By Cosmas Pahalah
THE lust for money has been described as one of the major challenges in stopping the importation of substandard goods into Tanzania, including certain foods and medicines.
This theme was thoroughly discussed during a two-day seminar at the Glonency Hotel in Morogoro on Thursday and Friday last week, that organized by the Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA).
"Our bitter experience is that the control of fake and substandard drugs is a complicated issue, due to the fact that a good number of these do not enter through official border posts, thus in fact control needs co-operation between neighbouring states," said Hiiti Sillo, TFDA director-general, during the discussion.
He recounted further that in many cases the control of unwanted drugs has been affected by a number of issues, such as the shortage of staff, and lack of vital information from sources who decide to collaborate with law-breakers.
"It is strange that people tend to go for cheap things without knowing the ultimate consequences of using them, as it is the case with using fake, substandard or expired drugs, but the effects are altogether devastating, including death itself," said Sillo.
Supporting this stance was Ms Charys Ugullum, who said that identifying the harmfulness of any drug is a scientific process which involves the use of a laboratory for examination, but in many cases people either take for granted their security whenever they use drugs or sometimes they think laboratory experiments are just time-consuming.
"While we admit that there are fake and substandard drugs in the market, we request you journalists to allow us to conduct technical examinations, as we have such laboratories as can help in verifying the samples, before these matters are reported in the media," she remarked.
She elaborated that currently the TFDA is well equipped for examining various food samples and medicines; she urged whoever wants to establish a business or import such goods to use the services of her organization in order to ensure that end users are not ill-affected by such commodities.
On the other hand, a legal counsel with the TFDA, Meshack Shashi, said that implementation of laws with regard to importation and use of drugs has been successful, for his organization has conducted arrests and some of the culprits have received punishment in the courts of law.
However he noted that some of the law-breakers get minimum sentences up to the fine of 30,000/=, for crimes that are worth millions of shillings, a fact that has caused them to go back to the same illegal conduct.
In another presentation, by Emmanuel Alphonce, who dealt with the matter of control of foods and drugs, he said that it demanded one’s having good training in order to discover what a fake medicine is and what is not.
"In some cases we have discovered that the covers of medicines do not necessarily represent what is inside, but this needs one to be knowledgeable, and at times requires laboratory experimentation in order to verify," he said.
PINDA LAUCHES TANZANIA’S NATURAL HERITAGE BOOK By Cosmas PahalahA book depicting in detail Tanzania’s natural heritage of flora and fauna, authored by a Finnish professor, has been launched by Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda at an evening ceremony in Dar es Salaam at the weekend.
The book, ‘The Great Savannah’, by Professor Olli Marttila, in its 528 pages, summarises the diverse tourist attractions with details and colourful pictures and it is useful to tourists, travellers, environmentalists as well as academics and students.
"It is a masterpiece… and we Tanzanians are highly indebted to the author
of the book," Prime Minister Pinda told the audience at the launch at Serena Dar es Salaam Hotel in the presence of the Minister for Tourism and Natural Resources, Ezekiel Maige and the Finnish Ambassador to Tanzania, Sinikka Antila.
The Prime Minister said: "The say ‘History Never Dies’ and that is the fact
that Professor Martilla has put in record by publishing this handbook to ensure that our country’s history will be in record for ever.
"If we plunder our resources, this book will definitely be our judgement as it will always tell our future generations what Tanzania had. We must, therefore, do whatever possible to continue conserving the natural resources with their flora and fauna," he added.
The Finnish ambassador, whose country funded the printing of 9,600 copies of the ‘Great Savannah’, said: "Tanzania as well as our country has to look for balance between development, exploitation of natural resources and conservation of nature. This book will contribute to a public debate about what the development path of Tanzania should be – where do we want to go and how?"
One-third of Tanzania (approximately 315,000 sq. kilometres of the total of
945,203 sq. kilometres) is reserved for conservation and the Prime Minister said the area "is far more than in any of the wealthier nations".
The book gives a detailed description of each of the 15 National Parks, of which four are World Heritage, with key information on the country’s climate, geography and habitats and discusses way in which Tanzania protects its natural resources and identifies risks.
By Cosmas Pahalah
Police chiefs in the five-member East African Community (EAC) support the establishment of a Regional Referral Forensic Centre (RRFC), aimed at boosting the fight against crime in the region.
"We have to work together for our common future and prosperity," Fabien Ndayishimiye, the director-general of Burundi's National Police, told EAC experts in Bujumbura who were on a visit to assess the country's suitability to host the RRFC.
In a statement issued from the EAC Secretariat, Ndayishimiye said the EAC bloc is united and any crime in a partner state has an impact on the other member states.
The EAC's eight-member forensic experts’ team started its assessment tour on 8 March.
In Rwanda, the Inspector-General of Police, Emmanuel Gasana, commended the EAC for pioneering the regional referral forensic center, adding that his country supported the initiative.
"We are seriously waiting to see establishment of a very good facility in addressing the emerging crimes," he said.
Gasana added that Rwanda had already upgraded its own forensic facility to address investigation challenges.
"The government spends huge amounts of resources to outsource forensic services and expertise from abroad but time is ripe to acquire our own services and expertise which will cut down on both the time and the resources," he said.
On his part, the Inspector-General of Police of Tanzania, Saidi Mwema, said the country had already approved and implemented police force reforms, including modernizing its forensic investigation capacity.
"We want to see the people in an integrated East Africa benefit and be proud of our professional police services," Mwema said in Dar es Salaam during a visit by the forensic experts. "All these efforts have full government backing."
The Inspector General of Police of Uganda, Lt-Gen Kale Kayihura, said there was need for East African countries to have ultra-modern forensic services, citing the 2008 terrorist bombings in Kampala as a case in point during which forensic investigations services were outsourced.
"If partner states [of the EAC] can pool together their capacities, we can achieve a lot," said Grace Akullu, the Assistant Inspector General of Uganda Police and Uganda’s Head of Criminal Investigations Department (CID), who represented Lt-Gen Kayihura.
According to Didacus Kaguta, the EAC Peace and Security Officer, who led delegation of experts, the regional forensic centre, once established, would ensure standards such as quality control, certification of forensic scientists as well as the accreditation of forensic laboratories.
"The facility is also expected to offer high-class training and research services," Kaguta said, adding that the facility would store data be shared with the partner states whenever required.
"Even the experts will be readily available from the centre to beef up the national resources during the time of need like emerging calamities such as terrorist attack investigations," Kaguta said.
The EAC and the Federal German Government jointly facilitated the assessment mission by the forensic experts.
GIZ Peace and Security Advisor Joachim Von Bonin said the German government shares a long history with the EAC and enjoys a very cordial partnership in the region's integration effort.
The report of the experts will be presented to the next meeting of the Chiefs of Police and the fifth Sectoral Council on Inter-State Security for consideration and adoption.
The EAC has already initiated the harmonization of peace and security initiatives, common policing standards, joint investigations, exchange of information and mutual legal assistance, among other series
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