50 years since the unification of Tanganyika and Zanzibar into the United Republic of Tanzania.

My Fellow Tanzanians,

Today we celebrate and commemorate 50 years since the unification of Tanganyika and Zanzibar into the United Republic of Tanzania. Through our efforts, we laid the foundation for an exemplary and peaceful co-existence of the many ethnic groups and religious communities in our country.  This is a great day, but we still have a long way to go.

The economy is growing at 7%.  This is really great.

Yet, there is a great divide, for we have people who make less than $1 a day, and we have people who drive Bugatti Veyron in Tanzania.  Hopefully, through unified efforts we can reduce this gap.

The quality of education is slowly improving.  As it does, this can lead to a stronger workforce, and more competitive citizens.

Agriculturally, our farmers continue to be dependent on traditional agriculture which in recent years has been affected by emerging diseases and climate change that has caused prolonged droughts. To effect change, the government is allocating a significant portion of its budget to agricultural improvement.

Again, Tanzanians in the Diaspora, we join our fellow Tanzanians back home to celebrate this big day and all efforts to improve the Tanzania we know and love.

 I want to remind our Leaders that the only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the government.

God Bless the United Republic of Tanzania

Iddi Sandaly

The President

Of

The Association of Tanzanian Community in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia