Rais Jakaya Kikwete akizindua rasmi mpango mpya wa Bima kwa ajili ya Watanzania waishio ughaibuni uitwao Welfare Scheme for Tanzanians in Diaspora (WESTADI).ambapo mwanachama hulipa ada ya dola za Kimarekani 300 kwa mwaka ambazo endapo mwanachama atafariki dunia mwili wake utasafirishwa na NSSF toka huko aliko hadi nyumbani kwake na pia msindikizaji mmoja atalipiwa tiketi ya Ndege
Rais Jakaya Kikwete akihutubia mamia ya Watanzania waishio Marekani wakati wa kufungua rasmi mkutano wa DICOTA 2011 katika ukumbi wa hoteli ya Marriott Hotel and Resort kitongoji cha Dulles, Virginia, jijini Washington DC.
Rais Jakaya Kikwete akihutubia mamia ya Watanzania waishio Marekani wakati wa kufungua rasmi mkutano wa DICOTA 2011 katika ukumbi wa hoteli ya Marriott Hotel and Resort kitongoji cha Dulles, Virginia, jijini Washington DC.
Wabunge wa Bunge la jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania wakimshangilia JK wakati nakifungua mkutano wa DICOTA katika ukumbi wa hoteli ya Marriott Hotel and Resort kitongojini Dulles,Virginia, jijini Washington DC. Kutoka kushoto ni Mbunge wa Bukombe (CHADEMA), Profesa Kulikoyela Kahigi, Mbunge wa Viti Maalumu (CHADEMA) Mh Leticia Nyerere, Mbunge wa Liwale Mh. Faith Mitambo (CCM) na Mbunge wa Serengeti Dr Kebwe Stephen Kebwe (CCM)
Sehemu ya umati wa Watanzania wakimsikiliza Rais Jakaya Kikwete wakati akifungua rasmi Mkutano wa DICOTA 2011 katika ukumbi wa hoteli ya Marriott Hotel and Resort kitongojini Dulles,Virginia, jijini Washington DC
Rais Jakaya Kikwete akiangalia bidhaa ya mafuta maalumu ya kurutubisha na kutunza nywele yaliyobuniwa na kutengenezwa na Mtanzania anayeishi Marekani Bi Lau Kyari kabla ya kufungua rasmi mkutano wa DICOTA 2011 katika ukumbi wa hoteli ya Marriot Hotel and Resort kitongoji cha Dulles,,Virginia, jijini Washington DC. Mjasiriamali huyu, ambaye ni Mkemia bingwa, anatarajia kupeleka Tanzania bidhaa hiyo kabla ya kuanza kutafuta soko la kimataifa
Rais Jakaya Kikwete akisalimiana na mmoja wa washiriki katika mkutano huo huku Mbunge wa Viti Maalumu (CHADEMA) Mh Leticia Nyerere akisubiri kwa hamu zamu yake baada ya kufungua rasmi mkutano huo katika ukumbi wa hoteli ya Marriott Hotel and Resort huko Dulles, Virginia, jijini Washington DC
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Hon. Bernard Membe, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
Ambassador Donald Yamamoto, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs
Your Excellencies, Ambassadors
Distinguished Sponsors of this Forum,
Forum Delegates and Business Leaders,
Ladies and Gentlemen
I thank you Ambassador Mwanaidi Maajar and the President of the Diaspora Council of Tanzanians in America (DICOTA) for inviting me to join you on this very auspicious day of celebrating the 50 years of the independence of the Mainland Tanzania and holding of the 3rd meeting of the Tanzanian Diaspora in America. I commend you for organizing this event very well. I bring with me very fraternal greetings from your brothers and sisters back home. They wish you well in these celebrations as they prepare to do the same on December 9, 2011.
I am glad you heeded the call I made in my address to the nation to welcome the year 2011, urging Tanzanians wherever they are, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the independence of Tanganyika in a very befitting manner. I commend you for organizing this day of celebration to reflect on the past 50 years and look ahead to the future of Tanzania.
