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UPDATED: 16 Jan 2008 GMT
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Speeches

Unveiling of Petterson House

VENUE: 8 Mazizini, Unguja

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Remarks by Ambassador Mark Green

Asalam Alaykum!

Let me be the first person to officially welcome you all to the Petterson House.

We are here this morning to honor Ambassador Petterson, but also to honor and recognize the historic links between America and Zanzibar.

I want to thank DCM Purnell for providing us with a brief history of the ties between the U.S. and Zanzibar. This event this morning was driven largely in part by his efforts.

Despite there not being an official presence in Zanzibar since 1979, I think you will agree that America has continued to have a presence here since then . . . a constructive one that is making a difference.

Officials from the U.S. Mission travel here on a near daily basis and I believe most of you know Mussa Shehe, our Political and Public Affairs Assistant who works for us full-time here on Zanzibar.

Going forward, we plan on having an American posted here a majority of his time beginning next year because of the many initiatives that we’re working on in Zanzibar.

There are too many American projects for me to describe in depth. For example, through the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation, the United States has provided for the restoration of two mosques on Pemba; refurbished the Chake Chake museum in a restored 18th century fort; and supported the preservation of Taarab music.

The Ambassador's Scholarship for Girls benefits nearly 300 Zanzibari girls to provide for their education from primary through secondary school.

We have also contributed computers to schools and provided intensive English language training to over 100 students. We hope this provides them an added advantage in furthering their studies or securing employment. We also have an English Language Fellow who is strengthening the skills of Zanzibari teachers of English.

Our educational initiatives are also enhanced through the radio program RISE, CREATE, and Coastal and Marine Environmental projects. In addition to the American Corner located at the State University of Zanzibar, we hope to soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Education to establish a second American Corner on Pemba.

We also partner with our colleagues in the health sector through the President's Malaria Initiative. PMI has been a resounding success on Zanzibar. About this time last year, the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Jiddawi joined President Bush for a White House Summit highlighting the program's historic achievements.

As you can see, Zanzibar is important to the American people. We are deeply interested in seeing a peaceful, and expeditious, resolution to the reconciliation process on Zanzibar.

People may say that 2010 is far off, yet we are about to enter 2008 and before we know it, the next elections will be here. We must remind ourselves that the reconciliation talks between the Chama Cha Mapinduzi and the Civic United Front started in Zanzibar nearly a year ago on 17 January 2007.

Throughout the year, these talks have continued. When there was an impasse in August of this year, both sides reached out and agreed to renew efforts.

While we are pleased to note that the dialogue has gone forward, at the same time I want to further encourage both sides to make their best effort to reach an equitable agreement--an agreement that allows adequate time for its implementation.

I applaud the commitment of President Jakaya Kikwete to assure that these discussions keep up momentum. We look forward to an equitable agreement that will ensure that democratic institutions continue to grow in Zanzibar.

Of course, reconciliation is not the only issue that America is talking about here. We are also trying to support President Kikwete’s call for more transparency and a battle against corruption.

One way we are doing that is through the Millennium Challenge Act. It has something called the Threshold Program which works to strengthen civil society groups and journalists in their work as watchdogs against corruption.

There has been a seven-fold increase in the number of stories per month talking about corruption in Tanzania. We believe the Threshold Program has helped encourage that.

The Threshold program also supports PETS--the Public Expenditure Tracking Systems-- that have been established throughout Tanzania, including here on Zanzibar.

I have had the opportunity to visit various PETS locations in Arusha, Dodoma and Morogoro. It was wonderful to see everyday citizens coming together to push for transparency. It was exciting to see these good Tanzanians becoming more informed about public money and how it gets spent.

These PETS projects are a sign that democracy will grow even stronger in the months and years ahead. They are also a sign that people want to end any and all corruption. Corruption is a crime against the Tanzanian people.

The Threshold Program is what comes before the Millennium Challenge Account Compact. I am pleased to announce that yesterday, in Washington D.C., the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Board of Directors met and formally supported the Compact for Tanzania, the largest compact in the history of the program.

When it’s finally signed early next year, this will provide $698 million over five years to support projects in infrastructure, energy and clean water all across the nation.

Zanzibar is a key part of the MCC Compact. About 35 kilometers of rural roads will be constructed on Pemba. And funds will also provide for periodic road maintenance to enhance Tanzania's capacity to maintain its road network.

The Zanzibar interconnector activity includes laying a new 40 kilometer 100 megawatt capacity submarine electric transmission cable that will bring reliable energy to the islands. This will allow Zanzibar to improve the quality of life for this island's population.

But there is something that makes the MCC Compact very different than other programs and other countries. The compact is not a grant. Rather, it is a contract between America and Tanzania. When it is signed, it creates new obligations for both our countries.

Here in Tanzania, the government pledges itself to a renewed emphasis on transparency and fighting corruption. It promises reform and creates tools for measuring that reform.

In other words, the signing of the compact is not the end of something, but the start of a new chapter in governing here and a new chapter in the friendship between our countries and our peoples. To me, that is something very exciting.

It is important that we are right here to talk about these things. This house symbolizes some of this history between our nations. Today, it symbolizes some of our future!

We look forward to that future. Let me assure you, as Ambassador, that the United States will provide our support and stand shoulder to shoulder with the Zanzibari people, as we have done so in the past, for over two hundred years.

Asanteni sana!