PRIME Minister Kassim Majaliwa has said the government is set to conduct investigations into Agricultural Marketing Co-operative Societies (AMCOS) in Mbozi District, Songwe Region, and eventually take legal actions against officials found to have swindled funds of the cooperatives.
The Premier made the statement yesterday when responding to concerns raised by Mbozi Member of Parliament (MP), Mr George Mwanisongole, who complained over what he described as exploitation by some AMCOS against coffee farmers in the region.
Mr Majaliwa is in Songwe Region for a working visit to inspect development projects, which have been undertaken during the last two years under the sixth phase government.
“Cooperative societies are very important for the welfare of farmers. These societies ought to have people with integrity and as such we will conduct an investigation on operations of AMCOS in Mbozi District to identify those fond of embezzling funds.
“Legal actions will be instituted against all embezzlers and we will also investigate deductions of funds from farmers on the sale of their produce,” Mr Majaliwa, said while addressing residents during a public rally at Mlowo area in the region.
For his part, Mr Mwanisongole appreciated the disbursement of 10bn/- made by the sixth phase government to undertake development projects in Mbozi constituency during the past two years.
The MP mentioned some of the projects which were allocated the funds as water (5.3bn/-) and education sector, which included construction of two primary schools and classrooms to the tune of 3bn/-.
Part of the fund amounting to 1.65bn/- was used in the health sector through construction of a health centre, a dispensary and a maternity ward at Itaka area.
Mr Mwanisongole also hailed the government for providing a subsidy of 150bn/- for fertilisers, which has reduced prices of the soil nutrients from 130,000/- for a 50-kilogramme bag to 70,000/- per bag.
In another development, the PM has instructed Songwe Regional Commissioner, Mr Waziri Kindamba, to supervise transfer of Momba District offices from Tunduma to the former.
“The objective of assigning the officials to Momba District was to bring services closer to the people, it is thus important for Momba officials to work from their stations of duty.
Momba District officials who are living in Tunduma should relocate to Momba to serve the people,” he directed.
The PM made the directives when laying a foundation stone for construction of administration building of Momba District Council at Chitete ward, Tindingoma village in the region which is expected to cost 2.7bn/- upon completion.
At the same occasion, Deputy Minister for Health, Dr Godfrey Mollel, said the government has disbursed 47bn/- to undertake development projects in the health sector in Songwe Region including construction of a regional and district hospitals.
Meanwhile, Mr Majaliwa has directed council executives to continue putting into plan key development projects which will be implemented through their own sources of funding instead of relying on the central government.
According to the PM, for the past two years the government has been executing various social services projects across the country. Experience has shown that most of such projects depended on funding from the central government.
“Our councils should extend the scope of revenue collection as well as overcome bureaucracy in serving the people…in executing their responsibility council officials need to observe professionalism, trust and integrity for more productivity,” said Mr Majaliwa during a meeting with staff and ward councilors in Songwe District.
The Premier also urged the officials to effectively supervise the projects for timely completion, insisting that they should as well visit the people in respective areas in the wake of tackling them.
PM Majaliwa also ordered the Songwe District Police Commander to roll out a probe on Tanzania Forest Services Agency (TFS) employee Silas Meshilieki alongside a carpenter by the name of Michael Bangu for allegedly taking seized timber and furniture. It is alleged that Mr Meshilieki handed the seized timber to Bangu, contrary to conservation principles.
Mr Majaliwa among other things spoke of moral decadence in the society, calling upon inspectors in the education sector to carry out a thorough scrutiny in schools, including the books used for teaching.
He revealed that some books possessed teachings which were contrary to the traditions and customs of the country.
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