it was turned into an unwholesome, political partisanship affair culminating in the bizarre suspension of Kabwe from all parliamentary activity for the rest of the year.

Speaking in parliament back in June, Lembeli openly expressed his own suspicions about the circumstances behind the Buzwagi mining deal, which was eventually signed in London despite all the negotiations reportedly taking place in Tanzania.

Said the ruling party legislator: ’’Recently, I have heard reports on the radio suggesting that a new gold mine known as Buzwagi is to start being built about five kilometres outside Kahama Township. I see this as a serious problem, because I strongly believed that this contract would be different from previous ones.’’

’’But now it seems that everything has been done so secretly that even the Member of Parliament, as the representative of the people in the area, was kept in the dark.’’

Elaborating further on the topic, Lembeli said residents of the villages surrounding the area earmarked under the contract deal - including Mwendakulima, Mweme and Chapulwa ’’have been complaining almost everyday about compensation, and no one can give them a straight answer about what the government says and exactly how much they will be paid.’’

According to the Kahama MP, at one point the area’s district commissioner had to call in riot police to stop enraged villagers from physically attacking officials of the Barrick Gold company.

When Kabwe tabled his private member’s option on the controversial Buzwagi contract in parliament last week, he ignited an extraordinarily fierce debate that appeared to split the House right down the middle in the political divide.

Vehemently calling for the formation of an official parliamentary probe committee to investigate minister Karamagi’s actions in relation to the contract and the process leading to its signing, the CHADEMA legislator cited several possible irregularities in the deal. These included suggestions that the contract was signed in a London hotel instead of at the Tanzanian High Commission offices in the British capital, which was perhaps a better and more official setting for such transactions.

The unfolding debate saw the majority CCM camp of lawmakers in the House strongly and collectively tow the party line in defence of Karamagi, while opposition MPs as a minority bloc were all in favour of the proposed probe.

And as the debate became more and more heated, one CCM legislator - Mudhihir Mudhihir (Mchinga) - tabled his own counter motion asking parliament to suspend Kabwe from parliament until early 2008, allegedly for committing perjury in saying Karamagi had misled the House over the Buzwagi contract issue.

With the consent of presiding House speaker Samuel Sitta, the counter motion was approved through an on-the-spot vote in which the CCM lawmakers vastly outnumbered their opposition counterparts.

It has now emerged that despite the eventual partisan debate on the Karamagi saga, it was actually one of the ruling party’s own MPs who first raised alarm bells on alleged irregularities in the Buzwagi mining contract deal.

President Jakaya Kikwete was scheduled to visit the controversial Buzwagi gold mine as part of his ongoing tour of Shinyanga Region. At the same time, a local newspaper yesterday quoted a State House spokeswoman as saying that Karamagi, as minister for energy and minerals, had full authority to sign such mining contracts without informing the president. .

Oslo Mayor steps down

Oslo Mayor Per Ditlev-Simonsen has decied to step down, six weeks before his term expires, after it became known that he had failed to declare a secret bank account in Switzerland to the tax authorities.

Mayor sorry but won’t resign

Oslo Mayor Per Ditlev-Simonsen apologized Monday for failing to report a Swiss bank account to Norwegian tax authorities, but he refused to resign.

Ditlev-Simonsen, age 75, is due to leave office anyway on October 17, and turn over the mayor's post to the winner of local elections on September 10.

He made it clear to a special city commission questioning his role in the Swiss account controversy that he won't quit any earlier, at least not voluntarily. He will, however, withdraw from the current election campaign, where he'd been trying to help boost other Conservative candidates.

Ditlev-Simonsen also confirmed he had taken personal contact with tax authorities and would meet to settle any outstanding tax liabilities with them this week.

The veteran politician for the Conservatives, who served as Norway's Defense Minister from 1989-90, apologized profusely for failing to report the Swiss account on his income tax returns when he should have.

Originally wife's moneyHe said the account initially had been set up by his late wife Benedicte Werring in the 1980s, apparently in connection with an inheritance she'd received.

The couple had what's known as særeie in Norwegian, a system in which they maintained separate personal finances. That meant Ditlev-Simonsen had no transaction rights on the account.

When she died in 1990, however, the money in the account transferred to him and he admitted he should have reported it at that point. "I apologize for that as strongly as I can," he said, adding that he "blamed himself" for the failing to do so.

"When my wife died, I received NOK 1.5 million from the bank," he said, adding that the money was transferred to a new account which wasn't closed until 1995.

Statute of limitations ran outNorway's statute of limitations on tax cases goes back 10 years, meaning Ditlev-Simonsen probably won't be fined at this point. Opposition politicians urged him to make amends, and Ditlev-Simonsen replied that was for the tax authorities to decide.

