‘Pursue stronger Zambia – Tanzania ties’
Published On November 6, 2015 » 2932 Views» By Davies M.M Chanda » HOME SLIDE SHOW, PHOTOS OF THE WEEK, RIGHT SHOWCASE, SHOWCASE
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By REBECCA MUSHOTA in Dar es Salaam –
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has called for strengthening of ties between Zambia and Tanzania to overcome economic challenges affecting both countries.
President Lungu said it was important for Zambia and Tanzania to build on their relations so as to deal with challenges affecting institutions being operated by both countries.
The President was speaking at Julius Nyerere International Airport yesterday, just before he left for Lusaka at 15:00 hours, Tanzanian time.
Mr Lungu, who had arrived in Tanzania at about 10:00 hours, was in Dar-es-Salaam to attend the inauguration ceremony at the Uhuru Stadium of John Magufuli, the newly elected Tanzanian President.
“Bilateral relations will continue. We actually need to heighten the bilateral ties as we go through these difficult times,” President Lungu said.
He said the challenges that Tanzania-Zambia Railways (TAZARA) was going through, required both countries to work together to address them.
He said there was need to dialogue with the Tanzanian government on how best to balance trade between the two countries.
The President said he had been informed that the law in Tanzania favoured people of that country on matters of haulage saying that the best was for the policy to support people of both countries.
“I have been informed on issues affecting MoFED (a haulage firm owned by the Ministry of Finance and previously known as Zamcargo) and, as Cabinet, we have discussed it but we need to hear from the Tanzanian government,” he said.
MoFED has been issued with a container licence that restricts it from clearing goods from Zambia and consequently making the company and Zambia lose money.
The two countries also needed to discuss how to improve operations of Tanzania, Zambia Mafuta (TAZAMA).
President Lungu said he was assured by Tanzanian immediate past President Jakaya Kikwete that the good bilateral relations would continue under Dr Magufuli.
He said he was happy to have attended the inauguration ceremony because there were lessons to learn from Tanzania, like how the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) continued to win elections for many decades.
Earlier, President Lungu was among seven other Heads of State that attended Dr Magufuli’s inauguration.
The other Heads of governments in attendance were Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Others were Jacob Zuma of South Africa, Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique.
Dr Magufuli was sworn in by Chief Justice Chande Othman in front of a jubilant crowd that filled the stadium on a day that was declared a public holiday.
The first female vice-president of Tanzania Sania Hassan, also of CCM, was sworn in.
After greeting the visiting government leaders, Dr Magufuli said he was grateful to Tanzanians for voting for him and thanked the neighbouring countries for their support.
He urged the people of Tanzania to put the elections behind and work together to develop the country.
He was hopeful that the disputes that affected Zanzibar following Sunday’s elections would be resolved soon.
Dr Magufuli, a former Minister of Works, was announced winner on Thursday last week after beating Edward Lowassa of Ukawa coalition in an election held on Sunday.
After the ceremony, Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba said the peaceful elections were a triumphant occasion for the region and Zambia because Zambia stood to benefit when peace prevailed.
Meanwhile, Special Assistant to President Lungu for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda said at the airport that Agriculture Minister Given Lubinda would soon announce price stability and reduction of essential commodities such as flour, cooking oil and mealie meal.
The minister would also announce the reinstatement of the 21 per cent of inputs that was withdrawn from farmers under the Farmer Input Support Programme.
President Lungu has since returned home.

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