FROM COAST

Rais Barack Obama wa Marekani amemhakikishia Rais Jakaya Kikwete, kuwa ataendelea kuunga mkono juhudi za Serikali yake katika kupambana na umasikini na kuwaletea Watanzania maisha bora.

Ili kuhakikisha kuwa ahadi hiyo inatekelezwa ipasavyo, Rais Obama juzi alimwelekeza Waziri wa Mambo ya Nje wa Marekani, Hillary Clinton na wasaidizi wake Ikulu ya White House jijini hapa kufuatilia kwa karibu na kwa makini ahadi hizo.

Rais Obama juzi alimkaribisha Rais Kikwete katika Ikulu hiyo kwa mazungumzo, akiwa kiongozi wa kwanza wa Afrika kukutana naye tangu apewe madaraka ya kuongoza Marekani Januari 20, mwaka huu. Clinton alikuwa mmoja wa maofisa sita waandamizi wa Serikali ya Obama waliohudhuria mazungumzo hayo katika Ofisi ya Rais, Oval Office.

Wengine waliokuwapo ni pamoja na Mshauri wa Obama wa Uchumi, Larry Summers ambaye alipata kuwa Waziri wa Fedha wa Marekani, Mshauri wa Masuala ya Usalama, Jenerali James Jones, Msaidizi wa Waziri wa Mambo ya Nje wa Marekani anayeshughulikia Afrika, Balozi A. Carson, ambaye alipata kuwa mwalimu wa kujitolea katika Shule ya Malangali ya Iringa wakati wa ujana wake.

Obama alimwambia Kikwete kuwa uamuzi wake wa kumkaribisha na kumfanya kiongozi wa kwanza wa Afrika kukutana naye, kunatokana na sera za mafanikio na uongozi uliotukuka wa Kikwete. “Napenda kukupongeza kwa uongozi wako mzuri wa Tanzania na pia kwa uongozi wa Umoja wa Afrika (AU), hata kama umemaliza muda wa uongozi wako wa umoja huo,” Obama alimwambia Kikwete na kuongeza:

“ Nataka ufanikiwe katika uongozi wako. Niambie unataka tukuunge mkono vipi ili uendeleze mafanikio ambayo Serikali yako imeyapata. Unakuwa kiongozi wa kwanza kukutana nami tangu niingie madarakani. Hii ni ishara ya imani yangu na ya Serikali yangu katika uongozi wako. Ninafurahishwa na uongozi wako.” Bila kusita Obama alimwambia Kikwete: “Nataka kuja kutembelea Tanzania.

Mara ya mwisho niliiona Tanzania kutokea upande wa pili wa Hifadhi ya Taifa ya Serengeti.” Aliongeza: “ Serikali yangu nzima inavutiwa na uongozi wako. Tunapenda kuunga mkono na kufanya kila linalowezekana kufanikisha hilo ili uendelee kuwatumikia wananchi wa Tanzania.”

Obama pia alimsifu Kikwete katika kuboresha elimu nchini na kumhakikishia kuwa misaada yote ya ujenzi wa miundombinu itakayotolewa chini ya akaunti ya Millennium Challenge Account (MCC) itaharakishwa, ili ujenzi wa miradi hiyo uanze.

“Msimamo wako wa kuweka mkazo katika elimu ni mfano usiokuwa na kifani wa uongozi. Hii miradi ya MCC… tutaangalia nini kifanyike ili ianze kutekelezwa haraka iwezekanavyo na kama lazima tuiongeze.”

Utawala wa Serikali ya Rais George W Bush uliondoka madarakani baada ya kuwa umeidhinisha msaada wa kiasi cha dola milioni 700 kwa ujenzi wa miundombinu katika Tanzania chini ya MCC. Obama hakusema ataongeza kiasi gani katika awamu ijayo ya misaada ya MCC kwa Tanzania, au kama anakusudia kukipiku kiasi kilichotolewa na Rais Bush.

Kikwete alimpongeza Obama kwa kuendelea kuiunga mkono Tanzania na Afrika, lakini akataka Marekani iunge mkono zaidi juhudi za Tanzania katika jitihada za kufuta umasikini, kuhakikisha kuwa kuna chakula cha kutosha katika Afrika kwa kuunga mkono jitihada za kuboresha kilimo, kuendelea kuunga mkono jitihada za kuboresha elimu na hasa ya sayansi na kuendeleza mapambano dhidi ya malaria, Ukimwi na kifua kikuu.

