President Magufuli again urges Tanzanians to bear more children to boost economy

Dar es Salaam. President John Magufuli reiterated his position over birth controls on Monday, March 16, 2020 saying a large population was beneficial to the economy.

Dr Magufuli was speaking during a tour to inspect the ongoing construction of Ubungo Interchange in Dar es Salaam.

The President also had time to inspect the ongoing expansion of Mwenge-Morocco Road and the expansion of Morogoro Road from Dar es Salaam to Kibaha.

"When you have a big population, you build the economy. That is why China's economy is huge. In Africa, Nigeria has the largest population. It has about 202 million people and it benefits from the demographic dividends,” he noted, adding: “A big population is a huge capital. People do all the productive works and they ensure good market for the produced goods and services.”

President Magufuli said, even the ‘Father of Nation’ and first President of Tanzania, the late Julius Nyerere, said the country needs people, land and good governance to prosper.

"Don’t mind those who tell you otherwise. Set your ovaries free and let them block theirs," he told a gathering in Dar es Salaam.

So far, Tanzania has 59.7 million people and is ranked 24 highly populated in the world, according to him.

The country has an annual population growth of 2.9 percent.

Tanzania ranks fourth in Africa in terms of population after Nigeria, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Africa.

Since taking office in 2015, Magufuli has launched an industrialisation campaign that has helped buoy economic growth, which has averaged six to seven percent annually in recent years.

This is not the first time that President Magufuli is advocating a large population as panacea to economic growth.

While speaking at a public rally in Meatu in Simiyu Region in September 2018, President Magufuli told the people not to listen to those advising about birth control, saying the advice held sinister motives.

Those going for family planning are lazy, President Magufuli said, because they are afraid they will not be able to feed their children. They do not want to work hard to feed a large family. And that is why they opt for birth control and end up with one or two children only, he added.

“You people of Meatu keep livestock. You are good farmers. You can then feed your children. Why would you opt for birth control? These are my views, but I do not see any need for birth control in Tanzania,” he said in Meatu in 2018.

He added: “I have travelled to Europe and elsewhere and I have seen the side effects of birth control. In some countries they are now struggling with declining population growth. They have no labour force,” President Magufuli, who was on a tour of Lake Zone regions said. He urged Tanzanians to keep reproducing because the government was increasing investment in maternal health specifically and the health sector in general. He said the government is about to construct 67 district hospitals countrywide.