African Film Awards 2014

By MIKE ABIOLA - Fri Oct 17, 1:57 pm

African Film Awards, the most prestigious African film industry awards will take place in London on Thursday 6 November 2014 celebrating excellence in Nollywood as well as the best of Black British Films and Nollywood UK.

A host of celebrities including A list Nollywood stars, the best of Black British actors and actresses will be attending the glamorous awards evening now in its 18th successive year.

The event featuring comedy, film screenings and an award ceremony will take place at the Odeon Cinema Greenwich, London SE10 0QJ. Time: 8.00pm till Late.

Over the years, the African Film Awards also known as the Afro Hollywood awards has served the purpose of promoting and advancing the dynamic growth of Africa’s Film and Arts industry within Europe, especially in the United Kingdom uniting the African and Caribbean communities.

Since the awards’ inception in 1996, the popularity of African films has grown in leaps and bounds. Today, there are at least 6 channels dedicated to African films on Sky Digital’s network with several others broadcasting online. Over 250 industry practitioners have received the awards to date.

Exploring opportunities and seeking collaboration and funding for prospective filmmakers is the main agenda for this year’s African Film Awards

To mark Nigeria’s Centenary, the 18th African Film Awards has “Tourism in Africa & the film industry” as its theme. The event will showcase some of the best destinations in Africa.

The African Film Awards is organised by African Voice, Britain’s N0.1 African Newspaper. Reaching over 500,000 readers often ignored by other mainstream publications. African Voice had been serving the Diaspora community since 2001.

For further information, please contact Golda John UK Event Director on 07956 503 239 or email: info@africanvoice.co.uk or golda.john@gmail.com

Kissing constables cop their cards

By ALAN OAKLEY - Thu Oct 16, 8:50 am

Three Tanzanian police officers have lost their jobs after a photograph of two of them kissing went viral on social media. The picture, which was taken by a colleague on his phone, shows Asumba Mwasumbi and Veronica Mdeme kissing outside in full uniform.

Unemployment sealed with a kiss

Tanzanian newspaper The Post reported on October 12 that the apparently enamoured pair and Fadhiri Linga, the photographer, were fired on grounds of gross misconduct in the course of their duty. Police regional commander Henry Mwaibambe said that the image went against the force’s moral principles, according to The Independent.

“We followed all disciplinary procedures to make sure that they were given a chance to defend themselves,” he said, adding: “The officer looking at the case was convinced there was compelling evidence against them, and that they had breached police code of conduct. That’s why they lost their jobs.”

Mr Masoud George, a lawyer at the Tanzania Legal and Human Rights Centre, told a reporter for the BBC that the decision, while harsh, is probably legal. “It is according to their code of conduct, so from a legal point of view we can’t say their dismissal was unfair,” he said.

Many Tanzanians have compared the heavy-handed response by the security force to its limp-wristed reaction against accusations of corruption. Tanzania’s police force was ranked the most corrupt last year on the East Africa Bribery Index.

Ebola: does anyone really know?

By ALAN OAKLEY - Fri Oct 17, 9:22 am

As Will Pooley, the British nurse who is returning to Sierra Leone after surviving the Ebola virus he contracted there, busies himself answering repeated questions regarding his decision, others are beginning to ask how much even the ‘experts’ actually know about the disease.

Will Pooley has completely recovered from Ebola and is about to return to his nursing work in Sierra Leone

Health authorities in Texas seem baffled that two nurses who cared for Thomas Eric Duncan, the 42-year-old who died there last week after contracting Ebola in Liberia, have themselves become infected. Both apparently followed hospital protocol, albeit Mr Duncan was not diagnosed as quickly as officials at the hospital admit they should have. Yet the lives of two young women are now in the balance.

One of the women inadvisably boarded an internal flight while feeling ‘feverish’. So US authorities are now in a panic to trace the 130-odd passengers who shared the plane. And all while the rest of us are being told how infinitely small the risk of infection is.

