EAC business bodies weary of trade barriers

Bangirana (left) chatting with Ahmed Saleh Mbarouk, the Zanzibari National Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture board member, at the function


EAST African Community states should institute mechanisms to reduce non-tariff barriers because they are hurting trade in the region.

Bernard Bangirana, the Uganda Allied Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (UACCIA)executive director, said this would increase benefits from cross-border trade and accelerate development among member nations.

Non-tariff barriers are limitations like infrastructure, regulations and laws that impact negatively on domestic and cross-border trade.

“We will engage the private sector and our respective governments to ensure that these barriers are removed to improve trade in the region and other trading blocs in Africa,” said Bangirana.

He was addressing a regional stakeholders’ meeting organised by UACCIA and the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture to find ways of boosting trade in the region last week.

Julius Onen, the trade ministry permanent secretary, called for the creation of regional synergies to remove trade barriers as they hike transaction costs. He cited transport infrastructure gaps as the leading obstacles to trade, saying they affect negatively foreign investment inflows into the region.

Bangirana said the chambers would sensitise people to deepen understanding of the regional trade systems.

like; administration of trade rules of origin, cross-boarder taxation systems, harmonisation of product standards, lobbying governments to improve transport networks as well as disseminating information about the implications of trade agreements among the business community in the East African partner states.


New Vision

Ni katika kusherehekea miaka 50 ya uhuru wa Tanzania na miaka 100 ya siku ya mwanamke duniani

Ni onyesho la wazi, bure na la aina yake mara ya Kwanza nchini.

Itakuwa ni kampeni ya utu mwanamke na uzazi salama

Wadhamini waombwa kujitokeza kusapoti uzazi salama Tanzania



Katika kusherehekea miaka 50 ya Uhuru wa Tanzania, na miaka mia moja ya siku ya mwanamke kimataifa, mbunifu nguli wa mavazi Tanzania, Mustafa Hassanali aliyebobea katika ubunifu wa mavazi ya jioni na Harusi, kwa kushirikiana na wabunifu waalikwa wa kimataifa toka Uingereza watafanya maonyesho ya mavazi tarehe 4-5 mwezi Machi mwaka huu, kwa lengo la kusaidia suala zima la uzazi salama nchini.

Akizungumzia maonyesho hayo, Mustafa Hassanali, ambae anaamini katika kuitumia mitindo kama njia mbadala ya kuchangia, kuhamasisha na kueneza taarifa kwa jamii zinazohusiana na masuala ya afya amesema”kwa kushirikiana na shirika la utepe mweupe la Tanzania kwa pamoja tumeamua kufanya maonyesho ya mavazi kwa siku mbili, lengo si tu kuonyesha mavazi ya Mustafa Hassanali kwa mwaka 2011, na utu mwanamke, bali pia kuhamasisha uzazi salama nchini”.

‘Kila dakika moja dunia inapoteza mwanamke mmoja kwa matatizo ya uzazi, tunahitaji kufanya mabadiliko hususani katika kipindi hiki ambacho dunia inasherehekea miaka mia moja ya siku ya mwanamke, na taifa pia la Tanzania likitimiza miaka 50 toka uhuru, hivyo hatuna budi kufanya kila liwezekanalo kuhakikisha tunampa mchango mwanamke katika suala zima la afya ya uzazi” alisema Mustafaa Hassanali.

Mustafa Hassanali, mwenye elimu na uelewa mzuri wa udaktari, ambae ndie alieanzisha mpango wa ‘Fashion 4 Health’, mpango ambao umefanya maonyesho ya mavazi katika kusaidia masuala mbalimbali yahusuyo afya toka mwaka 2008, na moja kati ya harakati zake, ni pamoja na ile ya kuchangia hospitali ya wenye matatizo ya akili huko Zanzibar, ambapo kiasi cha shilingi milioni 23 zilipatikana kutokana na mradi huo.


Akiwa kama nguli wa mitindo Afrika Mashariki na kati, na mwenye nia ya kuiweka fani hii ya mitindo mbele, Mustafa Hassanali alisema”tunatarajia kufanya onyesho la wazi kwa tarehe tano ya mwezi wa tatu, hii itasaidia kuipa nafasi jamii yote bila kujali uwezo wa mtu, kupata taarifa kamili na sahihi kuhusu uzazi salama hapa nchini”.

Akichangia katika hilo, meneja mauzo na masoko wa Mustafa Hassanali, ndugu Hamis Omari alisema kuwa “maonyesho haya yataenda sambamba na utoaji elimu bure kuhusu afya ya uzazi salama, tekinolojia husika na haki ya kila raia katika hili”

Meneja Masoko huyo aliwaomba wadau na makampuni mbalimbali kujitokeza ili kudhamini onyesho hilo lenye nia njema, ili kutoa mchango wao katika kumsaidia mwanamke wa Tanzania na uzazi salama.

