JUA HALI HALI HALISI JUU YA KASI YA MAAMBUKIZI YA VIRUSI VYA UKIMWI TANZANIA

Rais wa Awamu ya Tatu, Benjamin Mkapa ametunukiwa Tuzo ya Mafanikio Katika Utumishi wa Umma kutokana na mchango alioutoa kwenye uchumi wakati wa utawala wake.

 
Kwa ufupi

Kufanya kazi bila kuchoka, kusisitiza uwazi na ukweli katika kuboresha uchumi katika kipindi chake kwampaisha.

Dar es Salaam. 

Akikabidhi tuzo hiyo iliyotolewa na Umoja wa Watendaji Wakuu (CEOrt) juzi, Balozi Ami Mbungwe alisema Rais Mkapa ametoa mchango mkubwa katika kuimarisha utawala bora na uwazi ndani na nje ya nchi.

“Alifanya kazi bila kuchoka, akisisitiza ukweli na uwazi wakati wa kipindi cha kuboresho sera za uchumi. Atakumbukwa kwa mchango wake mkubwa kwenye masuala ya uwekezaji,” alisema.

Akipokea tuzo hiyo katika hafla iliyohudhuriwa na viongozi mbalimbali, Mkapa alisema ameipokea kwa niaba ya wananchi ambao walikubali kupokea mabadiliko ya kiuchumi.

“Maono na mipango yangu wakati ule ilikuwa kuweka mazingira rafiki ambayo yangelinda haki za sekta binafsi, kuhakikisha mfumo wa fedha unakuwa rafiki kwa biashara, kukusanya mapato na kulipa madeni ya umma ili kufan uchumi uwe imara,” alisema.

Mkapa alisema hata alipogundua kuwa ujasiriamali unabanwa na kanuni zisizo sahihi, kodi kubwa, kukosekana kwa ushindani halali, alihakikisha anaondoa vikwazo na kuongeza ushindani wa kibiashara.

Alisema baadhi ya watu walilalamikia uboreshaji kwa madai kuwa sekta binafsi iligeuka sehemu ya kuficha kampuni za kigeni.

Mwenyekiti wa CEOrt, Ali Mufuruki alisema tuzo hiyo mwaka jana ilitolewa kwa Rais wa Serikali ya Awamu ya Pili, Ali Hassan Mwinyi, kutokana na mchango wake kwenye biashara huria, vyombo vya habari na kuanzisha siasa za vyama vingi.

Mufuruki alisema nishani hiyo haitolewi tu kwa viongozi wa kitaifa au marais, bali inakwenda kwa mtu yeyote ambaye mchango wake unatambuliwa na jamii.

Alisema kiongozi huyo aliingia madarakani wakati nchini ikiwa katika hali mbaya kiuchumi, lakini katika miaka miwili aliteremsha mfumko wa bei kutoka asilimia 30 mpaka nne.

“Aliweza kusimamisha kuporomoka kwa thamani ya shilingi, alihakikisha Serikali inatumia fedha ambayo inakusanya kutokana na mapato yake ya ndani. alisema Mufuruki.

Katika hafla hiyo, Mtendaji Mkuu kutoka Ofisi ya Rais-Ufuatiliaji wa Utekelezaji wa Miradi (PDB), Omari Issa alipewa tuzo ya Mwaka ya Utumishi wa Serikali kutokana na mchango wake alioutoa kwenye sekta binafsi nchini.

The Kremlin's international media operation appears to be going from strength to strength with two recent high-profile launches and more in the pipeline.

Dmitry Kiselev at the launch of Sputnik, as seen on Russian NTV 

 

But it is also coming under increased scrutiny over its lack of editorial balance and accusations that it is deliberately using disinformation to counter and divide the West.

In a spanking new press centre in Moscow on 10 November, controversial TV news anchor Dmitry Kiselev, who is also head of the Rossiya Segodnya (Russia Today) news agency, unveiled Sputnik - the Kremlin's latest foray into the international news arena.

With its planned network of media hubs in 30 cities, Sputnik is the new brand for the radio station Voice of Russia and the foreign-language operations of the RIA Novosti news service, which were taken over by Rossiya Segodnya when it was launched last December.

Propaganda

Kiselev said the new project was aimed at a global audience "tired of aggressive propaganda promoting a unipolar world and who want a different perspective".

But with his own relentless denunciation of the West and demonisation of Ukrainians as fascists on state TV, there can hardly be a more practised purveyor of "aggressive propaganda" than Kiselev himself.