Kikwete pia aliutaka uongozi wa Obama kuendeleza juhudi za kupunguza vifo vya akinamama wakati wa uzazi na kuisaidia Tanzania na Bara la Afrika kukabiliana na athari za kuvurugika kwa uchumi duniani.

Viongozi hao pia walijadili baadhi ya migogoro mikubwa katika Afrika, ukiwamo wa Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo (DRC), Darfur katika Sudan, Somalia na hali ya kisiasa Kenya. Kikwete pia alimweleza Obama kuhusu jitihada zinazofanywa na serikali kuleta suluhu ya kisiasa Zanzibar.

Obama alimwomba Kikwete kuendelea kuwasiliana na Serikali ya Marekani kwa namna ya kushauri kuhusu jinsi gani serikali hiyo inavyoweza kuchangia katika kutafuta utatuzi wa migogoro inayolikabili Bara la Afrika hasa ile ya DRC na Darfur. Mapema kabla ya kukutana na Obama, Kikwete alikutana na kufanya mazungumzo na Clinton ofisini kwake.

Clinton alitaka kujua jinsi Marekani inavyoweza kuisaidia Afrika kuondokana na matatizo yake na Kikwete alitoa maelezo ya kina kuhusu jinsi jambo hilo linavyoweza kufanikishwa. Viongozi hao pia waliijadili Kenya na hali ya kisiasa katika Zanzibar na kuhusu migogoro mingine inayoikabili Afrika.

The eye and ear screening team yesterday shifted its services to Maendeleo Primary School where about 60 people, including schoolchildren, were attended to.

On Thursday, the team screened 50 pupils at the Mbagala Kuu Primary School.

The team, which is screening victims of the Mbagala bomb blasts which occurred last month, has been given five days to accomplish the job.

The team is made up of 25 doctors and specialists from Muhimbili, Temeke and Ilala hospitals.

Ear, nose and throat specialist Dr. Simba Ruranga said a big number of schoolchildren had turned up for the exercise.

“We know every victim wants this service, but we will attend to the schoolchildren first,” he said.

On April 29, this year, bombs stockpiled at the military base armoury in Mbagala, some 14 kilometers from the city’s central business district, went off accidentally, killing 26 people and injuring over 200.

The bombs also destroyed about 8000 houses and left hundreds of people homeless.

The government promised to compensate the victims, and the evaluation exercise has been conducted. The Defence and National Services Minister Dr. Hussein Mwinyi, appointed a team to probe the cause of the accident and its report is expected out early next month.

The East African Community (EAC) has unveiled its 2009/10 fiscal year budget, showing an increase of 34 per cent from the previous year.

The EAC has proposed to spend USD 54,257, 291 in the next financial year. Budget estimates for the previous year were USD 40,499,096.

The EAC trading bloc comprising Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania is embracing a strong and large market of a combined population of 120 million people, with a land area of 1.9 million square kilometres and a combined GDP of USD 47 billion.

Tabling the budget estimates in the EA Legislative Assembly (EALA) on Thursday, secretary to the EAC Council of Ministers Monique Makaruliza said the estimates reflected an overall increase of 34 per cent.

Development expenditure has the lion’s share, with USD 27,423,600 (50.6 per cent); money allocated for personnel emoluments is USD 16,719,628 (30.8 per cent), while the recurrent expenditure package stands at USD 10,114,063 (18.6 per cent).

Institutional budgetary allocations show that the EAC secretariat has the lion's share, with USD 25,655,155 slated for its coffers.

The East African Legislative Assembly got USD 8,573,761, while the East African Court of Justice has been allocated USD 2,868,613 for administration of justice.

However, even with pressure from EAC partners to prioritise conservation of Lake Victoria, the Lake Victoria Basin Commission has been allocated a dismissal USD 12,238,553.

While unveiling the budget, Makaruliza said the budget was to be financed by miscellaneous income of USD 66,927, contributions from partner states of USD 27,966,699 and development partners’ contributions of USD 26,223,665.

