Zitto: What it will take to foster unity in the fight against Covid-19

Dar es Salaam. The ACT-Wazalendo party leader, Mr Zitto Kabwe, issued three recommendations yesterday which, according to him, would bolster the country’s unity amidst the fight against the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Kabwe called for establishment of a team of ‘trusted people’ to spearhead the public sensitisation and awareness campaigns against the continuing spread of the pandemic.
This, he said, would entail doing away with some individuals who had put science aside and who once proclaimed that Tanzania had defeated the pandemic through bizarre means.
Further, he suggested that there be an inter-parties dialogue meant to rebuild democracy and the need for the government to up its resolve to improving Tanzania’s business environment.
 He said with the sixth phase regime, under President Samia Suluhu Hassan, making a complete U-turn in the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, it was only sensible to do away with individuals who were preaching a completely different approach during the past regime.
He said that was the only way to win the trust of majority of Tanzanians in the fight against the disease. Mr Kabwe was of the view that the country could not have a better implementation of new policies in regard to how to curb the pandemic, if the same persons who advised the government to use non-scientific measures remain in power.
 “Now that the government has made a U-turn in modalities of curbing the Covid-19, we cannot have the same people who used to make us believe that Tanzania had defeated Cov-id-19,” noted Mr Kabwe.
He added: “We cannot have the same people who made us believe that lemons and ginger could cure Covid-19.”
He also insisted on the need for Tanzanians to continue taking precautionary measures, which include, social distancing, wearing face masks, sanitising and washing hands using running water and soap.
Meanwhile, Mr Kabwe commended the sixth phase government in its efforts to improve press freedom, abandoning the use of force in tax collection and dropping groundless cases.
However, he said the government under President Hassan has so far not done well in the area of political freedom.
This, he said, was due to the existence of the Political Parties Act, 2019 as well as the National Electoral Commission (NEC) and the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) which, he said, were not friendly to opposition parties.
 “It is our request to the President that we hold an inter-par-ties dialogue that will enable us to agree on how we can take our country to the next level when it comes to re-building our democracy,” said Mr Kabwe.
Mbowe’s arraignment
He called on the President to intervene by using a political approach in bringing to an end what he called a ‘politically motivated case’.
Mr Mbowe, who was arrested last month in Mwanza, a few hours before launching a public forum on constitutional reform, is facing charges related to economic crimes and financing terrorist activities between May and August 2020.Referring to President’s stance of building the economy first before turning to demands of a new constitution and allowing political parties’ rallies, Mr Kabwe cautioned that the Head of State’s efforts could not become successful if a five -year and half political injuries were not healed.
As Covid-19 bites, official data shows that Tanzania’s economy grew by 4.8 percent last year against the projection of 5.6 percent.