  Sputnik's owners are planning a network of media hubs in 30 cities

The Sputnik launch came less than a fortnight after the Kremlin's international TV channel RT (formerly known as Russia Today) unveiled a dedicated news service for viewers in the UK. Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan (who holds the same position at Rossiya Segodnya) said that RT UK would seek to "promote debate and new ways of thinking about British issues".

RT's funding is set to rise in 2015 to over $330m (£210m; €264m). It is said to be planning to add French and German operations to its existing services in English, Spanish and Arabic.

But RT UK's debut was greeted with a barrage of criticism in the British press. Writing in the Observer, Nick Cohen accused the channel of spreading conspiracy theories and being a "prostitution of journalism". Meanwhile, in The Times, Oliver Kamm called on broadcast regulator Ofcom to act against this "den of deceivers".

'Weaponisation'

Oliver Kamm did not have long to wait. On 10 November, Ofcom found RT guilty of violating the broadcasting code's "due impartiality" rules in its coverage of the Ukraine crisis in early March. It rejected RT's contention that as a station that challenges the "established" view in the UK it was somehow exempt from the normal broadcast requirements.

In view of past violations, it put the channel on notice that future breaches may result in a "statutory sanction", which could include fines, or even the suspension or revocation of RT's broadcast licence.

For President Putin, RT is spearheading Russia's bid to challenge the "Anglo-Saxon monopoly" on global news. But, according to a recent report by US journalist Michael Weiss and UK-based writer and TV producer Peter Pomerantsev, it is part of a strategy of disinformation aimed at countering and dividing the West.

Entitled "The menace of unreality: How the Kremlin weaponises information, culture and money", the report was produced under the aegis of the US-based Institute of Modern Russia (IMR), which is part-funded by members of the family of former oil tycoon and Putin opponent Mikhail Khodorkovsky..

RT's coverage of the Ukraine crisis has seen it investigated by Ofcom

Adapting techniques inherited from the old KGB, say the authors, RT makes extensive use of conspiracy theories that serve to undermine a "reality-based discourse". This, they argue, then creates the conditions in which the Kremlin can advance its own disinformation to "confuse situations at critical junctures".

They give as examples a spurious RT report about Jews fleeing Ukraine over anti-Semitism, equally bogus insinuations that a US think tank was advising Ukrainian President Poroshenko to carry out ethnic cleansing, and the spreading of conspiracy theories concerning the downing of Malaysian airliner MH17 over east Ukraine in July.

According to Weiss and Pomerantsev, this kind of media manipulation amounts to a "weaponisation of information", a phrase also used in relation to Russia by Mark Galeotti, a professor of global affairs at New York University.

'Information war'

But Ms Simonyan insists that RT is not very different from other major news broadcasters. Responding to the Ofcom ruling, she said the BBC was also guilty of "bias" in its reporting of Ukraine, as well as its coverage of other issues.

In a statement posted on RT's website, she said other broadcasters would also have to change the way they operate, "if double standards are to be avoided".

Weiss and Pomerantsev, meanwhile, came under fire in an anonymous article on the pro-Kremlin English-language website Russia Insider. Part political critique, part personalised attack, the article accuses them of being members of a "Russophobic hack pack" that also includes Edward Lucas of The Economist and US journalist Anne Applebaum.

Ordinary Russians appear to hold similar views. A poll published on 12 November by the independent Levada Centre indicated that 88% of the population believe the USA and other Western countries are waging an information war against Russia. Just 4% dissented from this view.

BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

Ebola outbreak: Liberia president lifts state of emergency

Liberia - along with Guinea and Sierra Leone - has been hit hard by the Ebola outbreak

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has lifted the state of emergency imposed to control an Ebola outbreak that has ravaged the country.

She said the move did not mean "the fight is over", although numbers of new infections were no longer increasing.
The confirmed death toll from the virus is now 5,160 people, almost all of them from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Meanwhile, clinical trials to find an effective treatment for Ebola are due to start in West Africa next month.
The medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which has been helping lead the fight against the virus, says three of its treatment centres will host three separate research projects.
'New hotspots' In nationwide address, President Johnson Sirleaf said that night curfews would be reduced and weekly markets could take place across Liberia.

