The Ministry of Education and Vocational Training is finalising procedures to review the Education Fund Act, 2001 and that of High Education Students Loans Board (HESLB) law.

The move is aimed at eliminating hitches that have occasioned loan eligibility to thousands of qualified students. It is also hoped to enable the sector determine and identify other alternative fund sources.

Philipo Mulugo deputy minister for education told the national assembly yesterday that preparations are in the final stages of implementation and that the drafted law will be submitted in the House later this year.

In an effort to ensure that all qualified students get access to loans, Mulugo said, the ministry designed a special task force to identify other key-alternative sources of funds to finance students

“The task force has already submitted its report and the government has started working on the recommendations,” he said.

The government had allocated a total of 326.0bn/- during 2012/2013 financial year to be offered as loans to some 95,902 eligible students including first year students. That amount is far more than 56.1bn/- allocated by the government during 2005/2006 to cover only 42,729 students.

“Such recorded increase indicates that the government has the political will and commitment to ensure all qualified students secure loans for their high education,” he stressed

Mulugo’s reaction follows a question by Rashid Abdallah (Tumbe, CUF) who wanted an explanation on initiatives undertaken by the government to grant loans to all qualified students.

The legislator stressed that there were several qualified students who failed to obtain loans and thus limited their fundamental right to education

The deputy minister said during the 2012/2013 education year HESLB accepted 37,315 proposals and after evaluation at least 34,140 applicants proved qualified for the loans. But it was unfortunate that only 30,319 approximately to 88.9 percent of all applicants secured loans leaving 3,821 applicants (about 11.1 percent) of qualified students hanging

The minister faulted the budget deficit and government priorities as the reason behind the failures to issue loans to the qualified students.

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Intense fighting between the military and Islamist militants in north Nigeria is reported to have killed at least 185 civilians and destroyed 2,000 homes.

Rocket-propelled grenades and heavy gunfire bombarded the remote town of Baga near the border with Chad for hours on Friday evening, government and military officials say.

The clashes broke out in the fishing village of Baga on Lake Chad, leaving scores of buildings burnt, according to an official who toured the area on Sunday with regional governor Kashim Shettima.

Nigeria faces a long-running insurgency in its predominantly Muslim north.

The Boko Haram insurgency has left thousands of people dead since 2009.

According to BBC Online, residents of Baga fled into the bush and only returned on Sunday afternoon to find much of the town destroyed and human and animal corpses strewn through the streets.

The military spokesman for the Borno state, Lt. Colonel Sagir Musa told AFP that media reports that some 180 people could have died in the clashes were "extensively inflated."

Scores of residents fled when the fighting broke out on Friday and had still not returned on Sunday, said the governor aide, who requested anonymity.

Although there were signs of heavy damage from the fighting, officials have not yet said how many died in the clashes.

"There could have been some casualties, but it is unthinkable to say that 185 people died," Musa said, when asked about media reports.

"On my honour as an officer, nothing like that happened." He declined to offer a specific figure.

Nigeria's security forces have a history of downplaying casualty figures in the conflict with Boko Haram, the Islamist group based in the Borno state which has left several thousand people dead.

Resentment of the military is high in some communities and locals have in the past given inflated deaths tolls while accusing the military of indiscriminately killing civilians during their operations.

Locals reported that the clashes began when the military surrounded a mosque housing suspected Islamists.

Boko Haram has said it is fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north, but the group's demands have shifted repeatedly.

The Islamists have used the Borno state capital of Maiduguri as a base, but scores of insurgents have reportedly fled to more remote corners of the state following a crackdown by security forces in the capital.

The conflict is estimated to have left about 3,000 people dead since 2009, including killings by the security forces, who have been accused of by international rights groups of massive abuses, especially in the northeast.
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President Uhuru Kenyatta has said that the East African Community and Africa will be the cornerstone of his foreign policy in enhancing trade and investment.

President Kenyatta noted that strong partnership and cooperation between African countries will bolster trade and investment in the continent.

The President was speaking on Monday at State House Nairobi during a meeting with East African Community (EAC) Secretary General Dr. Richard Sezibera who paid him a courtesy call.

He singled out infrastructural development as an area that African countries should give priority to in order to facilitate connectivity and boost cross border trade and investment.

He encouraged the pooling together of resources by African countries to accomplish cross-border infrastructure development projects.

