Tigo Tanzania hikes tariffs for on, off net calls

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tigo tanzania

Tigo has increased tariffs for both on and off net calls, a move that has cost the third largest tele-provider after its customers increased slightly at an average of one per cent per month.

Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority’s (TCRA) first quarter report that covers July-September 2011, says Tigo increased the on net tariff from 45/- to 62/- per minute and off net went up from 180/- to 234/-.

The regulator changed the mobile phone industry calendar last year to conform to international standard in which the year begins on July 1. As the result, the firm’s on call phones dropped by 39 per cent at the end of last September compared to 41 per cent at end of the June. The firm’s registered 284,645 subscribers increase in three months to 5,263,330.

On other hand, Airtel, the second market leader lowered its on call tariff in the said quarter from 42/- to 38/ a minute while maintained the same off-call tariffs of 180/- to woo 430,336 subscribers in three months; to end up with 6,834,301 clients.

Vodacom comfortably remained at the helm of the telecommunication industry, with 10,278,081 subscribers, after it managed to attract 1,013,239 in three months. The market leader maintained the same on net and off net calls tariffs at 60/- and 180/- respectively.

At the bottom of the list is Benson Informatics after merely attracting 38 subscribers in three months, an average of 13 clients per month. The firm closed the quarter with 1,708 customers. The second from the bottom is Sasatel, which saw its customer base increase slightly by 466 subscribers in three months at an average of 155 clients per month.

TTCL mobile was the only firm that lost customers in the quarter under review. The state-owned company saw its subscription base drop to 220,932 from 226,153 clients, losing 5,221 customers in three months.

However, in three months the country tele-density increased by almost eight per cent signifying the market is approaching saturation. The number of subscribers reached 23,979,870 at the end of last September. In average, the tele-density in three months has increased by 1,727,906 subscribers, the average of 575,967 customers per month.

The report shows that in the first quarter, the number of text message per user has gone down slightly to 32 from 34sms, while the average monthly revenue per user went up considerably to 5, 238/- from 4,654/-.  The country has seven phone companies – Vodacom, Airtel, Tigo – the oldest, Zantel, TTCL, Sasatel, and Benson Informatics.

By ABDUEL ELINAZA, Tanzania Daily News

UCC, telecom firms set to meet over service quality

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A phone user reads a message from his phone. Poor quality service delivery is frustrating subscribers. PHOTO BY FAISWAIL KASIRYE.

The Uganda Communication Commission will next month hold a meeting with telecom executives to among other things discuss the increasingly deteriorating service quality, according to Eng Godfrey Mutabazi the UCC executive director.

The meeting will mainly focus on the failures registered in the mobile money service, ambiguous charges, service interruptions and network failures.

Speaking to Daily Monitor on the sidelines of the launch of UCC’s 2nd Annual Communications Innovation Award on Friday, Eng Mutabazi, said growing challenges in the telecom sector have impacted heavily on telecommunications, inconveniencing customers and businesses.

The awards aim to recognise stakeholders who have made a positive contribution to the growth of the telecommunications sector.

Eng Mutabazi said: “Telecoms have grown their subscription but have not cared to grow their capacity so as not to interrupt customer services.”

The call comes at a time when services offered by telecoms are deemed unsatisfactory and unreliable. Customers have on several occasions complained of poor service quality coupled with unrealistic charges and credit deductions.
Increased traffic during last year’s festive season saw some telecom networks completely collapse with many customers failing to access services.

A case in point is how mobile money customers using different networks failed to transact for several days, a situation that has continued even in this year.
Eng Mutabazi said the growth in customer numbers must be matched with growth in technology, service points and human resource.

He said: “Unless telecoms work on expanding their capacity to meet the growing subscriber numbers, communication might in the near future become worse.”
Commenting on the matter, Mr Themba Khumalo said: “Although am not aware of the meeting, it is a welcome measure that will help telecoms devise ways of improving service delivery.

