Students demand unconditional loans

Tanzania Higher Learning Institutions Students’ Organization (TAHLISO) has confirmed receipt of loans for 53,000 students for 2015/16 academic year, but 17,000 applicants awaiting documentation formalities are yet to receive a cent about three months into the first semester.

TAHLISO President, Stanslaus Peter called upon the students who missed loans due to failure to submit the required academic documents to the Higher Education Students' Loans Board (HESLB) to immediately do so as the Board was ready to issue the funds.

“We met with the Board this week and we were assured the government has issued part of the funds,” he said, pledging that TAHLISO would make sure that all the qualified students had an access to loans.

Commending the Board for adhering to Treasury directives, Peter said it  has already set a schedule to hear the cases surrounding few students who were denied loans.

He urged the board to ease condition and clearly define criteria under which students are entitled to loans, amid the prevailing confusion over relevant merits.

He said plans were underway for the organization to meet with relevant government bodies to press, among others, for unconditional access to loans to students of higher learning institutions irrespective of  their educational, financial  and family background, courses they pursue or pass grades.

Vice President Juma Omary said they would wage nationwide campaign to court new universities into pressing for the new liberal terms of accessing the loans.

But the controversial loan board got a new boss, Moses Katabaro last week who pledged to do away with strikes in universities, saying the best way for settlement of scores was through negotiations.

Read More

Two Dar hospitals to undertake reconstructive surgery

Two Dar es Salaam-based hospitals, the Aga Khan and Muhimbili National Hospital, have partnered with the Women for Women Programme of the International Society for Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery to offer free reconstructive surgery in the country.

The two-year project will see an initial 35 women and children with deformities resulting from violence, burns and accidents undergo surgery within five days, after which the camp would be shifted to other regions.

Aga Khan Hospital Regional Chief Executive Officer Dr. Sulaiman Shahabuddin told the media in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the surgeries which would have cost each patient Sh3million, depending on the severity of the deformities, would be done at no cost.

He said the preference of using open fires or kerosene for cooking, heating or lighting represented a health crisis in developing countries, and particularly for poor populations in Africa.

A plastic surgery specialist from Muhimbili National Hospital, Dr. Edwin Mrema, told the media that reconstructive surgery aimed to restore physical functions and appearance of the patients, and it would also improve their confidence and quality of life.

He said deformities affected many societies in the country, especially low-income earners unable to meet treatment costs.

“A single surgery which takes not less than 3 hours may cost Sh3m. The surgical initiative will go on for two years,” he said.

He explained that the programme would last for two years, during which free plastic surgery would be offered after every six months.

Three doctors and 6 nurses from MNH would join other doctors at Aga Khan Hospital to provide the service.

A representative from Women for Women Programme of the International Society for Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery said the goal of the collaboration was to share and enhance surgical expertise and address the medical need for plastic and reconstructive surgery patients across the country.

According to the World Health Organization, in developing countries, more women die of complications from burn injuries than they do of HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria combined.

Read More

WB predicts economic boom for Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa awaits economic boom this year, given the World Bank’s (WB) prediction of 4.2 per cent growth from 3.4 per cent last year due to stabilization of commodity prices in the region against the world’s flagging trade, capital flows and episodes of financial volatility.

The trend is contrary to other regions in the developing countries where more than 40 per cent of the world’s poor live, that registered a remarkable slowed growth last year, says  WB Group President Jim Yong Kim in the recently released Bank’s 2016 report on Global Economic Prospects.

"Developing countries should focus on building resilience to weaker economic environment and shielding the most vulnerable. The benefits from reforms to governance and business conditions are potentially large and could help offset the effects of slow growth in larger economies," says Kim.

But “compared to six months ago, risks have increased, particularly those associated with the possibility of a disorderly slowdown in a major emerging economy," says the Group’s Vice President and Chief Economist Kaushik Basu in the report, noting that a combination of better fiscal and central bank policies could help mitigating the risks and supporting the growth.

However, he attributes poor performance last year to various factors including falling commodity prices, flagging trade and capital flows, and episodes of financial volatility especially among emerging economies.

But the report also asserts that the sustainable growth ahead will depend on the current momentum in high income countries, the stabilization of commodity prices, and China's gradual transition towards a more consumption and service-based growth model.

Developing economies are projected at 4.8 percent growth in 2016, less than earlier expectations but up from a post-crisis low of 4.3 per cent last year, says the report.

Growth is projected to slow further in China, while Russia and Brazil are expected to remain in recession in 2016. The South Asia region, led by India, is projected to be a bright spot. The recently negotiated Trans-Pacific Partnership could provide a welcome boost to trade.

