Mexico warns US over border wall funding

Mexico has warned the US against imposing a unilateral tax on Mexican imports to finance a border wall, saying it could respond in kind.

Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said the government could place tariffs on selected goods from US states reliant on exports to Mexico.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump vowed to start building the wall "soon, way ahead of schedule".

The US government says it will start accepting design proposals next month.

The US Customs and Border Protection Agency says it will ask companies to submit proposals "for the design and build of several prototype wall structures" on or around 6 March.

A shortlist of the best designs will be drawn up by 20 March, after which bidders will be asked to cost their ideas.

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Central African Republic Returnees Face Challenges, Insecurity

BANGUI — 

The government of the Central African Republic shut down the displaced persons' camp at the airport in its capital and sent the camp's 30,000 remaining residents packing. Many have returned to their old neighborhoods, but say they do not feel safe.

Djiedune Kupato returned home with his wife and eight children late last month. Now his children walk five kilometers to get to school. Kupato worries about their safety, with militias still active in the area.

Kupato says if the government had prepared better for them to return, they would have water near their house. He says they do not have a good house to live in, as it has been destroyed. Instead, the family sleeps under a tarp.

Meanwhile, bulldozers have leveled what remained of the camp at Bangui M'poko International Airport.

At its height in 2014, the camp was home to more than 130,000 people, many Christian. Central African Republic descended into chaos after mostly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power in March 2013. Efforts to oust Seleka in December of that year kicked off deadly communal violence in the capital and other parts of the country.

The C.A.R. president visited the camp at the end of 2016 and told the remaining residents it was time to go home. Authorities said it was unsafe for so many people to be living right next to an airstrip. The government gave each family about $85 to leave, which covers about three months' rent in Bangui.

The Oxfam advocacy manager in C.A.R., Isidore Ngueuleu, says the government had no broader strategy to support returnees.

"Basically in these neighborhoods, there is no home," Ngueuleu said. "Everything has been destroyed in this neighborhood. So people have decided to return there and start back from zero."

In the Fondo area of PK5, some residents use UNHCR tents to sleep in while they rebuild their homes. Newly-made bricks are stacked neatly outside many burned out and demolished homes in the area.

PK5 was once at the epicenter of the violence in Bangui, and tensions are still high.

Therese Ngalema, 67, came back in mid-January.

She says there is no security — or even a government checkpoint — in the neighborhood.

Ngalema says she wants more patrols by U.N. troops. Officials from a U.N. peacekeeping operation known as MINUSCA told VOA that troops do reinforce their presence when there is a threat.

An Oxfam study found that reports of violence, like assaults and rape, have increased nearly 50 percent in PK5 since October. In early February, a Muslim gang leader called Big Man was killed in an operation by state security forces. His supporters burned down houses and killed several people, including a pastor.

To reach schools and health services, some residents have to go through areas controlled by Muslim militias. Access to water and food is also severely limited.

The government says it will follow up with the returnees in the coming months to determine their needs, and will work with humanitarian organizations to coordinate additional services.

The experience of these recent returnees to PK5 may be just a taste of the challenges ahead. At the peak of the crisis in the C.A.R., nearly one million people were internally displaced and another half million fled to neighboring countries.

Today, more than 400,000 internally displaced persons have not returned home.

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Zimbabwean Farmers in Pitched Battle Against Destructive Armyworms

Zhombe-zimbabwe: The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has predicted that Zimbabwe will be the country hardest hit by the invasion of armyworms in southern Africa. Farmers are already taking serious losses.

The Gokwe and Zhombe areas in Zimbabwe's Midlands province are among the most affected by an invasion of the fall armyworms. Armyworms are a type of moth capable of destroying entire crops in a matter of weeks. It is the first time the insect has hit southern Africa, and seven countries confirmed an outbreak of the fall armyworm, which FAO says is more destructive and more difficult to control than the African armyworm.

The fall armyworm thrives during the rainy season, particularly after periods of prolonged drought - which is the case in southern Africa. The Zimbabwean government said earlier this month that it deployed teams to spray pesticides.

