Nyerere day will remain as a national symbol

After a 31-region marathon, which covered about 195 councils across the country, the symbolic Uhuru Torch race concludes today in Urban West Region, Zanzibar, with President  John Magufuli graced the occasion yesterday at Amaan Stadium in Zanzibar. The Freedom Torch’s extinguishing event coincided with the 18th anniversary of the death of the founding Father of the Nation, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and thousands of Tanzanians, including national leaders, politicians and ordinary citizens as well as invited guests, witnessed the historic fete. Dr Magufuli arrived in Zanzibar on Thursday ready to preside over the Uhuru Torch race’s climax ceremony. He visited his host, Dr Ali Mohamed Shein at Zanzibar State House, where the two leaders held private talks. In line with commemoration of the 18th anniversary of the passing away of the country’s beloved son and hero, Nyerere, President Magufuli, accompanied by the First Lady, Janeth Magufuli, and attended a special prayer service for the late Mwalimu Nyerere at Anglican Cathedral, located in Stone Town.The Anglican Cathedral, also known as the Christ Church Cathedral, is a remnant of early Christian architecture in East Africa. Made mostly from coral stone, the cathedral has a fascinating design that is a blend of Gothic and Islamic details. After the prayer service at the historic 19th-century Cathedral, President Magufuli proceeded to Amaan Stadium to officiate the climax of the Uhuru Torch race, when the whole nation had commemorated the occasion which was live broadcast through by TBC Television. And leading the nation at this special occasion, which occurs on the 14th of October, every year, will be the man whose forthrightness has endeared him with many Tanzanians, most especially the solid majority, with leadership style rightly likened to Mwalimu Nyerere’s first phase regime. The fifth-phase President, JPM, in almost similar fashion to the late Mwalimu Nyerere, has demonstrated a nonsense attitude in dealing with significant and burning issues, notably corruption and embezzlement of public funds. President Magufuli’s regime, in fact, has been championing Mwalimu Nyerere’s mission and vision; demonstrating zero tolerance against new and old enemies that have been besetting the nation. These include corruption, bribe, drug abuse and trafficking, environmental degradation, poverty, ignorance and diseases. To achieve his government’s goals, President Magufuli, now in his second year since being sworn-in as Tanzania’s fifth President, has never shied away from reproaching corrupt and lazy public officials, often sending out those who have either failed to live up to his expectation or failed to embrace his development agenda. 

President John Magufuli receives a National Torch (Mwenge) race at Amaan Stadium yesterday in Zanzibar Old Town where the national celebrations were held. The occasion was also marked alongside the commemorations of 18th year since the death of the father of the nation Mwl. Julius .K. Nyerere who died on 14th October 1999 at St. Thomas Hospital in London.

While demonstrating ruthlessness in his war against all bad elements within and outside the government, President Magufuli has always showed strong desire to transform the country’s economy and ensure there is equal sharing of the national cake. The 2017 Uhuru Torch race, launched on April 2 in Katavi Region by Zanzibar President Ali Mohamed Shein, toured different parts of the country, where various development projects were inspected and launched, while shading light on the government’s development endeavours, notably the 2025 development agenda, which centres on industrial economy. During the 195-days marathon, the Freedom Torch sought to encourage locals to play their part in the building of industries for the envisaged national development, through its motto; ‘Participate in the promotion of industrial economy for national development.” The Uhuru Torch also sought to draw attention to ongoing crusades against corruption, diseases (notably malaria and HIV/Aids) and narcotic drugs, which is growing problem among young population. Urban West Regional Commissioner (RC), Mr Ayoub Mahmoud said yesterday that key preparations for the national Uhuru Torch race’s climax ceremony are complete and urged Tanzanians to show up early in the morning to avoid inconveniencies. The extinguishing exercise will run concurrently with the climax of the National Youth week. For the past week, youth have been participating in various activities, including exhibitions and workshops in commemoration of the National Youth Week. Uhuru Torch is one of the prestigious national symbols, which signify freedom and light. The Torch was first lit on top of Mount Kilimanjaro on December 9, 1961 by Alaxander Nyirenda to mark the country’s Independence from colonial rule. In 1964, the late Nyerere introduced the annual race in which a group of selected youth carry the torch around the country to bring hope where there is despair, love where there is enmity and respect where there is hatred.

State must have control over its resources, says Magufuli

Yesterday on Saturday the nation marked the 18th anniversary of the death of the late Father of the Nation, Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere, with President John Magufuli evoking the thoughts of Arusha Declaration, noting that its principles are still valuable in contemporary Tanzania. With two decades approaching since Tanzanians were stunned with the news of the passing away of their freedom fighter, Mwalimu Nyerere, the fifth-phase President, Dr Magufuli led the nation to pay a befitting tribute to the Africa’s greatest ever leader, who introduced the Arusha Declaration exactly 40 years ago. In an outpouring of praise, President Magufuli said the late Mwalimu Nyerere was truly a great visionary leader, who laid good foundation for the development of the country when he came up with the Arusha Declaration, which stated that, “in order to ensure economic justice the State must have effective control over the principal means of production. ”Dr Magufuli said the late Mwalimu Nyerere discovered that he could not build an independent nation if all major means of economic production were owned by individuals or foreigners and the government should participate efficiently in economic development, “And that’s the truth; for all countries that succeeded economically, their governments did participate fully in economic development,” stressed President Magufuli, whose leadership style is likened to Nyerere’s regime. 

