WAR IN TANZANIA

The president of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan, declared yesterday that she was working nonstop on strengthening Tanzania and reassured her citizens that their nation remained one and united.

At a public gathering yesterday in Mwanza, President Hassan said that the nation is still one and unified, maybe in response to recent remarks in which certain politicians seemed to wonder why Zanzibar was left out of the Intergovernmental Agreement (AGA) between Tanzania and Dubai on ports.

“What I want to tell you residents of Mwanza is that there is only one United Republic of Tanzania across the world,” she said to the crowds of residents who had gathered to welcome her as she began her tour of duty in the area.

“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 added.

It is a known fact that some politicians have erred in their opposition to the Intergovernmental Agreement Between (IGA) between Tanzania and Dubai on the latter’s ports. The IGA was approved by the Parliament on Saturday, opening the door for more rounds of discussions that can result in the two nations collaborating to develop and enhance Tanzania’s ports on an economic and social level.

The discussion eventually became heated when certain politicians began to question the nationalities of some IGA participants whom they believed to be bad for Tanzania.

The IGA between Tanzania and Dubai intends to increase economic and social ties between the two nations in order to develop and upgrade Tanzanian ports. The fact that this initiative has sparked a contentious debate and been met with calls for additional information from the government on the terms and circumstances has made it a source of conflict among Tanzanians. Even the nation’s religious leaders have expressed their opinions and called for further clarification on these discussions.

The UAE-based DP World has the only right to speak with the Tanzanian government about running and expanding various port projects as part of the agreement on economic and social cooperation to grow and enhance Tanzanian ports.

But during the tour, the president re-iterated: “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 praised the administration for taking many steps to boost the economy, noting that everyone was benefiting from it, including small-time traders and motorbike taxi drivers, among others.

President Hassan will participate in a cultural event in Mwanza for the Sukuma Tribe, who earlier gave her the chieftaincy title of “Chief Hangaya.”

She will also examine a few construction projects that the government was working on in Mwanza, such as the 3.2-kilometer Kigongo-Busisi Bridge that is still being built, a hotel project run by a pension fund, and the construction of ships, among other things.