VP Mohadi Travels To Tanzania Despite Covid-19 Travel Restrictions
Vice President Kembo Mohadi left Zimbabwe yesterday to attend the funeral of former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa.
Mkapa died on Thursday at Dar es Salaam Hospital where he had been admitted for an undisclosed illness.
Mohadi travelled to Tanzania from Zimbabwe despite the Covid-19 travel restrictions in Zimbabwe. Zimbabweans are not allowed to travel outside the country.
The trip to Tanzania was confirmed by Deputy chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet who is also Presidential spokesperson, Mr George Charamba.
Charamba said Mohadi travelled for a one day trip and returned after the burial of Mkapa. He said it was necessary for Mohadi to travel to Tanzania for the funeral because of the role played by Mkapa in supporting Zimbabwe’s land reform exercise.
“As you are aware that the late former Tanzanian president Mr Mkapa was the Foreign Affairs Minister during the critical stage of the struggle of Zimbabwe. He played a major role in supporting the Zimbabwean Government during the land reform exercise. Apart from being an elder statesman, he had that very distinguished revolutionary career, which made him virtually a citizen of SADC not of Tanzania. All the liberation movements came under his purview when he was Foreign Affairs Minister under the leadership of the founding President of Tanzania Julius Nyerere. Really we couldn’t imagine any other level of representation in short of a Vice President So VP Mohadi went to Tanzania early morning yesterday to be in time for the commencement of the funeral proceedings which started around 10 am Tanzanian time”, said Mr Charamba.
Mkapa became Tanzania’s president following the country’s first multi-party election in 1995 and went on to lead the country up to 2005.
He is credited for boosting tax collections, instituting austerity measures to curb wasteful expenditure and opening doors to foreign investors.
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