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Women crucial in HIV/AIDS fight 
HAYDEE Pellegrini is an <-/Argentinian> woman living with HIV/AIDS. Like other seropositive women and those living with AIDS worldwide, Haydee says she has to fight discrimination both as a woman and one living with the fatal virus.
Having lived through four difficult years of isolation and stigmatisation following her husband's death from AIDS, Haydee had this to say on the plight of women while attending the Ninth International Conference on AIDS in Berlin recently:
"You know everywhere you go women are suffering and it is not because of the virus but because we (women) are marginalised. In the case of AIDS, when women go to the physician they are already in very bad health."
Haydee's observations and sentiments are shared by most women activists and researchers including speakers at the five-day conference who repeatedly called for racial changes in gender inequalities in almost all societies.
Basically, gender inequalities resulting from socio-economic imbalances and oppressive cultural practices perpetuate women's low status and powerlessness.
In male-dominated societies women cannot make decisions even on their own sexuality, whether in monogamous or polygamous relationships. Under such circumstances, practising safe sex is particularly difficult especially for women who are dependent on sex to meet their needs.
A Zimbabwean doctor Marvellous Mhloyi who discussed HIV prevention and women told the conference: "It has been noted that for most women in the developing world, breaking the silence in an attempt to initiate safe sex may result in rejection, stigmatisation, economic reprisals and even violence."
Moreover, economic hardships that the majority of people particularly women in poor countries have to contend with, limit a woman's ability to earn an income sufficient to sustain herself and her family, noted Dr. Eka Williams from Nigeria.
But again condom use is incompatible with women's so called noble task of reproduction. Sometimes, pressure exerted on women to bear children to prove her womanhood, enhances the chances of being infected with the virus.
Yet the world cannot ignore the rising infection rate among women. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that 15,000 women worldwide contract HIV every week and about 50 per cent of the 13 million infected adults are women.
The HIV/AIDS pandemic is mercilessly claiming a countless number of souls in remote rural areas of Africa as well as capital cities in Europe and North America, devastating mainly poor women and their families.
While in sub-Sahara Africa, as many as one third of all women of reproductive age are infected, in the United States, at least 50 per cent of HIV positive women are <-/Africans-Americans>. Also badly affected are immigrant women of Hispania origin.
In Europe, studies in Paris show high rates of infection among immigrant women. For instance, although infection among non-African women levelled off between 1987 and 1991, HIV seroprevalence doubled among young immigrant women from Central Africa and the Ivory Coast.
Asia has not been spared. Studies presented at the conference attended by 12,000 people including those living with HIV/AIDS, showed that in Thailand HIV infection was appearing in non-prostitute and low-risk behaviour women.
In India, Dr. Shiv Lal of the National AIDS Control Programme was quoted to have said that HIV infection increased greatly among pregnant women (from 0.6% to 1.2%) at least 32 per cent of commercial sex workers are HIV positive. The current high number of infected women coupled with ever rising defilement cases in most cities in the world, means women will continue bearing the brunt of infection as they contract the virus in their millions. What is disheartening is the fact that mother-to-child transmission will leave 10 million children infected by the year 2,000 and millions of others as orphans.
Professor Catherine Peckham from the Department of Paediatric Epidemiology at the Institute of Child Health in London said while most of the 10 million children would be from developing countries, the problem was also growing in Europe and the United States.
Biologically, women are more susceptible to the virus than men. Given the fact that 80 per cent of HIV infections are transmitted heterosexually, lack of preventive devices for women is a sad indication that HIV will be around for many years to come. Dr. Mhloyi said the female condom was already a disappointment. "Barriers to use (female condom) were physical discomfort and noise during intercourse, slippage into the vagina, and unaesthetic appearance" she said, adding that it was also expensive and unaffordable to most women.
Applauding other women activists and researchers, Dr. Mhloyi called for a preventive technology that women can use without the cooperation of their partners. She also emphasised the need for developing other barrier methods such as harmless spermicides and virucides that could offer some protection.
A session on female-controlled methods of prevention at the conference was told that efforts were going on to develop a microbicidal compound to inactivate bacterial and viral agents.
Scientists say that women need a barrier that would protect those cells of the female reproductive tract susceptible to infection from male fluids.
Many questions however, still boggle the minds of scientists. Can HIV be transmitted freely through seminal fluid or specific cells found in semen? Are all of the mucosal cells in female reproductive tract susceptible to infection? 
Whatever the answers, Dr. Penelope Hitchcock of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Maryland (USA) warned that judging by the money and time spent attempting to develop a vaccine against HIV, "such a compound will not be available in the near future." In this regard, the world has few alternatives to promote without losing sight of advocating for safer sex. First, it must challenge traditional customs, beliefs and practices that facilitate HIV transmission among women.
Secondly, communities should draw up strategies that would pay special attention to women's needs as one way of empowering this vulnerable group. And effective legislations should be instituted to back up community efforts. 
Moreover, information on the pandemic focusing on areas such as HIV and contraceptive use, forced sterilization, coerced sex, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), mandatory testing, and perinatal transmission should be a right of every woman.
Women's involvement in drawing out HIV/AIDS preventive strategies and implementing them should be a priority of every government as well as community because women, the main <-_caretaker><+_caretakers> of the HIV/AIDS patients, have a wealth of experience in combating the pandemic.
More importantly, observed Dr. Mhloyi, is to create an environment supportive to positive actions geared at curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS.
She said: "It means listening to women and creating supportive environments for change, through forming a partnership which transcends gender lines, socio-politico and economic boundaries ...time is running out."
Migration is a global issue
IN this final feature of the two-part series to mark the World Population Day, Staff Writer NAME looks at migration, the theme of this year's State of World Population Report. She reports about high migration trends which she argues need unwavering commitment to tackle by both the developed and developing world.
EVERYTIME a passenger train from upcountry pulls up at the Dar es Salaam Railway Station, a new batch of "immigrants" disembark to <-/persue> their dreams of a better life.
Like others who enter the already crowded city by road or sea, the 'immigrants' harbour hopes of better business opportunities and better-paying jobs so that they could help in the upkeep of their extended family members in their home villages as well as improve their own lives.
This rural-urban flow of people is a common phenomenon in most developing countries where migration to cities could also be driven by rural population growth that "exceeds the capacity of the agrarian sector to support it," says the just released State of World Population Report (1993).
The report, titled The individual and the World: Population, Migration and Development in the 1990s, says in developing countries, migration from rural to urban areas accounts for about 60 per cent of urban growth.
At the global level, migration from the 'poor' to the 'rich' countries has seen the later becoming increasingly protective of their national borders by instituting tougher immigration regulations.
In fact the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive <-/Durector> Dr. Nafis Sadik was quoted to have said that European countries were finding it difficult to cope with the influx of immigrants from developing countries.
Poor economic situation, unstable political climate, conflicts, degraded environments, poverty, unemployment have driven people from their home countries in search of asylum as economic or political refugees.
In 1992 the report says that there were 16.65 million refugees who required assistance and protection. "This increasing number of refugees provide the bitter human evidence that social and economic transition overflows national <-/bounderies>," notes the 42-page UNFPA report.
Although migration is said to be part of the development process, a continuing high population growth increases the workforce in developing countries, most of which lack the capacity to create jobs.
Most of the migrants, argues the report with the theme migration, are young, educated and "the very people of most value to societies in transition."
And the loss of skilled professionals in various fields create skill shortages and gaps in poor countries that cannot be easily filled because of unavailability of resources to invest in, say, education and other development sectors.
The report cites Africa which, it says, has lost an estimated one third of its highly educated manpower in recent decades, adding that the most important movement out of the continent has been from North Africa to Western Europe where 2.1 million people had moved out to eight European cities by 1989/90.
Between 1980 and 1992, some 15 million people entered Western Europe as migrants and during the 1980s, 7.33 million immigrants from developing countries entered the United States legally.
Canada, Australia and Japan have also been receiving immigrants from the developing world, says the report.
Although migration essentially benefits the families of the migrants in their home (or sending) countries through remittances, evidence abound that the host or 'receiving' countries benefit from skilled immigrants.
The report says: "On the recipient side, migration has usually been seen as evidence of a thriving economy: Today's industrial states were built in part by migrant labour, skills and investment."
International migration among developing countries "is much larger than from South to North" the report adds. But again migration may be viewed as a threat to security and society's well-being in uncertain conditions (prevailing mainly in developing countries).
In its report, UNFPA paints a daunting picture of the magnitude of the problem arguing that these trends of migration flows would continue given increased protectionism in trade, reduced development aid and growing inequalities between the rich and poor countries of the world.
Thus, as countries mark the World Population Day today, it is imperative that they first look at population as a global issue and not just as of one country or another because, said Dr. Sadik: "Migration, poverty and environmental relationships are all global issues."
The world community should cease to give lip service to imbalanced development between the world's rich and poor countries that has seen resources accumulating in the industrialised countries, leaving the developing world in desperation. 
As pointed out by the report, investment in the social sector would better the living conditions in the poor countries and discourage 'brain-drain'.
But in order for this to occur, developing countries must be committed to the cause and industrialised countries should make the necessary resources available for such undertakings. This would facilitate a more balanced global economic growth and eliminate some of the existing economic inequalities. 
Women urged to discuss sexuality
MARRIED African women have been urged to encourage discussions on sexuality in the homes and not to pick up a fight when they found their spouses with condoms.
The Society for Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA) President, Dr. Eka Williams, said here yesterday that in the AIDS era, the most realistic thing to do was protecting oneself against HlV/AIDS that is currently wreaking havoc in African families and commodities.
Dr. Williams, who was speaking at the six-day international conference for Anglophone media, said encouraging condom use did not mean condoning extramarital affairs but was a necessary measure to curb the spread of AIDS.
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Mtwara Initiative on child survival bears fruit 
The status of underfive year old children in Mtwara Region which was a matter of much concern to health workers, government and UNICEF officials only a few months ago, has now improved considerably; and everybody is smiling with relief.
The improved health and nutrition status of children in the region has been noted in many areas such as in reduced levels of malnutrition, better attendance by mothers and their children at village health posts and the increased use of latrines and garbage pits.
While the officials congratulate each other on the positive results of Mtwara Initiative, a reinvigorated community-based Child Survival and Development (CSD) programme launched last January by Mtwara Regional authorities with UNICEF support; they also caution that the CSD activities must be carried out continuously, if a decline in health the status of the children is to be avoided.
As the UNICEF Representative in Tanzania Laetitia van den Assum recently observed, "the real question is whether the Mtwara Initiative Programme can be sustainable and what lessons we can learn from its successful implementation which can be applied to other areas of the country ".
In continuation of CSD activities which began in the region in 1987, the Mtwara Initiative programme involves the registration of village households and under five year old children.
Village health committees have been established and village health workers are trained to carry out CSD activities in their permanent home villages. Their duties include providing instructions to mothers on better health and nutrition for their children; and the weighing of under fives every three months on specified village health days.
Mtwara Initiative has witnessed better attendance of registered underfives at village health days. Average attendance rose from 85.9 per cent in March, 1991 to underfives throughout the region attended health days. 
This has contributed to improvement in the nutrition status of children. Data collected on village health days show that cases of severe malnutrition in the region have been reduced by an average of 3.5 from 9.7 in March, 1991 to 6.2 in June, 1991. 
The number of underweight children has gone down by an average of 8.9 per cent from 59.2 in March, 1991 to 50.3 last June.
The latter means that in June, 1991 about half of all underfives in the region's programme area which now covers about 40 per cent of Mtwara region, were suffering from malnutrition. 
