Author: MASATO MASATO, Zanzibar
AfricaPress-Tanzania: DETERMINED to pursue blue and private sector led economy, Zanzibar President Hussein Mwinyi has created Blue Economy and Fisheries as well as Economy and Investment portfolios to spearhead the country’s economic development.
“It’s our firm commitment to work closely with the private sector towards economic prosperity. The economy and investment portfolio will have to nurture and cement cordial public-private partnership,” Dr Mwinyi told reporters as he announced the new cabinet.
Dr Mwinyi named Mudrik Ramadhan Soraga to head the investment portfolio, which is within the President’s Office, while the Blue Economy and Fisheries becomes under Abdallah Hussein Kombo.
The President’s Office will have four ministries from the previous three. Other ministries with their ministers in brackets are Regional Administration and Special Departments (Masoud Ali Mohammed), Constitution, Legal Affairs, Public Service and Good Governance (Haroun Ali Suleiman), and Finance and Planning (Jamal Kassim Ali).
Dr Khalid Salum Mohamed becomes the lone Minister of State in the Second Vice-President’s Office for Policy, Coordination and House of Representatives Affairs.
President Mwinyi also announced the appointment of Soud Nahodha Hassan as Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, Natural Resources and Livestock, Simai Mohammed Said for the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, and Tabia Mwita Maulid to head the Ministry of Information, Culture and Sports.
Other ministries with their ministers in brackets are Land and Human Settlements Development (Riziki Pembe Juma), Water and Energy (Suleiman Masoud Makame), Tourism and Antiquities (Leila Mohammed Musa), and Infrastructure, Communication and Transport (Rahma Kassim Ali).
The president said he had reserved the Trade and Industrial Development as well as Health, Social Welfare, Gender and Children portfolios for the opposition camp whom he had already written but received no response.
“Immediately after my swearing-in, I wrote them (ACT-Wazalendo) on the First Vice-President post but as of today, I haven’t received the name…I have reserved two ministries if they would so wish…we are giving them the constitutional grace period,” the president explained on the vacant ministries.
He said the government has done all that it should to accommodate the Government of National Unity.
Dr Mwinyi has not appointed a single deputy minister, saying he will do so in future subject to demand.
“My key aim is to have a lean and highly effective government to reduce administrative expenditures,” he said.
Fielding questions from reporters, Dr Mwinyi said collection of taxes will be among his administration’s priority areas, vowing:
“We won’t have jokes with issues related to taxes…we want money to invest in the provision of social services to the people.”
In his new cabinet, President Mwinyi has reworked the previous ministries, splitting some and merging others to bring to 15 the total number of portfolios from the previous 14.
Ms Riziki Pembe, former Education Minister, and Mr Haroun Suleiman are the only old faces from the team, which former President Ali Mohamed Shein ended with, who have made it to Dr Mwinyi’s list. Mr Suleiman has actually retained similar portfolio.
Dr Khalid, the lone minister in the Second Vice-President’s Office, once served as Finance and Planning Minister under Dr Shein but was dropped in a 2019 mini reshuffle.