But farmer Violet Mloyi is close to tears as she talks about how she watched armyworms devour her maize crop. Most of it was gone in three days.

She says she feels very much pained looking at her field. She says she invested a lot of money in the crop and was looking forward to a great harvest since it is raining this year. But now she see herself as someone facing hunger again.

Mloyi says she has no idea what brought this worm to her field. When asking around about the menace, she says some advised her to use pesticides, others said to just spray soil over the plants. She says she did that, and it actually got worse.

Country already facing shortages

FAO says up to 130,000 hectares of crops could be destroyed in Zimbabwe. The armyworm is targeting mainly corn and maize – the country’s staple crop. That is a serious concern as Zimbabwe is already struggling with food shortages. It was one of the African countries hardest hit by an El-Nino-induced drought during the 2015/2016 growing season.

Diversification has helped some small farmers.

Armyworms destroyed Catherine Komazana’s maize crop but for not all is lost. She is part of a program funded by Britain’s Department for International Development that teaches farmers, especially women, to raise livestock.

“Apart from maize, we sell goats. Poultry, we sell…. We got rabbits. We use them for our meals. I have rapoko [finger millet], sorghum, sesame….”

Rita Gasura, a Ministry of Agriculture official in Zhombe, says farmers need to be vigilant.

“We are advising farmers to use chemicals to spray the armyworm and to scout their fields every day so that they use the chemicals early before the crops are destroyed by the armyworm. I can say almost 40 percent of crops [were] affected by the armyworm,” Gasura said.

That figure might increase as farmers in the area say they have no money to buy chemicals as many are still trying to recover lost earnings from two years of drought.

Making matters worse, continuing rains allow the armyworm to thrive.

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Besigye asks EU to probe Kasese killings

Kampala.

Former presidential candidate Kizza Besigye has implored the European Union (EU) to investigate the post 2016 election violence especially in the “traditional strongholds of the Opposition” such as Kasese District.

Dr Besigye made the request in Brussels on Wednesday during a closed-door meeting with Mr Koen Vervaeke, the European External Action Service (EEAS) managing director for Africa.

“I briefed Mr Vervaeke about the post-election situation in Uganda, including the Kasese violence, and our continued demand for an internationally-supervised audit of the 2016 election,” he said.

The EU, alongside other international regional bodies, observed the 2016 polls and concluded that the Electoral Commission lacked independence and transparency and fell short of international standards.

Dr Besigye, in his fourth unsuccessful shot at the presidency, stood on the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party ticket.

Mr Dickson Wasajja, the FDC UK Chapter chairperson and the party’s envoy to the European Union who attended the meeting, said: “current political and economic crisis in Uganda and matters of mutual interest between Uganda, the Great Lakes Region and the European Union dominated the talks”.

Dr Besigye, during the meeting accused President Museveni and government of intentionally targeting the leadership and subjects of the Rwenzururu kingdom, according to Mr Wasajja.

A combined army and police force bombed out the kingdom headquarters and arrested King Charles Wesley Mumbere now facing trial for multiple crimes, including treason and murder.

In their latest report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused security forces in the country of carrying out at least 13 extra-judicial killings of people in the Rwenzori region shortly after the February 18, 2016 general elections.

Opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye during the meeting with Mr Koen Vervaeke - Managing Director for Africa at the European Union External Action Service in Brussels, Belgium.Courtesy photo

The New York-based rights group said it documented cases where the army and police allegedly executed unarmed civilians following violence in the region between February and April, 2016. 30 people reportedly died at the time.

The 687-page report, however, did not include the November, 2016 violence in Kasese that left more than 100 people dead after the army and police raided Rwenzururu Kingdom palace outside Kasese Town. Government denied the HRW allegations, saying the people killed were armed combatants who attacked police stations, other security installations, and police and army personnel.

The EU, according to Mr Wasajja, promised to work with all groups and individuals that are calling for a thorough investigation into the Kasese massacre.

Dialogue 
Mr Vervaeke had earlier on February 21, tweeted a photo of him and Dr Besigye saying he had discussed with the former presidential candidate “national dialogue and political reforms in Uganda”.

