Mgunduzi wa AK-47 PICHANI yu mahututi

Mikhail Kalashnikov, the 93-year-old inventor of the legendary AK-47 assault rifle, has been hospitalized, his assistant Nikolai Shklyaev said on Tuesday. “He was in intensive care last Thursday,” he said, adding that he had no information about the present condition of the legendary inventor.

Shklyaev said Kalashnikov complained to him about his health before being taken to hospital last week. “He told me ‘nothing hurts, but I feel exhausted.’ That’s all I know,” he said. Kalashnikov’s son Viktor told RIA Novosti in a phone conversation that his father has been hospitalized for a planned health check.

“His [health condition] is normal, he was hospitalized for planned procedures, he is not in intensive care,” he said. A hospital source who asked not to be named said, however, that Kalashnikov has been sent to intensive care upon his arrival at hospital. “As far as I remember, he was in intensive care… unless he was moved to another unit, of course,” the source said.

KITENDAWILI CHA KUJERUHIWA KWA PADRI ZANZIBAR

Written by ZanzibarTweets // 29/12/2012 // Makala/Tahariri // No comments

Padri Mkenda akizungumza na Rais Kikwete

Serikali ya Mapinduzi ya Zanzibar imefika njia panda kutokana na matukio mabaya na ya ghafla yanayotokea hapa Zanzibar, hasa yanayobeba sura ya ‘hit and run attacks’ ambayo pia yanaingia katika sura ya visasi (revenge) — kuanzia lile la Soraga hadi la huyu Padri.

Kuna nadharia nyingi hapa zinazohusu uhalifu (theories on criminology) — au hata conspiracy theory.

Nadharia 1: hujuma inafanyika lakini hakuna clue/au hata alama ya namna uhalifu ulivyofanyika — hapa inakluwa taabu kwa wapelelezi kugundua namna ya ualifu huo ulivyofanyika, au vipi umefanyika, na hata kuanzia pa kufanya upelelezi.

Nadharia ya 2: Uhalifu umefanyika, aliyefanyiwa uhalifu yuko hai, na kauli thabit anaweza kusema. Hapa inakuwa rahisi sana sana kwa makachero kujua na kuanza upelekezi wa kina. Kesi zote mbili zilizotokea Zanzibar (Soraga na Padri zinaingia hapa).

Wote wazima na wote wana kauli thabit. Padri ameweza kuzungumza na kuweza kuidhalilisha POLISI kama taasisi pale alipotoa kauli yake kumpinga RPC Aziz.

Kauli ya Padri dhidi ya jeshi la polisi inaonyesha dhahir kuwa kanisa linataka watendewe vile wanavyotaka wao; na sio hali halisi ilivyo. Ingawa hakusema wazi wazi, lakini indirectly, ana maana ya kusema kuwa ‘polisi ni muongo, au waongo’. Hii ni idhalali kubwa kwa jeshi la polisi.

Kw auhakika ni kuwa padri huyu alikuwa anashika pesa, whether awe mhasibu by professional or not. Kwa uhakika 100% padri huyu ndiye signatory wao.

Bila yeye haitoki pesa. Je, na hili atalipinga. Naomba hao makachero wa kutajika kutoka Dar, waanzie hapa kama ndio ‘lead’ yao. Tumelewwana? Muanzie hapa. Je, haiwi kuwa ‘internal job’.

Angalia sequence za kihalifu zilizofanyika TZ karibuni:
i. Afisa wa kuzuia rushwa apigwa na kuuliwa na mwenzake Dar
ii. RPC Mwanza apigwa risasi na kuuliwa Mwanza.
iii. Pesa nyingi zimeibiwa duka la Dar (150m) — kitendawili mpaka leo???? Au kwa sababu hili limetokea Zanzibar. Achane kuwa bias!
iv. Kuna mauwaji mengi yametokea Dar during chrismas time, mzungu mmoja amenyongwa hotelini, na wengine kuuwawa kikatili …kimya! kimya!

Nadharia 3: Nadhani kanisa, CCM TZ na serikali zote zitafurahi sana kama report ya makachero hayo zitasema kuwa UAMSHO ndio waliofanya kosa hilo. Mimi naomba kuwasaidia kitu.

Mpaka sasa, ukweli ni kuwa, waislamu wa Zanzibar na Tanzania kwa ujumla, hawajafikia level hiyo ya kutumia silaha au kuhujumu. Hili linajulikana na liko wazi. Kisocholojia, bora hata siasa Zanzibar zinaweza kuwa ni ‘problem’ kuliko hata dini.

Mimi naomba serikali ya JK, Shein na IGP Said Mwema muwe waangalifu sana na trend hii inayojitokeza. Mjaribu sana kuwa fair na wakweli – otherwise, mnaimaliza nchi hivi mnajiona. Your careless minds — JK, Shein, Mwema and others — inaweza kuleta bad feelings kwa waislamu ambayo wanaamini kuwa Zanzibar ni nchi yao na nchi ya kiislamu. Hivi JK kuoni fakhari kuwa hivyo, yaani Zanzibar ndio kama kigezo kwa dunia v.s Tanzania.

Kumbuka kuwa mnapewa pesa za bure na nchi za kiislamu kupeleka hajj waislamu (ni kupitia mgongo wa Uislamu wa Zanzibar, na sio Tabora au Singida n.k); then mnachagua wakereketwa kwenda huko Hajj na kuacha waumin wa kweli.

Chokochoko hizi za dini, na hasa ukiristo — hautoijenga TZ, ila itaivunja vunja viapande vipande – angalia secratian war — Northern Ireland, former Yugoslavia [Kosovo, Serbia n.] Iraq n.k.

Shein na JK mnakaa na kubabaishwa na washauri wenu; na hamtaki kutumia akili zenu mlizojaaliwa hata 0.01%. Hebu tafuteni ukweli wa mambo. Huu ndi ushauri w abure kutoka kwangu.

* Na balozi Seif Ali Iddi acha kuwa bias. Mbona hujaenda kumuona Fadhil Soraga mpaka leo? umeamua kwenda wewe na Mohammed Aboud kumuona Padri na aila yake na wafuasi wake.

* Naomba tena hao makachero waliokuja Zanzibar waanzie pale benki anapokwenda kuchukua ‘hela’ padri huyu ambaye pia ndiye signatory mkuu, benki xxxx! nendeni hapo mkaone transaction alizokuwa anazifanya padri huyo, na kama kuna bank reconciliation zinazokubalika — au shaghla baghala tu.

* Na kama je, hali ya makusanyo na matumizi ya kanisa hili yanaridhia financial regulations za Tanzania, Zanzibar na bank of Tanzania. Check …kama kuna a kind of money laundry hapo?

Kwa ufupi matukio haya bado yamebaki kuwa kitendawili (unresolved mystery).

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KILLING THE KILLING FIELDS OF LOLIONDO

In a corner of Africa, hunters from the Middle East run amok with submachine guns, killing and maiming animals, then spirit away their orphaned infants to keep them as pets. Even worse than this massacre is that no one wants to know about it

*           *             *

I first heard about the killing fields of Loliondo several years ago. It struck me at the time that it was a sensational story. Arabs shooting up animals in Africa with AK47s, stealing leopard and lion and cheetah cubs to take back to Dubai and Damascus with them, building an airfield on the edge of the Serengeti so that cargo planes could haul away the booty they weren't meant to be taking out in the first place, setting up cameras and armed patrols to keep the Maasai away from tribal lands they'd been traversing for centuries, and even bribing them to convert to Islam.

The story sounded too good to be true. Nice guys, bad guys, and innocent animals caught in between. It wasn't a new story, at least not in Africa. But editors in New York didn't seem to know about it. Over the next few years I discovered that they didn't want to know about it either. Some of them thought it was a worthy story. ( Wow, they gasped, is that really true? Animals? AKs? Arabs? Corruption? Now that's a story someone should write about. Fascinating, really fascinating. ) But none of them took it - and for various reasons.

"It's too far away."

"People don't know/care about Africa."

"We have too many stories about Africa already."

"We know hunting is cruel, but what's the new angle?"

"Isn't AIDS bad enough? Do you really want to tell another tragic story about a devastated continent?"

After 9/11, there were other concerns. Mostly they had to do with the fact that the story implicated Arabs. The media suddenly seemed to be consumed by an anti-anti-Arab sensitivity, so that any story about Arabs who were doing something bad that didn't have to do the World Trade Center attacks or Al Qaeda was just in poor taste. Couldn't we journalists pick on someone else, please?  

The upshot was this: I had a sensational story, but no one wanted it. Which turned this into a story about two hunts, the first being the cruel, devastating kind for animals in Africa, the second being the cruel, frustrating kind for a publisher in America.

The first hunt begins in Tanzania in 1992, when an anomalous-sounding outfit called the Ortello Business Company, based in the United Arab Emirates and owned by its deputy minister of defense, Brigadier Mohamed Abdul Rahim Al Ali, was sold a 20-year concession to Loliondo by the then president, Ali Hassan Mwinyi.

At the time Brigadier Ali made all kinds of eco-friendly (and very friendly-sounding) promises - he would protect and conserve the area, pay local communities a percentage of any income earned off of it, create employment, build schools, lay on water, and so forth - and he boasted that the deal would "demonstrate to all [the world presumably] the seriousness that the Arab world is giving to wildlife conservation..."

Ali, or 'the brigadier,' as he is referred to locally, couldn't have been given a more ideal place to prove his good faith. The 1,540-square-mile concession of Loliondo is a very important piece of property, especially in ecological terms. It lies adjacent to the Serengeti National Park, the Ngorongoro highlands, and the Maasai Mara, putting it smack in the path of hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebra during their annual migration. If when Westerners think of Africa, they think of wide open plains teeming with animals, then Loliondo is at the very heart of it.

Loliondo is also located on the border of Kenya, which would make it easy for any unauthorized person - or military aircraft, given that the brigadier has constructed a 1.6-mile airstrip on the property - to enter or leave the country. This fact alone, an unnecessary military airstrip in Africa built and owned by a defense minister from the Middle East, should have raised a few eyebrows, especially after the terrorist attacks pre-9/11 in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi and post-9/11 on a Mombasa hotel. But it didn't.

