CBE Graduates: Compete or Die

We all have expectations from something or somewhere. As a matter of fact, most contractual agreements are based on expectations. That is, party A does certain things and in return, part B is supposed to meet certain obligations. I think they have this nice word called “breach of contract” for parties who fail to meet someone’s expectations.

One of the very few soft skills that had to learn after joining corporate America is “expectations management”. You know what? Formal education is very good, but in some instances it is overrated. There are certain skills you will never learn in school, unless you actually join the hustle of the “real world”.

I had no clue about the expectations management concept until one of my managers brought it up – as a matter of mentoring and professional nurturing of me. It must have been naturally in me, but hearing someone articulate it really hammered the concept down. This is how it goes…as an example.

Your manager gives you an assignment, for instance, and asks you provide the completion timeline. Based on your experience, you must know how long a project of that magnitude will be completed. If you know that it would take you two weeks, for instance, tell your manager that you will be done in two and half to three weeks. Why? That will provide you with a “cushion” time, in case something does not work out the way you expected. In essence, you have managed your manager’s expectations. It is better to present your project two days earlier than two days late.

I hope that helped someone who is planning to climb a corporate ladder or just grow professionally. It did help me.

I just bumped into this article by Tanzania Daima, in which graduates from the College of Business Education booed minister Mramba, when he told them that they shouldn’t expect employment from the government, but rather be self-starters upon graduation . I don’t know about you, but I was amazed at this reaction.

See, smart folks modify their expectations given changes in the environment. The reality in Tanzania is that the government has pulled out of many ventures that used to be the main source of employment for Tanzanian graduates. Given that fact, it is almost laughable for the CBE students to expect the government to provide employment. The last time I checked, Tanzania is riding on the free market craze. That, my CBE friends, include the competition in the labor market. That also includes self-employment.

It appears though, the CBE students are not even aware of the vast opportunities that are available for them through such programs as the Tanzanian government's Private Sector Participation program .

I am not saying that the government shouldn’t draft policies and strategies that ensure and promote economic growth and employment. They should. They are obligated to. Nonetheless, that is where the line ends. We all know that the involvement of the Tanzanian government in running business ventures led to inefficiencies that ultimately led to low pay and eventual lay-offs. So why would an informed business student in 2006 look for government employment? Aren’t they studying the tide?

I am not against government employment either. There are social services and other areas that it is only practical and logical for the government to deliver. Nonetheless, if we have to narrow it down to CBE students with a marketing diploma, for instance, where can they fit in the government’s employment? Kama wanataka kuwa maafisa kilimo wanaoajiriwa na Serikali, si wangeenda Sokoine basi? This just gives the impression that either our graduates are not taught to critically think, or are not well taught how to face the realities around them. I can only make one bold statement: at this rate, our graduates we will be swallowed alive by the Kenyan and Ugandan counterparts in the job market. We can’t be this cowardly and expect to compete. A graduate who gets out of school and cries for employment from the government is just like a mama’s boy who can’t do anything on their own.

Go out and compete in the labor market. Don’t be a whiny little wimp. We don’t want to build a nation of crybabies. The government can only do so much for you. I know the CBE students boos were more political, but I have this news highlight for my CBE friends: South Africans, Kenyans, and Ugandans etc are in Tanzania competing in the job market. So keep on crying and let us see if that is going to help.

Honestly, I feel like whacking CBE graduates on the head.

Test

I am just testing to see if my blog is still up and running. Some readers and myself could not access my blog for some unknown reasons. It appears that everything is back to normal.

RTI for Tanzania: A Needed Strategy

I am a firm believer in making amends and tweaking one’s strategy to meet the current demands and realities. That is because what has worked yesterday would not necessarily work today. The environment changes and when that happens, we have to come up with a new game plan.

We are not monkeys, so we ought to learn. So when I learned about what the Indians are doing with regards to the right of information ,I got wowed. Despite the fact that the Indians started moving forward earlier than Tanzania, their story is somewhat similar to ours. The majority of folks are still living in poverty and corruption is the order of the day. Or was, because the introduction of the Right To Information initiative, has started to kill corruption, significantly.

Thanks Mr. AT of Columbus, Ohio for sharing this article.

I believe that one of the major factors leading to our current economic situation is lack of accountability and transparency. I know Mr. BWM came up with the “uwazi” slogan, but that ended up being just a sweet song that was never implemented. Enough said about that.

Corruption is brewed in an environment where accountability and transparency are just a foreign notion. I understand that the government is currently working on a bill to empower the Prevention of Corruption Bureau. That is fine, but that alone is not adequate. Borrowing a leaf from the book just written by the Indians, we need to empower our citizens more, and that can only be achieve through granting them a right of access to information.

Besides, all governments are supposedly working for the people. As the government officials' bosses, wananchi ought to know. That is their right in a democratic society.

Guess what? The Americans figured this out way back. The United States Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) enacted in 1966 , provides access to all federal agency records except for those records (or portions of those records) that are protected from disclosure.

I work for the state government, so I know that the Act works. Any citizen in the state of Ohio can request information on my travel expense reimbursement. Likewise, I can request information on how much money the governor is being paid. Heck, I can even ask and get the tax filings for the President of the United States of America to determine how much money George W. Bush made in 2005.

As I said, we are not monkeys, so we can learn. The Indians just did that. It is impractical to eradicate 100% of corruption, but at least you can get rid of “minor” corruption incidents that stand on the way of a regular mwananchi. I mean, do you really need to pay a bribe to get a death certificate? Do we really need to pay a bribe to enroll our children in school? The right of information is certainly going to eradicate all of that. Having the right of access too all the contracts the government signed, for instance, will bring accountability and shift enforcement on the hands of regular wananchi.