However, a faster-than-expected slowdown in large emerging economies could have global repercussions, says the report.

Read More

TBS seeks govt approval to hire staff

TBS Director General, Joseph Masikitiko

 The government has been asked to allow the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) to recruit more staff that would enable the organisation to better implement its duties.

Chairman of Kisarawe Cassava processors, Filbert Mlay, made the appeal yesterday in Dar es Salaam when briefing reporters on development of the food processing plant in the region.

He said the government must make sure that the standard body has enough staff to implement its duties including removing of substandard goods which have flooded the Tanzanian market.

“I believe the standard body has few staff, that is why it fails to implement some of its activities, I urge the government to authorise the organisation to employ as many staff as it need,” he urged.

Citing, he said in Kenya and Uganda their standard bureaus have over 1000 and 500 staff respectively, despite being smaller in geographical size but at the moment, TBS has recruited only 422 staff.

Seconding the appeal, TBS Director General, Joseph Masikitiko, said up to November last year the organisation had only 222 staff.

He said during the financial year 2014/15 the government issued a permit which enabled the organisation to employ 200 staff.

“Up to January this year, our organisation had a total of 422 permanent staff,” he said.

However, Masikitiko admitted that the government has issued a permit to recruit 136 staff in different categories whereas by June 2016, the total number of permanent employee would stand at 558, however, he said at the moment, the total demand of staff stands at 750.

For many years, the bureau has been operating in difficult conditions, facing acute shortages of human resources to be able to roll out its mission and vision throughout the country.

With less than 400 staff, the bureau has been repeatedly appealing for the government to allow employment of more staff to cater for the growing business operations that demand a powerful watchdog to oversee. 

However experts urge workers of standards body not to compromise on the quality of products since it is an important aspect in the lives of humans and the environment. Financial experts urge TBS to make sure that manufacturers observe the stipulated laws in order to avoid the negative economic effects of

Read More

Zanzibar out to boost health services

 The government in Zanzibar has assured the public that it will continue improving the health sector by recruiting more experienced and qualified health specialists.

“We are determined and working hard to make sure Zanzibar has enough health specialists in all public health centres,” noted Zanzibar President Dr Ali Mohamed Shein.

Speaking recently after laying  two foundation stones for  pediatric and maternal and neonatal wards at the Mnazi Mmoja hospital as part of honouring the 52nd anniversary of the  isles Revolution.

According to Dr Shein, it will be useless to construct hospitals and health centres without having enough health personnel. The Isles’ President noted that despite efforts in hospital construction, the government is also working hard to see that they have enough and qualified health specialists.

He said the move will reduce the number of Zanzibaris who search for service outside Isles; “this will go in line with the purchasing of enough modern equipments,” he added.

In this regard, the president said his government has increased the health budget to curb challenges facing the sector and wants health workers to abide by ethic of the profession.

Dr Mohamed Jidawi said the pediatric and maternal and neonatal wards at Mnazi Mmoja hospital are financed by the governments of Norway and Netherlands. He said the expansion of the buildings is aimed at accommodating and providing better services to the public.

“We are committed to providing better health services to the public,” he said.

Deputy Minister of Health Mahmoud Thabit Kombo assured the public that his ministry will continue working hard to improve the health sector. He said the top priority is to improve the doctor-patient ratio which has been one of the big challenges facing the sector.

Read More

Ugandan govt backs Museveni as appropriate mediator for Burundi

Ugandan Defence Minister Crispus Kiyonga

 Ugandan Defence Minister Crispus Kiyonga has maintained that the country’s president Yoweri Museveni was the right person to mediate the Burundi crisis.

This amidst uproar over President Museveni’s role in the mediation process with many raising eyebrows on the Museveni’s own campaign to run for a fifth term in office.

However Kiyonga insists that Museveni has the moral authority to be facilitator of the crisis mitigation efforts. The impasse was triggered by President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to run for a third term, a move his opponents deem a violation of the country’s Constitution.

Fielding questions from reporters on Wednesday night at the EAC headquarters, Kiyonga said extension of the presidential term limit in the Pearl of Africa was a non-issue adding that Burundi’s unrest was not attributed to term extension.

“In Uganda we do not believe in term limits neither do we think Museveni is a problem, the most important thing is to look what we have set out to do and achieve and not delve on term limits,” asserted the defense minister.

According to Kiyonga, extension of term limits is also common practice in European countries, maintaining that President Museveni has the right to lead the mediation.

