Kikwete promises better days ahead

“It is my hope, and in fact it is our intention that in 2014 we will achieve higher success in terms of economic and social development,”PHOTO|FILE 

By The Citizen Reporter

In Summary

“However this culture of top leaders taking political responsibility for mistakes committed by others needs to be looked into deeply for all round accountability,”

Dar es Salaam. President Jakaya Kikwete yesterday promised better days ahead for all Tanzanians as he wished them a peaceful take-off in the New Year 2014.

In his message from the State House in Dar es Salaam, President Kikwete said he was happy the country was crossing into the New Year with better economic prospects.

He said his optimism was based on several government plans and ongoing projects that together have the potential to quickly transform the local economy and uplift the lives of the majority poor.

“It is my hope, and in fact it is our intention that in 2014 we will achieve higher success in terms of economic and social development,” said the President in his speech.

He said deliberate steps through the establishment of the Presidential Delivery Bureau and respective ministries’ Delivery Units as well as the Big Results Now initiative would help drive quick results. The head of state said while there were many challenges and unfulfilled promises in the last year, he was encouraged that collection of government revenue was now averaging Sh800 billion every month to match huge expectations.

President Kikwete however, said some of the gaps in revenue collection that hindered public service delivery were occasioned by delay in the implementation of tax policy measures after the budget had been approved.

He said this year the government would involve and work much more closely with the private sector to fix bureaucracy and other state bottlenecks that continue to affect the country’s investment climate. He noted that the economic growth is projected to be 7.2 per cent while inflation rate will fall from 6.2 per cent last month to 5 per cent in June.

President Kikwete touched on many other issues in the country, among them, the recent political upheavals in Parliament that saw the removal of four cabinet ministers.

While consoling the affected four ministers, the President said they had paid the ultimate political prize for the sake of the country’s governance.

“However this culture of top leaders taking political responsibility for mistakes committed by others needs to be looked into deeply for all round accountability,” he said. President Kikwete who is anticipated to announce a cabinet reshuffle any time soon said he will soon name a judicial commission of Inquiry to investigate the whole affair surrounding the bungled ‘‘Operesheni Tokomeza Ujangili.”

The President also noted that the government will soon launch the second phase of the operation whose original intention to save the endangered Elephants was still relevant and urgent. On Education, President Kikwete said 36,100 new teachers will be recruited at the beginning of this year while delayed consultation with stakeholders will follow to see how to tackle the remaining shortage, especially of science teachers.