PRESIDENT Jakaya Kikwete has blasted Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) for depicting African continent negatively despite the achievements registered in some areas in a bid to get funds from donors.
PRESIDENT Jakaya Kikwete addresses the 100th session of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday
“The Africa we have today is not the one we knew in the last 30 years. Look at Tanzania for example…’
We have looked Mr Kikwete and we don’t like what we see. If you want to know why countries such as Tanzania get negative press, look no further than the Silverdale Farm case and the abuse of law and human rights demonstrated by your government. If you cannot stand the heat, as the saying goes, get out of the pan!!!!!
From STELLA NYEMENOHI in Geneva, 16th June 2011 @ 16:00, Total
PRESIDENT Jakaya Kikwete has blasted Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) for depicting African continent negatively despite the achievements registered in some areas in a bid to get funds from donors.
He was bitter that most of the organisations have chosen to ignore good things in the continent just because they hated the leaders who are in power. Mr Kikwete made the remarks here on Wednesday when addressing delegates attending the 100th Anniversary of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
“The Africa we have today is not the one we knew in the last 30 years. Look at Tanzania for example; that time we had just 12 university graduates but now we are talking about 124,000 undergraduate students in our universities,” he boasted.
His remarks were prompted by a question by one of the delegates shortly after he had delivered a keynote address at the meeting, which was attended by 185 member states of ILO.
A delegate from Cameroon, Bissala Isaac, queried as to why the media has been painting a negative picture of the continent despite accomplishments in some areas while African leaders have remained silent.
In response, Mr Kikwete admitted the trend, noting, however, that time would come when the media would realise that negative stories about the continent were not worth it. The president made several references to Tanzania but did not mention the NGOs or individuals that have been painted a negative picture of the continent. “In the last three decades we depended on only three engineers and there were hardly 100 kilometres of tarmac roads, but now we speak of about 7,000 kilometres. Sometimes when an activist has been beaten by the police, it would be made to appear as a national issue.
They talk negatively so they can get money,” he said amid applause. “Patriotism should be encouraged among citizens. Try to talk bad about Obama (US President Barack) and you will see that all newspapers, including the conservative ones, would descend on you. But in Africa, they are proud of reporting negatively.”
In his address at the summit, President Kikwete said there is a need for joint efforts between the government, private sector, civil societies and development partners to ensure that creation of jobs in developing counties is improved. He expressed concern that unemployment affected the youths in developing nations more, noting that most jobs in the private sector are not decent.
Mr Kikwete noted that the majority of youth in the private sector have chosen to work there not because they like to but did so out of necessity.
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