Tanzania's President John Magufuli. He says Tanzanian diplomats must account for what they do. PHOTO | NMG
President John Magufuli on Saturday said he will not hesitate to
dismiss non-performing ambassadors representing Tanzania in various
countries.
The president was speaking at State House
Dar es Salaam at the swearing-in ceremony of new government leaders,
including the deputy minister for Foreign Affairs, East Africa, Regional
and International Cooperation, Dr Damas Ndumbalo.
Dr Ndumbalo has replaced Dr Susan Kolimba who Dr Magufuli sacked earlier this week without giving reasons.
Dr
Fariji Kasidi Mnyepe was also sworn-in as the Permanent Secretary (PS)
in the Foreign ministry, replacing Prof Adolf Mkenda, who becomes the
new Natural Resources and Tourism PS.
President
Magufuli told Dr Ndumbalo that he had appointed him to "restructure
this ministry... tell ambassadors who are representing Tanzania in other
countries to give you a report detailing the a, b, c, d of what they
have done to help this country. If not, they should be dismissed and
return home."
He said he was disappointed with running of operations at the Foreign Affairs ministry.
The President said he had received complaints from foreign countries concerning lack of response from his government,
“I
have information that the Chinese embassy wrote over 24 letters to the
ministry but only two were responded to. I don’t want this to happen
again," Dr Magufuli said.
He told Dr Ndumbalo his duty
was to run the day-to-day activities of the ministry on behalf of the
minister, who is currently representing the president at the United
Nations General Assembly in New York.
“Don’t be driven
by directors. It is you who basically has to make things happen at the
ministry. As for the minister, this post usually entails travelling
outside the country most of the time."
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