Mtwara Initiative has also brought in increased awareness of CSD activities among villagers. As the latest CSD report for Newala District points, "Many parents have begun to realize that the task of reducing levels of malnutrition and infant mortality is their own responsibility". And this partly explains the increased number of village feeding posts from 310 in March, 1991 to 455 in June, 1991; and community-based nutrition rehabilitation arrangements increased from 230 to 242 during the same period. 
Parents and communities have so far contributed a total of 40,799 kilos of food crops and 515,884/- to support the meal programmes for their children.
The news on environmental sanitation in Mtwara region is also encouraging. The number of pit latrines and garbage pits which are in use is increasing every week. 
The number of pit latrines increased from 43,589 in March, 1991 to 71,521 in June 1991.
During the same period the number of garbage pits rose from 11,655 to 36,825. Village water funds totalling 210,828/- have been contributed in the region; more villages in Newala District are getting piped water and raised <-/untensil> drying platforms have been erected by many households.
Other successes of Mtwara Initiative include the formation of a number of women economic groups which engage in such tasks as farming, livestock keeping and poultry, though the economic groups are still in their infancy.
Fuel saving stoves are also being introduced in some parts of the region; and the use of time saving big hoes in farming is steadily gaining acceptance by villagers.
Although the considerable positive successes of Mtwara Initiative are attributed to many factors, central among them is the fact that there has been an unusually high degree of co-operation between Party and government officials in implementing the programme. 
Leaders of all levels in the region had successfully utilized various follow-up strategies to improve the well being of children. 
CSD activities are now part of the agenda at every meeting of regional district and local political committees.
Some division and ward secretaries in Newala and Masasi Districts organized competitions between wards to determine which ward will have the least number of malnourished underfives in a given period. 
In other cases, members of village health committees were assigned the task of monitoring the health status of children in different groups of households.
In some areas where village leaders were found to be relatively less committed to the CSD programme, they were reinforced by other CSD workers including animators who were temporarily transferred to the weak areas from their permanent stations.
But poor leadership at the grassroots level continues to bedevil the programme in some villages. There is inadequate logistical support such as transport and fuel for follow-up CSD activities in rural areas. 
This has resulted in irregular flow of tools and supplies of such items as weighing scales, growth monitoring cards, drugs and vaccines.
Shortage of vaccines in Masasi district, for instance, led to a drop in the percentage of immunized children from 79.9 per cent in March 1991 to 74.6 per cent last June.
Some funds budgeted for CSD activities have been diverted by district authorities to other unrelated activities. And village health workers in most villages lack the motivation to work harder for lack of cash incentives and supplies.
The Mtwara Initiative has not yet been able to wipe out food shortages in many households particularly in communities bordering Ruvuma River. And the threat posed by man eating lions in Kitaya and Nanyamba divisions in Mtwara Rural District has led to reduced levels of food production and attendance on health days.
At a recent review meeting of Mtwara <-/Iniative> held in Dar es Salaam, there was a consensus that bottlenecks hampering further success of the programme can be removed. But to achieve this goal, the meeting also noted, <-/continously> new information on problems facing CSD activities in villages must regularly reach Party and government organs at all levels in the region, for further follow-up problem solving measures.
A Dar workshop highlights plight of women in the country
A workshop held in Dar es Salaam recently on "Human Rights and <-_Women><+_Women's> Development in Tanzania, highlighted the plight which women in this country have faced for generations especially with regard to laws and other existing mechanisms which affect their daily lives, together with their socio-economic rights.
The workshop, a joint initiative of the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Ministry of Community Development, <-_Women><+_Women's> Affairs and Children, and UNDP, was sponsored by UNDP, UNESCO and UNFPA.
Justice R.J.A. Mwaikasu who presented a paper on the "Successes and Failures of Existing Mechanisms to Protect and Promote Women's Human Rights in Tanzania," defined human rights as "conditions precedent for the fullest development of man's faculties necessary for his total development and happiness."
He said the need for the observance, promotion and protection of human rights arises from the fact that human rights are for the "betterment of the humanity of human beings. It is the sum total of the observance of all human rights that would lead to the respect and happiness of the human person and the society as a whole."
Justice Mwaikasu who is Chairman of the Law Review Commission noted that since independence in 1961, the Tanzania government has taken several administrative, political and legislative measures to promote women's rights in the country.
In the education sector, for instance, the Marriage Act of 1971 set the marriage age at 15 years. This provision was intended to promote the education of women by discouraging young girls from getting married at school age.
Justice Mwaikasu also claimed that the Education Act of 1978 which provides for the compulsory <AmE/>enrollment and school attendance of all school age children, has led to an increased <AmE/>enrollment of school girls, which in some schools, has outnumbered that of boys.
He, however, observed that the major failure of government efforts to improve the education of women has been "the standing law of dismissing girls who get pregnant while schooling." The law led to the dismissal of 22,248 girls from school between 1978 to 1988.
"Besides there has been the problem of the reluctance among some parents to send their daughters to school, and instead they get them married, as source of wealth, particularly in pastoral communities" where large numbers of cattle are paid as bride price.
Another resources person, Ms Theresia Ngalula, Principal of the National Social Welfare Training Institute, said that "the Tanzania society is in many ways divided between girls and boys in matters of education and training," in some ways supporting Justice Mwaikasu's presentation. Drawing on published research, Ms Ngalula said curriculum development and subjects taught in primary and
secondary schools are based and portray gender inequality.
"Selection in post primary school is also full of gender inequality. In 1981, for example, there were no girls studying mechanical and automotive engineering at Dar es Salaam and Arusha Technical Colleges.
"In 1993 according to data available in the Ministry of Education and Culture, the <AmE/>enrollment of girls in the country's technical colleges was only 7.25 per cent of total <AmE/>enrollment of students <-/inspite> of the set up of a quota system in favour of girls," Ms Ngalula said. And female students make up only 16.7 per cent of the students population at Tanzania's two universities, the University of Dar es Salaam and Sokoine University of Agriculture.
Ms Ngalula's presentation at the workshop was on "Women and Social-Economic Rights with regard to access to Land, Employment, Education, Credit, Technology, Training and Family Planning Services."
She also said that excluding some large scale leases to private and public organisations, the predominant systems of land ownership for the majority of the people are governed by customary and collective land tenure systems. In rural households land is generally controlled by men in terms of its use and utility.
"Since customary values and norms tend to give men the status of the head of the household, it means the senior male adult in the household has effective decision making authority over its use. Crops sold through official institutions are normally registered in the name of the head of the household who is generally a male and it is the head who is provided with access to inputs through these institutions," Ms Ngalula observed.
On problems women face in obtaining credit, Ms Ngalula attributed them to financial and credit banks which regard women "as incompetent in handling financial matters due to their scant training in monetary issues and are regarded as liabilities."
And the lack of "property on the side of women in terms of land or housing as aggravated by customary traditions make women unreliable partners in credit giving institutions to the extent that the agreement framework is made so difficult for the women to qualify for project credits," she added.
Justice Mwaikasu agreed that most women particularly the uneducated ones in rural areas have problems in securing financial credit facility due to want of ownership of real property for mortgage purposes.
He also spoke of the need to restructure land holding practice so that ownership "is no longer to be based on head of the family or on male ownership only but on every individual person's ownership by each member of the family, be male or female."
The chairman of the Law Review Commission noted that the 1971 Law of Marriage Act has empowered either spouse to own property of any kind, enter contracts, sue and be sued in contract or tort in one's individual capacity. "And to emphasize the same, either spouse is capable of committing theft or tort, against the other's property or person, respectively," Justice Mwaikasu said.
In the employment sector, Justice Mwaikasu drew attention to the problem of prejudice against women in some fields of employment. He said women were sexually harassed at some work places, such as the alleged harassment of women in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the National Service. He suggested the inclusion of sexual harassment under the jurisdiction of the 0mbudsman.
Ms Ngalula said women should be encouraged to enter non-traditional fields of employment and the necessary training should be made available to them. 

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Rombo exemplary in health services 
THE improved health status of inhabitants of Rombo District, which covers an area of 990 square kilometres in north-eastern Tanzania, is attributable partly to the German-assisted Family Health Project which was extended to the district in 1989 through the Ministry of health.
Since 1983, the German Technical Co-operation Agency (GTZ) has assisted the Ministry of Health in implementing a primary health care (PHC) programme in Bagamoyo district.
The programme started with control of acute respiratory infections (ARI) using community supported village health workers (VHWs) for early detection and treatment of pneumonia in pre-school children. Control of diarrhoeal diseases, malnutrition and malaria were added later.
In 1987 a child spacing component completed the PHC programme in Bagamoyo. As a result, overall under-five annual mortality in Bagamoyo district was reduced from 39 per 1000 in 1983 to 19 per 1000 in 1990.
In early June 1988, GTZ was requested by the Ministry of Health to extend its support to Rombo District by helping in the implementation of a PHC Programme similar to that in Bagamoyo.
Rombo District is plagued by various health problems which include malaria, ARI, intestinal worms, eye diseases, amoebiasis, diarrhoeal diseases, malnutrition and skin diseases.
Underlying causes of these diseases are mainly insufficient supply of safe water, poor sanitation, over-population and exhausted soil leading to insufficient food production.
The district has an estimated population of about 210,000 and a population density of 452 per square kilometre - one of the highest in Tanzania which has an average density of 26 per square kilometre.
The health project took off in the district in December 1988 with an intensive campaign by combined teams of Party and Government officials to enlighten residents at the grassroot level on better methods of health care.
Villagers chose two mature individuals - a man and woman - both preferably married, of good character and are permanent residents of the villages to be trained as village health workers. There are 61 villagers in the project programme area and 122 WHWs had been trained by July 1989, - two health workers for each village.
The VHW have the responsibility of combating known preventable diseases like malaria, ARI, diarrhoea and malnutrition by teaching peasants better health methods including better environment sanitation by boiling water for household use and by digging and using latrines.
In July 1989, the district <-/recieved> from GTZ, 325 drug kits which were distributed to all 61 village health posts. By July 1990, GTZ had supplied 125 bicycles for village health workers.
The Rombo District Medical Officer, Dr. Alfred Machiwa, told me that the VHW, have the task of "understanding health problems in their area, how to prevent them, how to cure the curable ones at their level. And they have to be self-reliant in providing a free-community service".
The two village health workers in each village spend alternatively two days a week at the village health post attending to people with various illnesses and providing them with health education. They also use two other days weekly for home visits when they follow up immunization for children, ante-natal clinic attendance for expectant mothers, as well as other health problems such as malnutrition.
Dr. Machiwa noted that VHWs also make follow-up home visits on individuals suffering form chronic diseases like leprosy and tuberculosis, whom "they fish them out and bring them to the nearest health facility." The VHWs also attend continuing education at the nearest health facility one day every week.
The total number of women of child bearing age and the number of children below five years of age is approximately 20 per cent of the population in the district. The infant mortality rate (IMR) for the district is estimated at 35.5 per 1000 live births. "We aim to reduce this to 25 per 1000 live births by the end of 1991. I think we can do so," Dr. Machiwa said confidently.
One indicator of the project's growing success is summarized in a recent progress report which states: "It has been observed that patients' congestion in the static health facilities has been reduced. Also it was reported by the <-/incharge> of the facilities that drug supplies take longer to finish as compared with former times."
Dr. Machiwa told me: " In our dispensaries we have noticed that whereas in the past we used to replenish our supplies of medication by mid-month, now we can hold on to them till the end of the month in most health posts."
These observations are backed by the 1990 annual report issued by the District Medical Officer. Whereas in 1989 a total of 19,393 cases of diarrhoea and 53,461 cases of malaria was recorded in the district, the figures for 1990 were 7,379 and 21,798 <-/respectivelu>.
Similarly lower cases of skin and eye diseases were reported at various health centres in the district last year when the <-/figuress> recorded were 7,758 and 4,222; compared with 10,554 and 10,954 cases of diseases which were reported in 1989 respectively.