On the one hand, we are informed that Ebola can only be spread through direct contact with bodily fluids, which presumably would then have to infiltrate the bodily fluids of someone else. Yet on the other hand over a hundred passengers are being asked to submit to testing, most of whom probably didn’t come into contact with anyone’s bodily fluids if they are anything like me.

During a recent correspondence over an entirely unrelated matter, I briefly mentioned in passing that I was uneasy about what we are being told about Ebola, and was told in no uncertain terms not to become hysterical based on media hype designed to sell newspapers (my correspondent is unaware of my job!). He advised me to “read up” about Ebola and stop worrying. But my view is that if we educate ourselves only by reading, we can never know more than the ‘educator’ knows (or wishes to impart) and knowledge could not advance.

What I see is the same people telling me Ebola does not, for example, thrive on non-organic surfaces sending in Hazmat teams to decontaminate the steps and walls of a nurses apartment abandoned 48 hours previously. What I see is at least two out of 77 health professionals who, we must assume, have taken more precautions than the other people in the life of the poor soul who died in Texas or you and I might, nevertheless contracting the disease and nobody knows how. Meanwhile Mr Duncan’s pals could be drinking at a bar near you or dropping off their kids at your kids’ school.

I remember once seeing a great extreme slow motion shot of a simple sneeze and how far and wide the droplets of ‘water’ we don’t even see with the naked eye manage to spread. On a brisk winter morning on my walk to the bus stop, the visible vapour emanating from the mouths and noses of my fellow commuters who are simply breathing is . . . guess what? . . . . water droplets!  If this were not so, there would be nothing to see. They are no less present in summer; just less visible. So why do I have to believe any virus is not airborne just because it’s what I read? There is moisture in air, which equals water droplets, as far as I am concerned.

I’m not a total conspiracy theorist, but given the potential knock-on social and economic effects of my government conceding the possibility that Ebola can be contracted with greater ease than is being suggested, I’m not shocked to be told everything is fine by politicians notable by their absence from where Ebola is.

As for media-driven hysteria – I work in news media, so I guess that puts me at the helm. We are more than capable of hyperbole when it suits, but if there is a serious message to get out there, we are all you’ve got. I’ve been monitoring the Ebola situation in West Africa since around Christmas and wrote about it first being a global concern and subsequently under control as far back as the spring. More recently, outbreaks of Marburg in East Africa and Dengue in China have understandably failed to get much attention. America’s Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization have no newspapers to sell and all I or most other journalists have added to the bulletins they publish is a style of delivery.

Many reading this will, no doubt, have total confidence in the official line. But I have been around long enough to have witnessed complete about-turns on many health-related issues. I remember the “go to work on an egg” campaigns in the sixties, which contended that the humble hen’s egg was the perfect food to eat boiled every day – two if possible. By the eighties, eggs were akin to a cholesterol grenade, and more than two per week constituted a death sentence. Subsequently, relatively benign egg cholesterol was deemed not so bad after all – who knows what the current thinking is; I stopped listening long ago.

I also remember AIDS being no real threat to heterosexual men who didn’t have African destinations on their holiday agenda. We know now how close to the bulls-eye the so-called experts were on that one! Even water, formerly promoted as the elixir of life – though, strangely, only if bought in bottles –  has had some bad press of late.

So, in case you haven’t guessed, I remain a sceptic. If any of my friends needs picking up from the airport after a trip to Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia et al. I’ll pay for their cab and we’ll chat over Skype, but being in the same room will be out of the question until the Ebola scare is over.

