The president of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan recently initiated a program wherein she would spend one day every month listening to the issues of the Tanzanian people. This information was disclosed by Paul Makonda, the Ideology and Publicity Secretary of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party. The program was inspired by the former president of the country, Ali Hassan Mwinyi.
Tanzania’s president has committed to personally listening to people’s complaints and proffering solutions for at least one day every month.
According to the Tanzanian newspaper, The Citizen, which reported the news, this program would take place in the party’s headquarters in Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, and Zanzibar, depending on where the president is at the time.
Paul Makonda, during a press conference in Dar es Salaam, disclosed that the president intends to use these meetings as an opportunity to connect with the challenges of the Tanzanian people. He explained that citizens would have direct access to the president to share their unresolved grievances.
“This is a rare and unique opportunity for citizens to engage with their leader; any citizen who comes to present their grievance to the president will be required to have information that their issue has not been addressed by the lower level of authority,” Paul Makonda stated.
The program’s inauguration date has yet to be determined, however, the publicity secretary noted that the information would be publicly disclosed once a decision is reached.
He also noted that the inspiration for this program stems from late Ali Hassan Mwinyi, the former president of the country, who also set a day aside each month to talk directly with citizens, while he held the position of president and chairperson of the CCM.
Business-centric president
The business centric president has for most of her time in office, has been very progressive to say the least. Under her administration numerous laudable projects have been initiated, bi-lateral partnerships have been established and development has been rapid.
Last year alone, Tanzania doubled its foreign direct investments. Within the same year, Tanzania partnered with numerous countries including South Korea to China, and Australia, amongst others. She recently partnered with China on a Sh25 billion tourism deal.
The president has also placed emphasis on intra-EAC partnerships as she has closed deals with neighboring countries, including Burundi to build an interconnected electric railway and Kenya to take on a $1 billion energy project amongst other regional deals.
The International Monetary Fund estimated that the Tanzanian economy is on pace to outdo East Africa’s second-largest economy; Kenya.
