via Tanzanian Pres collects rubbish off the streets – NewZimbabwe 09/12/2015
TANZANIAN President John Magufuli surprised onlookers on Wednesday when he walked out of State House to collect rubbish off the streets, after cancelling independence day celebrations for a national cleanup.
Magufuli, who took power last month after winning 25 October elections, has introduced a swathe of austerity cuts and crackdowns on public corruption.
Dozens of fishermen joined in the clean up with their president, who shovelled leaves and plastic rubbish close to a fish market near the presidential palace as a crowd of hundreds looked on, an AFP reporter at the scene said.
“Let us work together to keep our country, cities, homes and workplaces clean, safe and healthy,” the smiling Magufuli said, as he picked up litter with his hands.
Progressive president
Street cleaning took place across the economic capital Dar es Salaam, with plumes of smoke rising into the sky as residents burned piles of litter.
Tanzania is also struggling to stem a major cholera outbreak, which health officials said last month had infected nearly 10 000 people and killed 150.
The Citizen newspaper carried a cartoon showing Tanzania’s national flag waving on a sweeping brush as the flag pole.
“Tanzania has changed – this is a new Tanzania, ” said Anyitike Mwakitalima, a resident of Dar es Salaam, as he took a break cleaning a stretch of beach.
Former president Jakaya Kikwete, who stepped down in November after serving his two-term limit, took part in cleaning in his home town of Chalinze sweeping and gathering rubbish.
“I am happy with his exercise. Let us give our president full support in his campaign to fight cholera and other communicable diseases,” Kikwete told national television, adding that he was impressed with his successor, who is from the same political party.
“I am very happy with measures he is taking to curb inefficiency, tax evasion and other malpractices in public offices, I am very proud of him,” Kikwete said.
Since Magufuli took office, some officials have been jailed for lateness, the head of the tax authority has been suspended and the use of public funds to pay for Christmas and New Year greeting cards banned.
Annual independence celebrations usually see military parades, choirs and traditional dances at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam. Tanzania, then Tanganyika, won independence from Britain on 9 December, 1961.
COMMENTS
Magufuli will put to shame our hands in the pocket leaders who will never lift a finger to help.
They call themselves ‘chefs’ and they will never mingle with povo.
I hope other leaders will learn from Magufuli that they are there to serve.
One sentence stands out by a citizen. “I am proud”. I yearn to be able to say the same. so I will say it. I am proud of another African. Let this man, Magufuli, be an example to the pack of politicians that want to feed from the trough. Let this man embarrass the rest of Africa into eventually making the hard choices. I imagine our esteemed leader, sitting in his ivory tower, thinking up a negative, racist, demeaning sentence to be able to discard these actions as not worthy of an African President. I predict he will know be known to the Zim elite as the ‘garbage man’ to belittle his actions that are not becoming of our ‘great’ leaders.
The day, when an African thinks, “Country”, has come.
Thank you Magufuli.
Respect, Mr Magufuli. I wish there were more like you, who lead by example and truly love their countries and countrymen. Please do not go the way of most of the rest.