World News

Tanzania confirms outbreak of deadly Marburg virus

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The World Health Organisation says Tanzania confirmed its first-ever cases of Marburg after conducting laboratory tests in the country’s northwest Kagera region.

WHO, in a statement on Wednesday, said lab tests were carried out after eight people in the region developed symptoms of the “highly virulent” disease, including fever, vomiting, bleeding and kidney failure.

Five of the eight confirmed cases have died, including a health worker, and the remaining three are being treated. The agency also identified 161 contacts of those infected, who are currently being monitored.

“The efforts by Tanzania’s health authorities to establish the cause of the disease is a clear indication of the determination to effectively respond to the outbreak.

We are working with the government to rapidly scale up control measures to halt the spread of the virus and end the outbreak as soon as possible,” said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.

While this is the first time Tanzania has recorded a Marburg case, the country has first-hand experience responding to other crises including COVID-19, cholera and dengue within the past three years.

In September 2022, WHO conducted a strategic risk assessment that revealed the country was at high risk for infectious diseases outbreaks.

“The lessons learnt, and progress made during other recent outbreaks should stand the country in good stead as it confronts this latest challenge. We will continue to work closely with the national health authorities to save lives,” Ms Moeti said.

Marburg virus commonly causes hemorrhagic fever, with a high fatality ratio of up to 88 per cent. It is part of the same family as the virus that causes Ebola. Symptoms associated with the Marburg virus start suddenly, with high fever, severe headache and intense malaise.

The virus is commonly transmitted to humans from fruit bats and spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials.

While there are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to treat the virus, supportive care, rehydration and treatment of specific symptoms increase chances of survival.

World News

Elephant attacks man who posed for selfie with it

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A man is in critical condition in hospital after an elephant attacked him when he posed for a selfie with the animal in Tanzania.

The elephant was part of a herd that escaped a conservation area in the northern Manyara region and was eating farm crops in one of the villages, according to authorities.

A regional police commissioner said the elephants became agitated after a group of locals approached them while taking selfies.

It attacked one of the men, wounding him.

“The man has been admitted at Kiteto district hospital and is undergoing treatment…He has had some improvement,” said George Katabazi.

Human-wildlife conflict is common in Tanzania, where dry periods often lead to wildlife straying onto farms for food.

World News

Passenger plane crashes into Lake Victoria in Tanzania

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An airplane belonging to Tanzania’s Precision Air crashed into Lake Victoria on Sunday, November 6, 2022.

According to Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC), the plane was about to land at Bukoba Airport in Northwestern Tanzania but due to the poor weather conditions, it crash-landed into the lake.

The passenger plane had departed Dar es Salaam to Bukoba, a two-hour flight according to Precision Air social media handles.

TBC said 15 people had been rescued so far from the Precision Air jet but it was unknown how many passengers were on board or whether there were any fatalities.

The news reports show photos of the plane mostly submerged in the lake and say rescue operation is underway.

Bukoba Airport is on the shores of Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake.

Entertainment, Lifestyle

Using the police to settle civil dispute makes us complicit in abuse of police powers” Lawyer explains why Kizz Daniel should not have been arrested by the police

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A lawyer has stated that it was wrong for the police to be involved after Kizz Daniel failed to perform in Tanzania.

Tanzanian fans, who had paid huge sums of money to watch the Nigerian singer perform, were disappointed when he didn’t show up, so they trashed the stage before angrily going home. Later, the concert organisers got police to arrest the Nigerian singer.

Reacting, Nigerian lawyer Moe Odele explained that “a breach of contract is a civil matter and the police should not be involved”. She added:

“Not holding brief for Kizz Daniel but using the police for civil disputes makes us complicit in abuse of police powers. I come in peace.

“We often complain that the police oversteps but we also need to stop using the police to enforce civil obligations. That’s not what the police is set up for.”

World News

Samia Suluhu sworn in as Tanzania’s first female president

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Following the death of Tanzania’s President John Magufuli’s on Wednesday, his deputy, Samia Suluhu, has been sworn in as the country’s first female president.

The 61-year-old Suluhu was sworn in on Friday in an inauguration witnessed by members of the Cabinet and Tanzania’s former presidents, Ali Hassan Mwinyi, Jakaya Kikwete and Abeid Karume.