Rais wa Zanzibar Dr Ali Shein Amwapisha Rasmi Mwanasheria Mkuu Mpya wa Zanzibar Said Hassan Said

 

 Said Hassan Said kuwa Mwanasheria Mkuu wa Zanzibar

Rais wa Zanzibar na Mwenyekiti wa Baraza la Mapinduzi Dk.ALi Mohamed Shein akimuapisha  Said Hassan Said kuwa Mwanasheria Mkuu wa Zanzibar katika hafla iliyofanyika leo Ikulu Mjini Zanzibar.Picha na Ramadhan Othman,Ikulu-Zanzibar

Picha:Wajumbe wa Kikao Cha Hamlmashauri Kuu (NEC ) ya CCM Ridhiwani Kikwete na Mama Salma Kikwete Wakijadili Jambo Wakati Wa Kikao cha Hamlmashauri Kuu (NEC ) ya CCM Mjini Dodona 

 Wajumbe wa kikao hicho, Ridhiwani Kikwete na Mama Salma Kikwete wakijadili jambo wakati wa kikao cha Hamlmashauri Kuu (NEC ) ya CCM mjini Dodoma

Shunned Winnie set to scrap for Madiba home

By ALAN OAKLEY - Thu Oct 16, 11:34 am

Nelson Wandela’s former wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, is challenging the estate of the late former president, seeking the rights to his home in Qunu, Eastern Cape – his final resting place.

Winnie and Nelson Mandela separated two years after he was freed

“The papers have been filed in the Mthatha High Court,” her attorney Mvuzo Notyesi said, adding: “It has been sent to the respondent.”

In August, Notyesi reportedly wrote to deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke, a co-executor of the will. In the letter, Notyesi argued that AbaThembu custom dictated that the rights to the property go to Winnie and her descendants.

“This position becomes applicable irrespective of whether the wife was divorced or not,” Notyesi was quoted as writing.

“It is only in this home that the children and grandchildren of Mrs Madikizela-Mandela can conduct their own customs and tradition…”

Winnie, now 78, who was for 38 years the former statesman’s second wife, was left out of Mandela’s will, which was announced in February following his death on December 5, 2013. Following a four-year separation, the couple divorced in 1996, six years after Mandela’s release from prison. He went on to marry Graça Machel, former First Lady of Mozambique, in 1998.

President Jakaya Kikwete Meets UN Special Envoy on Great Lakes Region in Dodoma

President Drk Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete welcomes UN Special Envoy fir the Great Lakes Region H.E Mr Said Djinnit at Dodoma State lodge today  evening. The Two leaders then held talks concerning the current situation in the Great Lakes Region.H.E Mr. Said Djinnit, is an Algerian diplomat. He was appointed as a UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region on 17^th July, 2014 succeeding Mrs. Mary Robinson who was appointed as a UN Special Envoy for Climate Change.

President DR.Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete poses for a photo with the UN Special Envoy for Great Lakes Region Mr.Said Djinnit (left) together with Mr. Alvaro Rodrigues who Resident Coordinator for the UN System in Tanzania(right) at Dodoma State lodge this evening.(photos by Freddy Maro-State House

OCT15

Taarifa Kwa Umma Kutoka IKULU:Rais Jakaya Kikwete ametangaza kuwa Tanzania imekubali kuwa msuluhishi wa mgogoro wa kisiasa ndani ya chama tawala cha Sudan Kusini cha Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), mgogoro ambao umesababisha kuzuka kwa vita ya wenyewe kwa wenyewe nchini humo.

Written by haki | // 0 comments

·        Ni kweli ngazi ya vyama tawala na mikutano ya upatanishi 

kufanyika Arusha.

Rais wa Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania, Mheshimiwa Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete ametangaza kuwa Tanzania imekubali kuwa msuluhishi wa mgogoro wa kisiasa ndani ya chama tawala cha Sudan Kusini cha Sudanese People’s Liberation  Movement (SPLM), mgogoro ambao umesababisha kuzuka kwa vita ya wenyewe kwa wenyewe nchini humo.

