Kairuki calls for improved efficiency to achieve ministry’s goals

ARUSHA: THE MINISTER for Natural Resources and Tourism, Angellah Kairuki has called on employees of her docket to improve efficiency to achieve the ministry’s goals.

She made the call at the opening of the 31st meeting of the ministry’s workers’ council in Arusha recently.

Kairuki said that among the objectives of the ministry is to ensure that it continues to promote tourism attractions and manage the country’s natural resources.

She said that the ministry is also responsible for supporting the government in revenue collection, noting that, the target of her office is to reach six billion US dollars collection come 2025.

Global tourism has rebounded strongly after COVID-19 challenges. In 2023, Tanzania saw a tremendous bounce back in the tourism industry, with the number of tourist arrivals and revenues surpassing the pre-pandemic levels.

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According to the Bank of Tanzania’s monthly economic review of January 2024, the number of tourists who visited the country in the year ending 31 December 2023 amounted to 1,808,205, while the forex earnings reported record growth of 3.4 billion US dollars, an increase of 36 per cent compared to the same period in 2022.

The 3rd National Five Year Development Plan (FYDP III 2021/22 – 2025/26) articulates a target of five million tourists generating six billion US dollars by 2025. The ruling party CCM’s has outlined critical measures to support the endeavours of securing the FYDP III target.

“We must play a big role in ensuring that we support our national development agenda. The ministry’s strategy is to continue promoting tourism attractions and find new ones, with the target to reach five million tourists in 2025”, she said.

According to the minister, tourism contributes 25 per cent of foreign currency in the country, 17 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provides over 10 per cent of all employments in the public sector.

“I think, all of us need to get ready so that we can continue to see positive results. In your two-day meeting, you need to evaluate yourself, look at the challenges of 2023/2024 budget to see how we can turn them into opportunities,” she said She also reminded employees to work with integrity, in compliance with laws and ethics and with due regard for justice in order to increase productivity and efficiency.

“Let’s review the arguments of the internal audit to eliminate defects. We need also to review the opinion raised by the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) to see how we can manage the challenges,” she said.

However, Kairuki requested every employee to continue managing natural resources, especially in protecting forests, fighting poaching, continuing to manage conservation, wildlife, forests and bees.

For his part, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Dr Hassan Abbas said that the two-day meeting was important because it helped employees to discuss their issues and share experiences.