In 1959, when Tanzania was still called Tanganyika, Loliondo was proclaimed a conservation area. For thirty years, after independence from Britain and then during ujamaa, the post-liberation leader Julius Nyerere's unsuccessful form of socialism, Loliondo's status remained unchanged. Even though plenty of animal-killing went on in the '70s and '80s, most of it was by poachers. They wiped out hundreds of thousands of elephants and rhino for ivory and rhino horn until an international ban on the sale of both helped to turn the tide.

But then, while no one was looking, something strange happened. Illegal hunters were replaced by the legal kind, trophy or sport hunters. In the 1990s, when Tanzania was ditching ujamaa for a market-oriented economy, hunting was suddenly seen as a way of earning money, and Loliondo was declared a 'hunting block.'

Tanzania sells hunting blocks to anyone who can afford them, which usually means foreigners, who then bring friends/family/clients to hunt there. (In the case of Loliondo, these visitors have included King Abdullah II of Jordan.) In 1990 there were only 47 blocks in the country, but by 2000 that number had tripled, to 140. At present about twenty percent of the country is designated for hunting.

All across Africa, the same thing is happening - hunting is catching on like wildfire - and it's not hard to see why. Money. Animals are the crude oil of the savanna. Tourists who point Winchesters, it has been calculated, spend at least ten times as much as tourists who point Nikons. In South Africa, for instance, an ordinary lion costs $10,000 to kill, a black-maned one $25,000, and an extremely rare white one, over $150,000. Last year a Norwegian hunter was prepared to pay $60,000 to shoot a tame black rhino until, in a much-publicized case that even involved the movie actress Charlize Theron (who paid for the rhino's accommodations until its fate was decided), the Supreme Court wouldn't let the hunt go ahead.

Besides each animal he kills, a hunter has to pay to camp, to eat, to employ trackers, and so forth, which can work out to more than $1,000 a day. In a country with a robust economy, such as South Africa, those figures are tempting. In countries in the midst of famine and financial ruin (Zimbabwe) or overcoming years of ruinous socialist policies (Zambia and Tanzania), they are just plain irresistible.

Not that the local people who should benefit from that money ever see it. In Botswana, it was estimated by Dereck Joubert, who writes for National Geographic and has spent many years tracking lion and other animals to write books like Hunting with the Moon , locals earned 2 pula (a few cents) per animal shot. The bulk of the money often goes to the outfitters, who are based on other continents, in places like Texas, Germany and the Middle East.

Outfitters, as well as some pro-hunting conservationists, argue that hunting has an important role to play in conservation. It is a way of controlling animal numbers while earning money for Africa. They would probably also argue that most hunters respect the Four Rules of Hunting, namely (1) No drugging or baiting of animals, (2) No hunting from vehicles, (3) No hunting at night using high-powered lights to blind your prey, and (4) No use of semiautomatic weapons.

In the United States and Europe, perhaps that happens. Not in Africa.

Joubert, needless to say, is vehemently against trophy hunting. He believes it erodes the community and the economy. Hunting safaris are seasonal, use very basic camps, and the staff are seldom trained in any job that can keep them employed during the non-hunting months. Photographic safaris, meanwhile, are year-round and are based out of well-established camps, such as Governor's in Kenya or Richard Branson's Ulusaba in South Africa; and the staff are trained in everything from cooking to management.

And then, of course, there's the diminishing gene pool to think about. Because the biggest and best animals are the most highly sought-after by hunters, they are systematically being killed off. Male lions are getting smaller and elephant tusks punier. Hunters shoot an animal once, then it's gone forever; tourists with cameras shoot the same animal thousands of times and it is still there. You do the math.

The worst offender on the continent is, ironically, also the most conservation-savvy: South Africa. During the '70s and '80s, when poaching was rife in the rest of Africa, there was hardly any in South Africa, which was so successful in protecting animals that the Kruger National Park landed up with too many elephants and the KwaZulu-Natal Parks Board singlehandedly saved the black rhino from extinction.

Animals did so well, in fact, that it didn't take long for the hunters to realize that South Africa had what they wanted - in abundance. Now, commercial hunting is an industry. Over $1.5 billion is invested in 25 million acres of game farms, breeding centers and hunting ranches. Foreign hunters, largely from Europe, the Middle East and the United States, spend $100 million a year to kill as many as 32,000 animals. (A 28-year-old Alabaman hunter who was recently quoted in the Los Angeles Times said he had killed 17 animals in 16 days.)

To ensure a regular supply of the most desirable animals - the Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, and even the still-endangered black rhino), lechwe, African wild dog, cheetah, and, more recently, foreign species like the Bengal tiger - they are not only being bred in captivity, in Africa's version of puppy mills, but also brought in from neighboring countries, and even stolen from game parks.

Thankfully, South Africa's problems are being brought to light by a zealous local media, as well as by television programs such as Britain's Cook's Report, which several years ago exposed the controversial activity of canned hunting, or shooting a lion that is caged and often drugged. (Despite the program, though, canned hunting still goes on.)

But in Tanzania, Loliondo has always been shrouded in secrecy. From the time it was sold to OBC, there were questions. The price the Arabs paid was never made public; the Maasai, whose cattle have been allowed to roam across boundaries and terrain like Loliondo for centuries, were never consulted; and the way the application was rushed through led to rumors of presidential favors and government corruption. (This is quite possible, seeing Tanzania came 82 nd out of 91 countries covered in Transparency International's 2001 Corruption Perceptions Index.)

My search for more information about Loliondo began in Arusha, a town near Mt. Kilimanjaro that is known, if at all, for being the seat of the International War Crimes Tribunal on Rwanda. It is also a major crossroads for hunters - the people who organize hunts, the foreigners who come to hunt, and the government officials who provide the licenses that are needed to hunt.

When none of the outfitters agreed to talk to me (about Loliondo or, for that matter, anything else), I contacted their colleagues farther afield, in the hunting blocks to the south, in Ruaha and Selous. When they also refused to talk, I contacted outfitters in Zimbabwe and Zambia, but the outcome was always the same - zip. It was either because I told them I was a journalist (and all hunters seem to be convinced that no journalist has a good word to say about them) or because they knew that there was, in fact, something fishy going on in Loliondo.

If solidarity didn't keep people quiet, then fear did. In New York, I met a woman who worked for a company that owns a luxury safari camp in the Serengeti, not far from Loliondo. Its clients were not hunters, though, but photographic tourists. She told me that the manager of the camp knew what the Arabs in Loliondo were up to, and he didn't like it. Besides being cruel, it was very bad for his business. He would be out on his Landrover with a group of Americans and Brits pointing binoculars when they came across a Jeep-load of Arabs pointing submachine guns. Some of his guests would be so upset by this that they caught the first available flight home.

The manager regularly heard automatic gunfire from camp - again, I had to go on what his colleague told me - and he would find animal carcasses in the veldt, killed by gunfire, and most of the time it was quite pointless. Two wildebeest, for example, were positioned head-to-head, shot while they sparred playfully with each other. The shooters never even bothered to take the skins or the horns as trophies; they simply shot the animals for the sake of shooting. Nor were the hunters sticking to the boundaries of Loliondo, but regularly penetrated into the Serengeti, which is a protected area, and across the border into Kenya's Maasai Mara, which is not only a protected area but is also in a country that banned commercial hunting twenty-five years ago.

I wanted to get hold of the camp manager, but the owners asked me not to. They were worried about the consequences - and understandably so. They had invested heavily in Tanzania, and they feared the government would close them down if they talked about what was going on. I couldn't even get employees who had left the company to discuss the Arabs. In fact, every lead I got went nowhere, and I was convinced that the whole of East Africa knew about Loliondo but no one wanted to be the first to spill the beans.

Just as I was coming to a dead end, however, I heard about a man named Meitamei Dapash ... and the floodgates suddenly opened.

Meitamei works out of a small office in Washington, D.C., the sole representative of the Maasai Envrionmental Resource Coalition, or MERC. In existence since 1999, MERC is supported by, among others, the Humane Society of the United States and the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

Meitamei not only knew about Loliondo and wanted to talk about it, but he had recently returned from a trip to the area. He and six colleagues had interviewed several hundred Maasai villagers and herdsmen, as well as local church personnel, employees of nongovernmental organizations, park officials, tour operators, and former and present OBC employees. When I questioned him, he shot off information like one of the machine guns he was trying to silence, confirming all the rumors I'd heard until now.

The Arabs were breaking every rule there was to break. According to what MERC heard, they were using semi-automatic weapons, hunting with lights at night, luring animals with artificially created salt-licks and waterholes, shooting animals from vehicles, and shooting or capturing the young and old, the male and female, the lactating and pregnant. (Tanzania, while it allows hunting, forbids the use of bait, poisoned bait, poisoned weapons, stakes, pitfalls, nets, snares, hides, fences or enclosures, artificial light or flare, automatic weapons or self-loading rifles, or hunting "within 500 meters of any permanent water, pool, waterhole or salt-lick, and within a kilometer of a national park or other protected area, and hunting at night.")

The accusations went on. Animals the Arabs captured that were considered unhealthy were shot, and their carcasses were then sold to non-Maasai communities (the Maasai do not eat wild game), further encouraging poaching and an illegal market for bush meat. Mysterious veldt fires would occur exactly when and where they were needed for the hunters to trap animals and stop them from crossing the border to safety, in Kenya or the Serengeti. As many as 100 animals were flown out of the country each week; and in the last six months of 2000, according to OBC workers, those exports included some 70 lion, 28 cheetah and 17 leopard. Larger animals, such as eland, buffalo, giraffe, zebra and waterbuck, were held in enclosures until they could be flown out.

The MERC representatives had to go on oral evidence for the most part, seeing they couldn't get access to Loliondo and at one point were forcibly removed from the property. While driving around the area, however, they did find countless empty bullet shells as well as many wounded animals. During their investigation, in August 2001, they also saw the ripple effect of a high-profile hunt that included King Abdullah II of Jordan. The entourage was accompanied by a helicopter and two small planes, which were used not only to patrol the area but also to herd wildebeest and other large groups of animals toward the foot of the hills, where they would be trapped and more easy to shoot.