The mayor leveled harsh criticism against his two former sons-in-law, who have been arguing with the mayor's daughter over divorce settlements. He accused them of conducting a professional media campaign, and charged that they'd made "direct threats" against him regarding the Swiss account.

"The whole case came up... like lightning from a clear sky," he said. He couldn't explain why he hadn't brought it up himself years ago.

Aftenposten English Web Desk.

Nina Berglund

Mayor's daughter admits tax evasion, goes on leave

Cecilie Ditlev-Simonsen, daughter of Oslo's embattled mayor, is leaving her job as communications chief for industrial firm Norsk Hydro, at least temporarily, after admitting to tax evasion Monday afternoon.

Her father, Oslo Mayor Per Ditlev-Simonsen, admitted earlier in the day to having funds in a secret Swiss bank account that he never declared on his own tax returns in the early 1990s.

He said the account had been opened by his late wife in the 1980s, and he'd only gained access to it after her death in 1990. He was Norway's Defense Minister at the time for the Conservative Party (Høyre), but negelected to declare the money that would have been subject to tax in Norway.

He said he closed the account "in late 1994 or early 1995." He became Oslo's mayor in 1995 and was already due to retire this fall before the Swiss bank account scandal broke.

Now his daughter Cecilie has broken her silence since newspaper Dagens Næringsliv first reported allegations about the existence of the family's undeclared money in Switzerland. The allegations emerged as part of a contested divorce settlement.

His daughter also admits she failed to declare around NOK 750,000 in cash that she'd inherited from her mother in 1991. That money would also have been subject to taxation in Norway, both in terms of the income it might generate and what it would add to her overall net worth. The Norwegian state taxes its citizens on their net worth year after year.

'Stupid'Ditlev-Simonsen admitted Monday that she kept the money in a Swiss bank account and never disclosed it to tax authorities.

I of course apologize for that stupidity from 1991," she said in an e-mail to journalists.

Her brother Sverre Ditlev-Simonsen, who carried on in the family’s shipping business and is chairman of Seabulk Management AS, also admitted receiving inheritance proceeds without reporting them.

They said they have asked Oslo tax authorities for a meeting in an effort to make amends for the earlier tax evasion. Much of it occurred so long ago that the statute of limitations has run out, and both say they've used up the money they'd inherited. Neither, they claim, has money in any undeclared foreign bank accounts today.

She went on to acknowledge that her situation has prompted her to seek a leave of absence from her top management job at Norsk Hydro, where she and other management colleagues recently were accused of greed stemming from lucrative options deals.

The company earlier had said the allegations against her would have no consequences on her job.

Aftenposten English Web Desk

Nina Berglund

The Kiwira coal power project saga: Mkapa, Yona broke the law

The former president Benjamin Mkapa (right)
and his energy and minerals minister Daniel Yona.

___________________________________

-Various sections of Leadership Code of Ethics Act quoted

THISDAY REPORTER Dar es Salaam

FORMER president Benjamin Mkapa and senior minister Daniel Yona are now understood to have acted illegally in the privatisation and takeover of the Kiwira Coal Mine in Mbeya Region, by failing to disclose their personal vested interests in the matter and using information obtained while executing public office duties for their own personal gain.

According to the Public Leadership Code of Ethics Act of 1995, a copy of which has been availed to THISDAY, a public leader shall be considered to have breached the Act if he or she acquires any significant financial advantage, or assists another person to acquire such gain, by ’’improperly using or benefiting from information which is obtained in the course of his/her official duties and which is not generally available to the public.’’

With full access to all confidential information regarding the state-owned coal mine and its operations by virtue of their powerful positions in government, Mr Mkapa and Yona founded Tanpower Resources Company Limited in December 2004, when one was sitting president of the United Republic and the other served as minister for energy and minerals respectively.

Just a few months later, in mid-2005, the company that was apparently the brainchild of Mr Mkapa, Yona and some of their immediate family members took over control of the Kiwira Coal Mine.

Stated objectives of Tanpower Resources include ’’to carry on the business of miners of coal and iron; to process such coal and iron and generally treat, prepare, render marketable, sell and dispose of such coal and iron or by-products resulting therein in their raw or manufactured state.’’

The company was also licensed to ’’deal with coal mining in order to generate electricity for consumption and sale; to generate power generators, transmitters and general distributors; and to provide power and general projects management, project appraisers and consultants.’’

The first listed directors of Tanpower Resources were named as the then first lady Mrs Anna Mkapa; the then minister for energy and minerals Daniel Yona; Nicholas Mkapa (the president and Mrs Mkapa’s son); Joseph Mbuna (Nicholas Mkapa’s father-in-law); and one Evans Mapundi.

