Tanzania reaffirms commitment to the UN, plans for dual citizenship
By Hassan Abbas, Dar es Salaam – President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania on Friday addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) in a speech he categorically reminisced on Tanzanians fifty years of independence and its contribution to the international relations. “I’m happy that fifty years now after the independence of Tanganyika, the country under the new United Republic of Tanzania has continued to be a bonafide member of this noble organization,” he said in a speech availed to Shout-Africa.com over the week end.
The president said as the founding father of the nation, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere informed the UN in his speech 50 years ago, Tanzania reaffirms its continued commitment to the UN principles for the next 50 years. The President highlighted that Tanzania has participated in efforts to restore peace in Africa especially in Somalia and Comoro and the world but also in ensuring that principles of good governance are upheld.
He reiterated Tanzania’s stance of two country solution in the Palestine question. “These people in Palestine and Israel have suffered for so many years, it is now high time that such a burden is lifted,” he added. In a separate meeting in Washington President Kikwete promised Tanzanians in the Diaspora that his government is committed to ensuring that all Tanzanians who have acquired other citizenship retain their Tanzanian status.
The president issued the promise when addressing Tanzanians living in the US in a meeting held in Washington DC. The president said the issue of dual citizenship and right of voting will all be decided in the discussions leading to the formation of a new constitution. “We are still committed to the dual citizenship debate. But this is a constitutional issue that needs first to be addressed in the new constitution,” he said at the meeting which carried a slogan, “Tanzanian Diaspora 50 Years after Independence.”