By Flavia Nalubega, Daily Monitor

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Lukwago, councillors feud deepens

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Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago

At least 26 councillors have vowed to drag Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago to the disciplinary committee, citing misconduct over his corruption allegations against them.

Through their representatives Mr Bernard Luyiga (Makerere University), Bruhan Byaruhanga (Kyambogo University) and Godfrey Assimwe (Lubaga Division), the councillors accuse Mr Lukwago of tainting their image claiming that they were bribed by the executive director’s office to boycott the meeting last week.

“It is high time the Lord Mayor was called to order, the disciplinary committee should take action against him. He should prove the bribe allegations he put against us,” Mr Luyiga said in Kampala last week, adding, “Should we also assume that he bribed the four councillors who attended the first meeting?”

The KCCA meeting flopped after Mr Lukwago, who doubles as the authority speaker, failed to realise the required quorum. Deputy Lord Mayor Sulaiman Kidandala described Mr Luyiga and Byaruhanga’s position as a two-manshow which lacks other councillors’ back up.

He said they were fronting personal interests under the guise of representing other councillors, adding that they were from “only universities”.

By Robert Mwanje, Daily Monitor

Regional parliament opens debate today

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Rt. Hon. Abdirahin H. Abdi – EALA speaker

The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) officially opens its sessions this afternoon. High on the agenda will be a debate on accounts for 2010/11 followed by Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA) Bill tomorrow, a piece of legislation that seeks, among others, to create a regional body to accredit universities in the region.

By drafting the Bill, proponents believe that EAC has inched closer to harmonising and standardising their university education systems, potentially boosting student access and mobility.

In its recent sitting in Bujumbura, the Council of Ministers requested to study the Bill further after some members raised objections that if passed in its current form, the legislation would create a parallel system of accreditation since each partner state has an accreditation body charged with such responsibility.

Disputing reports that members had rejected the Bill, EALA spokesperson Bobi Odiko said: “EALA wishes to re-state that the Bill has not been rejected and remains on course. It is EALA’s business and in its best interest to enact progressive legislation that contribute to the strengthening of the regional integration process.”

On the agenda
The position of the matter is that the Council of Ministers through Musa Sirma (now chairperson of the Council of Ministers) preferred an adjournment of debate on the Bill, requesting more time to consult and have more comprehensive input on it.

While the details remain scanty, Mr Odiko told Daily Monitor that yesterday, EAC deputy secretary-general Beatrice Kiraso will also brief members (most likely on the implementation of the Common Market Protocol and the need to speed up integration) before the afternoon session.

The Assembly, to be presided over by the speaker, Mr Abdirahin Abdi, shall during the two-week period discuss matters of legislative business, EAC Trans-boundary Ecosystem Management Bill 2010 and the EAC Polythene Materials Control Bill.
The Assembly will also receive and consider reports from various committees and motions and questions brought before the House.

By YASIIN MUGERWA, Daily Monitor\

Kampala sewage system serves beyond capacity

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Kampala sewerage system can only serve one million people of the current 4 million city residents.Photograph by Walter Astrada, AFP/Getty Images

Kampala’s sewerage system, which was constructed in 1940 and last expanded in 2004, can only serve one million people of the current 4 million city residents. Information available to this newspaper indicates that the current sewer pipe network only targets Nakasero, Bugolobi, parts of Kampala Central Business District and Kololo.

Currently, National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) covers only 10 per cent of the total city area creating a great need for more treatment plants to serve other areas of Kampala.

Mr James Maiteke, the sewerage services manager at NWSC, said last year the institution took over the satellite sewerage systems in Ntinda, Naalya and Bugolobi.

“The Bugolobi sewage treatment plant has a treatment capacity of only 33,000 cubic metres of wastewater per day. It can serve a population equivalent to 1 million people only,” Mr Maiteke said in a recent interview.