In 1989, a sum of 10,990 individuals was diagnosed to be suffering from intestinal worms. Only 5,162 cases of the scourge were reported in 1990 throughout the district. And there were 50 cases of measles in the district last year compared with 273 the previous year.
Health facilities in Rombo District include a district hospital, three health centres, 17 government dispensaries, eight mission dispensaries and 61 village health posts.
The project has managed to train all health service providers as planned in the 1989/1990 plan of operation. It has also successfully introduced a system of data collection and analysis at the grassroot level, and to provide for the dissemination of information from villages, wards and up to division and district <-/headquaters>.
An innovative plan, designed and introduced by Rombo District authorities is the card system which is being utilized to help solve two main problems - to enable the payment of salaries to VHWs who are key elements for project implementation and to create a revolving fund for future sustenance of the project after the donors stop support for the project."
There are 35,000 families in the district. Each family is required to become a member of the project by willingly purchasing a health card worth Tshs. 200/- in return for the project's benefits. 
Health card membership contributions realized 1,812,700/- last year. By the end of the year all 122 VHWs have been paid their monthly allowances from family health card contributions.
The card system is a local arrangement and payment of the 200/- per family has nothing to do with the medical services offered. A total of 7,630 families had enrolled as members of the project by November 1990.
As a project component to help improve the health and welfare of mothers by supporting income generating activities, 10 women groups engaged in small scale activities like poultry and animal husbandry are being loaned 300,000/- each, interest free, by GTZ.
Loan repayment will be made through the sale of products produced by the women groups. The funds thus realized will be added to the revolving health fund as seed capital to support other women economic groups in the district. 
Zanzibar joint nutrition support programme picks up 
THE Zanzibar Joint Nutrition Support Programme (ZJNSP) whose implementation started last year has begun to yield positive results, according to recent studies.
The main objectives of the four-year programme are "the reduction of infant and child mortality and morbidity: better child growth and development, improvement of maternal health and nutrition, and improvement of capacities at all levels of society to assess and to analyse nutrition problems and to design appropriate actions."
Preparatory work for the community-based development programme started in 1989 but its actual implementation with UNICEF support and Italian government funding amounting to one million US dollars yearly, began last year.
Programme implementation began with the launching of a nutrition and health campaign in January, 1990, which was carried out in all 228 rural and urban branches in the whole of Zanzibar, that is both islands of Unguja and Pemba.
The campaign featured the registration, weighing and health examination of all under fives, initiation of community-based monitoring systems, child feeding, health education, and demonstration and distribution of impregnated bednets.
A total of 118,000 children were registered, representing 92.5 per cent of the under five population. Out of the registered children, 70,521, representing about 62 per cent, were brought to the campaign.
Analysis of the campaign data revealed a serious situation for under fives.Total malnutrition in January, 1990, stood at 51 per cent, moderate and severe malnutrition was 43 per cent and eight per cent, respectively, with wide variations from place to place, including 15 per cent severe malnutrition in Mkoani District in South Pemba. Other areas with high rates of malnutrition are North Unguja 'A' and 'B' districts and Micheweni District in North Pemba.
<-/Inspite of 90 per cent immunization coverage, infant mortality rate has gone up from 125 for every 1,000 live births in 1978 to 130 for every 1,000 live births in 1988.
Deaths caused by immunizable diseases have been reduced considerably. The 1990 situation analysis for Zanzibar identifies malaria as the number one killer of infants and children. Lack of health education on the part of parents; workloads of women; poor social services; and seasonal food shortages were also underlying causes of malnutrition of both children and women.
Various multi-sectoral activities have been carried out by programme officials over the past two years, and despite some progress made, the rate of malnutrition on the Isles is still high.
Thus on Tumbatu Island Gomani branch, which is part of North Unguja 'A' District, the rate of general malnutrition which stood at 75 per cent in January, 1990, was only down to 67 per cent by last April/May.
During the same period, Gomani branch's rate of severe malnutrition also decreased slightly from 22 per cent to 17 per cent. In other words, 17 out of every 100 children in Gomani branch are suffering from severe malnutrition. 
The average rate of general malnutrition for the whole of Zanzibar which was 51 per cent in January, 1990, went down to 45 per cent by last May.
The ZJNSP is fully integrated in the overall development policy of the Zanzibar Government. There is a Zanzibar National Steering Committee for the programme, which is composed of senior officials from relevant ministries - including the ministries of Health, Education, Agriculture, Planning and Information. 
There are regional, district and branch implementation committees for the programme. 
Committee members have been assigned the task of making regular and frequent follow-up activities and visits on programme implementation in their areas.
The official progress report for the ZJNSP states that as a result of the 1990 nutrition and health campaign in Zanzibar, "not only the health and nutrition problems of the children in Zanzibar have been more fully established and understood, but also that in the process of doing so, mothers, fathers and leaders at all levels have become better aware of these problems, their causes and possible ways of addressing them." 
A major problem which emerged during the campaign and which is still common is that many people at branch level do not regard the community-based programme to be their responsibility.
"At the beginning even some district leaders did not understand the project. They expected to be paid for everything, including organising health days which take place every three months. We had to make vigorous attempts to educate leaders at all levels," according to acting ZJNSP co-ordinator Abbas Makame.
Between January and April, 30,000 mosquito nets were distributed to families of under one year old children, an additional 4,194 mosquito nets were later distributed.
"And mothers who did not get mosquito nets thought they are not part of the project", Makame said. He added that many mothers who have completed immunization of their children do not bring them on health days. 
As part of the mobilization process, programme officials organized radio programmes and sent cultural groups to rural areas to bring home the message for better nutrition and health for children.
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Guidelines on the law: Res judicata ends judicial decisions
The law dictates that no issue should be raised again in the court of law which has been previously litigated and final <AmE/>judgment has been entered thereto.
This is what we call the principle of Res Judicate.
It is a doctrine which bars the subsequent litigation on matters which have been substantially and directly the subject of the litigation between all parties claiming under the subject matter.
The Civil Procedure Code 966, (CPC 1966), enacts this doctrine under section 9 thus:
Apparently it is a fact that the doctrine of Res Judicata is based on the principle that a decision once rendered by a competent <-/authourity> on a matter in issue between the parties after a full inquiry should not be permitted to be re-litigated.
In short, the doctrine needs to give finality to judicial decisions. And hence to prevent new decisions or investigations over the same matter.
This is intended to ensure that one and the same person is not harassed again and again in various proceedings upon the same subject matter.
The compliance with this position of the law is best found in Esta Mponda V. Bakari Nahoda (1982) TLR 202.
In this case the appellant had petitioned at the Mnyambe Primary Court for a decree of divorce and lost.
She did not appeal against the decision but chose to file a fresh petition for a decree of divorce in the same Primary Court. She lost again.
On appeal it was held that since the substantial issue in the petition was whether the marriage had irreparably broken down, the appellant could not institute fresh proceedings on the basis of alleged matrimonial misconduct which could and ought to have formed part of the petition filed in 1976.
It was further held that it is in the interest of the State that there should be an end of litigation and it causes hardships for a party to be vexed twice for the same cause. Similarly in the case of Zuhura d/o Yusufu V. Juma Saidi (1969) HCD 193 the court found that the dispute was Res <-/Judcata>.
In this case the appellant in 1964 filed proceedings and obtained judgement against the respondent for 33 cows. said to be part of her deceased husband's estate.
In 1968, the appellant filed the present proceedings, claiming 5 cows which she alleged had belonged to her husband. 
She obtained judgement in the Primary Court, but this holding was reversed by the District Court on appeal.
Thereupon, she appealed to the High Court.
It was held that a plaintiff cannot, in the ordinary course of things, be permitted to file a series of suits in respect of the same cause of action.
Not only would this be an abuse of the process of the courts, but it might <-/proclude> a judgement-debtor from ever freeing himself from his obligation. To that effect, the appeal was dismissed.
In order for the doctrine of Res Judicata to apply, certain requirements should be fulfilled.
Firstly, there must exist two suits one finally and conclusively determined and another pending. This is a question of fact and law as well. For the defendant is required to produce evidence on this.
It is a question of fact because the defendant is dutybound to tender pleadings and documentary evidence in court of the judgement of the previous suit. On the other hand, it is question of law because it is the duty of the court to determine whether or not the outcome of that previous proceedings constitute a judgement as defined by law. It is also the duty of the court to ascertain whether or not it was a suit.
It is on these factual situations that the court enables to resolve the issue whether the matter had really been finally and conclusively determined.
Secondly, both the suits must be before courts of competent jurisdiction. The term "court" is defined under the CPC 1966 to included "...the High Court of the Resident Magistrate or a District Court presided over by a civil magistrate...."
Clearly seen, the definition is restrictive since it does not embrace the Primary Court.
It suggests that Primary Courts are left outside the operation of the doctrine of Res Judicata.
However, the definition for the same as stipulated by Interpretation of Laws and General Clauses Act in effect covers the Primary Courts.
Thus the doctrine at issue <-/undobtedly> applies even in Primary Courts. It should be noted that Res Judicata applies notwithstanding that the judgement was wrongly reached.
What matters is that the court had got the jurisdiction to hear and determine the suit.
And thus to ascertain the question of whether or not the judgement was wrongly arrived at is to be dealt with an appeal or on revision. The High Court so stated in the case of  Tom Amiri Salim V. Firos Salehe Mohamed (1975) LRT N. 41 that:
It follows that in the absence of filing an appeal or applying for a revision of the decision, the said judgement will there be to stay, despite that it was wrongly entered.
The third requirement is that suit must be between the same parties or parties claiming under the same title.
Section 9 of the Code is clear about this requirement.
Explanation (IV) to this section elaborates the point. It states that:
<-/Forthly>, it is required that matters directly and substantially in issue between the parties in the pending suit must have been also directly and substantially in issue in the previous determined suit. 
In short, it is meant that both must have been based on the same cause of action.
And it should be born in mind that the whole subject matter at issue in the subsequent suit must have been in issue in the previous suit.
Thus, it does not matter if the previous suit was wider than the subsequent one, provided the entire subsequent suit is swallowed.
With this respect, it was argued in the case of Karsan V. Harnam (1953) 20 E.A.C.A. 74 that:
Therefore, if the subsequent suit is wider than the previous one, then the doctrine of Res judicata cannot operate.
There are some exceptions to the operation of Res Judicata. As the above-cited case of Karsan shows, the doctrine of Res Judicata does not apply where the subsequent suit is wider than the previous suit.
Another exception to the doctrine is that if the new issue arises in the subsequent suit, the doctrine will not apply.
The reason behind is obvious. It is because the new issue had not been made a subject of inquiry to the previous suit.
Such kind of issues are collateral and incidental matters, which according to Bedford V. Cowtan and Sons Ltd. (1916) IKB 980, cannot act as Res Judicata. To quote Phillimore L.J. on page 989:
Another exceptional situation is where the previous judgement was entered by consent in which the court simply enters a compromise decree without taking evidence.
Such a judgement cannot operate as Res Judicata but rather it will be an estoppel.
Further the doctrine of Res Judicata will not <-/opeate> respect of ex parte judgements--against the plaintiff by virtue of Order 9 of the CPC 1966.
That is so because such judgement is entered on technicalities and not on merits of the case.
And so it is the case with judgements dismissing suits on grounds of time limit.
That is why Lyall J. in the case of Kahevhand V. Jan Mohamed (1919) 9 EAPIR 64, the appeal case where Res Judicata was pleaded in the second suit due to the fact that the first one was dismissed as it was time-barred, argued that Res Judicata could not apply.
