KARDINALI PENGO: KUSTAAFU BAADA YA MIAKA MITANO IJAYO!

Askofu Mkuu wa Jimbo Kuu la Dar es Salaam,

Kardinali Polycarp Pengo

“Najua wengine wanashangaa kuona askofu wao akitembea namna hii, kwa mkongojo, hivi ndivyo ilivyo, nilikuwa mgonjwa, lakini nawashukuruni nyote kwa kuniombea, Mwenyezi Mungu awabariki,”

Alisema kiongozi huyo na kuibua vifijo kutoka kwa mamia ya waumini walioshiriki misa hiyo.

Dar Es Salaam. Askofu Mkuu wa Jimbo Kuu la Dar es Salaam, Kardinali Polycarp Pengo amesema waumini wa kanisa hilo hawana sababu ya kuingiwa wasiwasi kuhusu hali yake kiafya kwa kuwa anastaafu miaka mitano ijayo.

Akihubiri katika ibada maalumu ya misa iliyoandaliwa na Utume wa Wanaume Katoliki (Uwaka) jimboni humo juzi, Kardinali Pengo mwenye umri wa miaka 70 alieleza kuwa anajiandaa kustaafu kisheria, jambo ambalo halina sababu ya kuwaweka roho juu waumini.

Katika mahubiri yake ya muda mfupi kwenye misa hiyo iliyofanyika Kituo cha Kiroho Mbagala, Dar es Salaam juzi Kardinali Pengo alitumia muda huo kuzungumzia afya yake, akisema kwa muda sasa amekuwa haonekani hadharani kutokana na kuumwa.

Hata hivyo, bila kutaja aina ya ugonjwa uliokuwa ukimsumbua, Kardinali Pengo ambaye Machi mwaka huu aliadhimisha miaka 30 ya uaskofu na wakati ule ilielezwa kuwa alikuwa mgonjwa asiyetakiwa kusafiri umbali mrefu, alitumia muda huo juzi kuwashukuru waumini wa kanisa hilo na Watanzania kwa jumla kwa maombi yao wakati wote alipokuwa akiumwa.

“Wapo watu wengi walikuwa na wasiwasi kuhusu hali yangu, wengine si Wakristo, walinipigia simu wakinijulia hali. Nawashukuru wote kwa kuniombea, sasa nimepata nafuu.

 

“Najua wengine wanashangaa kuona askofu wao akitembea namna hii, kwa mkongojo, hivi ndivyo ilivyo, nilikuwa mgonjwa, lakini nawashukuruni nyote kwa kuniombea, Mwenyezi Mungu awabariki,” alisema kiongozi huyo na kuibua vifijo kutoka kwa mamia ya waumini walioshiriki misa hiyo.

Tofauti na kawaida yake ya kuzungumzia mambo mengi katika jamii kwa kujiamini, katika misa hiyo juzi, kiongozi huyo alitumia mahubiri yake kueleza kuwa kanisa hilo ni taasisi iliyo imara na ambayo hata akiondoka katika uongozi, atapatikana mwingine bila kuvuruga misingi iliyopo.

“Hata kama afya yangu isingetetereka, nimebakisha miaka mitano, nitastaafu, lakini hakuna sababu ya msingi ya waumini kuanza kuingiwa hofu yoyote kuhusu ni nani atarithi nafasi yangu. Sisi (kanisa) tunao mfumo imara wa kupata viongozi wetu.”

Pia, Kardinali Pengo alikemea migawanyiko ambayo alisema imeanza kujitokeza katika baadhi ya parokia za jimbo hilo, akisema haikubaliki.

“Nimesikia minong’ono kuwa baadhi ya parokia, zipo nyingine zinajitangaza kuwa ni za mashirika ya kitawa, sikubali, sitaki kuona hili likitokea, mwenye mamlaka kusimamia parokia zote ni askofu, ni mimi,”alisema.

WAFADHILI: SERIKALI ICHAGUE, BILIONI 900 AU IPTL!

Waziri Mkuu - Mizengo Pinda

NCHI wahisani zimeitaka Serikali kuchagua kati ya kupata fedha za kusaidia bajeti ya mwaka huu au kulinda watuhumiwa wa uchotwaji wa fedha za akaunti ya Tegeta Escrow zilizokuwa Benki Kuu ya Tanzania (BoT), vyanzo vyetu vya habari vimeelezwa.

