EDITORIAL: Protect our tuskers for the sake of our heritage

>It has been reported that human rights activists defending pastoralists’ land rights in Loliondo are unduly intimidated by the police.

Delegates to the African Elephant Coalition summit in Cotonou, Benin, last week, expressed concern over the silence of Tanzanian representatives during deliberations on ivory trade ban. The deliberations were a big ‘No’ to ivory trade.

>Whenever there is an accident, especially one in which scores of people are killed, the law and security agencies spring into action. They suddenly remember this law and that regulation and hurry to enforce it.

>Tanzania came up the Child Rights Act of 2009 to guarantee minors their basic rights. It also signed and ratified both the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child for the same purpose.

It is no wonder, then, that news of the Wednesday, 11pm attack on the key police station, was received with shock and disbelief by Dar es Salaam residents.

>A recent report linking public officials with the decimation of Tanzania’s forests is disturbing, for it means the effort to protect this resource is certain to be doubly difficult.  The report, which is attributed to the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), notes that ministers control 39 per cent of trade in forest products.

As campaigns for the October 25 polls hot up, some politicians have been using all manner of tactics to gain and consolidate support. However, tactics which some have been employing are totally lacking in terms of civility.

The difference between Africans and the rest of the world is that we have a very high level of family sense and are conjoined in the hip with so many people that we do not know who are or are not our relatives.

>The International Criminal Court (ICC) has denied that it is anti-African. It says its focus on crimes committed on the continent is based on evidence and a strong demand from the communities affected. Ms Mii Aro-Sanches, the ICC’s international adviser, said in response to the claim: “There is criticism that we are focusing only on Africa. Yes, we have to be there. Remember the situation in Kenya.”