Latest news with #Mwanza
Associated Press
26-06-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Africa's Longest Low-Pylon Cable-Stayed Bridge Opens in Tanzania
BEIJING, June 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The JP Magufuli Bridge in Tanzania's Mwanza Province officially opened to traffic on June 19, 2025. Built by China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC), the 4.66-kilometer structure stands as Africa's longest low-pylon cable-stayed bridge, featuring a 520-meter main span with three towers and dual cable planes that connects both shores of Lake Victoria. During the opening ceremony, Tanzanian officials praised China's sustained support and the project team's professionalism. Despite facing numerous challenges over five years of construction—including the COVID-19 pandemic, complex geological conditions, and equipment supply chain disruptions—the team delivered the project on schedule while maintaining high construction standards. The bridge's completion delivers substantial economic and social benefits to the region. Commute times between shores have plummeted from 40 minutes by ferry to under five minutes by road, while freight costs have dropped 10-15%. These improvements are energizing local agriculture, tourism, and commerce, driving new economic growth across the region. The bridge incorporates environmentally conscious design and local cultural elements. Its towers resemble outstretched arms, symbolizing Tanzania's embrace of cooperation and prosperity, while the structure features the colors of Tanzania's national flag, creating a striking landmark along Lake Victoria's shoreline. This 'dream bridge' fulfills the late President John Magufuli's vision while exemplifying successful China-Africa collaboration. It represents mutual trust and shared benefits between the two regions, embodying East Africa's aspirations for greater connectivity and prosperity. Company: China Railway Construction Corporation Limited Contact Person: Wen Kai Email: [email protected] Website: Telephone: 010-52688232 City: Beijing, China A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
Scoop
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
World Refugee Day: Telling Their Stories
19 June 2025 While hotspots include Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Palestine, displacement affects every region of the world. In the lead-up to World Refugee Day, Friday, the UN is spotlighting the importance of solidarity with refugees through support, solutions, and the power of storytelling. Zahra Nader: Reporting from exile Ahead of World Refugee Day, UN News spoke with Zahra Nader, a refugee, journalist and women's rights activist from Afghanistan. At age six, Nader and her family fled to Iran after the Taliban first took power, where she was denied access to education and faced racism. Returning to Afghanistan years later, the stark contrast between life in exile and the opportunity to attend school ignited her passion for journalism and advocacy. In August 2021, while she was pursuing a PhD in Canada, the Taliban regained control, shattering her dreams of returning home to teach and conduct fieldwork. ' I felt as a journalist who grew up in Kabul, who became a journalist there, I have a right and responsibility to tell these stories of women in Afghanistan,' she said. 'This is really inhuman, for half of the population of a country to be stripped of their basic human rights because they were born female.' Channeling that pain into action, she founded Zan Times, an Afghan women-led newsroom in exile documenting human rights abuses in Afghanistan, particularly those affecting women. Despite limited funding and growing risks to her reporters, Nader continues her work to ensure that Afghan women are seen and heard. She described the situation in Afghanistan as ' the most severe women's rights crisis of our time ', calling international action insufficient and warning that inaction emboldens the Taliban and its misogynistic ideologies. Despite her trauma and current inability to return, Nader remains optimistic and urges young Afghan women to resist through learning and preparing for a better future. 'I am hopeful, and I want to be also part of that change, to envision a better future for Afghanistan, and do my part to make that future happen.' Barthelemy Mwanza: From survival to leadership On Thursday, UN Video featured the story of Barthelemy Mwanza, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) who is now a youth leader and advocate. At 18, Mwanza was caught between pressure to join an armed tribal group involved in nationwide conflict and his father's plea to stay out of the fight, a decision that could have cost him his life. To survive, he fled to the Tongogara refugee camp in Zimbabwe. Emotionally overwhelmed from being displaced from his home country, 'It really made me cry to say 'Where am I?'' Mwanza said. 'Later on, I was like, 'Till when will I continue to cry? Shouldn't I look at the future?'' He began volunteering with UNHCR, leading more than 5,000 young refugees through initiatives tackling gender-based violence, youth protection, and climate action. Now resettled in Ohio, United States, Mwanza continues to collaborate with UNHCR to elevate refugee voices, inspire climate action and share his story. Empowering and advocating for refugees on a global stage 'was one of my dreams, and now I can really see that it's coming to life,' he concluded.