That is so because unless the matter directly and substantially in issue have been substantially heard and determined, they are not Res Judicata. To use the words of his lordship on Page 67:
On the same footing, Pickering J. remarked at Page 71 that:
Thus it may be just to conclude that a dismissal of a suit being time barred is a dismissal on a preliminary point not to the facts of the case.
Acknowledgement of the debt, for example, can make the limitation period to run afresh.
However, as a point of remark, the case will not be exception to the operation of Res Judicata if the plaintiff appears and fails to adduce evidence.
In other words, the consequential judgement will here operate as Res Judicata because the plaintiff will be deemed to have submitted that he has no evidence to support his allegations.
This was substantially so stated in the case of Salem V. Hemeidan (1960) EA 92 that:-
In conclusion it can be argued that the doctrine of Res Judicata is intended to give finality to judicial decisions.
This in turn relieves defendants from being endlessly harassed.
That is harassment brought by being compelled to appear and answer suits having the same <-/suhject> matter.
Guidelines on the law: Immunities given to diplomats
The International Law among other things deals with diplomatic immunities and privileges.
These are supposed to be provided for by the host states to the foreign states (sending states) and their agents.
This is in compliance with the Vienna convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961.
Thus any country which signed the said Convention has to substantially reflect what is contained in the convention whenever enacting any local legislation touching on diplomatic immunities and privileges.
To ensure good relations and smooth-moving of functions by foreign embassies and their agents, Tanzania has enacted the Diplomatic and consular Immunities and Privileges Act 1986, No. 5.
The Act has greatly and substantially reflected what is contained in the above-cited Convention.
Above all the Act has made most of the relevant articles of this Convention schedule to it. 
Just a remark, the schedule is part of the Act.
The Act specifies persons entitled to immunities and privileges. These include representatives in the United Republic of foreign sovereign powers; members of official staff of a diplomatic head of mission; members of the family or diplomatic staff of a chief representative; and also the members of the domestic staff of a head of mission.
Whereas the list of those entitled to immunities and privileges cover persons or institutions whom the Minister for Foreign Affairs is empowered to grant them immunities and privileges. According to Section 9 of the Act these are persons in the service of the government of a foreign sovereign power holding an office involving the performance of duties substantially corresponding to those which in the case of a foreign sovereign power would be performed by a diplomatic agent.
Also a person for the time being recognised by the government of Tanzania as the head of mission in Tanzania of any state or province of a country represented here in Tanzania. 
According to the Act No. 5 of 1986, a diplomat is immune from suit and legal process.
That he enjoys personal immunity from both civilian and criminal proceedings and above all, cannot be compelled to testify in court.
In this line of factual situation he is therefore immune from search, arrest, execution, and such like.
The premises of a mission are also inviolable - that no local authority may enter them without the consent of the head of the mission.
This is so substantially stated by Section 11 of the Act which provides for restriction of powers of entry in relation to consular posts.
It means that entry shall only be effected, apart from the consent of the head of the consular post or from the Minister for Foreign Affairs, where such entry is necessary for extinguishing fire which has or is reasonably believed to have broken out there on or on premises or place or for protecting the premises or place from acts done for the fighting purposes. 
A police officer having reasonable cause to believe, that a crime, involving violence has been or is being or is about to be committed in the consular premises may enter therein.

W2B015T
Guidelines on the law: The law and voidable marriages 
Voidable marriages are those which can be legally made void or capable of being annulled by the decree of the court upon request of the aggrieved party.
But in the absence of such a party to bring an action to court seeking the annulment, the marriage remains valid.
Section 40 of the Law of Marriage Act 1971, hereafter called the LMA 1971, exemplifies.
It states that: "A voidable marriage is for all purposes a valid marriage until it is annulled by a decree".
Thus, the option of the party aggrieved to set matrimonial <-/preceedings> in motion seeking a decree of annulment of their marriage to court is the determining factor as to whether the marriage should come to an end or to be existing.
It is apparently <-/abvious> that there are grounds which make a marriage to be voidable.
The LMA 1971 spells out those grounds.
According to Section 39 of the Act, the marriage is said to be voidable when at the time the marriage either party was incapable of consummating it.
Non-consummation is not only caused by incapacity but also due to wilful refusal of one party to consummate the marriage.
For one of the prerequisites to be met upon marriage is consummation.
That is having sexual intercourse between the husband and wife soon after they have married.
Emphasising on this Dr Lushington in D-E versus A-G (1845) 270 E.R. 1039 at page 1045 argued that: 
Due to this position of the law, the existing inability or wilful refusal to consummate therefore, warrants the aggrieved party to institute an action in court for nullifying the marriage.
Thus non-consummation can exist due to either party's incapacity or wilful refusal to consummate.
The discussion intends to go into details of each.
To start with incapacity, there are possible causes which make a person unable to consummate.
For example, an impotence on the part of the husband to be able to have sexual intercourse.
Whereas body infirmity in the female body, frigidity and the like, to make penetration of male's genital organ impossible are the causes also.
To be elaborative, the case of A.v. B. (1932) 14 KLR 21 is referred to.
In this case, the husband sought a declaration of nullity in respect of the marriage celebrated between the parties on the ground of malformation, frigidity, impotence, or some other physical defect in the respondent, rendering her unable to consummate the marriage.
The trial judge dismissed the suit, finding that in view of the shortness of time during which the parties lived together it was impossible to presume that the respondent is impotent by reason of hysteria and that her refusal was probably due to youthfulness, innocence and nervousness.
The evidence showed that soon after the marriage, the parties stayed in an hotel for three days in Mombasa.
They went to Nairobi and stayed at the Avenue Hotel for two days, then went to Timau and spent ten days there with <-/frieds>.
At each of the places where the parties stopped, they shared the same room, and the petitioner attempted to consummate the marriage, but was rebuffed on each occasion.
He further testified that the respondent showed aversion from him and that he could not have consummated the marriage without using force.
Attempts were made to induce her to return to her husband, money provided for her passage, but such attempts were unavailing.
It was held that the facts on record justified the presumption of incapacity to consummate the marriage.
On the aspect of wilful refusal to consummate the marriage by either party the Dickinson v. Dickinson (1913) P.D. 198 enunciates it.
In this case the court, however, drew an inference of incapacity from the wilful and wrongful refusal of the wife to allow consummation in the trial. An appellate court held that:
Wilful and persistent refusal to allow any marital <-_intercourses><+_intercourse> is a sufficient ground for a decree of nullity of marriage. 
Where, upon a petition for nullity of marriage presented by the husband in good faith, it appeared that the consummation of the marriage had been prevented, after repeated attempts on his part, by the wilful, determined, <-/stead fast> refusal of the wife, likely to be, persisted in, ... this constituted a valid and sufficient ground for annulling the marriage. ...
Part Two
THIS last part of the discussion is the continuation of the grounds which make the marriage voidable.
Thereafter we shall discuss the effects of the decree of annulment of a voidable marriage.
The marriage is also voidable when at the time of the marriage it is proved that the wife is pregnant by the third party.
In other words, that the wife, as per Section 39 (a) (iv) of the LMA 1971, was made pregnant by some person other than the husband.
This occurs that before the parties marry, the wife might have had sexual intercourse with other men than the husband.
And that either with or without her knowledge she conceived.
The husband, without knowledge of the <-/pregnance> he marries her.
When that is the case the law opens the door for the husband to petition for a decree of annulling the marriage.
The husband should, however submit the application in court as soon as possible.
Above all, upon learning that his wife is already pregnant with the third party before they got married, he should not have sexual intercourse with her any more, pending the order of the court.
A typical example to illustrate the above is an English case of Stocker versus Stocker (1966) 2 All E.R. 147.
This was a petition by the husband for a decree of nullity on the grounds that at the time of the marriage the wife was pregnant by some person other than the husband and was subject to recurrent attacks of epilepsy.
The parties met on April 15,1965, and within a fortnight of meeting were having regular sexual intercourse together.
The husband took the precaution of wearing a contraceptive sheath on all occasions.
He thought that perhaps both by what she said and by her own general demeanour to intercourse that he was not the first man whom she had known carnally, but he was not very critical of her in that respect.
Towards the end of June 1965, the wife moved to another part of the country.
The parties kept in touch, mostly by letter, and at about that time the wife told the husband that she had missed a period and suspected that she was pregnant. The husband genuinely thought that he was the father of the expected child, and on that assumption he thought it proper to marry her in due course.
The marriage took place on August 5, 1965. With regard to the allegation of epilepsy, the trial judge found as a fact that, at the time of the marriage the wife was suffering from recurrent attacks of epilepsy, but that at that time the husband was ignorant of that fact.
Karminski, J. held and I quote: 
It is sometimes difficulty for the husband to prove that the wife's pregnancy is by the third party.
This occurs especially in instances where he had carnally known her even before the marriage.
And it may appear that since the wife had sexual intercourse with other men, she may even fail to pinpoint the specific man with whom she conceived.
To that effect, though she may be sure that it is not the husband who impregnated her, and the fact that the period in which she conceived the husband also had carnally known her, she after marriage names him as the responsible one for the pregnancy.
It is difficult to prove that he is not responsible on the existing presumption of legitimacy.
The same was experienced in the case of W.V.W. (No.4) (1963) 2 All E.R.841.
In this case the husband brought an application in a nullity suit for an order requiring the wife and her child to submit to a blood test.
The ground for the petition for nullity of marriage is that at the time of the marriage the wife was pregnant by another person than the husband.
The husband, however, admitted that he himself had sexual intercourse with the wife before marriage.
He alleged that the wife also had sexual intercourse with another man or men.
Dismissing the appeal, Willmer, L.J. had this to say: 
Commonly noted, most of wives married while they are pregnant by other persons than their husbands conceal this fact to them.
The reasons are obvious.
They know that they would not have been married had the husbands learned about this reality.
Also, others may be denied by those who impregnated them.
So when they get offers of marriage from men who are not aware of the fact and who can easily be moved to believe that they are the ones responsible for the said pregnancies after a short stay in the marriage, they stick to them and hide the truth.
However, let it be noted that the position of the law remains as it is that the marriage will still be voidable and not otherwise despite the existing concealment on the part of the wife.
To get the gist of the <-/aforegoing> the case of Moss v. Moss (1897) P.263 is relevant.
In this case, the husband brought the suit for nullity of marriage on the ground of fraud on the part of the respondent.
The petitioner on the very day of the marriage had suspicions on the condition of the respondent. 
He taxed her with being pregnant which she admitted later on after intense resistance.
She even dared name the person whom she alleged was her seducer. 
Nearly a month later <-/wile> separated the child was born. At the hearing several witnesses were called, relatives of the parties, who all stated that they had no reason to suspect the respondent's condition at the time of the marriage.
At the conclusion of this case, the court was satisfied that the petitioner did not know of his wife's condition; and that he had no grounds for making any inquiry as to her character.
Having the view that the fact that the wife concealed at her husband that she was pregnant by another man than him at the marriage does no more than making the marriage voidable, the court held that:
The fifth and last ground making a marriage voidable is lack of parental consent.
To heed on the wording of Section 39(c) of the LMA 1971 which enacts that:
"Marriage shall be voidable: if -(c) the wife had not attained the age of eighteen years and consent to the marriage as required by Section 17 had not been given and the court sees good and sufficient reason to set the marriage aside".
We can see that the aggrieved party can claim that the marriage be set aside due to this prerequisite.
To be a ground for labelling the marriage voidable, the girl who is married has not attained the age of eighteen years. 
Thus no parental consent was sought before the marriage was effected.
The aggrieved party would therefore be entitled to petition in court for the said marriage to be annulled.
It should however, be noted that in this case it is the parents of the girl whose consent should have first been obtained who can petition for the annulment of the marriage and not otherwise. The parents should, however, do so as soon as possible before the girl has already attained the eighteen years.