Kiasi cha dola za Marekani milioni 125 (shilingi bilioni 200) zinadaiwa kuchotwa kutoka katika akaunti hiyo na kulipwa kwa kampuni ya Pan African Power (PAP) katika mazingira ambayo duru za kibunge pamoja na zile za kibalozi zinaona kwamba yana harufu ya ufisadi.

Vyanzo vya habari hii vimeambiwa kwamba tayari serikali imepelekewa taarifa rasmi kwa maandishi kutoka kwa nchi wahisani zikieleza kwamba hazitatoa fedha hizo za msaada, kiasi cha dola za Marekani milioni 559 (shilingi bilioni 900) hadi pale matokeo ya uchunguzi wa suala hilo kutoka Ofisi ya Mdhibiti na Mkaguzi Mkuu wa Hesabu za Serikali (CAG) na Taasisi ya Kuzuia na Kupambana na Rushwa (Takukuru) yatakapofahamika.

Mmoja wa mabalozi wanaounda kundi la wahisani hao aliyezungumza na vyanzo vyetu vya habari  kwa masharti ya kutotajwa jina, alilithibitishia kwamba tayari wamepeleka taarifa Hazina kuhusu maamuzi yao hayo.

“Ni kweli kwamba tumewapa serikali taarifa rasmi kuhusu uamuzi wetu. Hili jambo kwanza lilikuwa katika hatua ya mazungumzo tu lakini sasa tumeamua kuliweka katika maandishi. Ni matumaini yetu kwamba serikali itatuelewa,” alisema.

Alipotakiwa na mwandishi wa habari hizi kueleza nini hasa kimeandikwa ndani ya taarifa hiyo, Balozi huyo alisema hataweza kusema chochote kuhusu kilicho ndani.

“Mimi ni mwanadiplomasia. Nina haki zangu zinazonilinda. Kilichomo ndani ya taarifa yetu kwa serikali yenu ni kwa ajili ya wana diplomasia pekee. Siwezi kukwambia wewe kilichomo,” alisema.

Juhudi zetu kumpata Waziri wa Fedha, Saada Mkuya na Naibu wake, Adam Malima, ziligonga mwamba juzi usiku na hadi tunakwenda mitamboni, hawakupatikana. Katika mkutano baina ya wahisani na serikali uliofanyika Novemba mwaka jana katika Ukumbi wa Mikutano wa Kimataifa wa Mwalimu Nyerere jijini Dar es Salaam, nchi wahisani ziliahidi kuchangia kiasi hicho cha fedha kwa mwaka huu wa fedha.

 

Fedha hizo zilitakiwa kuchangia katika maeneo anuai kama vile upunguzaji wa umasikini, ukuzaji wa ajira na pia katika kusaidia mapambano dhidi ya rushwa. Kundi la wahisani wanaosaidia bajeti ya Tanzania linaundwa na nchi na taasisi 12 tofauti ambazo ni Benki ya Maendeleo ya Afrika (ADB), Canada, Denmark, Umoja wa Ulaya, Finland, Ujerumani, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Uingereza na Benki ya Dunia (WB).

 

Mtandao huu unafahamu kwamba nchi wahisani hazijafurahishwa na suala la mgao wa fedha hizo zilizowekwa BoT kutokana na ugomvi baina ya kampuni ya kufua umeme ya IPTL na Shirika la Umeme Tanzania (Tanesco).

Wiki iliyopita, vyombo vya habari viliripoti namna mmiliki wa PAP, Harbinder Sethi Singh, ambaye ni mfanyabiashara mwenye historia ya utata, alivyojipatia mabilioni hayo ya shilingi katika mazingira yenye utata.

Kwa mfano, Singh alimlipa mmoja wa waliokuwa wabia wa IPTL, James Burchard Rugemalira, malipo ya hisa zake alizouza siku chache baada ya serikali kuruhusu alipwe na BoT.

SCOTLAND HAS VOTED TO STAY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AFTER VOTERS DECISIVELY REJECTED INDEPENDENCE.

With the results in from all 32 council areas, the "No" side won with 2,001,926 votes over 1,617,989 for "Yes".

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond called for unity and urged the unionist parties to deliver on more powers.

Prime Minister David Cameron said he was delighted the UK would remain together and that commitments on extra powers would be honoured "in full".

Mr Cameron said the three main unionist parties at Westminster would now follow through with their pledge of more powers for the Scottish Parliament.

