Tanzania: Ministers’ Retreat – Samia Issues Key Directives

PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan Thursday counselled ministers and their deputies to get rid of bullying and nepotism while embracing criticising each other wisely.

She also directed her cabinet to ensure that the government’s internal secrets are not leaked to the public, a move she says is likely to affect performance within the government.

“The issue of divulging secrets has now become like a disease, and it has now become a common issue to see some confidential government documents circulating in the social media, this is unacceptable because there is no government anywhere in the world that runs its business in such manner, therefore I direct you to make sure that you seal all loopholes for leakages of government secrets,” said the president.

The Head of State was speaking to ministers and their deputies at Dodoma’s Treasury Square in the country’s capital during her first meeting with them since she made a recent cabinet reshuffle, which saw some new faces appearing in the new squad.

In the recent reshuffle, President Samia also appointed new permanent secretaries and their deputies.

The new lineup saw two senior officials in the Public Service, William Lukuvi and Professor Palamagamba Kabudi dropped, but when swearing in the new ministers on Monday, President Samia said the two politicians would be assigned new roles.

She said from now on, Prof Kabudi will be responsible for international negotiations and contracts that the government will sign with international investors.

On Thursday, President Samia said Mr Lukuvi had been assigned a new role under the Prime Minister’s Office.

According to her, Mr Lukuvi will now coordinate government sectors and monitor all ministries.

The two former cabinet ministers also attended Thursday’s meeting. President Samia said there were a few sectors that had a direct impact on the people and so they must be given priority and close coordination.

The Head of State named the sectors as education, health, water, rural electrification and others similar to those which have direct impact to citizens. In addition, the president said Mr Lukuvi will help in coordinating high level performances of the ministers, whereas permanent secretaries will still be under the Chief Secretary’s Office.

When swearing in the new ministers, permanent secretaries and their deputies and other top government officials on January 10th this year, the president promised to meet the new ministers on January 13 (yesterday) and that she would equally schedule another meeting with PSs on the date that shall be announced later.

While opening the meeting yesterday, the president took time to issue key directives that she wants implemented by ministers and their deputies. President Samia tasked her cabinet to keep their eyes on the various flagship projects being implemented countrywide.

“We trust people that are implementing our various projects, but I want you to remain keen in doing frequent follow-ups on those projects so that you have clear facts when presenting the progress reports before the public,” she said.

The president said it should be a culture by all ministers to maintain close follow-ups on the implementation of key development projects, as she underscored the need for also working on problems bedeviling Tanzanians.

“We want you to supervise the sectors within your ministries so that when we demand implementation reports with clear statistics, you can do so because we want you to look for solutions on challenges facing our people,” she added.

In the course of discharging their duties, President Samia said there were directives that they need to consider, including those outlined in the ruling– CCM party manifesto, with a view to removing all problems as well as intensifying better services to people.

“The working spirit should be collaborative between one sector and another so as to attain the national vision, which cannot be achieved if the ministries are not considering teamwork,” she said adding:

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