Farmers in Sikonge constituency accorded their member of Parliament, Mr Said Nkumba (CCM), a hero’s welcome when he arrived in the district on Thursday from Dodoma, where the National Assembly passed the Cooperatives Societies Bill, 2013 early last week.
Said Nkumba
The enthusiastic welcome involved a multitude of tobacco farmers who marched and sang songs of praise expressing their gratitude for his efforts and those of like-minded legislators in ensuring that the tobacco cooperative apex was dropped, saying the MP was an unwavering son of a farmer and their true supporter.
Led by Sikonge District Council Chairman, Mr Robert Kamonga, the farmers met the lawmaker at Usanganya Mole Village where they carried him shoulder high up to Tutuo village, a distance of about 25km, where he held a public rally.
The march, comprising ululating women and dancing youths, was coloured by a long motorcade, including hundreds of motorcycles. Speaking at the meeting, Nkumba urged tobacco farmers not to be demoralised by some people, saying their MPs were with them.
He said, as farmers, they should channel their energy into tobacco production because the removal of the apex, which was exploiting them, would spur them to produce more for their own benefit.
Elaborating about the new law, Nkumba said it would help make leaders, who were mismanaging cooperatives’ inputs for many past years, more accountable.
“We, as MPs, have passed the new law to protect farmers and ensure they get their rights and not be exploited again,” he said.
He explained that to ensure tobacco continued to be cultivated productively every farmer should work hard and plant trees for drying their crop.“We have decided that the cultivation of this crop should go hand in hand with tree planting. Let each farmer own two acres of trees and let us make this practice sustainable,” he said.
Speaking on different occasions, the farmers said they had decided to give their MP a rousing welcome after realising that the MP had been their great supporter by fearlessly speaking for them and advocating tobacco farming.
“In past years this crop was classified in more than 120 grades, with some grades being sold at throw-away prices, but after he came in the grades have been cut to 80 only,” he noted.
The farmers promised to continue supporting the MP’s efforts to improve the tobacco crop, which is their main cash crop.
Source Tanzania Daily News