She added that preparations were being made for the re-opening of schools.
The state of emergency imposed in August had allowed the local authorities to curb movement in the worst-hit areas of the country, including the capital Monrovia.
The lifting of the emergency comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) said "there is some evidence that case incidence is no longer increasing nationally in Guinea and Liberia".
However, some reports suggest that new fresh hotspots have emerged in Liberia, the Associated Press reports.
'Hope for patients' In a separate development, MSF announced the new clinical trials: two in Guinea and another one in an unconfirmed location.
One trial will involve using the blood of recovered Ebola patients to treat sick people in the Guinean capital Conakry.
"This is an unprecedented international partnership which represents hope for patients to finally get a real treatment," said MSF spokeswoman Dr Annick Antierens.
About 400 people will take part in the trials, and they will be extended to other centres if the early results - expected in February 2015 - are promising.
The WHO announced in September that experimental treatments and vaccines for Ebola should be fast-tracked.
Two experimental vaccines, produced by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and the Public Health Agency of Canada, have already been fast-tracked into safety trials.
The GSK vaccine is being tested in Mali, the UK and the US. Research on the Canadian vaccine is also under way in the US.

Cumulative deaths up to 11 November

*Figures are occasionally revised down as suspect or probable cases are found to be unrelated to Ebola. Figures for Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea up to 9 November, while those for Mali, Nigeria and the US up to 11 November.

Burkina Faso leaders agree transitional framework following the meeting held in Ouagadougou

  The blueprint for transition was agreed unanimously at the meeting in Ouagadougou

A framework for a transitional government in Burkina Faso has been agreed after talks between political, military and civil leaders.

A spokesman for the talks in Ouagadougou said the charter project was agreed unanimously.
The transitional body is intended to return the country to civilian rule and prepare for elections next year.
The army took power after President Blaise Compaore was forced to resign on 31 October amid mass protests.
"Today was the day of compromise," said Herve Kam, a member of the Balai Citoyen civil society group.
"Both soldiers and civilians agree on a civilian transition. The institutions of the transition will be led by civilians."
Lt Col Isaac Zida declared himself head of the West African state on 1 November after President Compaore fled to neighbouring Ivory Coast after 27 years in power.
Last week the African Union (AU) issued a two-week deadline for the authorities to restore civilian rule or face possible sanctions.

  Lt Col Zida had previously been second in command of the presidential guard

Under the charter agreed on Thursday, an interim president will be chosen by a special college composed of religious, military, political, civil and traditional leaders.
The president will then name a prime minister to appoint a 25-member government.
The charter also calls for a 90-member national transitional council to serve as a legislative body.
Lt Col Zida, who pledged to hand over power to a civilian authority, is expected to enact the charter within days, officials said.
Mr Compaore first seized power in a coup in 1987 and went on to win four disputed elections.
The protests were triggered by his plan to amend the constitution so that he could run for office again in elections next year.

Sister Cristina Scuccia has just released an album that includes her cover of Madonna’s Like a Virgin. But she isn’t the first nun to raise eyebrows.

(Circle Culture Gallery/Corita Art Center)

Sisters for life!” Madonna tweeted in October. She wasn’t referring to Lady Gaga or Rihanna: her affection was directed at Sicilian nun Sister Cristina Scuccia, who has recorded a cover of the US pop star’s 1984 hit Like a Virgin.
The singing nun – who invited the audience to join her in reciting the Lord’s Prayer after winning The Voice of Italy talent show in June – today releases her debut album. She claims her cover of the racy classic is more of “a secular prayer than a pop song”, telling Catholic newspaper Avvenire: “If you read the lyrics without being influenced by what has gone before, you discover that it is a song about the capacity of love to make people new again, to release them from their past. And that’s how I wanted to interpret it. That’s why we’ve transformed it from the pop-dance track it was into a romantic ballad.”
The 26-year-old argues: “I chose it myself, without any desire to provoke or scandalise.” Yet Italy’s Religious Information Service news agency called it a “reckless and sly commercial operation”. Holy Sisters are not always cut from the same cloth: BBC Culture picks out some of Sister Cristina’s ground-breaking predecessors, including an erotic poet and a 1960s activist.
Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz

(The Art Archive / Alamy)

“I shall not play the slenderness/Of your fine, exquisite torso/For the bend of your waist is as/Troubling as a trill in the song.” These lines were not penned by a male poet, but by a Mexican nun who was born out of wedlock in the country’s central highlands. Juana entered a convent in 1667 at the age of 16, and wrote plays, essays and poetry that challenged the views of the day.
With her Response to Sister Filotea, she defended a woman’s right to education, becoming one of the first published feminists in the New World; her love poems to the wife of the viceroy stray beyond friendship to obsession. Some of her words even veer into Katy Perry territory: “Loving you is a crime/For which I shall never atone,” she wrote. “It does not matter if you elude my arms/my dear, when thought alone can imprison you.”
After a bishop anonymously circulated one of her letters – in which she criticised a priest’s sermon – she was forced to stop writing and sign a renewal of her vows, which she did in her own blood.
Hildegard von Bingen

