http://globalvoicesonline.org/?s=tanzania

Tomorrow is an important day for Tanzanians. It's the day to exercise their democratic right in the 2010 General Election. I would have loved to have been there in the run up as I know it has been quite different to the campaigning that went on here in the UK earlier this year.

http://globalvoicesonline.org/

“Today is the last day of campaigning before Tanzania and Zanzibar go to the polls to elect a new Government. Elections in Zanzibar are extremely close-fought events, though you wouldn’t guess it to look at the results over the last forty years. The ruling party, CCM (Chama Cha Mapinduzi, The Party of the Revolution in Swahili), has held power ever since independence,”
Na Abdallah Shelufumo

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/10/04/tanzania-the-use-of-social-media-in-tanzania-general-election-2010/

Tanzania will go to the polls on October 30, 2010 and the general election campaign is well underway. As the campaigns heat up, presidential candidates and other candidates fighting for parliamentary seats are using new media tools to communicate with potential voters. Along with campaign rallies, which target the majority of the population, a small number of politicians have started to use social media tools such as blogs, online videos, Facebook and twitter to create deeper engagement with voters.
It is hard to accurately comment on the impact of the ongoing online campaigns because of lack of up-to-date statistics on usage of social media tools in Tanzania. The number of Tanzanians using the Internet is still small in comparison to the total population. In a country of 41 million people there are only 676,000 Internet users representing 1.6% of the total population. Among those with access to the internet there are only 141,580 Facebook users, with 74% of them aged between 18-34 years.
Whether created by fans or formal campaign officials, there are a few websites, blogs, facebook pages and twitter accounts running campaigns for presidential candidates and those fighting for parliamentary seats from the ruling CCM party. The official website of the current president and the ruling CCM party candidate, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, has a link to a facebook page with more than 4,500 followers. There is also another facebook page dedicated to Mr Kikwete with more than 13,500 fans.
Kikwete’s running mate who is also the candidate for the Vice President's post, Dr. Gharib Bilal, has more than one campaign websites. One site is linked to Mr Kikwete’s website and Dr. Bilal’s twitter account, while the other website has a link to a facebook page dedicated to his campaign.
One of the opposition parties presidential candidates Dr. Wilbrod Slaa from CHADEMA party has a facebook page linked from his official website with about 910 fans. Likewise there are more than two facebook pages dedicated to Dr. Slaa’s campaign with about 9000 people who ‘like’ Dr. Slaa. He also has a twitter account with very few tweets.
Similar to Tanzania Mainland, election manifestos, pictures and videos of the campaign rallies are on display on the websites of the Zanzibar’s CCM presidential candidate Dr Ali Mohamed Shein as well as on his main opposition contender Maalim Seif Sharif Hamad from the Civic United Front (CUF).
Announced mostly through twitter and blogs, online campaign videos with clips from election rallies have so far received a little more than 12,000 views in total at the time of writing this post. Some of the videos appear to have been uploaded directly from the rallies, like this one from CHADEMA’s Kigoma North candidate, Hon. Zitto Kabwe:
By Abdallah Shelufumo quoting ''English Global Voices''

Shifting Towards Drought Resistant Agriculture

Tanzania is poised for a scientific revolution to defeat one of its worst weather vagaries - drought – if tests to fertilise maize seeds biotechnologically prove successful.

A scientific conference which I followed in Johannesburg last week organised by the 'Water Efficient Maize for Africa' (WEMA) regional project revealed a rising enthusiasm by East and Southern African states to make this agricultural revolution which may mean sustained growth of Africa's staple food, maize.

Tanzanian officials interviewed by me for my weekly TV Show broadcast weekly on Channel Ten on the sidelines of the scientific regional conference were upbeat that this novel scientific breakthrough which had succeeded elsewhere in North America and other parts of the world will mean a real liberation for Tanzanian peasants and indeed the population as a whole because "ugali" - Tanzanian staple food - will be available sustainably all the year round.

According to Dr Alois Kullaya, a principal agricultural officer with the Tanzanian Ministry of Agriculture and country coordinator for the drought tolerant maize production project in Tanzania, already mock tests have been carried out at Makutupora in the arid Dodoma region in readiness for an imminent biotechnology test to develop drought resistant maize seeds

"In doing the mock test we wanted to ascertain if there would be any harm to the environment in the event a biotechnological test was embarked upon. That was last year on October 3," said Dr Kullaya.