Hata hivyo, Rais Kikwete amesema kuwa usuluhishi huo utakuwa wa kichama na Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) ndicho kitaongoza usuluhishi huo katika mazungumzo yatakayofanyika Arusha na kuwa jitihada hizo za Tanzania hazitaingilia mazungumzo ya kujaribu kusimamisha mapigano nchini humo yanayoendelea huko Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Rais Kikwete amesema kuwa ulikuwa uongozi wa SPLM na hasa Mwenyekiti wa Chama hicho, Rais Salva Kiir ambao wameiomba Tanzania kusaidia jitihada za kisiasa za kupatanisha pande ambazo zinavutana na kutofautiana ndani ya SPLM wakiamini kuwa mapatano ndani ya chama yatafanikisha kumaliza mgogoro wa kisiasa katika Serikali ya nchi hiyo ambayo  imegawanyika na kusababisha vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe.

Rais Kikwete ametangaza jitihada hizo za upatanishi za Tanzania wakati alipohutubia maelfu kwa maelfu ya wananchi na kupitia kwao Taifa kwenye Sherehe ya Kuzima Mwenge wa Uhuru, Kumbukumbu ya Mwalimu Nyerere na Kilele cha Wiki ya Vijana kwenye Uwanja wa Ali Hassan Mwinyi mjini Tabora.

Rais Kikwete amewaambia wananchi kuwa Tanzania imekubali kuwasaidia ndugu zao wa Sudan Kusini kwa nia ya kutimiza wajibu wake wa kimataifa na kwa kuongozwa na kaulimbiu ya Oktoba Mwaka 1959 ambayo Baba wa Taifa, Mwalimu Nyerere, aliitoa wakati nchi ya Tanganyika bado ikidai uhuru wake kutoka kwa Wakoloni wa Kiingereza.

Rais Kikwete ameikariri kaulimbiu hiyo maarufu: “Sisi Watu wa Tanganyika tunataka kuwasha Mwenge na kuuweka juu ya Mlima Kilimanjaro umulike hata nje ya mipaka yetu, ulete tumaini pale ambako hakuna matumaini, upendo mahali palipo na chuki na heshima palipojaa dharau.”

Rais Kikwete amesema kuwa Mwenge wa Uhuru unabeba falsafa kubwa ndani yake kuhusu “nchi yetu na uhusiano wake na watu wengine duniani hasa wanyonge, wenye dhiki na wasiokuwa na amani. Dhamira hii ya Mwalimu na nchi yetu ilitimizwa Desemba 9, 1961, siku Tanganyika ilipopata Uhuru ambako Bendera ya Taifa huru la Tanganyika na Mwenge wa Uhuru vilipandishwa juu ya kilele cha Mlima Kilimanjaro na Mwenge kuwashwa.”

“Toka wakati huo mpaka sasa, Mwenge wa Uhuru umeendelea kumulika nchi nzima ukipita katika mitaa, vijiji, shehia na majimbo, wilaya na mikoa ukieneza ujumbe wa udugu, umoja, upendo, amani na mshikamano miongoni mwa Watanzania. 

 Kwa kuzingatia ujumbe uliobebwa na Mwenge wa Uhuru, nchi yetu na sisi Watanzania tumejitolea kwa hali na mali kusaidia ndugu zetu Barani Afrika waliokuwa wanatawaliwa kujikomboa kutoka kwenye makucha ya wakoloni na wabaguzi wa rangi,” amesema Rais Kikwete na kuongeza:

“Ni fahari kwetu kwamba wananchi wa Msumbiji, Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia na Afrika Kusini nao wako huru na tumetoa mchango wetu.  Ni jambo la faraja kubwa kwamba nchi yetu imeweza kupatia hifadhi ndugu zetu wa nchi jirani na hata mbali wakati maisha yao yalipokuwa hatarini kwa sababu ya kukosekana kwa amani ama kukimbia mateso ya uongozi wa kidikteta. Ndugu zetu wa Kongo, Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya na Comoro wanaujua ukweli huo. Na, kwa Uganda tuliwasaidia kuling’oa Dikteta Idd Amin na Comoro tulisaidia kuunganisha nchi yao tena.”

Mwisho.

Imetolewa na;

Kurugenzi ya Mawasiliano ya Rais,

Ikulu – Dar es Salaam.