(Zvonimir Atletić / Alamy)

Celebrated as a 12th-Century visionary, mystic and composer, Hildegard also stood up against prevailing views. The 10th child of a noble family, she was sent to an anchoress at the age of eight after experiencing visions, and went on to establish two convents in the Rhine valley. She wrote to the Pope urging him to work harder on reforming the Church, and provided a Christian burial for a man who had been excommunicated, arguing he had repented on his deathbed.
Among her writings on philosophy and natural history, there are several references to sexual desire, including one section that has been called the first description of the female orgasm. Referring to sensuality between men and women, the passage is seen as a progressive counterpoint to the view of sex as unclean.
Corita Kent

Born in Iowa, Sister Corita taught art in Los Angeles for 21 years and became famous for her Pop Art prints during the 1960s and ‘70s. Her messages of love and peace chimed with the counterculture of the time, and she offered a spiritual take on consumerism, elevating advertising logos and signage to the level of the divine.
Corita left the church in 1968, her artwork moving away from co-opting brand packaging and increasingly addressing issues like civil rights and the Vietnam War. When the US Postal Service launched her design for the 1985 ‘Love Stamp’ at the studio where The Love Boat had been filmed, Corita declined to attend, objecting to a link between the love she illustrated and the saccharine romance of the TV series.
By subverting consumerism and engaging with the social movements of the 1960s, Corita created a radical art that has seen her called “Warhol with a conscience”. In one work, she included the lines “I admire people who march./ I admire people who go to jail./ I don’t have the guts to do that./ so I do what I can.”
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TOP KENYAN FASHIONS MODEL DESIGNERS

1. Ann McCreath - Managing Director  Head & Designer at KikoRomeo

"After completing fashion design studies in Rome, followed by years working as a designer in Barcelona, Scottish born Ann McCreath took a three-month break doing aid work in Kenya. Finding it fascinating, she stayed on for 3 years, before deciding to go back to her profession and do trade instead of aid.  So in 1996 With a desire to help create jobs in rural areas and make unique, high quality products for retail Ann launched her own fashion house under the name “KikoRomeo”, which means “Adam’s apple” in Kiswahili.. Hoping Kenyans would take pride in African-inspired contemporary fashion, and promote their economy through buying locally made fashion, she set about making ethically sound products with inputs from community artisans and women’s groups, which she retailed through her own shop. Since then KikoRomeo has continued to offer ready-made garments, cut to international fashion trends, using African"

2. John Kaveke

Fascinated by art and fashion since childhood, John Kaveke is an international Kenyan Fashion Designer based in Nairobi, Kenya. He launched his fashion label Kaveke in 2001 and is today famously known for his trademark twist on contemporary African bespoke tailoring style. 

John Kaveke is a key figure in the fashion industry, his versatile and inspirational collections have graced catwalks such as African London Fashion Week (London), Sarajevo Fashion Week (Bosnia), Hub of Africa (Ethiopia), Swahili Fashion Week (Tanzania), Uganda Fashion Week (Uganda), M-Net Face of Africa (Nigeria), The Big Brother Africa House (South Africa), Catwalk Kenya (Nairobi), Lake Magadi project, Festival for African Fashion & Art (Nairobi), International Smirnoff Fashion Awards (Nairobi) etc. 

John Kaveke graduated from Woodvale Grove Fashion College in Nairobi and pursued higher education in Fashion at the Instituto Europeo di Design in Barcelona. John Kaveke, a bold and original thinker. He is moved by colour, beauty, culture and lifestyle. Besides fashion, he enjoys cycling and riding vintage Moto bikes.

Kikoromeo

3. Patricia Mbela

Patricia Mbela, has loved fashion and garment construction since childhood, at age 14 she decided that she would become a Fashion designer. Her dream came true after high school when she went to study Fashion Design at London’s Central St Martin’s College of Art and Design and then on to Kent Institute of Art and Design, Rochester Campus.       Patricia started designing ethnic jewelry in 2003 as a healing and coping technique after the death of her daughter, through illness.The direction,change uniqueness and larger size of her jewellery came after she lost a second child a son, through a fatal accident in 2008. Patricia once again turned to beading to cope with her grief and began her brand POISA. In keeping with Wearable Art her jewelry has an Avant Garde feel inspired by the rich Kenyan beading culture, Patricia designs have developed into a fresh style and elegant style that is uniquely Poisa.

