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Write to: The Editor, Arusha Times, P.O. Box 212, Arusha. E-mail: arushatimes@habari.co.tz
Open letter to Municipal DirectorYou’re the architect of Maboksini slumsOn the front page of a recent issue of The Arusha Times you are praised for ridding Arusha municipality of filth and eye sore erections to pave the way to planned growth of the municipality. But on the right, before you cross the Railway to Njiro, exists the most despicable conglomeration of most unhygienic huts. It is unbelievable that humans can live under such environment. This collection of huts is called "Maboksini" since the slum started with huts in roofing and walls of box paper. Now most have graduated to mud walls with iron sheets. There is no space between walls, floors are muddy, there are no latrines or where the latrines exist they are shallow pits. When it rains storms descend onto slum mixing with contents from the shallow pit latrines into a flood of sewage which spread into this mud huts out-flowing, into the Railway line below. It is said that hardcores criminals and "gongo" drinkers hide in this slum. There is no pipe water in this slum area. Someone has put a water point to sell water to the dwellers of this slum. This is a good example of a "big fish" exploiting the "small unfortunate fish". The subject of removing Maboksini slum has been debated for decades. The municipality has shifted responsibility to Railway and vice versa. In fact more than once a court order for eviction has been obtained, but neither the Municipality nor the Railway Authorities took responsibility to implement the order. The Municipality Director is squarely responsible for the existence of Maboksini slum.
What about Arusha Modern SchoolDear Editor, As I was reading the article "MP Outlines Plan To Build More Secondary Schools" in the online version of Arusha Times, I was struck by the fact that one of the most successful private secondary schools was absent from the list. What happened to Arusha Modern School just across the road from Burka (which was listed)? Why was this school not considered as part of the group too? If it was an oversight perhaps it can be remedied in a future edition of your paper, or if it was deliberate or politically fostered, why?
What a relief!I came to Tanzania on safari in 2000 which I thoroughly enjoyed, especially your lovely town Arusha. Your website brings back many fond memories for me. I like your clean web design - quite a change from the clutter of amateurism designs I see on many of your tour companies.
Potentials of Arusha Times yet to be realisedDear Editor, This is to express my appreciation of your excellent work with Arusha Times. From the time I used to make some contributions to Arusha Times from 1995-1996 , it has made incredible improvement in content, lay out and mode of distribution, including the web page. Right from its inception, it was evident to me that Arusha Times had great potential--it has lived up to this expectation. How I wish it gets regional readership since, as I have argued before, Arusha town is the East African city. What I find particularly stimulating are the meditation of Martin LeFvre and the poem. Way back in the early 90s when Arusha Times had just started, I proposed essay competitions that were received with great enthusiasm from a youths in schools around Arusha. Can this feature be revived? It would be nice to see what vision and dreams young people around Arusha have. Such topics to compete on would be: 1)Why should Arusha become the city of East African Community? 2)Who should be the first president of the East African Community and why? 3)Do we need an East African University and where should be located? 4)What are the opportunities and dangers of the East African community? Way back in 1995 I argued that the UN Tribunal on Rwanda was headed for formidable challenges of establishing as who is to be tried. Several years down the line, the challenges are still plenty. How far has justice been achieved for the victims of the Rwandan 1994 genocide? Do we, may be, need a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to accompany the judicial process? The assumption here is that what is at stake in Rwanda is not only justice but truth and reconciliation. Certainly the serene atmosphere of Arusha would provide a good and sober environment for the ground work of the Truth and Reconciliation project but later the actual work would have to be in Rwanda where the actual reconciliation is needed. This is an initiative that the Nyerere Foundation together with other philanthropic organizations can take up. If we think that reconciliation is costly and tedious, we should try justice. I would imagine the late Mwalimu Nyerere would, in his eternal rest, be delighted to learn that a foundation in his memory is contributing to the unification and reconciliation of Rwanda. The suggestions above, as you can see, are aimed at making Arusha Times of a wider service to the region. I hope that the editorial board of Arusha times can give them a thought. If taken into consideration, I trust, they can boost the image and stature of Arusha Times as a Weekly of its kind in the East African region.
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