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Magufuli gives land to foreign missions to shift to Dodoma

Tuesday July 31 2018
By XINHUA

Tanzanian President John Magufuli on Monday allocated land to foreign missions and international organisations to relocate their offices and residences to the capital Dodoma.

President Magufuli gave 62 title deeds for the construction of diplomatic missions and five others to accredited global organisations to facilitate the shift.

The move is part of the government's initiative to honour the founding president Julius Nyerere's 1973 decision to relocate the capital from the coastal city of Dar es Salaam to centrally located Dodoma in order to bring government services closer to the people.

The relocation was given a stimulus when Mr Magufuli came to power in late 2015.

Each of the 62 diplomatic missions was allocated five hectares of land. They include Kenya, United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, and France.

International organisations are the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the African Development Bank (AfDB).

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"The cooperation between Tanzania and development partners is there to stay and I am here to cement that cooperation," President Magufuli said when he issued the title deeds.

He said the vice president, the prime minister and nearly all ministries and government departments have moved to Dodoma.

"I plan to shift to Dodoma before the end of this year and I don't want to leave you behind in Dar es Salaam," Mr Magufuli told the envoys.

The moved to the capital had been impeded by poor infrastructure and high costs of relocation.

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