Nothing to see here, move along please

Recently, I decided to stop this blog in June or July of this year. That would have been about one year of blogging. There were three main reasons for this. Firstly, it takes time. Believe me, summarising IMF reports or discussing the gini co-efficient in your second language is not easy. Secondly, I was beginning to bore myself. Blogging anonymously means you have to leave a lot of yourself outside of the blog. So what is presented is not as complex or as interesting or as real as it could be. Another week goes by and there’s kifimbocheza, tapping away at the keyboard and giving out about something. Yawn. Part of me is kifimbocheza, but only a small part. Also, I expect to be busy with something else in the second half of the year.

As it is, I have decided to stop it now. The furore over the entirely innocent post made by Pernille, and the ensuing hate campaign, has contributed to this. I got involved in it to a certain extent and I have no regrets about that.

Given that the hate campaign against Pernille emerged from nothing, I no longer felt comfortable. I felt uneasy for a number of reasons. It was clear to me that part of the reason that she took so much heat was that she is white and, to an extent, because she is a woman. Having read the posts on Michuzi, some of the comments (most of them appeared to support her, we should not forget) and the bile on the facebook group, I’m pretty sure of this. More unnerving was the silence from other Tanzanian bloggers. I feel like I’m in a particularly unpleasant bar, where it could all go off at any minute. So I’ve decided to get my coat. I feel a lot more comfortable in the real Tanzania than the virtual one.

Before anybody gets upset about that last paragraph, it is not a commentary on Tanzanians in general. It is a commentary on the type of dynamic that can emerge from some elements of a young blogging/online community that is drawn from a wafer-thin stratum of Tanzanians, both here and overseas. It was started by some guy called Suby, using Issa Michuzi as his channel. Then a kid in Chicago puts together a hateful facebook group that is publicised by, that man again, Issa Michuzi.

It is also a commentary on the general lack of thought given to ethics in this realm, the Swahili language blogosphere. Another example is the way that the jambo blog network would just steal people’s content for their own (advertising driven) site. I appear to be the only one to have complained on a blog. But I know I’m not the only one who was unhappy about it. All you had to do was ask, lads. Is that so difficult? To paraphrase the late Professor Chachage, we appear to have a soko holela rather than a soko huru in our small Swahili speaking bit of the blogosphere.

I share one characteristic with Pernille. I’m a white foreigner. But what does that mean? We come from two very different countries, with very different cultures. I should know – I was once mbeba box in Copenhagen, working nights and sleeping six to a room. I know that some, though not all, readers of this blog thought I was Tanzanian, but I’m not.

I’ve enjoyed blogging. Maybe after some time I will emerge with something different. And I have a few ideas.

Meanwhile, if you want to think a little more about identity and the internet, click here.

And I had some good posts in my head – fired up and ready to go! But this dog is going for a walk. So, if you want to know how to track the movements of the presidential jet, you’ll just have to find out for yourself.

 

Barua ya Wazi kwa Issa Michuzi

Kaka Michu, nisiseme kuwa mimi ni mshabiki wa blogu yako. Lakini ukweli, nimeitembelea mara nyingi. Labda unajua kuwa nimeandika makala kuhusu blogu yako mara moja au mbili. Kama umesahau, bonyeza hapa.

Mimi hutembelea kwako kwa sababu naona unavutia watu wengi sana duniani. Na kweli, nakupongeza kwa kazi yako nzuri ya kuunganisha waswahili duniani. Hamna mwingine ubloguni kwetu kama wewe. Hongera.

Lakini kila mtu ana mapungufu yake. Hata mimi, na wewe pia, anko. Jana, nilisoma makala moja kwako ambayo imenisikitisha sana. Ilihusiana na mwanablogu moja hapa Tanzania anayeitwa Pernille. Wengine wabonyeze hapa wakitaka kuisoma (hata wewe kama umesahau). Kwenye makala hiyo, mtu fulani, kwa jina la ‘Suby’ amelalamika kuhusa makala ya Pernille. Pernille alikuwa akielezea mambo ya foleni za magari hapa Dar es Salaam. Alimtaja trafik wa kike kuwa na “legs like small tree trunks”.

