Africa-Press – Tanzania. ZANZIBAR’s Second Vice-President, Hemed Suleiman Abdulla (pictured) on Thursday adjourned the tenth House of Representatives, pledging stern legal and disciplinary measures against all swindlers of public resources.
He said the government is determined to take to task all public servants implicated in the 2019/2020 Controller and Auditor General’s (CAG) reports, which were tabled in the legislative house yesterday.
“Nobody will be bullied, but stern legal and disciplinary measures will be instituted against the culprits,” charged the chief overseer of government operations in the house, imploring all Zanzibaris to support collection and management of government revenues.
He cautioned that the ambitious 1.8tri/- government budget for the coming fiscal year is bound to fail unless there is strict discipline in revenue collections and expenditures.
“The budget success is subject to revenue collection and expenditure discipline…everybody is duty bound to play a role in both revenue collection and control,” he said.
The third in the country’s chain of command clarified the newly introduced but contentious property tax, arguing that no desperate islander will pay the new levy.
“The property tax aims at increasing revenues which the government needs direly to deliver social services…it doesn’t seek to scare anybody,” he explained, adding that only commercial buildings with over 50m/- value will be taxed.
The 10,000/- charge per ordinary house and 10,000/- per each storey also spares houses in which their owners live, the second VP clarified, condemning some people whom he accused of misleading the public over the issue.
He implored the islanders to grab the emerging investment opportunities, saying: “The government is opening up investment opportunities not only for foreigners, but essentially for Zanzibaris.” Mr Abdulla reiterated the government’s resolve to address unemployment problem among the youth, citing industrialisation, soft loans and training to youth as the government strategy to create jobs and enable citizens to create theirs.
He guaranteed press freedom and supportive environment for journalists to perform their duties, but reminded the media professionals to observe professional ethics as well as the country’s laws and regulations. He instructed the government executives to cooperate with the media towards informing wananchi of the government operations.
The second VP condemned public servants whom he said were fuelling land conflicts in the country, threatening stern legal and disciplinary measures against the culprits. He said the land and human development ministry is tasked to fairly resolve land conflicts, hinting that out of the 242 reported cases this year, 79 have been resolved and the remaining 163 are in different stages of handling.
Clove remains the country’s priority cash crop, Mr Suleiman assured, adding that the government will ensure producers get 80 per cent of the prevailing world market prices.
“The government is determined to pay (clove) farmers 80 per cent of the market prices even if prices in the global market hit 30,000/- per kilogramme,” he assured, directing the agriculture ministry to spearhead rain independent farming to boost production and reduce imports of rice.
