The budget earmarked for festivities marking Tanzania’s 61st independence anniversary will instead be diverted to building educational facilities for children in dire need, a statement from President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Tuesday suggests.
Tanzanian independence will clock 61 on Friday December 9th but the president like her late predecessor, John Magufuli has decided to use the $445, 000 which would have been used to celebrate the event in erecting school dormitories across the country.
Primary schools would benefit from the project, according to Minister of State, George Simbachawene, who revealed that the funds for this purpose have already been disbursed.
In recent years the Tanzanian authorities had snubbed the past official pomp and ceremony traditionally associated with marking the country’s independence.
Late president Magufuli had set the stage in 2015 and subsequent years when he announced that an ‘unusual’ way to celebrate independence by using monies meant to fund festivities around it to build roads and medical facilities in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s economic capital.
His successor, Samia Suluhu Hassan has continued with this tradition which has been widely hailed by citizens as ‘a more conscientious’ way of using taxpayers’ money.
WN/as/APA