Namibia hints at readiness to move embassy to Dodoma

What you need to know:

  • This comes a year since President John Magufuli vowed to shift the entire government to capital in phases.

The Namibian Embassy has made it clear over its intention to relocate to the country’s capital of Dodoma.

This comes a year since President John Magufuli vowed to shift the entire government to capital in phases.

Speaking over the weekend during her one-day official tour of Dodoma, the Namibia Ambassador to Tanzania, Ms Theresia Samaria said her country was supporting and appreciating President Magufuli’s stance on shifting the government to Dodoma.

Ms Samaria disclosed that the intention of her visit was to see how the embassy’s staff would stay in the region, expressing that all important services available and that there was no hesitation for them to reallocate.

“Dodoma currently has all crucial services for human beings, I have visited the Benjamin Mkapa Hospital, which is one of the best hospitals in the country. Congratulations,” she told Dodoma regional officials led by the Regional Commissioner, Mr Jordan Rugembana.

However, she revealed that the existence of the University of Dodoma would be a convincing factor for the Embassy staffs to shift there because they could have an opportunity for academic development as the university is considered as one of the best in the East Africa.

Ms Samaria spoke openly that any day the Tanzanian government will decide to allocate a piece of land on which to erect their embassy and residential houses for its staff, Namibia would be ready to start the process.

For his part, the Mr Rugimbana received the message positively and he promised to allocate the land for the Embassy. “We have already allocated the plots for embassies. The ministry of Land and Human Settlement Development in the country has been tasked to design it. Therefore, by October, this year, the area will be ready for development,” Mr Rugimbana told his visitor.