Mwenyekiti wa CHADEMA Ndugu Freeman Mbowe

RAHISI wa Jamuhuri ya Wadanganyika Jakaya M. Kikwete

Mlianza vizuri, mlikuwa mnapiga mbio vizuri nani amewaroga? Nani kawadanganya kuwa hoja zenu nzuri ambazo mlizipeleka ikulu pasina kupata baraka za wanachama wenu..zilibarikiwa? mkafika, mkakaa kwenye makochi na kunywa gahawa na hapo ile nguvu yenu ikapotea, ikatoweka..Ila tukio hili mlilipa sifa na sababu nyingi, “siasa za kisasa, siasa za urafiki, siasa za kutokuchukiana’’ bila ya nyie kujua…

Bila aibu ‘’aliyekuwa rais wa wananchi’’ ambaye akiwa msibani hamuangalii hata jirani yake!!akatamka ‘eti Mheshimiwa Rais watu wanasema mimi nakukwepa!! Nikukwepe kwa sababu gani??…ulivyosema sentensi hii Kikwete akafurahi akajibu ni maneno ya akina michuzi…saa ile roho mtakatifu wa woga na nidhamu ya kufa mtu akakushukia, ukawa mtu mpya..’coward’….Kikwete kwa mara ya kwanza tangu ameingia ikulu akalala usingizi akaota, chama kile kilichosemekana kinatisha kikawa mwisho wake saa ile!

Ni muumini wa siasa za kukaa chini na kuelewana , ni muumini wa siasa za hoja, ni muumini wa siasa za aina ya Lema, ni muumini wa saisa za akina Zito, Ni muumini wa siasa kali na za vurugu…..Lakini uumini upi utumike wapi ndipo huwa sieleweki! CCM hii si ya siasa za kukaa chini na kuelewana, ukifanya hivyo inakula kwako! Maalim Seif anajua hivyo!

CCM hii si chama tawala ni wakoloni weusi, kamwe hawako kwa ajili ya maslahi ya nchi hii…Sahau kuhusu Katiba,dola na kila aina ya vihonjo vinavyompa Rais mamlaka ya urais na utiisho wa urais. Rais akiwa hakubaliwi na kundi fulani dogo tena likiwa na support kubwa ya wananchi hana nguvu hizo, hana mamlaka hayo! Chadema mmeuza haki yenu na sasa mnashangaa wakati nafasi ya ukombozi ndio hii!

Ni Chadema nyie mliojipambanua kuwa ni wakombozi, japo mnatumia slogan ya ‘’nguvu ya umma’’ pengine ngau kwa muda mfupi mngetumia slogan ya Mtikila ‘’ saa ya ukombozi ni sasa’’ japo jamani mwee semeni jambo nchi itikisike…magazeti yauze!!

Chadema inahitaji akili kidogo tu kuwa mgomo wa madaktari ilikuwa ni funguo yenu ya Kikwete(the chief architect wa Richmond) kujiuzulu! Ilikuwa ni nafasi ya kuhamasisha waalimu, nafasi ya kuwaleta na kuwakumbuka wazee wa afrika mashariki….ni nyakati nzuri mngewakumbuka ‘’wahanga wa bodi ya mikopo’’ vyuo vikuu, nafasi ya kuwaunganisha vijana wa mbeya , arusha na DSM wanaojengewa masoko ambayo hawawezi kupanga.

Wakazi wa Mabwepande na kwingineko ndio ilikuwa nafasi… Niseme nini juu ya wananchi wa sehemu mbalimbali kwa nafasi zao ambao wamekata tamaa ya kudai haki zao kwa sababu tu ya vitisho kama vya Pinda? Hivi mkazi wa Gongo la Mboto ambaye analipwa fidia ya laki tano kwa nyumba ya vyumba nane asingekuwepo kwenye maamdamano? Btw mna orodha ya wanaodhulumiwa hapo ofisini kwenu?

