President William Ruto on Monday congratulated Samia Suluhu for winning the recently concluded elections in Tanzania, which were marred by violent protests.
Ruto sent his congratulatory message just hours before her swearing-in ceremony, attended by regional leaders and dignitaries, including the presidents of Somalia, Zambia, Mozambique, and Burundi.
Kenya was represented by Deputy President Kithure Kindiki at the inauguration, which was held at the military parade grounds in Dodoma rather than a stadium, as in previous years. The ceremony was closed to the public but broadcast live on state television.
In his statement, Ruto highlighted the deep ties shared between Kenya and Tanzania.
“Kenya and Tanzania share deep historical ties and common aspirations for the prosperity and stability of our peoples, anchored in our shared history and our joint membership in the East African Community (EAC)”. He said
Commenting on the election-related protests, Ruto pledged Kenya’s support and urged Tanzanians to embrace dialogue to safeguard democracy and stability.
“I call upon the patriotic people of Tanzania to uphold peace and the rule of law, and I encourage all political actors and stakeholders to embrace dialogue and tolerance as they seek to resolve any issues at hand in order to safeguard democracy and stability”, he noted.
He added, “Kenya stands ready to continue engaging constructively in the pursuit of our shared vision for a peaceful, prosperous, and integrated East Africa”.
In her victory speech on Saturday, Samia said the poll was “free and democratic” and described the protesters as “unpatriotic”.
Opposition leaders and activists say hundreds were killed in clashes with security forces. The opposition Chadema party claimed it had recorded “no less than 800” deaths by Saturday.
Samia came into office in 2021 as Tanzania’s first female president following the death of President John Magufuli.
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan is set to become the first African female leader to address the Angolan parliament during her three-day official visit to the southern African country, which will begin on Monday, the Tanzanian presidency announced on Sunday.
According to a statement from the Directorate of Presidential Communications, Hassan will visit Angola at the invitation of President Joao Lourenco to strengthen bilateral ties and explore strategic partnerships, particularly in the oil and gas sector.
During the visit, Hassan will hold high-level talks with her Angolan counterpart and witness the signing of several Memoranda of Understanding aimed at enhancing cooperation in key sectors, including energy, mining, infrastructure development, health, education, and tourism.
The visit seeks to further deepen the historic and long-standing relationship between Tanzania and Angola, the statement noted.
Hassan is also scheduled to participate in a ceremonial wreath-laying at the Monument to the Founder of the Nation, the late President Antonio Agostinho Neto, and tour the Luanda oil refinery, a key national facility in one of Africa’s largest oil-producing countries.
The Cabinet Secretary for Health Nakhumicha S. Wafula has backed Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu following her unrelenting passion to drive forward the agenda of affordable healthcare in her country which continues to champion for safe public health protocols.
Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing Africa Climate Summit at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre ,the vibrant CS lauded Suluhu for remaining steadfast in proactively engaging with multilateral and bilateral partners in the region and around the world to improve the medical standards of her people.
“On the sidelines of the Africa Climate Summit 2023,happy to have met Tanzanian president Her excellency Hon Samia Suluhu. I was amazed by her enthusiasm and commitment in ensuring Tanzanians get quality and accessible healthcare even as they battle adverse effects of climate change on Health. Kenya shares the same dream” she said
In Tanzania, the role of the private sector as an engine of growth has been given renewed emphasis with increased attention to addressing major constraints on private investment.
Suluhu recently announced the removal of barriers to access to quality medication by pregnant girls and young mothers besides factoring them for continued education, a reflection of the government’s commitment to supporting girls and young women.
Under her administration, Tanzania made significant progress in addressing HIV and maternal and child health, and more specifically in its efforts to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV,a move that saw a success rate of more than 90 percent among HIV-positive pregnant women.
She assumed office in March 2021 after the death of President John Maghufuli, making her the sixth president of the United Republic of Tanzania having previously served as vice-president in 2015 and was re-elected to the post in 2020.
In her maiden speech at the General Assembly, Ms. Suluhu decried the COVID-19 vaccine inequality, noting that high and middle-income countries were now giving booster vaccinations while developing countries such as Tanzania had barely inoculated even 2 percent of the population.
“The level of vaccine inequity that we see is appalling. It is truly disheartening to see that most of the countries have inoculated less than 2 per cent of the populace and thus need to seek more vaccines for our people,” she said.
While calling for the waiving of the rights of vaccine patents in order for all countries to be able to produce them, Ms. Suluhu also spoke about the devastating effects COVID-19 had on Tanzania’s once-flourishing economy, including increased poverty levels and decreased economic growth.
“After the onset of the pandemic, we in Tanzania, and I believe in many other developing countries, were stuck in the twilight of protecting lives and livelihoods. Measures advocated by the WHO were geared towards protecting lives, however, an economy like Tanzania, consists of a bigger proportion people living on subsistence economy whom we need to keep afloat,” she said.
In Kenya,Nakhumicha who took charge of the critical health docket after August 2022 General Elections has remained optimistic that under her watch,the country will achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in a bid to ensure all individuals have access to quality healthcare services without having to endure financial destitution.
Health CS Nakhumicha S. Wafula with Bill & Melinda Gates partners led by Dr Christopher Elias
In her pursuit of improving the delivery of health products and services and promote health system innovations, she met on Monday with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Health Partners whose work in Kenya focuses on areas of overlap between their expertise and the government’s priorities under the Kenya Vision 2030 development blueprint and the country’s United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which include primary health care and gender equality.
“I met with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Health Partners led by Mr. Christopher Elias, the President Global Development, and Mr. Cheikh Oumar, Africa Director.I updated the team on the UHC progress on each pillar and what the Ministry of Health has managed to achieve so far as we gear up for the launch in October.The foundation is keen to explore possible opportunities and partnerships to ensure the Government of Kenya delivers Universal Health Care to the people.” read her Twitter account.
President William Ruto has in the past reiterated his commitment of successful delivery of UHC through prioritization of preventive healthcare, anchored on community health workers, NHIF reform, and provision of medical supplies and equipment.
President William Ruto Wednesday joined other African leaders at the Human Capital Forum in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The forum is meant to harmonise the expansion of employment opportunities in Africa.
The meeting which is chaired by Tanzania President Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan, focuses on human resource development.
In her opening remarks, President Suluhu noted that the African continent can immensely spur its economic growth through the exploitation of its youth which makes up 60 per cent of the continent’s population for manpower.
The two-day Africa Human Capital Heads of State Summit comes in response to engagements with government focal points on the need to draw attention to the role of human capital in economic growth and elevate the discussion on the importance of investing in people.
The Summit will foster technical deliberation, share the latest knowledge on human capital, and conclude with concrete commitments and next steps from the participating Heads of State.