On Monday Daily Monitor broke the story that President Museveni and Dr Besigye had agreed on a foreign mediator and broad agenda for expected talks to resolves Uganda’s intractable political problems.

Information minister Frank Tumwebaze later denied any dialogue is in the works and FDC said its preconditions for talks had not been met.

These include a mutually agreed foreign mediator, agenda for the dialogue, implementation mechanism for decisions reached, and treatment of parties to the talks as equals.

FDC has also insisted on an independent audit of the 2016 presidential election results.

“Yes, we discussed having dialogue with Mr Museveni and our position was made clear that any dialogue cannot be a Besigye-Museveni affair, but national, with an agreed agenda, respected facilitator and international guarantors,” Mr Wasajja said.

The EU is reported to have expressed readiness to assist with the facilitation of any such dialogue, if asked.
“Talks have got to be meaningful and aimed at solving Uganda’s mountain of problems,” he said.

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Suspect dies in city police cell

KAMPALA.

A suspect has been found dead in Ntinda Police Station cell; hours before he was due to appear at City Hall Court on charges of being a common nuisance. 

Police say Sande Okumu, a private guard at a hotel in Ntinda, a city suburb, committed suicide. 

Ms Annet Arinaitwe, a police officer who was in-charge of the cell overnight, says the suspect shredded a blanket and knotted the pieces to hang himself at about 8: 30pm. 

Okumu was reportedly alive during an 8pm inspection. 

City Hall Grade One magistrate, Mr Moses Nabende, made an impromptu visit at the detention facility after receiving information that one of the suspects who was due to appear before him had passed on. 

The magistrate sought to examine firsthand the circumstances under which the suspect died. State Attorneys Jackie Kyasimire and Pamela Orogot as well a court clerk, who accompanied him, witnessed the removal and transfer of Okumu’s body for autopsy at Mulago National Referral Hospital. 

The judicial officials were told that police cell guard Mukisa Eddie found Okumu lifeless at about 9 pm. 

"It is true a suspect died in the cells, but I do not have the details ..." Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesman Emilian Kayima said.

Police had preferred a charge of common nuisance against the suspect after his arrest at about 6pm on Thursday. He was reported drunk and insulting hotel customers by the time police picked him up.

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Brazil: Footballer Pele's son Edinho in jail over drug trafficking charges

The son of Brazil's footballing legend, Pele, has handed himself in to complete his sentence for money laundering and drug trafficking.

Edinho, a former professional goalkeeper, was first arrested in 2005 over the charges, but appealed.

He remained free during the appeal but was sentenced in 2014 to 33 years.

The court has reduced that sentence to 12 years and 10 months, but ruled that he must be imprisoned while he appeals. Edinho denies all the charges.

As he arrived at a police station in the city of Santos, he said there was not a shred of evidence against him.

"I'm frustrated because I'm being massacred by the legal system," he said.

"I never had any involvement with money laundering."

Four other people have also been sentenced in the same case, including a man accused of controlling much of the drug trafficking in the Greater Santos region - Ronaldo Duarte Barsotti, known as Naldinho.

'Justice will be done'

Edinho, whose real name is Edson Cholbi do Nascimento, admits that he once had a drug problem but says he has been clean for many years.

He played as goalkeeper in the 1990s for Santos, where his father spent all his professional career in Brazil.

He had been working as a manager of a small club in the state of Sao Paulo.

Pele, or Edson Arantes do Nascimento, retired in 1974, but made a comeback a year later for New York Cosmos.

Playing for Brazil, he won the World Cup in 1958, 1962 and 1970 and was acclaimed as the greatest footballer of his generation.

Edinho was five when Pele was signed to play for Cosmos and the family moved to New York. He is now 46.

When he returned to Brazil he decided to pursue a career in professional football - as a goalkeeper, much to his father's surprise.

He was Santos's goalkeeper in 1995 when the team reached the Brazilian league final, losing the title to Botafogo.

His detention and alleged involvement with drug gangs took most people in Brazil by surprise.

Pele, who is now 76, went to visit his son several times in jail.

