PM defends MCC funds share

Dodoma. The Prime Minister, Mr Mizengo Pinda was yesterday forced to take the floor in Parliament and join two other ministers to defend the government over the allocation of Millennium Challenge Cooperation grant.

This was after an MP challenged the front bench, saying the allocation was not in favour of the Lake Victoria zone regions.

In his supplementary question, Mr Gozbert Blandes (Karagwe–CCM), said it was amazing that no single project was implemented in the Lake Zone using $698.13 million, equivalent to about Sh1.119 trillion offered by the US government.

The MP demanded an explanation from the government as to why the zone was not included in the projects financed by MCC funds and pleaded that in the next phase the zone should not be left out.

This prompted the Finance minister, Dr William Mgimwa, to defend the government, saying the money was not enough to ensure that each and every region in the country gets it.

“It was true that the Lake Zone regions did not benefit in the first phase of the MCC grant,” Dr Mgimwa noted.

However, he said as preparations for embarking on the second phase are in the pipeline, the government will ensure that regions which were left out during the first phase benefit from the grant.

According to him, phase two of the MCC grants would focus on rural roads and electrification projects. As if this was not enough, the Works minister, Dr John Magufuli, took the floor and told the House that the Lake Zone regions were left out on road projects because the area had many tarmac roads compared to other areas in the country.

But the explanation did not prevent Premier Pinda from standing to defend the government, saying councils should identify potential roads that will connect wider rural area instead of minor roads.