Sawa. Lakini, jana pia, umetangaza makala nyingine. Kama umesahau (najua upo bize sana), bonyeza hapa. Ulitangaza barua au tangazo kutoka kwa mtu asiyejulikana ambaye alitaka kutangaza kundi ya facebook ya kugomea blogu ya Pernille. Kwenye picha iliandikwa “Apologise or Leave!!”. Ametukaribisha sote tuungane naye.

Lakini, Michuzi, hujatuambia kwanini tuungane naye. Hujatuambia kwanini a-“apologise or leave!!”. Wewe umekaa kimya. Hakuna ya kuangalia ila tabasamu lako kwenye picha yako nzuri kwenye tovuti. Kwa ukimya wako, umeunga mkono asili mia kwa mia na muundaji wa kundi. Wewe uliweka bango lao kwenye blogu yako. Wewe umemwambia Pernille “Apologise or Leave!!”

Nadhani wewe uombe msamaha kwa Pernille. Pia napendekeza uondoe makala ya pili, ulivyoondoa makala kuhusu Global Scouting Bureau mwaka uliopita.

 

Bize Politics

Rais Kikwete alitoa hotuba mbili mwezi uliopita. Kwanza, aliongea na Wazee wa Dar es Salaam, Diamond Jubilee Hall. Mwisho wa mwezi, tulisikia hotuba yake ya kufunga mwezi.

Alivyosema Rais kwenye hotuba yake kwa wananchi kwa mwezi wa pili, ulikuwa “mwezi wa matukio makubwa ya kukumbukwa kwa miaka mingi ijayo”. Bado haipatikani kwenye tovuti ya serikali, lakini ipo kwa Michuzi. Bonyeza hapa. Kwa hotuba kwa Wazee, bonyeza hapa.

Kuhusu Richmond, Mh. Rais hajakosea – tuliona matukio makubwa. Lakini baada ya kusikiliza na kusoma hotuba zake, nadhani angefurahi tuyasahau. Soma yafuatayo:

Nchi yetu ilipata mtikisiko mkubwa na wananchi wengi walikuwa katika hali ya mkanganyiko, wakati mwingine walikuwa wakijiuliza maswali mengi yaliyokosa majibu kuhusu hatma ya taifa letu.

Siyo siri, tumejiuliza maswali mengi. Lakini kutoka kwa Rais mwenyewe, hamna majibu. Alitusimulia kuhusu vikao vya Kamati ya Uongozi ya Chama na Kamati ya Wabunge wote wa CCM baada ya ripoti ya Mwakyembe kuwasilishwa. Najiuliza, je, walijadiliana nini? Taarifa za vikao zilipendekeza nini? Au, kusema wazi, nani alimlinda nani katika majadiliano hayo?

Wengi wamejiuliza maswali, hasa kuhusu Lowassa, harakati zake na mahusiano yake na Rais. Rais mwenyewe amlisemaje?

Napenda kuitumia nafasi hii kumshukuru sana Mhe. Edward Lowassa kwa moyo wake wa uzalendo na kwa utumishi wake kwa taifa letu. Ameitumikia nchi kwa jitihada kubwa katika nyadhifa mbalimbali mpaka kufikia kuwa Waziri Mkuu. Katika miaka hii miwili amefanya kazi kubwa ya kusukuma mbele gurudumu la maendeleo la taifa letu. Ameacha alama za kudumu za kipindi chake cha miaka miwili. Yaliyotokea ni ajali katika maisha ya siasa, lakini naamini historia itamhukumu kwa haki stahiki

Zaidi ya hapo, ametuambia kuwa:

Nchi yetu tayari imerudia hali yake ya kawaida na kila mmoja wetu anaendelea na shughuli zake.

Yaani, sina maneno ya kuelezea mshtuko wangu kwa maneno hayo. Waziri Mkuu, ameomtuhumiwa kwa ufisadi mkubwa kupita kiasi, na pia amekosa heshima kwa wananchi atahukumuliwa na historia! Aidha, sisi tunaendelea na shuguli zetu bila wasiwasi baada ya kutulizwa na Rais. Je, Rais alikuwa anamlenga nani kwa maneno hayo? Wananchi? Wazee? Au wenzake wa Chama?

Kwenye hotuba yake ya kufunga mwezi, hana usemi kuhusu mambo hayo. Rais ameendelea na shughuli zake za kumpokea Bush na kutembelea Kenya. Basi. Wakati huo huo, Waziri Mkuu aliyejiuzulu, amejifagilia kwenye TVT.

