Mugabe declared winner of disputed presidency election in Zimbabwe

H.E. President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe

Report from CNN, Al Jazeera and Tanzania Daily News - -   H.E. Robert Mugabe was elected to his seventh term as President of Zimbabwe with 61% of last Wednesday's vote, the head of the country's Election Commission said Saturday.  His opponent Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who won 34%, according to the election commission, has alleged widespread fraud and was quick to promise a court challenge.

"A fraudulent and a stolen election has plunged Zimbabwe into a constitutional, political and economic crisis," said Tsvangirai, 61.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission results, announced on Saturday, showed Mugabe's Zanu-PF party won 158 of the 210 parliament seats, giving it a two-thirds majority that enables it to make amendments to the new constitution and existing laws.

The results were declared after Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) announced at a news conference that it "totally rejects the election".

Tsvangirai, who has called the elections a "farce", told a news conference on Saturday in Harare, the capital, that he would exhaust all legal remedies to challenge the election outcome.


Al Jazeera reports that:  The United States said the results were the culmination of a deeply flawed process and did not represent the will of the people.

"In light of substantial electoral irregularities reported by domestic and regional observers, the United States does not believe that the results announced today represent a credible expression of the will of the Zimbabwean people," John Kerry, the US secretary of state, said in a statement.

The European Union said it was concerned about alleged irregularities and a lack of transparency in the elections.

However, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who heads the AU's vote monitoring mission, said on Friday that flaws in the electoral process had not stopped the will of the people from being expressed.

"We justified that by the process which led to the election itself, it was free," he said.

But the mission is asking election authorities in Zimbabwe to investigate reports that large numbers of eligible voters were turned away from polling stations.

Meanwhile, the Tanzania Daily News reports that Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr Bernard Membe returned to the country on Saturday after two weeks in Harare where he led the Southern African Development Community (SADC) observer mission to Zimbabwe’s harmonized elections that were held last Wednesday in which the ruling ZANU-PF led by liberation war veteran, President Robert Mugabe won a landslide victory.

…“Whoever is aggrieved with the results should not resort to violence, but rather should go to the court of law or engage in dialogue”, said Minister Membe, reiterating the concluding remarks of SADC’s interim report, which described the polls as “free and peaceful” but apparently fell short of declaring them credible as well, which is now a key benchmark for democratic election in the regions and constitutional way of changing a government.

… Mr. Membe said he had met both President Mugabe and Mr. Tsvangirai before and after the polls and emphasized SADC’s desire for all involved to respect the outcome of the polls, an undertaking, he said, they had all committed to.

President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete is the current Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation.

HOTUBA YA MWISHO WA MWEZI JULAI 2013

Balozi wa Vietnam aagwa baada ya kumaliza muda wa kazi nchini

Naibu Waziri wa Katiba na Sheria, Mhe. Angela Kairuki (katikati-mstari wa kwanza) akifuatana na Balozi wa Vietnam alimaliza muda wake wa kazi hapa nchini, Mhe. Nguyen Duy Thien (kulia), Mkuu wa Mabalozi wanaowakilisha nchi zao hapa nchini, Mhe. Balozi Juma Khalfan Mpango (kushoto mstari wa nyuma), Mkurugenzi wa Idara ya Diaspora, Balozi Bertha Semu-Somi na Mkurugenzi Msaidizi, Idara ya Asia na Australasia, Bw. Omar Mjenga walipokuwa wanawasili katika Hoteli ya Hyatt Regency Kilimanjaro kwa ajili ya hafla fupi ya kumuaga Balozi Thien.

Mhe. Kairuki akizungumza kuhusu uhusiano mzuri uliopo kati ya Tanzania na Vietnam wakati wa hafla  hiyo huku Balozi Thien na Mkewe wakimsikiliza.

Mkurugenzi Msaidizi, Idara ya Asia na Australasia katika Wizara ya Mambo ya Nje na Ushirikiano wa Kimataifa, Bw. Omar Mjenga akiwakaribisha wageni waalikwa kwenye hafla ya kumuaga Balozi Thien ambaye amemaliza muda wa kazi hapa nchini. Wengine katika picha ni Balozi Mpango na Balozi Semu-Somi.

Mhe. Balozi Nguyen Duy Thien na Mkewe wakimsikiliza Bw. Mjenga (hayupo pichani)

Mkuu wa Mabalozi wanaowakilisha nchi zao hapa nchini Balozi Mpango nae akizungumza machache wakati wa hafla hiyo huku Mhe. Kairuki, Balozi Thien na wageni wengine waalikwa wakimsikiliza.

