Arusha - The question whether Arusha is a municipality or city has been cleared answered by Arusha's Regional Commissioner, Mr. Isidore Shirima. It is not a city. Elevation of Arusha into a city is being delayed by legal procedures.

According to Mr. Shirima, although the government announced it was changing the status of the municipality to a city since 2005, there are legal technicalities which are yet to be sorted out.

"Arusha may have all the qualifications to become a city but there are pending procedures for it to be elevated, including announcement of its border lines in the Official Gazette," he pointed out.

He told reporters that the ministry responsible for Regional Administration and Local Government (TAMISEMI) has been requested to speed up the formalities so that Arusha could become a city formally.

Mr. Shirima told the regional roads board session that the status of Arusha, whether it was still a municipality or had become a city, was creating confusion, especially to potential investors.

"We have discussed this matter with the prime minister and the government may soon intervene to speed up the process of making Arusha a city", he explained.

The government announced three years ago that Arusha municipality was being elevated to a city, alongside with Tanga and Mbeya.

However, the local authority handling the affairs of the urban area had remained the same (municipal council) with no city council having been put in place.

The RC said the process may also have been delayed by demarcation of the new boundaries for the city under which several wards in the neighbouring Arumeru district would be brought under the city administration.

Mr. Shirima said Arusha, with an estimated population of 400,000 should be treated as a special economic zone in the country because it was only second to Dar es Salaam in revenue collection and investment flows.

It also remains the hub of the country's tourism industry and has been attracting all manners of investors from outside and within the country in recent years.

Being the headquarters of the East African Community and other international organisations, the town has assumed a regional role, he added

He decried the poor state of the roads in the municipality and hinted that the central government's failure to avail enough funds for infrastructure could be due to delay to proclaim Arusha a city.

Dr. Job Laiser, the outgoing municipal director was quoted recently as saying he was not aware if the Arusha municipal authority had failed to meet certain criteria that has delayed making it a city.

He said the municipality had surpassed its revenue collection budget by a big margin in the last three years starting with the 2006/2007 financial year and that it was more cleaner than it was some years back.

He, however, hinted the elevation of the town to a city could be tricky because of the local politics, especially in establishing the new boundaries for the city which would also affect the boundaries of various political constituencies.

The existing plans, however, indicate that the new boundaries of the envisaged city council would bring in Moshono, Murriet, Terrat and Mateves wards now in Arumeru, increasing Arusha town area to 275 square kilometres from the present 93 km square.

Source:http://www.arushatimes.co.tz