Mwisho wa mwezi, tulichanganyikiwa na mambo ya Jambo Forums. Utakumbuka kuwa tovuti hiyo ilifungwa kwa muda, na watu wawili walikamatwa. Kitu kinachosikitisha ni hiki: kwanini imebidi tutegemee shirika kutoka nje (Committee to Protect Journalists) kupata taarifa nzima na wazi ya kashfa hiyo. Soma makala yao hapa. Tumepata kila kitu – majina, sababu za kukamatwa, hadi jina la mwanasheria wao (Tundu Lissu, mwanasheria wa CHADEMA).

Matukio ya Richmond na Jambo Forums yametuonyesha kuwa safari ya kufikia uwazi na ukweli hapa Tanzania bado ni ndefu.

 

Yanga 4 Coastal Union 0

Tumefaidi vizuri jana. Tuliwawajibisha kwa kweli. Soma zaidi hapa. Lakini kwa sababu mbalimbali, ilibidi nikae upande wa Simba. Ni ngumu kunyamaza…..

 

“Good governance pays”

“Utawala bora unalipa.” Haya ndiyo maneno ya Bw. Bertie Ahern, Waziri Mkuu wa Ireland, kwenye hotuba yake kwa wananchi wa Ireland ambao wanaishi hapa Tanzania. Soma hotuba nzima kwa kubonyeza hapa.

Pia, kwenye hotuba hiyo aliwasimulia wageni kuhusu mkutano wake na Rais Kikwete.

I commended the President for the very strong statements he has made on the need to tackle corruption. He acted decisively, openly and publicly following the recent independent international audit on the Bank of Tanzania.

His message to the people of Tanzania, to fellow African countries and to the wider international community is clear: Corruption has no place in a democratic society.

Lakini Bw. Bertie alisahau kuwaambia kuwa wapinzani pale Ireland wamedai kuwa yeye hastahili kuwa Waziri Mkuu kwa sababu chombo kimoja cha dola kinamchunguza kwa kutolipa kodi ya mapato wakati alipokuwa Waziri wa…………. Fedha.

Chanzo cha uchunguzi huo ni uchunguzi mwingine unaohusu mipango ya ardhi. Uchunguzi, unaojulikana kama Mahon Tribunal, umegundua kuwa Bw. Bertie alipokea malipo ya thamani ya zaidi ya Euro60,000 kutoka kwa wafanyabiashara mbalimbali kati ya mwaka 1993-94. Bertie ameshindwa kueleza kwanini walimpa pesa kiasi hicho wakati alikuwa Waziri wa Fedha.  Sasa mamlaka ya kodi ya Ireland wanamchunguza pia kujua kwanini hakulipa kodi ya mapato kwenye malipo hayo. Maelezo zaidi yanapatikana hapa.

Zaidi ya hapo, Bw. Bertie alifagilia umuhimu wa uhuru wa vyombo vya habari alipozungumza na wahariri wa magazeti mbalimbali ya Tanzania. Lakini nilishangaa Bw. Bertie alikataa kujibu swali lolote kuhusu madai ya wapinzani wake wakati wa ziara yake.

Mbona wafadhili wanatufundisha mambo ya utawala bora wakati wao wenyewe wanachunguzwa?

 

IMF na Benki Kuu ya Tanzania: nani husimamia wasimamizi? III

Duh! mambo ya usimamizi hayana mwisho, au siyo?

Tumesikia vigelegele na makofi hivi karibuni. Sio ya harusi ama sherehe ya aina yeyote. Wala. Tumyaesikia wafadhili kuipongeza serikali ya Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania kwa kuweka wazi matokeo ya audit External Payments Account nawa wizi wa zaidi ya dollar milioni mia moja kutoka Benki Kuu ya Tanzania . Juzi, Daudi Balali, gavana mwenyewe alifukuzwa.

Mark Green, balozi wa Marekani hapa Tanzania alisema: “We believe that the government’s decision to press forward with an investigation of irregularities at the bank is indicative of President Kikwete’s resolve to combat corruption”. Serikali ya Uingereza pia, waliunga mikono na Bw. Green.

