Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania over the weekend.
Tanzania responds to KLM’s claims of ‘civil unrest’
Minister for Works and Transport Prof Makame Mbarawa said on Saturday that he has received “with serious concerns” the decision by Dutch airline KLM to cancel its flight to Tanzania, citing civil unrest.
In a statement, Prof Mbarawa described the airline’s statement as “baseless, alarmist, unfounded, inconsiderate and insensitive” that “has caused unnecessary fear and panic to the general public and the aviation industry at large.”
“The public is urged to ignore the statement [by KLM],” Mr Mbarawa added in the statement.
Tanzania’s reaction to the airline’s move that sent shock waves in East Africa and beyond came high on the heels of that of its neighbouring Kenya whose cabinet secretary for roads and transport Mr Kipchumba Murkomen slammed the statement as “fabricated, malicious and false.”
It all started when KLM published in its website that due to “civil unrest” in Tanzania and Kenya some of its flights to, from or via Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar and Nairobi “may be disrupted” from January 27 to January 30, 2023.
Full story here.
Body of Tanzanian who died in Ukraine has finally been buried in Mbeya
The body of Nemes Tarimo, the Tanzanian national who died in Ukraine fighting for the Russians, was on Saturday buried in his home village of Kisyeto, in Mbeya, a region located in the South West of Tanzania.
Tarimo’s body, which was buried in a closed casket ceremony, arrived in Tanzania on January 26, 2023, where it was received by his relatives before being sent to the Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) to be preserved.
Tarimo’s body arrived two days after the Minister for Foreign Affairs and East Africa Cooperation Dr Stergomena Tax said in a press conference on January 23, 2023, that the body had already left Russia and is expected to arrive in the country at any time.
“The ministry has continued to communicate with the Russian Government to ensure that the body of the deceased is returned to Tanzania, handed over to his family,” said Dr Tax. “The body left Russia this morning [January 24, 2023,] so we expect it to arrive any time from now.”
The function to pay last respect to Tarimo’s body took place at his home in Mbezi kwa Mzungu, Dar es Salaam before it was transported to Mbeya for burial.
Full story here.
NECTA will no longer announce top school, student
The acting executive secretary of the National Examination Council of Tanzania (NECTA) Mr Athumani Amasi announced on Sunday that the body will no longer name the best school and student while announcing exam results.
Mr Amasi revealed the decision while announcing the 2022 Form Four results during a press conference in Dar es Salaam.
Explaining why NECTA will not go along with the tradition, Mr Amasi said it is because making the announcement is like they are promoting the schools without reason.
“Why announce the top schools while there are more than 18,000 schools in the country?” Mr Amasi asked rhetorically during a press conference on Sunday. “It is like you are marketing the schools, I don’t think it is productive.”
With regards to the best student, NECTA thinks there is no benefit in doing so as one cannot announce one student out of all the students in Tanzania who may also have different study environments.
“You mention a person who has led a group that despite having taken the same exam but did not study in the same environment, then you give credit to one person,” Mr Amasi explained.
In the results announced on Sunday, a total of 456,975 students, out of 520,558, equal to 87.79 per cent, passed by getting first to fourth-grade.
NECTA has nullified national examination results of 333 students who were found to have cheated on their 2022 ordinary certificate of secondary education exams (CSEE).
It also said it was withholding results for 286 others who did not complete their exams due to medical conditions among other reasons.
Tanzania embarks on program to eliminate leprosy by 2030
Deputy Minister for Health, Godwin Mollel announced on Sunday a new program aimed at eliminating leprosy in the country by 2030.
Dr Mollel made the announcement during an event organised to mark World Leprosy Day in the capital Dodoma where he said that the program entailed the identification of all leprosy patients in Tanzania.
He said the identification of leprosy patients will help the government treat the patients in efforts aimed at controlling the disease that affects the nerves, skin, eyes, and lining of the nose.
“The identification of leprosy patients will be done from village to regional level, and it will help to create a database for the patients,” Dr Mollel was quoted as saying.
Mollel said the program also entailed mass awareness of the disease by educating health workers and the public on how to control the disease.
“In Tanzania, we still have areas where leprosy is still prevalent,” he said.
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