Ladies and Gentlemen;
Tanzanians have every reason to celebrate the golden jubilee of their independence. First, the fact that we have survived as a nation, and have remained united and peaceful amidst so much diversity, is no small achievement at all. Tanzania is a nation created by the merger of two sovereign nations and sovereign peoples; a nation of people of 126 tribes, who belong to different races and religions; people of different backgrounds: rich and poor; educated and uneducated. A country with such diversity to have survived for fifty years where several have failed, is something to be proud of and celebrate. However, we have to be mindful of the fact that we must remain vigilant and continue to pursue the policies that made us a united and peaceful nation for all these years.
We have recorded phenomenon progress in education. There are more boys and girls in schools, colleges and universities. Today 97 percent of our children are in primary school compared to only 2 percent at independence. Today we boast of 15,816 Primary schools compared to only 3,000 when we got independence. We now have 4,237 Secondary schools enrolling 1,638,699 compared to only 41 Secondary schools with 11,832 students. At independence, there were 13 graduates but today as I speak there are over 120,000 students studying in universities at home. At independence, there were two engineers, now there are 11,400. Tanzania’s progress in education has been recognized globally, and that is why last year we received an MDG Award on Education in New York.
Ladies and Gentlemen;
The coming years will see resolute steps taken to improve the quality of education with the hiring of more teachers, acquisition of more text books and reference books, teaching aids including science laboratories. We are focused on building more teachers houses and improving their living environment particularly in the rural areas. We will improve the teaching curriculum in our entire education system and bring it up to speed with world developments. In this regard, information technology, vocational training and entrepreneurship for self employment will be given special attention.
In the health sector, a lot has been done so far to increase peoples’ access to health and build capacities to combat diseases. There are more dispensaries, health centers and hospitals in the villages, districts and regions. Our target now is to have a dispensary at a radius of five kilometers. Our dispensaries and hospitals are better equipped and have more health professionals than they were 50 years ago.
We have put in place comprehensive programmes of interventions to combat major diseases such as HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria, kidneys, heart diseases, neurosurgical, oral health etc. We are building our own capacities so as to reduce the number of patients we are sending abroad for diagnosis and treatment. As a result of all these efforts we are witnessing progress, life expectancy is going up, maternal and child mortalities are coming down. HIV infection rates are falling, and soon referral of patients abroad for heart, kidney and neurosurgical treatment will be reduced.
Remarkable gains have also been registered in the infrastructure development. We have opened up the country and my dreams of connecting all our regions with tarmac roads will soon be realised.
At independence the total road length was nearly 33,000 out of which only 1,360 km were tarmac. Today we have 86,672 km of roads out of which 6,500 km are tarmac. Another 11,154 km of tarmac roads are at different stages of construction. We have witnessed progress in airports, railways and ports in various parts of the country, despite management challenges which we are constantly addressing. In the electricity too, there has been some progress. More people have access to electricity when compared to the situation at independence. But much more needs to be done to meet increased demand. This is what we are doing. There are currently huge programs for water and electricity that are being implemented for that purpose.
Political and Economic Development
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As we celebrate 50 years of our independence, we are also celebrating successes made in political and economic reforms. With regard to political reforms our own country is now a vibrant multiparty democracy. There are over 18 political parties which are free to function without encumbrances. People of Tanzania are enjoying their basic freedoms of expression, association and worship. There is an abundant media freedom. There are very few countries in Africa with so many newspapers as Tanzania.
With regard to economic reforms we are now pursuing market economic policies instead of state controlled economic policies. The private sector is now the driver of economic growth.
The state performs the traditional functions of law and order and regulation with regard to the economy besides putting in place sound economic policies. Indeed, the economic reforms have worked well for us all. There is macro economic stability. At seven per cent Tanzania is among the top 20 fastest growing economies in the world. It is a major destination for FDIs in Africa.
