Africa-Press – Tanzania. A HOST of world leaders have expressed profound appreciation for what the late former Tanzanian President, Benjamin Mkapa left behind, saying it was proper to celebrate his life.
Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair said from the UK that it was through the late President Mkapa’s excellent work that he knew him.
Mr Blair noted that President Mkapa had a great love for Tanzania and Africa and was deeply dedicated to the development of his country.
He was speaking from the UK via a video call yesterday, during the Benjamin Mkapa Symposium that took place at the Mlimani City Hall in Dar es Salaam, to mark one year death anniversary for the former statesman.
Mr Blair said he was very proud to see how the Benjamin Mkapa Foundation (BMF) works on behalf of the departed ex-president.
“The closeness and friendship that existed between myself and Mkapa is one of the things that I value most in my life, it is my belief that all the people who knew him enjoyed working with him as he was a good man with a broad vision,” said Mr Blair, adding that it was proper to celebrate his life.
The late Mkapa was a Co- Chair with President Tarja Hallonen of Finland to the Commission on the Social-dimension of Globalisation from 2003 to 2004. He was also a member of the Commission for Africa initiated by the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Former United States President, Mr Bill Clinton said he was proud to work with the late President Mkapa and he remembered how he worked to support those sources he fought to put together for that course.
He said it was a good time to commemorate the legacy of the late President Mkapa, describing him as a person who expanded medical services to many people, especially the common ones, saying that he had a wide and correct vision. He spoke highly of the late Mr Mkapa’s passion for supporting those with HIV/AIDS, malaria, non-communicable diseases and ensuring universal medical care in Tanzania.
Throughout his political career, the late Mkapa worked hard to strengthen democracy in Tanzania, entrench civil rights and fight poverty, while increasing the country’s exposure to international trade and investment. He was active in conflict prevention, management and resolution in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, and was an active player in regional economic co-operation within the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), an organisation he served as chairperson for one year from August 2003.
In late 2001, he launched the first National Policy on HIV/ AIDS believing that Tanzania had to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic with everything it had, beginning by preventing new HIV infections targeting about 85 per cent of the sexually active population that was still free from HIV/AIDS. That population, he believed, must have been informed, empowered and helped to ensure they remain HIV-Negative.
They had to be encouraged to undergo voluntary counselling and testing to confirm that they are free of HIV and be further counselled on the necessary precautions in order to maintain that status.
Those that were to be found HIV positive would benefit from early counselling and prophylactic treatment against opportunistic infections and continue to lead normal and productive lives.
In 2005, he served as a panelist in the Panel of Eminent Persons appointed by the UNCTAD Secretary-General and in 2006 he served as a member of the High-level Panel on UN System- wide Coherence in areas of Development, Humanitarian Assistance and Environment, appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General.
He also served as a Commissioner on a UN High Level Commission on the Legal Empowerment of the Poor (2006- 2008) and a member of the Board of Governors of the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute.
From 1996 the late Mr Mkapa was the Co-Chair of the Investment Climate Facility for Africa, an off-shoot of the Blair Commission for Africa.
He was also a member of the prestigious Madrid Club of Former Heads of State and Government and a member of the board of trustees of the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF).
He co-founded the Benjamin William Mkapa HIV/AIDS Fellowship Programme, an initiative aimed at supporting delivery of Anti-Retroviral (ARV) drugs to the under-privileged sufferers of HIV/AIDS in remote rural areas.