If we truly want to make socio-economic progress, we gotta enact the right to information. Poor folks have suffered for so long.

Photo. M. Mjengwa

Drivers' E-Records: Insurers, Please Jump In

I have no statistics on how many lives have been lost in Tanzania due to motor vehicle accidents. Nevertheless, I know it is that bad. I can only come with four theories as to why there have been such road accident statistics: 1) unqualified drivers obtaining driving permits through corrupt means (we are talking about Bongoland here, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise) 2) corrupt traffic police who are not following the rules of their trade 3) bad roads 4) increased population of motor vehicles on the roads.

It is funny that way back in early 1990s, some government officials thought that road accidents increased because buses traveled at night. So they order daytime bus routes. They even introduced speed governors. Did that work? It didn’t, because the decision was more political than scientific. We continued to see road accidents.

It appears that the government has finally stopped hitting the snooze button, awakening from their slumber. According to IPP Media, the government is soon to introduce computerized driving licenses. I have no clue how such licenses would work, but I am assuming they will “machine readable”, that is, a driver’s information will be stored on a magnetic strip on the driver’s license card.

While this is a good move, fake licenses is just one factor. I don’t see a policy or strategic draft to tackle traffic policy corruption. But such is Bongoland.

I am in a light, good mood today. So I will provide a strategic advice to the Tanzanian government today. I hope that someone will listen.

According to research findings issued by T. Rwebangira (UDSM), T. Pearce and DAC Maunder (Transport Research Labaratory, UK), reckless driving was ranked highest among various causes of accidents in Tanzania between 1993 - 1997. According to the same research, private cars and dala-dala buses outdid buses in causing accidents. Read the report for yourself . It appears that one is likely to be involved in accident riding a dala-dala than taking a ride in Champion Bus. Not surprising.

Given that road accidents are caused mainly by reckless driving, we have to come up with a scientific way of dealing with the problem. My conviction is that road accidents can only be reduced when there are intrinsic reasons for the drivers to stop causing them. Drivers must have a reason to behave, not from cops, but from within. That is where the Tanzanian government must bring the insurance companies into the equation. In most cases, the government mandates motor vehicle insurance. Nonetheless, the premium rates charged by the insurance companies vary between drivers. Insurance companies weigh out the driving risk provided by each driver, based on age or the past driving records. Risky drivers, quite naturally, cost the insurance companies more in terms of insurance claims (Per the above cited report it costed NIC TShs 11 billion to settle claims in 1994 alone). So the insurance companies hit risky drivers the hardest.

As bad driving records will lead to higher insurance premiums, drivers will want to keep their records clean. This is will lead to a cheap self-regulation. No taxpayers’ money spent. That is the first whip for bad drivers.

Insurance companies can only push for the driver’s self-regulation through higher premiums if they have access to accurate records from the government. With the introduction of the computerized driving permits, I hope that the government will create a database for drivers’ records. Such a database should be used as a second whip for bad drivers. Drivers should be assigned points based on the nature and type of accidents caused. If a driver caused an accident for being drunk, for instance, higher points should be assigned. At a certain threshold, a driver will be stripped of his or her driving privileges, fined a huge amount of money, or sentenced to jail.

Given that bad driving records will lead to revocation of the driving privileges, hefty fines, and spending time in jail, drivers would not like to face such prospects in addition to paying higher insurance premiums. That will lead to a wonderful self-regulation by drivers.

This is something that we can implement. We don’t have to wait for some mzungu to tell us.

Obviously, I have assumed that the system will work. That is, violators will not walk free after bribing their way. That is something that the government is responsible to work on. I believe they hired Said Mwema for that.

This is my honest conviction: in order for Tanzanian improve in all crucial sectors of life, we need to move from making politically charged decisions and head towards a scientific approach. Most of the problems we face do not require complicated scientific abilities. They only require application of a little bit of common sense.

Photo: M. Michuzi

Samsung Invitation: Why?

I know it is tiring to be just critiquing what the government is doing. It is not the most pleasant role to play. Honestly, if I had a chance, I would have helped the government with a strategic and a visionary outlook. Since I am not part of the system, I can't help the president before he makes his decisions.

If you know how I could be of help to the president, let me know. Seriously. At the end of the day, it is not about CCM, Chadema, CUF, TLP and any other political party. It is about poor folks who end up with dirty roads and substandard health care.

I strongly believe that Mr. JK has good intensions. But he comes short. I convinced he comes short because of his limited environmental and culture exposure. He is trying hard, but you can’t accomplish what you don’t have a context for. He is limited because he has advisors who are also not visionaries. At some point, I believe that Mr. JK and any other president will have rule that country just like a CEO would run a for-profit company. Tanzania must come up with unorthodox leadership style to change things around. That is because we have to catch up with the rest of the world, quickly.

It is clear that we don’t have a clear, consistent plan to eradicate electricity problems, because Mr. JK has just engaged Samsung to invest in electricity generation. I understand that the president has to do all he can to ensure that pertinent problems are solved. Nonetheless, that does not mean that he has to say or act on everything before the vision, the strategy and the execution plan for eliminating the problem have been ironed out.

Samsung is undoubtedly a giant company. It is an established company. It has a wonderful reputation. However, electricity generation is not their core competency. Electricity generation is not what they do best. So why do we engage electronic gadgets and ship building company to invest in electricity generation? Why don’t we expand the Tanesco capabilities? If that is not possible, why don’t’ we privatize Tanesco then? Hello, are the advisors awake at Ikulu?

