Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Dr Augustine Mahiga 

Dar es Salaam. Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Dr Augustine Mahiga has said that Tanzania supports all relevant resolutions of the Security Council on the nuclear weapons trends in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

However, he called on de-escalation of the political warfare and the renewal of the dialogue under the auspices of the six party’s initiative.

The Six parties include US, UK, Russia, China, France and North Korea.

According to a statement, the Minister said this today, September 25, when addressing the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly.

“After the end of the cold war, there were new dawn and bright prospects for both conventional and nuclear disarmament,” he said.

The doctrine of nuclear deterrence was becoming absolute, reduction of nuclear arsenals was making progress towards a nuclear ban treaty including nuclear testing and some aspirants for nuclear weapons abandoned their ambitions, he said.

However, Dr Mahiga noted that the recent developments in the DPRK have shattered these optimistic prospects warning that the world was being dragged back to nuclear brinkmanship.

“This is the most recent threat to international peace and security,” he stressed.

He said that, on the other hand, Tanzania commends the recent adoption of the Nuclear Ban Treaty which puts nuclear weapons in the same legal ground as other Weapons of Mass Destruction.

“We should all support this Treaty in order to increase our moral authority in the fight against nuclear weapons proliferation,” he said.

He added that the UN reforms to make the Organisation more efficient and relevant to cope with the new trends and challenges must be continuous and progressive.

Last week the Minister when briefing journalists had denied claims that Tanzania had violated sanctions imposed on North Korea.

He explained that the projects implemented by North Korea in Tanzania had been entered between the two countries before the sanctions and that the government had stopped further communication as soon as the decision was made.

Former President Jakaya Kikwete 

Dar es Salaam. Former President Jakaya Kikwete’s call on Africa’s ruling political parties not to view opposition outfits as enemies but rather as partners has been well received back home.

Speaking to The Citizen on separate phone interviews yesterday, political scientists and commentators said the advice served as a wakeup call at a time when democratic space in the country was shrinking.

Discussing a paper presented on Thursday by former Vice Chancellor of the University of South Africa, Prof Barney Pityana, on Good Governance and Rule of Law at the African Leadership Forum 2017 meeting in Johannesburg, Mr Kikwete challenged continent’s political parties to co-exist amicably.

He said instead of viewing the opposition as enemies, they should rather be treated as partners in fostering democratic principles based on rule of law. A political analyst from the Ruaha Catholic University (Rucu), Prof Gaudence Mpangala, said President Kikwete’s statement was commendable.

He noted that it was important that the statement came from him, being a senior member of ruling CCM will help in solving the current political stalemate in the country.

“I support the statement issued by Kikwete. There is a big problem and we need to find a solution on how to deal with it,” he said, adding “continuing to prohibit opposition politicians to freely conduct their activities in the country is tantamount to depriving the people’s right to development.”

Prof Mpangala explained that many problems facing Africa can have their roots traced to limiting of democratic principles.

University of Dar es Salaam Political Science lecturer Richard Mbunda said what President Kikwete advised was a reflection of what he has been doing in his ten years of presidency.

“We have achieved a great deal in promoting democracy and rule of law in the recent past, but now we are in reverse gear. We must return to the right direction,” he said adding, “This attitude of the ruling elite to take opposition as enemies is forcing the opposition to see the government in the same way. We are all working to build the same house here, it’s a joint work.”

For his part, the national coordinator of Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition (THRDC), Mr Onesmo Ole Ngurumwa, said Mr Kikwete’s statement is a strong lesson for political players in the continent but especially in Tanzania.

He called on other former leaders to come out openly and address the matter and advise the opposition not to shy away from reaching out to President John Magufuli and seek an audience with him to sort out the current state of affairs. “Kenya offers us a good example in this area. The opposition there enjoys democratic space and it has helped in defusing tension and boost development activities.

For his part, the secretary of Politics and International Affairs for ruling party CCM Col Ngemela Lubinga said they support President Kikwete’s call and CCM doesn’t treat the opposition as enemies.

He said CCM played a key role in restoration of multi-party democracy in the country and therefore it was impossible for them to treat the opposition as enemies. “The only enmity, if there’s any for that matter, is in pursuit of votes during elections. Yes, the government has banned political rallies and demos to let people concentrate in productive activities. For those who lament that they are routinely arrested, the question is, if they had won the polls would they let others disrupt them?”

Meanwhile, addressing his party’s annual general meeting yesterday, ACT-Wazalendo party leader and Kigoma Urban MP Zitto Kabwe said democracy is part of what makes Tanzania a country that it is and called on Tanzanians not to accept leaders who want to divide them along political lines.

“We should defend our democracy by all means…we should say no to leaders who are trying to suppress the opposition in the country. We should understand what opposition politics is all about and appreciate it for its role in our development endeavours.”