"God willing, justice will be done. There is not a shred of evidence against my son," he said in 2006.

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Guatemala expels abortion boat crew

The Guatemalan authorities say they are expelling members of a non-profit "abortion boat" docked on its shores.

Officials said they had lied when they applied for tourist visas and would not be allowed to work in Guatemala.

The Dutch group, Women on Waves, offers free abortion services to women in countries where the procedure is banned.

It takes women in the early stages of pregnancy out to international waters, where the abortion is performed.

Abortion is only allowed in Guatemala when the mother's life is at risk.

A spokeswoman for Women on Waves confirmed that they had been told to leave the country immediately, but she said its lawyers had appealed against the decision.

La Prensa Libre newspaper said the four crew members being expelled were US citizens.

It is not clear if other members of the group have also been ordered to leave the country.

'Fundamental right'

The Army said on Thursday it had been instructed by President Jimmy Morales to act, and would defend "human life and the laws of our country" by preventing the group from carrying out abortions.

The Women on Waves' boat docked on the Pacific Ocean port of Quetzal, in the city of San Jose, on Wednesday.

The group says it had a legal permit to sail in Guatemalan waters and the boat was being illegally "detained" by the authorities.

The group says more than 60,000 illegal abortions are performed in Guatemala every year, and most of the women who put their lives at risk at the hands of untrained professionals are poor.

"We respect religious beliefs but this [abortion] is a fundamental right in a democracy," spokeswoman Leticia Zevich told La Hora Newspaper.

However, Guatemala's Catholic Church, other religious leaders and politicians protested against the presence of the boat.

In most Latin American countries, abortion is either illegal or only allowed to save the life of the woman.

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White House bans certain news media from briefing

The White House has barred several major broadcasters and newspapers from attending an informal press briefing.

The BBC, CNN, the New York Times and others were excluded from an audience with Press Secretary Sean Spicer, with no reason given.

It came hours after President Donald Trump delivered another attack on the media in a speech, saying that "fake news" was the "enemy of the people".

He has previously singled out CNN and the New York Times for criticism.

Recent reports claiming his campaign aides had contact with Russian intelligence officials have particularly irked the president.

Shortly after Mr Trump's speech on Friday, a number of selected media organisations were invited into Mr Spicer's office for an informal briefing, or "gaggle".

Those allowed into the room included ABC, Fox News, Breitbart News, Reuters and the Washington Times.

When asked why some were excluded, Mr Spicer said it was his decision to "expand the pool" of reporters.

He also warned the White House was going to "aggressively push back" at "false narratives" in the news.

Politico, Buzzfeed and the Daily Mail were also left out, but CNN was the only major US television network to be denied entry.

The Associated Press, USA Today and Time magazine refused to attend as a protest.

The BBC's bureau chief in Washington, Paul Danahar, said the BBC has a representative at every daily White House briefing and it was not clear why they were barred from Friday's session.

New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet said it was the first time such an exclusion had happened in the newspaper's history.

A White House spokeswoman said they had invited a group which included all journalists in the press pool, which shares information with other reporters

"We decided to add a couple of additional people beyond the pool. Nothing more than that," Sarah Sanders said.

During the briefing, Mr Spicer addressed reports that White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus had asked the FBI to publicly dispute media stories about contacts between the Trump campaign and Moscow.

He said Mr Priebus had little choice but to seek assistance in rejecting what Mr Spicer said were inaccurate reports. The FBI did not issue the statement requested.

Mr Trump has been dogged by claims of alleged links to Moscow since his presidential campaign.

The president asked for national security adviser Michael Flynn's resignation last week after he misled Vice-President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russia's ambassador during the transition.

The White House Correspondents' Association says it is "protesting strongly" about how the press briefing was handled by the White House.

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Olathe shooting: India shocked after national killed in US

India has expressed shock after the fatal shooting of an Indian national in the US, amid reports that the attack may have been racially motivated.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla died shortly after Wednesday's attack at a bar in Olathe, Kansas. His friend Alok Madasani, also from India, and an American were hurt.

Adam Purinton has been charged with premeditated first-degree murder.

