PRESIDENT John Magufuli has dished out 100 million/- to the person who is credited with discovering the rare Tanzanite gemstone over five decades ago.
Mzee Jumanne Ngoma, who is now paralysed on both lower limbs, was brought to Mirerani by the Head of State, who asked Tanzanians to recognise the discoverer of the rare gems that have made the country proud.
President Magufuli then awarded Mr Ngoma 100 million/- in cash money, which will also assist the old man get treatment. “Without Jumanne Ngoma, many of you would never have seen, heard or benefitted from Tanzanite,” said Dr Magufuli, during the occasion to inaugurate the ‘Great Mirerani Wall,’ in Simanjiro yesterday.
Mzee Ngoma showed the audience the letter which was written by the Father of the Nation, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere in 1980, acknowledging him to be the official discoverer ofTanzanite gemstones, currently being mined from the Mirerani Hills in Simanjiro District of Manyara Region. Ngoma said he discovered the Tanzanite Gems in Mirerani, then part of Arusha Region, in 1967. But despite his findings, he has not benefitted much.
In a different development, President Magufuli said the government has set aside nearly 12 billion/- for various development and public service projects in Manyara Region. “We are injecting 6.4 billion/- to fund free education in Manyara; 1.9 billion/- for the construction of the Manyara Regional Referral Hospital and 2.8 billion/- for strengthening the seven health centres in each of the Districts of Manyara Region,” explained President Magufuli.
The Head of State has officially handed an ambulance he promised last September, during the inauguration of KIA-Mirerani road, to the Manyara Regional Commissioner, Mr Alexander Mnyeti, to assist the outreach medical services in the precinct.
In addition to that, the Head of State has vowed that in four years’ time from now, that is in 2021, all the villages in the Region will be connected to the main grid for electricity supply. Manyara Region has a total of 273 villages.
