Improved policies for good governance is still a challenge to Tanzanians

HOW to achieve an improved governance in Africa including Tanzania has remained a miracle. The consequence is that the majority of people are weighed down by poverty, diseases and all manner of deprivations. Despite being in possession of good natural resources, still people's life is gloomy but many believe that it is not for lack of policies to change the situation but more generally is for the failure of leadership and poorly applied management methodologies across the country. At present, optimists are unanimous that to overcome the hurdle, the people need to get involved in their affairs. The development has provoked the need for more interaction among those in government and their subjects. With the evolution of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), efforts are increasingly being made on how to bridge the gap. Already, the adoption of ICT has brought about a revolution and transformations on how people interact, live, and earn a living etc. It is interesting to note that with the appalling poverty and underdevelopment that have become the lot of most developing nations at present, the focus of world powers has centred on how the people could be integrated to play a role in the development of their constituencies. Tanzania's former Prime Minister Fredrick Sumaye was recently quoted in a TV talk show interview conducted by ITV local Television as saying that, “good governance will not be attained in the country if the top most government leaders are directly or indirectly involved in grand corruption malpractice”. Hon Sumaye was on the view of the fact that, corruption has been a drawback of people's most social and economic development activities in the country. The former Premier used the opportunity to speak out his mind amid rumours that he was preparing to contest for the Presidency in the forthcoming general elections to be held in 2015. In order to ensure good governance among the people in the country, the Ex Premier urged the government of the fourth phase led by President Jakaya Kikwete that, “the government must held responsible all mischief makers to cleanse the CCM party whose reputation seems to have been politically polluted.

Two Ex-Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania, Fredrick Sumaye (right) and Edward Lowasa (left) shakes hands during one of the Executive meetings of the CCM party in Dodoma. Lowasa resigned from his position following an allegation levels to him on RICHMOND financial saga in parliament in early 2009

He further noted that, at the government must react quickly at the moment in order to restore the minds of the Tanzanians now, who have become almost untrustworthy with the ruling party. “He must do an extra work of suspending without notice all suspected party members who have in one way or another been implicated in financial scandals in the country” he said without fear. “Surely this is the only way of cleaning the party which has been scorned with numerous financial scandals” he said adding that, in order to bring confidence to the people, the party chairman should not be afraid of anyone else within the party's jurisdiction. Therefore, regardless of the opportunities presented by ICTs, without good governance, development strides may not or will not be achieved. ICTs should be viewed as a tool for development and not as a goal in itself as e-governance can only function well in an environment of good governance systems. In view of this, distribution or decentralization of power into self-governing local governance systems against the centralized system of governance dominantly practiced in the past will enhance the involvement of non-governmental actors or stakeholders in policy-making. People in the country have witnessed no right is done to many local people when it comes for the demand of their rights. An example is in rural areas whereby in some parts of this country small farmers continue to be displaced by foreign enterprises and the country’s resources are exploited nearly to depletion. It's very unfortunate to see that when all these are taking place, our local government officials who silently enters into a dubious contract with such investors turn a blind eye to such malpractice and instead becomes perpetrators as though the authorities are not there. Inadequate and unsustainable policies, inappropriate technologies and insufficient rural infrastructure and institutions combined with incidence of pests and diseases have led to increasing poverty, food insecurity and stalled development. An economist Ezekiel Mtayomba based in Dar es Salaam said, “if the present policies are not corrected, Tanzanians will be doomed to more poverty and hunger as small farmers continue to be displaced by foreign enterprises and the country’s resources are exploited nearly to depletion”. He further notes that, farming and livestock production, which are among the key driving forces for poverty alleviation in the country, are therefore increasingly being jeopardized as the government is doing very little to address the issues of poverty, food security and development. Despite various policies and strategies including the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (better known locally by its Kiswahili acronym MKUKUTA) and the National Development Vision 2025, there is no any special attention that is given to the unprivileged people in the country. Tanzania is among the developing countries, ranking 128 out of a total 168 countries in the world, and according to the Human Development Index, there is a slow down attributed by the government to the impact of global financial crisis as well as drought which affected agricultural production, hydro power generation and industrial production. Moreover, although agriculture employs a huge number of people in the country, about 33.6 percent of mainland Tanzania lives below the basic needs, while 16.6 percent live below the food poverty line. The number of poor people has increased in recent years by 1.3 million. The rate of unemployment is rising, thus the gap between the poor and the rich is getting wider. Worse still, the government and its machineries such as police and judiciary do not take effective actions to save local people. Although Tanzania has legislation on investment issues, there are a number of problems relating to foreign direct investment. This is the case, for example, with the signing of dubious mining contracts (e.g.,Buzwagi, Richmond and Dowans and IPTL between the government and foreign investors. Also land grabbing by State bodies in favour of foreign investors is on the rise, the open door policy of the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) which is committed for attracting foreign investors, has been detrimental to local people. Small and Medium sized enterprises are unable to compete because they do not have enough capital and business expertise, while villagers are forcefully evicted to make room for foreign enterprises. Soil erosion and pollution are of particular concern in mining sites. In January 2009, for example, North Mara Gold Mines piled up about 2,000 tonnes of toxic debris without any precaution or assessment of its impact on the surrounding communities. When rains came, the debris was washed into river Tighite which serves the surrouding villages of Nyakunsuru, Nyamone and Weigita in the Mara Region, causing fish and trees to die. Deforestation is one of the main environmental problems that threaten the country. Despite 40 percent of the territory being preserved in parks, forests are rapidly shrinking in some regions. Deforestation rates have increased significantly over a decade ago.