Stop Charging in Foreign Currency-JK

 President Jakaya Kikwete has warned school owners and other business entities operating in the country to immediately stop charging Tanzanians in foreign currency, taking them to task into adhering to the national monetary policy.

 

The President issued the warning on Wednesday night when talking to Tanzanian Diaspora in New Delhi in his first day of the four-day official visit in the Indian sub-continent at the invitation of his counterpart President Pranad Mukherjee. 

 

The Diaspora had been moved by headlines in Tanzanian media that the local market was overwhelmed by foreign currency transactions including instances of dual pricing in some services involving apartment rentals, fee payments in English medium international schools, supermarkets and hotels.

But in the past six months following the drastic plunge of shilling caused by deficiency of dollar in the circulation, allegedly hoarded by a group of people stashing the currency abroad amid the violent October Elections phobia, American dollar has conspicuously come out of its closets to sell openly even among the small scale businesses.

 

He said a Tanzanian should not be forced into paying bills in foreign currency, but foreigners in designated areas.

 

Meanwhile, the members of Diaspora also wanted to know about the state of affairs in the recent Escrow Tegeta account corruption scandal that shook the nation, caused the political demise of some politicians and plunged the popular rating of Kikwete’s government into record low. 

 

“We have empowered institutions such as the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), Controller and Accounts General (CAG) office and ensure that the reports issued are openly discussed in the Parliament”, said the President implying steps his government has taken in dealing with corruption.

 

However, he said the fight against corruption is a sophisticated and diversified phenomenon that it needs collective efforts that will include the government, the public and other stakeholders  to overcome. 

 

He said PCCB and other institutions  have been given more mandate to deal with corruption related cases now compared to 2005, adding “their power has increased 10 folds” following the increase in corruption-related cases. 

 

When he was taken to task over a number of accidents that have taken thousands of his compatriots victims of death in the past three years, President Kikwete simply answered that the road accidents were mostly due to laziness caused by drivers who systematically violate traffic rules that include taking alcohol and reckless driving. 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN