The Daily Media Tracker

Regional Headlines:

• ‘Fight over pasture erupts in Kenya’s northern rift’ | The Guardian
• ‘Eastern Libya seeks semi-autonomy’ | The African
• ‘Uganda House asked to lift suspension on [education] probe’ | The Citizen
• ‘Battle against plastic bags gains ground’ | Daily News
• ‘Kutimuliwa kwa Malema ANC na siasa za vijana’ [The expulsion of Malema from the ANC and the politics of youth] | Mwananchi
• ‘Ukomavu wa Demokrasia Senegal na Ubishi wa Rais kikongwe Wade’ [Deepening Democracy in Senegal and the intransigence of elderly President Wade] | Mtanzania

Page One: A summary

‘Pinda to doctors: No retreat, no surrender‘, ‘Serikali yaawangukia madaktari Dar [The government comes down on doctors in Dar]‘, ‘Pinda: Waziri Mponda, Nkya hawatajiuzulu‘ [Pinda: Minister Mponda, Nkya will not resign]‘.These are just a few of the headlines that occupied some of today’s front-pages after Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda forcefully denounced doctors in the country. He argued that their decision to issue the President an ultimatum to either sack the Ministers of Health or else they’ll go on strike was improper and unethical. ‘You give a 72-hour ultimatum to the President because you hold the lives of people in your hand to get what you want? This is is unacceptable and I will never agree to it. We did a lot of work to resolve the issues but their demand is unacceptable,’ the PM said as quoted by Uhuru.The Prime Minister, who is increasingly looking like he is staking his political authority on the issue, implored the Medical Association of Tanzania (MAT) to seriously think about the consequences of their actions, reported The Citizen. ‘If they go on with their planned strike tomorrow (today) they will be playing with the lives of our fellow Tanzanians who are innocent…they should have a sense of humanity and patriotism,’ Mr. Pinda said. But MAT’s President Dr. Namala Mkopi was adamant that if the government failed to heed their key demand, of removing Minister of Health Dr. Haji Mponda and his deputy Lucy Nkya, they will down their tools today, the paper reported, insisting that the ministers were incapable of solving their problems.

According to the Daily News at Muhimbili National Hospital, notices abound of a possible strike today, reiterating the doctors’ resolve. ‘The ministers’ stance to refuse resignation has once again forced doctors to strike which is indeed a hard decision to undertake but it is important for the benefit of all Tanzanians,’ Dr. Mkopi said. The paper goes on to report that doctors are adamant that for any fruitful negotiations to continue, the Ministers have to go.

Asked what would happen if the doctors did go through with their threat of striking, the Prime Minister said, ‘may be I am naive but I think wisdom will prevail and the doctors will not strike today. Otherwise the law will follow its course.’

President Kikwete urges the police to root out corruption in their midst

While his Prime Minister was grappling with the very serious possibility of medical practitioners in the country going on strike, President Jakaya Kikwete was in Moshi, addressing another important organisation serving the people of Tanzania: the Police.

Speaking at the opening of the annual conference for police commanders and senior officers at the Moshi Police Academy, the President applauded the leadership of the Inspector General of the Police (IGP) Mr. Said Mwema who he said, under extraordinary circumstances that include diminished resources, was doing an astounding job, reported the Daily News. According to the President, the police have managed to ensure that the country’s crime is down and continues to decline. ‘People are now using new tactics to commit sophisticated crimes. But I am pleased to learn that in the past few years, criminal incidents have dropped from an average of 94,390 annually to 76, 052,’ he said.

But the President also urged the gathering policemen and women to do more to tackle corruption within their ranks and minimize incidents of police brutality so as to enhance the organisation’s credibility with the people. ‘The people have been complaining endlessly to their leaders on the issue of accepting and asking for bribes to the extent that human rights organisations show the police to be leading in corruption’, he said courtesy of Habari Leo.

According to Nipashe, Mr. Kikwete also urged the police to refrain from abusing people because without them they’ll struggle to do their jobs. ‘Do not disregard the people, for if you have close relationships with them, they’ll have faith in you otherwise there will be problems and they will not cooperate with you. They send me SMSes about that and I forward them to IGP,’ he said.

It is Sioi Sumari versus Joshua Nassari in Arumeru East 

Mwananchi is writing that the Arumeru East by-election campaign is starting to get interesting following the completion of the primary stage as now the contenders for the seat are getting ready to compete against each other. CCM’s candidate, Sioi Sumari arrived to pick up his candidacy forms from the local National Election Commission (NEC) branch accompanied by a large entourage usually associated with Ministers and senior elected officials. Afterwards, the secretary of the party in Arumeru Ms. Mary Chatanda thanked supporters for their enthusiasm. ‘I am grateful to you for showing up and accompany our candidate…this kind of support should continue so our party can retain this seat,’ she said.

But Raia Mwema is reporting that trouble may be brewing for Mr. Sumari. Apparently, Chadema are working hard to collect ‘evidence’ of corruption to present to the NEC, in an attempt to undercut his candidacy before a single vote has been cast. But Mr. Sumari was forceful against attacks that his campaign had engaged in corrupt activities. ‘I am surprised at those who are trying to link me with the accusation of bribery. I, as Sioi, have never arranged for someone to seduce others with bribes. These are things that are raised for the primary aim of muddying my name with voters,’ he said.

An over-bureaucratic business environment costs the government millions of dollars in revenue

The Minister for Industry, Trade and Marketing, Dr Cyril Chami, says that Tanzania is losing close to a $1bn/- annually on revenue due to the deep ‘limitation of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Export Processing Zones (EPZs) programme,’ reports The Citizen. According to the paper, the EPZs programme in Tanzania was established in 2002 with the aim of promoting export-oriented investments within designated zones, thereby turning them internationally competitive and in turn galvinise export-led economic growth.

However, the Minister pointed out, ‘delays caused by congestion at the Dar es Salaam port, lack of reliable electricity, delay in issuance of work permits and difficulties in securing tax exemption as investment incentives, as among the major stumbling blocks,’ consequently losing the government much needed revenue.

Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda, who was also present at the inauguration of the new Board of Directors for the Economic Processing Zones Authority (EPZA), conceded that Tanzania’s business environment wasn’t quite where it needed to be but expressed optimism for the future as public-private partnerships continue to take effect. ‘We are thankful that the Public Private Partnership Act is now working. All of these challenges to investors should be viewed and turned into opportunities,’ Mr Pinda said.