President Magufuli, clergymen preach peace, love ahead of Xmas

Dar/Moshi. President John Magufuli yesterday called on Christians and Tanzanians of other religious denominations to pray for the country’s peace, love and unity as the country is expected to join the rest of the world in celebrating Christmas and New Year-2020.

His message was supported by messages issued by clerics from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) and the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC).

Speaking yesterday during the Sunday Mass at the Mary the Virgin Parish in Chato Geita Region, Dr Magufuli said Tanzanians should celebrate Christmas with peace and love that the New Year 2020 should be welcomed with love of Christ.

“The coming year should be of success, development and the year to consolidate our unity. It should be the year of peace and love and year of pushing our country to true development,” reads the statement signed by the director of presidential communications, Gerson Msigwa seen by this paper.

The head of ELCT in the country, Dr Fredrick Shoo, said the birth of Jesus Christ was good news to worshippers including the rich, poor, orphans, widows, the elites and ignorant.

“Jesus Christ was born for us all. He has come to bring light where there is darkness, justice where there is oppression, hope where there is despair and happiness where there is grief,” he said.

According to him, the ending year was tough to most Tanzanians as some suffered from various diseases, other lost beloved ones and there are those who failed to pay school fees for their children due to economic hardships.

“We also failed to compromise during the civic polls held in November 24, 2019. As a result the election was held in the absent of major opposition political parties,” he said.

Bishop Stephen Munga of the ELCT North-Eastern Diocese said Christmas reminds those in power, who believe that everything in the world belonged to them that God was the cause of justice. “Noel is a testimony that God has come to liberate the world and end to the Kingdom of darkness,” he said.

The ELCT bishop of Karagwe Diocese, Dr Benson Bagonza said human beings cannot love God and despise fellow human beings.

“We are supposed to respect humanity as God did. Harassing fellow human being meant at distressing God,” he said.

The TEC secretary general Dr Charles Kitima said Tanzanians should strengthen peace, evaluate the country’s direction including unemployment challenge for the youth and failure to access reliable market for farmers to alleviate from poverty.

Mbeya Regional Commissioner Albert Chalamila and his Mwanza counterpart asked citizens in respective areas of jurisdiction to strengthen peace, increase cooperation and workd hard in 2020.

Reported by Louis Kolumbia, Daniel Mjema and Kelvin Matandiko