In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and Merciful

 

 

Strategic Planning Committee

of the

Africa Federation

 

 

 

Report for the period of March 2003 – April 2004

 

 

 

Mission Statement:

 

To facilitate the development of a Strategic Vision, Plan and Resource Mobilization strategy for the Africa Federation and to project and evaluate it’s progress.

 

Brief Description:

 

We had presented a report last year in which we had outlined our objective.

 

The Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) shall endeavor to provide a roadmap engulfing all aspects of Africa Federation’s scope of work.  This shall be achieved by first gathering the data required to prepare such a roadmap.  In conjunction with professionals and elders, SPC shall analyze the data and begin formulating strategies which shall be presented to Africa Federation.

 

The above objective could not be achieved in the time frame provided to us. The data that was needed to render this exercise was not complete. The major jamaats have yet to compile the data and present it to us. We urge all the jamaats that have yet to provide the data to do so as soon as possible.  We have analyzed the data that we had on hand, and used these assumptions to provide our report.

 

Office Bearers:

 

Chairman      Abbas M.P. Jessa

Secretary      Mustafa S Jacksi

Member         Hussein F. Dharsee

Member         Mohammed G. Dewji

Member         Kazim F. Kermali

Member         Mustafa Tharoo

 

 

 

Activities:

 

Economic Upliftment Presentation

 

In October we had presented a paper at the WF conference held in Dubai about the Economic Upliftment of the communities in Africa.  The presentation was made by Br. Mohammed Dewji.  It discussed the current state of our communities and the economic problems faced by our brothers and sisters.  The presentation also suggested different solutions to overcome these problems and return our communities to the previously prosperous situation.

 

Census Data

 

The census Data was gathered for all the jamaats in Tanzania except for Dar-es-Salaam.   We were also unable to attain the data from all the other jamaats despite numerous reminders.  The census form was translated to French to accommodate the French speaking communities. 

 

Data Analyses and some Observations:

 

Using the data that we had, all the information has been entered into a database.  This database has been designed to cater for updates and verification. 

 

Some of the completed forms lacked some information and were incomplete.  Although the data entered was qualified, a verification exercise of the forms is also required to check the accuracy of the data.

 

Below are basic reports from the data that we had.

 

Demographic Breakdown

 

 

Total Males

Total Females

Total

Arusha(ARS)

322

325

647

Bukoba(BKB)

113

114

227

Songea(SNG)

66

83

149

Zanzibar(ZNZ)

75

65

140

Tanga(TNG)

60

44

104

Mtwara(MTW)

45

29

74

Dodoma(DOD)

29

39

68

Moshi(MSH)

25

33

58

Lindi(LND)

36

19

55

MOROGORO(MGO)

18

27

45

Tunduru(TND)

14

16

30

Kigoma(KGM)

15

11

26

Dar es-Salaam(DSM)

5

9

14

Singida(SGD)

7

3

10

 

830

817

1647

 

 

Professional Breakdown by Gender

 

 

Total Male Count  

Total Female Count  

Total Count  

No Profession

486

753

1,239

Misc Profession and Business

197

52

249

Engineering

35

2

37

Manufacturing & Production

27

9

36

Mechanical& Technical

31

1

32

Computer

15

7

22

Medical

10

2

12

Farming,Agriculture or Marine(Sea)

1

4

5

Other

37

5

42

 

 

839

835

1,674

 

 

 

 

Medical Status Breakdown

 

Medical Status

Total Male Count  

Total Female Count  

Total Count  

Able Bodies/Healthy

797

785

1582

Disabled/Handicapped

6

6

12

Heart Related

9

3

12

Wheel Chair

1

10

11

Diabetic

6

4

10

Asthma

4

6

10

Deaf/Mute

4

2

6

Bed Bound

0

3

3

Retarded

2

1

3

Blind

1

1

2

Other Health Disorder

9

14

23

 

839

835

1674

 

Blood Group Breakdown

 

 

 

Blood Group

Count

Unknown

757

B Positive (B+)

426

O Positive (O+)

224

A Positive (A+)

178

B Negative (B-)

39

AB Positive (AB+)

34

A Negative (A-)

10

O Negative (O-)

5

AB Negative (AB-)

1

 

 

Employment Countdown

Occupation

Total Male Count  

Total Female Count  

Total Count  

Student

158

228

386

Housewife (Full Time)

0

279

279

Self Employed

264

9

273

Employed

108

30

138

Retired (No Pension)

8

32

40

Un-Employed

5

14

19

Housewife (Self Employed)

0

17

17

Housewife (Employed)

0

7

7

Seeking

2

2

4

Not Applicable

294

217

511

 

839

835

1674

 

 

 

Marital Status

 

Marital Status

Male Count  

Female Count  

Ratio:(Male/Female)  

Total  

Single

392

373

1.05

765

Engaged

3

3

1.00

6

Married

428

372

1.15

800

Separated

1

2

0.50

3

Divorced

6

12

0.50

18

Widowed

9

73

0.12

82

 

839

835

 

1674

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Education Breakdown

 

School/Academy

Total Male Count  

Total Female Count  

Total Count  

Never Went

188

173

361

Primary/Junior

178

274

452

Secondary/High

336

295

631

Post Secondary

48

31

79

Vocational

4

12

16

Some College

40

27

67

University

45

23

68

 

839

835

1674

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Housing Breakdown

 

Residence Type

Flat

House

Bungalow

Total Count

Self

82

56

15

153

Community

14

4

0

18

Trust

7

1

0

8

Self/Family (Lien/Mortgage)

4

0

0

4

Government-Owned

34

8

0

42

Private

25

17

3

45

 

166

86

18

270

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion:

 

“I do not fear poverty amongst my ummah more than I fear the

consequences of poor planning”

 

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

 

In this day and age, now more than ever, it is critical to plan, as illustrated by our Prophet 1400 years ago.  The Strategic Planning committee envisages better planning in our community if access to information is made available to our leaders.  To illustrate our point, let’s take an example.

 

This is JUST and example.  A large jamaat may see the need for facilitating the disabled within the community.  A plan may be drawn up to build wheelchair ramps, disabled bathrooms, elevators, disabled Vans, etc.  The budget for this project could be as much as $300,000.  Upon closer analysis of the census data and number of disabled members within the Jamaat, it could prove the expense unjustifiable.  However, without such information, we could end up making wrong decisions.

 

We urge our leaders to emphasize the importance of gathering the census information within their respective communities and send them to us.  We also urge them to conduct the census with maximum accuracy to avoid misleading information.

 

For the Jamaats that have submitted their completed census forms, we are able to provide Jamaat level reports to them as well.  The complete census database will be installed at the Africa Federation office.