Hivi wanaotoa sifa kwa chama hiki humu wanaona haya? Au mna mawazo ya kupiga kura mwaka 2015 na kushinda chini ya hao hao mnaowapa dhamana ya kubadili katiba (impossible within three years)!! Unrealistic!) kwa cizazi vingi jijavyo? Na aliyewaambia Katiba itafanikiwa kabla ya 2015 ni nani? Waizir wenu wa katiba ni nani? Anajua nchi zingine imechukua miaka mingapi?

Hivi lile wazo la kuwa piganieni kwanza tume ya uchaguzi nani aliliua? Au hamkunisikia japo kidunyu kuwa , if you are serious then sticky on changing election committee…tunataka tume yenye kila aina ya watu na inayosimamiwa na chombo huru!

Aliyewaroga kubadili katiba yote ni nani? 2015 ka…kuwa..waambieni wananchi CHADEMA itatoa mwanya wa CCM iendelee ili imalize mchakato wa katiba, by that time Mbowe atakuwa Tajiri kama Rostam!! Acha niseme! Maana kuna watu mnatoka povu kuitetea chadema ambayo lina wajanja fulani wanaotafuta pesa kwa nguvu zote…Mbowe huyu na Kikwete watoto wa Night Club ambao wamewaingiza mkenge akina Slaa na akina Warioba, huku mkitoa statement kuwa Zito ndio eti aliyefanikisha mazungumzo!

Mkasema na kuanika uongo huu kwa watu ni dhambi!! Chadema haina nguvu, kwani bado inajitafuna kashata na kucheua kahawa ya ikulu! Haina nguvu kwa aibu, kwani imepoteza nuru hii na utukufu huu! Chadema hii leo inagopa kusu-pport maandamano eti Mtaambiwa chama cha vurugu!

Chadema wanaogopa kumuua Nyani, wameishamwangalia usoni! Na kucheka naye? Na waumini wao wanawachekea na kujipa matumaini hewa kwa sababu hamna matumaini mengine…hawataki kuwaambiwa ukweli viongozi wao, eti wakisema ukweli watawaudhi na kuonekana wasalitiKama ambavyo chadema inavyoogopa maandamano na migomo leo hii kwani itamuudhi ‘mwenyeji wao’ kikwete ndivyo ambavyo chadema supporters wanaogopa kukosoa uongozi wao kwani watawaudhi eti wameonyesha mafanikio ya kuleta wabunge wengi sana-23!Au ni hivi….wakiandamana nani yuko tayari kwenda Jela?

Hivi uongozi wa chadema leo hii ukaenda jela,mnajua athari zinazotokea kwa familia chache sana zinazokiunda chama hiki, Fikiria chama ambacho viongozi ni mtu, mkwe, shemeji, mpwa, mama, mtoto, mjomba, shangazi na girlfriends….halafu wakakamatwa na kuwekwa ndani!! Chama kinakufa….

Watanzania this is just a reminder, you have to put your trust kwenye realistic! Hakuna ukombozi kwenye ballot box…..ILA nchi ingetikisika kwa migomo mingi iliyoasisiwa na chama hiki mnachokiabudu, basi leo Chadema kingeishi kama next ruling party! Sio kwa hali ya sasa ambayo wako kama hawako, huku madakatri wakirudi na na kureport makazini huku hawafanyi lolote…wamekosa support, wamekosa nguvu ya wale waliotegemewa kuwa suppport, Wale waliosema wanaweza!

Kesho mtataka madaktari wawa support kwenye maandamano yenu yalee! Never! Madaktari hawatakuwepo! Funny! Siasa inalipa jamani,kwani wachungaji wangapi wanasema wanaponyesha na kumbe sio? Au lawyers wangapi wanasema utashinda kesi hali akijua utashindwa? Kwa nini chadema isiseme wazi kuwa ni NGO na kijiwe cha jobless na opportunist ili tutafute tumaini lingine?

