Magufuli scores high on content

Dar es Salaam. CCM’s campaign launch on Sunday received mixed views yesterday, with a cross section of interviewees welcoming Dr Magufuli’s pledges but others expressed doubts on whether he will be able to deliver them.

Political analyst with ‘Tanzanianjema Advisory’, Mr Omar Ilyas, told The Citizen that Dr Magufuli’s speech reflected the desires of many Tanzanians.

“His focus on issues was commendable,” said Mr Ilyas, adding that he hoped all other candidates would stick to expounding on their pledges.

The Executive Director of the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC), Dr Hellen Kijo-Bisimba, also said Dr Magufuli tailored his message to what the public wanted to hear. “For instance, the issue of corrupt public officials that he promised to deal with is a case in point.”

Dr Magufuli pledged in his speech that his government would form a special court for handling corruption related cases.

However, Dr Kijo-Bisimba said Dr Magufuli failed to show how he would actually deal with corruption.

She said, “The CCM candidate’s speech was full of explanation on his personal attributes instead of telling how the party’s manifesto would be achieved.”

Mr Willigis Mbogoro, the Executive Secretary of the Tanzania Federation of Co-operatives, said that to a large extent he was optimistic that the politician would supervise good governance.

However, he faulted the speech for being silent on developing co-operatives as an important component of the country’s economy.

Ms Chiku Soi, a Dar es Salaam resident, said she was pleased with the promise to repossess failed privatised firms.