Speech by the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, H.E. Benjamin William Mkapa, at a New Year Sherry Party for the Heads of Diplomatic Missions at the State House, Dar Es Salaam, January 6,1997

Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you all to the State House. On behalf of the Government and People of the United Republic of Tanzania, I wish to extend our best wishes for the New Year to you personally, to your members of staff and families, and through you to the Governments and People of your respective countries. It is my fervent hope that the year 1997 will be characterised by enhanced co-operation, peace and understanding among the people of all nations, and that collective efforts towards social and economic development and respect for human dignity in all spheres shall bring all of us closer to each other.

Your Excellencies,
A year has elapsed since we last met in this very same venue to wish each other a happy and prosperous 1996. I know that one year is a very long period in diplomatic service. A number of your colleagues have left, and new ones have come to take up their places. I extend to all of you who joined us during the course of 1996 a renewed hearty welcome to Tanzania. I wish you all a pleasant, peaceful and most rewarding tour of duty in our country.

Review of Political and Economic Developments in 1996
Your Excellencies,

We have now completed a full year of a Government that is a product of a free and fair multi-party General Election.
Those of you who have been with us throughout this period have witnessed the social, political and economic challenges we have had to deal with. I believe it has been as hectic a year to you as it has been to us. For, I am sure your capitals were as keen to be informed of the performance of my Government as I was keen to succeed.

At the risk of blowing my own trumpet, I think we have done quite well. I also think your dispatches to your capitals said as much because in my encounters with your various leaders I have been commended and urged to stay the course. That also means there has been a good working relationship and co-operation between my Government and the diplomatic corps. I am grateful for this and I hope it will continue in 1997.

Tanzania is one of those African countries that succeeded to create a nation state out of the geographical entities, composed of numerous tribes and religions, that were the legacy of history and of colonialism. We have so succeeded to inculcate the sense of nationalism in our people that today a Tanzanian thinks of himself first as a Tanzanian, before projecting his or her tribal or religious identity. In making the transition to multi-party politics we always had the apprehension that it could lead to a resurgence of tribal and religious sentiments and differences among our people, thereby undermining the national identity and cohesion we have worked so hard to develop and nurture.

Thanks to the political maturity of most of our people, these fears never materialised. Despite the verbal and written diatribes, amplified too often by a too free press, there has never really been a serious threat to the political unity and cohesion of our country, as well as the peace and concord our people have got used to.

Taking into account the fact that 1996 was the first year
of opposition politics in Parliament, I think the Opposition in the Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania did quite well according to the role that is normally expected of them. We have certainly started well, and I intend to develop further this correct relationship with the Opposition in the new year.

I am disappointed, however, that in Zanzibar the Opposition continues to deny the electorate who voted for them their rightful representation in the House of Representatives. Ours is a representational democracy. And as long as a Member of the House of Representatives agrees that he or she was legally elected, in a free and fair manner, he or she is duty bound to provide the electorate with the representation that is their constitutional right. No pretext whatsoever can supersede the supreme entitlement of the people to direct representation.

With its substantial representation, it is a pity the Opposition does not use it to push forward the true interests of their supporters. I hope they will review their stand and have a more constructive dialogue, in the House, in the new year.

Your Excellencies,
On the economic front, we have continued to improve the macroeconomic framework and the physical infrastructure. Revenue collection has improved and so has the control over our expenditure. A tight fiscal policy has enabled us to cut down inflation from 27% in November 1995 to 16% at present. We have continued to restructure our economy, including through divestiture and other ways of privatisation. Signs are that exports are increasing at a faster rate than imports thereby improving our trade balance. Private investments are picking up, notably in the tourism and mining sectors, as well as manufacturing.

Your Excellencies,
The measures that have been undertaken by my
Government during 1996 have renewed donor and investor confidence in our country and our Government. Throughout the year we engaged in a most constructive dialogue with our bilateral donors, with our multi-lateral development partners, and with prospective investors.

With the agreement reached between my Government and the IMF on an Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility, and with discussions with the World Bank on a Structural Adjustment Credit, Tanzania looks forward with confidence to increased bilateral and multilateral support and increased private investments in the country.

Towards the end of this month we hope to negotiate with our Paris Club creditors on debt relief. We look forward to continued understanding and support on the part of our Creditors because the servicing of our debt is not sustainable, taking up as it does over 1/3 of all our export revenues. Debt relief will help us build a stronger capacity for sustainable and self reliant development. We wish to thank the donor community for their continued understanding and support over the last one year, and look forward to continued co-operation this year.

East African Co-operation
Your Excellencies,
On the 14th of March, 1996 their Excellencies President Daniel Arap T. Moi of Kenya and President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda joined me in inaugurating the Secretariat of the Commission for East African Co-operation at Arusha. The Secretariat is the main executing organ of the Commission for East African Co-operation and is, among other things, responsible for the co-ordination of the co-operation.

Our intention is to harmonise our policies in the agreed areas of co-operation. These include transport and communications; trade; investments; customs; financial sector; environment; tourism; agriculture; animal husbandry and energy. East African co-operation also covers political, defence and security co-operation, with the long term objective of an East African political federation.

Much has been done since the inauguration of the Secretariat. The currencies of the three countries are now convertible in each of the three countries, and steps have been taken to seek financial assistance for the East African Digital Telecommunications project and for improving several regional roads. At the same time the three countries are taking steps to promote East Africa as a single trade and investment area, as well as to improve the navigational and environmental status of Lake Victoria.