15 Oktoba,2014

Today  i had  the  opportunity  to  meet the  newly  appointed  Deputy  High  commissioner  of  Tanzania in  London Balozi  Msafiri  Marwa in  his  office   at  the  Tanzania  mission  in  central  London
Further  detiails  of  the  interview  to  follow

Press Release N^º 271/ 2014

AU DEPLOYS MORE AFRICAN VOLUNTEERS TO EBOLA AFFECTED COUNTRIES UNDER THE AFRICAN UNION SUPPORT MISSION TO EBOLA IN WEST AFRICA (ASEOWA)

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 13 October 2014- After the first deployment of 19 personnel under the African Union Support mission to the Ebola Outbreak in West Africa in September, 21 more African paid volunteers have now been deployed to Sierra Leone while an additional 10 have been deployed to Liberia

The volunteers were deployed after undergoing their pre deployment briefing at the AU in Addis Ababa on the 10^th and 11^th of October.

The teams comprise epidemiologists, medical doctors, clinicians, public health specialists and communications personnel.

Meanwhile, the ASEOWA team that was deployed to Monrovia on 19^th September is currently undergoing specialised training to be able to man the Ebola treatment units in Liberia.

ASEOWA is expected to enhance the capacity of existing national and international response mechanisms through mobilisation of technical expertise, resources, and political and financial support. It will complement the efforts of on-going humanitarian assistance and coordinate support provided to the affected member states to augment field response operations. It will also support public awareness and preventive measures across Africa and specifically in the affected region. WZM/

DUTY,HONOUR  AND  COMMUNITY-Madrasatul  Aqsa   Councillor J Singh Birdi of  Bablake  Ward  addressing  the  congregation Chldren's  performance   PARENT  AND  STUDENT part  of  the  audience Picha na  washika  dau

African Union Response to the Ebola Epidemic in West Africa

The Ebola outbreak was first reported in December 2013 in Guinea. As the African Union has stressed, the current outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease is the worst that has ever been experienced since the first outbreak in 1976.

The outbreak has the potential to have a major socio-economic impact on Africa. Prior to the Ebola outbreak, Africa’s GDP growth was projected to accelerate to 5.0 per cent in 2014 and 5.1 per cent in 2015, on the back of continuing relatively high commodity prices, increasing domestic demand and improved economic governance and management among African countries. An expected firmer global recovery in 2014, bolstered by robust growth in industrial production in emerging and developing countries led by China, was also anticipated to stimulate growth in Africa through increased trade, investment and capital flows. The current outbreak, regarding the impact on Mano River countries and at regional level, will have a negative impact on Africa’s growth. The epidemic has also overstretched the capacity of member States to adequately provide health care in an environment where national budgetary allocations to the health sector remain lean and at best insignificant.

Through its Peace and Security Council and the Executive Committee and the various mechanisms put in place, the AU is working alongside other major actors to bring an end to the spread of the disease.

MEETING OF MINISTERS OF HEALTH

The AU response to Ebola started in April 2014 at the first 1st African Ministers of Health Meeting jointly convened by the African Union Commission (AUC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Luanda, Angola. A strong Communiqué and an appeal to Member States with experience in handling Ebola disease to assist was issued. The response was positive. Some AU member states sent experts to the affected countries.

AU AND AUC STAFF MEMBERS PROVIDE FUNDS FOR EBOLA RESPONSE

$1, 000 000 was released from the Union’s Special Emergency Assistance Fund for Drought and Famine in Africa in August 2014.

On the 5th of September, the staff members of the African Union donated $100,000 dollars to the Ebola effort. The Commission’s Chairperson expressed the Union’s gratitude for this gesture.

