Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa has said that the fallen former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa has made significant contributions to the country during his tenure as Premier.
While adjourning the 14th meeting of the 12th Parliament in Dodoma on Friday, Mr Majaliwa said that the nation will continue to remember him for his great record in managing government affairs (businesses).
The political guru will be laid to rest today at his ancestral village of Ngarash in Monduli District, Arusha Region. President Samia Suluhu Hassan is expected to lead the country at the burial.
The late Lowassa died last Saturday at the Jakaya Kikwete Heart Institute (JKCI) in Dar es Salaam at the age of 70. Announcing Lowassa's death last Saturday, VicePresident Dr Philip Mpango said the former PM had been suffering from high blood pressure and lung problems.
Following his death, President Samia announced five national days of mourning, spanning from February 10th this year where she ordered the country's flag to be flown at half-mast.
Speaking in the august House yesterday, Mr Majaliwa identified eight areas in which Lowassa has left indelible mark during his tenure as Prime Minister between 2005 and 2008, including overseeing the construction of community schools in every ward, which enabled many pupils who completed Standard Seven to have access to secondary education.
He said Lowassa supervised the decision to transform Mkwawa and Chang'ombe Teachers Colleges into university colleges of education and encouraged the construction of dispensaries in every village and health centre in every ward.
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"Lowassa also allowed motorcycles to carry passengers (motorcycle taxis), a move that helped a lot to increase employment to youth in the country," he said.
The late premier supervised the full implementation of the Secondary Education Development Plan (MMES), the government initiative that was launched in 2007 with the aim of improving the quality of secondary education in Tanzania.
He further said that, Lowassa will be remembered for encouraging the pastoralist community to embrace education by establishing many secondary schools in their areas and the fight against teenage pregnancies among school girls as well as managing the establishment of Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOSS) in the county.
Majaliwa said besides the contributions made by Lowassa to the country between 1990 and 2005, he served as Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Policy, Coordination, Judiciary, Parliament and Disaster Management, Minister for Land and Settlement Development , Minister of State in the Vice-President's Office Union, Environment and Poverty Eradication and Minister for Water and Livestock Development.
