AfricaPress-Tanzania: On Friday, President John Magufuli inaugurated the 12 Parliament in Dodoma and outlined what his government was going to do for Tanzanians in the next five years.
After the President nominates Special Seats Members of Parliament (MPs), the full House will have 396 MPs, an overly majority being from the ruling party (CCM) as a result of opposition parties’ terrible defeat in relation to elective positions in Parliament and in councils during the general election on October 28.
Because of the current composition of Parliament, some people have been asking themselves whether the almost all CCM lawmakers will be able to debate critically budgets and Bills brought in the House and help the government improve service delivery and bring about development.
Responding to this, President Magufuli and also National Assembly Speaker Job Job Ndugai urged the elected MPs and those who would be nominated by the President to help the government through constructive criticism that will make the government deliver to public expectations.
President Magufuli showed the direction his government would be taking in different sectors of the economy, including strengthening friendly relations with regional economic groupings such as the East African Community (EAC), Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the international community.
Stressing this point, President Magufuli invited individuals and companies from Tanzania and other parts of the world to invest in the country for the very fact that the fifth phase government has and will continue creating a friendly investment environment “and the time to utilise investment opportunity is this one.”
Various analysts and people have commended President John Magufuli’s inaugural speech, saying “it is forward looking and gives the direction the country will take towards building a truly industrial economy.”
We don’t want to reproduce what newspapers, radio and TV stations and social media have already reported, but it suffices to say that it is now time to build our nation which has qualified for the middle-income economy status five years before 2025 as stipulated in the National Development Vision 2025.
The Vision provides that the following specific achievements would be attainable by 2025: high quality livelihood, good governance and the rule of law and a strong and competitive economy.
Perhaps it is time we Tanzanians started behaving and conducting our affairs as people from a middle-income economy and not from a poor country as many people could still be thinking.
Seeing what is done in different parts of the country – both in terms of macro and micro economic activities in the country – there are indicators that were on track and may be what we should not do is to turn back, but to keep the fire of a prosperous Tanzania burning. As President Magufuli stressed related to this in his inaugural speech is that he wouldn’t like to see leaders delaying any investment or development projects. So, let us build Tanzania towards a bright future.