IOL News
14-06-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Zambia's youngest mayor calls on South African youth to take charge of local governance
South Africans youth have been encouraged by Zambia's youngest mayor, George Mwanza, to run for office during the 2026 local government elections. Image: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers George Mwanza, the young mayor of Chipata, Zambia, has urged South African youth not to miss opportunities to make a difference in local government by being candidates in next year's municipal elections. Mwanza was 27 when he swept into office in the eastern Zambian city, on the border with Malawi, in 2021 as an independent candidate full of promises of change. He became Zambia's youngest mayor and the first to be elected independent of a political party since the country gained its independence in 1964. Mwanza was rejected by the ruling party at the time, the Patriotic Front led by Edgar Lungu, the former president of Zambia, who died earlier this month in Tshwane. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading 'I was the first independent mayor. I was clearly rejected by the political party system. They said I was too young to be a mayor of a city for that matter, but the people gave me the vote through direct vote – one man, one vote,' Mwanza said on the sidelines of the two-day U20 African Mayors' Assembly at the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research in Tshwane this week. According to Mwanza, he was told he was too young and could not be mayor, and other small parties approached him, but he had the resolve to work for the people independently. He explained that in Zambia, the voting system allows registered citizens to vote for their preferred leader or mayor, enabling any young person with a dream to run for elections and gain citizen support. Mwanza is proud to continue representing not only the citizens of Chipata but also the young African people hopeful for youth leadership and to be given an opportunity to lead in their various countries. 'South Africa needs young people in leadership, especially in local government, which interfaces with the challenges of the citizens every day. It requires young people with energy, fresh ideas to innovate at the grassroots level and drive change from the grassroots,' explained Mwanza, who studied at the Zambian Open University, University of Lusaka, and internationally in Amsterdam. He encouraged young people in South Africa to run and take advantage of the 2026 local government elections and offer themselves for leadership. 'Africa needs them, it needs their innovation and energy. There is a lot of work in local government, it requires young people who can run 24/7. There is no holiday in local government,' Mwanza added. He believes local government and cities are the engines of transformation for African economies and for countries on the continent. Mwanza understands his responsibility does not end and stop with Chipata but also to send a voice to the African continent to entrust leadership to young people who can drive fresh ideas, innovation, and people-centred leadership. 'And this is what is so important about my election. We are working extremely hard to ensure that we provide services, embrace innovation, and young people and women with traditional knowledge on how they wish to address various challenges they face in entrepreneurship and how their daily lives can be improved,' he said. The son of a local marketeer mother and a peasant farmer, Mwanza said seeing his parents experience injustice from those who are powerful politically sparked his interest in high office. 'So when I was growing up, I said I needed to be in a position of leadership so that I could protect those who are weak in society, so that is the desire to lead that started when I was young,' he remembered. However, the other issue was the incapacity of the municipality to provide sanitation facilities for traders while collecting resources such as daily levies and so on. 'So I said, when I become a mayor and I'm able to provide, I'm going to provide sanitation facilities. I didn't know that I would be the mayor, but I wanted to be in a position of leadership.' He said he decided to work on a three to four-year plan with the community, mobilise young people, and tell them that they also needed to participate in shaping the future. And that is how he ended up planning to run as an independent, simply volunteering in communities with a local NGO supporting citizens to claim their right to development. 'That is what we were doing every day, and that gave me a lot of traction and direct contact with the citizens,' stated Mwanza. In Chipata, Mwanza's primary role is to make sure citizens can access services that they are duly entitled to from the municipality easily in the comfort of their homes. 'That is the reason why three years ago, we introduced the digital system for billing processes (so that) people can receive whatever notices and bills, or responsibilities that they have to contribute to their city, right in the comfort of their homes on their phones,' he said. The service is available in both English and Ngoni, and it does not matter whether residents have big or small phones, but they are able to receive reminders, according to Mwanza.
