PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan has urged traditional healers to follow ethics and discipline as directed by religion because there is a problem with natural herbs and fortune tellers.

Samia made the call here yesterday when speaking at the women's conference for the Islamic New Year of 1446. The conference was organized by the Office of the Mufti of Zanzibar, whereby various topics were presented including tax issues, obeying and respecting leaders, and the conference was attended by various country, religious, and political leaders.

She said the government does not have a problem with natural herbs, as it is a good remedy and it help many people, but there is a problem with some who provide the herbs by engaging in fortune-telling that combines and brings intrigue and mischief in society.

“Making fortune-telling is one of the wrong beliefs, an injustice that needs to be strongly rebuked, so the office of the mufti continues to provide education and build people's beliefs so that they are not influenced by fortune-tellers," said President Samia.

She also said that the government will continue to take steps to inform those who do those things that reach people because of insinuating witchcraft, so religious leaders will continue to provide education to avoid such things.

On obeying and respecting the country’s leaders, President Samia said that all destiny and fate come from God, so he has doubts about some political leaders when they are on the platform to slander and humiliate the leaders because the religious upbringing he receives cannot do that.

She said that people who are misled by religious beliefs cannot slander or insult the leader, so those who do so have not gone through the training of religious beliefs.

President Samia said that political platforms influence such acts of humiliating others, so it is good for religious leaders to increase the effort to provide education to young people to have good language and be obedient by respecting and obeying their leaders.

She also said leaders are also responsible for continuing to live on the principles of good leadership by being fair and what they say believable, being professional so that when people come with their problems they listen to them and find a solution to solve their problems.

“I have mentioned these three qualities so that the people and those who follow us continue to respect and trust us, as a leader you should listen to the people and solve their problems because a leader is like a tree with shade people come to breathe," she said.

Speaking about the issue of taxes, she said that no government is run without taxes, so the people should be ready to pay taxes because some traders have been refusing to pay taxes compared to other countries where people are at the forefront of paying taxes.

Samia said that in the history of Islam, women have been glorified and given a high position, but in practice, things are not going well and men are not responsible, even though in religion, Allah has given a big place to women.