Church voices open support for government industrial drive

By SUNDAY NEWS Reporter in Morogoro

THE Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church has echoed its support on President John Magufuli’s industrialisation drive, citing that the move will help the country to tackle its challenges of poverty and venture into an industrial economy.

This was observed by the Archbishop of SDA Church in Southern Tanzania Union Mission, Mark Malekana in his opening remarks presented during the Association of Tanzanian Adventist Professionals and Entrepreneurs (ATAPE) annual general meeting held in Morogoro, recently.
According to the Archbishop, the president’s slogan of ‘Hapa Kazi Tu’ goes hand in hand with the one stated in the holy books on how the Almighty God spent six days on creation before taking a break.
“If there are any statements that we should be giving as religious leaders, they are supposed to back the concept of how Tanzanians will overcome poverty and engage in industrialisation,” said the Archbishop.
He pointed out that the church should never engage in politics and instead should recognise the various efforts by the government in protecting public resources for the betterment of the people, particularly the weak.
He further noted that if people decide to support government efforts and work hard, in a few years the nation will take a big step in terms of development and achieve its vision of an industrial economy.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Prof Elisante Ole Gabriel, extended recognition to the church for maintaining various groups of worshippers with different professions and entrepreneurs who know the importance of unity and cooperation.
Prof Ole Gabriel called on other religious institutions and denominations to emulate from SDA who encourage professionals and entrepreneurs who worship in the church to establish small and medium enterprises to strengthen their economy and that of the country.
“This church is supporting the ministry in developing industries and realising the government vision of becoming a middle income economy through industrialisation,” said Prof Ole Gabriel.
He disclosed the government’s intention to put in place a conducive environment to facilitate the establishment of industries. The PS also noted that the number of industries existing in the country stood at 53,000, whereby 3,306 industries have been established during the current phase,
among which 585 are large industries and 2,721 small industries. He concluded his remarks by encouraging the business community and investors to carry out their businesses by adhering to all principles, including paying tax, saying that doing otherwise is going contrary to the authority of God.