‘Mamma Mia’ ni jina lililotokana na wimbo uliovuma sana katika miaka ya 80 na kundi la ‘ABBA’, ambapo onyesho hilo litajumuisha mitindo mipya na ya nguvu toka kwa Mustafa Hassanali, pamoja na wabunifu waalikwa toka wiki ya mitindo ya Uingereza.

Nukuu kwa Mhariri:

KUHUSU MUSTAFA HASSANALI
Mustafa Hassanali ni mbunifu mjasiriamali anaeamini katika ‘daima sitashindwa’ huku akitumia kipaji chake na ubunifu wake wa mavazi katika kuleta maisha bora ya sasa na ya baadae.

Kazi za mbunifu Mustafa zimekuwa zikithaminika na kuonyeshwa kimataifa, ambapo Mustafa alifanikiwa kuonyesha ubunifu wake katika nchi kama Angola ‘Angola Fashion Business’, FAFA (Festival of African Fashion and Arts in Kenya), Kameruni, Wiki ya Mitindo India 2009, Naomi Campbell’s fashion for relief 2009, Arise Africa Fashion Week 2009, Wiki ya mavazi Durban & Cape town, Vukani Fashion Awards Pretoria, Miss Ethiopia Beauty Pageant, Mediterranean Fashion Festival, Sicily, Italia, M’net Face of Africa, Msumbiji, Uganda, na Wiki ya Mitindo Kenya, ambayo kwa pamoja yamemletea heshima kubwa, ndani na nje ya nchi.

KUHUSU SHIRIKA LA UTEPE MWEUPE
Ni shirika la kimataifa lisilo la kiserikali, lenye nia ya kuleta mabadiliko katika suala zima la uzazi salama, kati ya mama na mtoto duniani kote.

Katika jamii nyingine, rangi nyeupe ina maana ya majonzi, na jamii nyingine, nyeupe in maana ya matumaini na uhai, hivyo basi utepe mweupe umetwaliwa kama kumbukumbu kwa wanawake wote waliofariki kwa mimba , na katika harakati za kujifungua.
Toka ilipoanzishwa mwaka 1999, shirika la utepe mweupe limekuwa likikuwa kwa kasi duniani kote, hadi kufikia kuwa na nchi wanachama 148 ambao wanapaza sauti zao kwa ajili ya wanawake na jamii zao kwa ujumla. Ambapo kwa sasa linaongoza katika kuyakabili majanga yanayotokana na vifo vya uzazi.

KUHUSU MUSTAFA HASSANALI NA SHIRIKA LA UTEPE MWEUPE.

Mustafa Hassanali, ni mbunifu wa mavazi anayeshirikiana kwa karibu sana na shirika hili, ambapo kwa pamoja waliwahi kufanya onyesho na Naomi Campbell lililofahamika kama ‘Naomi Cambpell’s fashion for Relief’ mwaka 2009, ambapo zilokusanywa kiasi cha dola 65,000.

Mustafa Hassanali, mwenye shahada ya udaktari, anaamini kwa moyo mkunjufu kabisa katika kutumia mitindo kama njia yakusaidia kuchangisha fedha, na kusambaza ujumbe wa masuala ya afya kwa jamii yote.

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We Want More Say in This Union, Zanzibar Tells Tanzania Govt

Nairobi — The course of the 47-year existence of the United Republic of Tanzania has been anything but smooth.

From Zanzibar nationalism, the structure of government, and inequity in the sharing of government offices within the Union to sharing the benefits and costs including revenue and foreign aid, the problems have kept coming back to haunt the Union government.

According to a report of the Kituo Cha Katiba fact-finding mission to Tanzania, with regard to the economy, Zanzibar argues that there are unfair fiscal and monetary agreements that kill its economy.

For example, it points out that there is double taxation of goods imported into the Tanzania Mainland from Zanzibar.

Petroleum and natural gas, which are likely to be discovered off the islands, have been included in the list of Union matters.

However, gold, diamonds and tanzanite that are found in Tanzania Mainland are not classified as such.

Even more contentious is the list of matters reserved for the Union government.

The original 11 articles were, over time, increased, reaching 22 by 1990. To Zanzibaris, this is intended to undermine the autonomy and identity of Zanzibar.

Zanzibar complained about the sharing formula of revenues of 4.5 per cent for Zanzibar, which the Isles suggest be raised to 10 per cent.

The Union insists that is too high and would settle for 5 per cent.