The late Tanzania's father of nation Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere in 1970s

The Head of State said he was still perplexed why the Arusha Declaration was abandoned, apparently suggesting that there should be a national dialogue to reflect whether the declaration could be revived by adopting some of its principles. He said Nyerere’s socialism policies, outstanding and unselfish leadership contributed to a myriad of achievements that Tanzanians enjoyed during Nyerere’s era, saying the country’s founding father invented and supervised strategies for the implementation of his development plans. Dr Magufuli called upon Tanzanians to reflect whether their lives and acts mirrored the principles, which were laid down by the country’s highly-revered son. “We should ask ourselves why we are marking this day. Is it because this day is stipulated in the law or because it’s on the calendar or because we have good reasons; we should ask ourselves these key questions. “We’re celebrating this day because we want to remind everyone of us about the significant and cherished contributions Nyerere had towards the development of our nation,” President Magufuli said, adding that the younger generation needed to be educated and informed about the works of the late Mwalimu Nyerere. He said Nyerere dedicated his life fighting for the liberation of all people across Africa and other parts of the world and that his fight for justice and equality left a great legacy. “I was talking to President (Yoweri) Museveni of Uganda yesterday and he wished me successful commemoration of the Mwalimu Nyerere’s death … he told me he wouldn’t have been the President of Uganda without the support of Mwalimu Nyerere,” revealed Dr Magufuli. President Magufuli said if every Tanzanian would emulate Mwalimu Nyerere’s exemplary life by being patriotic and sacrifice their own cause for the cause of the nation, the country would attain high levels of development. He added that the Union and the Zanzibar revolutionary governments were committed to sustain the good work started by founding fathers of the nation, Nyerere and Abeid Karume and other leaders who succeeded them. 

The late Tanzania's father of nation Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere in 1960s

He warned that the government would not spare anyone who will try to disrupt the Union or endanger the prevailing peace, “We’ll fight him with all our powers and certainly he will not win.” Earlier yesterday, Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, represented the government during a special mass for the late Father of the Nation, Mwalimu Nyerere. Zanzibar’s Second Vice-President, Ambassador Seif Ali Idd, also attended the Mass, led by Father Cosmas Amani Shayo of the Catholic Diocese of Zanzibar. Father Shayo described the late Nyerere as the true man of God who spent most of his life helping others. “He loved God, he loved all people regardless of their religion, race, tribes and nationality. He was a patriot, who wanted to see all Tanzanians lead a better life and inspired them to work hard in order to achieve that.” “Despite his tight schedules he always found time to worship God. He was a true servant of God.” He said the late Nyerere will always be remembered not only for his fight for Tanzania’s independence, but also for his role in the liberation of many African countries, most especially those in Southern Africa. Premier Majaliwa described October 14 as a special day for Tanzanians, who united in offering a special mass for the late Father of the Nation. He urged Tanzanians to preserve the Nyerere’s legacy; “Let’s honour our Father of the Nation ... let’s honour his works and dedication, during his time and reign.

Govt dismisses TUCTA claims, saying are false

Always the government has to be claimed even if there are no mistakes done as this is normal everywhere. But claimants should g forward their arguments alongside with evidences and not just a matter of uttering without proper explanations so as to avoid any inconveniences that might unnecessarily arise among the people in the country. In Tanzania there had been lots of complaints raised on workers’ remunerations including unpaid salaries and other fringe benefits. But the government has already paid workers more than 70.4bn/- in the 2016/17 financial year as non-salary claims, with another 37.4bn/- paid from July to September, this year. Addressing journalists in Dar es Salaam on Friday, the Director of Information Services and Government Spokesperson, Dr Hassan Abbasi said different claims made by the Trade Union Congress of Tanzania (TUCTA) against President John Magufuli and his governments are false and must be ignored by the public. Dr Abbasi said TUCTA misquoted Dr Magufuli when addressing the 33 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Association of Local Authorities in Tanzania (ALAT), where he refused to increase councillors’ allowances from 350,000/- to 800,000/-, an increase of 150 per cent. The government spokesperson said the President's statement was first taken out of context by Chadema, saying that the information service provided proof that caught them on their lie. "It is dangerous for a trade union of the status of TUCTA to believe false reports being spread on social media by opposition parties.

Director of Information Services and Government Spokesperson, Dr Hassan Abbasi

TUCTA knows the right way to get the correct information from the government, but chose to believe the social media," he explained. He added, "There is nowhere in the President’s speech where he refused to implement yearly salary increment, other than responding to the councilors’ request for increased allowances." Dr Abbasi expounded further that 487.7bn/- has been set aside for public servants who will be promoted following completion of verification of academic certificates in the public sector and another 35.2bn/- has been set aside for salary arrears. “In this first quarter, the government has already paid 531m/-, which includes those promoted and 739.3m/- was paid to 108 retirees, being part of salary arrears,” Dr Abbasi explained. He noted that during the Labour Day celebrations in May, this year, President Magufuli said he’d temporarily halted promotion since the verification exercise was still going on, but promised that promotion will resume soon after its completion. Dr Abbasi stressed that the government will start taking legal action against people spreading false information about the government, for the purpose of misleading the public with intent to cause panic or trying to turn them against the government. He explained that there are various laws including the Media Service Act of 2016 and the Access to Information Act of 2015 which allows the public, including TUCTA, the right to get correct information through official channels.