User:Kagwa/Teweli

Teweli Kyara Teweli is a corporate communications specialist based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Teweli was born on June 12th 1976 at the KCMC Hospital in Moshi Tanzania.

EDUCATION:

University:	Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication at Briar Cliff University, Sioux City, Iowa, U.S.A. September, 1995- May, 1999.

Advanced Level: 		Villiers School, Limerick, Ireland. 1992- 1995 Leaving Certificate equivalent of the GCSE Advanced level

Ordinary Level: 		Villiers School, Limerick, Ireland. 1990-1992			The Grange School, Limuru, Kenya. 1988-1989

Primary Education: 	Arusha International Primary School, 1982-1988.

His father Dr. Steve Kyara Mworia is a well known businessman who made his name with WANG computers in 1980's and ventured into banking and insurance. Teweli's mother Christine Massawe Mworia was mostly a housewife before she started modest farm in the late 1990's.

Teweli became well known in Tanzania first as an english news anchor on the state-ownes TVT (now Tanzania Broadcasting Corp. TBC) in 2001 to 2003. After leaving civil service he began what would turn out to be a controversial string of appointments firstly with Tanzania Cigarette Company (TCC), which is a subsidiary of JT International (JTI), of Geneva, Switzerland. TCC is listed on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange and its principal activities are manufacturing, distribution, sale, marketing and export of cigarettes. TCC has a total of 16 branches across Tanzania.

Teweli joined TCC's Corporate Affairs team in 2003 as a Public Relations Coordinator and later promoted to Corporate Affairs Manager in charge of managing media relations, implementing media relations strategies to maximize media opportunities to promote JTI’s successes and the company’s stand on key issues and perception management. During this period Teweli's name became a house hold name as he defended the role of tobacco in a developing country. During his time he ran a public relations campaign that supported the launch of three new cigarrette brands (Safari Monthol, Safari and Club Menthol), despite the growing concern and awarness of tobacco products impact on national health. Teweli used medical statistics to argue that in fact the deaseases that had the most severe impact on the Tanzanain public were not related to smoking. He was famously quoted asking a journalist what the top three killers in Tanzania were, as the journalist hesistated, he quipped "Malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS in that order", adding " TCC is the second biigest taxpayer in the country, which means outside of the Global Fund, we are one of the biggest contributors for the government to fight these killers". During his tenure TCC's marketing group launched an alien brand called Str8 Muzik, which became the vehile for a genius marketing campaign that brought A-list music artists to Tanzania.

In July 2007 Teweli resigned from TCC to joing Barrick Gold's Tanzanian operations. Barrick Gold Corporation is the preeminent gold producer in the world, then with 27 operating mines on 4 continents and headquartered in Toronto, Canada. In Tanzania, Barrick operated four mines in Bulyanhulu, North Mara and Tulawaka and newest being Buzwagi.

Teweli was employed by Barrick as a Senior Communication Officer on probation and upon confirmation through a baptism of fire, he headed the Public Relations and Communications functions, reporting to the Executive General Manager. As he was getting his feet wet, in August 2007 a young Tanzanian parliarmentarioan called Zitto Kabwe launched an attack on Barrick Gold for aleggedly signing a mining development agreement in dubious circumstances. Shortly afterwards Teweli was to experience his first crisis management encounter when Barrick's Bulyanhulu Gold Mine fired 900 employees admist a strike, which it claimed to be illegal.