AfricaPress-Tanzania: PRIME Minister Kassim Majaliwa yesterday touted a range of key accomplishments attained by the fifth-phase regime from economic growth to enhanced social service delivery in health, education and water.
The Premier said among the greatest feats of President John Magufuli’s government during the past four and half years, include flagship projects that would improve social services delivery in the country.
Mr Majaliwa was addressing the parliament a day before President John Magufuli dissolved the National Assembly after completion of its duties for a period of five years from 2015 to 2020.
Other noteworthy achievements include restoration of the discipline among civil servants, enhanced fight against corruption and embezzlement of public funds, said the Prime Minister.
Those measures, according to him, have enhanced the delivery of social services in the country as civil servants are now accountable for serving public interests for the benefit of the country at large.
The government has also continued to improve security forces and all government organs such as the Parliament, Executive and the Judiciary as they are essential for the operation of the State.
“We have enhanced the war against drug abuse and trafficking that has been affecting the lives of many people, especially the younger generation, for the greater interest of the country,” said Mr Majaliwa.
He recalled that on the early days, the government executed the move to identify and remove ghost workers from public services who were costing the government a total of 19.83bn/- every month.
“From that exercise, a total of 19,708 ghost workers were identified and removed while 15,411 other civil servants who were using fake academic certificates were also axed from public service,” said the Premier.
Expounding further, he said the exercise of identifying the ghost workers will be sustained as the government is determined to ensure that no payment is done to non-existing staff.
The fifth-phase government, voted into power in 2015, has also managed to boost revenue collection from an average of 800bn/- per month to 1.5tr/-, thanks to the efforts dedicated by Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) and all taxpayers.
“It’s encouraging to see that the majority of Tanzanians are aware of the importance of paying tax as the same money is channeled to fund development projects constructed in the country,” he noted.
The agenda of industrialising the country wasn’t left behind as the government was working in line with pushing the agenda of the industrial economy, with Mr Majaliwa saying a total of 8,477 industries have so far been built across the country.
“All the industries have created around 486,201 employments mostly for the youth, hence rescuing the challenge of unemployment to Tanzanians,” explained Mr Majaliwa.
Other projects that have been executed by the government include supply of energy in rural areas through the Rural Energy Agency (REA) that has seen 9,112 villages being electrified.
On competitiveness, the government sped up investments in strategic projects, and has so far injected 126.8trn/- towards implementing various development projects that target to improve the social and economic status of the country, he stated.
The construction of flagship projects is progressing well as the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station is at 40 per cent of its construction while the first-phase of the Standard Gauge Railway from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro is scheduled to be finished in June next year
The 7trn/- worth project according to the Prime Minister is at an advanced stage of completion between Morogoro and Dar es Salaam and Morogoro to Makutopora in Singida.
“The Morogoro—Dar es Salaam section of the SGR project is now at 78 per cent and some trials have also begun. The government plan is to ensure the project is completed by June next year,” he said.
Some other projects implemented by the government according to the premier include a 270bn/- worth Selander bridge and Kigongo—Busisi Bridge. The premier said work on the Ubungo interchange has reached 77 per cent and will cost 247bn/-.
Mr Majaliwa said the government had moved to retransform the country’s transport infrastructure by building more road networks, and upgrading the central railway line to a standard level.
He said the state has also been working to improve water transport and links with the neighbouring countries.
According to the PM, the supply of clean water in urban and rural areas has reached 84 per cent and more than 70 per cent respectively.
Meanwhile, about 30 million Tanzanians, out of 59.7 million, will vote for councillors, parliamentarians and president during the October general elections that the government says preparations are going on well.
Mr Majaliwa told the House that 29.84million citizens have qualified to vote this year, the number that sees an increase of nearly 7 million new voters from the 2015’s 23.16million voters.
According to the Premier, the voters’ registrar has disqualified over 30,000 Tanzanians for unspecified reasons.
This year’s general election makes the second and last term for President John Magufuli’s administration that came to power on November 5, 2015.
Following the coronavirus pandemic, the prime minister said Tanzania’s efforts to contain the deadly respiratory infectious disease have gained positive results. The premier thanked the president for his visionary idea to go able handling the disease.
Mr Majaliwa promised that the government will continue collaborating with the public sector in improving the investment environment, health and other social service delivery.
In addition, the premier announced that there were 20 statements from the government and four special committees were formed to review contentious matters.