The Guardian
10-06-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Brighton's trailblazer Aisha Masaka: ‘It was my dream to play in Europe'
Aisha Masaka became the first Tanzanian footballer to play in the Women's Super League (WSL) when she signed for Brighton last summer, and she is a pioneer for her country in several ways. Masaka was the first to play in the Champions League, when she was with the Swedish Club BK Häcken, from 2022 to 2024, and recently launched the AKM Foundation, aimed at fighting poverty and promoting gender equality through sport. Masaka started playing street football as a teenager and dabbled in every other sport available to her including basketball and volleyball, much to her parents' dismay. 'We fought a lot because parents, especially in Africa, find it difficult to allow their girls to play football,' says the 21-year-old. 'They wanted me to go to school and not be involved in any sport at all.'. However, Masaka persisted and her parents could not hold her back when she was offered a place at the Alliance Academy in the city of Mwanza, on the shores of Lake Victoria. 'When the opportunity came, I told them I had to take it,' Masaka says. 'It was an academic school and a football academy, so that's why they agreed to let me to go there. They said If I was going to study and play then it was OK for them. That's where my career started.' The academy proved the perfect training ground for Masaka, who from there went to Yanga Princess, the female-affiliate of Tanzania's most successful club team, Young Africans. It was not long before she was on the national radar, and in 2020 was part of the Tanzanian team that participated as invited guests at the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) Under-17 Championship. Tanzania won, beating Zambia on penalties in the final, with Masaka earning the golden boot. She scored 10 goals and had done enough to be spotted by a scout from Europe and offered a deal in Sweden. It was a big move for a teenager but one Masaka had to take. 'It was my dream to play in Europe, so when that opportunity came I didn't hesitate to take it. I was very excited to go to play in Europe,' she says. 'The environment is different, everything is different and it was my first time living alone, so it was a big change. But I managed well.' Masaka made her debut for Häcken in the second qualifying-round of the 2022-23 Champions League, against Paris Saint-Germain. Masaka scored five goals in 14 appearances for the club before moving to England. 'It was amazing because everyone at home saw that I was signed for a top league and they looked at it as a big achievement for me and for the country,' she says. Is Tanzania now filled with Brighton supporters? 'Definitely,' Masaka laughs. 'It's also important for other footballers because the players who play in the top league and the national team look at me and say that I play in a top league and with big players and they know they can do it too.' Masaka's experiences in the WSL have not quite gone to plan. She made her debut for Brighton as an 87th-minute substitute against Arsenal in November and almost immediately fell, severely injuring her shoulder in the process. She was sidelined for five months, which was hugely frustrating but Masaka used her time out wisely, conceptualising AKM. It was launched last month and well and truly kicked off last weekend with an all-stars charity match, a few days after Masaka received the Female Athlete of the Year award from Tanzania's National Sports Council. The prize was in recognition of Masaka's international record, namely scoring nine times in 16 appearances for Tanzania and being part of the squad that qualified for this summer's Women's Africa Cup of Nations for only the second time in the country's history. 'It was big pressure,' Masaka says. 'I don't think I have ever experienced that before, but it was amazing for me to qualify for the first time and for the second time as a country. When Tanzania qualified for the first time, I wasn't even playing football.' Tanzania are in the same group as the defending champions, South Africa, Ghana and Mali and Masaka is hopeful they will acquit themselves. 'I have been a player in two big tournaments: the Champions League and the Women's Super League but the Women's Africa Cup of Nations is so special for me because there I represent the country,' she says. 