Jakaya Kikwete
Jakaya Kikwete
Jakaya Mrisho Kikwetewas the fourth President of Tanzania, in office from 2005 to 2015. Prior to his election as President, he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 2005 under his predecessor, Benjamin Mkapa. He has also served as the Chairperson of the African Union in 2008–2009 and the Chairman of the Southern African Development Community Troika on Peace, Defence and Security in 2012–2013...
NationalityTanzanian
ProfessionWorld Leader
Date of Birth7 October 1950
CityMsoga, Tanzania
CountryTanzania, United Republic of
The presidency is not an office job. If I only sit in the office in Dar es Salaam, I'm not running the country. I visit the country to inspect development programmes, to inspect activities, to see how things are going, how the government agenda is being implemented, what are the teething issues.
I am fine Tomorrow I'll vote as planned.
I am fine à Tomorrow I'll vote as planned.
If we did that we'll go a long way towards poverty alleviation, promoting development and allowing a better life for all, for the people of both countries.
If we invest in logistic centers, improve on infrastructure and create a facilitative environment, we can easily turn Dar es Salaam into another Dubai of its kind.
We need to conduct a public debate on this issue.
The opposition should look seriously into reasons that led them to be rejected by the people. To show our good faith in promoting the culture of opposition (politics) in this country, I am going to set up a ministry to look into government and opposition relations.
To me, the most critical thing in agriculture is investing in the peasant agriculture, transforming peasant agriculture.
We design our own programmes; we take leadership. Of course the donors come in to support us, to complement our efforts. Our responsibility to the donors is about accountability: about how we use that money. If somebody gives you his money, definitely he will be interested in knowing how you spend the money.
We promise to respect people of all creeds: those who are Christians, Muslims as well as those who have decided not to follow any religion.
At independence, Tanzania had 350,000 elephants... in 1987, there were only 55,000 elephants left.
Land ownership has never been a problem. People have access to land. The peasants cannot complain about land ownership.
Our government is focused on creating jobs, growth and long-term prosperity and on creating the right conditions for Canadian businesses.
I will make sure research and development is a top priority in agricultural development.