|
Bakwata meets Kikwete over development plans
2006-02-16 09:16:36
By Pascal Shao
The National Muslim Council (Bakwata) has announced a five-year strategy to spur the development of Tanzania.
The strategy, which has been divided in four phases, is already being implemented.
Bakwata top leaders led by Chief Sheikh Mufti Shaban Simba, made the disclosure when they visited President Jakaya Kikwete at the State House yesterday.
Speaking on behalf of the leadership, Bakwata Secretary general Sheikh Abbas Kihemba said that, in order for the strategy to bear fruit, the council needed the blessings of the government and other stakeholders.
He said that the Mufti Development and Educational Fund are already in place.
He identified the other programmes as the provision of religious and secular education to the Muslim faithful, including improving and building secondary schools in every district, prepare and improve curriculum and building institutions of higher learning and vocational training colleges.
Kihemba said that the other programmes included building dispensaries and the provision of HIV/Aids education, start-up capital for small-scale enterprises to help the poor and a social welfare system for Aids orphans, youth and women, especially widows.
However, the Bakwata leaders pledged support to the government in ensuring that peace and security in the country prevail.
President Kikwete commended Bakwata for its development strategies, especially in the academic field, saying development can not be possible without education.
’The government is ready to give any kind of support to all religious institutions that wish to start development projects in the country,’ he said.
|
