Free education will motivate taxpayers: envoy

Dar es Salaam. Implementation of the policies of free education and health provision will make Tanzanians more willing to pay tax because they will be sure of where their money will be directed, President John Magufuli’s government has been advised.

Speaking at the death anniversary of former Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme at Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre in Dar es Salaam yesterday, former Swedish deputy minister and ambassador Bengt Save-Soderbergh said the benchmark of providing free basic social services was the eradication of all forms of corruption.

“In Sweden, people are willing to pay tax without questioning because they know where the money will be directed. This has enabled the Swedish government to provide free education and health services,” Save-Soderbergh said at event attended by retired President Benjamin Mkapa, Ms Gertrude Mongela, Christopher Liundi and Swedish Embassy officers. The remarks come amid the government’s struggle to fund higher education students through loans, while those taking arts subjects are not guaranteed.

Save-Soderbergh, who was at the forefront of Sweden’s support of the struggle against apartheid and colonialism in sub-Saharan countries, urged the government to continue fighting against corruption to win public trust and facilitate tax collection. Describing Palme, who was assassinated 30 years ago in Stockholm as he returned walked home from a cinema with his wife, he said the democrat socialist leader supported Nyerere’s Arusha Declaration and African liberation.