Extension plans
In 2004, NWSC prepared a Kampala sanitation master plan which is currently under implementation by the cooperation. He adds: “It is under the code name of Kampala Sanitation Programme and Lake Victoria Protection Projects Phase 1 and 2”.

Under this programme NWSC has started implementing Phase 1 by constructing a new sewage treatment plant at Lubigi with a capacity of 5,000 cubic metres of wastewater per day.

This will gather wastewater in the Northern parts of Kampala including Wandegeya, Makerere, Bwaise, Kawempe, Kalerwe, Mulago, Nansana and Namungoona.

“Two more treatment plants are planned at Kinawataka and Nalukolongo to cater for east and western areas of Kampala respectively. This is expected to increase the sewerage coverage from 10 per cent to 30 percent,” Mr Maiteke said.

He said the programme will cost a total of Euros 98 million and it is expected to first overhaul and upgrade the existing sewerage system in the CBD and then extend to other areas.

By ROBERT MWANJE & BETTY NDAGIRE, Daily Monitor

Former legislator, Susan Nampijja, in coma after night attack

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Ms Nampijja is wheeled from Case Hospital to IHK yesterday. PHOTO BY AGATHA AYEBAZIBWE.

Police are hunting for a man believed to be an ex-boyfriend of Ms Susan Nampijja to help them with investigations into an attack that has left the former Rubaga South MP and two of her housemates in coma.

Ms Nampijja, her niece Shakira Namutebi and their domestic assistant, Harriet Kisakye, survived with serious head injuries and were by press time admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of Case Hospital, Kampala.

According to police, Ms Nampijja and her housemates were attacked by unknown people towards midnight at Kitebi zone in Rubaga Division, Kampala on Saturday night.

Deputy Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba said statements obtained from different people point at someone, she declined to name, and they are still looking for him to record a statement.

“We have recorded statements of various people who claim to have heard cries of help and they have given us good information which we are following. Our Scene of Crime officers have also gathered samples from the scene. Therefore, we just need to corroborate what we have gathered to confirm our suspicions,” Ms Nabakooba said yesterday.

She also said they are following leads that Ms Nampijja’s ex-boyfriend made calls to one of the former MPs sister claiming responsibility for the incident.
“We want him to help us with investigations which will also establish if he indeed made the calls or not,” said Ms Nabakooba.

According to Ms Lillian Nakyanzi, Nampijja’s sister, the former MP dropped her at home at 10:30pm before she (Ms Nampijja) set off to her home in Kitebi.
“At 11:20pm, her neighbours called to inform me that my sister had been attacked by unidentified people and by the time I arrived at her home, the neighbours had already taken the victims to the hospital,” Ms Nakyanzi said.

In one police statement, a neighbour claims to have heard one of the victims pleading with the attacker to stop beating Ms Nampijja. “I heard her crying ‘Uncle don’t kill mummy’,” a witness told police.

Detectives are waiting for one of the victims to get back to her senses to confirm or deny the statements. Mr Ken Lukyamuzi, the area MP and the father of Ms Nampijja, said he is praying for the quick recovery of his daughter and the other two. “My political strength depends on (Ms) Nampijja. I pray that she recovers from this very soon,” he said.

Ms Nampijja has reportedly been battling with her ex-boyfriend over ownership of property and last year a case was reported to police but investigations are still pending.

It is alleged that Ms Nampijja while still in Parliament bought property in the names of her boyfriend but when their relationship waned, both claimed ownership of the property.

By the end of last year, detectives were still establishing the true owner of the property.

By AGATHA AYEBAZIBWE & ANDREW BAGALA, Daily Monitor

“Others would not disempower the Continent.”

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Opening session of the African Union Ordinary Session of Heads of State

From Benjamin Mensah, GNA Correspondent inAddis Ababa, Ethiopia

New African Union headquarters
New African Union headquarters

Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Jan 29, GNA – Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo at the week-end regretted that there was not enough solidarity among African nations, and it was necessary to avoid this situation so that “others would not disempower the Continent.”

