Tanzania, Uganda sign accord to develop HEP project.

GOOD NEWS TO TANZANIANS

Arusha. Tanzania and Uganda have signed an agreement to develop the 16-megawatt Kikagati-Murongo hydropower project on Kagera River on the boundary between the two countries, the East African Community (EAC) has said.

The project, comprising two units of 8MW each, will be connected to the Uganda power grid at Kikagati which is linked by a 33kV line from Mbarara and will include an electrification programme in Murongo, Tanzania which currently has no electricity.

"The project will be implemented by an independent power producer,” said officials of the two countries as well as the EAC during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the EAC headquarters here on Friday.

According to a statement issued by the EAC secretariat yesterday, a Joint Technical Committee (JTC) comprising of technical officers from the two partner states and the regional organization will be responsible for steering the project implementation.

The Committee will commence the development of a Bilateral Agreement that will, among other things, look into sharing of benefits and responsibilities, modalities of power exchange of the project to the two countries and ownership of the project's assets after the expiry of the contract with the IPP.

The process, according to EAC officials, is expected to the completed before the end of this year. They hinted that project implementation could commence early 2012.

They said during the signing of the MoU that the project, whose cost was not revealed, would contribute to the EAC cross-border electrification programme where border communities benefit from electricity from a neighbouring partner state "if the grid is nearer than that of its own country".

EAC is currently developing a regional cross border electrification policy which is expected to be completed next month. The policy being developed will facilitate smooth and faster implementation of the Cross-Border Electrification Programme that includes the development of transboundary resources such as the Kigagati-Murongo project.

The MoU signing ceremony took place on the sidelines of the 23rd meeting of the EAC Council of Ministers which took place at the Arusha International Conference Centre (AICC) on September 9th this year.

The minister for East African Cooperation Mr. Samuel Sitta signed on behalf of Tanzania while Mr. Eriya Kategaya, Uganda's first deputy Prime Minister and minister for EAC Affairs endorsed the pact on behalf of his country.

The permanent secretary in Tanzania's ministr of EA Cooperation Dr. Stergomena, her Ugandan counterpart Mrs. Edith N. Mwanje as well as the EAC secretary general Dr. Richard Sezibera were present to witness the ceremony.

Realizing of the project is consistent with provisions of Article 101 of the EAC Treaty to promote the least cost development of energy resources to supply affordable energy while protecting the environment.

This is not the first time electricity from Uganda will be supplied to Tanzania. Since the 1990s, many parts of Kagera region in Tanzania have been supplied with electricity from the neighbouring country which borders the region since the 1990s.

Source: Thecitizen.

my Trip to lake Tanganyika:it was morethan murvelous.

It takes morethan 117kms private drive from Mpanda district headquarter to the villages of Iloba and Karema that are the benefficiaries to lake tanganyika.it is estimated to be the 2nd largest fresh water lake in the world and shared by four East african countries i.e DRC, ZAMBIA, TANZANIA & BURUNDI.The water flows into the Congo River system and ultimately an inlet into the Atlantic ocean.

The first known Westerners to find the lake were the Great British explorers Richard Burton and John Speke, in 1858. They located it while searching for the source of the Nile River. Speke continued and found the actual source, Lake Victoria. Later David Livingstone passed by the lake. He noted the name "Liemba" for its southern part, a word probably from the Fipa language which in 1927 was chosen as name for the conquered German ship which is serving the lake up to the present time.
Karema is the border of Mpanda to congo and zaire. also HA people from kigoma can cross-along the lake-to mpanda via karema. However, people sorrounding the lake are the major beneficiaries of its products including Fresh water for consurption and other domestic uses, fishing for both subsistance and sale, navigation to neigbouring regions etc.

At the lake at karema. the left standing is mr manase with mugaZe perezida relaxed at the shore of the lake.

kids with in a humor with their catch after a 15minutes dive. they use small sharped hooks. the small bare-thighed kid can dive for morethan a ahalf an hour serching for proteins.

a 5kgs weighing fish, caught from the lake. fish prices varies depending on the weight of that particular fish.

residents of karema, enjoying using lake waters for washing and subsistance uses..

hawkers around the beach selling their catchs to passer-byes. they earn their living from the lake.

customers on a finger dabbing to determine the quality of fishes.

AZAWADIWA RISASI YA TAKO AKIZINI NDANI YA GARI

Jeshi la polisi limekumbwa na kashfa nyingine baada ya askari wake kudaiwa kumpiga risasi msichana wa miaka 16 baada ya kumkuta akivunja amri ya sita ndani ya gari.

Msichana huyo alikumbana na mkasa huo Jumatano usiku eneo la Mbagala Zakhem jijini Dar es Salaam, aalipopigwa risasi sehemu ya makalio wakati akijaribu kuwakimbia polisi kwa kutumia gari la mpenzi wake.

Mpenzi huyo alikamatwa na kuwekwa mahabusu na kufunguliwa kesi ya ubakaji.

