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Last Updated: 2.9.2010

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Kikwete: Chadema petition ridiculous

CCM Union presidential candidate Jakaya Kikwete has said that he will continue making development pledges during his campaign rallies despite the petition submitted by CHADEMA to the Registrar of Political Parties for allegedly violating the Election
Expenses Act of 2010.

The political party has asked the registrar to disqualify Mr Kikwete for the alleged breach of the act. However, Mr Kikwete told a campaign rally here on Tuesday that CHADEMA have run out of ideas and wondered how campaign rallies could be conducted without saying anything.

“There are some people who have complained that we keep on making promises at the constituencies. Such speechless campaigns will be very hard to conduct. The people will be left wondering why we are running our campaigns without saying something,'' he told the rally.

Mr Kikwete promised Kyela residents that he will buy them a new ship that will be used on Lake Nyasa as mv Iringa and mv Songea were in a state of disrepair.

Meanwhile The government will soon announce exclusive mining areas for small scale miners where major companies will not be allowed to operate. President Jakaya Kikwete,
who is also CCM Union Presidential candidate, told various campaign rallies in Chunya district that the Minister for Energy and Minerals would soon publish the names of respective areas.

He said that the government had already identified and approved the areas in Mwanza region and the process will follow in Rukwa and Mbeya regions and that Chunya district will be the first to be attended in Mbeya.

Mr Kikwete noted that the move follows amendments of the mining law which paved way for a win-win situation between investors and the nation.The CCM presidential aspirant revealed that the amended act would not allow small miners to negotiate with major miners in order for the former to offer their pits/mining blocks to the latter.

“We'll not allow major mining companies to operate in areas earmarked for artisanal miners who will not be allowed to give up their areas to major miners” he stressed.

Mr Kikwete noted that the amendments would also enable the government to soften licensing procedures for small scale miners and enable them to access loans from financial institutions.

He further said the government has ordered 400 tricycle ambulances from overseas to be distributed in government health facilities, one of which will be given to Makongorosi
Health Centre in Chunya district.

He explained that the government had decided to purchase the ambulances following transport problems for patients, especially pregnant women. The president told the rallies in Makongorosi and Mkwajuni that the government would double the budget for water supply from the current 390bn/- to over 700bn/-.

He also said that his government was committed to increase water supply in rural areas from the current 60 per cent to 80 per cent and from over 70 per cent to over 90
per cent in urban areas.

In another development, over 300 members of Chadema have crossed over to CCM during a camapaign rally at Mbalizi area in Mbeya rural. The defectors include Chadema's district top leaders and Mr Kikwete received them, saying that there's no party to match CCM by all standards and dimensions.

CJ deplores Marando outburst

THE Chief Justice, Mr Augustino Ramadhani, has cautioned politicians against bringing up cases that are pending in courts of law at their campaign rallies.

He was commenting on statements made by several speakers during the CHADEMA campaign launch at the Jangwani Grounds in Dar es Salaam last Saturday, notably Mr Mabere Marando, who joined the party recently from NCCR-Mageuzi.

The former top NCCR leader attacked the government over grand corruption, accusing the CCM Union presidential candidate and his predecessors of endorsing dubious deals, including the siphoning of funds from the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) External Payments Accounts (EPA).

Mr Marando, who is also a lawyer and practising advocate, went to the point of alleging that Mr Amatus Liyumba, a former BoT Director of Personnel and Administration, convicted and jailed for abuse of office arising from the construction of the bank's ‘twin towers', had been victimized and ‘mistakenly' sentenced for offences he didn't commit. Mr Ramadhani deplored such statements, saying it is not proper to use political platforms to discuss judiciary matters. “It is unethical to discuss pending cases outside the court and will not hesitate to take legal action against anyone who would indulge in such behaviour. The law is open on that,” he said. The chief justice pointed out that the judiciary can decide to take action if candidates would continue to bring up ongoing cases in their campaign rallies without waiting for the security organs, law enforcers or anyone else to lodge an appeal. Hate speeches against CCM, top national leaders and other parties dominated the CHADEMA election campaign launch, forcing the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) to suspend live transmission of the event. TBC Director General, Mr Tido Mhando said later that they decided to cut off nation-wide broadcasting to remind the opposition party of its obligation to conduct decent campaigns as required by a code of conduct signed by all political parties. "We suspended live broadcasting because CHADEMA went contrary to our agreement, which, among other issues, emphasizes decent conduct. We are glad that they realized their mistake and reformed, after which we immediately resumed our coverage,” clarified Mr Mhando. The diatribe against the ruling party and its presidential candidate, Mr Jakaya Kikwete, was led by CHADEMA legal secretary Tundu Lissu, Mr Marando and former CCM members who recently joined the party, Mr Fred Mpendazoe and Mr John Shibuda, both former CCM MPs. Meanwhile, there were special prayers for peaceful general elections at an international workshop in Dar es Salaam attended by members of the judiciary from the East African region. “We would like to make a special request for Tanzania in the coming general elections. We pray for voters to exercise their democratic right to choose best leaders peacefully to reduce the number of election petitions in our courts,” pleaded part of the prayer read by Judge Aisha Nyerere. The prayer called on the aspirants for the presidential, parliamentary and councillorship seats to receive whatever God, through voters, decided for them. “God, give them what you think is good for them. If it is victory, let them have it and if they are defeated, please give the grace to accept the results,” the judiciary members further prayed.

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