Mrs Mkapa sat on the board as a representative of ANBEM Limited; Yona from DEVCONSULT Ltd; Mkapa junior from Fosnik Enterprises; Mbuna from Choice Enterprises; and Mapundi representing yet another company, Universal Technologies Limited, in which he shares ownership with one Wilfred Malekia.

Both Mr Mkapa and Yona ? as president and energy/minerals minister respectively - were deeply and directly involved in the privatisation of the Kiwira Coal Mine, and were privileged with full access to all confidential information regarding its assets, operations and business potential.

They are understood to have engineered the acquisition by Tanpower Resources of 70 per cent shares in the Kiwira Coal Mine, as part and parcel of the ’fast-track’ privatisation process. This was later increased to 85 per cent, with the remaining, token 15 per cent shares being retained by the government of the day. ''

However, states that a public leader shall be considered to have breached the law if he knowingly acquires any significant financial advantage or assists in the acquisition of any such advantage by another person by the following manner:

Apart from improper use of, and benefit from, information obtained in the course of carrying out official duties and which is not generally available to the public, Section 12 (1) of the Public Leadership Code of Ethics Act also states other ways in which a public leader will be considered to have breached the law, including:

’’By directly or indirectly converting government property for personal or any other unauthorised use, for the purposes of reaping private economic benefit.’’

Furthermore, section 13 (1) of the same legislation also states that ’’a public leader shall not speak in the Cabinet, National Assembly, in a local government council or a committee thereof, or in or at any other official forum or part of it, on any matter in which he has a direct pecuniary (financial) interest unless he has disclosed the nature of that interest to the Cabinet, the Assembly, the council, committee or such other forum or part of it.’’

Section 13 (2) of the same law states that ’’the separately owned assets of the spouse or minor children of a public leader shall be deemed to constitute an interest for disclosure by him.’’

And section 14 (1) requires that ’’where a public leader has an interest in a contract that is made, or is supposed to be made by the government, and has not made a sufficient declaration under subsection (4) in relation to the contract, the public leader shall as soon as practicable make a declaration of his interest in relation to the contract, specifying the nature and extent of his interest.’’

Section 14 (3) states that ’’the interest of the spouse or spouses, or of the children of a public leader in relation to the government contract, shall be deemed to be the interest of the public leader.’’

Under this law, a public leader has an interest in a government contract ’’if he will derive any material benefit, whether direct or indirect, from the contract; or if one party to the contract is a firm or body corporate and he has a material interest, whether direct or indirect, in the firm or body corporate.’’

It has been established that very few government functionaries were even aware of the real people behind Tanpower Resources when it took over control of the hitherto state-owned Kiwira Coal Mine, and that the company and its operations were from the outset shrouded in heavy secrecy.

Tanpower Resources is currently the majority shareholder in the renamed Kiwira Coal and Power Limited company which in March 2006 entered into a controversial, $271.8m (approx. 340bn/-) contract with the state-run Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO) for the supply of 200 megawatts of electricity to the national power grid.

It has also emerged that with Tanpower Resources at the helm, Kiwira Coal and Power Limited was also given control of a separate, additional area with lucrative coal deposits that was formerly owned by the government. Our sources say the Kabulo Coal Prospect, also in Mbeya Region where the Kiwira mine is located, was wrestled away from the control of the State Mining Corporation (STAMICO) - a government-run agency - and handed on a ’silver platter’ to Kiwira Coal and Power Ltd.

Previous studies commissioned by the government itself have shown that the Kabulo area, which lies within the East African Rift Valley system in south-western Tanzania, has proven reserves of up to 14 million tonnes of coal.

Before being sidelined, STAMICO had been actively promoting the Kabulo area with the intention of attracting a strategic investor to develop a coal-fired power station.

Before the marriage:

He: Yes. At last. It was so hard to wait.
She: Do you want me to leave?
He: NO! Don't even think about it.
She: Do you love me?
He: Of course!
She: Have you ever cheated on me?
He: NO! Why you even asking?
She: Will you kiss me?
He: Yes!
She: Will you hit me?
He: No way! I'm not such kind of person!
She: Can I trust you?

Now after the marriage you can read it from bottom to the top!
Cheers,

Sek @ Kigoma

Chanzo: http://issamichuzi.blogspot.com/

Oslo's mayor faces resignation demands

The pressure on Oslo Mayor Per Ditlev-Simonsen

hit the boiling point by Monday.

PHOTO: JARL ERICHSEN/SCANPIX.

Erna Solberg asked Ditlev-Simonsen to

refrain from taking part in the current election campaign,

after he admitted having had a Swiss bank account.

PHOTO: ODD INGE SJÆVESLAND

____________________________

Calls grew over the weekend for Per Ditlev-Simonsen to either resign as mayor of Oslo or at least stop campaigning for candidates from his party, the Conservatives (Høyre), after he admitted having had a Swiss bank account that wasn't reported to Norwegian tax authorities.

