President John Magufuli addresses a public meeting at Ruanda Nzovwe
grounds in Mbeya yesterday. The President started his eight-day tour of
Mbeya on Thursday soon after he arrived from Lilongwe, Malawi where he
had gone for a two-day state visit. PHOTO | STATE HOUSE
Dar
es Salaam — President John Magufuli yesterday assured the President of
Zanzibar, Dr Ali Mohammed Shein, that the Union government would
continue to preserve the status quo between the
Isles and Mainland.
Speaking in Mbeya
Region when he was on official visit, Dr Magufuli said: "I would like to
take this opportunity to thank our founders of the nation, Julius
Nyerere and Abeid Karume, for coming up with the idea to establish the
Union which we continue to enjoy today."
The nation marked
Union Day without much fanfare after it was announced by Prime Minister
Kassim Majaliwa that, while April 26 would be a public holiday, the
funds which were meant for Union celebration, about Sh985 million,
should be diverted to other development projects.
President
Magufuli's stance on the Union was echoed by the secretary general of
the ruling CCM, Dr Bashiru Ally, who noted that Tanzania cannot escape
debate on the need for a new Constitution if the country is truly
committed to a stable and working political system based on the Union.
A political
scientist and a former university lecturer by profession, Dr Ally said
it was for the purpose of achieving this vision that previous
governments did establish various commissions on how best the vision
could be realised.
These included the Nyalali Commission (February, 1991), the Kisanga Commission (1998), and the Warioba Commission (2012).
Dr Ally was
speaking to Azam TV's Tido Mhando during an interview aired on the 55th
anniversary of the Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar commemorated on
every April 26.
"This issue [of the
appropriate political system and structure of the Union] has been
resurfacing every now and then - and the debate has always refused to
die," he said.
There has always
been a debate surrounding the structure of the Union in the public
domain, both on the Isles and in Tanzania Mainland, he was quoted as
saying.
While others have
commended the current two-tier government, others have criticised it,
saying it is the source of various contentious issues that the Union is
forced to endure.
In any case, he
described the debate and its related issues as "a healthy way of
improving both leaderships and democracy" in Tanzania.
"But I think it is
necessary to expand its scope from just focusing on the structure of the
Union to incorporate the far bigger issue of what type of political and
economic system is appropriate in our context," as a country, he said.
Dr Ally further said that he is among the people who support the current structure of the Union.
"It has got its effectiveness - especially in uniting the people," he explained.
Apart from the
issue of the Union, the secretary general also commented on the
unfolding political events in the country - including, for instance, the
recent rift within the opposition Civic United Front (Cuf), saying "we
were shocked" on learning of the split.
A leadership crisis
had gripped the opposition party which split it asunder, dividing it
into two factions: one led by its long-time secretary general Seif
Shariff Hamad, and the other led by its embattled chairman Prof Ibrahim
Lipumba.
The crisis started
after Prof Lipumba rescinded his resignation as party chairman in 2016.
He had written a resignation letter in August 2015 - but withdrew it in
2016 as the party was preparing to choose another chairman.
"We never expected
that kind of changes: to see a party which had been exemplary in
solidarity fall into a conflict which would end up dividing it," Dr Ally
said during the interview that lasted nearly an hour.
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