Last year, the US questioned Uganda’s role in the mediation after its president relegated his role as mediator in the crisis to the backburner while he concentrated on his re-election campaign.

US assistant secretary of state for African affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield previously told a US Senate panel that the Ugandan leader's re-election bid this year had "very much distracted" him from his role as EAC mediator of the crisis.

Uganda's state minister for international affairs Henry Okello Oryem was however quick to reject the accusations saying Museveni maintains a keen eye on Burundi because he receives intelligence briefs on the situation.

He added that based on such reports, if the president "evaluated the situation in Burundi as degenerating into genocide, he would not hesitate to deploy Uganda People's Defence Forces (armed forces)".

Read More

How govt plans to expand tax base

  Mulls regulatory body for the sector

Finance and Planning Minister, Dr Philip Mpango

The government will from next financial year impose tax on the real estate sector in a move aimed at expanding the tax base and reducing foreign dependency on funding the budget.

The move will also see more tax being collected from non-tax avenues including tourism, forests and tourist visas.

The government is already drafting a Real Estate Agency Bill to be tabled in the National Assembly this year.

The newly appointed Finance and Planning Minister, Dr Philip Mpango, told The Guardian on Sunday that the government has been losing a lot of tax in the sector which would have helped to fund various development projects.

Mpango said however that revenue collection from real estate was hindered by lack of legal ownership of properties to enable smooth tax payment.

“The real estate sector is a great opportunity for the government to improve tax collection. For a long time the government has failed to do so because owners fake property ownership,” he said.

The minister said the sector had the potential to boost revenue, adding that there was therefore need to address the property ownership issue if the government really intended to benefit from revenue collection from it.

He said the faking of names of owners on title deeds made it hard for the tax authorities to know the real owners of properties and so hindered tax collection efforts.

“My office, in collaboration with the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) has launched an investigation to identify real owners of properties with a view to collecting due tax,” the minister said.

“We plan to start collecting tax from the real estate sector with effect from the forthcoming financial year. It is one of the areas where huge revenue collection is being lost. Tapping into the sector would go a long way to boosting revenue,” he added.

Dr Mpango indicated that the government would introduce a better system in the registration of properties, saying tax from the sector was being lost through unregistered properties.

“We are currently undertaking the laborious task of identifying the real property owners because these people are responsible for denying the government huge sums in revenue, which would have come in handy in funding development projects for the people,” he said.

“We are devising effective strategies which will force each property owner to pay due tax.

We have come to realize that effective tax collection from the sector will give remarkable boost to the country's economy,” the minister added.

TRA Acting Commissioner General Alphayo Kidata, for his part, reiterated that a Real Estate Agency Bill was currently being crafted and would be tabled in the National Assembly this year.

The TRA chief said the Bill, if passed into law, would facilitate the collection of revenue from the real estate sector which, in turn, would cut donor dependency in budget support.

“Plans are under way to table the Bill in Parliament in due course. It will compel property owners to pay tax and empower TRA to prosecute defaulters,” Kidata said.

In a related development, Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development Minister William Lukuvi has directed the ministry’s top leadership to prepare a Real Estate Regulatory Authority Bill draft and submit it to his office as soon as possible.

Lukuvi told reporters that creation of a regulatory body was vital for controlling the booming construction sector.

Lukuvi noted that  there was frantic competition in the construction of high-rise buildings in towns and cities across the country, adding that there was a need for a regulatory body of the sector as currently the developers decided when, what and where to construct and even how much rent to charge.

But an expert in taxation who preferred anonymity said the government could do away with donor dependency entirely in its budget if it explored all sources of revenue.

Giving an example, he said there were a number of people owning social halls in urban areas who paid little tax or did not pay a single penny to the government.

“During weekdays and weekends social halls are occupied with functions, such as workshops, seminars, wedding ceremonies, kitchen parties, send-offs, etc. Very unfortunately the government earns nothing,” he said.

Private parking yards is another area where the government could come up with a special arrangement to collect tax. He said there were people who had established parking yards in residential areas where total turnover was huge in one month.

Given the goal set by the government to collect tax amounting to Sh2 trillion per month, the nation could tremendously reduce donor dependency.

Simple calculations show that if the goal of collecting Sh2trillion was realized, the government would hit the Sh24 trillion mark. The current 2015/2016 budget stands at Sh22.4 trillion.

However, Minister Mpango says even if such revenue target was met donor dependency might not be eliminated entirely, especially for mega projects involving infrastructure, such as railways and harbours.

Read More