Much of the criticism and moral indignation lodged against Ditlev-Simonsen came, predictably enough, from opposition politicians. The head of Oslo's chapter of the Labour Party, Jan Bøhler, was quick to claim that Ditlev-Simonsen should cease all campaign activity, while the head of Norway's Socialist Left Party, Kristin Halvorsen, called Ditlev-Simonsen's tax evasion "a serious breach of trust."

Halvorsen added that it was "especially serious that Oslo's highest-ranking leader, who manages other people's tax money, has himself avoided taxes."

Halvorsen, moreover, is also Norway's current Finance Minister with ultimate responsibility for the country's strict tax regulations. Her evaluation and underlying criticism can't simply be dismissed, therefore, as part of party politics.

Even the leader of the Conservatives herself, Erna Solberg, called for Ditlev-Simonsen to refrain from campaigning for candidates in the upcoming local elections. She worried that his presence would shift focus from the campaign issues themselves.

Admission Friday nightAfter initially refusing to comment on allegations of a Swiss bank account, Ditlev-Simonsen admitted he'd had access to such an account and had never reported it on his tax returns. The allegations had emerged in a bitter divorce suit involving his daughter.
Ditlev-Simonsen claimed the account was closed around 1995, when he became mayor of Oslo. Before that, though, he'd held other top party posts and was Norway's Defense Minister in the Syse government when the account apparently still existed.

Ditlev-Simonsen wouldn't say, however, where the money had come from nor how much money was involved. If reported in Norway, it would have been subject to the country's tax on personal wealth (formueskatt), which comes in addition to income tax.

Late wife's money?Newspaper VG reported over the weekend that the Swiss bank account had belonged to Ditlev-Simonsen's first wife, who died of cancer in March 1990. The money was then inherited by her family.

Newspaper Aftenposten reported Monday that the personal fortune that was reported on Ditlev-Simonsen's 1995 tax return triped, from NOK 893,000 to NOK 2.7 million. His income more than doubled, to NOK 3.1 million. Ditlev-Simonsen said he couldn't explain the increase.
He was expected to do some explaining Monday afternoon, when he was to meet a special city commission formed to investigate internal cases. The commission consists of representatives from the Conservatives, Labour, the Progress Party and the Socialist Left parties.

Ditlev-Simonsen has received support from the Oslo chapter of the Conservatives, many of whom are colleagues in city government, putting them at odds with the national party organization that's asked him to refrain from campaign activity.

His term as mayor already was due to run out this fall regardless because Ditlev-Simonsen, age 75, is retiring. If the Conservatives secure enough votes, another member of the party is to be appointed to replace Ditlev-Simonsen.

Aftenposten English Web Desk

Nina Berglund

Power failure hits Oslo hard

A construction crane swung into a power line in Oslo's Ulven district Monday morning, cutting electricity to more than a quarter of the city.

Trams and trains stood still, office buldings and shopping centers were dark and minibanks stopped up when the power failure hit much of Oslo's downtown and east side around 10:20am.
Morten Schau, information chief at utility firm Hafslund, said the crane swung into a power line that cut electricity to the entire transformer station at Ulven on the city's northeast side.
Both the city's underground T-bane rapid transit system and its trams came to a halt, clogging traffic and disrupting service all over the city.

State railway NSB also lost power through the central train station, and information tables were blank.

Passengers were stranded for around a half hour. Trams with battery reserve systems were instructed to head for the next station and then wait until power was restored.
Hafslund workers scrambled to repair the damage and most power was back by 11:30am. Transit schedules, however, were expected to be disrupted through the day.

Aftenposten English Web Desk

Nina Berglund

Municipal Government and County Council elections in Norway

In 2007, Municipal Government and County Council elections wil be held in Norway. Election Day is Monday, 10th September 2007.

Who is entitled to vote?

The following persons are entitled to vote in the municipal and county election:

Norwegian nationals who

• are 18 years of age by the end of the election year, and who
• have not lost the right to vote pursuant to Article 53 of the Constitution, and who
• are, or have at some time, been registered in the National Population Register as a resident of Norway.
  
  Norwegian public servants who are employed in the diplomatic corps or the consular service and members of their household are entitled to vote even if they have never been registered in the National Population Register.
  

Norwegian non-nationals who satisfy the relevant criteria, if they

• have been registered in the Norwegian Population Register as a resident of Norway in the three years prior to Election Day, or
• are nationals of another Nordic country and have been registered in the Norwegian National Population Register no later than 30 June of the election year.
  

With respect to the period of residence for foreign nationals, there is a requirement that this has been registered as continuous for the past three years. Foreign nationals who give notification of moving out of Norway before Election Day lose the right to vote.