Kwa sisi wenye akili ‘’najisifu ngaa kidogo’’ kwa nini tusisifie CCM kwa siasa zake za kuharibu nguvu na bongo ya wapinzani kwa utashi wa wapinzani wenyewe? Whoever said CCM is a group of idiot and moron was wrong, Is a group of smart people who are brilliant and can play with people’s mind for their own benefit! Yes chadema has been played and they are now like ‘candle in the wind’

Mbowe and Kikwete at their best!

Written by Sarah Hermitage

In March 2011 British Secretary of State for International Development Andrew Mitchell announced major changes to UK’s international aid program based on a nine-month review of the agency’s policies. “This government is taking a radically different approach to aid. We want to be judged on our results, not on how much money we are spending,” Mitchell said of the changes to the aid program.

The 2010 Budget restated the British Government’s commitment to reach 0.7 per cent of national income as aid by 2013, following a November 2009 Queen’s Speech commitment. Provisional 2009 data suggests that the UK’s total aid expenditure reached £7.4 billion, or 0.52 per cent of national income, up around £1 million from £6.4 billion in 2008 (0.43 per cent of national income). This represents a doubling of the aid/national income ratio since 1997 (when it was 0.26 per cent), and is the highest level of the ratio since 1964. Andrew Mitchell states such amounts are morally right and represent the values of the UK and its government but in times of austerity at home, how can these amounts of overseas aid be justified particularly in countries that show little commitment to good governance and thus slow development.

Most commentators agree that the purpose of development aid is to create conditions where assistance is no longer required. The Paris Declaration lays down a practical, action-orientated roadmap to improve the quality of aid and its impact on development’ and recognizes that aid is more effective when partner countries exercise strong and effective leadership over their development policies and strategies. Whilst we need to recognize that we are on very controversial and politically sensitive terrain when we talk about aid, there can be limited value to the British tax payer to continue to support countries where aid is not producing sustainable development due to a lack of effective leadership from receiving governments.

Sir Edward Clay Outspoken Former High Commission to Kenya “Secretary of State Mitchell and his predecessors have missed the warnings about the folly of investing in a government whose most distinctive characteristic was its endemic corruption’

Tanzania is the third largest gold producer in Africa and is rich in mineral resources. Despite its mineral wealth, it is the largest recipient of development aid from Britain and has received in excess of US$2.89 billion in aid (from all donors) in its 50 years of independence. It is Africa’s top and, the world’s third leading recipient of aid after war-torn Iraq. It depends annually on foreign aid by 45 per cent, receiving US$453 million for its 2011/12 aid budget under the umbrella of General Budget Support (GBS). Despite these massive amounts of foreign aid, there has been no significant decrease in poverty over the last 20 years and the country is lagging behind on key development goals for safe water, income and health despite considerable economic growth. The 2007 Tanzania Household Budget Survey showed very little change in income poverty since 1991. Overall, in the 16 year period between 1991 and 2007, poverty fell by about five per cent. But most of this change can be explained by progress in Dar es Salaam. In rural areas, and other urban areas, the decline in poverty is too small to give confidence that poverty has actually fallen (Policy Forum-Tanzania). High economic growth in Tanzania has not been pro-poor.

Margaret Hodge Chairwoman – UK’s Public Accounts Committee “The Department’s (DfID) ability to make informed spending decisions is undermined by its poor understanding of levels of fraud and corruption”

Such dependency on aid can be understood in war-torn Iraq, but Tanzania’s dependence on foreign aid is surely difficult for DfID to justify. UK’s influential cross-party Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recently criticized DfID’s poor understanding of the scale and possibility of aid being lost to fraud and corruption. In the 2010-2011 fiscal years, DfID reported losses of £1,156,000 (0.016 per cent of total spending) which PAC stated to be unbelievably low. Even if the mechanisms for the effective administration of aid are present, it is inevitable that large amounts of DfID’s money will go astray (and certainly much more than the 0.016 per cent). In Tanzania alone, senior official’s estimate 20 per cent of the government’s budget in each fiscal year was lost to corruption, theft and fraud (U.S. Department of State 2009 Human Rights Report). Assuming this figure is accurate, £130 million of tax payers’ money will be lost to corruption over the next four years from DfID’s £643 million aid budget to Tanzania alone.

