Apologise, Kakobe tells JK

Dar es Salaam. Full Gospel Bible Fellowship Church (FGBF) Bishop Zachary Kakobe has called on President Jakaya Kikwete to admit that he made a mistake and apologise to Tanzanians for the speech he made during the inauguration of the Constituent Assembly  (CA) in March.

Addressing reporters at the premises of his church yesterday, Bishop Kakobe said the gesture would break the current deadlock in the constitution-making process and enable the country to move forward.

The outspoken man of the cloth has raised political temperatures in his sermons previously.

“He must apologise to Tanzanians and openly declare that he made a mistake but it is very hard for the Head of State to do so and it is the only solution to the process,” he said yesterday.

He was speaking during the celebrations to mark 25 years since FGBF was established in the country.

He said he would only stand by the truth as the man of God, saying President Kikwete’s speech was divisive and amounted to derailing the constitution-making process.

He said discussions going on now could not bear fruit because the top leaders in the nation had failed to show leadership. According to him, he does not belong to any political party but he stands for the truth for the benefits of Tanzanians.

He explained that the whole constitution-making process was politicised and being conducted in a hypocritical way. He fully supports the Group of Defenders of the People’s Constitution (Ukawa) for boycotting CA.

“I support Ukawa 100 per cent because there is no way you can say you are discussing the draft constitution while your friend has already put in place his stance,” he said.

He called upon religious leaders to be careful in their statements during this moment.

The President’s speech during the  opening the CA was  received with mixed reactions from the public.  The opposition roundly criticised him.