Tunajua kuwa audit ya Ernst and Young sio audit ya kwanza. Lakini uchunguzi huo si uchunguzi wa kwanza bali ni uchunguzi wa pili……. Endelea kusoma.

IMF iko mstara wa mbele wa kero hii ya BoT. Nimeshaandika kuhusu IMF na BOT. Bonyeza hapa ukitaka kujikumbusha. Kwenye nakala ile, niliunganisha na Country Report No. 07/138. Pata nakala yako hapa tena. Ni bure.

Leo mimi nimeisoma tena, kujikumbusha skendo hiyo. Ilivyoandikwa kwenye ripoti ya IMF, mambo yafuatayo yalitokea:

1. Mwaka 2006, maodita wa Benki Kuu ya Tanzania (Deloitte and Touche, kama sijakosea), waligundua malipo ya thamani ya USD30.7 milioni ambayo siyo sahihi.
2. Mkataba ya maodita ulivunjwa na serikali
3. Akina-IMF walipata taarifa kutoka kwa maodita wa Benki Kuu kuhusu malipo hayo.
4. Akina-IMF waliwasiliana na serikali juu ya kero hiyo kwa ngazi za juu, hadi Rais na Waziri wa Fedha
5. Serikali ya Tanzania iliwaambia IMF kuwa malipo haya yalitokea External Payments Account
6. Februari 2007, Waziri wa Fedha aliahidi kuchunguza malipo husika kwa njia ya ‘audit’ mpya.
7. Zaidi ya ‘audit’, serikali ilianzisha unchunguzi mwingine wa malipo. Huu umeanzishwa kabla ya Februari 2007, kama Waziri wa Fedha alivyoandika kwenye barua yake kwa Rodrigo Rato wa IMF, ambaye ni appendiz kwenye Country Report ya IMF.

Juzi, tulipewa matokeo machache (sio yote) ya audit ya Ernst and Young (au Massawe Ernst and Young? Sina uhakika…..). Tulipewa majina ya makampuni mbalimbali ambayo walipokea mabilioni kutoka kwa External Payments Account ya Benki Kuu. Tumehakikishiwa kuwa serikali itaunda timu ya kuchunguza mambo hayo. Timu, wakiwemo Inspekta Jenerali, na mkurugenzi wa Takukuru, Itaongozwa na mwanasheria mkuu.

Vipi kuhusu uchunguzi wa kwanza, je? Je, walishindwa kupata majina ya kampuni zilizopokea fedha hizo mpaka odit ya hivi karibuni?

Pia, kwanini wafadhili wanaipongeza serikali kwa kuunda uchunguzi sasa? Si wanajua kuwa serikali iliuunda uchunguzi karibu na mwaka moja uliopita?

 

Jambo Blog Network….

Sasa nakala yangu inaonekana kwenye tovuti ya JBN. Soma hapa. Matangazo mawili yapo, kwa International School Moshi na Kili Treks Safari. Nasubiri kipato changu……..

 

Jambo Blog Network: faida ya nani?

Je, mwanablogu akiweka nakala kwenye blogu yake, nakala ni mali ya nani?

Namna moja ya kuboresha mtandao wa wanablogu ni huduma ya ‘aggregators’. Mimi mwenyewe nimeungana na Afrigator. Nikiweka nakala, kichwa chake kitawekwa kwenye tovuti ya Afrigator. Kichwa chake kikivutia, ukibonyeza tu, utapelekwa hapa hapa kwa kifimbocheza. Karibu sana.

Jumuwata wanaandaa aggregator kwa wanablogu wa Tanzania, lakini bado tunasubiri matokeo ya kazi zao.

Kwa sasa, Jambo Blog Network imeanza. Ukiwatembelea akina-JBN, utaona vichwa vya nakala nyingi ambazo zimeandaliwa na wanablogu mbalimbali hapa Tanzania. Kwa mfano, leo kwenya JBN nimeona ‘Demokrasia Ya Kijambazi Kenya‘. Ukibonyeza utapelekwa kwenye ukarasa mwingine wa JBN. Utaona matangazo manane (ya magari kutoka Japan, viwanja, hata Mungu).

Ukibonyeza Demokrasia Ya Kijambazi Kenya hapa, utapelekwa kwenye nakala halisi ya Ndesanjo Macha. Hamna matangazo – utasoma mawazo ya Ndesanjo tu.  Kama wanablogu wengi, ameyatangaza bure kwenye blogu yake. Lakini kwenye JBN, nakala yake ni chanzo cha kupata kipato.