"For two days, MERC heard gunshots almost continuously," Meitamei wrote in the report several months later. "It is hard to estimate the number of animals killed but Maasai believe that at least sixty animals were killed or wounded in the two-day expedition. Over the following month, the Maasai encountered many wounded animals, particularly buffalo, zebra and wildebeest. Sometimes they speared them to relieve them of their suffering."

So many animals were being killed that workers at Loliondo had started talking about 'the killing fields of Loliondo.'

The OBC was also destroying the Maasai way of life. It declared "grazing restrictions," stopping locals from traversing land they had used for centuries, and started arresting and beating people who carried on doing it. Hunters went dangerously close to Maasai homesteads, threatening the security of their children and livestock. Village elders and park rangers were bribed to encourage locals to favor the OBC, and Maasai were being paid 30,000 Tanzanian shillings each (up to $40) to convert to Islam.

"The act of buying people into a faith defies the teachings of any religion and is a deliberate act to destroy the Maasai people," a local church leader said.

At the 1.6-mile airstrip, meanwhile, military aircraft were landing up to twice a week, loaded with four-wheel-drives, weapons and communication gear - as well as hunters accompanied by young Pakistani and Filipino women - and then flew out with a variety of live animals and bush meat. They were not subject to inspections in either direction.

Security around the property was tight, and it was clear that the agreement between the Tanzanian authorities and the UAE went much further than just a lease allowing the Arabs to hunt. A joint team of the country's paramilitary wing, the Full Force Unit, and members of the UAE army patrolled the property, and there was always a strong police presence. No one could prove that it was a kind of payment, but it was well known that the UAE royal family had donated passenger aircraft to the Tanzanian army and a number of vehicles to its wildlife division.

During the interviews, Meitamei said, it was obvious that everyone - from Maasai herdsman to park official to businessman - was intimidated by the OBC, and feared some kind of retribution if they talked.

"The Maa word for 'the Arab,' Olarrabui, is often used to refer to Brigadier Al Ali, and, by extension, the OBC," Meitamei said. "The word has become synonymous with power, authority, brutality, fear, and entities larger than life. It's amazing no one talks about this. Everyone is too scared. The Arabs are a mafia."

If you looked closely enough, though, you could see a groundswell of resistance to OBC starting. The East African newspaper in Kenya had carried several articles about their country's wildlife and economy being seriously threatened by outsiders. (Photographic tourism is Kenya's largest earner of foreign exchange.) A journalist from Associated Press, Chris Tomlinson, was sending the occasional story to an even broader audience abroad, although no one seemed to be picking up on it.

At the same time, more and more Maasai were growing vocal about cases of intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrest and detention, even torture by OBC officials and security forces. Thirteen of their elders trekked across the country to the capital, Dar es Salaam, to press the government to take action against the OBC.

"We cannot just sit and watch the Arabs take our land," a spokesman for the elders, Sandet ole Reya, was quoted as saying. He finished with a very serious warning: "If necessary, we will wipe out all animals in the area to keep the Arabs out of our land."

A war of words began between the Maasai and the government, with people suggesting that ex-president Mwinyi and other Tanzanian officials were part owners of Loliondo, and that's why nothing was being done about it. Government officials accused the Maasai of trying to make political mischief, a suggestion that was ridiculed by the Tanzanian association of environmental journalists, JET, whose chairman, Balinangwe Mwambungu, said the Maasai were "not affiliated to any political party and, therefore, had no reason to lie to the world."

When questioned by The East African about all the allegations, the OBC managing director, Juma Akida Zodikheri, denied them, and said animal numbers in Loliondo had actually increased under the OBC's guardianship.

All of this information, you understand, was my own bait, the lure, the stuff a freelancer uses to entice a publication to commit itself to a story. This was the ammunition in my hunt. I believed I now had enough evidence to prove the story was valid, so I sent out a proposal. Hopefully that would entice a publication to send me to Loliondo to investigate more thoroughly. I was all fired up, even though Meitamei warned me that it wouldn't be an easy story.

"People are scared," he said. "That's why they don't talk. It's dangerous."

I singled out publications that I thought were interested in issue-driven articles and had at least once in their lifetime carried a story on Africa, and I wrote to them. Harper's never replied. Ditto the Atlantic Monthly . Outside said they had a backlog of "African travel stories (sic)." Mother Jones made nice noises, but honestly they had too much other stuff;   and besides, they were only a bi-monthly. The New York Times Magazine was already doing a piece about the excesses of the wealthy class in Dubai, and hunting in Loliondo was just too much of an overlap. But thanks anyway. Some editors said it was the perfect story for the New Yorker or Vanity Fair - had I tried them? - which was a snub and a compliment at the same time.

Finally, an editor at National Geographic Adventure got enthusiastic about the idea, although several months passed before his editor-in-chief even considered it. I finally went in for a meeting. The editor-in-chief sat in a corner and looked disinterested. He could see a problem: photographs. How were they to get images of secretive Arabs shooting at herds of animals with AK47s when there were armed patrols and security cameras everywhere? And then there was that animal-hunting 'thing.' How did they photograph the wholesale slaughter of animals for a magazine that was, despite its name, a glossy?

They came up with a solution. At around the same time, a photographer had approached NGA with a proposal about a big-game hunter from Europe who took guests to shoot in Africa. Perhaps, said the NGA editor, I could write THAT story. At first I wondered what the subjects had in common other than hunting, although I had to admit that the pictures would be a lot easier to get (I could already see the glossy shots of khaki-clad hunters with big guns at white-clothed tables under a baobab next to their just-killed buffalo).

It was a cop-out, but I said I would be prepared to do it. Somewhere in the story, I believed, I would be able to slip in a few paragraphs about Loliondo - I would tell the world about it that way. I was running out of magazine options, and I was losing hope that Loliondo would get any coverage at all.

Then, out of the blue, an editor at Condé Nast Traveler expressed an interest in the story. ( Condé Nast Traveler ? Yes, apparently this would be one of their occasional forays into 'relevant journalism'). I didn't have much confidence that they would take the story in the end, although it was a nice gesture on their part. Then something happened that made them nix it: 9/11.

All of a sudden, no one wanted Loliondo. NGA, who had in the meantime discarded the big-hunter idea, didn't return my calls. CNT shelved not only Loliondo idea but also every story that had a Muslim anywhere in the neighborhood. It was as if the Muslim world would disappear if the editors ignored it hard enough. All they wanted were stories about America, America and more America.

Except, that is, National Geographic . An editor there loved the Loliondo idea. He took my proposal and sent it to NG 's sausage machine of researchers and checkers , who basically compile their own story before they let the journalist do his version. The editor-in-chief, meanwhile, wanted to know why the story had never been covered before. Ten years and no one had written about it?

As part of NG 's research (to ensure that I hadn't made up this fabulous story perhaps?), they contacted two of the biggest names in conservation, the renowned Kenyan anthropologist Richard Leakey and the chimp expert Jane Goodall. Both of them said to do the story on Loliondo. After that, I was sure the story was a sure thing.

But then NG ran into a familiar problem. Photographs. Furthermore, they were worried about doing a story that might offend other countries neighboring the UAE, and possibly sabotage future stories they might have in the Middle East. Then, to cap it all, the magazine went through a change of editorial staff. The proposal gradually lost momentum, and even though the editor I was working with wanted it, he couldn't get anyone to back him. Loliondo sat in limbo.

I kept wondering if I shouldn't just pay my own way to fly to Arusha, go to local bars, talk to hunters, and stake out Loliondo for several weeks. Wasn't that how great stories were written - you just went off on a whim? Trouble is, because of the way freelancing works (you investigate the hell out of the story before you even get to it), I had already tested the waters and there seemed to be no interest in the story. What was the point of throwing away money on a dead duck - not to mention more time? It had at this stage been two years since I'd first heard about Loliondo.

In May 2002, MERC brought out a report titled The Killing Fields of Loliondo. It was the last and best chance the story had of attracting some genuine interest in the media.

Dedicated to 'present and future generations of the Maasai people, faithful stewards of nature and wildlife in East Africa,' the report put in black and white all the things Meitamei had told me, as well as numerous things I would've learnt if I'd gone to Tanzania to investigate the story.

Such as: One, the battle for Loliondo is also a battle for the future of wildlife in East Africa, pitting the Tanzanian government and hunters (not only the Arabs, but ALL commercial hunters) against the Maasai and eco-tourists.

Two, the Maasai have been conservationists since time immemorial. They do not believe in commercial hunting, for it leads to greed, over-exploitation of wildlife resources, and often irreversible damage to delicate ecosystems. What they do believe is that today's generation holds all natural resources in trust for future generations. Over the centuries they have developed a very special relationship with wild animals, so that they and their cattle can share water and grass with them.

Three, it is largely thanks to the Maasai way of life - pastoral and pacifist - that the Kenya/Tanzania cross-border region continues to have such an abundance of wild animals, not only helping to maintain one of the most important ecosystems in Africa, but also guaranteeing a future for the region's strongest industry, tourism.

All this, however, was being jeopardized by commercial hunting. The Arabs were an extreme example of what was happening across the whole of Tanzania, where hunters were being allowed to break the law with impunity. They were bribing wildlife officials to let them enter protected areas, give them blank hunting certificates to shoot as many animals of whatever kind they liked, and turn a blind eye to these actions.

"Here in Tanzania we can kill what we want because money speaks," a Danish hunter told MERC. "You find the park rangers are now the guides for hunting expeditions both inside and outside the park."

Not all rangers are like that, though, and one of them beseeched MERC to tell the world the story of Loliondo.

"You must raise this concern because there is serious wildlife destruction going on here. Perhaps you can implore international conservation regimes to carry out thorough investigations to discover the truth."

An elder at a Maasai village, meanwhile, had already given up hope. "The government and, indeed, justice are not on our side. We have been forced to accept things as they are because we have no power to stand up against this Arab."

