PRESS SUMMARIES-27 September 2013 National news JK: Tanesco passed through difficult, challenging moments President Jakaya Kikwete has said his government has been taking important steps in transforming the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO). The transformation programme aims at ensuring that government efforts in supplying power to the majority of Tanzanians are realized soon. Acknowledging that Tanesco has passed through very difficult and challenging moments, the government has embarked on the programme that is likely to bury the difficult moments. Kikwete said when he assumed power some seven years ago, only ten percent of the country was connected to the national grid. Currently, 21 percent of Tanzanians access power supply, representing an increase in connectivity by at least 11 percent in the period, which is more than 50 years of the country’s independence. According to the President, the target is now to ensure that at least 30 percent of Tanzanians get connected to power supply by 2015. Tanzania is among the countries that received USD 698 million of the MCC money during the first phase of the funding. It invested the money in electricity, airports, water and roads. ( Habari Leo, Daily News, et al) 138 Tanzanians mistaken for illegal immigrants At least 138 Tanzanians are in refugee camps in Rwanda after being mistakenly sent there in course of the ongoing deportation of illegal immigrants, the Legal and Human Rights Center (LHRC) has reported, blaming it on ‘hatred by some ward executives and other local government leaders’. According to LHRC Executive Director Dr Helen Kijo Bisimba a team has been sent to Rwanda to assess the situation and according to preliminary information from the victims it seems that Ward executives and other local leaders are responsible for their wrongful deportation due to various reasons including personal misunderstandings between them and the victims. It has been said that these victims own properties which they earned over a long time so before forcing them to leave the country there is need to have reliable evidence that they are really illegal immigrants. However, Home Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Isaack Nantanga has denied any knowledge of the report, but nonetheless, he promised to look into it and if found to be correct, the victims will be brought back home. (Nipashe, Uhuru, The Guardian, et al) Mother, child deaths decrease in Kigoma The World Lung Foundation (WLF) has registered some success in reducing maternal and child deaths in Kigoma region, donors have said. A recent visit by the WLF donor and head of H and B Agerup Foundation, Dr Hellen Agerup, established that renovated Nguruka and Ujiji health centres in the region have a bigger capacity than before to treat expectant women. They also help them to deliver in a more safe and reliable environment. WLF Project Director, Dr Nguke Mwakatunda, pointed out that the Ujiji Health Centre has registered even more success as its total deliveries rose from eight in 2007 to 2,634 in 2012. For his part, the acting Kigoma Regional Medical Officer, Dr Fadhili Kibaya, also commended the WLF Maternal Health project describing it as a working model that can be used across the region to reduce the maternal mortality rate. He reiterated that the government is using the WLF model to upgrade the dispensary in Kalia to become a health centre along with others in a move to provide quality health services to the community. The programme gets financial support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, H and B Agerup Foundation, Merck and Erickson. The foundation aims to improve women’s access to emergency obstetric care, particularly in rural and isolated areas. (The Guardian, Mwananchi, Uhuru, et al) International News Poverty declines as inequality deepens As world leaders from 193 countries evaluate the successes and failures of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) during high-level meetings and special events in the United States, the United Nations claims that extreme poverty worldwide has been cut in half. The number of people living on less that 1.25 dollars a day fell from 47 per cent in 1990 to 22 per cent in 2010, five years ahead of the targeted 2015 deadline. But much of the reduction in poverty - amounting to about 700 million people leaving the ranks of the indigent – has taken place in countries such as India, China and Brazil, which have huge populations. There are still 1.2 billion people still living in extreme poverty in most of the world’s poorer nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean. But poverty alleviation has also resulted in the rise of a new middle class. The outcome document resolved that the post-2015 development agenda should reinforce the international community’s commitment to poverty eradication and sustainable development. (Daily News, et al)
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 06:55:06 +0000
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