Nisiwe mkali sana kwa akina JBN. Lakini naomba wafikirie zaidi namna wanavyounganisha blogu za Tanzania.

Nikisoma nakala hii kwenye JBN, nitaona matangazo mangapi? Pia, je, mimi nitapata asilimia kumi ya kipato cha matangazo?

 

HakiNyumba, No. 1

Baada ya kununua kiwanja cha mtu, inabidi ubadalishe jina kwenye hati. Hatua ya kwanza ni afisa wa serikali akadirie thamani ya ardhi. Kodi ya mauzo inategemea na thamani hiyo. Bila taarifa ya thamani ya ardhi, haiwezekani kubadalisha majina kwenye hati. Bila kubadalisha majina, haiwezekani kupata kibali cha ujenzi. Bila ujenzi, hamna nyumba. Safari ni ndefu.

Kiasi gani kinahitajika kukadiria ardhi? Maelewano yapo……. tulitoa TZS100,000, risiti iliandikwa kwa TZS2,000.

Hii ni hatua ya kwanza. Mambo yataendelea.

 

Bize Economics

Why would a government set a minimum wage? Reasons may be classified, somewhat simply, as being economic, social or political.

Earlier this year, Shenzhen Province in China increased its minimum wage in response to a pending labour shortage. Other provinces were paying more, so the flow of workers to Shenzhen was lessening. A good illustration of the fact that while low labour rates are necessary to attract labour intensive industry, competition for that labour may in fact lead to higher wages. It is the basic interplay of supply and demand. It may not be pretty, but it seems sensible in the grand scheme of things.

Other reasons may be social – the wish to ensure that labour is given an adequate return on which to base a reasonable life.

Or they could be political. A populist government may make such an announcement for short term political gain with the masses, rather than in consideration of broader economic issues or the concerns of differing interest groups.

So how do we classify John Chiligati’s announcement of minimum wages for different sectors, announced on October 8 this year (implementation postponed to January)? Dar es Salaam’s The Guardian newspaper reported the rates the following day. Forgive me for reproducing them here in all their absurd detail.

Housemaids TZS65,000 (less 68 percent if living with the employer)

Employees of small hotels TZS80,000

Employees of Five Star Hotels TZS150,000

Housemaids in diplomatic missions TZS90,000

Clearing and Forwarding TZS300,000

Telephone Companies TZS230,000

Drivers and Conductors TZS200,000

Aviation Services TZS350,000

Minerals Sector TZS 350,000

Media (religious) TZS150,000

Media (business) TZS250,000

‘Big’ Security Companies TZS105,000

‘Small’ Security Companies TZS80,000

Manufacturing TZS150,000

‘Small Factories’ TZS80,000

Agriculture Sector TZS65,000

The list above is clearly not exhaustive. Amongst those sectors not mentioned in The Guardian were: education; IT (is raha.com a telephone company?): and the whole poverty alleviation sector of NGOs, international organisations and the like. Maybe because the donor money flowing into that most unproductive of sectors means wages are pretty good?

The schedule itself smacks of the dead hand of bureaucracy, desperately attempting to account for the actions of those in business, but with no real understanding of the game – who wins and who loses, and how. What is a ‘small’ factory. What is a Five Star Hotel? For we have no such official classification in Tanzania. Why are housemaids in diplomatic missions worth more than those in John Chiligati’s house?

Speaking of which, if the government is so concerned about the treatment of housemaids, why have they remained silent in the light of the case of Zipora Mazengo, former housemaid of Alan Mzengi in the Tanzanian Embassy in Washington? This case first came to light in May of this year . The House Foreign Affairs Committee heard her testimony on October 18 2007 . Who can argue with Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN):

“It seems to me that the Congress of the United States and this committee needs to demand of the State Department and any subsequent administration of State Department leadership, that anybody who treats other human beings like this should automatically lose their right to represent their nation in this country and should be deported immediately. We need to take their diplomatic passports and kick them out of the country. That would send a signal to countries around the world that we are not going to tolerate this sort of thing.”

So are the actions of John Chiligati motivated by reasons that are economic, social or political?