The female mechanics breaking barriers in Tanzania

Two Tanzanian women are challenging traditional gender roles in the auto mechanics industry.

Mwasiti Salum and Catherine Kimaro work in the coastal city of Dar es Salaam where majority of the mechanics are men.

The society is yet to accept female mechanics but the two are slowly changing their views.

“I once met a woman whose car had broken down on the road. I offered to help telling her I was a mechanic but she insulted me instead of accepting my help,” Ms Kimaro

She says there is a lot of money to be made in the automotive repairs industry.

“My father convinced me to join this field after seeing the opportunities that were there,” Ms Salum said.

The two women have faced sexual harassment at work which they said was common in most male-dominated fields in the country.

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Rwanda mulls imposing Netflix tax – report

The Rwandan authorities are considering a proposal to impose a tax on online services, the New Times website reports quoting an official from the tax collection authority.

The proposed Value Added Tax (VAT) is considered as “a necessary one”, Jean-Louis Kaliningondo of the the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) is quoted as saying.

“When you pay for services such as Netflix, you are using money that you have generated in Rwanda. So, we are asking, why don’t we collect VAT on these services if they are being paid for by our citizens?” he posed.

African countries have increasingly been taxing digital services in efforts to broaden revenue collection.

Last year, Kenya introduced the Digital Service Tax (DST) that imposed a 1.5% flat tax on the value of goods or services sold on digital platforms.

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Two dead as UN, AU warn of ‘grave danger’ in Sudan

Two protesters were shot dead during protests in Sudan on Thursday, as UN and African Union officials warned that the country was in “grave danger”.

Hundreds took to the streets across Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman, witnesses said.

Security forces shot dead one protester in Omdurman and another in Khartoum, pro-democracy doctors said.

At least 87 people have been killed and hundreds wounded during more than four months of protests demanding civilian rule and justice for those killed in previous demonstrations, according to medics.

“All indicators available to us at the UN and AU show that the country is in grave danger,” said African Union envoy Mohamed Lebatt at a joint news conference in Khartoum with UN special representative Volker Perthes.

“We are deeply concerned about the state of the country,” he said, calling for a resumption of the transition to full civilian rule.

The AU has suspended Sudan’s membership since army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan led a coup in October.

The military takeover derailed a painstakingly negotiated transition between civilians and military leaders following the April 2019 ouster of dictator Omar al-Bashir following massive street protests.

It triggered international condemnation and regular mass anti-coup protests.

Hundreds of political figures and pro-democracy activists have been rounded up in the broadening crackdown.

On Thursday, Lebatt urged Sudan’s key civilian factions to iron out their differences and seek a consensus.

“If they remain split, they will throw the country’s future in the hands of the military institution,” he said.

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