The new President, took the oath of office in Dar-es-Salaam before inspecting troops at a military parade and receiving a cannon salute.

Before stepping out to inspect a military guard of honour, Suluhu took the oath with the words:

I, Samia Suluhu Hassan, promise to be honest and obey and protect the constitution of Tanzania,” she said before a room of dignitaries, who applauded when the brief ceremony was complete.

Under the Tanzanian constitution, Suluhu will serve the remainder of Magufuli’s second five-year term which does not expire until 2025.

Hassan’s inauguration comes two days after she announced the death of Magufuli who had not been seen in public for more than two weeks.

In her first public address, she announced a 21-day mourning period for Magufuli and public holidays on March 22 and on his burial day which has been fixed for March 25.

“It’s not a good day for me to talk to you because I have a wound in my heart. Today, I have taken an oath different from the rest that I have taken in my career. Those were taken in happiness. Today, I took the highest oath of office in mourning,” she said to journalists after her inauguration.

She added that Magufuli ‘who always liked teaching’ had prepared her for the task ahead.

“Nothing shall go wrong,” she assured, urging all the country’s people to work to unite the nation.

“This is the time to stand together and get connected. It’s time to bury our differences, show love to one another and look forward with confidence. It is not the time to point fingers at each other but to hold hands and move forward to build the new Tanzania that President Magufuli aspired to.”

A native of the semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean, Suluhu rose through the ranks over a 20-year political career from local government to the national assembly.

A stalwart in the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), she was named Magufuli’s running mate in the 2015 presidential campaign and the pair were re-elected in October last year in a disputed poll marred by allegations of irregularities.

She is the only other current serving female head of state in Africa alongside Ethiopia’s President Sahle-Work Zewde, whose role is mainly ceremonial as she must consult the party about appointing a new vice president.

Suluhu was little known outside Tanzania until she appeared on state television on Wednesday night to announce that Magufuli had died from a heart condition after a mysterious three-week absence from public view.

Entertainment

Nigerian drug trafficker gets life imprisonment in Tanzania

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A Nigerian, Mike Nwankwo, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a High Court in Tanzania, after he was found guilty of drug trafficking.

Nwankwo, who claimed to be a businessman dealing in used clothes in Abuja, was arrested with his Tanzanian girlfriend, Mastura Makongoro, on February 12, 2014, at the Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA), when a search on them revealed they had 5,126 grams of heroin they were transporting to Freetown, Sierra Leone.

However, the presiding judge, Justice Mohamed Gwae, who heard the case, acquitted Makongoro, due to lack of evidence against her.

The verdict against Nwankwo and his girlfriend was handed down on Friday where Judge Gwae said the testimony of nine witnesses to the prosecution and 18 exhibits, “confirmed the indictment against the Nigerian citizen beyond any reasonable doubt.”

The prosecution in the case was led by state advocates from the National Prosecution Service (NPS), Ignas Mwinuka, while Nwankwo was represented by advocate Diana Solomoni.

During the sentencing, the court heard that Makongoro had asked Nwankwo for the sum of Sh15 million for the construction of a house, and the latter replied that he would find her a job that would provide her with the money.

Nwankwo then assigned Makongoro to transport a bag containing the drugs to Sierra Leone.

On the day of their arrest, the Nigerian was said to have escorted his girlfriend to KIA where she entered and underwent inspections and was given a boarding pass by Ethiopian Airline.

Upon completion, Makongoro who was a student at Bandari College, went to sit in the waiting room and her bag was sent to an Xray machine for inspection.

However, security officers became suspicious and called the accused to reduce some of her belongings. It was still heavier than the allowable luggage weight and the officers suspected something was hidden.

Police officers decided to tear up the bag and came across four envelopes that contained the drugs and in an initial questioning, the accused claimed the bag had been given to her by her boyfriend.

The suspect was taken to the KIA Police Station, and while she was being held there, Nwankwo returned to the scene searching for his girlfriend after he suspected something was wrong.

While at the scene, the police suspected that he was the one mentioned as the bag owner and arrested him.

Judge Gwae said he acquitted Makongoro because in the way the drugs were stored in the bag, she would not have been aware that there was anything extra in the bag.

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