Africa-Press – Tanzania. ZANZIBAR Catholic Bishop, Rev Augustine Ndeliakyama Shao has expressed great pleasure with the manner in which Zanzibar President Dr Hussein Mwinyi is leading Zanzibar, saying the leader will take Zanzibar to the next level of development.
He said agreeing to form Government of National Unity (GNU) and intensifying war against graft and mismanagement in the government were examples of aspects showing how determined Dr Mwinyi is in moving Zanzibar ahead.
Dr Mwinyi has started making drastic reforms in his administration since he was sworn in as the 8th president of Zanzibar.
Three days ago, Dr Mwinyi suspended several senior executives after being suspected of involvement in corrupt practices.
He has since then thrown his weight into improvement of accountability, raising citizens’ hope for a better future.
“We were worried during the period under which the country was facing division because some people who dislike diversity of ideas and opinion used the situation to suppress others. The agreement between Dr Mwinyi and the opposition leader to work together, has given us great hope for a stable Zanzibar,” Bishop Shao said.
He said the ongoing executive orders by Dr Mwinyi and his Second Vice-President Mr Hemed Suleiman Abdalla, along with disciplinary actions give Zanzibaris hope for increased accountability “If the pace of reforms is maintained.”
In his Christmas message to faithful and the general public in Zanzibar, Bishop Shao said that steps being taken by Zanzibar’s new president and his assistants have the blessings of the public and religious teachings which prohibit theft, cheating and corruption and other unruly behaviours.
“We laud measures being instituted by President Mwinyi to ensure financial and management discipline in all public offices, including promoting peace and stability,” he said as he reminded leaders that peace and stability cannot stand alone without respect for human rights.
Bishop Shao also said people are happy with the empowerment of the Zanzibar Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Authority (ZAECA), “Which has similar roles like the Tanzania mainland Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB). ZAECA was silent, we hope it will deal with corrupt leaders without fear.”
He said that every leader from family to national level should understand that every human life, regardless of their religion, political affiliation and wealth status, “deserves human rights, some recorded political hatred and deaths during general elections in both Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar tarnished the smooth development of democracy.”
The religious leader said that use of force in politics always ends in disaster, and that dialogue remains the best way to resolve disputes and conflicts, urging for religious and political tolerance for the smooth development of the country.
The Bishop emphasized that respect of rights of the people, even in a situation of having different opinions or views, should back peace and stability. He said the suffering and the birth of Christ was for our benefit, which must be respected by leaders.
“We should support the work done by Dr Mwinyi because there were people who believed Zanzibar is their personal property. It is unacceptable to tolerate leaders using their position for personal gains,” Shao said as he appealed to leaders to work hard to solve the unemployment burden facing the country, including many graduates from higher learning institutions without jobs.”