Akizungumza na NIPASHE Jumapili jana katika wodi ya Hospitali ya Temeke alikolazwa, msichana huyo alisema siku ya tukio alikutana na kijana huyo majira ya saa 8:00 usiku katika baa moja inayoitwa Kindau na kukubaliana kwenda kushiriki tendo la ndoa kwa malipo ya Shilingi 20,000.

Alisema kutokana na muda huo kuwa usiku sana hawakuweza kwenda katika nyumba ya kulala wageni na badala yake walikwenda eneo la Zakhem na kisha walipaki gari kwenye uchochoro na baadae walianza kubanjua amri ya sita.

Wakiwa kwenye kilele cha mapenzi yao, ghafla walishtukia gari la polisi likiwajia kwa kasi kwa nia ya kuwakamata, “Tuliagana anilipe elfu ishirini wala hakunibaka kama anavyodai, wao polisi walitukuta tayari tunamaliza lakini kutokana na woga tulikimbia ili tusikamatwe,” alisema msichana huyo.

Alisema wakati wanakimbia kwa kutumia gari la mpenzi wake askari mmoja alifyatua risasi iliyopenya kwenye taa ya gari na kwenda kumjeruhi sehemu ya makalio yake, “Nilisikia mlio mkubwa wa bunduki, ghafla nilihisi kitu kimeingia mwilini mwangu na kuishiwa nguvu,” alisema kwa uchungu.

Alisema kwa kuona hali hiyo, mpenzi wake alisimamisha gari kwa kujisalimisha na polisi walipowafikia walimtaka mpenzi wake huyo atoe pesa kama malipo ya kitendo chao cha kukutwa wakifanya mapenzi ama sivyo watampeleka kituoni.

Alieleza kuwa mpenzi wake hakuweza kutoa pesa hizo ndipo walipoamua kumpiga na kumpeleka kituo cha polisi cha Mbagala na yeye alifikishwa hospitalini hapo kwa ajili ya matibabu.

Hata hivyo, ndugu na jamaa wa mpenzi wake wanapinga hatua ya polisi hao kutumia nguvu kubwa kama watu hao walikuwa watuhumiwa wa ujambazi.

Wakizungumza wakiwa kwenye kituo cha Polisi cha Mbagala kufuatilia hatma ya ndugu yao, ndugu hao ambao hawakutaka majina yao yatajwe gazetini walisema hatua ya polisi kupiga risasi huku wakitambua watu hao sio majambazi ni kitendo cha kinyama, “Tunachoshangaa ni kwa nini polisi wapige risasi wakati wakijua hawakuwa majambazi ila walikuwa wakifanya mapenzi, hata hilo jalada la kesi walilofungua wanataka kuficha maovu yao na sio vinginevyo,” alisema ndugu mmoja ambaye alijitambulisha kuwa shemeji yake.

Alisema kimsingi tukio hilo lilikwenda katika makubaliano yao na sio ubakaji kama wanavyodai, ila kinachofanyika kwa sasa ni kutaka kumlinda Askari mwenzao aliyejeruhi kwa risasi.

Kamanda wa Mkoa wa Kipolisi wa Temeke, David Misime, alipopigiwa simu kuelezea tukio hilo, alisema kwa sasa hawezi kulizungumza kwa kuwa yupo nje ya Mkoa kikazi.

a jack pot set a side for students' loan: The citizen reports

Dar es Salaam. The government has allocated Sh317.8 billion this academic year as loans to students in higher education learning institutions, a Sh80 billion increase compared to last year’s Sh 237.8 billion allocation.

The Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU) said yesterday that out of 48,477 applicants, 37,924 or 78 per cent) have been admitted at various universities through the Central Admission System.

Out of which 23,340 students (61 per cent) had qualified for the loans.
The figures were released yesterday during a joint press conference addressed by TCU executive secretary Prof Sifuni Mchome and Mr Machunda Lubambula, director of Loan Allocation and Disbursement at the Higher Education Students’ Loans Board (HESLB).

The selection has adhered to gender parity as yesterday’s numbers indicated that 8,514 female applicants (22 per cent) got the loans, while 5,480 (14 per cent) missed. On the other hand, a total of 14,826 males (39 per cent) got the loans, while other 9,104 (24 per cent) did not succeed.

This year’s loans allocation has, been in line with the revised guidelines that placed much weight on priority courses such as education, science, arts and mathematics, health sciences, agriculture sciences, engineering and other natural sciences, according to Mr Lubambula.
Another determinant factor, he said, was budget constraints, which led to some eligible candidates being left out. “A total of 14,534 candidates have not been able to access the loans as the majority are admitted into non-priority courses,” he said.

He outlined that other reasons for lack of access included defective loan applications with their total number in brackets as names on application forms that is different from those on admission (138), existing loan beneficiaries (823), lack of evidence of nationality (213), unsigned applications & agreement for loans (821).

Mr Lubambula further noted that direct entrants applicants have, for this year benefited more compared to their equivalent and delayed entry candidate applicants.