As the ‘One Dollar Campaign’ gains momentum across the world, a famous Tanzanian artist Sumari Nakaya has joined the fundraising project to popularize the idea among the Tanzanian people.

In an interview with The New Times recently, Rwanda’s Ambassador to Tanzania Zeno Mutimura said the move was part of a bigger agenda aimed at creating awareness among people in Tanzania on the campaign.  

"We have deployed somebody whom we have called the ‘One Dollar Campaign’ Ambassador. She has posters and a team of singers, and in her plans she will be visiting several places with at least a show every weekend for the one hundred days,” Mutimura said.

The musician who has performed shows at several venues in the country, including the University of Dar es Salaam, and the famous Milimani, joins other efforts in raising awareness that include public discussions and media coverage activities.   

During the commemoration of the fifteenth anniversary of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis, the ‘One Dollar Campaign’ was launched both in Dar es Salaam and Arusha.

The campaign was launched in Rwanda on April 4 and its aim is to raise at least Rwf1.5bn to help set up accommodation facilities for children orphaned by the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

As part of the prompt response to the launch of the campaign in Arusha, members of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) represented by Dan Kidega (Uganda) contributed $2,500 to the campaign.  

Mutimura commended efforts by the Tanzanian media in creating awareness, saying the number of this year’s commemoration event was overwhelmingly big compared to the previous years. 

"This year the number was really big and the majority of those who attended were young people,” he said, attributing the new development by the media in Tanzania to the consistence of the Rwandan Government in implementing development–oriented policies.

As part of the media programme, Mutimura said, a group of Tanzanian journalists was sent to Rwanda during the commemoration event this year, adding that they have since filmed documentaries that have increased awareness among the people back home.

The envoy described the relations between Rwanda and Tanzania as good and said that there are ongoing initiatives in place to attract the Tanzania business community to Rwanda to make use of the enormous investment opportunities.

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