We are building one Tanzania, says Samia

Dar es Salaam. President Samia Suluhu Hassan said yesterday that she was all out to build Tanzania, reminding Tanzanians that the country remains one and united.

In an apparent reaction to recent sentiments where some politicians seemed to question why Zanzibar was not included in the Intergovernmental Agreement (AGA) between Tanzania and Dubai on ports, President Hassan said at a public rally in Mwanza yesterday that the country remains one and united.

“What I want to tell you residents of Mwanza is that there is only one United Republic of Tanzania across the world,” she told Mwanza residents who thronged some streets to welcome the President who started her tour of duty in the region.

She said Tanzania will be built by Tanzanians irrespective of their differences in financial positions.

“Whatever we do, we do in order to build our country, Tanzania. There is only one Tanzania in the world and we are obliged to build it. We are supposed to take the country to its appropriate place in the world,” she said.

Though President Hassan did not categorically say why she was reminding Tanzanians of their country’s unity and that they [Tanzanians] were the ones to build the nation, it is an open secret that some politicians have gone astray in their opposition to the IGA between Tanzania and Dubai on the latter’s ports.

The Parliament ratified the IGA on Saturday, paving the way for more rounds of negotiations that could culminate into economic and social cooperation between the two countries to expand and improve Tanzania’s ports.

At some point, the debate went ugly as some politicians reached a point of questioning the origins of some people who took part in the IGA, deemed by them as not good for Tanzania.

But President Hassan said yesterday: “It is our duty to build all sectors, be they economic, political or social. We are obliged to build our Tanzania… My promise to you is that I will not let you down in building the country”.

She said it was encouraging that people were now witnessing the government taking several measures to grow the economy and that the growth was trickling down to everyone, including petty traders and motorcycle taxi riders among others.

While in Mwanza, President Hassan will take part in a cultural activity for the Sukuma Tribe that had previously accorded her the chieftaincy name as ‘Chief Hangaya’.

She will also look at some development projects that the government was undertaking in Mwanza, including the ongoing construction of the 3.2-kilometre Kigongo-Busisi Bridge; a hotel project implemented by a pension fund and the building of ships among others.