Zambians free to enter Tanzania, says Malanji 

Sun, 21 Jan 2018 11:24:42 +0000

By AARON CHIYANZO

MINISTER of Foreign Affairs, Joseph Malanji has dispelled claims that Zambians were being denied entry into Tanzania following the cholera outbreak that has hit the country.

Tanzanian President, John Magufuli is reported to have asked the Tanzanian immigration officers operating at Nakonde-Tunduma border post to close entry to anyone from Zambia as a way of preventing cholera from entering that country.

But Mr Malanji told journalists at City Airport in Lusaka yesterday that it was not true that Zambians were being denied entry into Tanzania.

Mr Malanji cautioned the public to be wary of misinformation on social media.

He reiterated that whether it were Tanzanians coming into Zambian or Zambians going into Tanzania, the borders and airports were open.

Mr Malanji said that there was free passage for every Zambian going into Tanzania, adding that social media indication that Zambians were being barred from entering Tanzania was all lies.

“That is not true, one thing we have to be alert about is this social media misinformation. We are neighbours with Tanzania, if  there is a problem here, it will be the same in Tanzania and  at no point has the President of Tanzania made an instruction   that Zambians must not enter  Tanzania, those are false assertions. “There is free passage for every Zambian going into Tanzania. That social media indication that Zambians are being barred from entering Tanzania is all false,” Mr Malanji said.

Meanwhile, Presidential aide for press and public relations, Amos Chanda said that the President had gone to Muchinga Province to inspect the status of the agro-farm inputs distribution and to access the impact in some areas were the fall army worms have ravaged some fields among others.

Mr Chanda said that the President had to get a ground assessment of what was taking place so that he could directly make interventions necessary to ensure that as much as possible, the crop yield was above last season.