Dar City's new mayor spells out his agenda

Dar es Salaam. The new mayor for Dar es Salaam City, Mr Isaya Mwita, yesterday pledged to restore what he described as the country’s commercial capital’s lost glory, saying cleanness and provision of quality social services were top on his agenda.

Mr Mwita, whose rivals used all manner of intrigues and dirty tactics to block him, says other priorities would be to decongest Dar es Salam by establishing parking lots in the outskirts of the city as well as enhancing revenue collection to facilitate implementation of various development activities.

Mr Mwita, the first ever Dar es Salaam mayor to emerge from the Opposition, said the city is engulfed in various challenges that are adversely affecting lives of its ever growing population for years.

“There are many issues that must be tackled so that we reach a point where everyone will love the way things look and that will depend on our willingness to do our best,” he said.

He told The Citizen yesterday that Dar es Salaam is capable of being self-reliant if revenue collection will be efficiently undertaken. He specifically pledged to construct enough classrooms and purchase enough desks.

Mr Mwita noted that traffic congestion has been a big headache to the city’s residents, saying a lot of money is lost yearly due to traffic jams.

He added that he is banking on the support and cooperation he will get from the regional and municipality leaders to implement what he wants the city to look like.

“It is sad that despite having such a large number of businesspeople in the city, our children continue to sit on the floor in classrooms and our hospitals lack beds,” he said.

He said there are many issues that he sees as challenges facing city residents, noting that one of the main challenges is the motorcycle taxi operators and food vendors who are chronically at loggerheads with militiamen over conducting their businesses in the city centre.

Mr Mwita was elected in polls that had been delayed for months thanks to a wrangle that pitted the ruling CCM against the Opposition over who were eligible voters.

Mr Mwita, a councillor for Vijibweni (Chadema) emerged winner with 84 votes against his CCM rival Yenga Yusuf’s who got 67.

Opposition supporters thronged the Karimjee Hall from as early as 8am, singing and chanting party slogans, a situation that paralysed business in offices surrounding the hall located at the city centre.

A total of 151 councillors from the three Dar es Salaam municipalities of Ilala, Kinondoni and Mwananyamala voted in yesterday’s election, out of the total 161 that were eligible.

Earlier before the beginning of the vote, the candidates were given five minutes each to campaign.

The election was attended by various leaders including 2015 Chadema presidential candidate Edward Lowassa, Chadema chairman Freeman Mbowe and secretary general Vincent Mashinji.

The election had been postponed several three times with the last attempt ending in chaos, with the Dar es Salaam Regional Administrative Secretary (RAS) Theresia Mmbando being rescued from the wrath of opposition supporters by security officers.

Some commentators claimed that CCM weren’t ready for an “obvious defeat”, for which reason it was buying time while scheming how it could somehow beat the Opposition.

The 2015 General Election was not good for CCM as far the Haven of Peace is concerned. Out of 10 Dar es Salaam constituencies, the opposition coalition, Ukawa, scooped six.

Out of the three municipal councils, the Opposition controls two—Kinondoni and Ilala—while CCM retained Temeke.

The last postponement of the mayoral election which caused a pandemonium at the Karimjee Hall arose from a purported court injunction filed to stop the polls. The court was to later distance itself from the “injunction”.

The controversy delayed the election of the Dar mayor three times. It was earlier scheduled to be held on January 8 but was postponed on reasons that were not clearly given by the City director’s office.

It was then planned for January 23 but was postponed after the councillors demanded to know the real number of eligible voters from Kinondoni.

There are 161 councillors in all the three municipalities were expected to participate in the voting and out that number, 87 councillors are from the Opposition while 74 are for CCM.

In Temeke there are 49 councillors whereby the Opposition has 18 and CCM 31, while in Kinondoni there 58 councillors and the Opposition has 38 while CCM has 20.

In Ilala the Opposition has 31 and CCM, 23.