Samia graces ELCT big day

23Jan 2024
The Guardian Reporter
DAR ES SALAAM
News
The Guardian
Samia graces ELCT big day
  • Expresses concerns at marriage disputes in court, rising divorces among young marriages

PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan was yesterday the guest of honour at the intronisation of Bishop Dr Alex Malasusa in his new functions as presiding bishop for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT), returning to the post for another stint after having led ELCT for nearly a decade earlier.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan congratulates Bishop Dr Alex Gehaz Malasusa (62) shortly after a special mass held during his installation at the Azania Front Cathedral in Dar es Salaam yesterday as Head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania. Photo: State House

The president expressed concern over the sharp increase in marriage disputes and divorces, threatening the welfare of families and destabilising social harmony. She said that recent statistics show that the country has lately recorded a high number of family conflicts and divorces, many of them coming from young marriages, underscoring the need for people to rethink their ways and invest more in improving unity and empathy in families

The event held at the ELCT Azania Front Cathedral in Dar es Salaam was led by Bishop Dr Frederick Shoo whose term as presiding bishop had ended, while he remains head of the ELCT Northern Diocese, accompanied by bishops of the 28 ELCT dioceses.

President Samia said that in 20222/23, a total of 39,571 marriage disputes were recorded in courts, noting that this shows how the family unit is facing a big challenge, affirming that in the past six months a total of 28,773 marriage disputes have been registered.

Political leaders, institutional stakeholders and the public as a whole need to direct their efforts in protecting family unit, she emphasized, urging religious leaders to play their part in shaping public views through regular homilies, work to fight domestic violence and moral decay among the youth.

The household monitoring report of 2022 conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics shows that over half of Tanzanians eligible to enter into marriage are not married, with a good number of youths in urban areas being single and not thinking of setting up families as a priority, the president affirmed.

Those who succeed to enter into marriages face a lot of challenges with many couples eventually separating, she said, underlining that family is a basic unit in the society, since without strong and peaceful families, there is no tranquil nation.

“So we need to put our efforts to ensure that we build our families on good foundations which include taking good care of our children for them to have a positive view of life as they grow,” she told the gathering, lamenting that acts of violence were on the increase due to lack of the right foundations for a family.

 She decried moral decay among the youth, saying it is mostly caused by the misuse of smartphones, asking religious leaders to take a higher role in supervising youth morals now being destroyed by improper use of social media platforms.

She urged the public to fully participate in the local government elections late this year, to uphold their rights and promote democracy, asserting that the government has worked hard to strengthen national unity and democracy, so there is a need for people to use the civic polls to strengthen the democratic renewal of leadership at local levels.

In his remarks, Bishop Dr Malasusa thanked President Samia for gracing the event and capable supervision of the government to bring about intended growth results, also thanking the bishops who supported his bid for office.

He vowed to work with the council of bishops and other assemblies for the development of the ELCT, urging the bishops to work for unity and pursuit of intended goals.

The church will maintain its striving for peace and fight moral decay facing youth in the country, the presiding bishop added.

 

           

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