| ELECTION 2010:Slaa attacks Mama Salma | Send to a friend |
| Friday, 03 September 2010 00:13 |
 By Salim Said, Babati and Beatus Kagashe, DarChama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadian) presidential candidate, Dr Willibrod Slaa, has accused the First Lady, Mama Salma Kikwete, of misusing public funds. Dr Slaa has also required the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) secretary general, Mr Yusuf Makamba, to tell the nation why he was sacked as a primary school head teacher. But the State House distanced itself from the First Lady’s activities during the countdown to the October 31 General Election, saying the ruling party, CCM, was responsible for her itinerary and expenses. The CCM presidential campaign manager said CCM was responsible for the First Lady’s campaign activities and the Government should not be involved in any way. Dr Slaa made the allegations at a campaign rally in Babati when elaborating on some issues that were directed at him by CCM leaders. Attacks on Mama Kikwete were started by the Chadema director of campaigns, Ms Suzan Kiwanga. She proposed that the President’s wife should better register her own political party as she has been in politics a lot recently. Ms Kiwanga claimed that Mama Salma has been using the non governmental organisation she had established, called Wanawake na Maendeleo (Wama), to justify campaigning for her husband. Since campaigns started, Mama Salma, who is the Wama chairperson, has been visiting several districts, campaigning for CCM presidential candidate Jakaya Kikwete, and yesterday she was in Manyara. Ms Kiwanga told the rally that the First Lady has been conducting the tours to campaign for CCM while her timetable has not been sanctioned by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) as the law requires. “I want to warn the First Lady that what she is doing will turn out to be disastrous. She is using Wama money for personal interests and this is against the law,” she asserted. For his part, Dr Slaa told the rally that what Mama Salma was doing was another form of corruption, which his party is all out to fight. “The President’s wife is not the President. Mama Salma is going around the country using government vehicles; she is being received by regional and district commissioners, and this is against protocol. She is using State House money out of procedures and this is another form of grand corruption,” said Dr Slaa. The outgoing Karatu MP added: “In my trips in this region I have been told that she is moving with a 20-car entourage and each car is worth Sh200 million, fueled by government money. This is grand corruption.” But the assistant press secretary to President Kikwete, Ms Premy Kibanga, distanced the State House from the First Lady’s activities during the campaign time, noting that CCM was footing her bill. Ms Kibanga said expenses for the First Lady’s official trips for Wama activities are incurred by the NGO itself and not the State House. “But as First Lady, Mama Salma is entitled to some privileges and has her own budget apart from that of Wama. When she is on official government activities, there is another budget under the President’s Office which is used to cater for her activities,” she explained. She referred this paper to the CCM campaign team for clarification on the recent Mama Salma’s activities. When contacted, the CCM presidential campaign manager, Mr Abdulrahman Kinana, said Mama Salma’s campaign trips were fully funded and controlled by the ruling party campaign team except her security. Mr Kinana said all the cash, fuel, food and expenses for four assistants in her entourage were being borne by CCM. Mr Kinana said CCM had bought her a new car and arranged four people to assist her in the campaign. He said this was among tactics which CCM had mooted to ensure a landslide victory this year. “We have arranged for her trips. All costs are incurred by CCM. The timetable she is using has been prepared by CCM and approved by relevant institutions... we are well aware of what election laws require and we have endeavoured to ensure that we follow the law to the letter,” said Mr Kinana. He chided Dr Slaa and his party noting that the trend of attacking personalities showed that they have run out of policies to tell Tanzanians. He advised Chadema to start telling people what was in their manifesto because attacking other people would scare potential voters from them. “We have been hearing a lot of complaints from Chadema... it seems that they have nothing to tell the voters except wild allegations against individuals. I advise them to change this if they want to have an impact in this election,” he said. Addressing another rally in Kiteto, Dr Slaa said, if elected, he would overhaul all contracts entered into between the government and foreign investors. He would then draft new ones which would ensure that the country benefits from its natural resources, he said, adding: “We will overhaul these contracts because they are denying the country its right share from the utilisation of natural resources.” Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
| Last Updated on Saturday, 04 September 2010 09:25 |
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