All ministries to be out of Dar in six months: PM

Dodoma. Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa has detailed a timetable that will be followed in the government’s endeavour to relocate to Dodoma.

It indicates that all cabinet ministers will have to move to the designated capital within six months from now.

Moving a motion to adjourn Parliament until November 1, 2016, here yesterday, Mr Majaliwa said government would relocate to Dodoma in six phases, starting with cabinet ministers, permanent secretaries and their deputies.

“The first phase stretches between September 2016 and February 2017. During that period, the Prime Minister, all ministers, all permanent secretaries and their deputies will relocate to Dodoma,” he said in a speech that also highlighted a number of goals that President John Magufuli’s administration has achieved since assuming power late last year.

Within the six months, each ministry will be required to relocate employees within one or two departments while also working on the modalities of moving the remaining departments to Dodoma.

Though the issue appears nowhere in Tanzania’s second Five-Year Development Plan —  which details how the country’s development path and preparation of annual budgets during financial years between 2016/17 and 2020/21 — Mr Majaliwa said government executives will have to set their Dodoma relocation budgets right during the 2017/2018 budget. This will make it easy for the government to conduct the second phase of relocating to Dodoma – which will run from March 2017 through August, 2017 – swiftly.

“This period will give an opportunity for government executives to include the budget for relocating employees in their various departments to Dodoma for consideration in the 2017/18 budget.” That will pave the way for the third phase of relocating to Dodoma which will see more and more public servants in the Central Government moving to the designated capital between September 2017 and February 2018.

Some more public servants will relocate to Dodoma in the fourth and fifth phases that run between March and August 2018 and September 2018 through February 2020 respectively.

“The sixth and last phase will be conducted between March 2020 and June 2020 whereby the President’s Office, led by the President of the United Republic of Tanzania and the Vice President will officially move,” Mr Majaliwa said.

He called upon local and foreign investors to come in large numbers and invest in buildings, hotels, shopping malls as well as to set up health, education and financial services facilities Dodoma. Joining Mr Majaliwa while officially winding up the Parliamentary sitting, National Assembly Speaker Job Ndugai – who also hails from Dodoma – said the designated capital has space for everyone.

“We have set aside 20,000 hectares at Ihumwa for constructing public offices….this is four times the size of the entire University of Dodoma….I urge you all to come….we have all the land that you may need for your various development projects,” he said.

On the 13 September Bukoba Earthquake Tragedy that has so far killed 17 and over 250 injured, Mr Majaliwa said the government has so far taken several steps to comfort those affected.

The steps include strengthening the Kagera Regional Referral Hospital by sending more medicines and deploying 12 medical doctors from the Lake Zone’s Bugando Referral Hospital as well as sensitising other partners like Medecins Sans Frontieres, the Chinese Embassy, Jhpiego and the Pharmacists Association.

“A lot has happened but we are still collecting donations from various people through a special account number named Kamati ya Maafa Kagera that has been opened at CRDB Bank (0152225617300) and Swiftcode CORUtztz. We are also collecting donations M-Pesa Number 0768-196669, Tigo Pesa Number 0718-069616 and Airtel Money number 0682-950009,” he said.

Mr Majaliwa reiterated that Tanzania’s economy was doing well and that revenue collections were on the increase.