The Samsung deal might sound nice and dandy. But at the core of it, Samsung is not coming to Tanzania to generate electricity for us; they are coming for more than that. Let’s get to it. Ladies and gentlemen, please read the following excerpt from IPP Media with me:

“SAMSUNG has also shown interest in exploitation of Tanzania’s iron and coal, so as to produce steel which has a huge demand in Korea, as it is used in ship building and production of industrial machines. The Korean firm is also interested in having a stake in copper mining.”

That is why Samsung will be coming to Tanzania.

I can't blame Samsung. It makes sense from the Samsung’s point of view, because Samsung is engaged in electronics, communication and shipbuilding. Samsung’s interest is to find steady supply of cheap raw materials from a poor, naïve country like Tanzania. Case in point: The demand for copper, which is used in manufacturing electronics, has climbed recently, forcing a concurrent rise in prices . Does it make sense for Samsung to produce own raw materials, probably below world market prices? Absolutely. But guess who the losers are from the deal with Samsung? We are. Tanzania will end up being losers, failing to capitalize on higher market prices for copper and iron. Furthermore, as China continue to grow, so is the rising demand of iron.

Essentially, we got played. The Koreans have just thrown in a little bone in order to get a bigger piece of the pie. We are in a dire need to solve electricity problems. So a brother in need would sound like a brother indeed, right? Wrong. I work with Americans. I know how it all goes down. This is the game: identify an opportunity, create a relationship, and reap huge benefits in the future. Samsung is not electricity generating company, but they are making an extreme shift in their corporate focus to get their feet through the Tanzanian door. That should sent danger signs all over. When a company steps outside its comfort zone, we got dig deeper into it.

KEPCO NG, the company that Samsung wants to "partner" with, is an independent, global electricity generating company. Why can't Tanzania engage KEPCO directly? Why allow Samsung to play some mental games with us? What Samsung is doing is playing a middleman that we don't need. They are playing a dirty, business game.

You know what the best deal would have been? It would have been for Samsung to move some of their production facilities to Tanzania. Create a few more jobs for our young people. Moving raw materials from Tanzania only benefits the Koreans, but it seems Mr. JK and his boys were just happy to get "anything" from the Koreans. That is not the smartest way to run a country.

I wish I had access to Ikulu. I mean, why are we so naïve? The truth of the matter is, no company in the developed world will ever get into a venture without doing their homework. I am sure Samsung has studied the Tanzanian culture, the opportunities available, the angles to attack, etc. The problem is, Tanzanians never do that. I am sure that Mr. JK just shook hands with folks he has no data on, purely banking on their smiles.

Smiles? Do you know how fake these smiles are? Just ask some of us in North America.

It is true that we are desperate to get rid of the electricity problems. Nevertheless, that does not justify engaging ANY company. We have to follow the script within the drafted strategic plan to eliminate electricity woes. We have to perform due diligence on every company and to gauge whether all companies invited for investment match our needs and goals.

I think that is smart. Why can't we do that?

Update: November 10, 2006
According to IPP Media, Mr. JK has had a discusssion with KEPCO about power generation in Tanzania. I have to commend that. If you need meat, you talk with meat suppliers, not paper suppliers. This is a smart move. Mr. JK, that is the way to go.

Photo: Freddy Maro

OIC: A Pain In Tanganyika's Rear End

I am sure Nyerere didn't see this coming. I am sure it was all rosy and fine that 26th day of April in 1964. His mind was rushing with excitement about the Pan-Africanism. You know, if you want the whole of Africa to be united, you have to start in your own back yard. So the union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar seemed to be a wonderful, romantic marriage. Nyerere was so in love with Zanzibar that he gave up everything Tanganyikan, while allowing Zanzibar to retain its sovereignty.

I cannot blame Zanzibar for that. They had the right to bring forth the conditions of the union, one of which is retaining their power. Only that Nyerere was fooled. That, my friend, was a big mistake. And for that mistake, Tanganyika's rear end is being bitten today.

I know this is a controversial topic, but I think we owe it to ourselves to dig into it and be honest. Embracing kufunika funika mambo has gotten us here in the first place. I mean, we are committed to the union thing, but who knows what is in the original article? I am sure none of us has seen it.

In my opinion, allowing Zanzibar to retain her sovereignty set the mainland for baby-sitting for ages to come. Just a host of things can prove my point. When was the last time Zanzibar paid their electric bill? They even wanted a share of gold sales from the mainland. A problem child? You bet Zanzibar is.

Nyerere saw it coming in 1984, but I wonder why he didn’t do anything serious about it (I am convinced that Nyerere was so smart, intellectually, but was so naïve when it came to human relations. He failed to understand that trust is earned. Simply because someone sung the “kidumu Chama cha Mapinduzi” chorus didn’t mean they believed in his vision). Apparently, Aboud Jumbe and his boy Seif Hamad wanted more Zanzibar autonomy. Nyerere in his wisdom forced the resignation of Jumbe. [Source: Nation Encyclopedia]

Did forcing Jumbe’s resignation solve anything? Absolutely not. Zanzibar was coming and coming hard. In 1992, under the leadership of Dr. Salmin Amour, Zanzibar secretly joined the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC). The move was thwarted, but guess what? Mr. Karume is back with the same issue again ,14 years later. It appears that some things never change. Mtoto wa nyoka ni nyoka tu.

The Tanzanian Constitution (Chapter 3, Section 9(2)) states this:
“Without prejudice to the relevant laws of the United Republic the profession of religion, worship and propagation of religion shall be free and a private affair of an individual; and the affairs and management of religious bodies shall not be part of the activities of the State authority” [Source: Kituo Cha Katiba]

Well, this is what I got from the OIC website, with regards to the objectives of the OIC:
“The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is an inter-governmental organization grouping fifty-seven States. These States decided to pool their resources together, combine their efforts and speak with one voice to safeguard the interest and ensure the progress and well-being of their peoples and those of other Muslims in the world over" [Source: http://www.oic-oci.org/]

Sounds to me like OIC is a faith-based organization.