For if they wait until she so attains the said age, there will be no case as the suit shall be abated. So the earlier the better. Emphasising the institution of a suit praying for an annulment of the marriage on the part of parents due to lack of their consent as early as possible, the court observed in the case of Ally Mfaume versus Fatuma Mohamed Alkamu (174) LRT N.67 that failure to do so in time, the court will presume that they consented.
W2B016T
Guidelines on the law: Bridewealth in customary marriages
Bridewealth is a marriage <-/considereation> paid by the bridegroom to the bride's father or bride's relatives. In most cases it is paid in hard cash or in kind. 
This payment is more than often not referred to as "<ea/>Mahari". It is a <-/custommary> practice which signifies the union between the bride's and bridegroom's families.
The amount of marriage <-/considereation> (<ea/>mahari) paid by the bridegroom to the bride's father or bride's relatives varies from one tribe to another depending on the customs prevalent in that area.
However, the marriage consideration paid by the bridegroom to the bride's father or relatives, and which also signifies union between the bridegroom's and bride's families, can be returned to the bridegroom from the time the marriage contract terminates.
This can <-_happend><+_happen> through the motion of either husband or wife.
Experience has shown that in the case of wife the marriage can terminate when she behaves contrary to the customary behaviour or standard expected of a wife or when she becomes so disobedient to her husband.
In the case of husband the marriage contract can come to an end when the husband treats his wife cruelly or in some unbecoming behaviour which are contrary to the standard required of a husband.
Under such situation the wife can desert her husband.
The payment and return of bridewealth is a customary practice which is far established, and is <-/hetherto> practised among many African tribes in Tanzania.
It should be recalled that when the court system was reorganized in 1963, the courts were vested, interalia, with jurisdiction over matters relating to customary law. The primary courts were in particular vested with unrestricted original jurisdiction in all matters pertaining to customary law.
Like the colonial era the application and enforcement of such law is still based on the principle that it should not offend, morality good conscience and substantial justice.
The Government recognized and appreciated customary marriage by enacting the Local Customary Law (Declaration) No. 4 of 1963 (GN. 436). This law was followed by a number of Government Notices giving effect to customary marriages to various places in Tanzania.
It is the intention of this article to explain the circumstances under which bridewealth can be returned or may not be returned. In the first place, before bridewealth is returned there must be sufficient reasons to indicate that divorce has been obtained.
In Raland Mumanyi vs Wambura Mwita 60 HCD 9. The appellant sued the Defendant in Primary Court in North Mara District for return of bridewealth. There was evidence to support that the <-/plantiff's> wife had deserted the <-/plantiff> but there was no sufficient material evidence to the effect that the plaintiff had obtained divorce.
The court relying upon Section 133 and 134 of the Law of Persons (GN. 279 of 1963) as applied to North Mara District by Government Notice 640/1963 which provides that desertion is a good ground for divorce and that the husband may seek return of bridewealth without legal obligation.
The High Court was of the view that so long as there was no evidence of a divorce the return of bridewealth was not returnable.
Secondly, the bridewealth cannot be returned when the husband ill-treats his wife with the intention of getting divorce if there are children of marriage. The illustrative case here is Mtatiro Chacha vs Lucas Ochola 1970 HCD.
In this case the Parties had obtained a divorce after 5-1/2 years of married life during which the wife bore one child who died.
The divorce was granted because of the husband ill treating his wife. The husband sued in Primary Court for return of bridewealth. He claimed 36 head of cattle and two hundred shillings but was awarded only seventeen head of cattle.
The <AmE/>judgment was upheld by the District Court. On further appeal to High Court the High Court held that the bridewealth could not be returned since the appellant himself was responsible for the break-up of the marriage.
Thirdly, the bridewealth may be refunded when the wife is not ill treated deliberately or is the one responsible for the break-up of the marriage.
Illustrated cases are not far from here. In Holo vs Ndoma 1970 HCD 123. Divorce was obtained by a wife on the grounds of cruelty. The Primary Court ordered the husband to get back fourteen head of cattle he had paid as bridewealth. At the same time the parties had fourteen children. The wife appealed against the Primary Court order.
The district court allowed the appeal of the wife against the return of bridewealth and was of the opinion that so long as the husband had ill-treated the wife and they had children the husband was not entitled to return the bridewealth.
On further appeal the High Court reversed the District Court finding on the ground that the wife was not deliberately ill-treated in order to force divorce. The appellant maintained that he still loved his wife and he assaulted her with the intention of dissuading her from her conduct, which he did not like. She visited pombe clubs and got drunk. She also visited places where she met with men immorally. The High Court held that the husband was entitled to be refunded the part of bridewealth.
The same position was held in Wambura vs Hamisi Sambeka (1981) TLR 116, that where the wife is wholly and wilfully to blame for the break-up of the marriage the bridewealth is refundable.
Fourthly, the husband is not entitled to a return of the bridewealth where the wife dies. In the case of Musa Chegere vs Marwa Nyamchama 1969 HCD 281. The appellant claimed the refund of bridewealth from the father's bride. The respondent's daughter had died one month after the marriage.
The appellant had already given back <-/ninteen> head of cattle and he was now claiming a refund of ten head of cattle. The trial magistrate held that the appellant was not entitled to a return of the bridewealth. He found however, that the respondent had agreed to return the remaining cattle. 
The High Court held that the respondent was under no obligation to make any refund of the bride-price.
However, when the wife's father receives bride-wealth on remarriage he has got to return proportionate part of the original bridewealth paid by the former husband. In Matiko Chacha vs Mathias Mwita 1969 HDC 196. The appellant had married the respondent's daughter and lived with her for four years during which she had given birth to two twins, consequently there was a divorce 15 head of cattle were refunded out of 23 with a balance of a cattle over a consideration for the length of the marriage and the twins. The woman was consequently remarried and the father received a second set of dowry from the new husband. The Appellant now claimed the return of the remaining eight head of cow of his original dowry. The High Court held, <-/interaia>, that although the provisions of the Customary Declaration does not contain anything that covers this situation, it will not be proper to allow the father of any party to continue to get bridewealth from the subsequent marriage <-_without> with other men without refunding proportionate parts of the earlier bridewealth received even in cases where previous marriage lasted long and there was no issue of such marriage.
Likewise, the High Court in Matiko Chacha vs Matias Mwita 1969 HCD and stated very clearly that, even though the return of dowry by husband on dissolution of marriage cannot be maintained if the wife has borne him children but where the wife remarries and his father receives another set of dowry the husband is entitled to receive a substantial part of the dowry paid.
It appears that the courts have taken this position in order to avoid the father of the wife to receive several sets of dowry for the same daughter.
However, the return of bridewealth when the wife remarries is not a matter of right.
<-/Dispite> all circumstances aforementioned when marriage breaks up the court has discretionary power under Rule 54 of Law of Persons to consider how the bride price/wealth should be refunded notwithstanding the provisions which allow no refund in cases where the children are born out of that marriage.
Before, the court orders a return of bridewealth, it has got to consider inter alia, a number of things. The party who was responsible for the break-up of the marriage in question, duration of marriage and whether children are born out of that marriage.
It is indeed after such consideration has been made the court may order or may not order refund. 
When is the court functus officio under the law? 
A TRIAL court has virtually no power to change its order or decision it has made which has the effect of finally disposing of the  matter.
When the court makes an order or decision which in essence puts off the matter it is said to become FUNCTUS OFFICIO.
Let us have a look at cases relating to plea taking. It is an established principle both in law and practice that when an accused person is charged with an offence, the charge has got to be read over and its facts explained to him in the language he can understand.
He should tell the court in clear and understandable words whether he admits to have committed the offence or not. 
When the accused person pleads guilty and the court is fully satisfied that such plea is unequivocal then it enters conviction and finally sentences him accordingly. 
It should be noted here that when an accused person pleads guilty in subordinates courts he forfeits his right to appeal against conviction.
However, the situation is vice versa for conviction on plea of guilty that originates from the High Court.
The question which is worthy asking is, "when does the trial court becomes functus officio regarding conviction and sentence?"
Prior to 1967 or so as evidenced by the case of Maumba vs Republik 1966 E.A. the legal position was that once the court had accused plea of guilty could change it but rather proceed to impose the appropriate sentence thereto.
<-/Todate> the legal position is that an accused person can change his plea from that of guilty to that of not guilty or vice versa provided that such change is made any time sentence has been meted out.
In the case of Joseph Ogola vs Republic 2 EACA 171, the court had this to say:
In Kamundi vs Republic 1973 E.A. 540, the appellant together with four others were convicted on a purported plea of guilty to a charge of robbery with violence.
The charge was read and facts were explained to the appellants.
They all pleaded guilty. The trial Magistrate convicted them as charged.
The case was adjourned for a while to allow the prosecution to produce of the accused persons.
When the trial resumed the appellant was able to secure services of an advocate who strongly submitted that the appellant's plea was equivocal.
The counsel's submission was rejected by the learned trial magistrate as he was of the settled view the accused pleas were unequivocal and that the court had no power to quash its own decision and therefore completely refused to allow the appellant to change his plea to that of not guilty.
When the case came on appeal the court held strongly that the trial court was not functus officio it could have changed the appellant's plea.
The court had this to say at page 545 of the aforementioned case 
In the recent case of Rajabu Ramadhani vs Republic 1980 TLR 50.
The appellant was facing a charge of cattle theft. When charge and facts were read and explained to him he just said they were correct.
However, in mitigation the accused was heard saying:
"I was invited by some people who told me that the cow was theirs".
The trial court neglected the mitigation and proceeded with sentence.

W2B017T
Guidelines on the law: Musicians advised on copyright law
For those who did not chance to read the first part of this article, let them know that in the first part we discussed and explained what copyright is.
We said that Copyright denotes an exclusive right to authorise the reproduction of an artistic or literal work for commercial purpose.
We further said that the law of Copyright generally deals with protection of those works against reproduction by persons who are not the real inventors of them.
When one talks of the owner of a Copyright, it means a person who has an exclusive right on a Copyright work as recognised by law. Section 11(1) of the Copyright Act provides that:
"The Copyright on works which are eligible for copyright under the Act shall be initially vested in the author."
Under the provision the word author denotes a person who, with his skill and labour, or probably his capital, made the work in question.
Therefore at first the ownership of a work vests in the person who actually made it.
If it is a book the copyright vests in a person who wrote it.
If it is a musical work the right vests on the person who composed it.
This is the general position as far as ownership of copyright is concerned.
There are situations in which <-/sometime> the right on a work does not vest in a person who is actually the maker of it.
Although the ownership of Copyright on a work is first vested on the author, if the work in question is made under a contract of service, then the ownership vests on the employer of the author.
This is provided under Section 11(1) (i) of the Copyright Act. But such a work shall be owned by employer if, and only if, the employee made it in the course of his employment.
That is for example, a musician composes a piece of music during his <-/leissure> time at home, there is no way the owner of his orchestra can claim copyright ownership on the music unless the employee decides so.
One question which is controversial at this juncture is when a person is said to be acting in the course of his employment.
An employee is said to be acting in the course of his employment when he is under the control of his employer.
It is when he performs his duty in accordance and under the terms of the contract of service, in the premises of his employer or in the premises provided or directed by his employer.
Two years ago there arose an issue between two orchestras both based in Dar es Salaam city.
The issue which still exists in many people's minds is who should be the owner of a musical work titled .
Initially this work was composed by one musician known as Ramadhani Kingute, alias Kingute System.
He composed it when he was an employee of Orchestra DDC Mlimani Park.
He performed the work with his fellow employees of the same orchestra several times in different dancing halls.
Then the composer, Kingute, shifted to the Orchestra Bicco Stars.
He shifted before the work was recorded by his former Orchestra with RTD.
Then he decided to perform the same music with his new Orchestra.