Addressing the opening session of the African Union (AU) Ordinary Session of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, President Mbasogo decried the conflicts on the continent, and reiterated the call on African nations to abide by the decision at the Franco African conference to reject all Governments that will rise to power through anti-democaratic and violent means.

President Mbasogo, who handed over the chairmanship of the Africa Union to President Yahya Boni of Benin, at the opening session, held in the new AU building in Addis Ababa, said it was time the leadership of Africa took  decisions on African integration and development, in order to achieve the vision of a united, prosperous and peaceful continent.

Two other names that circulated for position of the Chairperson over the past week were Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and Gambian President Yahya Jammeh.

Ghana’s President John Evans Atta Mills, attending the summit, would in a few hours deliver the keynote address on the adopted theme: “Boosting Intra African Trade”, to the 54-nation member continental body.

 

President Mbasogo, who had been in office as the AU Chairman for the one past year, regretted that Africa today was like a chess board where the nations and leaders were like pawns on the board that were manipulated by external powers.

“We need a situation where African leaders are much more united and show solidarity to deal with the interference from external powers, and deal with the problems facing the continent,” President Mbago said.

He said the AU still faced problems, and asked the member nations to redouble their efforts to finance the budget of the Union.

Mr Ban Ki- Moon, UN Secretary General, who was participating in the session for the sixth time, said there was the need to transform potentials in Africa into progress for all.

He said 2011 was as  “”a year of high drama”, because of tensions in some parts of Africa,  and added that Africa needed a common ground for the future.

“ We must adopt  preventive approach to human rights ” Mr Ki-Moon said and called for investment in civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights in addition to trade transactions, which are crucial to development.

Mr Ki-Moon said as nations pushed for prevention of injustice they must also help nations in transition to develop.

 

He called on the 25 African nations which will hold either presidential or legislative elections to ensure that the processes are well-managed, transparent and inclusive.

Dr Jean Ping, Chairperson of the AU Commision, who is being challenged by South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for another four year term, raised the issue of capacity to effectively promote the position of the AU and Africa’s interests on the international scene.

Libyan Prime Minister, Abdurrahim al-Keib, called for a regional security conference to tackle a proliferation of weapons caused by exiled supporters of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Some obesrvers believe that the Libyan civil war may have given militant groups in Africa’s Sahel Region like Boko Haram and al Qaeda access to large weapons caches, according to a U.N. report released on Thursday.

Mr Keib said there was still a real threat from some armed remnants of the former regime, who fled Libya and were moving about freely.

He said this was a threat to Libyan and its neighbouring countries and added that “my country calls for a regional security conference in Libya of interior and defence ministers of neighboring countries.”

Mr keibi called on the international community to expose agents of the former Gadafi regime, and any property that might be hidden elsewhere as well as making restitution to people deprived of their wealth during the Gadafi era.

 

Tunisia President Moncef Marzouki, pledged his administration’s commitment to make Libyan a true member of the world community unity.

Yendi Municipal Director of Health Service call for agent help

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Yendi hospital appeals for help

Yendi (NR), Jan. 29, GNA   The Yendi Municipal Director of Health Service, Madam Denisia Agong Kaara, has expressed worry about the inadequate number of health personnel, especially nurses at the Yendi Government Hospital.

She also said a generator, washing machine and some medical equipment of the hospital, which serves Saboba, Chereponi, Zabzugu/Tatale, Gusheigu, Nanumba North and Nanumba South Districts, have broken down.

Madam Kaara expressed the dissatisfaction at the Annual Performance Review for 2011 of Yendi Health Directorate, at Yendi.

She appealed to individuals, Members of Parliament for Yendi and Mion constituencies, religious bodies and the District Assemblies to come to the aid of the hospital.