I don’t have a problem with the existence or the objectives of OIC. OIC is doing what is their prerogative to do. Nonetheless, the Tanzania constitution clearly states that engaging in religious affairs is not part of the government’s agenda. So for Tanzania to join OIC is plain unconstitutional. Why is Karume then deliberately trying to bring something that is, and has already been ruled unconstitutional 14 years back? Does it matter whether Zanzibar joins OIC solo or part of the URT? We are not that dumb. At least I am not.

In my opinion, the introduction of the OIC issue by Mr. Karume is an insult to all of us. It is an insult to our constitution, which he swore to abide by and defend. It is an insult to other faiths in Tanzania, which he and the Zanzibari Muslims want to drag into joining an Islamic faith-based organization. But you know who are disgusting the most? It is our MPs who have no guts to rebuke a deliberate move to violate our constitution.

I am as religious tolerant as the next guy, but some things are not worth tolerating. Especially, when such things are done as sure sign of dissrespect for my faith.

Another troubling trend is the fact that the OIC agenda has been brought up when; coincidentally, there is a Muslim president in Tanzania. I don’t to make any conclusions, but the fact that Dr. Amour brought up the OIC issue during the tenure of Mr. Mwinyi and the issue never came up during the Mkapa's tenure proves my argument. It gives the impression that the presence of a Muslim president gives the Zanzibar Muslims some sort of an audacity to bring up controversial religious agendas. This is a trend that is surely sending Tanzania into deeper troubles. It is an accident waiting to happen. It is a time-bomb ready to explode– mark my word.

Given that the OIC issue has not originated from the mainland Muslims proves yet another fact – Zanzibar has been and will continue to be the thorn in the mainland’s flesh. From a political correctness standpoint, Nyerere has nothing to be blame for, but truthfully this mzee got Tanganyika into trouble. To untangle the mess will require a very special kind of leader. Mwinyi couldn’t do it, BWM couldn’t either, and I am sure JMK has no guts to do it. So Zanzibar will continue to be a pain in our rear end. I don't have anything against Zanzibar, but I believe Tanganyika can do just fine without her.

In retrospect, I wonder what Nyerere was smoking on April 26, 1964. Seriously.

Evil Spirits? Please...

I am not going to lie, studying and living in the United States has helped me tremendously. Sometimes, I forget that my experience is not similar to that of many in Bongoland. I believe that what I write in this blog has been frustrating for some folks, simply because they can't comprehend what I am talking about.

I sometimes wonder if Mr. JK, for instance, understands what I am talking about. Honestly, I sometimes feel guilty for being so hard on these CCM, opposition guys and even wananchi. I mean, these people have no point of reference. A typical mwananchi can't demand what they don't know. Imagine being born and never left your remote village in Lindi. How would you ever imagine that there are highways with up to eight lanes in this world? I mean, why would you start talking about critical thinking blah blah to a person who can't even read, write or even own a pair of decent shoes?

Even those in Dar-es-Salaam, watching Arsenal and Manchester United duke it out on TV is not adequate to expose someone to the thinking level I see on this Northern hemisphere. It just provides vijiweni stories. Period.

I wouldn't understand me either, if I were still in Bongoland. I can say I was smart enough to understand issues, but my understand was limited by my environment. Trust me, I consider myself blessed to be here. It is not about money, cars, and paying mortage, because there are folks in Bongoland with a load of money that I can't even dream of. I am talking about the opportunity to learn and be exposed. That I have had, and I consider it to be priceless.

So when I read a story like this one from IPP Media about this dude who got conned by a witchdoctor , I just feel sorry. I mean, this is the 21st century. Nevertheless some folks, including Simba and Yanga still holds on to the witchcraft crap. Can you believe that?

With regards to this story, I like the witchdoctor's defense, because somehow he is right. The witchdoctor contends that he couldn't refund this dude service fees because the dude failed to follow instructions. Furthermore, the doctor couldn't get the money back because the evil spirits have gotten away with it. Well, I kind of agree with the withdoctor. If I were the magistrate in this case, I would sent this stupid dude away for life.

See, it is true that evil spirits really took away with the money. While the witchdoctor wanted to make the whole thing look overly spiritual, it truly wasn't that complicated ( I think the witchdoctor wanted to sound technical. I mean wouldn't you be flabbergasted when a Neurosurgeon is presenting a complicated procedure?). What really got away with the dude's money is the spirit of ignorance and stupidity. It is amazing that at this day and age of science and technology, some of our brothers and sisters are still holding on to such backward beliefs. I wonder why some folks have not figured it out that a dose of education 2X3 daily is adequate to fend off evil spirits coming from the pit of ignorance.

If juju really works, I am sure most African football teams would have won the World Cup thus far. We could have had a technology that would have enabled me to avoid security lines at the airport, visa requirements, and paying alot of dough to the British Airways. I could have just jumped on my ungo and do the amazing. But it hasn't been that way. That is because the realities of life have gone the opposite direction. We gotta think. We gotta apply our brains to succeed.

Ask the Majimaji heroes (By the way, are they still heroes, given they died stupidly? Or this whole thing is political that I would be hanged for even asking this question?), they would tell you all about it.

But somehow, I am not blaming this guy. If TFF has not clamped down on an open display of witchcraft during the Tanzania Premier League, why would anyone in regular life circles in Tanzania think that this is all wrong? Besides, how many leaders made a trip to Bagamoyo in 2005 to win elections? It is crazy to think that a leader who believes that they won an election through witchcraft would ever believe in science and technology. It is hard to imagine such a leader believing in critical thinking and application of our mental faculties as a vital ingredient for progress.