The killing dominated news bulletins in India and social media, where some blamed Donald Trump's presidency.

Mr Kuchibhotla's wife, Sunayana Dumala, described her husband as a "loveable soul".

Speaking at a news conference, she described the US as "the country that he loved so much" and called the shooting a "hate crime".

The FBI is now investigating possible motives for the crime at Austins Bar and Grill, with race among them. Witnesses said that just before opening fire the gunman shouted: "Get out of my country."

A barman also told local media that the attacker used racial slurs before the shooting on Wednesday night.

Mr Kuchibhotla, 32, and Mr Madasani, also 32, were engineers at US technology company Garmin. Both studied initially in India and later for postgraduate degrees in the US.

Mr Madasani has now been released from hospital.

The other injured man, Ian Grillot, 24, said he was shot while intervening to try and stop the violence.

Speaking from his hospital bed, he brushed aside suggestions that he was a hero.

"I was just doing what anyone should have done for another human being," he said.

The suspect allegedly fled on foot and was arrested five hours later at a restaurant just over the state border, 80 miles (130km) away in Clinton, Missouri.

He told a bartender there that he had just killed two Middle Eastern men, the Kansas City Star reports, without naming its sources.

Mr Kuchibhotla was from the Indian city of Hyderabad. His parents, Madhusudhan Rao and Vardhini Rao, were too stunned by news of his death to comment, the Associated Press reported.

Mr Madasani's father, Jaganmohan Reddy, called it a hate crime.

After the shooting, Indian actor Siddharth tweeted to his 2.6m followers: "Don't be shocked! Be angry! Trump is spreading hate. This is a hate crime! RIP #SrinivasKuchibhotla."

India's foreign minister Sushma Swaraj said she "conveyed my condolences to the family" of the victim, assuring that "all help and assistance" would be provided.

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At the scene: Rajini Vaidyanathan, BBC News, Olathe, Kansas

For Sunayana Dumala, the grief of losing the man she loved is still raw.

"Only good things happen to good people," was a mantra her husband Srinivas Kutchibhotla used to utter.

Since his fatal shooting on Wednesday, these words are hard for Sunayana to comprehend.

As she addressed a news conference in Olathe, the place she's made home, she revealed her concerns about living in the United States, telling the room she had experienced racism in the past.

She called on the US government to do more to stop hate crimes.

It's still unclear what caused her husband's killer to pull the trigger. But this loss has left Sunayana and her friends and family questioning their place in the United States.

Follow Rajini's updates from Kansas

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The foreign ministry said two Indian consulate officials from Houston and Dallas had already been sent to Kansas City to meet Mr Madasani and arrange the repatriation of Mr Kuchibhotla's body.

The Indian consul general, Anupam Ray, told the BBC: "We would like to reassure the Indian community that this is being personally monitored at the highest level by Indian External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj from Delhi."

The US Embassy in Delhi decried the shooting.

"The United States is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from across the world to visit, work, study, and live," said Charge d'Affaires MaryKay Carlson.

"US authorities will investigate thoroughly and prosecute the case, though we recognise that justice is small consolation to families in grief.

Mr Purinton, 51, was extradited to Kansas on Friday.

A crowd funding campaign set up by a friend to support Mr Kuchibhotla's family has already raised more than $422,000 (£339,000) after donations poured in from thousands of people.

A separate donation appeal to pay for Mr Grillot's medical costs has raised more than $214,000.

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A community shaken - Brajesh Upadhyay, BBC Hindi, Washington

The attack has drawn a strong response in the Indian media, with most calling it a hate crime. "The president now has blood on his hands", one headline said, referring to President Trump's election rhetoric, which has been perceived as anti-immigrant.

The same outlets have also lauded the American man who tried to help the engineers and suffered bullet wounds. He's been called a hero.

Many in the Indian community in the US have voiced concerns over Mr Trump's diatribes against Muslims and foreign workers accused of stealing American jobs. Such statements have led to anxiety among the thousands of Indian technology workers who have come to the US.

There's generally been a belief in the community that Indians have gelled well into mainstream America and will not be targeted. That belief may have been shaken, if not totally shattered, by this shooting.