I went back to the magazines armed with my new ammunition. I was sure the report from MERC would make a difference to them. But it didn't. Not for the first time, I felt as though I had let Meitamei down. I had questioned him and other people for several years, convinced that their story was newsworthy, but my profession didn't seem to think so. I had to tell him something every freelancer hates to do with a story he believes in: I was giving up on their story. The Arab hunting in Loliondo would carry on, but my hunt for a place to expose it was over.

*           *             *

I wrote the above story in order to give closure to all the research I'd done on Loliondo as much as to vent my frustrations with freelancing. Offbeat though the article is, I submitted it to publications I thought would be sympathetic to its sentiments - The Village Voice, Utne Reader, The Columbia Journalism Review, and salon.com. Two of them sent curt replies, and the other two didn't even bother with that.

Source: http://www.tedbotha.com/raw/killing-fields-loliondo.htm

Utajiri wa Gesi Asilia: Tuwasikilize Watanzania wa Mtwara na Lindi. Tusipuuze

Na Zitto Zuberi Kabwe:

Maandamano ya amani yaliyofanyika mjini Mtwara siku ya alhamis wiki hii yameibua hoja mbali mbali kutoka kwa viongozi, wananchi, vyombo vya habari na mjadala wa siku nzima kwenye mitandao ya kijamii hasa twitter na JamiiForums. Mkuu wa Mkoa wa Mtwara ameita waandamanaji wapuuzi na Waziri wa Nishati na Madini amewaita watu hatari na wahaini. CHADEMA tumetoa kauli kupitia kwa Waziri Kivuli wa Nishati na Madini kwamba udhaifu wa utendaji serikalini ndio chanzo cha maandamano haya.

Lakini kuna tatizo kubwa zaidi ambalo linaonekana siyo katika sekta hii tu bali pia katika sekta nyingine ambapo tunaona matokeo yake katika maisha ya watu wetu na naweza kusema ni dalili za kushindikana kwa sera za CCM. Sera hizi ndizo ambazo zimelifikisha taifa hili hadi hapa. Kama hadi wananchi wa Mtwara ambako kwa muda mrefu imekuwa ni ngombe ya CCM wanaanza kuhoji matokeo ya sera za chama tawala basi ni dalili kuwa Watanzania wamefungua macho yao na wanaona.

Wanaona katika nishati, wanaona katika utawala bora, wanaona katia elimu (kuanzia ya msingi hadi ya juu kabisa!), wanaona katika afya, wanaona katika utendaji wa jeshi la polisi wanaona katika madini. Sera za CCM zimeshindwa. Zimeshindwa kuinua maisha yao na zinaonekana kuendelea kushindwa.

Mtwara na Lindi wanataka nini?

Watu wa Mtwara wanataka gesi isiondoke Mtwara na badala yake viwanda na mitambo ijengwe Mtwara kisha kama ni umeme au mbolea isafirishwe kupelekwa sehemu nyingine ya nchi. Watu wa Mtwara hawasemi kwamba Gesi yote na mazao yake vibaki Mtwara na Lindi. Wanasema umeme uzalishwe Mtwara usambazwe nchi nzima. Mbolea izalishwe Mtwara na kusambazwa nchi nzima. Wanataka Bandari ya Mtwara iboreshwe na kuhudumia mikoa ya Kusini. Watu wa Mtwara hawasemi kwamba mapato yote ya Gesi yatumike Mtwara tu la hasha.

Sio dhambi hata kidogo kwa watu wa Mtwara kudai masuala haya. Watu wa Mtwara wamefanya maandamano kwa amani kabisa bila kuharibu mali na kutoa maoni yao. Kwanini tuwasute na kuwasusubika kwa madai yao haya? Kwa nini tusiwasikilize? Kosa lao nini kudai viwanda ili wapate ajira? Tumesahau kuwa mikoa ya Lindi na Mtwara ni mikoa masikini kabisa nchini? Tumesahau kuwa mikoa ya Lindi na Mtwara ilitumika kwa ukombozi wa kusini mwa Afrika kiasi cha kuwa katika hatari kabisa? Tumesahau ‘sacrifice’ ya watu wa Mtwara na Lindi dhidi ya usalama wa nchi yetu? Tumesahau kuwa Korosho imekuwa zao kubwa la biashara na linaloingiza mapato mengi sana ya Fedha za kigeni? Waziri Muhongo anasema Mtwara warudishe Fedha za Mkonge na Kahawa. Mbona hataji fedha za Korosho? Mwaka 2011 Korosho ilikuwa zao la pili kwa kuingiza fedha nyingi za kigeni baada ya Tumbaku.

Lakini tujiulize, watu wa Mtwara na Lindi walifadi fedha za Mkonge? Walifaidi fedha za Kahawa? Wamefaidi fedha zao za Korosho? Tumesahau hata Reli iliyoachwa na Mkoloni ya Nachingwea – Mtwara iling’olewa na Serikali huru ya Tanzania?

Tujiulize zaidi, hivi watu wa Nzega wamefaidika vipi na Mgodi wa Resolute pale Lusu? Mgodi umefungwa ukiwa umezalisha na kuuaza dhahabu ya thamani ya dola za marekani 3.3 bilioni. Hivi katika uhai wa mgodi huu Serikali Kuu imekusanya kodi kiasi gani? Halmashauri ya Wilaya ya Nzega imepata ushuru kiasi gani? Watu wa Mtwara wanayaona haya yaliyotokea Nzega na yanayotokea Tarime, Biharamulo, Kahama na Geita. Watu wa Mtwara wana Haki kuandamana kuzuia haya yaliyotokea wenzao yasiwatokee wao kwenye Gesi asilia.

Mtwara na Lindi wanakosea wapi?

Madai yao halali na mimi binafsi na chama changu tunayaunga mkono. Lakini kuna mahala lazima waelimishwe.  

Watu wa Mtwara pia wanapaswa kuelewa kuwa juhudi zao zisiwatenganishe na Watanzania wengine kwani bado utajiri wa Taifa unafadisha kikundi cha Watanzania wachache sana. Watu wa Mtwara wanahitaji kuungana na watu wa Mara, watu wa Mwanza, watu wa Shinyanga na watu wa Kagera kudai utajiri wa nchi utumike kwa maendeleo ya watu badala ya kunufaisha kundi dogo la watu. Watu wa Mtwara wanapaswa kuunganisha nguvu na Watanzania wengine kuzuia uporaji wa rasilimali ya nchi dhidi ya kizazi kijacho. Watu wa Mtwara wasijitenge wakawa peke yao na Gesi yao. Nguvu ya mnyonge ni umoja.

Serikali isiyosikia

Serikali ina hoja kuhusu kujenga Bomba la Gesi kwa ajili ya kuzalisha umeme kwa gharama nafuu. Umeme unaotumiwa na asilimia 14 tu ya Watanzania. Kwa kuwa hii asilimia 14 ndio wenye sauti basi watu wa Mtwara wataonekana hawana hoja kabisa. Lakini Serikali imejiuliza mara mbilimbili kuhusu mradi huu wa Bomba? Tunaambiwa na Wataalamu kwamba kuna uwezekano mkubwa mwakani gesi asilia ya kiasi cha futi za ujazo trillioni 20 itakuwa imegunduliwa katika Kitalu namba 7( block 7) ambacho kipo mkoani Dar es Salaam katika Wilaya ya Temeke. Iwapo gesi nyingi hivi itakuwa hapa Dar karibu kabisa na mitambo ya kuzalisha umeme, mradi huu wa Bomba unaojengwa kwa trillioni za shilingi utakuwa na maana tena? Huu mkopo utakuwa na tija?

Serikali imewaambia watu wa Mtwara gharama za kuleta bomba Dar dhidi ya gharama za kujenga mtambo wa kuzalisha umeme Mtwara na kuusafirisha umeme kwenda maeneo mengine ya Tanzania? Serikali imeangalia faida ya kujenga gridi nyingine badala ya kuwa na gridi moja tu yenye kushikwa na bwawa la Mtera? Leo bwawa la Mtera lisipozalisha hata megawati moja hata Dar es Salaam izalishe megawati alfu kumi umeme hautakuwapo maana uti wa mgongo wa gridi ni Mtera! Kwa nini tusiwe na gridi nyingine yenye uti wa mgongo Lindi au Mtwara?

Tuwasikilize watu wa Mtwara

Watanzania sio mabwege tena. Kuwaita watu wa Mtwara ni wahaini, wapuuzi au watu hatari haisaidii kujenga Taifa moja lenye watu huru. Serikali na wadau wote wa sekta ya Gesi likiwemo Bunge washirikiane na watu wa Mtwara kuhusu miradi ya gesi asilia. Tuwe na Azimio la Mtwara, tamko la kuelekeza namna bora ya kutumia utajiri wetu wa Gesi bila kuathiri umoja wa Taifa letu.

Ujio wa Sera, Maono na Uongozi Mbadala

Sasa hivi wananchi wa Mtwara kama wananchi wa sehemu nyingine wanahitaji maono mbadala, uongozi mbadala, sera mbadala na mwelekeo mbadala wa kitaifa ambao utaangalia mahitaji yao, utazingatia raslimali zilizopo na utaunganisha utendaji wa sekta mbalimbali katika kutengeneza mfumo wa kiutawala na kiuchumi ambao utaliinua taifa zima.

Ni kwa sababu hiyo naamini chama changu ni jibu sahihi kwa matamanio na kiu ya wananchi wa Mtwara na sehemu nyingine nchini. Ikumbukwe kuwa katika Ilani yetu ya Uchaguzi ya 2010 tulielewa haja ya kuangalia mikoa hii ya Kusini kwa namna ya pekee na kuipa mwelekeo wa kipekee katika sera.  Bado tuna makusudio hayo tunapoelekea 2015 na tukishika Dola wananchi wa Mtwara na sehemu nyingine zote zilizoachwa pembezoni mwa mafanikio wajue kuwa wamepata rafiki na mshirika wa karibu wa kushirikiana nao kuleta maendeleo.