I am telling you, if you want to make it big in Tanzania, open your own witchcraft business. It is kind of being a lawyer in the United State of America. You will win all the time. By the way, are witchdoctors paying taxes? I mean, these guys are being paid a lot of money, not forgetting tons of freebies like chicken and goats they use for "medical procedures".

Just wondering.

JK: So God Is To Blame?

I was ready to move on from this the whole electricity and Richmond Development Corporation thing, that is because it is just saddens me how most folks felt for it. It appears to me that people have not guts or skills to ask the right questions. If I was an editor for a newspaper in Tanzania, I would have gone to the depth of it all. I would have forced Mohamed Gire to provide specifics on some of the information on the RDC's website, which is a bunch of crap in my estimation.

Just as I was about to move on, our President popped up. In an article published by Tanzania Daima, Mr. JK, in his address to the Baraza la Idd El Fitr, attributed the electricity woes in Tanzania to God, and not crappy leadership. Just read the article yourself .

Just a quote from that speech goes like this:

"Ni tatizo la Watanzania wote na wala halikubagua misikiti au Waislamu pekee. Napenda kuwahakikishia kwamba kiini cha tatizo si uzembe wa mtu yeyote bali ni mitihani ya Mwenyezi Mungu kutokutupatia mvua za kutosha na hivyo kusababisha mabwawa yetu ya kuzalisha umeme ya Mtera na Kidatu kutopata maji ya kutosha kuzalisha umeme wakati wote wa mwaka"

Obviously, our President thinks that the problem has nothing to do with human beings, that is, his administration. In my opinioin, that is shortsightedness and inability to put things in their proper context.

Let me share with you my thoughts Mr. President. Acts of nature, which in this case you have termed "kazi ya Mungu" happen. They happen all the time around the world. Nonetheless, it is the same God that has given us brains and the ability to think. Our brains are supposed to be used to plan, among other things, on how to mitigate the effects of natural courses.

I live in North America where it snows. Depending on natural causes, it can heavily or lightly snow. But you know how cities and municipalities control that? They watch the weather trends. They adjust their salt budgets based on weather trends (salt is used to melt snow on the roads). They don't let citizens locked up in their houses simply because "God showed up with tons of snow this year".

What do we have in Tanzania? We have TMA - Tanzania Meteorological Agency . The agency's job, which your government happens to fund, among other things is to predict the weather. So was it a surprise that the rain was not adequate in 2005/2006? I don't think so. That data was sitting right there at the TMA's office. Mr. President, just visit the TMA's website to prove that what I am saying is true. I am sure nobody from Tanesco, despite knowing that the company is heavily dependent on rainwater for electric generation, bothered to collect the forecast data from TMA. Had they collected that data, they would have planned ahead of time on the best alternatives.

I am sure also that nobody at Tanesco bothered to push for an environmental protection policy, a policy that would ensure the safeguarding of water resources. If they did, I am sure nobody bothered to enforce it. But you don't seemed to be bothered by the fact that nobody, including your own government is not strategic and deliberate. It seems that the whole system is in love with the zimamoto mentality.

As such, Mr. President, I think it is a bunch of crap to tell us that we should not blame anybody in your government, but blame the whole thing on God. Yes, it didn't adequately rain in Tanzania, but as smart human beings, we plan. The ability to think is a wonderful, free gift that God has bestowed on us.

You know what? The God I know is an awesome God. And He does not deserve to be blamed for our own stupidity. Did we do all we could given our resources (information etc)? The answer is no. But you seemed to know that already. I can quote what Tanzania Daima wrote regarding your own thoughts:

Alikiri kuwapo kwa ulegevu na makosa ambayo serikali imekuwa ikiyachukulia hatua kila ilipoyabaini, na amebainisha kuwa serikali haitasita kuchukua hatua zaidi kama hapana budi

What the heck it that? Mr. President, didn't you just say that nobody was to blame in the system?

Vision 2025? I don't think we will even get there. Yes, 2025 is bound to be here, but not with the vision fulfilled. I need hard data to be convinced otherwise. So far, none. Zip. Nada. Zero.

JK: Another Stinking President?

You know, I like being objective. That is mainly because I don’t like ups and downs that come with being “emotional”. That is, allowing one to be dragged into supporting an agenda or idea based on the attached emotional appeal. I must agree, there are times when being reactive is natural and human – when such a reaction is about being “real”. But please understand this, I am as compassionate as the next-door neighbor, just a little on the objective side.

This article, however, is not about me.

I remember early in 2006 when Mr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete was ushered into the presidency. Subsequent to that he did some “remarkable” things, including swiftly acting on recommendations brought forth by a commission formed to investigate the killing of innocent people by the Police, ending the majambazi’s upper hand in the country, ending Mahita’s ineffective administration of the police force, etc. I must admit, the dude’s first 100 days in office were stellar compared to his predecessors. It appeared that the Kasi Mpya mantra was for real.

Given such a “record”, one would be tempted to just sing praises to this guy. Nonetheless, I am not one of those suckers. See, Uncle Ben duped me once. He came into power and his early days also looked promising. Remember the Uwazi slogan? We all know that he never lived up to that slogan.

We can all agree that nyota njema huonekana asubuhi. From a technical perspective, I don’t see any flashes of brilliance from JK. Honestly. I just don’t see how he can effectively take Bongoland into the Promised Land. Not yet, may be. And I can just present a few cases to back my argument.