To be eligible to vote, a voter must be listed in the electoral register on the day of the election.

The Electoral register

or Norwegian nationals it is not a condition for entitlement to vote that they are resident in Norway on Election Day. But to be able to cast a vote, one must be inscribed in the electoral register on Election Day.

All persons who are entitled to vote in the election and who are registered as residents of the municipal authority area on 30 June of the election year, are included in the relevant municipality authority area’s electoral register.

Pursuant to Section 5 of the National Population Register Regulations, residents who move abroad are recorded in a separate register. All Norwegian nationals who are entitled to vote are automatically included in the electoral register in the municipal authority area where they were registered as resident at the time of moving.

Norwegian nationals who have been registered as resident in another country for more than 10 year are no longer automatically included in the electoral register. They must apply for inclusion in the electoral register if they wish to participate in the election, by filling out the an application form on the cover envelope for advance voting abroad. The application may also be written on ordinary paper. The letter must contain full namne, address, date of birth and a signature, as well as a statement affirming that the person concerned is still a Norwegian national. The application is to be sent to the municipal authority area where the person concerned was last registered as resident. The closing date for application for registration in the electoral register is the Election Day.

Voting in advance from abroad

• Where can ballots be received?
• Postal voting
• Procedure for voting from abroad

Voting outside Norway and on Svalbard and Jan Mayen starts on 2 July 2007. Votes must not be cast later than Friday 31 August 2007.

The voter is personally responsible for voting early enough for the vote to reach the election board in the municipal authority area where he or she is registered by 20.00 hours on Election Day.

Ballots cast abroad will be final. This means that the person casting the ballot will not be allowed to cast a new ballot in the same election.

Where can ballots cast abroad be received?

Ballots cast abroad may be received:

• at Norwegian Foreign Service missions (embassies, consulates, general consulates, and any other office of a mission)
• by returning officers specially appointed by the County Governor in Oslo and Akershus on behalf of the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development
• by returning officers on Jan Mayen
• by the Governor of Svalbard or the person appointed by the Governor.
  
  

Postal voting

Voters who are unable to vote through a returning officer may send their ballot to Norway by ordinary post (postal voting from abroad). The voter may request that voting materials be sent to him/her from a Foreign Service mission.

An alternative is that the voter may download the necessary materials (with the exception of the official ballot paper envelope).

Procedure for voting from abroad

1. In person
The voter must appear in person to cast his/her vote.

2. Proof of identity
If the voter is unknown to the returning officer, he/she is required to produce proof of identity. Identification documents that are considered adequate are a passport, driving licence, Post Office identity card, bankcard, seaman’s certificate, all types of certificates of service on board ship, military service certificate and other military identity cards, etc.

3. Information on voting procedure
The returning officer shall inform the voter of the rules that apply to voting from abroad.

4. Distribution of materials
The returning officer provides the voter with the following materials:

• A ballot paper envelope (brown)
• Writing materials
• Two ballot papers. A white one for the Minicpal Government Election and a blue one for the County Counsil Election.

In Oslo there is no County Council Election. Therefore, voters that are registered in the elctoral register in Oslo shall not vote in the County Council Election.

5. Handling of voting and votes cast – “in a secluded room and unobserved”
The voter shall be shown to a place where in a secluded room an unobserved he/she can mark the ballot paper/papers, or write the name of the list that he/she wishes to vote for and place it (them) in the ballot paper envelope.

6. The cover envelope shall be sealed
The voter then gives the ballot paper envelope to the returning officer who, in the presence of the voter, places the ballot paper envelope in the cover envelope and seals the envelope. It is very important that the cover envelope is properly sealed, as the ballot cast will otherwise be rejected.

7. Filling in the cover envelope
The returning officer shall then fill in the form on the cover envelope.

8. Sending ballots to Norway
The returning officer places the ballot in a postal envelope and promptly sends it to the relevant election board.

Click for more on Norwegian Electoral System:


Source: http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/krd/kampanjer/
The-municipal-and-county-election/
English/Voting-in-advance-from-abroad.html?id=475879

Kenya mission ended Simpson/Lachey marriage

Jessica Simpson dumped husband Nick Lachey after a soul-searching trip to Kenya, Africa.

The pop star/actress - who split from Lachey in December 2005 after three years of marriage - reveals she was on a charity mission in Africa when she realised her relationship was over.

She says: "People out there need to go to Third World countries and sit with children for a little bit."

Almost two years after the painful split, Simpson reveals therapy and her own diary helped her through the darkest days.

She adds: "I write in my journal. I believe in therapy as well."

