Press Release
MP Zitto Kabwe in U.S. on International Visitor Leadership Program
April 18, 2008
Honorable Zitto Kabwe, Member of Parliament for Kigoma North, is headed to the United States on Sunday, April 20, 2008, to take part in a three-week, five cities program on Leadership Development for Young Political Leaders. The prestigious International Visitor Leadership Program is run by the U.S. State Department on behalf of the American people.
During his visit to the United States, Kabwe, who is also Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Investments, Parastatals and Government Institutions, will discover the dynamic engagement of youth in the U.S. political system and how U.S. society encourages grassroots activism and accountability. More specifically, his program will focus on the activities surrounding the 2008 U.S. Presidential campaign and other elections at the state and local level.
Kabwe will be joined by 25 other young political leaders from Barbados, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Ethiopia, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Serbia, Swaziland, Sweden, Thailand, Uganda, the West Bank and Zimbabwe.
According to the U.S. Embassy, Kabwe will begin his study tour in Washington, D.C., and will meet with personnel at the two major political parties, in addition to key non-governmental organizations such as America’s Promise (led by Colin Powell), American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL) and the Center for Civic Education; and they will take a tour of the U.S. Capital. Participants will also receive an introductory orientation to American culture, an overview of federalism, and the structure of the U.S. Government and political system.
From Washington, the participants will travel to New York City where they will focus on youth voting and political participation. They will also look at young voters and the role of media in election campaigns. They will also meet with Future Voters of America, an organization that propels the youth voice forward in the political agenda and visit The New York Observer to discuss various blogs.
Participants will split into several teams for concurrent travel in smaller groups so that they will have more time for in-depth discussion with their counterparts in the United States. Each team will cover the same themes. Kabwe will be in team that will go to East Lansing, Michigan while other participants will travel to Columbus and Cleveland in Ohio and Orlando and Tampa in Florida. The entire group will reconvene together in Phoenix, Arizona where they will be able to compare notes from their team city experiences and look at the Native American vote, leadership training and volunteerism.
From Phoenix, the group will travel to Los Angeles where they will look at leadership development and academia. They will have an audience with Associated Students of the University of California, Los Angeles; the UCLA College Republican and Democratic organizations; the Political Student Assembly at the University of Southern California; the Manual Arts High School; the Los Angeles Leadership Academy; Kumamoto Associates Leadership Training and the Coro Foundation which trains young veterans with leadership skills.
Kabwe said this program is critical for his political career and will add value to his parliamentary work thereby delivering better services to the people of Kigoma and Tanzanians at large. “I hope to learn about the U.S. and at the same time inform others about Tanzania and build a strong network of global contacts. To me, the most important challenge we must overcome is to end single party dominance in our country. I will learn ways and means to strengthen Tanzania’s democracy and democratic institutions,” he said.
The International Visitor Leadership Program facilitates personal and professional contacts between the people of the United States and the people of Tanzania. This exchange program is part of overall U.S. Government direct and multilateral assistance to Tanzania of more than half a billion U.S. Dollars (over 725 billion Tanzanian shillings) in fiscal year 2008. For further information on the IVLP and other activities, please visit us at http://tanzania.usembassy.gov.