Likewise, complaints persist that the Union government exclusively bears all costs of collecting revenue in Zanzibar (by the Tanzania Revenue Authority).

"In terms of resources, the people in Zanzibar pointed out that the mainland has minerals, national parks, agricultural land as compared with Zanzibar, which has limited resources..." says the report.

With regard to foreign aid they pointed out that although it is solicited and received in the name of the United Republic, Zanzibar receives little, or nothing in respect to non-Union matters such as agriculture.

It is the mainland that decides on behalf of Zanzibar how much it should get. Yet Zanzibar cannot shop for foreign aid for itself.

On their part, business people decried double taxation, saying that while the TRA has a presence in Zanzibar, once you re-export to the mainland, there is reassessment, harassment, delays in clearing the goods.

The structure of government has also been put under a microscope.

The bone of contention is that the Union deals with Union and non-Union matters lumped together.

Hence Zanzibaris feel that when a minister of the Union deals with issues affecting both entities, he is likely to favour the mainland. In short, there is a conflict of interest.

At the same time, budgetary allocations are bundled together for the Union government and Tanzania Mainland without any clear distinction.

It is for this reason that there has been a clamour for the establishment of a three-tier government consisting of the Union, Zanzibar and Tanzania Mainland.

This problem dramatically took centre stage in 1984 and led to the then president of Zanzibar, Aboud Jumbe, being forced to resign.

In regard to political and government institutions and processes, Zanzibaris stated that they are not considered a country, yet they are.

They pointed out that while the Union entails two countries, their president has no role.

They pointed to the inequity in the sharing of government offices within the Union. There are only three ambassadors from Zanzibar.

The ambassadors from the mainland work for the benefit of the mainland. Likewise, they point to the relatively few Zanzibaris serving in embassies abroad.

A Zanzibari is yet to serve as the Inspector General of Government.

n the army, all ranking generals are from the mainland. Most staff in the Tanzania Revenue Authority are said to be from the mainland too.

"In general, therefore, at the political level, many Zanzibaris do not think the Union is in their interest; they think that they have no say in the Union. They feel marginalised; they believe that, at the institutional level, they are not taken care of. They do not get to learn of opportunities or services offered by ministries dealing with Union matters since they do not maintain offices in Zanzibar," the mission observes in a report titled "Federation within Federation: The Tanzania Union Experience and the East African Integration Process."However, peace and security were pointed out as benefits of the Union.

From the mainland, there were complaints about the over-representation of Zanzibar in Union institutions, including parliament.

It was also pointed out that the portfolios for the mainland in government are virtually non-existent since there are people from Zanzibar holding portfolios for non-Union matters.

According to the mission, these issues were compounded by the unique structure of the Union: A two-government structure with a Union government and government of Zanzibar, but without a Tanganyika government. On the one hand, it was claimed that Zanzibar could not negotiate with the partner with whom they had executed the Union treaty with a view to modifying it as the need arose.

Revive Tanganyika

On the other, there were voices from the mainland calling for the revival of a Tanganyika government.

The dual mandate of the Union government, for instance, jurisdiction over Union matters, and over non-Union matters of the mainland created its own problems and suspicions.

"An attempt was made to design mechanisms to deal with the problems but these, including the Constitution Court, a Permanent Commission and many ad hoc ones appear to have been largely ineffectual; they always had to resort to the one-party structure to deal with the issues," the report observes.

"The transition to multiparty politics has made the latter approach to Union problems impractical. The transition has also brought in its wake, problems of electoral and post-electoral violence and claims of electoral fraud in Zanzibar. This has in turn highlighted the problems of the Union, and in particular the place of Zanzibar within the Union," it adds.

The incremental erosion of the powers of the government of Zanzibar is best illustrated by the 1977 merger of Tanganyika African National Union and Afro Shirazi Party.

This meant that matters that were entirely within the jurisdiction of Zanzibar were to be decided by a pan-territorial political party - Chama cha Mapinduzi.

Renegotiation

In the political arena, two court cases were filed asking the High Court of Zanzibar to declare the Union null and void.

Other players have mooted the renegotiation of the Articles of Union to create a fully fledged federation.

The Articles of Union constitute the legal basis of the Union and for them to have effect, they should have been ratified by both Tanganyika and Zanzibar.

There is no evidence of any law in Zanzibar ratifying the treaty. The only evidence of ratification appeared in the Government of Tanganyika Gazette under the signature of the Solicitor General of the Tanganyika Government.

The Union, therefore, it is concluded by some, "lacked a legal basis right from the very beginning because while the Articles were signed by Karume they were not ratified. The Union therefore exists de facto, but not as a matter of law," the reports notes.