Mhe. Kairuki akimkabidhi Balozi Thien na Mkewe zawadi ya picha ya kuchora ya Mji Mkongwe wa Zanzibar kama kumbukumbu yao kwa Tanzania.
 

Picha na Reginald Philip.

Waziri Mkuu wa Thailand aondoka baada ya kukamilisha ziara ya siku tatu nchini

 Rais wa Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania, Mhe. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete akiwa na Waziri Mkuu wa Thailand, Mhe. Yingluck Shinawatra wakisikiliza nyimbo za mataifa yao zilipopigwa kuashiria mwisho wa ziara ya Mhe. Shinawatra hapa nchini.

 

Mhe. Rais Kikwete akimsindikiza Mhe. Shinawatra kuelekea kwenye ndege mara baada ya kuhitimisha ziara yake ya siku tatu hapa nchini.

Mhe. Shinawatra akiagana na Waziri wa Maliasili na Utalii, Mhe. Balozi Khamis Kagasheki pamoja na Mhe. Mary Nagu, Waziri wa Nchi, Ofisi ya Waziri Mkuu, Uwekezaji na Uwezeshaji kabla ya kuondoka nchini baada ya kukamilisha ziara yake ya siku tatu.

Mhe. Shinawatra akipunga mkono kuagana na mwenyeji wake Mhe. Rais Kikwete (hayupo pichani) na  Viongozi wengine waliofika kumuaga mara baada ya kukamilisha ziara yake.

Mhe. Nagu na Viongozi wengine waliofika Uwanjani kumuaga Waziri Mkuu wa Thailand.

Mhe. Rais Kikwete na Viongozi wengine wakipunga mkono kumuaga Waziri Mkuu wa Thailand

Ndege iliyombeba Waziri Mkuu wa Thailand ikiondoka kuashiria kukamilika kwa ziara ya siku tatu ya kiongozi huyo hapa nchini.

Message of Congratulation from WWF to President Kikwete and Thai Premier Shinawatra

Message of appreciation and congratulations to his Excellency the President of theUnited Republic of Tanzania, Dr. Jakaya Kikwete and Her Excellency, MadamYingluck Shinawatra Prime Minister of Thailand. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)  –  Tanzania Country Office in conjunction with theWWF Global Network, recognizes, appreciates and congratulates H.E. the President of United Republic of Tanzania, Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete and H.E. Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand upon signing a Memorandum of Understanding onCooperation in Wildlife Conservation and Management between the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania, for the mutual benefit of the peopleof the two countries and for sound management of natural resources.In particular WWF recognizes and appreciates H.E. the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, for his steadfast commitment in the fight againstIllegal Wildlife Trade in Tanzania and H.E. Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand for her recently announced intention to ban domestic ivory trade in Thailand at theopening of the Sixteenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP16, Bangkok, 2013) tothe Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES).Your  Excellences’ contributions form the basis for the protection and restoration of the country’s and indeed planet’s important species while also being saved from extinction. It isheartening to see such South-South Cooperation and the resolve of your respectivegovernments ’ Ministries, who are at the forefront in confronting this dangerous trade, intaking such decisive and exemplary action both on the supply and demand sides of thisatrocious illegal trade.WWF and its partner conservation organizations support you in this endeavor. Sincerely yours, Bell’Aube Houinato,  Country Director,World Wide Fund for Nature  –  Tanzania.

Switzerland celebrates its National Day

 H.E. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President of the United Republic of Tanzania has sent a congratulatory message to H.E. Ueli Maurer, President of the Swiss Confederation on the occasion of the National Day of Switzerland.

The message reads as follows.

“H.E. Ueli Maurer,

President of the Swiss Confederation,

Bern,

SWITZERLAND.

Your Excellency,

It gives me pleasure on behalf of the People and the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania to congratulate You, and through You to the Government and the People of Switzerland on the occasion of your National Day, 1^st August 2013.

This auspicious and historic occasion provides me an opportunity to reiterate my personal commitment and that of my Government to working closely with You and Your Government in further strengthening the close bonds of friendship and co-operation that happily exist between our two countries and peoples.

Please accept, Your Excellency, my best wishes for your personal good health and continued peace and prosperity for the people of Switzerland”.

ISSUED BY: MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, DAR ES SALAAM

31^ST JULY, 2013