Source: http://www.breakingnews.ie/entertainment/mhcweykfcwcw
18/08/2007 - 13:29:37

Hoja iliyomponza Kabwe Zuberi Zitto

MHESHIMIWA Spika, kwanza napenda kutoa shukrani zangu za dhati kwa kunipatia fursa ya kuleta hoja hii hapa kwenye Bunge lako tukufu kwa mujibu wa kanuni zetu za Bunge. Kuletwa kwa hoja hii, bila kujali maamuzi ya kuhusu hoja yenyewe, ni ishara tosha ya ukomavu wa demokrasia yetu ambayo inakuzwa na mijadala ya Bunge lako tukufu. Nakupongeza kwa dhati kabisa kwa juhudi zako za kuliimarisha Bunge letu na kujenga muhimili imara wa ulinzi wa demokrasia ya vyama vingi nchini kwetu.

Mheshimiwa Spika, mnamo tarehe 16/7/2007 mara baada ya hoja ya Waziri wa Nishati na Madini kuamuliwa na Bunge lako tukufu, nilisimama mahala pangu na kutoa taarifa ya kukusudia kuleta hoja ya kuunda kamati teule ya Bunge. Nilisema kama ifuatavyo (kwa mujibu wa kumbukumbu sahihi za mijadala ya Bunge), ninanukuu ‘…naomba kutoa taarifa rasmi… kwamba nakusudia kuleta hoja ya kuunda kamati teule kuchunguza mkataba mpya wa madini ambao Waziri wa Nishati na Madini ameusaini bila kuzingatia maagizo ya rais (wa Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania) ya kupitia mikataba ya madini aliyoyatoa mbele ya Bunge lako tukufu tarehe 30 Disemba, 2005.’ Mwisho wa kunukuu.

Mheshimiwa Spika, nimeshawasilisha hoja yangu hii kwa maandishi kwa Katibu wa Bunge na sasa nawasilisha rasmi katika kikao hiki cha Bunge kwa uamuzi. Nimezingatia kanuni 104 (2) katika kuwasilisha hoja yangu.

Mheshimiwa Spika, katika maelezo yangu niliyowasilisha bungeni wakati wa mjadala wa hotuba ya Waziri wa Nishati na Madini siku ya tarehe 16/7/2007, nilihitaji maelezo kutoka serikalini katika masuala makuu mawili yafuatayo:

1. Kuondolewa kwa kipengele katika sheria ya kodi ya mapato ya mwaka 1973 kuhusiana na asilimia 15% ya ‘capital allowance on unredeemed qualifying capital expenditure’ bila ya kibali cha Bunge lako tukufu.

2. Kusainiwa kwa mkataba mpya wa madini wa mgodi (mradi) wa Buzwagi kati ya serikali na Kampuni ya Barrick na sababu za mkataba huo kusainiwa nje ya nchi, London, Uingereza, na vilevile kwa nini mkataba huo umesainiwa wakati bado serikali inafanya durusu (review) ya mikataba kufuatana na maagizo ya Rais wa Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania ndugu Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete.

Mheshimiwa Spika, wakati akijibu hoja zangu Waziri wa Nishati na Madini alijenga hoja zake kama ifuatavyo:

a. Kuhusiana na asilimia 15% ya ‘capital allowance on unredeemed qualifying capital expenditure’

Mheshimiwa Spika, Mheshimiwa Waziri wa Nishati na Madini amenukuliwa na kumbukumbu za majadiliano ya Bunge akisema, ninanukuu: “…kwa hiyo pamoja na kwamba ninamheshimu sana Mheshimiwa Kabwe Zitto na sote tunamheshimu ni msomaji mzuri, lakini wakati mwingine lazima kuangalia vitu gani unasoma. Ni kwamba kipengele hiki cha sheria kililetwa hapa bungeni mwaka 2001 kwenye bajeti kikabadilishwa…” Mwisho wa kunukuu.

Mheshimiwa Spika, katika kuandaa hoja yangu hii, ilinibidi kupitia upya kumbukumbu za majadiliano ya Bunge ili kujiridhisha na maelezo ya Mheshimiwa Waziri wa Nishati na Madini, maelezo ambayo mimi nililitaarifu Bunge lako tukufu tarehe 16/7/2007 kuwa sio sahihi.

Mheshimiwa Spika, Kumbukumbu hizo zinaonesha kwamba, sheria ya fedha ya mwaka 2001 (Finance Act. No.14 ya 2001) ilifanyiwa marekebisho kadhaa ikiwemo marekebisho ya sheria ya madini kifungu cha 87 ambapo kifungu kidogo cha (3) cha kifungu cha 87 kiliongezwa. Kifungu kidogo hicho kinasema, ninanukuu:

‘(3) The provisions of subsections (1) and (2) shall not apply to any person who, immediately before the first day of July, 2001 was not the holder of a mineral right granted under this Act.’

