THE Vice-President Dr Philip Mpango has directed District, Town, Municipal and City Council Directors, to work on allegations levelled against Ward Executive Officers (WEOs), over misconduct in the course of discharging their duties.
The VP issued the directive in Dodoma yesterday, when officiating at an event to hand over 916 motorcycles to WEOs drawn from across the country and 54 motor vehicles to the Tanzania Rural and Urban Road Agency (TARURA) District and Regional Managers.
At the event, Dr Mpango said that he was receiving complaints from members of the public that some officers at the grassroots level were blatantly disregarding laws and regulations thus torturing common persons in their respective areas.
“As we handover these motorbikes to you, I ask you to avoid being regarded as major bigwigs, instead, you need to work within your legal boundaries and avoid misusing your discretionary powers,” he insisted.
Also, the VP pointed an accusing finger to District Executive Officers (DEDs), who were not disbursing 100,000/- monthly allowances to WEOs, something that was derailing their daily activities.
He directed that, before paying councillors their usual meeting dues, the DEDs should make sure that all WEOs are paid their monthly stipends.
Regarding the new motorcycles that were handed over to WEOs yesterday, Dr Mpango asked the latter to ensure that they are well maintained and protected, so that they help to solve problems facing Tanzanians.
And, in any case the government decides to give the bikes to WEOs through loans, the VP directed the minister of State in the President’s Office, Regional Administration and Local Government (RALG), Angela Kairuki, to ensure that all necessary procedures were properly abided by.
Dr Mpango further used the platform to issue several directives to DEDs, among them ensuring that they allocate budget for solving challenges facing WEOs, who are key in helping the government to offer services from the grassroots level.
He also asked DEDs to ensure that they provide money to WEOs for regular monthly services of the provided motorcycles.
He was responding to a request by ruling party CCM Secretary General, Daniel Chongolo, who said in his remarks at the event that if WEOs were not given money for regular services, they were likely to be tempted to receive bribes from citizens.
Dr Mpango also reminded Regional and District Commissioners to look at all measures for sealing loopholes for revenue loss orchestrated by DEDs countrywide.
Earlier on, the Minister of State in the President’s Office, Regional Administration and Local Government, Angela Kairuki paid tribute to President Samia Suluhu Hassan, for the support she was giving to boost operations in LGAs and TARURA.
According to the minister, so far, the president had provided money for procuring 226 vehicles to be used by TARURA and that already, 196 vehicles had been received and that the remaining 30 vehicles would be received any time soon.