The first case in point is the electricity saga. Lets bring some objective arguments and facts here. NO COUNTRY can ever make any economic strides without setting up good and reliable power supply and infrastructure. You don’t need a Harvard degree to know that, common sense can suffice. Power rationing has been in Bongoland as long as I can remember. Power rates in Tanzania are the highest in East Africa. So this is nothing new. Wouldn’t it be a priority, as a matter of common sense, to make power supply our priority, given its importance to productivity and economic growth? Hello, Vision 2025 anyone?

The JK’s administration can argue that they tried. But they tried in a zimamoto way. They tried in ridiculous and laughable ways. They tried like folks who have no clue or deliberate strategies in place. First, came the Prime Minister’s crazy idea of importing rainmakers from Thailand. Secondly, they engaged a non-existent and stupid company like Richmond Development Company to import power generators. The fact of the matter is that the JK’s government is another laughing stock. Even Adam Lusekelo , a columnist for the government’s own newspaper, Daily News, is poking fun at his employer. How stupid can we be? Isn’t this Richmond’s story all too familiar?

Another case is the recent recycling of ministers . Isn’t this too familiar also? Talking about some of the reshuffled ministers - Anthony Diallo, Basil Mramba, and Stephen Wasssira – didn’t I blog about lack of leadership qualities from these fellas way back? (You can review my original blog on Diallo and Mramba ). Moving ineffective ministers from one assignment to the next will not improve their performance. That is equivalent to moving a stinking fish from one container to the next to get rid of the stench. Such a move is nothing but stupid, for it will not improve or change the condition of the fish. If Dr. Msabaha couldn’t deliver in the past, why think he will deliver in the future? Deja vu anyone? I guess some things never change in the CCM's world.

In my opinion, Mr. JK is acting EXACTLY the same way JKN, Mzee Ruska, and Uncle Ben acted. He has brought nothing to the table, setting aside his appealing personality. We have seen recycling of ineffective leaders before and the results have been detrimental. It appears this guy didn’t learn from the past. And for an objective and technical guy like me, I am left with nothing but skepticism. I have not seen the light at the end of the tunnel yet. That may sound too depressing, but it is a fact.

So here I am going on record, and please mark my words – Tanzania will NEVER develop unless we find a true leadership. The type of leadership that is focused and deliberate. The type of leadership that is able to separate substance from political crap. The type of leadership that is capable of identifying suitable and appropriate personnel to carry out the articulated vision – regardless of their age or political affiliation. The type of leadership that is truly proactive as opposed to reactive.

Unfortunately, folks, Jakaya has failed to demonstrate those qualities thus far. My experience in the past four months – from the time of the Bunge budget sessions – proves that. I don’t see this guy as capable of taking Tanzania to the Promised Land. I simply don’t. Nyota njema huonekana asubuhi. In my world, this Jakaya dude ain’t shining this morning.

And that gives me a very bad feeling.

Photo credit: M. Michuzi

DC’s Conduct: How Do They Get Here?

On September 20, 2006, I had reflected on the Prime Minister’s reaction to crappy progress reports that were prepared by some Kigoma District Commissioner and Regional Commissioner. I hailed the PM for articulating the performance expectations for these esteemed DCs and RCs. Despite those accolades, I also cautioned that we must look at how these DCs and RCs got here in the first place. That is because it is not adequate just to criticize the DCs and RCs without taking a critical look at how they got appointed in the first place.

In a nutshell, I contended in that reflective post that a DC is a representative of the President. As such, the quality of performance that the DC or the RC is displaying, is a direct reflection of what quality of leaders the President accepts. That is because the President would appoint an individual capable of carrying out the President’s mission. So if the DC is performing poorly, we can only deduce that the President accepts such a poor performance, otherwise they would not appoint these folks in the first place. That is my conviction because an effective leader is capable of identifying the right people for the right positions.

So what would one say about the Mbarali District Commissioner, Hawa Ngulume, who is reportedly slapped the chairman for small-farmers association for allegedly blocking the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and Land from visiting the area. The IPP Media reported on this, so don’t throw stones at me for being mzushi.

In a Tanzanian context, this is probably not a big deal. The fact that the DC assaulted a poor farmer would probably not given a proper legal attention. I mean who cares to what happens to poor folks in Tanzania anyway? Nonetheless, in a wider perspective of things, this incident and many more is an indication of how poor the quality of our leaders is. In my opinion, by slapping the poor farmer’s chairman, the DC has violated a host of leadership rules that she was supposed to uphold.

May it is just me, but I am strongly convinced that in order for us to make serious progress, we need a serious paradigm change. We have to change the way we view our leaders and how we view our selves. Particularly, we have to establish what we expect from our leaders and steps to be taken when such expectations are not met. Ideally, leaders should be serving the people and not acting like the old colonial masters. Regardless of how the DC gets mad, there are integrity and ethical standards to uphold. There are boundaries not to be crossed.

We need leaders who are capable of empowering the regular wananchi. We need leaders who are capable of listening, discerning, and providing creative solutions in a way that is respectable both to their superiors and wananchi to whom they are called to lead. Leadership is not about embracing dictatorial tendencies. Leadership is not about feeling like one is above the rest. Leadership is not about having louder mouths on podiums.

Given the fact that the Ms. Hawa Ngulume got appointed by the President, this is my question to Mr. Jakaya: You mean to tell us the in a country of 38 million heads, you couldn’t find anyone else who knows how to act? You couldn’t find anyone else better than the likes of Ms. Hawa Ngulume?

Seriously, how do people like her get here?

