DAR ES SALAAM, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian President John Magufuli on Monday allocated land to foreign missions and international organizations for their offices and residences in the east African nation's capital of Dodoma.
President Magufuli handled 62 free title deeds for the construction of the foreign missions and five title deeds for international organizations accredited to Tanzania to facilitate their shift to the new capital.
Magufuli said the shift to Dodoma was part of the government's initiative to honor the dreams championed by the founding father of the nation, Julius Nyerere.
He said the allocation of five hectares of land to each foreign mission amounted to showing how Tanzania valued and honored the long cooperation with development partners.
"Sincerely the cooperation between Tanzania and development partners is there to stay and I am here to cement that cooperation to," said President Magufuli.
Some of the embassies that received the title deeds were the United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, France and Kenya, and international organizations including the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The President assured the foreign missions that Dodoma has conducive environment including security and access to the basic social services.
"The Vice-President and the Prime Minister have already moved to Dodoma. Almost all ministers and other senior government officials are already in Dodoma. I have planned to shift to Dodoma before the end of this year and I don't want to leave you behind in Dar es Salaam," Magufuli told the envoys.
In 2016, President Magufuli announced that he will ensure that his government moved to the centrally located capital of Dodoma before the end of his first five-year term in 2020.
In 1973, the Tanzanian government announced that the capital would be moved from Dar es Salaam to a more central location to better serve the needs of the people.
In the same year, the government under the leadership of founding President Julius Nyerere, decided to shift its capital city from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma, when it was envisaged that the move would take 10 years, and that the cost could be justified when set against a long-term perspective.
But four decades later the move could not be implemented on various reasons, including poor infrastructure and economic difficulties.