Madam Kaara said though maternal mortality had reduced from 8 in 2010 to 6 in 2011, there was the need for health personnel to work harder to prevent such deaths,

She said malaria was still the leading cause of Out Patient Department (OPD) attendance and admissions at the hospital despite the various interventions to control the high incidence of the disease, such as the use of Insecticide Treated Nets.

Madam Kaara said Tuberculosis rate has increased from 20 in 2010 to 29 in 2011, and commended the Assembly for creating 39 CHPS compounds to promote health in the area.

The Yendi Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Issah Zakaria, said in the last three years, CHPS compounds have been created at Bofoyili, Sakpei, Nadundo, Oseido, Kpunkpunoo, and a health centre and staff quarters had been constructed at Sambu.

He also said an administration block, two hostels, a demonstration clinic, a four-unit classroom block and a 10-seater water closet had been constructed for the Yendi Health Assistant Training School at Gamazi.

Mr. Zakaria Yakubu, official of the Yendi Hospital, said the health facility has built houses for its staff.

He said malaria cases in 2011 at the hospital was 24,754 as against 22,490 in 2010, and 83 people died from the disease in 2011 as against 89 in 2010.

Mr. Yakubu expressed worry that the salaries of some newly employed staff were being delayed.

During contributions and question time, it was revealed that two doctors, who were sponsored by the Yendi Assembly to undergo courses, refused to return to the Yendi hospital, and that the health facility has only one medical doctor and it is without a surgeon.

Mr. Ziblim Natogmah, called on Ghanaians to preserve the country’s cultural heritage

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Ghanaians asked to preserve their cultural heritage

Yendi (NR), Jan. 29, GNA – The Yendi Municipal Education Director, Mr. Ziblim Natogmah, has called on Ghanaians to preserve the country’s cultural heritage towards national development.

He said sense of patriotism was giving way to moral decadence and the desire of people; especially the youth, to get rich quick.

Mr. Ziblim was speaking at Public Schools Orientation Tour 2011/2012, organized for Yendi Senior High School, Dagbon State Senior High Technical School and stakeholders, at Yendi.

He said the programme was aimed at orientating students on issues such as corruption, armed robbery and fraud.

The Yendi Municipal Information Director, Mr. Edward Atta Kojo Dawuni, said the Ministry of Information in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service with support from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, was embarking on a nationwide orientation tour in public schools, dubbed: “Public Schools Orientation Tour 2011/2012”.

Mr. Dawuni said the Ministry of Information has appointed Greengold Media Consult Limited to produce a proposal for consideration, to carry out the tour in 170 Metropolitan, Municipal and Districts across the country.

The motivational icon, Mr. Francis Xavier Sosu, said education could help children to change their environment, and

commended the Government for investing in human resource towards national development.

SPMDP called on NHIA onsider the re-computation of the capitation rate

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The NHIA asked to consider re-computation of capitated rates

Accra, Jan. 29, GNA – The Society of Private Medical and Dental Practitioners (SPMDP) has called on the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to consider the re-computation of the capitation rate.

The group is of the view that the innovation should not be based only on ratios, rates and different denominators, but basic economic situation.

A statement signed by Dr Kwasi Odoi-Agyarko, President of SPMDP, and copied to the Ghana News Agency said: “The capitated rate is just too low and will collapse the system. If we want the programme to work then computation should be looked at again”

It noted that the task of physicians was to actively participate in the re-engineering of the health care delivery, whilst maintaining their personal and professional standards in order to create a system that will work for all but, “the introduction of the capitation was preventing them from achieving that”.

The statement explained that the necessary conditions for capitation to function as an acceptable and suitable reimbursement model might never be achieved if the right thing was not done

It said “under the new Capitation being piloted in the Ashanti Region to be replicated throughout the country, the private care physicians needed to work to assure that capitated system incorporated checks and balances, which protected both patients and providers.”

The statement said the SPMDP in the Ashanti Region will not take part in the capitation arrangements in its present form if concerns raised were not addressed.

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