The Daily Media Tracker

Regional Headlines:

• ‘Joseph Kony: Ni muasi ama pandikizi la Museveni’ [Joseph Kony: An enemy or a proxy for Museveni] | Nipashe
• ‘Have politicians joined warlords in the plunder for Somalia?’ | The Citizen
• ‘Africa’s urban population to triple in 40 years’ | The Guardian
• ‘Zimbabwe convicts six of plot to unseat Mugabe’ | Daily News
• ‘Umoja Bridge links nowhere to nowhere’ | The African
• ‘Raila Odinga: Kenya bado inaugua’ [Raila Odinga: Kenya still ill] | Mwananchi

Page One: A summary

Early signs that the Arumeru East by-election campaign will be fought on local policies have quickly vanished, giving way to deeply incendiary rhetoric by both parties that has sparked fears by observers that things could deteriorate to violence. According to The Citizen, the National Electoral Commission (NEC) has sent letters to both Chadema and CCM, warning them to tone down their rhetoric or risk being fined. Tracias Kagenzi, an NEC Returning Officer, told reporters that, ‘among other things, there was use of abusive and bad language during campaign rallies…There were also other irregularities committed by the party leaders and followers.’

The campaign language has in recent days take a turn for the worse. Majira reports that Dr. Willbroad Slaa, the Secretary General of Chadema, told voters at a rally that, ‘everytime you hear about [corrupt politicians] going to churches to donate funds to the tune of millions, that money is tainted…if that isn’t using the Lord’s name in vain, I don’t know what is.’ Meanwhile CCM’s Minister at the President’s Office Stephen Wassira drew the ire of the Catholic Church after he was quoted by various media outlets accusing Dr. Slaa of having swindled money that was meant to be used during the late Pope John Paul II’s visit to Tanzania in 1991. Speaking to Mwananchi, the President of Tanzania Ecumenical Council (TEC) Bishop Yuda Thadeus Ruwaichi challenged Mr. Wassira to provide evidence to support his allegations. ‘The Church has never accused Dr. Slaa of those things. If Wassira has said that publicly, the ethical thing for him to do is to provide us with evidence to support his claims,’ the Bishop said.

Meanwhile, according to Tanzania Daima Dr. Slaa gave a raucous stump speech, saying that if the police don’t respond to his party’s complaints of electoral irregularities then the ‘sun will shine and set in Meru.’ He went on, ‘Our votes were stolen [in previous elections] but we stayed quiet. People were telling me to speak the truth, but I said, “No, we will not spill the blood of Tanzanians.” But my patience is running out and it has led to the blood of Tanzanians to be spilled. So now I am saying, I am giving CCM’s leaders involved in the harassment of our colleague 24 hours to be dealt with, otherwise we’ll confront the police.’

Despite all this, Mr. Kagenzi, the Returning Officer, urged party leaders to argue policy and not incite violence. ‘My committee has warned CCM and Chadema for acting against the elections campaign’s governing dockets…All parties should concentrate on selling their manifesto to voters and not attacking individuals at campaign rallies,’ he said.

And if you were curious what the actual candidates were saying about the issues affecting the constituents they are running to represent? Well, there was not a lot of coverage on that. Move on along, please.

Mwakyembe’s mysterious illness revealed

The Citizen reports that the disease that has afflicted Dr. Harrison Mwakyembe, the Deputy Minister for Works, who earlier in the week had revealed it to be Sclerodorma, is a relatively well-known chronic condition that causes inflammation and thickening of the skin. According to medical experts who spoke to the paper, the disease is ‘fairly common in the country but [that] its effects spread slowly.’ Dr. Isaac Maro of the Infectious Disease Centre in Dar es Salaam, told the paper in an interview that, ‘if you open a skin clinic in this city for example, at least three people will seek treatment for Scleroderma within two to three weeks.’ Dr. Maro went on to explain that Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease, meaning that a person’s immune system attacks the body instead of protecting it.

But according to Raia Mwema, Dr. Mwakyembe’s Indian doctors have been able to stop ‘the chemicals’ found in his bones from attacking his skin. According to the paper, doctors have been able to get a handle on what the paper still refers to as ‘the poison’ that was found in his bone marrow. The paper seems to insist on advancing the allegation of Dr. Mwakyembe being poisoned despite reputable evidence to the contrary.

Elsewhere, MwanaHalisi is reporting that Dr. Mwakyembe is refusing to resign and promises to ‘fight within the government’ without actually elaborating who he’ll be fighting. He told reporters that he had no plans to leave government as what ailed him has been treated. ‘Right now I feel much better,’ he said to reporters assembled at his office this past Monday. ‘Those who wished that I would die or leave [government] have not been successful. I am here, alive and well. I will live on and fight while in government,’ he said.

President Jakaya Kikwete talks cooperatives, unions and the need for better leaders for both

President Jakaya Kikwete has told cooperatives unions in Tanzania that they have a supporter at State House in their efforts to establish their own bank, informing them that such a move would go a long way towards solving their difficulties of getting credit on favorable terms. Speaking at the opening ceremony to mark International Year of Cooperatives in Dar es Salaam, the President said, ‘through the bank, I believe that cooperatives groups will improve their economic status and their total lives,’ reported The Guardian.

Meanwhile, the Daily News reported that the President lamented the decreasing power and influence of cooperatives in influencing policy amenable to their members. He told the gathering stakeholders that modern day cooperatives need to reclaim their influential days of the past. ‘It is important that we seriously ask ourselves what happened to these treasures that we created and what should be done to reinstate their lost glory,’ the President said.

A parliamentary committee investigates corruption

The District of Monduli has conceded that the system is rotten when it comes to the direction and execution of development projects that has led to the mis-spending of public funds to the detriment of the people, according to Majira

The DC, Mr. Owika Kasunga, told a visiting parliamentary delegation of the Local Authorities Accounts Committee (LAAC) that, ‘what has been discovered on your first day of your tour reveals the long-term rotten nature of our state. You’ve come to bust our rotten tumors, please continue because only then will we get better.’

Meanwhile Mr. Swalehe Kiupi, the Auditor from the Controller Auditor General (CAG) covering the northern region said that the district’s books does not show their 443.3 million-debt, suggesting their inability to pay them. ‘A live example is in the 24 books showing revenue collections where four books have come back with no revenue while those responsible are known. It shows bad leadership on those responsible for the [district's] source of income,’ he said.

Earlier, CCM’s Mbozi East MP Godfrey Zambi said that infrastructure project funds were showing expenditures of 359 million from the received 372 million without an indication of where the balance had gone, the paper reports.