Despite these achievements Tanzania is still a poor developing nation. We cannot change overnight but we are setting our sites properly so that by 2025 we will graduate into middle income country. We reviewed our Development Vision 2025 and identified the areas of intervention to enable us get there. We have introduced Five Year Development Plans to guide us to that ultimate goal.
Relations with the United States
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As we celebrate 50 years of Tanganyika’s independence, we are also marking fifty years of good diplomatic relations and cooperation with our host, the United States of America. We are enjoying excellent relations. We see eye to eye on a number of global issues particularly those related to Africa and global development. Tanzania has benefited so much in our development endeavours from support extended by the people of this great country.
Their support through PEPFAR, PMI, MCC has made a huge difference. We look forward to even more success through the Feed the Future and Partnership for Growth programme. The Peace Corps programme has been a major vehicle for people to people relations. We value this relationship and would do everything within our powers to see it grow to greater heights.
The US has now become our biggest tourist source market. We welcome these developments and promise to help where help is needed to see this blossom.
It goes without saying; our cooperation with the United States has been outstanding. The presence of high level representatives from the US Government and Corporate in this forum is further testimony to this cooperation and support. We have every reason to be hopeful. We thank all our partners for their support as we look forward to many more years of even more vibrant cooperation.
Tanzanian Diaspora at 50 Years of Independence
Ladies and Gentlemen;
It has been my habit since when I was Foreign Minister and now as President, to meet Tanzanians. You remember, the May 2006 here in Washington and New York when I met Tanzanians, I urged you not to forget home. Specifically I required you to do four things:
(1) Be good citizens, respect the laws of this land, (2) Don’t engage in criminal activities. We will not defend you.
(3) Don’t forget home: build houses and help your relatives, contribute to our nations development, bring investments, technology and skills. Don’t just complain and do finger pointing at others because development of our country is the responsibility of every Tanzanian not only government. Let each one of you play his or her part.
(4) Organise yourselves into associations to coordinate your efforts and help each other.
I am glad Tanzanians here in the US are not in group of bad immigrants. There are isolated cases but it is not representative of Tanzanians. Keep it up.I am happy that some of you have awakened to my call to build at home and are doing that.I am aware of the problems of getting land for that purpose and getting honest people to supervise the construction. I have directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Lands to help with the land question. With regard to the construction of houses, I will encourage the Pension Funds, NHC to assist because they are in that business; they can do it for you. Also the banks can organize Loan Schemes for that purpose.
You are investing, but also bring investments, technology and skills. The TIC is well briefed to work with you and assist you in your endeavours. I am so glad that you are now organized and you have created a formidable organization. As Ambassador Sefue has very ably said, you are increasing from strength to more strength. I wish you well and greater success in future.
Engaging the Tanzanian diaspora is a major policy of our government. It is the directive of our party in last year’s election manifesto. Why do we do it? There are good reasons for doing that.
First, you are our own blood; therefore, we have an obligation to relate to you. Secondly, you can contribute to the improvement of the lives of your kith and kin. And, thirdly, perhaps more importantly you have the exposure and contracts that help in promoting growth of your homeland. Besides that your remittances will help the growth of the economy. Other countries are benefitting, why not us.
It is for these reasons, that I directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to establish a special department on the Diaspora. I am glad it is up and running and being headed by a very able and dynamic diplomat, Miss Bertha Somi. I am confident with her.
Secondly, I directed them to spearhead the issue of dual nationality. At the beginning it was resented but now it is beginning to be understood. We will include it in the Constitutional reforms that we will soon undertake. And, we will do the same for other issues including the right for Tanzanians abroad to vote.
Conclusion
Today, as we celebrate our 50 years of independence, we do not boast of making no errors in between, we do not boast of making some failures, neither do we boast of being free from today’s new challenges and realities.We boast for having dared,having achieved and having strong determination to march forward.
I thank you all for your kind attention!
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