Raheli Philipo Kilaye is a Maasai woman. She lives in Longido, a village in northern Tanzania near the Kenyan border. For many years, collecting and selling firewood was this 37-year-old woman’s only source of income. Every third day, she walked 12 hours to collect two bundles of firewood from the bush, which she would carry to town on her back to sell in the market. If she sold the firewood, she earned 3000 Tanzanian shillings, about two dollars. But this arduous and unrewarding work is now just a bad memory. A year ago Mrs. Kilaye enrolled in a school for adult learners in Longido, where she is studying English, Swahili and mathematics.

Malawi journalist Justice Mponda has been charged in court for publishing false reports. Mponda was arrested Monday morning, for among others, reporting that Tanzanian High Commissioner to Malawi Patrick Tsere had been declared persona non grata and ordered to leave Malawi within 48 hours.

Questions are being raised about how Tanzania’s plentiful mining sector will be affected by a potential gold rush from Canadian extractive companies, after the two countries concluded a foreign investment agreement. Jamie Kneen, a spokesperson for Mining Watch Canada who deals with Canadian companies operating in Africa, said the agreement is mostly just 'a political gesture'. Some of the explorations are happening in fragile ecosystems, including a wetland area and a game reserve, he argued, and local community groups are already beginning to voice concerns.

Tanzania will have no sympathy for illegal immigrants from the Horn of Africa, even if caught using the country only as a transit route, a minister said. The minister for East African Cooperation, Mr Samuel Sitta, said during a visit to the Holili border post in the north that Tanzania was bound by international obligations not to offer passage for illegal migrants. He said there was a danger of the country being caught up in conflicts with other states if it allowed illegal immigrants to pass through its territory on the so-called humanitarian grounds.

Tanzania is by next year set to reach the goal of allocating 10 per cent of its annual budget for agricultural sector in line with the AU Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security on the continent. Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, Eng Christopher Chiza announced the government commitment when addressing journalists during the ongoing African Green Revolution Forum 2012.

Malawi has reacted angrily to sightings of a Tanzanian motor boat on lake Malawi and the release of a new map of Tanzania that claims part of the lake. Malawi president Joyce Banda announced that Malawi will pull out of the talks with Tanzania as Tanzania has failed to respect the route of dialogue that Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete had assured her at a meeting in Mozambique earlier this year.

Tanzania has encouraged Morocco to rejoin the AU so that together they can find a durable solution to the conflict of Western Sahara, calling on the UN Security Council to continue mediation efforts in the Territory. Addressing 67th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Republic of Tanzania, Mr. Bernard Kamillius Membe, said that his delegation 'encourages Morocco to rejoin the AU.

The Head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom has condemned the recent killing of a Tanzanian journalist, Mr Daudi Mwangosi, and called for an independent investigation into the matter. Mwangosi (40) was killed while covering efforts by police to disperse supporters of opposition party Chadema in Nyololo village, Iringa region on 2 September.

Tanzania has experienced several crises since October 2010 general elections, including some which have resulted in violence and death. This Global Voices post reports on a list made by blogger Dunia Duara of events fuelled by different kinds of crises or conflicts, which recently have caused serious problems in Tanzania.

An over 12,000-acre land dispute spanning more than two decades in Loliondo division, Ngorongoro District in Northern Tanzania pitting Thomson Safaris, a US-based tourism company, and Maasai villagers has sparked an online campaign to boycott the tour company which prides itself on its community involvement. The primary cause of the conflict between the local community and Thomson Safaris is over the land ownership of Sukenya Farm and consequently the rights of the villagers to graze their cattle and access important water sources.

Human rights organisations have condemned the acts of violence committed on 26 June 2012 against Dr. Stephen Ulimboka, Chairperson of the Special Committee of Doctors, and called for the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry mandated to shed light on the circumstances of this aggression so that its authors can be brought to justice. Dr. Ulimboka was kidnapped and beaten while leading a strike by doctors seeking improved working conditions in public hospitals.

Doctors working in Tanzania government hospitals are leaving the country for greener pastures in other African countries after the government terminated their services over a strike. The Tanzania Medical Association says the exodus of medical specialists has peaked over the past week in response to what the professionals see as the arrogance and vindictiveness of senior state officials.

A new report provides details from the ground as the investor faces the Iowa Ethics Commission.

Twaweza has developed a draft note, 'Three Experiments to Improve Learning Outcomes: Delivering capitation grants better and testing local cash on delivery,' on incentivizing learning in schools. The basic idea involves paying a set amount for every child that achieves proficiency in early grade literacy and numeracy, and to contrast it with an input based incentive such as the capitation grant. A set of randomized control trials (RCTs) will be used to rigorously measure impact. The idea has been developed in consultation with the Center for Global Development, the Jameel Poverty Action Lab (JPAL) at MIT, the Tanzania government, local Members of Parliament and the teachers’ trade union.

Tanzania will campaign for South African Home Affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who is seeking to become the next chairperson of the African Union Commission. But neighbouring Kenya has turned down a request from South Africa to support its candidate. When meeting with a South African delegation, President Mwai Kibaki said South Africa's ambition for the AU top job clashes with Kenya's own interest to have Erastus Mwencha, a Kenyan, for the post of deputy chairperson.

Moving beyond ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and ensuring that it is incorporated into national legislation is the way to ensure children’s rights.

Tanzania's President Jakaya Kikwete has sacked six ministers amid allegations of government corruption. He has been under pressure to deal with the scandal following a report by a body overseeing public finances. The inspector of the government's accounts noted the rampant misuse of funds in at least seven ministries.

Former President Benjamin Mkapa put up a spirited defence for the decision of his third phase administration to privatise state firms, at a public forum held in Dar es Salaam. He told participants at the fourth Mwalimu Nyerere Professorial chair that the poor performance of the firms was due to bad management, in reaction to accusations directed at him personally from some participants. Mkapa said during his time in office when he decided to adopt the privatisation, some 386 state owned industries were privatised, 180 of which were sold to locals. According to Mr Mkapa, all the 386 companies have since collapsed due to what he termed as bad management.

We, members of the Feminist Activist Coalition, comprising of over 40 civil society organisations promoting gender equity, social justice, human rights and the transformative feminist movement are outraged over the arrest of 16 activists on 9 February 2012 in Dar es Salaam and their subsequent indictment, purportedly for holding an unlawful assembly.

Tanzanian doctors have suspended a nationwide strike after the country's president met union representatives to defuse a row with government, the doctors association said. The more than 1,000-strong Medical Association of Tanzania (MAT) is demanding better pay and conditions and the sacking of Health Minister Hadji Mponda and his deputy, whom they accuse of being 'enemies of doctors and the health sector as a whole'.