Corruption is endemic in Tanzania and a failure to effectively address it belies the Tanzanian government’s commitment to upholding the rule of law, the quintessence of any successful aid policy. Former British High Commissioner to Kenya Sir Edward Clay states that in Kenya, Secretary of State Mitchell and his predecessors have ‘missed the warnings about the folly of investing in a government whose most distinctive characteristic was its endemic corruption’ and that DfID policies have done little to address the systematic problem of corruption: providing an alibi for bad governance and doing little to ‘address a culture of impunity’. There is little to suggest the situation is any different in Tanzania (whilst it is acknowledged that Tanzania is aid dependent and Kenya isn’t).

The director of the International Centre for Tax and Development Research, Professor Odd-Helge Fjeldstad, observes that Tanzania is good at chasing donor money and argues that if efforts chasing donor funds were reduced by one per cent and redirected to increase local revenue collections, the treasury coffers could have increased. He highlights the negative relationship between aid funds and revenue collection. A recent study argues that if corporate tax had been paid on the 2010 revenue of Barrick Gold at the US Federal rate of 35 per cent, the monies raised would have been in the region of (Tanzania Shillings) TZS225 billion (approx. US$141,432,935.64).

In evidence submitted to the House of Lords Economic Development Committee in August, Sir Edward Clay highlights poor governance as a common cause of the failure of development assistance to achieve its objectives. He states that chronic poverty and, above all, deepening inequality, cannot be overcome without confronting corruption in its many forms and recognising the debilitating effects it has on the institutions of a state. This view is shared by Saumu Jumanne, a lecturer at Dar es Salaam University who states that Tanzania is poor because of poor leadership and management of the aid and that only a trickle of aid reaches the targeted groups and sometimes even aid for orphans is misappropriated.

Tanzanian writer Sebastian Sanga suggests Tanzania’s political stability misleads external partners as regards the realities of democracy and the degree of correct resource governance. He highlights the difficulties of propagating good governance in Tanzania stating powerful and self-interested economic actors gain control over the executive department, to their own advantage, meaning that there are then enormous losses for the entire society.

Mark Lowcock, Permanent Secretary at DfID Civil servant Mark Lowcock states his department has no idea about the scale of money lost to fraud and corruption

In light of such damning evidence of poor governance in Tanzania, it is hard to understand or indeed justify the contradistinctionary view held by the British government. DFID ranks Tanzania in the top 10 per cent of countries supported by British aid which has the potential to be most well used. Henry Bellingham, the British Minister for Africa recently assured Tanzania’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Bernard Membe that Tanzania would remain one of the top receivers of UK aid as it was one of the few countries in Africa with an outstanding human rights record and good governance. A policy that denies the true state of governance in aid receiving countries provides a vacuum for the misuse of aid, fuels corruption and does little to promote sustainable development and relieve the lives of the poor.

UK aid flows to Tanzania have increased from £111.776 million in 2006/7 to £146.045 in 2009 (SID 2011 Tables Index DfID) and are viewed by the Tanzanian government as a fait accompli. British lawyer Dirk Crols makes this point that African governments consider foreign aid as a permanent, reliable and consistent source of income providing no reason to adopt an alternative policy to foster and finance the economic development of their countries. He poses the question, if the only thing you have to do is to cash your cheques, why should you elaborate an economic-financial policy or planning in the long term?

The late economist Péter Bauer drew an unusual (but increasingly accepted) correlation between corruption and foreign aid, a phenomenon he referred to as the vicious cycle of aid. Bauer wrote that in countries where governments, public institutions and courts of law are corrupt, both domestic and foreign investment is unattractive. Fewer investments lead to a reduction in economic growth and thus an increase in poverty levels. As a response, donors give even more aid which further feeds corruption.

Zambian economist Dambisa Moyoclaims 50 per cent of UK aid will end up in the bank accounts of corrupt bureaucrats, in banks that are not even in the country where aid is supposed to go due to a lack of administrative infrastructure to allocate the money and efficient accountability mechanisms to oversee that the money is going to the right places. Tanzania has vast mineral resources and the means to develop itself; yet fifty years after independence it remains Africa’s largest recipient of aid with the British tax payer being the largest unilateral donor.