SOURCE:BBC NEWS

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Barclays Africa to receive $1.1 billion after split from parent

Dar es Salaam/ Johannesburg. Barclays Africa Group Ltd (BAGL), which has two subsidiary banks in the country, is set to receive £765 million (about $1.1 billion) from its U.K. parent as the two entities separate amicably.

The money will be used in funding the investment required for BAGL in areas of technology, rebranding and other separation projects, the group’s chief executive officer, Ms Maria Ramos, said in Johannesburg yesterday.

The event was teleconferenced across various African countries where the bank has operations.

In Tanzania, BAGL owns Barclays Bank Tanzania. It also has a controlling stake in the National Bank of Commerce (NBC).

“Barclays Bank Africa has agreed terms for operational separation with the UK-based Barclays Group PLC, which is reducing its shareholding in Barclays Africa. The agreement is expected to unlock opportunities for Barclays Africa as an independent pan African bank…it is a good outcome that enables us to complete the separation, and to provide continuity and improved services for customers,” said Ms Ramos.

The UK-based Barclays PLC announced on March 1, 2016 that it intends to sell the majority of its shareholding in BAGL over a period of two to three years. According to to Ms Ramos, since then, the two entities have worked together to ensure the best outcome for all of the companies’ shareholders.

Barclays PLC has thus applied to the South African Reserve Bank for approval to have its shareholding in BAGL reduced to below 50 per cent.

Meanwhile, the BAGL has reported a splendid performance in 2016, with its headline earnings increasing by five per cent to reach 14.9 billion South African Rand.

The group’s pre-provision profit increased by 10 per cent to 32.4 billion South African Rand while revenues rose by eight per cent to 72.4 billion Rand.

The group attributes the performance to a sound various strategies that were aimed at stemming its losses since the group was created three years ago.

“The creation of Barclays Africa Group was a crucial strategic play. It created a platform for us to develop our businesses….It has given us a significant footprint across Africa. We set out with a vision to create a proudly pan-African bank and today, we can confidently say that we are delivering on this ambition,” said Ms Ramos.

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They are safe,Mahiga says of deportees

FOREIGN Affairs and East African Cooperation Minister, Ambassador Augustine Mahiga said yesterday that the ministry is closely watching Tanzanians currently deported from Mozambique to ensure that they are safe.


The minister insisted that immigration officials in Mtwara Region were conducting a rigorous vetting of the travel documents to ensure non-Tanzanians are not using the loophole to sneak into the country, illegally.

Speaking at a news conference in Dar es Salaam, Dr Mahiga came out strongly to deny reports that security machineries in Mozambique were subjecting Tanzanian deportees to torture and excessive use of forces.

“In any operation, there are always such complaints where some security personnel can sometimes push a person or do anything in the course of discharging their duties. “But we have been making close monitoring in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Tanzanian authorities in Mozambique and found out that the claims are false,” he explained.

The minister further allayed fears among Tanzanians that the operation to flush out illegal immigrants in Mozambique was targeting Tanzanians, saying it was a normal crackdown on illegal immigrants. He said even Tanzania had previously conducted similar operations to kick out undocumented immigrants.

However, the minister said that Southern African Development Community (SADC) Foreign Ministers are meeting in Dar es Salaam today at the Mwalimu Nyerere Convention Centre to discuss various issues in the region.

He hinted that the Foreign Affairs and Cooperation minister of Mozambique is among the 14 foreign ministers who were expected in the country yesterday to attend the crucial meeting.

Dr Mahiga who will chair the meeting was however not certain if the ongoing crackdown on illegal immigrants would feature in the deliberations.

President John Magufuli currently chairs the SADC, with Dr Mahiga chairing the Council of Ministers.

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Mokiwa opposes deposition in court

FORMER Tanzania Anglican Church Bishop, Dar es Salaam Diocese, Valentino Leonard Mokiwa has opted for a legal battle against his deposition from the post.


At the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Dr Mokiwa sued the church’s Archbishop, Dr Jacob Chimeledya and Registered Trustees of Anglican Church of Tanzania.

