Addressing the congregation at the consecration of Father Flavian Kassala as the new bishop of the Geita Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church here on Sunday, the Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, said the government banked on the support of the church and other religious institutions to advocate against immorality.
We bank on the support of the church and other religious institutions to counter such evil deeds in our society as evidenced in the recent attacks on a Mwanza mosque,’’ the Premier stressed. He also appealed to the church’s contribution in the fight against graft.
The prime minister thanked Geita residents for their commitment towards the war on graft, which has been President John Magufuli’s main agenda since he assumed power in October last year. He said apart from the repeated assurances on the provision and supply of quality social service, such ambition will always hit a hard rock if corruption was left to flourish.
Premier Majaliwa said as the special High Court division on corruption is set to take off next month, all members of the public, including the Catholic Church, are expected to report all corrupt people for immediate action.
“This special court will become operational soon. Please accord us all the cooperation in booking corrupt people. I can assure you that the cases will be expedited,” said Mr Majaliwa.
The PM reiterated the government’s stance in supporting religious institutions to partake their functions without fear or favour, thanking them for quality provision of social services in area of education, health and orphans’ care, an area in which the Catholic Church has done exemplarily well.
According to him, the Geita Diocese has been blessed by getting a good leader like Bishop Kassala, pledging to cooperate with him in leading his people in a peaceful manner possible.
Commenting on the formation of peace committees at district, regional and national levels, Mr Majaliwa said the function of those committees depended on the contribution of all the stakeholders, including churches.
Earlier, the Archbishop of the Mwanza Archdiocese, Juda Thadeus Ruwauchi, said all the people with good track records in the public and church leadership came from God and were leading through God’s helping hand.
He noted that Bishop Kassala had a number of challenges ahead, calling on priests and worshippers to support him instead of running away. “There is a tendency of people and even old friends to run away as soon as their colleagues become leaders.
That is common in church leaderships. Please don’t run away but accord every support to the new Bishop,” he said. Bishop Kassala takes over from Bishop Damian Dallu, who was appointed Archbishop of Songea in 2014.
Prior to his appointment, Bishop Kassala, 48, was Senior Lecturer and Vice-Chancellor of the Mtwara-based Stella Maris Associate University.
Meanwhile, cotton farmers in Nyang’hwale District have incurred losses following fake farming inputs received from the Tanzania Cotton Development Trust Fund (TCDTF). This was revealed over the weekend by Nyang’hwale District Commissioner (Geita Region), Mr Ibrahim Marwa, to the prime minister.
DC Marwa said TCDTF leaders and some business people, who have vested interests in the cotton crop, have failed to provide required assistance to farmers. The district commissioner’s remarks were made during the Geita Regional Commissioner, Major General (rtd) Ezekiel Kyunga’s brief to the prime minister tour to the region.
Mr Marwa noted that after farm inputs were received by farmers, they were taken to the Ukiriguru Agricultural Research Institute, the oldest research station and the main cotton research centre in the country, which confirmed that they were fake.
Prime Minister Majaliwa directed agricultural officers to undertake their responsibilities in assisting cotton farmers gain profit from the crop. He asked agriculture officers and local leaders in areas where cotton is farmed, to come up with new plans for the next season, including strategies for high quality cotton seeds and ensure the farmers receive enough for their farms.
“There is no point of continuing to have extension farmers and agriculture officers who are unable to uphold their responsibilities of assisting farmers,” he noted. The prime minister directed district councils in cotton farming areas to conduct research to establish the reasons that have led to low morale among farmers in growing the crop.
Culled from Daily News
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