DAR ES SALAAM, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian authorities said Friday plans are underway to collar elephants to enable game rangers to track stray elephants that raid farm crops and residential areas.

"The collaring of elephants will enable game rangers to respond in real-time before the animals raid residential areas and wreak havoc on farm crops," said Deputy Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Mary Masanja.

Masanja announced the collaring of the elephants when she visited Goha, Kwalukonge and Kweisewa villages, all in Tanga region's Korogwe district, which have been victims of elephant raids.

The deputy minister said since the collaring of elephants is an expensive undertaking, it will only be done in hotspot areas where elephant raids occur regularly.

The collars include Global Positioning System (GPS) and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) tracking devices that are placed around an elephant's neck to monitor their movements and behavior as well as to assist with conservation actions.

On July 19, Tanzania's Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Pindi Chana said 19 centers will be built across the country for controlling straying wild animals that damage farm crops.

She said game rangers will be deployed to the centers to respond to raids by the wild animals on residential areas and farm crops.

In May, Chana said the wild animals, including elephants, lions and hippos, were reported to invade villages in at least the country's 53 districts out of 134 districts. - Xinhua

The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, Thursday said the BBC and Trust Tv would be sanctioned for airing documentaries glorifying terrorism and banditry.

Addressing reporters in Abuja, he accused the BBC of airing an “unprofessional” documentary, Africa Eye, where interviews were granted to bandit warlords and terror gangs. 

He condemned the BBC for not upholding the same standards and tenets as they would have done in the UK.  He also alleged that Trust Tv, owned by Media Trust Ltd, used its platform to interview a bandit kingpin, Shehu Rekeb. 

He said the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) was looking at which part of the Broadcasting Code was violated by the BBC and Trust TV. 

“Media is the oxygen that terrorists and bandits use to breathe.

“When otherwise reputable platforms like BBC can give their platform to terrorists showing their faces as if they’re Nollywood stars, it’s unfortunate.

“I want to assure them that they’ll not get away with it, appropriate sanctions will be meted to both the BBC and the Trust Tv. 

 “Let me assure you that they’ll not get away with the naked glorification of terrorism and banditry in Nigeria.

“It’s because there’s a country called Nigeria that they’re operating here,’’ the minister said.  

The management of Media Trust Limited said it would not react to the story as the company was yet to get any official complaint on the documentary.  By Abdullateef Salau, Daily Trust

The elevation of Kitengela town in Kajiado County into a municipality has been received positively by locals.

They say the move to transform the town that has a population of 230,000 people is a milestone for a town believed to be the fastest-growing town in East Africa.

During the launching ceremony and unveiling of its board, Kajiado Governor Joseph Ole Lenku outlined some of the benefits that will come hand in hand with the municipality status of the town. 

"By successfully pursuing a charter for the municipality and unveiling its board, the first journey is over. The second one which entails how to use the municipality status to transform the lives of our people leaving here has kicked off," said the county boss who is seeking his second term in office.

Joseph Munyua, a resident of Kitengela, says the elevation was long overdue, expressing hope that the move will help the area grow in matters of development.

"Land is available here, many workers in Nairobi seek accommodation here, construction materials for building houses are not far. The Nairobi National Park is just next to us, Kajiado supplies Nairobi with 30 per cent of meat needs as it’s a livestock county. Therefore, the elevation of our town to a municipality will uplift the lives of the residents in a big way," said Munyua

Further, the governor said feeder roads leading to the new SGR station shall be upgraded to ease movement to the station and encourage the use of the transport hub as an alternative means of transport.

"Our county has seen the fruits of robust collaborations and partnerships with national and international donor agencies. The municipality will be enlisted immediately with relevant state departments, agencies such as the Kenya Urban Roads Authority, and initiatives such as the world bank -funded Kenya Urban Support Programme," said Lenku. 

Lenku promised to partner with the county's neighbours, such as Machakos, to design and implement a train-city road network between Athi River and Kitengela to encourage and facilitate more residents to commute to the capital city by rail.

"To enhance good governance, transparency and quick services delivery, all operations within Kitengela municipality such as financial transactions shall be fully automated. Our partners in service provisions including transport will be encouraged to adopt a similar strategy to compliment county efforts," stated the county boss.

He said the partnership will also be extended to cities around the world that share the same philosophy for exchange programmes. 

"I, therefore, welcome all investors, and national and international agencies to tap into the potential of this fast-growing town. I promise them I will offer the most competitive incentives to set shop here," said Lenku.  By Peterson Githaiga, The Standard