Pata picha kwa speed hii, try to figure out, how will Chato be in 2035 after this heavy investment starting now if at all he will stay in power for 10 years, i hear a talk about textile factories but i read of gazetted GOT tenders about construction of an international Airport less than 140 km from what is soon to be Mwanza International Airport while Mtwara and Lindi with resources valued at over $400 bln that need over $30 bln worthy of investment; lays idle without the necessary infrastructure to support those massive investment projects i.e. mega LNG plant. A rival Mozambique has already built an international airport at Nacala to make the movement of poeple easier at both the Nacala port and Ruvuma basin where massive gas at over 160 Tcf compared to ours at 57 Tcf has been discovered!
President Mobutu's ruined jungle paradise, Gbadolite - in pictures
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The president of what was then Zaire lavished millions on a palace complex and international airport in the remote town of Gbadolite. Guardian photographer Sean Smith heads for the jungle to document the pitiful shell that remains
Where Concorde once flew: the story of Mobutu’s ‘African Versailles’
Sean Smith in Gbadolite
Tuesday 10 February 2015 13.04 GMT Last modified on Tuesday 10 February 2015 14.04 GMT
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A mural of former President Mobutu outside the mayor’s office in Gbadolite. When Joseph Desire Mobutu took power he renamed himself Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Waza Banga (meaning ‘the all-powerful warrior who, because of endurance and an inflexible will to win, will go from conquest to conquest leaving fire in his wake’)
Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
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The air-traffic control tower of Gbadolite’s international airport, whose runway is long enough to accommodate Concorde. Now it welcomes only two or three tiny aircraft a week from the UN and a commercial operator
Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
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Inside the abandoned control tower
Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
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The VIP arrivals terminal: Pope John Paul II, UN secretary-general Boutros Boutros Ghali and American televangelist Pat Robertson may have all passed through here
Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
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Inside the main airport terminal
Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
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The main terminal at Gbadolite airport
Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
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The Water Ministry building was never finished and is now used as a school
Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
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Inside the school
Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
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The Motel Nzekele, built by Mobutu, had five stars when it opened in 1979
Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
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The motel’s empty swimming pool. Guests reportedly included the pope, the Belgian king and French president François Mitterrand
Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
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Ripped cinema seating inside the Motel Nzekele
Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
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An unfinished bridge in Gbadolite
Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
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The main gates to Mobutu’s private palace still stand. Locals charge visitors $20 to access the former president’s estate
Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
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The entrance gate and road to the main palace complex
Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
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Walking among the ruins. Mobutu’s private palace, seven miles outside town in Kawele, once brimmed with paintings, sculptures, stained glass, ersatz Louis XIV furniture and marble from Carrara
Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
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Francois Kosia Ngama, whose grandmother was a teacher to Mobutu’s mother, stands in the disused swimming pool
Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
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Mobutu’s palace. In its heyday it employed more than 700 staff - including chauffeurs, chefs and servants - as well as 300 soldiers
Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
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Inside the palace grounds. Slowly but surely, the palace is being reclaimed by the jungle
Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
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Inside Mobutu’s bedroom. The entire roof of the palace has gone, leaving only a skeleton of red steel girders
Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
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A fountain with statues of lions. Only two of the original four remain
Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
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President Mobutu's ruined jungle paradise, Gbadolite - in pictures