"Hence decisions were made on the basis of good will and political expediency rather than law and the constitution. The unification process was not constitutionalised; it was just a political agreement between Nyerere and Karume and even the Articles of Union came as an afterthought. They were formulated subsequent to the fact."

It was stated that some key figures in government do not understand the structure of the Union, for instance, the two governments and three jurisdictions.

This creates confusion which is compounded by the constitution itself.

It was pointed out that while Article 4 of the constitution does provide for the two governments with three jurisdictions other parts of the constitution mix up things and blur the distinction.

HARUSI TRADE FAIR 2011 - MAONYESHO YA HARUSI 2011

Maonyesho ya Harusi kufanyika Dar.
Wadau wa Harusi kukutanishwa Dar
Siku tatu za Maonyesho ya Harusi Diamond Jubilee
Maandalizi ya Maonyesho ya Harusi 2011 yapamba moto Dar


Maandalizi ya maonyesho ya pili ya Harusi Tanzania ‘Harusi Trade Fair 2011’, yanayotarajiwa kuanza tarehe 1- 3 mwezi ujao katika ukumbi wa Diamond Jubilee yanaendelea vizuri , huku yakiwa yanajumuisha wataalamu waliobobea katika nyanja zote zinazohusiana na suala zima la Harusi.

Muaandaaji na msimamizi wa maonyesho haya makubwa ya Harusi Tanzania, Mustafa Hassanali amesema kuwa “maonyesho ya mwaka huu yatakuwa makubwa, mazuri na yenye kuvutia zaidi ya mwaka uliyopita, na tunatazamia kuyafanya yawe maonyesho makubwa zaidi kwa ukanda huu kwa miaka ijayo”

Nukuu zinasema kuwa, maonyesho ya mwaka huu tayari yameshawavutia zaidi ya washiriki 32 , wakiwemo washiriki wa maonyesho yaliyopita na wapya.

Maonyesho ya Harusi ya mwaka 2011, ni maonyesho ambayo uboreshaji wake umevuka kutoka siku mbili za maonyesho hadi siku tatu kwa mwaka huu, huku likiongezewa na kujumuisha vionjo vingi zaidi.

“Harusi ni tukio zuri, ambalo hutokea mara moja tu, huku likiunganisha familia na jamii pamoja, hivyo nia yetu ni kuwapa maharusi mahitaji yao yoote muhimu kwa pamoja na kwa wakati mmoja, na maonyesho haya ndio sehemu muafaka kwa hilo” alisema Mustafa Hassanali.

Maonyesho haya ya Harusi ambayo hufanyika kila mwaka, huwaleta pamoja wahusika wote wa mambo ya Harusi katika kujenga na kutengeneza mtandao wa kimafanikio baina yao, na ndio maana maonyesho haya yamekuwa ni ya kwanza na ya aina yake Tanzania, ambapo kwa mwaka huu yatapambwa na vitu kama keki, maua, wapiga picha, magauni ya Harusi, bila kusahau mengi na yenye ubunifu katika Harusi.

Gabriel Makupa wa ‘GRM Production’, ambae ni mmoja wa washiriki wa mwaka huu wa maonyesho haya alisema kuwa, wamekuwa na wakati mzuri kibiashara, hali iliyosababishwa na ushiriki wao katika maonyesho haya kwa mwaka uliyopita.

“tumekuwa na wakati mzuri kibiashara, hii imetusaidia kujenga mtandao mzuri kibiashara, tulitangaza huduma zetu vilivyo, na hii ndo sababu ya sisi kushiriki tena mwaka huu” alisema Gabriel wa GRM, kampuni inayojihusisha na upigaji picha katika maharusi.

“makampuni yajitokeze kutangaza huduma zao mwaka huu katika maonyesho haya, ni nafasi nzuri, kwani tumeshapata makampuni 32 mpaka sasa yatakayoshiriki mwaka huu, idadi ambayo inaongezeka kila siku, “ alisema Mustafa Hassanali.

Mmoja wa washiriki wa mwaka huu wa maonyesho kutoka ‘Karibu Holiday’, kampuni inayoshughulika na maandalizi ya fungate kwa maharusi na mapumziko binafsi nchini, Bw. Susai Nathan alisema kuwa, maonyesho ya mwaka huu ni njia mbadala ya kutangaza huduma zao mpya zenye ubora maalum kwa fungate, mahususi kwa maharusi au watakaofunga ndoa katika miezi hii mitatu ijayo.

Haya ni maonyesho ya siku tatu ambayo yana mengi, na si yakukosa kushiriki ama kuhudhuria kwa maharusi, familia, na wale wote wanaohusika na kamati za Harusi, ili kujionea na kujua mengi yahusuyo Harusi na mahitaji yake.


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