AfricaPress-Tanzania: PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan has tasked the new Vice-President, Dr Philip Mpango to resolve challenges facing the Union, particularly financial matters.
Financial related matters remain the only burning Union issue after almost all other challenges were resolved, President Samia said on Wednesday.
The Head of State said a number of Union challenges were resolved in the previous committees, which she chaired when serving as the vice-president.
“This matter was under the Minister for Finance who was Dr Mpango, he was sitting on it, therefore, appointing him to the vice-president position means he will be able to resolve it easily since it is still under his custodian,” President Samia said shortly after Dr Mpango took oath of office at the State House in Dodoma.
She told Dr Mpango to mobilize his people responsible for addressing Union matters to address the financial challenge immediately.
Giving their remarks following the swearing-in of Dr Mpango as new vice-president, various leaders lauded the former Finance and Planning Minister, describing him as a perfect fit for the post.
Zanzibar President Hussein Ali Mwinyi expressed confidence that Dr Mpango will continue a good job regarding Union matters as it was effectively performed by his predecessor, President, Ms Samia.
“President Samia did this work with great efficiency, many challenges have been addressed and only few remained… so it is our hopes that the new Vice President will work on the remaining few challenges,” he said.
Dr Mwinyi promised full cooperation to Dr Mpango saying resolving Union challenges is what wananchi from both sides of the union wish to see for the mutual development of the country.
“When I was the Minister for Defence and National Service, he was the Minister for Finance and Planning, he is a hardworking person and honest,” he remarked.
On his part, National Assembly Speaker Job Ndugai, while congratulating the new VP, prayed to the president to fill his void to enable smooth deliberation of the ongoing budget session.
In response, the Head of State announced a mini cabinet reshuffle with Dr Mwigulu Nchemba named the new Finance and Planning Minister.
Through joint sittings between the Union and Zanzibar governments chaired by the Vice President about 25 issues have traditionally been on the table, out of which 10 are still in various stages of decision.
Last year, at least five contentions issues were removed from the list of union challenges.
The issues included the United Republic of Tanzania (URT) and Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar (RGZ) Joint Committee meeting procedures on union issues and agreement on oil and gas exploration and exploitation.
Others are agreements of costs to import cargo from Zanzibar at the Dar es Salaam Port; RGZ’s participation in the East African Community (EAC) and the RGZ’s involvement in international and regional issues.
The issues were removed from the list after signing the agreement between the two sides of the union.
It was established that the signing of the documents justified the true intention of the two governments to maintain and strengthen the union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar.