Mheshimiwa Spika, kifungu cha 87 cha Sheria ya Madini ya mwaka 1998 (No.5/1998) kinazungumzia mrahaba wa madini (Remission and deferment of royalties). Hivyo, kama sheria ya fedha ya mwaka 2001 haikubadili kipenge hiki, Mheshimiwa Waziri ametoa wapi jibu aliloliambia Bunge?

Mheshimiwa Spika, suala hili linahusu haki, kinga na madaraka ya Bunge kwa mujibu wa sheria namba 3 ya 1988.

Mheshimiwa Spika, hata hivyo katika hotuba ya Waziri wa Fedha, Mheshimiwa Basil Mramba, akiwasilisha hotuba ya Bajeti mwaka 2002, tarehe 13 mwezi Juni, alizungumzia kipengele hiki. Ninaomba kunukuu sehemu ya hotuba ya Waziri wa Fedha, Mhe. Basili Mramba.

“Amendment to the Income Tax structure, (44) Mr. Speaker, in this area I propose to take the following measures:

(v) I propose to reinstate the additional 15 percent capital allowance on unredeemed qualifying capital expenditure as set out in the Mining Act. No. 5 of 1998.” Mwisho wa kunukuu.

Mheshimiwa Spika, nilipopitia sheria ya fedha ya mwaka 2002, nimekuta sehemu ya 8 inazungumzia mabadiliko katika kodi ya mapato ya 1973. Na hata katika ukurasa wa kwanza wa sheria hii (Arrangement of Contents), sheria ya madini haitajwi.

Mheshimiwa Spika, maelezo haya ya Waziri wa Fedha ya mwaka 2002 yanaonesha dhahiri utata wa kipengele hiki. Ni kwa vipi kifungu cha sheria ambacho hakijafutwa kirejeshwe?

Mheshimiwa Spika, tuchukulie kuwa maneno ya waziri ni ya kweli. Je, kwa nini makampuni ya madini ambayo yameingia mkataba na serikali kuanzia Julai mosi 2001 hayajaanza kulipa kodi ya mapato?

Mheshimiwa Spika, utata huu ambao umegubika sekta hii ya madini, unaweza kufafanuliwa na Bunge lako tukufu kupitia Kamati Teule. Kamati Teule ya Bunge ichunguze upitiaji wa mikataba hii na kuona kama kuna vitendo vyovyote vya uvunjifu wa sheria za nchi na kupotea kwa mapato ya serikali na ufisadi.

b. Kusainiwa kwa Mkataba wa Mgodi (Mradi) wa Buzwagi.

Mheshimiwa Spika, wakati akijibu hoja yangu kuhusiana na suala la mkataba mpya wa mgodi wa Buzwagi, Waziri wa Nishati na Madini amenukuliwa na kumbukumbu za majadiliano ya Bunge akisema kama ifuatavyo:

Mheshimiwa Spika, katika tathmini ya migodi, mgodi wa Buzwagi ni marginal mine ambao uhai wake si wa muda mrefu. Bila ya kutumia fursa ya sasa ya bei ya dhahabu, uwekezaji wake usingeweza kuwa wa faida. Hata hivyo, mkataba wa Buzwagi hauna mapungufu yaliyokuwamo kwenye mikataba ya zamani.’ Mwisho wa kunukuu.

Mheshimiwa Spika, mapitio ya mikataba ya madini ni mchakato ambao mwisho wake ni kuletwa kwa sheria ya madini hapa bungeni na kuifanyia marekebisho ili kuiboresha na kuondoa mapungufu. Hivyo, mpaka hapo sheria itakaporekebishwa, ndipo tutasema tumemaliza zoezi la kupitia mikataba ya madini na hivyo kusaini mikataba mipya na makampuni yote ya madini yaliyopo nchini na yatakayokuja kuwekeza.

Mheshimiwa Spika, suala ambalo linanipelekea kuomba kuundwa kwa Kamati Teule ya Bunge kuchunguza mkataba huu mpya, ni kuhusu uharaka uliopelekea Waziri wa Nishati na Madini kusaini mkataba huu. Sheria ya Madini bado haijarekebishwa, je, waziri anatumia vigezo gani kusema mkataba mpya wa Buzwagi aliousaini London hauna mapungufu?

Mheshimiwa Spika, Waziri wa Nishati na Madini aliliambia Bunge lako tukufu kuwa Buzwagi ni marginal mine. Vile vile waziri anasema kuwa Kampuni ya Barrick inamiliki migodi mitatu tu kupitia kampuni zake tanzu ambazo ni Bulyanhulu Gold Mine, North Mara Gold Mine na Pangea Minerals Limited Tulawaka. Kwa maelezo haya ya Waziri Karamagi, Buzwagi sio mgodi.