A Point of Clarification

Recently, one of my esteemed readers posted a comment in reaction to my September 29, 2006 post under the title “Lipumbas: Exactly Why the Opposition Sucks”. I would just like to quote, so that I give the commenter a respectable and deserved voice:

“I would say that I was a bit impressed by your comments on 'Lipumbas: Exactly Why the Oppostion Sucks". However, I did not like the way you choose your words particularly when it comes to describe a person.If I were in your position I would not have used such words/phrases as 'stupid comment', 'childish', LiPUMBA and others.If you want to be critical of somebody, you have to stick to arguments, you should not cross borders and enter into criticizing one's personality and integrity.I think you should also have taken sufficient time to ponder over the arguments raised by Prof. Lipumba. You would have discovered more than you did”

Let me start by expressing my sincere appreciation for the observation. It would be meaningless if I write and nobody reads, except may be for a few members of my household (if they really care for my thoughts that I express on the internet in the first place). So Simbadeo thanks a lot.

That being said, lets get to it.

Writing is about expression of one’s thoughts or feelings. If I were writing for Daily News or Uhuru, I am sure that my thoughts or feelings would have been censored to fit into the editor’s liking. But given the fact that I am the writer and the editor at the same time through my own blog, I play into that freedom. I don't have to get anybody's approval to tell what I see.

That being said, I am not intending to just cross boundaries in the name of freedom and liberty. I have a writing objective and I try to fulfill that. In case it has not been clear, my objective is to challenge the status quo, particularly with reference to our thinking and attitudes. In connection to that, I deliberately choose certain words that would evoke certain responses. Furthermore, I choose certain words to hit my points home. Why not call a spade a spade? If Professor Lipumba gives a stupid comment, I would say that.

I am trying to imagine how it would be like calling a stupid comment something like "a comment that was short of logical sense". That is being too politically correct, and I don't think political correctness will ever help our folks grow. So I try to deliberately defy the norm to get folks out of their routine. I don't want to be another Uhuru newspaper. Folks have had plenty of that.

Does that mean that I should just go out and blah blah? I don't think so. I try in all my articles to provided facts and rationale to support my assessment.

I am not sure where Ms./Mr./Mrs. Simbadeo got the impression that I was getting personal, for instance, in my criticism of Professor Lipumba. If you read the whole article, in no place I said, “Professor Lipumba is stupid or childish”. I think there is a clear distinction between someone being stupid and someone giving a stupid comment. I believe throughout the article I tried to stick to judging Professor Lipumba’s comments. But what would an American say? Stupid is as stupid does. If Ms/Mr/Mrs Simbadeo was impressed with my comments in that article, then my choice of words is irrelevant to the point I was driving home.

See, life is full of preferences. Ms./Mr./Mrs. Simbadeo’s dislike for my choice of words is a good example of how subjective things could be. Given that fact, why would I switch and be like him or her? Where would my individualism come into play? I like me. I like my writing style. This is who I am. I would be worried if what I write doesn’t make sense. But he or she didn’t say that I don’t make sense. So I am at peace.

With regards to this argument, “I think you should also have taken sufficient time to ponder over the arguments raised by Prof. Lipumba. You would have discovered more than you did”, What can I say? Wasn’t the whole article, which Ms/Mr/Mrs. Simbadeo was impressed with, intended to negate the arguments raised by Professor Lipumba? Honestly, I would appreciate getting what I missed from Mr.Lipumba’s comments. That is that whole point of growing.

My point is, I have a writing voice and a writing objective. Some will like that, some will not. Such is life. It would not be fair for me to stop others from having their own preferences. SoI would like to stick with me.

“Mtaji wa Maskini Nguvu Yake”?

If you are coming from Bongoland, you have at least heard of this saying. In most cases, this saying is meant to “motivate” folks who have found themselves stuck in difficult economic situations. These folks are left without any other option but to apply all means necessary to make ends meet. Manual laborers, such as mikokoteni operators are mostly likely to hold on to such a “slogan”.

I am not going to badmouth working hard as a way of earning a living and even lifting one’s family out of an abject poverty. I think it is a noble thing to do – that is, trying to fight for your family. You know what? Even the Bible prescribes hard work as a means through which we should earn our living.

What has just crossed my mind is whether popularizing such “slogans” is really helping anyone or it is just helping to reinforce bad ideas into the mind of poor Tanzanian men and women, who could have been supplied with the alternatives. I am not sure if I can find the right answers to that, but my conviction is that such slogans and popular sayings have transcended beyond individual lives even into the Bongoland public leadership.

That should not come as a surprise. Individuals make up a nation, thus belief system that each individual is holding is certainly bound to affect the nation’s belief system. A nation made up of ten (10) stupid citizens is surely going to be a stupid nation. Just look at this flood picture and think with me. Isn’t it logical to plan how to handle rainwater on the streets given the same has happened and will happen again? This is what happens when folks fail to apply their minds.


See, my belief is that the utilization of one’s physical strength has serious limitations. There is just so much that our physical bodies can achieve. Given that fact, it is a developmental suicide to cling to the application of one’s strength alone without looking for other alternative, for instance, application of mental capabilities . A nation with majority cart pushers will always be a cart-pushing nation, generally speaking.

The late Nyerere cited watu as a key ingredient for development, but failed to define what kind of watu Tanzania needed. Honestly speaking, we just don’t need warm bodies; we need intellectually charged individuals. The fact that our government has failed to take seriously University education is an indication that we are a cart-pushing nation. The University of Dar-es-Salaam story is just a sad reminder that our leaders are sort of operating on the cart-pushing mentality. Kama watu tu, tunao. As a matter of fact, 38 million of them! The issue has to be the quality of people we have and not the number.

