hivi si ndo huyu bishop aliyempa jk 48 hrs kutaja viongozi wa dini ma-dealer wa unga au jk afute kauli yake?
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[TD="class: contentheading"]kulu reacts to attack by clerics[/TD]
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[TD="class: createdate"]Tuesday, 07 June 2011 22:58[/TD]
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President Jakaya Kikwete
By Beatus Kagashe
The Citizen Reporter
Dar es Salaam. State House said yesterday it was disappointed by the Christian Council of Tanzania's (CCT) reaction to President Jakaya Kikwete's plea over war on illicit drugs.According to a statement signed by the President's assistant press secretary, Ms Premy Kibanga, religious leaders should support Mr Kikwete in the crusade against drugs instead of attacking him.
The State House statement was a reaction to the sentiments by the CCT vice president, Bishop Valentino Mokiwa, who was reported in yesterday's press as demanding that President Kikwete's name, within 48 hours, clerics that he said were dealing in drugs.
Speaking to the press on Monday, Bishop Mokiwa said the President should give names of religious leaders he had hinted, while speaking in a tour of Mbinga District on Sunday, that they were involved in narcotics business. Short of that, the Bishop had said, Mr Kikwete would be jeopardising his credibility as a national leader. According to Ms Kibanga, the CCT and other religious bodies should have first reappraised themselves before attacking President Kikwete who gave remarks on drug trade and abuse during the installation of Mbinga Catholic Bishop, John Ndimbo.
She said the President's speech should have been used by the clergy as a ‘clue' to immediate trigger action by working, within the church, to identify who among their clergy were engaged in the illegal business.
"The religious leaders' statement is disappointing and was not expected from them ... you don't wait for the President to give you names before taking action, you should act now," Ms Kibanga said.She said that this was not the first time Mr Kikwete was making such a remark, noting that the Head of State had been reiterating the same message in various religious functions he attended. "Religious leaders are very trusted people in any society, but they are still human beings, not angels or saints... they fall in sin when tempted in circumstances that are not predictable," she said.
When The Citizen reached Bishop Mokiwa for reaction yesterday, he did not pick up his phone. According to the State House statement, there were religious leaders who have already been arrested and were being held while others were under investigation in relation to various crimes including corruption, sexual harassment and other forms of anti-social behaviour.
"If a person tells you there is a snake in your house, do you react by asking if it is true or ask it is of what colour? You need to act immediately and find ways to remove it from the house or kill it if necessary…" said Ms Kibanga, adding that President Kikwete made the remark in good faith.
In his speech on Sunday, President Kikwete cautioned: "This problem is increasingly growing despite security organs' efforts to curb it. If we don't stop this business, its effects are huge… Our children will be ruined, crime will increase and the future of the nation will be at stake.
"Where we're heading is very dangerous; please give priority in you preaching's to educate, raise awareness and warn against the use of drugs, for as religious leaders you command a lot of respect and influence in the society." But in his reaction in Dar es Salaam on Monday, Dr Mokiwa said President Kikwete's failure to name religious leaders who are involved in the shoddy business would damage his credibility.
"We expect the President to be more open and specific, if he has data on certain leaders it would be better for him to mention the names, so that the law takes its course... there is no need to hide such people," Dr Mokiwa insisted. He added that it would be more useful if the President revealed the names rather than just issuing blanket statement that "some religious leaders engage in drugs business".
"It will be easy for us to act if we know who among us is actually involved in this business. Because President Kikwete seems to know them, let him be open and expose them and we'll not hesitate to make them accountable for their actions," he said.
See editorial.
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