He announced that Lord Smith of Kelvin, who led Glasgow's staging of the Commonwealth Games, would oversee the process to take forward the commitments, with new powers over tax, spending and welfare to be agreed by November, and draft legislation published by January.

The prime minister also acknowledged that the people of England, Wales and Northern Ireland must have a bigger say over their affairs.

And he promised a solution to the West Lothian question - the fact that Scottish MPs can vote on English issues at Westminster, and not the other way round.

In other developments:

• Share prices rose as Scotland voted against independence.
• Polling officials said they were investigating 10 cases of suspected electoral fraud at polling stations in Glasgow.
• Royal Bank of Scotland said it would keep its headquarters in Scotland following the "No" vote.
• Wales's First Minister Carwyn Jones said he was pleased Scotland voted to stay in the Union, adding: "Together we will shape a new constitutional future for the UK."
• Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson said he was "delighted" Scotland would remain in the Union and he would hold talks with his Welsh counterpart to discuss the wider implications.
• Scotland rejected independence by 55% to 45%. For latest results and full coverage, go to bbc.co.uk/scotland-decides.

The result became a mathematical certainty at 06:08, as the returning officer in Fife announced a comfortable No vote.

Shortly afterwards, Mr Salmond said he accepted the defeat and called for national unity.

He said the referendum and the high turnout (nearly 85%) had been a "triumph for the democratic process" and promised to keep his pledge in the Edinburgh Agreement which paved the way for the referendum to respect the result.

He told supporters: "The unionist parties made vows late in the campaign to devolve more powers to Scotland.

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond

"Scotland will expect these to be honoured in rapid course - as a reminder, we have been promised a second reading of a Scotland Bill by March 27 next year.

And the first minister said: "Whatever else we can say about this referendum campaign, we have touched sections of the community who have never before been touched by politics, these sections of the community have touched us and touched the political process."

In a rallying call to his supporters, Mr Salmond urged the Yes voters to reflect on how far they had come.

"I don't think any of us, whenever we entered politics, would have thought such a thing to be either credible or possible," he said.

He also claimed the campaign had put "a scare and a fear of enormous proportions" at the heart of the Westminster establishment. 

"Today of all days as we bring Scotland together, let us not dwell on the distance we have fallen short, let us dwell on the distance we have travelled and have confidence the movement is abroad in Scotland that will take this nation forward," he added.

STAND UP FOR AFRICAN MOTHERS!

Do you know that approximately about 7,900 women die from pregnancy, childbirth and birth-related complications every year in Tanzania, due to lack of basic skilled medical care. Over 80% of these deaths could be prevented by skilled health workers such as midwives. The lifetime risk of death due to pregnancy and childbirth in Tanzania is 1 in 23 compared to 1 in 4,200 in developed countries.

It is estimated that, about 50% of Tanzanian women give birth at home without any medical care and about 15-45% of HIV positive mothers transmit HIV infection to their babies due to lack of health care workers to implement HIV prevention, treatment, and care and support services.

For each woman who dies an average of 20% are left with lifelong complications like Obstetric Fistula, nearly 40,000 babies die during the first 28 days of life. Almost 100,000 children die before reaching their 5th Birthday. 

The Stand Up for African Mothers campaign seeks to address maternal mortality and contribute towards Millennium Development Goal 5 which focuses on reduction of maternal mortality by 2015.  Amref Health Africa stresses on the important role that midwives play in saving lives and is advocating for the symbolic nomination of a midwife for the Nobel Peace Prize 2015, as well as raise funds to train 15 000 midwives in sub-Saharan Africa by 2015 - See more at: 

http://standupforafricanmothers.org/#sthash.f3gurTfH.dpuf

Stand Up for African Mothers campaign was launched in Tanzania on May 15th 2012 by the First Lady of Tanzania, Her Excellency Mama Salma Kikwete and will run up to 2015. Its ultimate goal is to contribute to sustained reduction of maternal deaths in Tanzania by 2015 and beyond.

How to support this campaign

Sponsor a training of one midwife at a cost of $3000 Sign the petition for Esther Madudu's nomination through 

http://www.standupforafricanmothers.com

Contribute through 

TigoPesa No +255 716 032 441,  

Airtel Money +255 684 506 306 ,

MPESA +255 762 223 348 and

National Bank Corporation, Corporate Branch account number 011103000458

Spread the word of mouth about the campaign to encourage others to stand up for African mothers by supporting the training of midwives