Andrew Mitchell states UK aid is about value for money and ensuring that every pound taken off hard-pressed taxpayers delivers 100 pence of value which is accountable to the British tax payer. Mitchell states the Coalition government takes a zero-tolerance approach to corruption and clamps down ruthlessly on any misuse of funds allowing British aid to deliver value for money and achieve the best results in fighting poverty and building a safer world.

However, Mark Lowcock, Permanent Secretary at DfID has confessed to the PAC that he does not know how much of DfID’s aid money was lost to fraud and corruption. ‘Poor people in developing countries expect the aid and debt relief received by their government to be spent in ways which actually improve their lives. Similarly, taxpayers in rich countries expect finance to poorer countries to be spent on fighting poverty.’ It is not suggested that UK cuts aid to Tanzania but, it is suggested that whilst issues of poor governance are ignored, corruption flourishes with impunity. As a result, the lives of the Tanzanian poor will not be sustainably relieved and the British tax payer will not get value for money in respect of its aid programme.

If we take a step back therefore and ask if today’s overseas development aid policy and practice is successful in Tanzania – successful, that is, in providing sufficient impetus to overcome the strong forces worldwide that keep its people poor, the answer is, it is not.

Sarah Hermitage is an anti-corruption activist and lawyer living in the UK. (sarah.hermitage@btinternet.com)

Rais wa Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ameanza ziara yake ya siku 5 hii leo ya Amerika ya kusini katika mataifa ambayo yanamuunga mkono katika msimamo wake dhidi ya Marekani ambayo inaoongoza juhudi za kuiwekea Vikwazo. Ziara hiyo itamfikisha Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba na Ecuador.Nchi hizo zote zinapinga ukandamizaji wa Marekani pamoja na mitazamo ya kikoloni. Rais Ahmadinejad amesema Amerika ya kusini ni  eneo ambalo halikubali tena kuchezewa na Marekani.

Katika nchi zote atakazotembelea ikiwemo Cuba Rais huyo wa Iran anapanga kutia saini mikataba. Maswala ya eneo hilo na yale ya kimataifa yatazungumziwa ikiwemo swala la Marekani kuingilia mipango ya nchi nyingine na kuwepo kwa majeshi yake duniani.

Marekani inaongoza kampeni ya kuibana Iran kiuchumi ili kuiadhibu kutokana na mpango wake wa Kinuklia. Marekani inashuku kwamba Iran inatengeneza Bomu la Nuklia madai ambayo yanapingwa nchini Iran.

Jamhuri ya Kiislamu ya Iran na Tanzania zimetia saini mkataba wa ushirikiano katika sekta za utamaduni na sanaa baina ya nchi mbili.
Kwa mujibu wa Shirika la Habari la Fars, mkataba huo umetiwa saini Tehran kati ya Waziri wa Utamaduni na Muongozo wa Kiislamu wa Iran Dk. Seyyed Mohammad Husseini na Waziri wa Habari, Vijana, Utamaduni na Michezo wa Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania Dk. Emmanuel John Nchimbi. Akizungumza katika kikao hicho Dk. Husseini amesema Iran iko tayari kushirikiana na Tanzania katika sekta ya utengenezaji filamu. Ameongeza kuwa Waislamu wa Tanzania wameiomba Iran iwatengenezee vipindi vya radio na televisheni kwa mujibu wa mafundisho ya Kiislamu. Ameongeza kuwa Waislamu wa Tanzania wameiomba Iran iwasaidie kuimarisha televisheni za Kiislamu nchini humo. Waziri wa Utamaduni na Muongozo wa Kiislamu wa Iran pia ameitaka Tanzania kuandaa ‘Wiki ya Utamaduni ya Tanzania nchini Iran’ ambapo athari za sanaa za Tanzania zitaonyeshwa. Kwa upande wake Dk. Nchimbi ameafiki kuandaliwa ‘Wiki ya Utamaduni ya Tanzania nchini Iran’. Aidha amesema Tanzania inahitajia msaada wa Iran katika sekta ya sinema.

