The government plans to use about seven billion US dollars to construct two standard gauge railway lines to facilitate the country’s rapid economic growth.

 Minister for Transport, Dr Harrison Mwakyembe                                   The Minister for Transport, Dr Harrison Mwakyembe, said on Tuesday that the preparations for the construction of the railway lines were going on well.He mentioned the railway lines to be constructed as that of the Northern zone of Tanga-Arusha...

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Dr Edmund Sengondo Mvungi, who died on Tuesday afternoon at Milpark hospital in South Africa, will be buried on Monday in Mwanga District, Kilimanjaro Region.The Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) member was being treated for severe wounds sustained as he fought off suspected robbers, who invaded his residence in Dar es Salaam on November2, this year.Speaking on behalf of the family, NCCR-Mageuzi National Chairman James Mbatia said the body of Mvungi will be flown to the country tomorrow and be preserved at Lugalo Military referral hospital in Dar es Salaam.“On Saturday morning, the body...

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Revealed: 40pc doctors ditch profession yearly

Muhimbili sickle cell specialist doctors address patients during a recent clinic for children. Specialists are located in cities and major towns. Dar/Moshi/Mwanza.Tanzania spends between $40,000 (Sh66million) and $60,000 (Sh99million) to train a single medical doctor, but four out of every ten who finally graduate soon abandon their calling to pursue less exacting or better paying undertakings.The cost of producing a medical doctor doubles if one goes for training abroad, especially in...

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Illegal fishing in L.Victoria on the rise

Illegal fishing in Lake Victoria is currently at an alarming rate calling for urgent steps to save the resources, The Officer-in Charge of the Fisheries Department in Kagera region, Ms Monica Kishe, has said. She noted that pollution and environmental degradation has also led to extinction of more than 400 fish species in Lake Victoria over the last four decades. According to Ms Kishe, the government spent over 28bn/- to rehabilitate seven fish landing sites and fish breeding stations...

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Pregnant woman washed away in Typhoon Haiyan floods gives birth in rubble

Miracle birth: New-born baby Bea Joy is held as mother Emily Ortega, 21, rests after giving birth at an improvised clinic at Tacloban airport TACLOBAN, Philippines – Cheers have broken out in the typhoon-devastated airport of Tacloban city in the Philippines when 21-year old Emily Ortega gave birth to a girl.It was a rare piece of good news for the city where officials fear 10,000 were killed, and where tens of thousands of residents saw their homes flattened by ferocious winds from Typhoon...

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EAC at crossroads

Fourteen years after the treaty for the establishment of the East African Community sailed in Arusha, the EAC is suddenly at crossroads and hasty efforts are now being  taken to save the regional body.As reports regarding what is feared to be yet another ‘break-up’ of the East African Community continue to thrive  around the region, but especially in local media outlets, the Arusha-based EAC Secretariat has released an official statement allaying fears of  separation  triggered...

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The Chinese Embassy has directed its citizens living in the country to strictly abide by both Chinese and Tanzanian laws and never to involve themselves in government trophies or any kind of smuggling.

 Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Lu Youqing The directive was issued in a statement by the Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Lu Youqing, following reports that three of its citizens had been arrested over elephant tusks smuggling.The statement said the Chinese government was holding discussion with the Tanzania authorities on the issue. The statement further said that the Chinese government had always attached great importance to the protection of wildlife, promulgated a series...

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The Democratic Republic of Congo’s M23 rebel group declared an end to its 20-month insurgency on Tuesday and said it was ready to pursue a political solution after the army captured its last two hilltop strongholds.

The M23 made its announcement hours after government forces drove the rebels out of Tshanzu and Runyoni before dawn, following a two-week offensive that cornered the insurgents in heavily wooded hills along the border with Uganda and Rwanda.“The chief of staff and the commanders of all major units are requested to prepare troops for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration on terms to be agreed with the government of Congo,” M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa said in a statement.The United States...

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Mt Meru said to be potentially dangerous volcano Scientists advises for monitor stations

 Mount Meru. How serious is Mount Meru potential eruption? It may have appeared passive for many years, but the country's second highest peak, Mount Meru, towering above Arusha City, is reported to be still apt to erupt without notice, placing lives of nearly one million people in jeopardy.Recent studies, as well as chronological volcanic measurements conducted by the Monduli-based, Eco-Science centre, indicate that   mountain Meru remains active volcano and unless tremor and...

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Here’s why I might quit CCM: Sumaye

Former Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye yesterday threatened to quit Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) should the party nominate a candidate tainted by corruption in the 2015 General Election.Mr Sumaye took a swipe at his immediate successor, Mr Edward Lowassa, who also served as Premier before he was forced to resign in 2008 after being implicated in the Richmond scandal, accusing the latter of politics of deception ahead of 2015 polls.According to the former Premier, the Kikwete succession politics...

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Mbowe warns Dar off EAC withdrawal

Dodoma. The leader of official Opposition in the Parliament, Mr Freeman Mbowe, has sounded a warning against politicians who have been urging the government to pull out of the East Africa Community. Speaking during the 13th National Assembly Meeting debating the 2014/2015 National Economic Development Plan, Mr Mbowe warned that the prospect of Tanzania pulling out of the EAC will have serious consequences to wananchi. Mr Mbowe, on Thursday evening also warned some politicians who have been issuing what he called offensive statements against other EAC partner states. On Wednesday,...

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Miners set to drag Dar to ICC over $ 410 taxes

Former commissioner for minerals, who is currently an independent mining consultant and analyst, Dr Peter Kafumu, told The Citizen: “Refunding will be tough because the government has no money…it received billions as VAT and excise duty, but it has failed to refund these companies for some years now" Dar es Salaam. Major foreign-owned gold mining firms operating in Tanzania, including South African-based Anglogold Ashanti, are seeking arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce...

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Kagasheki unveils Chinese ivory haul in Dar es Salaam

 Natural Resources and Tourism minister, Ambassador Khamis Kagasheki, in disbelief as he looks at a pile of elephant trophies impounded at a Mikocheni house in Dar es Salaam Kagasheki unveils Chinese ivory haul in Dar es Salaam  Scoffs at stopping `Operation Tokomeza` At a time when poaching has tremendously scaled up in the country, about 706 pieces of ivory, representing more than 200 tuskers killed, were found yesterday in Dar es Salam Mikocheni area at a residence of...

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