Later the song was recorded to RTD by both orchestras with slight variations.
I am not sure which orchestra recorded the song first. Now the issue was who could claim Copyright ownership on that work.
If the music was composed by Mr. Kingute in his course of employment by Orchestra DDC, then in law the music belongs to Orchestra DDC as the employer of Kingute.
This is in accordance with the provision of Section 11(1) (i) of the Copyright Act.
But this also will depend much on the terms of contract under which Kingute was employed.
Having no terms under the contract which provided contrary to what the law provides, and taking into account that Kingute composed the work and used DDC's instruments to test it with other employees of DDC, in their normal practice days and hours, then the work totally belongs to the DDC Mlimani Park Orchestra.
This is because Kingute composed the work as his duty as an employed musician.
On the contrary, if the work was composed by Kingute himself, using his own brain and, if the music was rehearsed by Kingute with his colleagues not within their normal course of employment, with the intention that they were performing a work of Kingute, then the work would belong to Kingute and he would be having exclusive Copyright on it.
<-/May be> it is here where our musicians should know that despite of the law to confer copyright on their employers, yet there is a room for them to have some rights on their works.
The only thing is that, their rights can be included in their written contract of employment.
It is important to remind you one thing at this stage while we have been discussing the issue in the song titled, we should not forget what was discussed in the first part of this article.
In the first part of the article it was pointed out that under Section 3(2) (b) a work shall not be eligible for copyright protection unless it is reduced into some permanent tangible form.
Therefore taking into account all what have been discussed above, the ownership of the song in question, depends on who was the first to reduce it into a permanent tangible form as between the two orchestras.
When Kingute performed the work with his new orchestra, Bicco Stars, the music was not recorded anywhere then that act by Kingute would not amount to a breach of Copyright.
This is because the song just existed in the heads of DDC musicians, nothing like a disk or a cassette existed hence rendering the song eligible for copyright.
But if when the song was composed by Kingute and recorded in the name of DDC Mlimani Park Orchestra, then the music would be eligible for Copyright.
Here the song will be eligible because it would be already existing in a permanent form; a form which can be reproduced into another permanent form for sale.
Thus the act of Bicco Stars to record the same with RTD would amount to a breach of Copyright.
In short therefore, the ownership of this song actually depends on who was the inventor of it.
It will depend on what circumstances the inventor was labouring - as an employee or not.
It further depends on the nature of the contract of employment between Kingute and DDC Mlimani Park.
Further this will depend on the answer to the question as to who was the first person to record the song.
The Copyright for works which are eligible for copyright made by or under the direction or control of the Government or international bodies or other organizations, vests initially in the government or such international body or organization.
This is provided under Section 6 of the Copyright Act.
A good example of such works are songs like; the National Anthem and the like.
These songs belong to the CCM and the Government, respectively.
Before we come to the end of this article, let me put forward one suggestion to our music composers.
When any musician is entering into a contract of employment with any holder of an orchestra, that must be reduced in writing.
In such a documented contract, each part must state all what he wishes under the law of Copyright. 
Guidelines on the law: Delayed court cases: who is to be blamed? 
IN OLD days African administration of justice was composite.
Wherever a dispute arose, there were no separate judicial institutions like those we have now.
Instead members of society in which the disputants belonged, especially elders, met, <-_summon><+_summoned> the parties, <-_make><+_made> inquiries into the dispute and the society at large could reach at a decision.
There were no hard and fast rules of procedure which had to be followed like those we have in our courts today. What prevailed was democracy.
That means each member of the society was free to give his views on a given dispute for settlement.
In most African societies women were not allowed in decision-making positions.
All in all what was common in all those societies is that a decision was reached by the <-/concensus> of all participants. And it was binding to both parties.
This system was easy and quick to administer justice.
To the people of those old days this system was the most appropriate because each society could solve disputes according to its prevailing cultures.
The aim of dispute settlement always was to reconcile the disputants.
At the end of the hearing disputants became friendly again.
In most cases at the end the disputants shook hands and sank their differences by taking a traditional brew.
That is not the case in our courts today. These days before you take your case to court you must ask yourself many questions.
First of all you must be sure of whether you will have enough time to sacrifice in court before your case can be determined.
You must also ask yourself whether you have enough money to engage an advocate to defend you.
If you are not ready to engage an advocate you must be confident and conversant with all the rules applicable in courts.
This leads us to the conclusion that today justice is more expensive than it was before.
Mostly it is only the <-/richman> who are able to get their rights in court.
take an example of treason and other cases concerning constitutional provisions.
Apart from being expensive, frequent adjournments also delay of cases, and makes the whole exercise of <-/geting> justice in courts a difficult task.
But one thing to discuss in detail here is the question as to who or what factors cause delay of cases in our courts.
A person who has never gone to court may think that magistrates are the ones who deliberately delay hearing cases in our courts.
This accusation is sometimes used on platforms by politicians just to show people that they are advocates of <-_citizens><+_citizens'> rights.
But in fact they are not. There are so many instances where people have been detained by politicians without being prosecuted.
Some people lose their rights because they cannot sue the government.
To me it is not always true that magistrates or judge are the only causes of delays in hearing cases in our courts.
One has to know that before a case comes to an end there are so many steps and procedures which have to be followed.
When a case is opened in court, whether it is a criminal or a civil case, the magistrate or the judge must ensure that justice is done from the beginning to the end.
It is after giving each party a fair hearing that the magistrate reaches at a particular decision, ruling or a judgement.
Whenever a magistrate adjourns case he sets another hearing date after suggestions from both parties as to what will be the convenient date for the two sides and to the court itself.
When a suspect is arrested he is first taken to the police office.
The police, on behalf of the republic, draws a charge against the suspect. Sometimes the police may <-/deliverately> delay preparation of a charge.
So you find a person being held at a police station for three or four days before being taken to court.
But a charge is in most cases hardly one page.
It can be prepared within half an hour.
After charging the <-/accussed> he is taken to court where on first appearance he will be asked to enter his plea.
When the <-/accussed> denies the facts of the charge the story starts as follows:
First you hear from the <-/posecutor> who might say, "please your honour, investigations are not complete so I pray for another mentioning date."
W2B018T
Coast Region: Where schools are empty 
Within 30 years of independence, Tanzania has scored tremendous achievements in eradicating ignorance, disease and poverty. However, of late, it has been alleged that educational standards in the country, particularly in Coast Region, have been deteriorating drastically, aggravating the rate of disease and poverty among peasants. In this feature, our Staff Writer NAME, who toured Coast Region recently, outlines reasons behind poor educational standards in the region and means to overcome the situation.
"I cannot see any reasons for enrolling my child in school when I have no one to sell my fish, bananas, cooked <-/sassava>, sweet potatoes and other agricultural produce at the ferry", says 64-year-old Waalahi Maulidi of Utete District in Coast Region.
<ea/><ea/>Mzee Maulidi argues that education is of no value because he has seen many pupils completing their primary education at Utete Primary School without knowing how to read or write. He says sending a child to school is wastage of time, money and energy because there is no difference in life between those who go to school and those who do not.
But education is not neglected by <ea/><ea/>Mzee Maulidi alone in Coast Region. Many parents in the region have stopped their children from going to school to help them in farm work, fishing, looking after cattle, hunting and other domestic activities. For these reasons and others, many schools are empty and others have very few children.
A report presented to the Coast Region Development Committee (RDC) meeting in Kibaha at the end of last month indicates that the region has a shortage of 38,556 pupils in primary schools while there are 11,085 school-age children who had not been enrolled in Standard One. The region, <-/whch> has a total of 390 primary schools, has only 89,034 pupils, of whom many are boys. 
A survey conducted by the Daily News in Rufiji District last month showed that 25 primary schools with Standards One to Seven had less than 100 pupils. 
Rufiji District Education Officer, <ea/>Ndugu Hassan Mhina, confirmed <-_and><+_an> acute shortage of pupils in the schools, saying it has been contributed largely by lack of consciousness of education by parents in the district.
Ndugu Mhina noted that poor school buildings, during rainy seasons, food scarcity during the current drought season and shortage of teachers had demoralised some parents to send their children to school.
"So far, Rufiji District has 96 primary schools with a total of 1,444 pupils. We have a deficit of 1,886 pupils", Ndugu Mhina told the Daily News during the survey.
The survey revealed that teachers of Mahege Ward in the district had the biggest accommodation problem as well as classrooms while some teachers were living in grass-built huts, and pupils studying in roofless classrooms.
The Rufiji District Administrative Office (DAO), <ea/>Ndugu Hassan Chamtungi, told the Daily News that the pathetic situation regarding teachers' houses and schools in the ward had been aggravated by poor roads and inadequate funds from the government.
He said estimates for rehabilitation of teachers' and school buildings amounted to multi-millions of shillings, but the Government allocated funds below a quarter of their demands. "The problem is far beyond our ability and capability to solve", he noted.
Msindaji primary School teachers in Mahege Ward, Rufiji District, have complained of poor accommodation, classrooms and lack of teaching facilities. "The huts in which we live are covered with grass from wall to roof, and any time we can fall prey to wild beasts like lions which roar around at night", lamented the headteacher, <ea/>Ndugu Mrisho Zenda.
Village Chairman Sufian Hemedi Ngeya appealed to the Government to supply the village with hardware and furniture to enable them build modern structures for the school.
"Since the school was established a decade ago, the Government has not given us any moral or material assistance as is done to other school projects in the district", he said.
<ea/>Ndugu Ngeya said the village needed basic services such as a dispensary, or a first aid box, roads, vehicles, agriculture and a school to enable more people remain in the village with their children.
"With such poor social services in the villages, the number of residents will definitely be declining", he noted.
"The reasons behind poor attendance and the low number of pupils enrolled in classes is the Standard Four examination", said <ea/><ea/>Mzee Saidi Mwinyimkuu of Kisarawe. He explained that after failure to join Standard Five, the pupils felt bad to repeat Standard Four and, therefore, opted to participate in income generating activities in towns, especially in the city of Dar es Salaam. 
<ea/><ea/>Mzee Mwinyimkuu adds that many girls get pregnant before they complete Standard Seven and, therefore, discontinue classes, while those who make them pregnant are given imprisonment sentences and compelled to look after the girls and young children.
<ea/><ea/>Mzee Mwinyimkuu is of the opinion that the national laws regarding pregnant school children do to take into consideration expenses incurred by parents in upbringing their children up to primary school levels.
"For this reason, the parents opt to settle issues of their pregnant school children outside the court, he noted. It was under this option that the girls are forced to abandon school and go into early marriages.
"This is a common trend in this district, and parents feel relieved of the problem of caring for young girls and their babies" he said.
"If you don't allow her, she will look for a negative way to fulfil her interest with the man and you will lose both bride price and respect".
Kisarawe District statistics and Logistics Officer, <ea/>Ndugu Rashid Selemani, told the Daily News that in some areas of the district, parents were reluctant to register their children for primary education because they were not ready to pay for school contributions, uniforms and other school demands.
<ea/>Ndugu Selemani, said with limited funds from the Government, the district could not afford to repair school buildings and teachers' quarters, resulting in a number of buildings falling down due to lack of care. He cited Kisanga, Msimbu, Homboza, Kazimzumbwi, and Mpafu Primary schools in the district which have poor buildings due to inadequate funds for maintenance.
At Kazimzumbwi Primary school, a teacher, <ea/>Ndugu Mwinyimvua Ali lives in a half-falling house with cracking walls. A Standard Four classroom had all fallen apart.
"Teaching in this primary school means to risk your life, and we have to face it to get our daily bread," says Ndugu Ali, with tears pouring down from her eyes.
Khadija a Standard Two pupil at the school told the Daily News that she attended classes because of threats from her parents. "<-/Infacct> we do not eat anything there, compared with home where I can get a piece of cassava, fruits, or anything to eat when I am hungry", she said.