The counsels for the parties to the matter appeared before Principal Resident Magistrate Thomas Simba yesterday but the magistrate could not accommodate them for the case has been scheduled for hearing on March 28. There is a set of grounds of objections that the defendants have filed, seeking dismissal of the suit.

Among the grounds include the court lacking jurisdiction to entertain the case because the cause of action involves the entire Anglican Church of Tanzania and that the suit has been instituted in express violation of the Constitution of the Church.

Dr Mokiwa, born in 1954, is the former Tanzanian Anglican Archbishop.

He was elected as the Primate and Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Tanzania in 2008 and occupied the position until 2013.

Since being elected in April 2002, Mokiwa was the Bishop of the Diocese of Dar es Salaam, until his deposition in January 2017, by Archbishop Jacob Chimeledya after he declined to resign in the wake of various allegations in the Diocese of Dar es Salaam.

Dr Mokiwa was Bishop of the Diocese of Dar es Salaam when he was elected the new Archbishop of Tanzania in a special session held during the General Synod of the church in Dodoma, on February 28, 2008.

He was installed in Dodoma on May 25, 2008, succeeding Donald Mtetemela.He lost the re-election in a runoff on February 21, 2013 to Jacob Chimeledya.

While Mokiwa remained as the Dar es Salaam Bishop upon his defeat, he decided not to attend the GAFCON II, held in Nairobi, Kenya, in October 2013.

Dr Mokiwa, a theological Anglo-Catholic, like his predecessor, was also strongly critical of the departures of the Anglican tradition taken by the Episcopal Church of the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada.

He supported the Anglican realignment, attending the Global Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem in 2008, and shortly after, the Lambeth Conference. He also expressed his support for the Anglican Church in North America, launched in 2009.

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What new public debt benchmarks could mean for TZ

 A study commissioned by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has proposed changes in ways of determining the sustainability of public debts, arguing that the traditional debt-to-the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio isn’t enough to determine countries’ access to credit markets.

While, if adopted, the new proposals could widen countries’ access to credit from the international financial markets, it could also lead to a bigger debt burden by poor countries that are already struggling with repayments, analysts say.

Interviews with local experts early this week indicated that the findings of the report were in fact a continuation of an ongoing debate in the academia on the inadequacy of using only debt levels to determine countries’ access or re-entry into international financial markets.

The IMF working paper entitled Lost and Found: Market Access and Public Debt Dynamics published recently states that the level of the debt-to-GDP ratio, “whose use is justified on a theoretical and empirical ground, should not be the only fiscal metric to assess the complex relationship between public debt and debt defaults as well as market access.”

The level of public debt, measured as a share of the GDP, is the main yardstick for determining its sustainability. It has then been used to predict debt defaults and to determine credit access by countries. A debt threshold or limit, in terms of percentage of GDP, has been set for each country to avoid default.

The debt to GDP threshold set for Tanzania through the IMF/World Bank Debt Sustainability Framework (DSF) is 56 per cent. By end of June 2016 Tanzania’s debt to GDP ratio reached 34.2 per cent well below the 56 per cent threshold. The public debt stock as of June 2016 was $20.7 billion (Sh45.6 trillion), according to the Tanzania National Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) published in November 2016 by the ministry of Finance and Planning. By December 2016, the public debt had declined slightly to about $18.4 billion (Sh40.8 trillion), according to calculations by The Citizen based on data from the Monthly Economic Review report published in January 2017 by the Bank of Tanzania.

In the 2016/17 fiscal year, the debt to GDP ratio is expected to decline slightly to 32.5 per cent, according to the DSA.

The IMF commissioned study, conducted by Antonio Bassanetti and others, calls for a wide use of instruments known technically as debt dynamics in addition to the debt-to-GDP ratio, when determining things such as debt distress, market access and, even, debt sustainability. Public debt dynamics are factors such changes in factors such as interest rates, inflation, economic growth and budget surplus and deficits that may affect the ability to repay the debt.

“Debt dynamics does matter and – together with the level of public debt—it matters in a major way in affecting both the probability of loss of market access and of regaining it,” the report, whose findings do not represent the policy stance of the IMF, says.