Siyo katika suala la gesi tu bali katika nishati, maji, elimu, miundombinu, kilimo, ufugaji, uvuvi, utalii. Mtwara kama ilivyo mikoa mingine ina raslimali za kutosha kuweza kuwainua wananchi wake kimaisha, na zaidi ya yote kutoa mchango mkubwa wa kiuchumi. Hili ambalo ni kweli kwa Mtwara ni kweli kwa mikoa mingine kama Kigoma, Manyara, Katavi, Lindi n.k.

Dawa za CCM, Zimegeuka Sumu!

Iwapo unaumwa, njia pekee ili upate kupona lazima upate matibabu. Na kwa wale wa imani za kileo matibabu yao ni kwa njia ya uponywaji. Lakini pia, wakati mwingine si mpaka uumwe. Unaweza kutumia dawa ili kujikinga na maradhi kabla hata hayajakufika. Kinga ni bora kuliko tiba, na pia ni vema kuswali kabla hujaswaliwa!

Naamu! CCM inayoongoza Serikali isiyokuwa na dini, nayo toka kale inazo dawa na sindazo zake za kinga na matibabu. Miongoni mwa dawa na sindano hizo ni UMOJA wa Kitaifa, UADILIFU wa Viongozi, CHEO kama DHAMANA, na UONGOZI Bora wa Watu Kujiletea Maendeleo yao Wenyewe. Vifuko vya dawa hizi, vingi vilijumuhiswa na kufanywa kifurushi kimoja cha dawa iitwayo AZIMIO la Arusha.

Taifa chini ya CCM lilipougua ukabila na udini, viongozi wa CCM walifanya utabibu haraka wakitumia dawa iitwayo UMOJA wa Kitaifa, rushwa na ubadhilifu wa mali ya umma punde tu ulipoibuka, wale wote waliobainika mara moja walidungwa sindano ya UADILIFU. Na mwenendo wa Serikali katika kupambana na maadui (Ujinga, Umaskini, na Maradhi) wa Taifa ilikuwa si kutembeza bakuli la kuomba misaada toka Ulaya na Amerika bali kuwatumia VIONGOZI Bora kuwaunganisha wananchi katika kuchangia vipawa, ujuzi, na mali katika kujiletea maendeleo yao kwa kutumia rasilimali za nchi yao. Na hii ndiyo ilikuwa dhana kuu ya UJAMAA na KUJITEGEMEA.

Lakini la ajabu, leo hii, CCM ndiyo kinara wa kuchua dawa ya kubomoa UMOJA wa Kitaifa kwa kuendekeza Udini na Ukabila. Tumelishuhudia hili wakati wa Uchaguzi Mkuu na limejirudia tena katika Chaguzi Ndogo za Igunga na Arumeru. Tumeona jinsi CCM ya leo inavyoshangilia wasio-WAADILIFU kuwadunga sindano za mauti Wanaopinga RUSHWA na UBADHILIFU wa Mali za Umma. Na kubwa zaidi sote tu mashahidi, kwa CCM ya leo Cheo si DHAMANA bali BIDHAA inayonunuliwa na Matajiri ili wafanikishe mambo yao kupitia migongo ya Wapiga kura.

CCM imefanikiwa kwa muda kugeuza matumizi ya dawa zake bila kudhurika. Habari njema ni kwamba, dawa zote sasa zimefikia ukomo wa matumizi na zimegeuka sumu tena kali. Kwa sasa, UMOJA unaanzishwa na Wananchi wenyewe kuikabili CCM. Wananchi hawakubali tena kugawanywa katika makundi ya kidini wala kikabila ili CCM ipenye kuwatawala tena. Wananchi wanawataka na wanawajua watu waadilifu. Na wanapojitokeza wanaogawa RUSHWA, wananchi wanaipokea na kuila lakini haibatilishi maamuzi yao yaliyo sahihi moyoni. Au wanaitumia hiyo pesa ya RUSHWA kumchangia mtu muadilifu wampendaye ili afikie hatma ya kuwa kiongozi wao. Hili limethibitika katika Uchaguzi Mkuu na limejirudia tena hivi karibuni huko Arumeru Mashariki. Kiongozi ambaye Wananchi wanamhitaji ni yule atakaye waongoza katika kutetea HAKI zao na kuwaunganisha KUJILETEA maendeleo. Kitendo alichokifanya Kilema mmoja huko Mwanza, cha kutoa Kuku wake wa Pasaka anadishwe katika Harambee ya kuchangia madawati iliyoongozwa na Mbunge Wenje ili naye achangie watoto kupata mazingira mazuri ya kusomea ni fundisho tosha kwa CCM na watoa RUSHWA.

Ili CCM ipone na dhahama ya sumu inayoendelea kuenea mwilini mwake, lazima kwanza itapishwe na kukamuliwa sumu zote (Ubaguzi, Rushwa, Ubadhilifu, Viongozi Uchwara/wafanyabiashara, n.k) na kisha ianze upya matumizi ya dawa zake za awali (UMOJA, UADILIFU, UONGOZI BORA, CHEO kama DHAMANA). Ni makosa ya makadirio ya kisiasa kwa CCM kufikiria jinsi itakavyobaki madarakani hapo 2015. Hili jambo haliwezekani bila matumizi makubwa yaliyopitiliza ya dola yatakaambatana na umwagaji wa damu isiyo na hatia. Kadirio sahihi kwa CCM ni kufikiri nini itakuwa “Fall-Back Position” hapo 2015 na nini kiandaliwe ili baada ya hapo warudi tena madarakani ndani ya miaka mitano (5). Ni rahisi kwa CCM kurudi ndani ya muda mfupi namna hii kwa sababu, pamoja na maandalizi yanayoendelea kwenye vyama vya upinzani kushika dola, bado ni yatima wa mipango na rasilimali watu makini wa kutekeleza na kukidhi matumaini ya Wananchi ndani ya kipindi kifupi cha miaka mitano (5). Vyama vya Upinzani vimefanya na vinaendelea kufanya makosa makubwa sana kwa kuacha wananchi kuweka matumaini makubwa kupitiliza juu ya nini watakifanya wakiingia madarakani. Wamewaaminisha wanancnhi kwamba kile walichoshindwa CCM kwa miaka 54 (hapo 2015) wao watakifanikisha ndani ya miaka mitano! Kwa kosa hili, wategemee kuchukiwa haraka sana na kupingwa na wananchi hao hao watakaokuwa wamewapa ushindi. Ebu nisitoke ndani ya mada maana hii tayari ni mada nyingine kabisa.

Nakutakia tafakuri njema.

Source:  http://www.jamiiforums.com/jukwaa-la-siasa/252439-zilizokuwa-dawa-za-ccm-ndizo-sumu-zinazoiua-ccm.html

Hukumu ya Lema yaibua mapya

Na James Magai  (email the author)

MWANAZUONI aliyebobea katika sheria, Profesa Issa Shivji na Rais wa Chama cha Wanasheria Tanganyika (TLS), Francis Stolla wamekosoa hukumu ya Mahakama ya Rufani, iliyomrejesha bungeni, Mbunge wa Arusha Mjini (Chadema), Godbless Lema.

Wakizungumza kwa nyakati tofauti juzi, wanasheria hao walisema hukumu hiyo iliyotolewa na majaji watatu wakiongozwa na Nathalia Kimaro, Salum Massati na Bernard Luanda, inapingana na sheria.

Hata hivyo, mmoja wa mawakili wa Lema, Method Kimomogoro amepinga madai hayo akisema wanaoipinga pengine hawajapata nafasi ya kuliangalia kwa undani suala la haki ya mpiga kura kupinga matokeo mahakamani.

Profesa Shivji kwa upande wake alieleza kushangazwa na maelezo ya Mahakama ya Rufani kuwa mpiga kura hana haki ya kufungua kesi ya kupinga matokeo ya uchaguzi na kusema hiyo ni sawa na kutunga sheria mpya na si kutafsiri zilizopo.
Alisema Sheria ya Bunge ya Uchaguzi, Katiba ya nchi na Mahakama, vinampa haki mpiga kura kufungua kesi kupinga matokeo ya uchaguzi.

“Sheria ya Bunge na Mahakama Kuu katika kesi ya Mgonja (Chediel ya mwaka 1980), vinampa haki mpiga kura kufungua kesi mahakamani kupinga matokeo. Sijaona hoja nzito ya Mahakama ya kufuta haki hiyo ya mpiga kura,” alisema Profesa Shivji.

Katika shauri hilo namba 84 la mwaka 1980 lililofunguliwa na William Bakari na mwenzake dhidi ya Mgonja na Mwanasheria Mkuu wa Serikali (AG), Mahakama Kuu Tanzania iliamua kuwa, mpiga kura ana haki kufungua kesi mahakamani kupinga matokeo. Walalamikaji walishinda.

Hata hivyo, Mahakama ya Rufani katika kesi ya Lema, iliamua kwamba hukumu katika kesi ya Mgonja ilikosewa kwani si sahihi kwamba mtu yeyote bila kujali mahali alipojiandikisha na kupiga kura anaweza kupinga matokeo katika jimbo lolote nchini hata kama haki zake hazijakiukwa kwa namna yoyote.

Lakini Profesa Shivji aliitetea hukumu hiyo ya Mgonja akisema imekuwapo kwa zaidi ya miaka 30 sasa na kwamba kwa muda wote huo imekuwa ikifuatwa katika uamuzi wa mashauri mbalimbali, huku akisisitiza kuwa Mahakama haiwezi kuifuta kirahisi tu.

Profesa Shivji alisema mpiga kura ni mwananchi na kwa vyovyote ana masilahi katika uchaguzi husika na hivyo anatarajia kuona uchaguzi ambao ni huru na wa haki.
“Hivyo huwezi kusema hahusiki na nani kashinda au kashindwa kwa kuwa uchaguzi ni muhimu katika kujenga na kukuza demokrasia,” alisema Profesa Shivji.