The pupil <./explaned> that she woke up for school early in the morning, walked a distance of not less than seven kilometres from their farm home and reached the school without eating. She added that whenever she was late, she was punished, and after school she went back home on foot hungry.
"If the school <-/coud> provide us with at least porridge, or something to eat, especially during this season of drought, this was the most favourite place for <-/schoool>-age children," she observed.
Khadija says lack of desks, poor buildings, long distances from home to school, lack of shoes and uniforms as well as lack of water and medical services in villages contribute greatly to the problem of school drop-outs in the area.
In Bagamoyo District, the survey showed that scarcity of pupils in primary schools was partly caused by the ministry's plan to locate a school in every village regardless of the village population and the distance between one school and another. 
Education falls apart in Coast Region 
REPORTS that some pupils in the country complete primary education unable to even write their names and that some of those who join secondary schools are not competent enough to effectively follow lessons are common. Our Staff Writer, <name/>, toured the Coast Region recently to follow up on these allegations and more. He talked to a cross section of the people on the reasons behind dwindling education standards in the Coast Region in particular. His report...
PEASANTS, politicians, government officials, religious leaders and school children interviewed on the cause of education deterioration in the Coast region put the causes under five categories, - economic, cultural, religious, political and geographical.
In Rufiji District, a farmer, Ndugu Habibu Masudi says the cost of living was higher and peasants found it difficult to buy school uniforms and other requirements for their children at school. "We rely on petty business and peasantry farming which give us just enough to go by," says <ea/>Mzee Masudi who adds that their priority was food, medical treatment and shelter.
"We have a lot of people who didn't go to school, but they live happily," says <ea/>Mzee Masudi. For that reason, <ea/>Mzee Masudi says, education was a secondary issue - leisure, not a basic need in their area.
Rufiji District Administrative Officer, <ea/>Ndugu Hassan Chamtungi says the government had neglected education in a sense that what it allocated to the ministry was far much less than the required amount. The situation could be rectified by the government allocating more funds for the purchase of books, stationery and development of school buildings.
Under the cultural aspect, many girls suspend classes at puberty because it is the custom of the people in the region to perform initiation rites for young girls at this age.
A school girl in Kilimani Village, Asha Bakari, says she did not feel like going to school after puberty last year because she was taught on how to live with a husband and handle men's affairs at home.
"I was warned not to behave like a child and that I was matured enough to live with a man of any age," Asha said, adding that all married women had undergone the same traditional rites.
According to Asha, the puberty rites prepared for her had cost thousands of shillings because there was a lot of rice, meat, khangas, and people invited to perform rituals for over a week. Since then, I feel all teachers are just like me," said Asha. "So I feel schooling after puberty is a waste of time," she adds.
"Tradition demands that boys have to learn survival skills from the elders from <-/childhoods>," says <ea/>Ndugu Kabondo of Utete Village.
"You cannot bend a dry fish, it will break. Children have to acquire skills in fishing, hunting, farming and in other areas when they are at home, before going to school," he added.
<ea/>Mama Kalwembe Njawike criticised the government for introducing family planning in the area, saying it had slowed population growth in the area. "I don't know why the government, and UMATI should encourage family planning when we need more children to fill up our schools," she lamented. She was referring to the almost empty classes in the district.
A resident of Mkongo Village in Rufiji District, <ea/>Ndugu Siwatu Tendegu said religious reasons had greatly hindered educational progress in the region. She said Muslims have to send their children to Madras (classes for religious studies) before attending classes.
Upon completion of <ea/>Juzuu (30 verses) of the Quran reading,the pupils can at least write and read the holy Quran, Ndugu Siwatu said, adding that anyone who did not know how to read and write Quran verses the area was considered ignorant.
Many teachers who do not know how to read and write in Arabic are also considered illiterate because even at school, when my Sheikh or '<ea/>Maalim' (religious tutor) writes to the teachers at school in Arabic, they cannot read
W2B019T
Africa's demographic trends: The unfolding scenarios 
TODAY, there is no longer any more doubt that African countries, including Tanzania, have indeed undergone through very drastic and traumatic population and/or demographic changes, including, amongst others, the following developments: 
Rapid population growth:  The last thirty years or so, have witnessed very rapid population increases for most African countries resulting from the continent's high population growth rates. With an overall growth rate of 3.1 per cent during the 1985-2000 period, Africa's total population is expected to have almost <-/trippled> from its 1970 figure of 360,751,000 to 871,817,000 in the year 2000.
With a growth rate of 33.52 per cent annually during the period 1980-85 and 3.1 per cent in the 1990s, Tanzania's population will have moved from 13,513,000 in 1970 to 18 864,000 in 1980, to 26 998,000 in 1990 and to 39,129,000 by the year 2000. Uganda and Kenya are expected to move from their 9,806,000 and 11,290,000 in 1970 respectively to 26,774,000 and 38,534,000 respectively in the year 2000.
Increase in the dependent age - bracket: Africa's rapidly increasing population is also characterised by a large proportion of those in dependent age bracket i.e. those between 0-14 years  and 65-years-old and above.
Almost half of the population is aged under 15 years while the number of <-/gariatics>, though small, is increasing very drastically. In fact OAU/ECA member states have the lowest proportion of their population in the 15-64 year age brackets or what is normally termed as the "Active Labour Population".
According to the 1988 population census in Tanzania, those in the dependent age bracket are expected to have accounted for 12,184,000 out of the projected 24,347,500 of the Tanzania population in 1990; 13,743,100 out of 28,128,500 in 1995; 15,441,300 out of 32,491,500 in 2000; and 20,124,200 out of 43,008,100 by the year 2010.
The adult age group, expected to be swelled up by retired personnel, including those retrenched under the public sector reforms now underway, is expected to increase from 10,392,000 in 1990 to 20,100,000 by the year 2010.
Migrants and refugees on the increase: Another important demographic trend in Africa has been the increasing rate of international migration and the number of refugees or displaced persons. Today, however, the number of people being driven away to seek refuge in other countries due to either persecution or discrimination or any other man-made or natural disasters such as war and famine is also on the increase. 
It is, of course, true that emigration may offer countries of origin a safety valve if unemployment is high and untractable, and the remittances of migrants may turn into an important source of foreign exchange for a while.
It is, however, also true that countries of origin are losing their skilled and motivated people to the most advanced countries. In this way, the process constitutes the most sophisticated type of the brain-drain. As a general rule, international migration is in <-/mamy> cases voluntary - people seeking better economic and social opportunities in other countries just as much as they do in their own countries. Today, however, the number of people fleeing persecution (for reasons of race, religion, ethnic origin or political beliefs) internal conflicts, war and disasters has significantly increased in the 1980s.Conservative estimates put the number of refugees to about 12 million globally. This figure does not include Palestinian refugees who numbered 2.1 million in 1985. 
According to the United Nations, the most vulnerable are the more than three million of the refugee population who are accommodated in Africa. Famine and internecine ethnic and political conflicts and persecutions in sub-Saharan Africa have triggered a massive displacement of populations and large-scale migratory movements, both within and across state boundaries.
Today, almost every country on the continent has a significant refugee population. For instance in 1985, Algeria had 167,000 refugees, Somalia 2.0 million (they are now themselves refugees in Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania etc), Zaire 317,000, Sudan 690,000 and the figure for Tanzania was 179,000.
Rapid urbanisation process: A fourth dimension of the traumatic and dramatic changes in the demographic structure of African countries has been the rapid urbanisation of the continent's population. Although Africa is supposed to be among the least urbanised regions in the world, the 1980 figures for Africa represent a doubling of the urban population recorded in 1950. 
According to figures from the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population in 1988 and the African Urban quarterly, the percentage of African population in 1950 was 14.8 per cent. It increased to 18.4 per cent in 1960; 22.9 per cent in 1970; 28.7 per cent in 1980, 35.5 per cent in 1990 and is expected to reach 42.2 per cent in the year 2000.
Figures (percentages) for Tanzania are 3.6 for 1950; 4.8 per cent for 1960; 6.9 per cent for 1970; 11.8 per cent for 1980; 18.1 per cent for 1990 and 25.0 per cent for the year 2000.
Some African countries are expected to have an even greater proportion of their populations living in urban areas. For instance, the proportion of the urban population for Algeria will be 76.4 per cent in the year 2000, that of Namibia at 66.0 per cent, Ghana 51.2 per cent and Kenya 26.2 per cent.
Though seemingly small, for instance, percent-wise, the number of Tanzanians living in urban areas by the year 2000 will be above 8 million people.
The most disturbing feature of the above-named process is. the fact that this urban population is mostly unemployed, living in slums, the so-called <-/sponteneous> settlements and shanty areas that are not adequately provided for in terms of basic social services and amenities such as water and sanitation, health, transport and communication, education, housing, MCH facilities, various recreational facilities etc. As a result, disease, malnutrition  and mortality are rampant while criminal and other socially deviant activities are also on the increase.
One needs not to go very far. The case of Dar es Salaam city for example. The situation here is very critical. The household and public sewerage collection system especially around Kariakoo, Magomeni, llala and the city centre is almost non-existent. Refuse collection in the city had to come to a standstill, thank God to the timely intervention of the Minister for Home Affairs, Augustine Mrema.
On the outskirts of the city (Tabata, Buguruni, Manzese, and even seemingly affluent-looking areas such as Makongo, Changanyikeni, Sinza, Mwenge etc) major health and sanitation services are totally non-existing. Major public services such as electricity, telephone and public transport take a very long time to install, and when installed are always non-functional. 
Society: Our society is decaying
"Man has to eat. A hungry man will do anything." These words said hundreds of years ago and passed down through the centuries are proving true with each passing day. As life gets more difficult and food less accessible to the pocket, man is stooping to any dubious means to get it. The result, society is decaying.
Our country's urban societies are morally decaying and with them their children, who are the future generations and leaders of the nation. This is because as life <-_get><+_gets> harder due to the harsh economic situation in the country, and the declining value of our money, parents tend to lose grip of their children.
The minimum wage is now 2,075/- a month. Most employees in urban areas earn the minimum wage or take home a salary its equivalent due deductions for such things as loans, taxes and more.
The maximum wage is now 19,000/-a month. Yet, even those who earn that still find themselves short of money due to heavy taxation which can be more than half the salary. They also need more money because of their higher standard of living and the pomp and responsibilities which go with it.
Unfortunately, food prices in Dar es Salaam do not match with salaries. A loaf of bread costs an average of 80/-, a kilo of meat with bones goes for 260/-, beans sell at 90/- a kilo; <-/ofgood> old "<ea/>dagaa" is now 450/- a kilo, maize meal 40/-, while sugar sells at an average of 160/- a kilo if one can't get it from the roving National Milling Corporation (NMC) trucks.
Rebecca, a typist with a parastatal in the city, takes home 3,200/- after tax and other deductions from her salary. Her company pays her house rent. She has been working for the company for the past seven years. Though still unmarried, there are five people in her household. She has two children, a housegirl, and a younger brother staying with her. Rebecca says that to feed her household alone she needs 15,000/- a month at the minimum. 
Rebecca earns the extra money by typing private work, jobs which people want in a hurry. Sometimes she works for a private company. At home there is a buns, cake and soda kiosk, sometimes she sells bread. The fathers of her children sometimes give her money. Rebecca admits that life is tough.
Clothes are almost unaffordable. A tailor-made dress these days costs an average of 5,000/-. A pair of trousers for 4,000/- is the cheapest. Shoes for adults begin at 2,700/- up to 16,000/- and above while prices of clothes and shoes for children are even more expensive.