The secretariat, she said, would be seeking the support of development partners to cover the shortfall in the budget required to execute the planned activities of the secretariat in the next financial year

The budget is structured under the theme `Strategic priorities to deepen EAC integration, towards a Common Market and Monetary Union’.

The major highlights of the 2009/10 fiscal year, Makaruliza said, include consolidating the Customs Union, finalizing negotiations on the EA Common Market protocol; and launching of the protocol.

Others are related with promoting EAC trade and investments, including EPA negotiations, concretizing regional projects and programmes in various sectors and prioritizing infrastructure development.

Others are laying the foundation for a monetary union, intensifying activities under political federation agenda and co-operation in political affairs.

On the list also there is an issue of streamlining and strengthening organs’ coordination, financial and administrative systems and operations for an efficient and effective EAC.

The revenue and expenditure budget of the EAC is being tabled against the backdrop of a serious global financial and economic crisis that could adversely impact the partner states' economies as well as those of their major development partners.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected a 1.3 per cent decline in global economic activity for the calendar year 2009.

Former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun served from 2003-2008

Former South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun committed suicide by leaping to his death from a hill behind his house, the state-run Yonhap news agency reported Saturday.Yonhap cited a former presidential aide, acting as the family's lawyer, who said Roh left a suicide note for his family.

Roh, 62, had gone hiking near his home with an aide around 6:30 a.m. Saturday, Yonhap said.

He was found later with head injuries, and died after being taken to a hospital in Busan, police said. A hospital spokesman declined to comment.

Yonhap said Roh's death came amid an investigation into a bribery scandal that has tarnished his reputation.

Roh, who served as president from 2003 to 2008, and his family had allegedly received $6 million in bribes from a businessman, Yonhap said.

Roh said he learned about the payments only after he left office and that some of them were legitimate investments, Yonhap reported.

In the most sweeping changes to the credit card industry in 40 years, President Obama signed into law Friday an act to restrict practices he says contributed to consumers' financial problems during the recession.

"With this bill we are putting in place some common sense reforms designed to protect consumers," Obama said at a signing ceremony at the White House.

"We're not going to be giving people a free pass and we expect consumers to live within their means and pay what they owe. But we also expect financial institutions to act with the same sense of responsibility that the American people aspire to in their own lives," he said.

The new law — which includes restrictions on interest rate increases and credit offered to college students — deals a blow to the banking industry, which has lobbied aggressively against tighter regulation. At the same time, it provides less than a complete win for consumers because it doesn't cap interest rates or fees.

The legislation "is not going to be a hanging for banks, but I think Congress has collared them and are bringing them in," says Robert McKinley, founder of CardTrak.com, which consults with banks. "It's been the Wild West for the card industry for a long time."

Marcia Sullivan, director of government relations for Consumer Bankers Association, a trade group, says banks' biggest concern is that the new restrictions will affect the availability and price of credit.

"I think that every single company that offers a credit card is reassessing its cost," says Sullivan. Issuers will be "reassessing what they do and how they do it."

The law's impact will be felt by most households in America. About 90 million households carry credit cards, with an average debt load of more than $10,500, according to CardTrak.com. The curbs, which mostly take effect in nine months, deal with controversial practices including:

•Interest rate increases. Issuers can generally raise rates on existing credit card debt only if consumers have paid their bill more than 60 days late.

•Penalty fees. Issuers can't charge an over-limit fee unless consumers have asked for this additional credit. Banks also can't impose late fees if they delayed crediting a payment.

•Marketing to college students. Banks can't extend credit cards to people under 21 without verifying their ability to pay or getting their parents' permission.

The law comes on the heels of consumer outcry about increases in credit-card rates and fees during the downturn. Banks have said that higher funding costs, along with surging loan delinquencies and defaults, forced them to reassess card risk.

The problem is, banks' actions have only made it harder for consumers to pay their bills. In the first quarter of 2009, the latest data available, credit card delinquencies hit an all-time high of 6.5%, according to the Federal Reserve. Credit-card defaults reached a near-record 7.5%.

Susanna Montezemolo, a vice president at the Center for Responsible Lending, an advocacy group, says because the law is a "compromise piece of legislation, there are certainly other areas where it could be made stronger." Still, Montezemolo says that consumers groups are generally "thrilled" that borrowers will have new rules of the road for credit cards.