President Kikwete responds to questions from senior editors when he hosted them at State House in Dar es Salaam yesterday. (Photo: State House)

President Jakaya Kikwete has said teachers' demands for higher pay cannot be implemented as of now, appealing to them to continue negotiating with the government on the matter until consensus is reached.

He made the remarks at a conference he hosted for editors from various media houses at State House in Dar es Salaam yesterday, where he expounded on various social, economic and political developments in the country.

He said the dues the government currently pays public servants, who total about 500,000 inclusive of teachers, comes to a monthly 6.874trn/-,while internal revenue collections amount to 8trn/-.

“In the circumstances, if the government spends the said amount on public servants, it would remain with only 2trn/- - which is not enough to service other development activities for the more than 45 million people. These demands are very difficult for the government to meet,” stressed the president.

He stated that the government was aware of teachers’ contribution and took their views seriously, and pleaded with them to resume work.

Meanwhile, the president admitted to have been working hard to reduce corruption in the country.

“We are facing both petty and grand corruption in our country.

We are working to prevent such activities through laws and other institutions that we have formed,” he said.

He said over 30 corruption cases have been filed in court.

The president said the government plans to improve salaries of civil servants in order to reduce temptations of being bribed.

Regarding foreigners owning land in the country, Kikwete said it was illegal.

He stressed that foreigners can only be allocated land to work on by Tanzania Investment Centre which will continue monitoring its use.

Commenting on Kagoda Agriculture Ltd scam, President Kikwete said security organs were still investigating the matter and the government was waiting for whatever decision they might come up with.

The scam is associated with the siphoning of billions of shillings from the Bank of Tanzania’s External Payment Arrears Account.