4. Wambui Mukenyi

Founded in 2009 the Wambui Mukenyi label is the brainchild of a self taught designer, a true artist and a visionary. Every collection shows the designer’s love for luxurious fabric, whilst at the same time instilling her African heritage to produce timeless feminine and effortlessly stylish pieces.  Beginning from custom made pieces for her clients in 2009 Wambui Mukenyi branched out into making African wedding gowns and ready to wear cloths full of creativity and style.The demand for her label has been soaring from then on been featured in Fashion Magazines in Kenya. Without a question The WM Label is a statement of fashion in contemporary life where elegance must meet the everyday needs and brings life to any wardrobe.

5. Mohamed Bana of BANA the brand - "Mohamed Bana is a fast growing name in east and central African fashion industry, he is the owner of a fashion brand DALIYAH DESIGNS. His designs are the touches of African,European and even Indian tastes"

Russia withdrew a deal to supply gas to ukraine.

Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan said that ,"Gas supplies to Ukraine have been reduced to zero," 
Russia's state-owned gas giant Gazprom said Ukraine had to pay upfront for its gas supplies, after Kiev failed to settle its huge debt.
Gazprom had sought from Kiev $1.95bn (£1.15bn) - out of $4.5bn it says it is owed - by 06:00 GMT.
The Russian firm said it would continue to supply gas to Europe.
Russia-Ukraine ties remain tense since Moscow annexed Crimea in February.
Kiev says Moscow backs separatists in the east of the country. Russia denies the charge.
 

"Today, from 10:00 Moscow time, Gazprom, according to the existing contract, moved Naftogaz to prepayment for gas supplies," Gazprom said in a statement on Monday morning.
"From today, the Ukrainian company will receive Russian natural gas only in the amounts it has paid for."

Ukraine's energy minister Yuri Prodan.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Ukraine's position on the issue "smacks of blackmail".
The latest moves follow crisis talks between Ukraine, Russia and the European Union on the issue.
Moments later, both Gazprom and Ukraine's state-owned Naftogaz company filed lawsuits against each other in the Stockholm arbitration institute.
Gazprom said it wanted to recover $4.5bn from Naftogaz, which is dealing with gas supplies to Ukraine. Meanwhile, Naftogaz said it was seeking to recover $6bn in "overpayment" for gas since 2010.
The latest moves follow crisis talks between Ukraine, Russia and the European Union on the issue.
"We reached no agreement. The chances that we meet again are slim," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kuprianov said after the latest round of the talks ended in Kiev over the weekend.
Mr Oettinger later added that Ukraine intended to fill its gas transit commitments to the EU and he was also confident that Russia would meet its gas supply pledges to Europe.
Ukraine's discounted rate for gas was axed in April after Moscow accused Kiev of failing to pays its bills.
On Monday, Gazprom stressed that it would continue to supply European consumers with gas at "full volume" and that it was Ukraine's responsibility to make sure the gas transited through the country.
However, correspondents say the EU could be affected.
About 15% of the EU's gas supply is Russian gas which is piped through Ukraine.
Earlier this month, Gazprom gave Ukraine more time to settle its gas bill after receiving a part-payment of $786m (£469m).
Ukraine said it refused to clear its debts completely in protest at Gazprom's recent 80% price increase.

Tensions were worsened by a violent protest outside the Russian embassy in Kiev at the weekend

Gazprom ended its discount price for Ukraine, which was negotiated by former President Viktor Yanukovych last December, in April.
Before the discount was cancelled, Ukraine's gas bill was heavily reduced by Russia to $268 per 1,000 cubic metres.
The price is now $485.50 per 1,000 cubic metres, the highest in Europe.
Almost 15% of gas used in Europe comes from Russia via Ukraine, which is why EU members are taking a particularly close interest in the stand-off, observers say.
The talks that ended on Monday had been brokered by EU representatives.
Heading into the negotiations, Kiev said it was ready to make the $1.95bn payment if Russia cut its price to $326 per 1,000 cubic metres.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin said $385 per 1,000 cubic metres was his final offer.
Prospects of a breakthrough in discussions were diminished in recent days after increasing tension between Kiev and Moscow over the pro-Russian insurgency in the east of Ukraine.
Moscow reacted angrily to a violent protest outside its embassy in Kiev on Saturday after separatists shot down a Ukrainian military plane, killing all 49 people on board.
Meanwhile, Ukraine accused Russia of sending tanks into the east of the country to support pro-Russian fighters.