On regional trade, the President said barriers to trade should be addressed as a matter of priority.

President Kenyatta also advocated for removal of restriction on movement of labour, saying the free movement of people within the region will further facilitate trade and the exchange of ideas.

On his part, the East African Community Secretary General congratulated President Kenyatta on his election victory and commended the Kenyan people for conducting a peaceful election.

Dr. Sezibera also commended the President for his personal commitment and efforts to ensure that Kenya remained peaceful and united.

During the meeting, the EAC Secretary General briefed President Kenyatta on the forthcoming Extra-Ordinary Summit of EAC Heads of State scheduled for April 28.

Earlier, President Kenyatta bade farewell to outgoing Iraqi Ambassador to Kenya, Dr. Abdel Mustafa Kamil.

Speaking during the brief ceremony at State House Nairobi, the President said he looked forward to the signing of an education agreement between Kenya and Iraq that will ensure Kenyans acquire the necessary expertise to exploit the country’s recently discovered oil resources.

President Kenyatta said his Government is keen on strengthening relations with other developing countries, saying since the developing countries experience similar challenges they can share best practices in addressing those challenges.

The President also stressed the need for unity among Africa and other developing countries, saying it will give them a greater voice at the international arena.

The Head of State thanked Dr. Kamil for boosting bilateral relations between Kenya and Iraq during his tour of duty in the country and wished the outgoing envoy success in his new assignment.

The Iraqi ambassador said his country has a lot of experience in oil engineering and since oil has been discovered in Kenya, the signing of an education agreement will provide a suitable framework for Kenyans to tap into the iraqi expertise in oil exploitation.

Present were Attorney General Prof. Githu Muigai, the Head of Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet Mr. Francis Kimemia and Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Thuita Mwangi.

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Dodoma. The parliamentary Economy, Industries and Commerce Committee is pressuring the government to pay almost Sh6.5 trillion it owes the Public Sector Pension Fund (PSPF).

The staggering debt came to the attention of the committee on Saturday when the PSPF management and the fund’s chairman of the board of trustees, Mr George Yambesi, briefed the team on its operations.

The committee chairman, Mr Mahmoud Mgimwa (Mufindi North – CCM), said the government should pay the debt to enable the pension fund to operate without problems.

He said that from the briefing they established that the PSPF was one of efficiently run pension funds and its operations benefited a lot of public servants.

“This makes the fund a needed outfit in the country... I want to promise the PSPF management and the Board of Trustees that our committee will ensure that the government pays this money in order to enable you to serve many people,” he said.

Briefing the committee members earlier, PSPF acting director general, Mr Adam Mayingu, noted that the debt originated in 1999 when the government decided to establish the fund and shift all public servants to it, though they had not contributed to the scheme before.

“At the time of establishment, it was estimated that Sh250 million was needed as compensation for the workers who were shifted from the government. The government did not bother to pay it and actuarial done by the regulatory authority in 2010 showed that the debt had grown to Sh6.49 trillion,” said Mr Mayingu when briefing the MPs.

He said that the government had agreed to start repaying in the 2009/10 financial year…it promised to pay Sh716 billion in ten years, but until now it has paid Sh30 billion only,” he said.

Mr Yambesi noted that the PSPF was the best innovatively run fund in the country and it invests in profitable areas of national interest such as construction of universities.

But, he noted that the delay to settle the government debt might affect future plans of the fund whose running cost was very low compared to other funds. “Our investment ability is being curtailed by the government delay to pay the debt,” he said.