Chama cha muungano wa Kikristo nchini Nigeria kimeonya kutokea kwa vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe, kufuatia mashambulizi ya mara kwa mara katika makanisa nchini humo. Baada ya mkutano wa viongozi wa makanisa, mkuu wa muungano huo  Ayo Oritsejafor amesema kwa sasa wakristo wataanza kujilinda dhidi ya vita hivyo.

Onyo hili katika  nchi inayojulikana sana kwa utajiri wake wa mafuta limekuja wakati ambapo kumekuwa na misururu ya mashambulizi ya mabomu na ufyatulianaji risasi unaofanywa  na wanamgambo wa kundi la itikadi kali za kiislamu la Boko Harram. Mashambulizi hayo yalioanza siku ya krismasi mwaka jana yamesababisha vifo vya watu zaidi ya themanini.

Kundi la Boko Harram limetishia kufanya mashambulizi zaidi dhidi ya wakristo iwapo hawataondoka eneo la kaskazini mwa nchi hiyo,wanalodai ni jimbo la kiislamu. Kundi hilo linataka kuanzishwa kwa sheria mpya ya kiislamu kote nchini Nigeria.

TAARIFA KWA UMMA WA WATANZANIA .
YAH; MADAKTARI WALIOKUWA MAFUNZONI/WASAIDIZI WA MADAKTARI BINGWA KUONDOLEWA KAZINI HOSPITALI YA TAIFA YA MUHIMBILI WAREJESHWE KAZINI.

Orodha ya kwanza ya maafisa wa kijeshi wa utawala wa Kizayuni wa Israel waliotekeleza jinai za kivita katika vita vya siku 22 dhidi ya Wapalestina huko Ghaza imetangazwa.
Kwa mujibu wa Shirika la Habari la Qudsna, orodha hiyo inajumuisha majina ya maafisa wa kijeshi na askari wa utawala wa Kizayuni ambao majina yao yalichapishwa katika tovuti ya ‘war criminals’ au watenda jinai za kivita mwaka 2009. Tovuti hiyo lihujumiwa punde baada ya kuchapisha majina hayo.

Kati ya waliotajwa katika orodha hiyo ya watenda jinai ni Gabi Ashkenazi mkuu wa zamani wa vikosi vyote vya kivita vya Israel. Wazayuni hao walihusika katika jinai za kinyama wakati wa vita vya siku 22 dhidi ya Ukanda wa Ghaza. Vita hivyo vilianza mwishoni mwa mwaka 2008 ambapo Wapalestina wapatao 1500 wakiwemo wanawake na watoto zaidi ya 500 waliuawa shahidi.
Waliowengi duniani wanataka Wazayuni hao watenda jinai wafikishwe katika vyombo vya sheria vya kimataifa lakini Marekani inatumia ushawishi wake vibaya kuzuia hatua zozote kali kuchukuliwa dhidi ya watenda jinai hao wa kivita.

MARUFUKU WANAUME KUUZA SIDIRIA NA CHUPI ZA KIKE
Sheria mpya inayowapiga marufuku wanaume kuuza nguo za ndani za wanawake kama vile chupi na sidiria inaanza kutekelezwa hii leo nchini Saudi Arabia.

Wanaharakati wa kike katika Ufalme huo wa kiislamu wanatumai kuwa agizo hilo lililotolewa na mfalme Abdulla mwaka wa 2006, utamaliza mfadhaiko ulipo wakati wanawake wanauziwa nguo zao za wasaidizi wanaume madukani.

AJIRA KWA WANAWAKE
Hatua hiyo itawapa fursa adimu zaidi ya wanawake 40,000 kuchukua nafasi za kazi zitakazoaachwa wazi.

Maafisa wa kidini wasiopendelea mabadiliko wamepinga vikali hatua hiyo ya wanawake kufanya kazi nje ya nyumba zao.

