Tanzania President Samia Suluhu has urged Tanzanians to take up birth control measures as she raised concerns over the high number of births the country is experiencing.
She said this over the weekend while visiting the western region of Geita where she reported that one health centre in Buselesele ward produces 1,000 children a month.
With this baby booming phenomenon, she noted schools, food, health centres and other amenities will be stretched and might be inadequate to serve everyone thus the need for family planning.
“Now how many classes will be needed after three years? What of health centres – how many will be needed to serve all these children? How many tonnes of food will be needed? Let’s reduce the speed and have a control on this,” urged the president.
According to the World Bank estimates Tanzania’s fertility rate at 4.8 births per woman as at 2020. This high birth rate was attributed to early marriages and low contraceptive use.
The country has a population of 60 million people with almost half of them living under two dollars or 240 shillings a day.
Her sentiments are in contradiction with those of her predecessor, the late John Magufuli, who openly encouraged women not to use contraceptives.
In 2016, the former president after he introduced free education, urged women to abandon family planning terming those who use them as lazy.
He said: “Women can throw away their contraceptives. Education is now free.”
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