Haji, a driver for a parastatal in the city says that <ea/>mitumba (second hand clothes) are his saviour. He says that he and his family do not have to wear rags as would have been the case had the only clothes available been new ones. He says that he takes home 2,900/- in salary a month. He admits that often he "misuses" the company vehicle by turning it into a <ea/>dala-dala in order to make a few extra shillings.
Haji says that his wife is a cleaner in a private company in the city and takes home 3,000/- a month. She also has petty businesses selling <ea/>bagia and <ea/>sambusa to fellow workers. He says that his wife's work helps support the family but life is still difficult.
Of course, man needs shelter. Rents differ from one area to another. A single room ranges from 500/- a month for a cubicle without electricity in Manzese to 3,000/- a month for a room with electricity in Msasani. A three bedroom-house in Sinza rents at not less than 10,000/- a month.
With the cost of living so high, how does a family of five manage to survive on the minimum wage of 2,075/- a month? Or a family of four in Sinza on 10,000/- a month, i.e. if they get to take that much money home? Sometimes there are sponging relatives who drop in and stay for long periods. They do not contribute to the household expenditure but they expect to eat and dress. The family has an extra burden and life becomes even harder.
A number of urban workers are now forced to ask for "<ea/>chai" or "thank-you" before they do a job someone, it is called bribery and corruption, but it is being done out of desperation. Most urban residents have petty businesses to supplement their income. They sell anything from buns, bread, groundnuts, charcoal, milk, fruits to ice cream and more, just to help make ends meet.
Urban residents run these businesses from their homes or in the streets. Some hire youngsters to sell petty goods. The youth in turn cheat their employers. The petty businesses are usually run by members of the family and in cases of big business, the whole family and relatives are used. In some cases mothers and fathers are away for long periods leaving the family unattended.
What is worst is that some families are so desperate that the grown-ups tell the children to go out and take care of themselves.
The result is that girls turn to prostitution or look for rich boy-friends, who might well be sugar daddies. The boys become thieves, pick-pockets, <ea/>tapeli (conmen), <ea/>bhang smokers and other undesirable elements.
The youths get into bad company. Sometimes if they are schooling they become truant or decide to quit school, especially if they see people around them who have completed primary and secondary school, jobless!
W2B020T
Millions more to use Condoms
About 4.4 billion condoms will be used annually in the world mostly in the developing countries during the 1990,s as a protective measure against AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases as well as a contraceptives.
Nearly 300 million men will be using condoms during the decade, in all. Their number is expected to rise from an estimated 23 million men now estimated to use condoms to 35 million by the year 2000, according to the "State of World Population 1991" report issued recently.
The report, issued by the New York-Based United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) ranked the use of condoms as a contraceptive as constituting only six per cent of all people using contraceptives for family planning, although admitting that its use was on the rise.
However, the 48-page report states that much of the increase in the demand (of condoms) was a reflection of increasing awareness of its protective effects against AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases rather than as a contraceptive.
"Although condoms are expected to become increasingly popular among single couples in the coming years, this method of contraception is the choice of only six per cent of users in the developing countries" it said.
UNFPA added in its report; "Numbers of condom users are expected to rise from 23 million to 35 million in the year 2000 and nearly 300 million men will use them during the decade".
The report cites sterilisation as a leading contraceptive method mostly in Asia and the Pacific and used by about 45 per cent of women in reproductive age group in the developing countries. Male sterilisation is also gaining strength in some parts of the world, notably in Asia.
In Africa, where three quarters of contraceptive use is for the purpose of birth spacing rather than limiting the number of children sterilisation is expected to be more widely used as a method becomes more widely available.
The over-all number of pill users is <-/targetted> to rise from 46 million to 75 million but, the report says, to reach the total, nearly 600 million women will have to use it during the decade.
Other major contraceptive methods apart from sterilisation are intra-uterine devices (IUDs), oral pills, condoms and barrier methods like the use of diaphragms and spermicides, periodic <-/abstinance>, withdrawal and coitus interruptus.
Sterilisation has the largest number of users 45 per cent or 171 million of the 747 million married women in developing countries who were said to be <-/practicing> some form of family planning in 1990.
The largest number of sterilisation users 152 million are in Asia and the Pacific. The method is also popular in Latin America and the Caribbean where 37 per cent of contraceptive users are sterilised.
In all it is estimated that by the year 2000, the number of couples relying on sterilisation will have increased to 254 million world wide.
Intra-Uterine Devices (IUDs) come second after sterilisation. Some 93 million couples or 24 per cent of contraceptive users are protected by IUDs.
Again the majority of users are in Asia nearly 83 million or 27 per cent of all contraceptive users in Asia. In the Arab states and Europe IUDs account for 23 per cent of contraceptive use and in Latin America and the Caribbean only eleven per cent.
"If IUDs use increase to 125 million over the decade, a total of 310 million couples will choose this method" the "State of World Population" report said.
The oral contraceptive (pills) is the method of choice of 12 per cent users world-Wide; 33 per cent in Arab states, 29 per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean and 26 per cent in Africa.
The report cites the injectables and contraceptive implants and other recently-developed methods as likely to grow in importance during the decade. "The demand for injectable contraceptives though presently small is growing rapidly and expected to increase to 71 per cent to a total of 21 million users by the year 2000", according to UNFPA.
It projects that contraceptive implants used by women will rise to over 17 million by the end of the decade from the present one million women who use them.
"Over time the implants will become better known and available in more areas for the world" the report <-_startes><+_states>.
It further states that the contraceptive <-/prevalance> rates and trends in usage in the developing countries" will depend on the vigour with which these countries pursue their population goals and their ability to do so". 
Aids: The battle still rages
AFTER making substantial gains in raising AIDS awareness in Tanzania, the anti-AIDS campaigners are now thinking of going into the second round of the battle -and the most difficult- changing die-hard habits.
AIDS awareness has actually increased, with government figures indicating a 90 per cent awareness although other sources conservatively peg it at around 78 per cent. But die-hard sexual habits frustrate attempts to slow down the pace at which the scourge is spreading.
New cases are still being reported, at an alarming pace. The cumulative number of reported cases, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) figures, has swollen to about 32,000 from zero within eight years with carriers estimated to stand at over 700,000. At least 100,000 are estimated to have full-blown AIDS.
The picture is gloomy for the future of the country, with more mothers reported to be falling in the group of those affected by the virus, thus putting the lives of the innocent <-/offsprings> at jeopardy since they are also in danger of contracting from their mothers.
With this gloomy picture in mind, five non-governmental organisations African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF), German Development Services (GDS), German Foundation for Technical Assistance (GTZ), <-_Tanzania><+_Tanzanian>-Norwegian AIDS Project (MUTAN) and the World vision International (WVI) - have teamed up to take the bull by the horns.
The NGOs which have been operating in different parts of Tanzania, battling the rapid spread of AIDS, will jointly implement the HIV High Transmission Areas (HTA) national intervention project to last three years which came into force last February.
There are many groups in Tanzania that are striving to stem the spread of the deadly AIDS that so far has remained - without a cure. The aim of the HTA is to ensure the groups taking part share ideas and operate in a coordinated way.
"What we want is co-ordinated efforts to ensure nothing is left to chance to change sexual behaviour, in driving people away from dangerous sexual habits" says Christopher Mwaijonga, an AMREF health behaviour officer.
The HTA intervention project draws its inspiration from a two-year old Truck Drivers AIDS Project (TDP)run by the AMREF and funded by the family health International (COSTECH) which is operated on the Tanzania-Zambia highway covering major truck stops.
In this national project, AMREF has been chosen as the coordinator because of its established structure. It will also help in training staff and peer educators who would be <-/intrumental> in the fight against AIDS.
The Tanzania National aids Control Programme (NACP), the national AIDS umbrella body, will be the overseer of the whole project.
The HTA seen as the first of its kind in Africa has divided high risk areas into seven zones that will cover miners, fishermen, drivers, refugees and others living in or around high risk areas.
The Lake Victoria zone in north Western Tanzania will fall under AMREF which will also tackle its traditional stronghold stretching from Dar es Salaam down to Songea town in Southern Tanzania on the Tanzania-Zambia highway.
GDS is in charge of South-East zone covering Lindi, Mtwara, Ruvuma regions and part of the coast; GTZ, the North-Eastern zone - Tanga, Kilimanjaro and parts of the coast in addition to Mbeya and Rukwa Regions; the WVI has taken central Tanzania - Dodoma, Tabora, Singida, parts of Morogoro and Shinyanga Regions.
According to a project document, the three-year HTA intervention programme would cost four million US dollars (1,380 million shillings (with another 690 million shillings (two million dollars) for condoms to be dished out to recipients spread out in areas dotting the high transmission areas.
The HTA was hatched after the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA)'s support to AMREF for a short-term consultancy to develop recommendations to the Tanzania National AIDS Control Programme for the development of a coordinated national HTA strategy for the prevention of HIV transmission on major roads.
<ea/>Ndugu Mwaijonga says the thrust of the project is to use local leaders and other opinion leaders or groups at grassroot level to be trained by AMREF to lure men into using condoms shunned by many conservative Tanzania males.
The TDP <-/whch> is being used as a model in the HTA has managed to give out more than 2,767,876 condoms to clients including barmaids and prostitutes dubbed Commercial Sex Workers (CSWS) as well as sexually active drivers and their turn-boys, some of whom, as one AMREF study revealed, managed to go to bed with 60 women every month.
The <-_tricky><+_trick> is to arm men with probably the cheapest but, as of now, the most efficient weapon for sexually active males - the condom. Armed with a condom each time males venture into their sexual exploits, at least they could not only protect themselves from being next AIDS victims, but would also protect the most disadvantaged - women.
Women who naturally outnumber men face more hazards in the HIV transmission with at least a ratio of 3:1 to their males.
Apart from dishing out condoms, the other weapon is to discourage men from having many sexual partners to ensure the AIDS scourge, which is spreading like bushfire, is limited and put under control.
Many studies on women reveal that they suffer most because they are mostly at the receiving end, since they are traditionally treated as second rate family partners - males have the last say.
"As such even when women are aware of the dangers of AIDS, they fear telling their husbands to put on the condoms for safer sex", says <ea/>Ndugu Mwaijonga.
AIDS campaigners also mourn the poor state of the economy which drives many women into prostitution with girls as young as 13 being trapped in the world's oldest profession.
In Tanzania, though officially not acknowledged, there are clandestine brothels thriving to cater for sexually hungry-men. At one time one of the AIDS campaigners was shocked to be told that he should mind his own business when he tried to advise a father to have the brothel of his daughter shut to escape from the cold hand of AIDS.
The man blatantly told the AIDS counsellor that children with (university) degrees had failed to build their parents houses but her daughter who was unemployed had managed to do so - so why interfere in her lucrative business?
Apart from discouraging men from risky sexual habits which include oral sex, <-/annal> sex in addition to multiple sex, which some people still cling to, with studies revealing that they are not subsiding, the HTA aims at providing advice on sexually transmitted diseases.
Moreover, they would be treating the STDs which various studies say  " increase the spread of HIV infection."
"We aim at providing special services that will drive STD victims out of their hide-outs since many of them fear attending traditional clinics", <ea/>Ndugu Mwaijonga said.
AMREF is already conducting special clinics at work places in Dar es Salaam city, with experts in STDs working hand in hand with the medical staff at the respective clinics in a bid to stamp out the sexually transmitted diseases.
The TDP from which the HTA draws its inspiration has been popular at the six truck stops where AMREF had been operating. Now AMREF is pondering increasing the number of truck stops covered. The demand for condoms has been rising also as manifested by beneficiaries chasing AMREF vehicles asking for condoms.
The work of the NGOs in the fight against AIDS has been crucial. Their invaluable services has been recognised and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) which recently committed 20 million US dollars (7bn/-) for NGOs in the AIDS fight in the next five years.