Chama cha Wanasheria
Kwa upande wake, Stolla alisema: “Nimesikiliza hata maoni ya wanasheria mbalimbali wakizungumzia kutofurahishwa na tafsiri ya Mahakama ya Rufani kuhusu haki ya mpiga kura ‘ku-challenge’ (kupinga) matokeo ya uchaguzi mahakamani,” alisema na kuongeza:
“Katika uamuzi wa kisheria, inaonekana Mahakama imetunga sheria mpya na wengi tunajiuliza kama siyo, sababu ya kuwa mpiga kura ni ipi nyingine inampa haki mpiga kura kupinga matokeo?”

Stolla alisema Sheria ya Bunge ya Uchaguzi ya tangu mwaka 1985, ambayo ilifanyiwa marekebisho mwaka 2002, kabla ya kutungwa upya mwaka 2005, inampa haki mpiga kura kupinga matokeo ya uchaguzi mahakamani.

“Mwaka 2002, sheria zote zilifanyiwa marekebisho na baadaye mwaka 2005, Bunge likatunga sheria mpya inayoitwa Sheria ya Taifa ya Uchaguzi, ikafuta ya mwaka 1985. Sheria hiyo na marekebisho yake, ndiyo inayotawala uchaguzi hadi sasa,” alisema.

Alisema hata kabla ya kutungwa kwa sheria hiyo ya Uchaguzi ya mwaka 1985, tayari kulikuwa na uamuzi wa Mahakama Kuu katika kesi ya Mgonja ambayo iliamua kuwa mpiga kura ana haki ya kupinga matokeo ya uchaguzi mahakamani.
“Uamuzi wa kesi ya Mgonja ulikuja ‘ku-reflect’ (kuakisi) hata kwenye Sheria ya Bunge ya mwaka 1985. Tangu hukumu hiyo ya Mgonja hakuna uamuzi mwingine wa Mahakama ambao umeshautengua huo, ndiyo maana hata wanasheria wanashangaa uamuzi huu wa Mahakama ya Rufani,” alisema.

Alisema kumekuwa na kesi nyingi mahakamani za wapiga kura kupinga matokeo na kwamba nyingine hata yeye amezisimamia na hakuna wakati ambao Mahakama imewahi kusema kuwa hawana haki hiyo.

Alitoa mfano wa kesi iliyofunguliwa na wapiga kura dhidi ya aliyekuwa Mbunge wa Mbulu, Phillip Marmo baada ya Uchaguzi Mkuu wa mwaka 2005. Alisema kesi hiyo ilishindwa kuendelea kutokana na wapiga kura hao kushindwa kuweka mahakamani fedha ya amana kwa ajili ya kuiendesha na si kwa sababu hawakuwa na haki.

Akizungumzia hoja ya Mahakama ya Rufani kuwa hapakuwa na ushahidi kama walalamikaji walikuwa wapiga kura, Stolla alisema hilo halikuwa na ulazima kwa kuwa halikuwa jambo lililokuwa likibishaniwa.

“Hata hivyo, kabla ya kuanza kesi Mahakama Kuu, Jaji Mujulizi (Aloyce) aliitisha vithibitisho ili kujiridhisha kama ni wapiga kura,” alisema Stolla na kuongeza:
“Lakini Mahakama ya Rufani wenyewe walianza kutafuta kama liliibuka Mahakama Kuu na licha ya Mahakama Kuu kuonyesha kuwa ilijiridhisha katika hilo, wao wakakosoa kuwa uthibitisho huo ulipaswa uwe sehemu ya mwenendo.”

Katika uamuzi wake Mahakama ya Rufani ilisema kumbukumbu za Mahakama hazionyeshi iwapo vitambulisho vya wapiga kura viliwasilishwa na kupokewa mahakamani na ikaenda mbali zaidi kwa kutilia shaka jinsi rekodi ya kadi hizo zilivyochukuliwa.

Ilisema kinachoonekana katika kumbukumbu za Mahakama ni kiambatisho na maelezo tu kuwa wajiburufani ni wapiga kura waliosajiliwa na kwamba badala yake wakili wao ndiye aliyejaribu kuthibitisha hilo kwa maelezo, badala ya vielelezo.

Ilisema Wakili wa wajibu rufaa, Alute Mughway aliwasilisha kadi za wateja wake kwa Jaji Aloyce Mujulizi kuthibitisha kuwa walikuwa wapiga kura halali, lakini Mahakama hiyo ikasisitiza kuwa utaratibu huo ni kinyume cha sheria kwa kuwa ushahidi kama huo ulipaswa uwasilishwe moja kwa moja mahakamani na utolewe na wamiliki wa nyaraka husika.

Ilisema hata kama ingethibitika kuwa wajibu rufani walikuwa wapiga kura waliosajiliwa, bado hawakuwa na haki kisheria kufungua kesi kupinga matokeo ya uchaguzi kwa madai ya mrufani kutumia lugha za matusi kwenye kampeni zake.

Mugway ashangaa
Wakili Alute Mughway aliyekuwa akiwatetea wajibu rufaa katika rufaa hiyo, alisema Mahakama imeacha jukumu lake la kutafsiri sheria na badala yake ikatunga sheria mpya ambayo inapingana na Sheria ya Bunge na Katiba ya nchi, Ibara ya 26 (2).

Alisema Kifungu cha 111 (1) cha Sheria ya Uchaguzi, Hukumu ya kesi ya Mgonja na Katiba ya Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania, vinampa haki mpiga kura kufungua shauri mahakamani kupinga matokeo ya uchaguzi.

Alisema kwa mujibu wa kifungu hicho, miongoni mwa watu wanaoweza kufungua kesi kupinga matokeo ya uchaguzi ni aliyepiga kura au aliyekuwa na haki ya kupiga kura na kwamba tangu wakati huo kifungu hicho hakijawahi kufanyiwa marekebisho.
Wakili wa kujitegemea, Vedasto Audax alikaririwa na gazeti dada la The Citizen akisema: “Swali langu ni kwamba ni lini uamuzi wa kesi ya Mgonja ulionekana kuwa na makosa kisheria? Ni kuanzia leo baada ya Mahakama ya Rufani kutamka kuwa una makosa?”

Wakili wa Lema
Kimomogoro alisema hukumu ya kesi ya Mgonja haijitoleshelezi kwa sababu haikusema ni katika mambo gani mpiga kura ana haki ya kufungua kesi kupinga matokeo mahakamani huku akisema kwa maoni yake, anakuwa na haki pale tu haki zake kama mpiga kura zinapokiukwa.

“Mpiga kura hawezi kuwa na haki sawa na mgombea. Mgombea haki zake ni kubwa kuliko mpiga kura kwa sababu kwanza yeye ni mpiga kura na pili ni mgombea,” alisema na kuongeza:

“Ndiyo maana mpiga kura anaruhusiwa kupiga kura katika kituo kile alichojiandikisha tu lakini mgombea huweza kupiga kura katika kituo chochote.”

Alisema mwananchi wa kawaida tu ambaye hajajiandikisha hata kama akimwona mgombea akitoa rushwa hadharani, hana haki ya kufungua kesi mahakamani, lakini alipoulizwa kwa upande wa mwananchi aliyejiandikisha kupiga kura alisema hakuwa na rejea za sheria kwa kuwa alikuwa Karagwe kwa mapumziko.

Kesi ya Lema
Lema alivuliwa ubunge na Mahakama Kuu Kanda ya Arusha, Aprili 5, mwaka huu kutokana na kesi iliyofunguliwa na makada watatu wa CCM, Mussa Mkanga, Happy Kivuyo na Agnes Mollel, wakipinga ushindi wake.

Walikuwa wakidai kuwa katika kampeni zake alikuwa akitumia lugha za matusi, kejeli na ubaguzi wa kijinsia dhidi ya aliyekuwa mgombea wa CCM, Dk Batilda Buriani.
Mahakama Kuu katika hukumu yake iliyotolewa na Jaji Gabriel Rwakibarila ilimtia hatiani kwa kutumia lugha ya matusi na kutengua matokeo yaliyompa ushindi.

Lema alikata rufaa Mahakama ya Rufani kupitia kwa mawakili wake, Kimomogoro na Tundu Lissu ambayo Desemba 21, mwaka huu ilimrejesha tena bungeni baada ya kuikubali.

Katika uamuzi wake, Mahakama hiyo ilisema kwa kuwa kisheria hayo ni masilahi ya umma kufikishwa mahakamani chini ya Ibara ya 26 (2) ya Katiba na kwamba mlalamikaji anapaswa kuonyesha haki zake au masilahi ambayo yameingiliwa na athari alizozipata.
“Hivyo mpiga kura hana haki ya kisheria kufungua kesi kuhoji matokeo ya uchaguzi pale ambapo haki zake hazikukiukwa,” ilisema Mahakama ya Rufani.

Ilisema kwa mujibu wa Ibara ya 26 (2) ya Katiba ya Tanzania, raia anakuwa na haki ya kisheria kufungua kesi kwa masilahi ya jamii, kama ilivyotokea katika kesi ya Mchungaji Christopher Mtikila dhidi ya Mwanasheria Mkuu wa SerikaIi ya mwaka 1995.

Ilisema kesi dhidi ya Lema haikufunguliwa chini ya Ibara ya 26 (2) ambayo inampa fursa na haki raia yeyote kufungua shauri mahakamani lenye masilahi ya umma, huku ikisisitiza kuwa madai ya wajibu rufani katika kesi hiyo hayagusi masilahi ya jamii yote.

Source: http://www.mwananchi.co.tz/habari/Kitaifa/-/1597296/1652818/-/11qf148/-/index.html

Tanzania yajitayarisha kuingilia kati mzozo wa DRC

Tanzania inajitayarisha kupeleka majeshi katika Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo (DRC) ili kupambana na Kikundi cha Machi 23 (M23) kinachopigana kuiangusha serikali ya Kongo, maafisa wa Tanzania waliiambia Sabahi.