Dr Kullaya asserted to me that the tests at Makutupora have revealed that there would no consequential harm to the environment in the event a biotechnology breeding of maize production is carried out in the country.

Another official at my panel interview, Dr Rose Kingamkono was even more upbeat and displayed a knowledgeable scientific process of breeding maize seeds biotechnologically.

Her institution, the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology in which she is a Director of Research Coordination is the one detailed to follow through the implementation of this technological revolution to conquer one of the vagaries of weather, drought, along with the Department of Research at the Tanzanian Ministry of Agriculture.

What one would wish this initiative by Tanzania as supported by the Nairobi based WEMA project is sustained focus and priority to bring this technological innovation to fruition because it will mean a significant leap forward for Tanzanian peasants.

For as has been observed elsewhere in the development effort, most of these projects have ended up as fine words on paper with little or no implementation on the ground.

Tanzania has a myriad of problems - from one extreme to another - as right now we are having to contend with floods brought about by heavy rains across the country. But efforts towards conquering one problem, such as drought may mean a lot to alleviate lack of sustainable food for the population.

Historically, as goes an overview by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) which sponsored the Johannesburg meeting, subsistence farmers in Africa have not had access as quickly as their counterparts in the developed world.

Globally, more than a billion cumulative acres of crops grown biotechnologically have been grown thus far in other parts of the developed world.

"One of the greatest attributes of biotechnology is its scale-neutral applicability. The power of this technology is delivered through a seed that can be grown by any farmer, regardless of the farm size, without additional equipment or large capital investment," says the overview.

These are the key words. Tanzania's subsistence farmers stand to benefit from biotechnology if it was applied in their interest - and the sooner the better.

As pointed out, most often than not, we are more accustomed and content with slogans but with no tangible action!

So if 'Kilimo Kwanza' [Priority is Agriculture] is to have any significant meaning, then policy and decision makers must move fast to embark on biotechnology revolution towards drought resistant agriculture.

Abdallah Shelufumo Quoting Mr.Makwaia wa Kuhenga is a senior Tanzanian journalist and author.

TANZANIAN ASSOCIATION READING AND BERKSHIRE

Habari za leo ndani ya Reading, UK.

Siku iliyokua ya mafanikio makubwa kwa watu walioenda kwenye training hiyo. Wachache wamepata nafasi ya kukutana na wakubwa wa kampuni ya CALADAN EXECUTIVE TRAINING NA KUPEWA BAADHI YA TIPS KUHUSIANA NA UPATIKANAJI WA KAZI BILA KUWA NA UZOEFU.

Watu waliohusika katika mafunzo hayo ya kuandaa cv nzuri na jinsi ya kujibu maswali wakati wa interview wamekua wazi kabisa na kuona wenyewe ni jinsi gani watu hukosa kazi sio kwa ajili hawajasoma ila ni kwasababu ya kuwa na cv yenye muonekano mbaya na jinsi ambavyo wanajibu maswali wakati wa interview.

imekua ni siku maalumu sana kwani watu wameondoka wakiwa wameelimika kabisa na kuombwa waone jinsi ambavyo wanaweza kufanya kazi bila malipo (volunteer) ili Kupata fursa ya kutengeneza cv zao. Picha hapo chini ni za leo kwenye training .

ND;James Ahadi akiwa na Abdallah Shelufumo ambae ni mmiliki wa blog hii wakiwa wanafanya kazi ya kurekebisha cv mbovu za watu zilizo tumwa kwenye makampuni mbalimbali na kuzitoa makosa ili kuwawezesha wengine kuona jinsi ya kuandika cv.

Zefumo ikiripoti kutoka http://tareading.blogspot.com/

Fernando Torrez Nitabaki Liverpool Daima

The Spain international, who returned to training yesterday after winning the World Cup in South Africa, has been the subject of persistent speculation.

However, the 26-year-old has moved to quash suggestions he was ready to move on.

"I am really happy to be back, really happy to stay with all my team-mates," he said.

"My commitment and loyalty to the club and to the fans is the same as it was on my first day when I signed.

"I am looking forward to the challenge ahe

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres has pledged his future to the club after insisting his "commitment and loyalty is the same as it was on my first day when I signed".

"I am really happy to be back, really happy to stay with all my team-mates," he said.

Na Abdallah Shelufumo