Needless to say the success of our programmes partly depends on the magnitude of support we will receive from our development partners. I take this opportunity to thank those who have already pledged their support and I encourage and invite others to join hands with us to build a new East Africa.

East African Co-operation is a natural concept that has a bright future as it enjoys the support of the people of the region and the support of the three Governments. My Government will continue to support in every possible way the Commission for East African Co-operation and its Secretariat based in Arusha.

Southern Africa Development Community
Your Excellencies,
In November last year the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Parliamentary seminar on Regional Co-operation was held in Dodoma. The main theme of the seminar was "The Role of Parliament in the SADC." I salute the organisers of the seminar for being able to bring together Parliamentarian representatives from European Union member countries and those from SADC countries to deliberate on major issues which affect the social, political and economic well being of our countries. Tanzania will continue to be a firm and ardent member of SADC and we will work together with our fellow members to consolidate the gains of SADC, promote our agreed programmes, and strengthen the existing co-operation with all members of the organisation and our development partners.

Great Lakes Region
Your Excellencies,
One of the few positive developments in the Great Lakes Region in 1996 was the continuing stabilisation of Rwanda. This facilitated the repatriation of the Rwandese refugees in Zaire and Tanzania, and helped to allay our fears that the refugees were acquiring the character of permanency. Even the intimidation to which many of the refugees had for long been subjected by their leaders could not hold the tide of a people longing to return home.

The smooth and humane repatriation of the Rwandese refugees in Tanzania could not have been possible without the high sense of mission and professionalism of the Tanzanian forces who escorted and helped the refugees, and the support and co-operation of the Rwandan Government, relief agencies especially the UNHCR and the International Committee of the Red Cross, as well as other Non Governmental Organisations. I thank them all, and I commend especially the Rwandan Government for managing well this monumental scheme of receiving and resettling such a big number of returning refugees in such a short time frame.

At the same time we remain mindful of the urgent need for justice to take its course in respect of all those suspected of planning, taking part or abetting the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. A speedy and fair trial will not only help to relieve the congestion in Rwandan prisons, but will also reduce the need for private acts of vengeance and contribute to the catharsis that the Rwandese society requires as part of a process to entrench national reconciliation and reconstruction. It is for this reason that we are concerned about the delays in the work of the International Tribunal in Arusha.

Your Excellencies,
The situation in Burundi deteriorated drastically in 1996. After Arusha I and the OAU Summit in Yaounde, we thought we were making progress towards creating a conducive environment for unconditional all-party negotiations for a political dispensation that would have ensured the exercise of democratic government, while guaranteeing the security of minorities. The military coup of 25th July, 1996 was clearly conceived and timed to prevent such an eventuality.

Since then, however, killings and widespread insecurity are on the rise. Polarisation of the society along tribal and political lines has never been worse. All sides are once again preparing for a military showdown. But the truth remains that no single group, not even the military junta, can achieve total military victory. They can only prolong the birthpangs of a new and sustainable political dispensation. In the meantime more and more innocent people, women and children, will continue to suffer and to lose life and limb. On our part, we will continue to pursue diligently the collective regional course of action agreed at Arusha II and III, including sanctions on Burundi, as well as supporting the efforts of Mwalimu Nyerere, the internationally supported Facilitator of the Burundi peace process.

Your Excellencies,
Obviously the current crisis situation in Eastern Zaire has complicated matters even more in the Great Lakes Region. The implosion and disintegration of Zaire would have far-reaching implications for peace and security in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. It must not be allowed to happen. The unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Zaire is of interest to us and we want it to be safeguarded, along with the rights of all Zairean citizens regardless of their ethnic origin.

We in Tanzania have a greater than average interest in the peaceful and speedy resolution of the crises in Burundi and Eastern Zaire. We certainly are in no mood just now to receive new waves of refugees! Our plate is full with our own internal priorities for political and economic development. We do not want to be distracted by the off-loading in our territory of the consequences of the internal problems of neighbouring countries.

The United Nations
Your Excellencies,
My Government wishes to affirm its commitment and faith in the United Nations and its efforts to promote international peace and security, as well as economic and social development around the world. It was for this reason that I travelled to New York in October last year and addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Tanzania's hopes and aspirations for the organisation.

The UN has done a commendable job in many areas of human endeavour. It has been successful in averting a global war of the magnitude of the first and second world war. It has brought about irreversible changes in many areas including the eradication of colonialism. It has set standards that govern world interaction and co-operation. In short, the UN has served us quite well in the past fifty one years.

Those same achievements which the UN has recorded, along with other changes in the international environment, have now made the need for adjustment and change inevitable. UN has to transform itself so as to be able to cope with the many new and varied challenges of today and tomorrow. Tanzania supports all reform efforts which are being undertaken to revitalise the UN and make it a more effective, democratic and transparent organisation.

We in Tanzania, and I am sure in the rest of the African continent, are gratified that the United Nations Secretariat will continue to be under the direction of an African. I take this opportunity to repeat my congratulations to Kofi Annan for his most deserved assumption of the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations. We wish him well, and we assure him of our total and full support and co-operation as he undertakes the multi-faceted and profound tasks ahead of him.

Finally, Your Excellencies, I should like to thank you individually for the co-operation you have extended to my Government in different ways during 1996 to enable it realise the achievements that I have just highlighted.

Thank you vey much for your kind attention and I wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year.