POPULAR ELEPHANT KILLED IN KENYA NATIONAL PARK

The elephants of a nearly 50-year-old tusker known as Satao was found in the Tsavo East National Park, one of Kenya's oldest and largest parks. Satao was known as a tusker because his huge tusks nearly reached the ground. (Via Southern Cross Safaris)
The Tsavo Trust, a Kenyan non-profit organization that supports and protects wildlife, said in a statement, "Satao was shot dead ... killed by an ivory poacher’s poisoned arrow to feed the seemingly insatiable demand for ivory in far off countries." The Tsavo Trust includes gruesome pictures of Satao's carcass slumped over in the mud with his face and tusks missing.
Satao's carcass was found May 30, but the Tsavo Trust said it withheld the news of the popular elephant's death-by-poaching until it could identify the remains.

Veterinarians confirmed that seeping wounds in the elephant's flank had come from arrows, most likely meant to take the tusker down.
In-memoriam pieces on Satao almost read like an obituary for a human. They describe an elephant as an "icon" who was self-aware, knowing that the tusks that made him popular to observers also made him a target to poachers. NPR reports he might've been one of a dozen left in Kenya.

Satao's death punctuates an ongoing poaching problem. He cites a report from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora that says more than 20,000 elephants were killed in Africa last year.


Mark Deeble ,wildlife filmmaker wrote about his encounter with Satao and how the huge elephant attempted to hide behind bushes. He wrote, "[Satao] wasn’t trying to hide his body, he was hiding his tusks. At once, I was incredibly impressed, and incredibly sad."

Fortunately,the Tsavo Trust said Satao's genes have most likely survived within the park's elephant population through his offspring.

MORE THAN 10,000 GRADUATES TURN UP FOR SEVENTY JOB VACANCIES IN DAR ES SLAAM.

According to the list of names seen by The Guardian yesterday morning, the department listed 10,816 candidates to perform the interview that aimed at recruiting a few of them positions of Assistant Inspector of Immigration. 

more than 10,000 graduates versus 70 chances

An appalling rate of unemployment in the country became vivid yesterday after over 10,000 job seekers turned up at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam to participate in a written interview that meant to recruit only seventy persons to fill the vacancies at Immigration Department.

The decision to take the candidates to the National Stadium was dangerous as the applicants were seen forcing their way into the stadium, igniting fears of a deadly stampede.

Taking job seekers to the stadium yesterday in Dar es Salaam came only three months after a tragic incident occurred in Abuja, Nigeria whereby six job seekers, including an expecting mother died in a stampede at Abuja Stadium.

The tragic incident occurred on March 15 after the Nigerian Immigration Service decided to conduct the interview in search for 3,000 qualified candidates for the vacant positions but over 80,000 job seekers turned at Abuja stadium.

According to the information gathered by The Guardian yesterday at the National Stadium, all candidates were university graduates. They performed the written interview involving multiple choice questions targeting English, Civics and Politics (General Knowledge) and Mathematics. They responded to thirty questions.

Some applicants interviewed by this reporter expressed their dissatisfaction and many doubted the fairness of selections for the posts.
Several applicants who attended the interview complained on the procedures of conducting the interview, saying they were not friendly.

One of the applicants (name withheld) said there was no close inspection like the usual interview tests they attended, and some of the candidates participated in the interview with documents to copy from.

He said inspection officers didn’t verify candidates’ identification at the entrance point, creating loopholes for non-candidates to perform the interview on behalf of their relatives.

“We are worried because some of the applicants may request their close relatives to pose for the interview without being noticed,” the aspirant asserted.

Another candidate (name withheld) said the department should have trimmed down the number of applicants based on qualifications set instead of letting all 10,816 candidates convene at the stadium.

Tanzania is facing a youth unemployment crisis rivaled by few other nations in the world. In 2012, Tanzania was home to more unemployed 15 to 24-year-olds per capita than 109 other countries. In a survey by the non-governmental organization Restless Development, last year out of over 1,000 young people across Tanzania, only 14 percent reported working a formal, wage-earning job.
Each year, 900,000 young Tanzanians enter a job market that is generating only 50,000 to 60,000 new jobs.

Researchers say the problem originates with the country’s lackluster educational system as graduates lack the skills and intellectual prowess employers are looking for.

Data show that at the moment the total student intake for first degree programmes in the country’s varsities stands at 78,000 and rising, as new programs are started and most districts or regions wish to have their own universities to complete the learning cycle.