'I believe we're going to perform well and my dream is to get to the quarter-finals.' Masaka also hopes Tanzania can qualify for Wafcon again, the process for which begins in March next year. She also has domestic ambitions. 'At Brighton I also hope we can fight and be top four and then to go to Champions League.' Groups for U-17 WWC announced: The defending champions, North Korea, have been drawn alongside Mexico, Cameroon, and the Netherlands in the Under-17 Women's World Cup, which will take place in Morocco from 17 October. The hosts have been placed in the same pool as Brazil, Italy and Costa Rica. The tournament has been expanded from 16 teams to 24 and will be played annually, with Morocco awarded rights to the next five events. Bayern celebrate milestone: Bayern Munich marked 55 years since the creation of their women's team on Saturday with a special feature on the club's website headlined by an image of the first team from June 1970. At the time, women's football was banned by Germany's Football Association – the sanction was lifted that October and, six years later, Bayern lifted their first title. This year Bayern won the domestic double for the first time. I'm definitely ready if the call comes. Just yesterday I was playing in a hobby league match, so my game feel is good' – the 51-year-old Finnish player Stina Ruuskanen could see the lighter side of things upon being accidentally called up to the national squad. The manager, Outi Saarinen, mistakenly included her instead of 23-year-old Nanne Ruuskanen. England's wild week and their Euros squad are assessed by the team in our latest Women's Football Weekly podcast. South Africa completed their Africa Cup of Nations' preparations by winning a tri-nation tournament, featuring their fellow Wafcon contenders Botswana and Zambia. The African champions took top spot with a 2-0 victory over Zambia, which included a superb free-kick from Bongeka Gamede. Do you have any questions for one of the most successful football managers in the history of the sport? If so, you can post them here and we'll put them to her at the end of the week for an upcoming reader interview. Arsenal have announced that all their WSL matches will be played at the Emirates Stadium next season. Suzanne Wrack has more. Robert Vilahamn has been sacked by Spurs after two years in charge. Kenza Dali tells Tom Garry about being dramatically left out of France's Euros squad, her exit from Aston Villa and a new lease of life in San Diego. Sarina Wiegman and England still have work to do to blow away clouds of doubt, reckons Suzanne. And here is Wiegman's Euro squad in pictures. And track all the latest big moves in our transfer interactive.
Sunday World
18-05-2025
- Sunday World
Edmore Mwanza: Drunk driver said Google Maps told him to drive wrong way on motorway
Edmore Mwanza has been fined and given multiple driving bans A driver with a Waterford address who drove the wrong way on the M8 motorway in Tipperary after consulting Google Maps, has been fined and given multiple driving bans. Speaking at a hearing at Cashel District Court, Garda John Shanahan told Judge Brian O'Shea that on April 29, 2024, there were multiple reports of a vehicle travelling on the M8 motorway near Junction 11. Gda Shanahan arrived at the scene and the vehicle was located, facing the wrong way, at a layby. The location was in the townland of Raheenroe, Burncourt, Cahir, Co Tipperary. The garda spoke to the driver, Edmore Mwanza, of The Malt House, Mary Street, Waterford. Mr Mwanza was arrested and taken to a garda station where he provided a sample of breath. It showed a reading of 63 micrograms of alcohol per 100mls of breath. The legal limit is 22/100. Mr Mwanza was charged with a drink driving offence. He told the garda he had been using Google Maps at the time, and 'it told him to turn around' and drive 'in the other direction' directly on to the motorway, said Gda Shanahan. He has no previous convictions. Judge O'Shea said he would normally fine a driver €200 for such a drink driving offence, but in this case, he fined the defendant €500, and disqualified him from driving for two years. Mr Mwanza was also disqualified from driving for two terms of two years each, to run concurrently, in relation to no insurance and dangerous driving.