Serikali imepanga kupeleka waangalizi katika vituo vya biashara kote nchini kuhakikisha kwamba wasaidizi wanawake madukani hawabughudhiwi na maafisa wa polisi wa kidini.

The daughter of influential former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was on Tuesday sentenced to jail and banned from political activities for “anti state propaganda” dating back to the 2009 disputed presidential election, Iranian media reported.

The Islamic state has piled pressure on the opposition ahead of a parliamentary election in March 2, the first test of the clerical establishment’s popularity since the 2009 vote that critics say was rigged to re-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Rafsanjani, who heads a powerful body that resolves disputes between parliament and a hardline clerical body, sided with the pro-reformers after that vote, which brought tens of thousands of people onto the streets during eight months of protests.

Daughter Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani went on trial last month on charges of “campaigning against the Islamic establishment,” student news agency ISNA said.

She was arrested and briefly detained after addressing supporters of candidate Mirhossein Mousavi when they gathered near the state television building in Tehran in defiance of a ban on opposition protests in the aftermath of the election.

“My client has been sentenced to six months in jail and banned from engaging in any cultural and political activities for five years,” ISNA quoted her lawyer Gholam-Ali Riyahi as saying. She has 20 days to appeal.

Thousands of people, including senior members of the reformist bloc, were detained after the vote for fomenting unrest. Most of them have since been released, but more than 80 people have been jailed for up to 15 years and five have been sentenced to death.

Iranian media reported on Friday that Iran had blocked the former president’s website for carrying pro-reform statements.

Mousavi, a former prime minister, and Mehdi Karoubi, a cleric and a former parliament speaker who led the opposition, have been under house arrest since February and denied any contact with the outside world.

Iranian authorities said the 2009 vote was healthiest in three decades and accused the United States and Israel of backing the opposition to overthrow the clerical establishment.

The election and its aftermath plunged Iran into its biggest internal crisis since the 1979 Islamic revolution and has created a deepening rift among the hardline rulers.

The registration of hopefuls for March’s election ended on Friday with more than 4,500 candidates registered.

Ahmadinejad’s allies will want to secure a majority in the assembly to bolster his chances of winning a presidential vote in 2013.

Leading reformist politicians said pro-reform political parties have decided not to provide a separate list of candidates because the basic needs of a “free and fair” vote have not been fulfilled.

Authorities are concerned that a low turnout will further harm the establishment’s legitimacy. Frustration is simmering among lower- and middle-class Iranians over Ahmadinejad’s economic policies. Prices of most consumer goods have risen substantially and many people struggle to make ends meet.

TEHRAN (Reuters) –

(Writing by Mitra Amiri; Editing by Alison Williams)

Korea Kaskazini imewaamuru raia wake na wanajeshi kumlinda kiongozi wao mpya, Kim Jong Un, hadi kifo ili kuimarisha ulinzi na kuendeleza sera ya siri ya kulitanguliza jeshi katika nafasi ya kwanza. Magazeti muhimu ya Korea Kaskazini yameandika katika makala maalum ya mwaka mpya kwamba chama, jeshi na umma unatakiwa kumlinda kiongozi huyo mpya mwenye umri karibu miaka 30 hadi kifo. Katika makala hiyo,magazeti  hayo yanasema mwaka mpya 2012 utaleta enzi ya neema  kwa Korea Kaskazini. Maafisa wa Korea Kaskazini pia wametaka wanajeshi wa Marekani waondoke Korea Kusini wakisema kuwepo kwao ni kikwazo kikubwa cha amani katika eneo la Korea.

Wakati huo huo Korea Kaskazini imekiri kuwapo matatizo  makubwa ya chakula yanayowakabili wananchi wake. Utawala wa nchi hiyo pia umesisitiza kuwa unataka kuendelea kuimarisha sera za kiongozi aliyeaga dunia wiki mbili zilizopita, Kim Jong Il. Hakuna matumaini ya kufanyika mageuzi katika taifa hilo lililotengwa na jumuiya ya kimataifa.