• Mtoto akiwaangalia askari wa jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo wakirejea makambini kwao huko Goma siku ya Jumatatu (tarehe 3 Disemba), sku mbili baada ya wapiganaji wa M23 kuondok., Tanzania na nchi nyingine za kanda hiyo zinafanyia kazi juu ya kusuluhisha mzozo huo. [Na Phil Moore/AFP]
  

Makala zinazohusiana

• Mazungumzo ya amani kati ya DRC na M23 yaahirishwa, viongozi wa Kiafrika wakutana Tanzania
• Watanzania waomboleza kifo cha muigizaji wao waliompendwa
• Kenya yaendelea kuwatafuta watu 5 waliopotea baada ya helikopta za Uganda kuanguka
• Tanzania, Msumbiji, Afrika Kusini zapambana na uharamia kwa pamoja

Majeshi ya Tanzania yatapelekwa kama sehemu ya misheni ya kulinda amani chini ya mamlaka ya Umoja wa Mataifa, njia hiyo hiyo ambayo wamekuwa wakipelekwa katika nchi nyingine katika eneo hilo. Msemaji wa jeshi la Ulinzi la Tanzania Kanali Kapambala Mgawe alisema siku ya Ijumaa (tarehe 30 Novemba).
"Tanzania imekuwa ikijihusisha na misheni za amani, mafunzo na ushauri kwa nchi nyingi," aliiambia Sabahi, na kueleza kuwa majeshi ya Tanzania yamekuweko katika misheni hizo huko Lebanoni, Darfur, Sudani ya Kusini, Visiwa vya Komoro na Liberia.
"Tanzania daima haiendi kwa nchi yeyote bila ya kuombwa na nchi hiyo au kutoka Umoja wa Mataifa," alisema.
Mgawe alisema kuwa kwa vile mzozo wa DRC hauna tishio lolote maalumu kwa Tanzania, viongozi wa kikanda wanazidi kuwa na wasiwasi kuwa hali ya kutokuwepo kwa utulivu unaoweza kusababishwa.
Mataifa wanachama wa Jumuiya ya Maendeleo ya Nchi za Kusini mwa Afrika (SADC) wanafanyakzi pamoja ili kuhakikisha kuwa serikali za kidemokrasia katika eneo hilo hazitishiwi au kuangushwa na waasi, na kwamba utawala wa sheria ndio utakaotawala, alisema.
M23 kiliundwa tarehe 4 Aprili mwaka huu na takriban askari 300 walioigeuka serikali ya DRC, wakitaja hali duni jeshini na kutokuwa tayari kwa serikali kuwatekeleza makubaliano ya amani ya tarehe 23 Machi 2009, makaubaliano ambayo yamekipatia jina kikundi hicho.
M23 pia kimemshutumu Raisi wa DRC Joseph Kabila kwa kufanya udanganyifu katika uchaguzi wa Novemba 2011, ambao uchaguzi uligubikwa na upinzani wa vurugu, kuenea kwa matatizo ya vifaa na ukosolewaji wa kimataifa.

Mazungumzo ya amani yenye nguvu

Kutekwa kwa mji wa Goma na M23 hapo tarehe 20 Novemba, mji mkuu wenye utajiri wa rasilimali katika Mkoa wa kaskazini wa Kivu, miezi minane baada ya kuanzisha uasi wao dhidi ya serikali, kulizua hofu ya vita vipana zaidi na matatizo makubwa ya kibinadamu, shirika la habari la AFP liliripoti.
Kukindi hicho kilijitoa kutoka Goma siku ya Jumatatu (tarehe 3 Disemba), ingawaje wapiganaji wake wamebaki karibu na mji na bado hawajarejea nyuma kilomita 20 zilizokubaliwa katika mazungumzo ya kikanda.
Kiongozi wa kisiasa wa M23 Jean-Marie Runiga alisema siku ya Jumanne kuwa kikundi chake kilikuwa tayari kuzungumza na serikali.
Mazungumzo yataanza "siku chache zijazo mjini Kampala", Waziri wa mambo ya Ndani wa DRC Richard Muyej Mangez alithibitisha. Alisema kuwa serikali itapeleka kikosi kamili wakiwemo viongozi muhimu wa kijamii na wajumbe wa bunge la taifa na seneti.
Hata hivyo, Kabila -- ambaye kikundi cha M23 kimemtaka awachie ngazi toka madarakani -- hakitarajiwi kuhudhuria katika mazungumzo ya awali.
Wakati huo huo, wataalamu wa Umoja wa Mataifa walitoa kile walichosema kuwa ni ushahidi moya ambao "unashikilia imara" shutuma za mwanzo kuwa Rwanda na Uganda viliwasaidia M23.
Ripoti hiyo ambayo AFP iliipata siku ya Jumatatu, inasema kuwa Rwanda na Uganda zilikisaidia M23 katika mashambulizi yake, huku Uganda ikitoa msaada wa vifaa na mama ya majeshi ya Rwanda kujiunga na kikosi ambacho kiliuteka Goma.
Rwanda na Uganda zilikataa katakata kuhusika katika mzozo huo.

Walinda amani wanajiandaa

Wakati taharuki iko juu, Tanzania inaendelea na mipango yake ya kupeleka kikosi kimoja chenye askari kati ya 700 na 800 chini ya uangalizi wa SADC, ikisubiri amri ya Umoja wa Mataifa, Waziri wa Mambo ya Nje na Uhusiano wa Kimataifa wa Tanzania Bernard Membe alisema.
Mwezi Agosti, nchi wanachama 11 za Mkutano wa Kimataifa juu ya Eneo la Maziwa Makuu (ICGRL) uliomba SADC kupeleka askari 4,000 huko DRC baada ya kuthibitishwa na Kifungu cha 7 cha mamlaka ya Umoja wa Mataifa, inayowapa walinda amani mamlaka ya kuchukua hatua iwapo raia watakuwa katika tishio la mara moja.
Mpaka sasa, Umoja wa Mataifa umeruhusu tu walinda amani kujilinda wenyewe iwapo watashambuliwa chini ya Kifungu cha 6 cha mamlaka yake, ambacho hakiruhusu kuwa na wajibu zaidi ya huo.
"Tunalaani kile waasi wanachofanya huko mashariki mwa Kongo," Membe alisema. "Haikubaliki kwa Tanzania." Ili kuimarisha amani katika DRC, majeshi yanaweza kutumia nguvu ili kutekeleza majukumu yao, alisema.
"Tanzania inawataka waasi waondoke Goma na maeneo mengine muhimu wanayoshikilia ili kuruhusu mazungumzo, au Umoja wa Mataifa utatoa kibali kwa majeshi ya SADC kuwa sehemu ya misheni ya kuyasaidia majeshi ya serikali ya DRC mara moja," alisema.

Vitisho kwa Tanzania

Mzozo wa DRC ni muhimu kwa Tanzania kwa sababu ikiwa utaachwa bila ya kuangaliwa, utakuwa na athari za kijamii na kisiasa kwa mataifa wanachama wa Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki, Membe alisema. Tanzania inaweza kukabiliwa na kumiminika kwa wingi kwa wakimbizi ikiwa mzozo utaenea, na kulifanya taifa kuwa katika hatari sana kwa vitisho vya usalama, alisema.
Tanzania imekuwa ikiwapokea wakimbizi kutoka Burundi na DRC tangu miaka ya mwanzo ya 1990. Hadi kufikia mwezi Januari huu, kulikuwa na zaidi ya wakimbizi 130,000 nchini, nusu yao wakitokea DRC, kwa mujibu wa Kamishna wa Umoja wa Mataifa kwa Wakimbizi.
Membe alisema kuwa wadau wa kanda lazima waonyeshe uongozi na kufuata mkabala wa kuwa wenye harakati ili kutuliza hali.
Mnamo tarehe 24 Novemba, Raisi Jakaya Kikwete alikutana na Kabila, Raisi wa Uganda Yoweri Museveni, Raisi wa Kenya Mwai Kibaki na mwenyekiti wa Tume ya Umoja wa Afrika Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma katika mkutano wa tano wa ICGRL.
ICGRL ilitoa wito kwa M23 kusitisha shughuli zote za vita, na kuzitaka pande zote mbili za M23 na serikali kufungamana na makubaliana yaliyotangulia. Washiriki kwa mkutano huo pia walitoa wito kwa nchi za eneo hilo kuchukua wajibu mkubwa zaidi wa kuhakikisha amani ya DRC.

Hatua za wananchi

Wananchi jijini Dar es Salaam walieleza maoni tofauti kuhusu ama Tanzania ingejishughulisha katika operesheni ya kijeshi huko DRC.
Omary Mkonge, mwenye umri wa miaka 75, alisema anapingana na serikali kupeleka askari huko DRC. "Hakuna haja kwetu kuingilia kati katika vita hivi na vitaigharimu sana nchi yetu," alisema. "Unaona, miaka 33 baada ya vita na Uganda, nchi yetu bado haijatengamaa kiuchumi. Bado tuna makovu ya vita."
Mkonge alisema kuwa serikali inapaswa kutumia nyenzo zake ili kuwasaidia Watanzania, baadhi yao wanaoshi katika umasikini wa kutisha.
Kambarage Manuga, mwenye umri wa miaka 80, yeye alisifia uamuzi wa Tanzania kupeleka wanajeshi kuwalinda wale ambao wako katika hatari ya kuathirika haraka.
"Katika vita vyovyote, kutokana na uzoefu wangu mrefu, wanawake, watoto na wazee ndio wanaoteseka zaidi," aliiambia Sabahi. "Ninaunga mkono hatua hiyo ya serikali yangu kuingilia kati mzozo wa DRC. Huwezi kubakia katika amani ambapo nyumba ya jirani yako inaungua moto.
Source:  http://sabahionline.com/sw/articles/hoa/articles/features/2012/12/04/feature-02

Tanzania Iran tried to import uranium from DR Congo

(AFP) 6 August 2006

Iran tried to import uranium for its nuclear programme from the Democratic Republic of Congo, but the shipment was intercepted in Tanzania, The Sunday Times reported, citing a senior Tanzanian customs officer.

A huge shipment of uranium 238 bound for the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas was intercepted on October 22, 2005, by customs officials in Tanzania making a routine check, the officer told the newspaper.

The British weekly also cited a United Nations report, due to be considered by the Security Council, which said there was “no doubt” that a large shipment of uranium 238 was transported from the Lubumbashi mines in the DR Congo.

