Kitaifa
Samia completes 50-year journey of establishing Dodoma as capital
Dar es Salaam. The government’s 50-year journey to make Dodoma its capital was completed yesterday with the inauguration of the new State House building in Chamwino, Dodoma. The building will house presidential offices and the president’s official residence.
The shift of the capital to Dodoma started in 1973 and was supposed to be completed in 10 years, in accordance with the directives of the then ruling party, the Tanganyika African National Union (Tanu).
However, it did not happen as planned due to budgetary constraints.
Tanzania’s first President, Julius Nyerere, then opted for a gradual approach of moving one institution after another until 2017, when former President John Magufuli ordered a full, immediate move to Dodoma.
Currently, all the ministries are already based in Dodoma. President Samia Suluhu Hassan yesterday led senior government officials and retired leaders in inaugurating the new Chamwino State House building, which was successfully built by the Tanzania Building Agency and Suma JKT, the commercial arm of the National Service.
“For those who had doubts about the fulfillment of this transition to Dodoma, they can now see that there is no turning back. We are here to stay,” she said.
“We are in Dodoma. We will be going to Dar es Salaam only to receive international guests. And once the Msalato Airport is completed, that task will be done here,” she noted.
In May 2020, the then-President Magufuli led his predecessors in laying the foundation stone for the construction of the new building, whose design was a replica of Dar es Salaam’s Magogoni structure.
President Hassan said that the success of the construction within the Chamwino State House area of 8,473 acres (a 34km square piece of land)—16 times larger than the size of Saanane Island National Park in Mwanza Region—was the strength of all leaders, starting with President Nyerere.
According to her, the inauguration of the State House was an official confirmation of the completion of the government’s ambition to make Dodoma its top seat.
For his part, retired President Jakaya Kikwete said, “Today, a new history is written with gold ink.”
“This event concludes the promise of the father of the nation in 1973 to move the office of the President from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma,” he added.
Vice President Dr Philip Mpango said, “I want to tell Tanzanians that this office is their work; it is the work of their hands and taxes. Therefore, congratulations to all Tanzanians for the good work done.”
The President of Zanzibar and the Chairman of the Revolutionary Council, Dr Hussein Mwinyi, said that the construction of the State House building will not only increase the attraction and image of the city but will also provide a better environment for office work.
“I thank the government of the United Republic of Tanzania for providing the government of Zanzibar with an area to build its offices in Dodoma,” he noted.
“I promise that we will build the offices so that our staff can have a better working environment,” he added.
According to reports, the achievement dates back to 1966, when Mr Joseph Nyerere, then a deputy minister and President Nyerere’s brother, introduced a motion in Parliament calling for the relocation of the capital to Dodoma.
The idea, however, didn’t see the light of day.
But in 1973, the Tanu supported the proposal to shift the capital to Dodoma after country-wide consultations.
Security considerations for a coastal city and the geographical centrality of Dodoma rationalised the decision.