The use of these funds is determined by the funding agreement with the Member States. According to the agreement, the funds are to be used by the Member States for medical supplies. Moreover, the AU Executive Council, during its emergency session on 8^th September 2014, requested the Commission to “Put in place a monitoring mechanism to support urgent disbursement of pledged support to EVD outbreak response” 

DECISIONS OF THE AU PEACE AND SECURITY COUNCIL

The Peace and Security Council of the AU met at its 450th meeting in Addis Ababa on 19 August 2014, and adopted decisions on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa:

Two key decisions of the Peace and Security Council were:

To authorize the immediate deployment of an AU-led Military and Civilian Humanitarian Mission, comprising medical doctors, nurses and other medical and paramedical personnel, as well as military personnel, as required for the effectiveness and protection of the Mission: and,

That the Commission should take, without further delay, the necessary steps to develop a Concept of Operations for the AU Mission, including its logistical, financial and other relevant aspects.

The full communiqué of the PSC is available on http://au.int/en/content/communiqu%C3%A9-peace-and-security-council-african-union-au-decision-ebola-outbreak-west-africa

ASEOWA is formed

As a follow up to these decisions, the ASEOWA team was formed. The task force comprises representatives from many of the AU departments as well as specialist partners. It is led by the Commissioner for Social Affairs Dr Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko. Regular meetings are held under the guidance of the Director of Social Affairs Dr Olawale Maiyegun.

An ASEOWA Head of Mission with previous experience in dealing with Ebola has been appointed.

Concept of operations done

The concept of operations has been finalized and signed. It now guides the work of ASEOWA.

Deployment of ASEOWA team

The ASEOWA Head of Mission arrived in Monrovia on 15 September to prepare for the arrival of the rest of the team. This included meetings with the Government of Liberia and key partners to synergise the AU response with existing efforts.

In the same month, the first members of the paid ASEOWA volunteers were recruited. Among them are epidemiologists, clinicians, and communications personnel.

The team underwent two days of training and information update by specialists from the AU and partners at the AU headquarters.

At the end of their training, the volunteers were addressed by AUC Chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma who told them of the pride that the African continent has in their commitment to help other Africans.

The team was deployed to Monrovia on 17th September.

Apart from the training received in Addis Ababa before their departure, the ASEOWA personnel received a further two weeks of training in Monrovia under the WHO and the United States Center for Disease Control.

Other volunteers to be deployed in Sierra Leone and Guinea are now being put together.

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MAKES DECISIONS ON TACKLING EBOLA

An emergency meeting of the Executive Council was held on 8 September 2014. It was called with a view to craft a united, comprehensive and collective response to the Ebola outbreak. Among the decisions of the Executive Council were that the AU Commission should:

Call upon Member States to urgently lift all travel bans and restrictions to respect the principle of free movement and that any travel related measures be in line with WHO and ICAO recommendations, in particular proper screening;

Engage with media and advocacy groups, local communities, civil society organizations, social networks and other relevant actors on the ground to ensure proper communications about EVD to the general population and the international community at large. (Full decisions are available at http://www.au.int/en/sites/default/files/Final%20Decision%20Ext%20EX%20CL_E.pdf)   

Lifting of travel restrictions

In pursuance of the implementation of the decisions of the Executive Council, the Commissioner of Social Affairs was the first AUC official to visit countries in West Africa with a view to discussing the major decisions of the Executive Council, such as flight cancellations and closure of borders.

The Commission is also having meetings with Chief Executive Officers of airlines to make the necessary arrangements that will facilitate movement of people.

 Other high level delegations will follow.

Engagement with media and other key stakeholders

A comprehensive communication plan has been drafted encompassing activities at headquarters, at mission headquarters in Liberia and at mission stations in Sierra Leone and Guinea. Its main objective is to ensure proper communications about EVD to the general population and the international community at large.

  

PARTNERSHIPS WITH SPECIALIST AGENCIES

Within the ASEOWA task force are specialist agencies that are supporting the AU with expertise, information updates and additional resources. These partners include the World Health Organisation, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the US Mission to the African Union, the Center for Disease Control, and various Embassies who attend meetings from time to time.

USA, EU, China, Norway and Canada have so far pledged financial support to ASEOWA 

Tanzania  president  H.E  J. Kikwete greeting  the   sudanese  president  Albashir-Photo  by  Ayoub  Mzee at  the  Africa  union  Addis  ababa