Tanzanian President scraps independence day celebration

 

Tanzania's newly elected President John Magufuli has cancelled independence day celebrations, and has ordered a clean-up campaign instead.

 

President John Magufuli beat opposition candidate Edward Lowassa in last month's (October 25)election to become Tanzania's fifth president since independence

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
John Magufuli	Chama Cha Mapinduzi	8,882,935	58.46
Edward Lowassa	Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo	6,072,848	39.97
Anna Elisha Mghwira	Alliance for Change and Transparency	98,763	0.65
Lutalosa Yembe	Alliance for Democratic Change	66,049	0.43
Hashim Rungwe Spunda	Chama cha Ukombozi wa Umma	49,256	0.32
Machmillan Elifatio Lyimo	Tanzania Labour Party	8,198	0.05
Janken Malik Kasambala	National Reconstruction Alliance	8,028	0.05
Fahmi Nassoro Dovutwa	United People's Democratic Party	7,785	0.05
Invalid/blank votes			–
Total		15,193,862	100
Registered voters/turnout		23,254,485

Nicknamed "The Bulldozer", President John Magufuli is reputed to be a no-nonsense, results-driven politician.
John Magufuli was the works minister, before being elected president.

 

President John Magufuli  has announced a range of cost-cutting measures since he took office, including a ban on unnecessary foreign travel by government officials.
Last week, President John Magufuli ordered the cost of a party to inaugurate the new parliament to be slashed from $100,000 (£66,000) to $7,000.
President John Magufuli  also sacked the head of the main state hospital after finding patients sleeping on the floor during a surprise visit to the facility.

Many people were caught by surprise byPresident John Magufuli s announcement but have welcomed the move.They feel it shows his commitment to ending lavish spending and tackling the cholera outbreak which has caused widespread concern

Independence day celebrations are usually marked with a presidential address, a military parade and performances by music groups at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam. 

John Magufuli's party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), has governed since colonial rule ended on 9 December 1961, winning a new mandate in elections last month

It would be "shameful" to spend huge sums of money on the celebrations when "our people are dying of cholera", he said, state television reported.

Cholera has killed about 60 people in Tanzania in the last three months.

This will be the first time in 54 years Tanzania will not hold celebrations to mark independence from the UK.