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EFFECTIVE next June passengers from Dar es Salaam’s Julius Nyerere I n t e r n a t i o n a l Airport can enjoy daily direct flights to Turkish commercial capital, Istanbul’s Atuturk International Airport.
Vice-President responsible for Marketing and Sales for Africa, Mevlut Kayar told visiting Tanzanian journalists yesterday here, that since its launch of direct flights between the two commercial capitals over three years ago, passengers have increased.
“Our passenger volume from Dar es Salaam has kept on increasing year after year and the route is one of our fastest growing in East Africa,” said Mr Mevlut, who said Tanzania rivals Kenya as fastest growing markets in Sub-Sahara Africa.
Currently, Turkish Airline flies five days a week from Dar es Salaam to Istanbul and also from Kilimanjaro to Istanbul via Mombasa. He paid tribute to Tanzanian government for the cooperation accorded to Europe’s third largest airline in terms of volumes of passengers handled per annum, which has enabled easy operation of the carrier.
“In Tanzania we have received the most support, doors have been opened for us and we thank the government and the people for that,” said Mavlut who pointed out that since introduction of the airline’s services, bilateral trade between Dar es Salaam and Istanbul have increased by 20 per cent annually.
“On our maiden flight to Dar es Salaam, we gave 100 free tickets to our businessmen to come and explore opportunities in your country,” said the Vice- President for Africa whose airline has just placed an order for a record 117 Airbus planes. With over 200 aircraft split between giant plane manufacturers, Boeing Inc of the United States and European Airbus.
Turkish Airlines is second only to German carrier, Lufthansa and Air France in Europe while ranks among the top ten in the world. “We are very proud of our customers from Tanzania and promise them the best of our services as we introduce daily flights from June 1, this year,” said Dar es Salaam based Country Director, Alper Kucuk.
Mr Kucuk says Turkish Airlines would like to see volumes of passengers from Tanzania increase by more than 100 per cent over the next five years, as Turkey provides affordable but quality medical services, trading opportunities and holiday destinations. Skynet named Turkish Airlines as Europe’s best airline for two years in a row between 2011 and last year because of good customer care.
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The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved two loans totalling 232.5 million U.S. dollars for the construction of 157.5-km road project from Arusha to Holili in Tanzania and Taveta to Voi in Kenya.

The funds will help reduce the cost of transport and enhance access to agricultural inputs, larger markets and social services within the East Africa Community, according to a statement from the regional bank issued in Nairobi on Wednesday.

AfDB's Regional Director for the East Africa Resource Center, Gabriel Negatu said road has been identified in the East African Regional Integration Strategy Paper (RISP 2011-2015) and the East African Transport Strategy and Regional Road Sector Development Program of November 2011 as a priority for intervention.

“The East African Community seeks to improve regional transport infrastructure to support economic and social development programs in the region, promote tourism and foster regional integration and at the same time reduce the cost of doing business by supporting cross-border and international trade,” Negatu said.

The Arusha-Holili/Taveta-Voi Road is one of the transport corridors of the EAC region meant to reduce the cost of doing business, increase competitiveness of the region on the global market and at the same time promote regional integration.

Kenya will receive 113.12 million dollars of the two loans approved by the AfDB board, while Tanzania will be awarded 120 million dollars.

The Bank facility constitutes 89.1 percent of the total project cost. While the Kenyan and Tanzanian governments, contribute 15.6 million dollars and 12.3 million dollars, respectively.

it is expected to be completed by December 2018.
 The Africa Trade Fund has extended a 0.74-million-dollar-grant for a small component for trade facilitation at the Namanga border, bringing to 262.2 million dollars the total cost of the project.

 A result of rapid urbanisation coupled with the explosive growth in motorization, the transportation system has become inadequate and is constraining economic growth and limiting access to job opportunities, education, and recreation, the statement said.

Arusha-Holili/Taveta-Voi Road is a transport corridor of the East African Region that links the Northern Corridor at Voi to the Central Corridor across the common border at Holili/Taveta through Arusha, Babati to Dodoma and Singida.

The project will comprise civil works for the construction of the Arusha Bypass (42.4 km) and dualling the Sakina-Tengeru section (14.1 km) as well as the construction of two roadside amenities at Tengeru, one on either side of the dual carriageway in Tanzania.

It will also involve the upgrading of the Taveta-Mwatate portion (89 km) and construction of the Taveta Bypass (12 km) and two roadside amenities, one each at Bura and Maktau along the Mwatate-Taveta Road in Kenya."For Tanzania, the Second National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty or MKUKUTA II sets as a target raising the growth of the transport sector to 9.0 percent by 2015, the statement said.

For Kenya, it said, the upgrading of the Voi-Taveta Road falls within Pillar I of Vision 2030, the basis for socio-economic transformation.

The project road links the Northern Corridor to the Central Corridor across the common border of Tanzania and Kenya (Holili/ Taveta) through Arusha, Minjingu and Babati to Singida and Dodoma.The corridor at completion will link the port of Mombasa to northern and northwestern Tanzania and the landlocked countries of Rwanda, Burundi, DRC and Uganda, providing an alternative route to the sea.

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