Africa-Press – Tanzania. PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan has issued key directives to Regional Commissioners (RCs) and other top leaders of the public institutions in the implementation of the 28bn/- National Residential Addresses and Postcode System.
The president termed the ambitious project as a special operation, just as it was during the implementation of the 1.3tri/- project after receiving a concessional loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The president said the 28bn/- would be distributed to all regional commissioners from both sides of the union depending on the population of each region.
“This money is not something that should be treated as an OC (Other Charges), but I want the money to go directly to the implementation of the project,” she said, directing that the budget was reduced from the initial 720bn/- to 28bn/- because in the project, all district, town, municipal and city councils were duty bound to contribute to the project on the costs that would be viewed as important during the implementation.
Equally, President Samia directed the RCs to make sure that come May this year, all regions must have completed the exercise in order to pave the way for the Population and Housing Census.
“I will not tolerate any RC who will fail to beat the May deadline, and I want to be categorical that those who will prove failure will have to seat with me and offer a tangible explanation as to why they should stay in their offices,’’ she said, insisting that those who would face challenges in the course of implementing the exercise should provide prior information to her office, so that immediate solutions are sought.
She further tasked the Ministry of Information, Communication and Information Technology to distribute the allocated funds for the project just as it was done during the IMF’s 1.3tri/-, insisting that they should not be allocated uniformly, instead they should be distributed depending on the size of the regions.
The Head of State said there was a lot of money that was being squandered in the district councils giving an example of Mara Region, during her just concluded working tour in the area, where she realised a great percentage of the funds was being stolen by unscrupulous officials.
Therefore, she noted, all councils should be directed by her subordinates to contribute to the project.
The president further said the government had decided to use public servants from the grassroots to the regional level, instead of using contractors, who initially were eager waiting over 700bn/-, which were projected to implementing the project earlier.
She directed that expert guidelines should be issued so as to simplify the exercise as well public education and massive campaign on the project should be well provided ahead of the exercise.
President Samia also directed the Ministry of Finance and Planning to make sure that the allocated funds for the project are provided without any unnecessary delay. She also directed the ministry to make sure that there was enough budget in the next financial year (2022/23) for the communications sector.
She said that immediately after the exercise for the National Residential Addresses and Postcode System, the government would ensure that it initiate yet another process for having details of every citizen in the national data centre, adding that every Tanzanian would in the near future be required to have a unique online personal address, which would transparently outline all information including all activities being performed by an individual.
She tasked the ministry of State in the President’s Office, Regional Administration and Local Government to ensure that enough training was provided, so that every Tanzanian was aware on the importance of the exercise.
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