Floods in northern Tanzania have displaced more than 19,000 people, submerged close to 1,000 homes and destroyed crops, a local government official said on Monday (15 May). The floods in Moshi, near Mount Kilimanjaro, mostly affected residents who had previously been hit by drought, which had threatened up to 11 million people with starvation. "I think we have more than 19,000 displaced. Up to now there are 998 houses that are under water," James ole Millya, Moshi Rural district commissioner, told Reuters by telephone.

Tanzania has put in place strategies and policies that focus on poverty reduction and economic growth. While attending the Wilton Park Conference in London recently, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro said such policies need among other things, transparency and good governance to flourish.

Following visits to three maximum prisons, the first in Tanzania by a head of state, President Jakaya Kikwete has pledged to ensure that prison conditions improve and prisoners are treated humanely. "The aim of my visit was to learn about what is going on and I promise that the government can look for solutions, particularly on the issue of overcrowding in prison," Kikwete said. For years, human rights activists have complained against appalling conditions in Tanzanian prisons.

The government wants the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) to stop depending on hydroelectric power and diversify into alternative sources of energy. In his keynote speech at a meeting of Tanesco directors and senior managers, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Minerals Arthur Mwakapugi also called on Tanesco to wean itself of government subsidies by adopting a more commercial approach of running the firm instead of depending on government handouts.

Deaths from cholera in Tanzania's semi autonomous island of Zanzibar have reached 15, up from eight recorded two weeks ago, health officials said. Cholera outbreaks in Zanzibar often occur during the rainy season. Use of contaminated water and lack of toilets - resulting in people relieving themselves in the bush - are some of the factors contributing to the spread of the disease.

The International Monetary Fund has cautioned Tanzania against creating "too many special economic zones." Hit by an unprecedented drought, the Tanzanian government will be walking a tightrope in coming months, having to increase revenues without raising taxes.

Tumsifu Lema, 68, is an organic farmer in Shirin Joro village in Tanzania. He grows mixed crops on his two acres of land, including vegetables, maize, sunflower and coffee, and he is constantly looking out for new organic farming techniques. Although Lema has heard of email and the Internet, he has never seen or used them. Tumsifu is among the growing number of poor farmers in Tanzania who are just starting to consider the potential benefits of ICTs.

Tanzania is one of several low-income countries with a high rate of domestic violence, according to a recent study by the World Health Organization (WHO) on women's health and domestic violence against women. The WHO study, launched in Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam by Sofia Simba, the minister for community development, gender and children, said 30 percent of victims of violence in the east African country ended up with serious injuries due to severe beating.

The Media Owners Association of Tanzania (MOAT) and editors from different media houses have agreed unanimously to actively take part in the anti-corruption war. In a joint statement released in Dar es Salaam , MOAT and editors who met in the city last Thursday and Friday, say corruption has become a part of the society, which has sunk into a great deal of moral decadence.

Tanzania has banned traditional African hospitality known by its Swahili name of "takrima" during election campaigns. Under the country's electoral law, politicians were allowed to hand out food and drink to prospective voters. But the High Court ruled in favour of three legal rights organisations that argued it was a form of corruption. The BBC's correspondent in Dar es Salaam says it is a blow to the government that legalised takrima shortly before the 2000 polls. The three High Court judges ruled unanimously that the practice should be outlawed.

Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL), the only fixed-line provider in the country, has substantially reduced its telephone The new tariffs enable a client to make an international call at just Tsh750/- (US$ 0.70) per minute compared to a previous rate of Tsh1,500 ($ 1.10) per minute.

The government of Zanzibar plans to demolish at least 150 houses to reduce the pollution of water sources on the islands. However, Zanzibar's main opposition party, the Civic United Front, said it opposed the demolition plan. The government's decision would be a violation of human rights and of the island's land laws, spokesman Hamad Masoud said.

Opposition groups on the semiautonomous Tanzanian island of Zanzibar have criticised new legislation that declares all water on the island the property of the government and introduces fees for water, which had been free. Hamad Masoud, the chief spokesman of the opposition Civic United Front on water matters, said some clauses in the bill were "unfriendly to the poor people of Zanzibar, such as declaring ocean, rain and well water government property." He said water charges would pose a burden to most Zanzibaris, who dwell in “extreme poverty”.

Members of the University of Dar es Salaam Academic Staff Assembly (UDASA) (drawing representatives from UCLAS and MUCHS), held an Extraordinary General Assembly (EGA) meeting on 10th September 2006 to deliberate on the Charter of the University of Dar Salaam that was tabled to the University Council on 17th March 2006 for approval and eventual submission to the Government for endorsement and passing, as per Universities Act of 2005 requirements. The document that was tabled was prepared by the Legal Unit under the directives and Terms of Reference provided by the University Administration.

The European Union (EU) has rejected a proposal by Tanzania to restart negotiations on a tuna fishing zone beyond the 12 nautical miles from the latter's coast. In contention was the fact that Tanzania has refused to allow the EU to control and do surveillance and monitoring on its fishing sites. Tanzania refused to sign the agreement because of the minimal benefits it was going to receive from the EU compared with the 8,000 tonnes of tuna fish that will be harvested.

Tanzanians are greatly satisfied with the way the country is managed politically, economically and socially, unlike other citizens in 18 countries surveyed in East, Central, and southwestern Africa. Citizens in the rest of the surveyed countries, including Kenya and Uganda, are still doubtful of their ruling governments' capabilities to solve their problems such as crime, health, infrastructure and poverty. The results of the "Afro-Barometer" survey conducted between July and August 2005 and announced early last week further show that Tanzanians were "happy" even before the current government came to power in December, 2005.

Tanzanians suffering from tuberculosis (TB) now have fewer pills to swallow, thanks to a new treatment, which reduces the daily dosage of tablets from between 11 and 12 to three or four. A health ministry official said the new treatment, known as the four-drug, fixed-dose combination is widely used in many countries on the recommendation of the United Nations World Health Organization.

Two persons of 23 years of age, have been sentenced to life in prison after a district magistrate's court in Tanzania found them guilty of rape. Handing down the judgment, the magistrate said the court was satisfied with the testimonies given and found the two accused guilty of the offence and would therefore spend the rest of their lives in prison.

Opposition groups on the semiautonomous Tanzanian island of Zanzibar have criticised new legislation that declares all water on the island the property of the government and introduces fees for water, which had been free. "Water in whatsoever form, location or state, including fresh, saline, marine, surface, ground flowing or dormant water bodies and any kind of public water is hereby declared to be owned by the government," said the bill, which also included penalties and possible jail terms for those who waste the precious resource.

The Tanzanian government will take stringent measures to curb environmental degradation, including the eviction of pastoralists and farmers from protected lands and the prohibition of thin plastic bags, according to the Vice-President. Human activities such as reckless tree felling, use of plastic bags, uncontrolled cattle grazing, invasion of reserved forest areas and mountains were cited as some of the causes of extensive environmental degradation.