The findings of the report are good news specifically for those advances economies whose public debt ratios have reached unprecedented levels following the 2008/09 global economic and financial crisis, the report adds.

But for Tanzania, the findings would serve both as a wake-up call and a relief, according to experts, who spoke to The Citizen.

Tanzania could gain more access to sovereign financial market access that would otherwise be limited by the debt level limits (debt-to-GDP ratio). But the report’s findings could also demand for a re-assessment of whether the country’s debt is sustainable despite its lower debt-to-GDP ratio. Speaking to The Citizen in separate interviews, Dr Joseph Massawe, the former director of Economic Research and Policy of the Bank of Tanzania and, Prof Ibrahim Lipumba, a former presidential adviser, said the findings should prompt Tanzania to look at whether the current debt level is sustainable enough.

They said the current debt-to-GDP ratios for Tanzania and other poor income countries are low due to debt relief provide to them in the early 2000s under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) arrangements.

“Looking at the debt level only is not enough. We should be able to know how fast the debt is increasing or decreasing. A study could be able to determine that,” Dr Massawe, who has since retired from the BoT, said.

“My take is that the current debt-to-GDP ratio of Tanzania’s debt may not reflect the whole truth because the ratios went significantly down after debt relief. What worries me is the rate of the increase of the debt, especially between 2010 and 2015,” Prof Lipumba, an opposition politician and former adviser to President Ali Hassan Mwinyi, said.

On his part Dr Massawe said the reduced debt-to-GDP ratios following the HIPC and MDRI debt relief encouraged Tanzania and many other countries to borrow heavily to finance infrastructure projects, which was a good thing, but as the fact that the projects do not directly and immediately result in foreign currency generation has led to some increased debt distress and has affected the capacity of the countries to repay loans.

“We borrow in foreign currency to finance infrastructure projects, but since during the implementation of the projects no foreign currency is generated and since we have to repay the loans in foreign currency, we then start struggling to repay the debt,” Dr Massawe said.

Prof Lipumba said in addition to debt dynamics the composition of creditors should be checked as Tanzania was now borrowing more and more from commercial sources, which were more expensive.

“The strengthening of the US dollar and the weakening of the shilling are also important factors to watch because they lead to an increase in debt levels, making it even more difficult to repay,” Prof Lipumba said.

Debate on public debt

The findings come at a time, when there has been an on-and-off debate about whether the Tanzanian debt is sustainable or not. While some academicians and opposition politicians have expressed concerns about the speed of the increase of the debt stock which does not match a similar increase in domestic revenue, the government has been quick to say that the debt was sustainable because it was well below the debt limits (thresholds).

Cautious optimism

The DSA, on the other hand, reflects experts and opposition politicians’ concern. Though its tone is more of cautiously optimistic as far as the sustainability of the public debt is concerned it warns of likelihood of future debt crises for Tanzania.

In its conclusion the report says that though Tanzania’s risk of external debt distress has remained low inadequate revenue collection as determined by the revenue to GDP ratio which is low compared to regional averages should be the source of concern.

By June 2016, for example, the public external debt stood at $14.0 billion (Sh31.1 trillion) equivalent to 31.4 per cent of GDP, while revenue was $6.3 billion (Sh14.0 trillion), according to calculations by The Citizen based on data from the BoT’s MER for July 2016 (equivalent to 14.4 per cent of GDP).

“The interest rate sensitivity analysis results [also] reveal that debt burden indicators would significantly breach the threshold in the event of borrowing extremely high interest loans. This suggests that to maintain sustainability, the country should minimise contracting extremely high interest loans and at the same time attain relatively high growth rates compared to historical averages,” reads part of the DSA.

It adds; “The projected pace of debt accumulation is also an issue of concern and underscores the need for government to maintain sound macroeconomic policies and ensure effective implementation of projects earmarked for financing from the proceeds of new loan disbursements , particularly, the commercial loans. The DSA also suggests a need to exercise caution when borrowing externally to avoid bunching of maturities that may result in sizeable peaks in debt service payments.”

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