Thousands turn out for the burial of former Tanzanian Prime Minister Edward Lowassa
What you need to know:
- The former PM will be buried in Ngarash village, near the district headquarters.
Dar es Salaam. Thousands of mourners turned out for the burial of former Tanzanian Prime Minister Edward Lowassa in Monduli today, Saturday, February 17, 2024.
Lowassa died last Saturday at the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute in Dar es Salaam, where he was receiving treatment.
Lowassa was Tanzania’s Prime Minister from 2005 until he resigned in 2008, when a select parliamentary committee implicated him in the Richmond scandal.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan is leading the mourners at the state funeral, attended by former and current leaders, diplomats, and ordinary citizens from across the country.
The former PM will be buried in Ngarash village, near the district headquarters.
Despite serving for the shortest period in the seat of the Prime Minister, Lowassa is remembered for pioneering ward secondary schools, which have significantly contributed to improved access to secondary education in Tanzania.
Lowassa served as a lawmaker for the Monduli constituency for 20 years (1995–2015) before he vied for the Union presidency on an opposition (Ukawa) ticket in 2015.
In his constituency, Lowassa is remembered for improving access to water in a district considered one of the driest in the country. The 6,419-square-kilometre Monduli is largely inhabited by nomadic herders.
The former PM is reckoned to have said he would be greatly relieved if the Monduli people (his voters) had reliable access to water.
At times, the scarcity of the precious liquid became so serious that it led to the deaths of livestock and wild animals.
The water shortage in the semi-arid district located in the heart of Maasailand has also impacted learning for the pastoralists’ children.