The customs official said the uranium shipment was found hidden in a consignment of coltan, a rare mineral, which was destined for smelting in Kazakhstan after being transported through Bandar Abbas.

“There were several containers due to be shipped and they were all routinely scanned with a Geiger counter,” he said.

“This one was very radioactive. When we opened the container it was full of drums of coltan. Each drum contains about 50 kilogrammes (xx pounds) of ore. When the first and second rows were removed the ones after that were found to be drums of uranium,” he said.

“The container was put in a secure part of the port and it was later taken away, by the Americans, I think, or at least with their help. We have all been told not to talk to anyone about this.”

The Sunday Times also quoted a source with access to security service assessments as saying that there was “great concern” about Iranian sleeper cells in Britain conducting reconnaissance at nuclear power plants in preparation for a possible attack.

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said Sunday his country would not suspend uranium enrichment, in a clear rejection of a UN resolution calling for a freeze of the sensitive nuclear work.

Iran insists it wants to enrich uranium only to make reactor fuel for power stations but the United States and other countries suspect Teheran wants the capacity to make weapons-grade uranium.

The UN resolution requires Iran to halt uranium enrichment and other sensitive nuclear fuel work by August 31 or face the prospect of sanctions.

Wikileaks:
C O N F I D E N T I A L DAR ES SALAAM 001593 SIPDIS SIPDIS AF/E FOR BYODER, AF/RSA FOR MBITTRICK ALSO VCI FOR HHEINTZELMAN AND KWALKIN EO 12958 DECL: 09/27/2016 TAGS PTER, PINR, IAEA, PGOV, CG,

TZ SUBJECT: URANIUM IN DAR COMMON KNOWLEDGE TO SHIPPING COMPANIES, PER SWISS DIPLOMAT REF: A. DAR ES SALAAM 01376 B. UNVIE VIENNA 00601 C. KINSHASA 01309 Classified By: Charge d’Affaires D. Purnell Delly for reasons 1.4(b),(d) and (e). ¶

1. (C) According to a senior Swiss diplomat, the shipment of uranium through Dar es Salaam is common knowledge to two Swiss shipping companies. Hans Peter Schoni, Counsellor at the Embassy of Switzerland in Tanzania, referred to the allegations of uranium from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) passing through Zambia and Tanzania en route to Iran, but did not attribute to the shipping companies any opinion of the source or destination of the alleged uranium. Poloff pointed out that the reports were unsubstantiated, but Schoni repeated that transport of uranium is common knowledge to the two companies, though no one at either company would admit it in writing. XXXXXXXXXXXX are both based in Geneva and conduct verification and inspection work in Tanzania.

¶2. (C) Mission has shared this information with all relevant agencies at post which were unable to substantiate this or any other such reports of uranium shipments. Nevertheless, given the potential significance of such allegations we believe it is important to report nonetheless. DELLY
 

Wahamiaji haramu wavamia Tembo

USALAMA wa Tembo katika Hifadhi ya Taifa ya Burigi uko mashakani kufuatia kuwepo kwa vitendo vya uwindaji wa wanyama hao unaofanywa na watu wanaoaminika kuwa ni wahamiaji haramu.

Wawindaji hao husafirisha pembe hizo za Tembo na kuzipeleka nchi jirani ya Rwanda kwa ajili ya kuziuza.

Mabaki ya Mizoga ya Tembo waliouawa hifadhini.

Uchunguzi uliofanywa na Mwananchi Jumapili na kuthibitishwa na Mkuu wa Wilaya ya Ngara, Constantine Kanyasu, umebaini kushamiri kwa wahamiaji haramu wanaojihusisha na ufugaji na wamekuwa wakiingia kinyemela nchini na kuendesha shughuli za ufugaji katika ardhi ya Tanzania na baadhi yao kuendesha vitendo vya uhalifu.

Baadhi ya wananchi katika vijiji vya Kasulo na Ngoma wilayani Ngara walisema wahamiaji hao wamekuwa wakifika na mifugo yao na kujifanya wafugaji lakini wamekuwa wakishughulika na uwindaji haramu ikiwa ni pamoja na uuwaji wa Tembo na kisha kuuza pembe nchini Rwanda.

Akizungumza na gazeti hili mmoja wa wakazi wa Kijiji cha Kasulo, Ramadhani Luzuba alisema wahamiaji hao ambao wamekuwa wakiendesha shughuli za ufugaji, wamekuwa wakifanya uharamia huo kwa msaada wa maofisa wa Idara ya wanyamapori.

“Hawa wafugaji wa Rwanda wamekuwa wakipanga na askari wanyamapori, wanapotaka kuuwa Tembo ni lazima wawasiline na askari wa Pori, wanapokubaliana basi ni lazima utoe fedha na kila Tembo mmoja anayeuawa wauaji hulipia kiasi cha Sh1.5 milioni hadi Sh2 milioni,” alieleza mmoja wa wafugaji.

Kwa mujibu wa uchunguzi wa gazeti hili, wafugaji wengi wanaojihusisha na uwindaji wa Tembo wamekuwa wakiuza pembe za ndovu na kununua Ng’ombe ambao wamekuwa wakiwafuga porini, na kisha ng’ombe hao wanapofika zaidi ya 500 au 1000 wamekuwa wakiuzwa na kupeleka  fedha kwao.

Mauaji ya Tembo
Akizungumza na waandishi wa habari Mwenyekiti wa Serikali ya Kijiji cha Kasulo, wilayani Ngara, Yusuf Katura  alisema kwamba kwa takwimu walizonazo hadi sasa jumla ya Tembo 19 wameuawa katika kipindi cha miezi mitatu iliyopita na wafugaji hao.

Idadi hiyo inafanya idadi ya jumla ya Tembo 37 ambao watakuwa wameuawa na majangili katika Pori la Hifadhi ya Burigi iliyopo wilayani Biharamulo mkoani Kagera.

“Tatizo kubwa ni hawa wahamiaji haramu ambao wamekuwa wakiingia porini kwa kisingizio cha ufugaji, wengi ni raia kutoka nchi za Rwanda na Burudi. Hawa wafugaji wageni wanaua sana Tembo, na ikitokea wakati wa kuua Tembo akawapo mwana kijiji akawaona, basi kinachotokea aliyewaona uuawa na kama ni mwanamke hubakwa ama kupigwa,” alieleza Katura.

Taarifa za ndani kutoka katika Hifadhi ya Burigi, zilidai kwamba jumla ya Tembo kumi waliuawa mwezi Julai mwaka huu katika maeneo ya Kulushasha na ndani ya hifadhi hiyo na kuongeza kati ya Tembo hao, watatu waliuawa katika eneo la Kulushasha na saba ndani ya hifadhi ya Burigi ambapo kati ya mwezi Septemba na Agosti Tembo wengine waliuawa katika maeneo ya Bwawani, eneo la Gerezani.

“Wastani wa Tembo kuuwawa kwa siku ni kati ya mmoja hadi wawili, hawa ni wale ambao tunawaona huku kijijini kwetu, lakini kule ndani ya hifadhi wapo pia wanauawa,hiyo hesabu yake  hatuijui ila siku akifa Tembo huko utaona tu magari ya maliasili yakifika porini kwa wafugaji na kuwakamata, lakini baada ya muda wanaokamatwa huachiwa,” alieleza mwanakijiji cha Ngoma wilayani Ngara.

Waasi wa Burundi
Aidha imeelezwa kwamba sehemu kubwa ya wahamiaji ambao wamekuwa wakijihusisha na uwindaji wa Tembo ni askari  wa vikosi vya waasi nchini Burundi na Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo na kwamba wamekuwa wakiendesha zoezi la uwindaji kwa ajili ya kusaka fedha za kulipa askari pamoja na kuwalisha waasi waliopo porini.

“Suala hili serikali inajua, limekwisha elezwa sana katika vikao vya ulinzi vya ujirani mwema, kwamba hawa wahamiaji haramu ambao wanafuga katika ardhi ya Tanzania wengi ni mawakala wa waasi wa kivita wa Burundi na wale wa Kongo, lakini tunaona Serikali imekuwa kimya ,” alieleza mmoja wa wakazi wa Kijiji cha Kasulo.

Kauli ya Serikali
Mkuu wa Wilaya ya Ngara, Constantine Kanyasu akithibitisha kuwapo kwa wahamiaji haramu alisema suala hili linafahamika na kwamba lina historia ndefu na kwamba limeanza takribani miaka 10 iliyopita.

“Inasemekana kuna mahusiano kati ya wahamiaji haramu na wafugaji lakini pia hata na majangili wanaohusika na uwindaji wa Tembo wetu. Kwa kipindi ambacho nimekuwa mkuu wa wilaya hapa tumeendesha vikao vya kamati ya ulinzi na usalama kujadili jambo hili, bado tunajipanga kwa ajili ya kulishughulikia zaidi,” alifafanua.

Uhamiaji wanena
Afisa Uhamiaji Mkoa wa Kagera, George Goerge akizungumza kwa njia ya simu jana alisema kwamba kwa sasa hana taarifa za uhakika kuhusiana na wahamiaji hao haramu, hii ni kutokana na kuwa mgeni katika ofisi yake na kuomba alifanyie kazi.

“Mimi hapa nimepewa ni mgeni nina siku 21, tangu nimeingia mkoa huu wa Kagera, sina taarifa zaidi mpaka nifanyie kazi mambo haya,” alieleza

Kauli ya Waziri
Kwa upande wake Naibu Waziri wa Maliasili na Utalii,  Lazaro Nyalandu alisema Serikali inafuatilia kwa makini suala la mauaji ya Tembo na kwamba idadi yake inafahamika na kila amapouawa mmoja wamekuwa wakitambua.

“Wizara yetu kwa sasa imejikita kusaka wauaji hawa, kwanza ikiwa ni pamoja na kufuatilia mitandao yao, nani anawafadhili na anayewapatia silaha, tunafahamu kila hatua ambayo Tembo wetu wanapouawa,” alifafanua.
Source:  http://www.mwananchi.co.tz/habari/Kitaifa/-/1597296/1650394/-/item/1/-/rh3qia/-/index.html