Mheshimiwa Spika, hoja hii ya kuwa Buzwagi sio mgodi inashabihiana kabisa na hoja ya Kampuni ya Barrick kwamba Buzwagi ni Project. Taarifa ya kampuni hii ya Barrick Gold Corporation-Global operations-Africa- Buzwagi, inaonesha kuwa Buzwagi ni mradi. Taarifa hii ninaiambatanisha katika hoja hii.

Mheshimiwa Spika, taarifa ya Barrick, Annual Review 2006 inasema ifuatavyo katika ukurasa wa 23, ninanukuu. ‘A major milestone was reached in February 2007 when we signed a mineral Development Agreement (MDA) with the Tanzanian government. In 2007, we expect to complete a detailed construction design and receive EIA approval.’

Mheshimiwa Spika, suala ambalo vile vile linanisukuma kuomba Bunge lako tukufu kuunda Kamati Teule ni kwamba, iwapo Buzwagi sio mgodi bali ni mradi, ni kwa nini tumesaini Mineral Development Agreement (MDA) mpya? Kwa kuwa Pangea Minerals Tulawaka ndio inaonekana kumiliki mradi huu, je, serikali imefanya marekebisho tu ya MDA na Kampuni ya Barrick? Naomba Kamati Teule ichunguze ni nini kilichosainiwa, marekebisho ya mkataba wa Tulawaka au MDA mpya ya Buzwagi?

Mheshimiwa Spika, Buzwagi inashika nafasi ya pili kwa uwekezaji wa Barrick katika migodi hapa nchini. Wakati kampuni hii inawekeza dola za Kimarekani 400 milioni katika Buzwagi, imewekeza dola za Kimarekani 600 katika Bulyanhulu. Je, ni kwa vipi Buzwagi iwe marginal mine wakati uwekezaji wake unashinda uwekezaji wa Tulawaka na North Mara?

Mheshimiwa Spika, chini ya kifungu cha 47 cha Sheria ya Madini ya Mwaka 1998 (Na.5/98), pamoja na mambo mengine kinataka leseni yoyote isitolewe mpaka taarifa ya mazingira iwe imetolewa na kuruhusu mgodi kuendelea na kazi.

Mheshimiwa Spika, wakati Waziri wa Nishati na Madini ameweka saini mkataba wa Buzwagi juma la mwisho la mwezi Februari 2007, Baraza la Mazingira nchini limetoa kibali (Environmental Impact Assessment- EIA approval) tarehe 11 mwezi Mei 2007. Ni kwa nini Waziri wa Nishati na Madini, Mheshimiwa Nazir Karamagi alisaini MDA ya Buzwagi na Kampuni ya Barrick kabla Baraza la Mazingira la Taifa (NEMC) halijatoa ruhusa?

Mheshimiwa Spika, sheria ya madini, niliyoitaja hapo awali, imeunda Kamati ya Ushauri ya Madini (Mining advisory Committee). Kabla ya waziri kusaini mkataba wowote ni lazima apate ushauri kutoka kamati hii. Kwa taratibu za kiserikali, kama kamati ikimshauri waziri na waziri akakataa ushauri huo, inampasa waziri atoe sababu ni kwa nini anakataa ushauri. Je, waziri alifuata ushauri wa Kamati ya Ushauri ya Madini kuhusiana na wakati mwafaka wa kusaini mkataba huu?

Mheshimiwa Spika, inawezekana kabisa MDA ya Buzwagi kusainiwa Uingereza sio tatizo. Kwa mfano, mwaka 2006 Serikali ya Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania ilisaini mikataba kadhaa. Ni mingapi kati ya mikataba hii imesainiwa nje ya nchi? Nini madhara ya kisheria kwa mkataba kusaniwa Uingereza? Je, mkataba umeandikwa “signed in London...” au “signed in Dar es Salaam...? Kamati Teule ya Bunge ndio chombo pekee kitakachoweza kutoa majibu ya maswali haya.

Mheshimiwa Spika, suala hili ni suala la kitaifa. Halina hata chembe ya itikadi za kivyama. Ninaamini wabunge wataamua kwa maslahi ya taifa letu. Uundwaji wa Kamati Teule ya Bunge kuchunguza mapitio ya mikataba ya madini na mazingira ya kusainiwa kwa mkataba mpya wa Buzwagi yatatoa msaada mkubwa kwa azma ya Rais wetu ndugu Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete ya kuona rasilimali za madini zinafaidisha nchi yetu.

Mheshimiwa Spika, ninaomba kutoa hoja.

…………………………….
KABWE ZUBERI ZITTO (MB)
JIMBO LA KIGOMA KASKAZINI

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Ijumaa, 15.Agosti 2007