Tanzania: JPM - We Promised and Delivered

By Sylivester Domasa in Dodoma

CHAMA Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) yesterday outlined the achievements attained under the leadership of President John Magufuli, who doubles as its national chairman.

The achievements over the ruling party's first five-year tenure, include effective management of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ranking high, too, is raising the per capita income for the people in Mainland Tanzania from 1.968mil/- in 2015 to 2.458mil/- in 2018. In Zanzibar, the income rose to 2.549mil/- in 2019 from 1.666mil/- in 2015.

President Magufuli come into office on November 5, 2015.

Presenting the 2020-25 election manifesto at the launch of the 2020 presidential election campaigns, CCM's Secretary-General Dr Bashiru Ally announced that the implementation of the 2015-20 election manifesto under President Magufuli had been successful.

The achievements that have been registered, among the most notable ones being attainment of lower-middle-income country, status are cause for high pride.

The CCM-led government has been instrumental in maintaining and strengthening the spirit of togetherness, unity, peace, tranquillity, security and defence, which are among the highlights of the election manifesto.

"President Magufuli and Zanzibar President Dr Ali Mohamed Shein have both protected, supported, and maintained freedom, Zanzibar's revolution and the Union," he announced.

In a detailed report released yesterday, CCM said the presidential candidate who is seeking re-election strengthened a multiparty democracy, human rights, and fought discrimination as well as the violence of any form.

It is during President Magufuli's administration that the government enacted legislation that compelled local government authorities to allocate 10 per cent of their revenue collection of four per cent to women, four per cent other for youth, and two per cent for people with disabilities.

"It also strengthened the treasury, allowing the office to collect over 1.052tril/- dividend from State-owned institutions," reads part of the document.

Dr Magufuli was also instrumental in coordinating the government's administration centre from the port city of Dar es Salaam to Dodoma, the country's centrally located urban centre.

The implementation of the CCM election manifesto also saw the number of industries jumping to 61,110 in 2019 from 52,633 in 2015.

The development also supported an annual growth rate of 6.7 per cent. Observers also agree that the government attained massive scores.

The Magufuli-led administration solved electric power interruptions, by increasing generating capacity from 1308 megawatts in 2015 to 1602.32 megawatts in 2020.

Headway has also been made on increasing power access and connectivity in rural communities from 16.4 per cent to 67.1 per cent during the period under review.

On the water supply, CCM revealed that 70.1 per cent and 85 per cent of rural and urban residents have access to clean and safe water, down from 47 and 74 respectively.

"There has been an increment in the number of healthcare facilities from 7,014 to 8,444; this also includes availability of essential medicines which now stands at 94.5 per cent across the country," it added.

A 2018/19 basic survey of improved human settlement indicated that the population living in houses of satisfactory standard rose to 84.1 per cent from 68 per cent in 2012.

The government also improved its oversight role, increasing revenue collection from the mining sector, which was seen as a curse by aggressively regulating and closing all loopholes of tax evasion and smuggling.

On economic growth, the document states that over the past five years, the CCM government built up the economy and attained a growth rate of up to 6.9 percent and the per capital income grew from 992 US dollar in 2015 to 1086 US dollar in 2018.

The inflation rate maintained to a single digit of 4.4 percent between 2016 to 2019. Also the foreign currency reserve increased tremendously.

By this year, government coffers had 5.3bn US dollar, which could enable the nation to import various goods and services for the period of six months.