The moral of the story is this: no nation has developed by a mere application of their physical strength. Look around you; every developed nation has gone past the application of the physical muscles. If anything, they are applying their mental muscles. So, the next time a friend of yours tells you that “Mtaji wa maskini nguvu yake”, just give them a very hard look in the eye and tell them: “ Get behind me Satan”. Whoever is trying to limit you into applying your physical strength alone is trying to kill you.

So take this as a fact of life: Tanzania will NEVER get out of poverty unless we start applying our minds as our capital. So, respect the pizza! That doesn’t’ sound right. I guess it goes like this: Respect the mind!

Photo Credits: M. Michuzi

Beauty Queens: Point of Separation

Recently, Deus Gunza through Radio Butiama Podomatic had an interview with Cynthia Masasi , who I would regard more of a video girl than a model. And that is mainly due to the fact that her resume speaks more of music video appearance than modeling. But that is just my opinion.

Following the interview, there were tons of comments posted on Mr. Gunza's podomatic radio station. As expected, those opinions ranged from positive to negative, encouraging to being critical. I can only guess why: for some folks Cynthia broke the mold and that has to throw most folks out of their loop.

I can understand both sides though. For those folks that were supportive, I am sure that they viewed Cynthia as a "succeeding" young sister, who should encouraged. On the other hand, those folks who were critical, it is mainly due to upholding traditional, conservative value system that is mainly prevalent in Tanzania. The main question being whether success can be attained, even through means that are regarded negatively by societal standards.

I would just like to put a dent into the pro-Cynthia's camp. The fact of the matter is that appearance is hip-hop music videos has never been fully accepted even in the African-American community, from which the hip-hop craze is accredited. Video girls, in some circles, are only regarded as beginning porn stars. Think I am kidding? Just go through the Essence Magazine's article to see what is said in there. If I can just quote one line from that article in relation to participating in music videos:

" But if rappers are re-creating themselves in the image of a Mack, then what role are women left to fill? Any fan can answer that. "Mostly in videos, the women are there to serve the men," says Morgan Crooks, 16, a high-school student from South Orange, New Jersey".

Personally, I wouldn't want to see any of my sisters being a video girl. That is because the music videos, in which our sister Cynthia proudly participates in, mainly portrays women as objects to satisfy the male sexual needs. Besides, I believe that the current state of music videos is just another example of how most of us have allowed the media to dictate our taste. It wasn't this bad in the recent past.

Music videos used to be about cool choreography. Michael Jackson didn't win all the accolades with Thriller because he was showing girls bumping and grinding. The video simply displayed superior artistic abilities. If my memory saves me right, the whole "dirty" dancing started in the late 1990's and early 2000's. Remember the Mystical's video for the song "Shake It Fast"? I believe that when video started going bad. I know folks will say I should just shut up because what Cynthia is doing is art and blah blah, but there are clear degrees of separation between being a hoochie mama and an artist.

Such a clarity is presented by none other than another Tanzanian sister Tausi Likokola . In a nutshell, this sister is not only a model, she is also a philanthropist, author, ambassador and speaker. This sister presents a strong argument against presenting yourself as a hoochie mama to gain recognition. Furthermore, Tausi's success is a testimony that you can succeed by being classy and not necessarily by downgrading your standards.

And that is the point of separation between a video girl and a true model, or rather a role model. That is a separation between an artist who applies not only their body, but also their mind.

Let me know what you think.

The Mystery of Life

So I am sitting here, just thinking. I could have written on socio-economic issues related to Bongoland, but my mind just can't. How could I write about politics and such in the midst of a tragedy that happened in Detroit, where our Tanzanian brother and sister - Walter and Vonetha - lost their lives in an horrible manner? I know life has to move on, but probably not too soon ...

As my mind races, I couldn't have stopped but wondered on the mystery of life. I couldn't have wondered on the meaning of life. I mean, why are we here? Why I am here? Was I created to just be here - work, eat, go to the bathroom, shower, sleep, marry, and dress good? Do I have a higher purpose than that?

I have not read this book, but I know Dr. Rick Warren has written a book called A Purpose Driven Life. I am convinced he wrote the book out of questioning the same questions that seems to cross my mind so often.

My conviction that we are created for a higher purpose. I am convinced that we were created to have a fellowship with God. We were created to worship Him. A friend of mine once told me that human beings are naturally worshippers. That could be a hard concept to grasp, but it is true. The only distinction between individuals is what they worship. Given that a human being is a worshipper, he or she would worship something that is above or below them. No one can avoid that.

In simple terms, worship is equivalent to idolizing - to love unquestioningly and uncritically or to excess. So you can either worship your creator - who is higher, or you can worship things that are below you - money, men or women, material possessions, looks etc. None of us can avoid worshipping something. I am fully convinced that we don't have to worship lower things. We only do that due to our lack of knowledge or spiritual ignorance.

Let me paint a clear picture for you. I draw my religious and faith guidance from the Bible, so I will go there for the basis of my arguments. The Bible clearly tells in Proverbs 1:7 that "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge...". From that verse, we can clearly deduce that we lack knowledge because we don't have fear of God. What does that mean? It means you will always worship the wrong things as long as you have a crappy relationship with your creator. That is because running from God only multiply one's ignorance.

Another intriguing fact is that due to ignorance we fail to recognize our proper place in the scheme of things. We were created to take dominion over the things of life. That is God's original plan. It is written in Genesis 1:28 that "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth". So why are we letting money, food, clothes and all other things that we were supposed to have dominion over, control our lives? It is because we are ignorant, which comes from not having a relationship with God.

It is kind of a vicious cycle: You run from God -- You become spiritually ignorant -- You worship the wrong things -- You run from God even more -- You become spiritually ignorant...and the cycle continues.

See, this is what the Bible says in Matthew 6:33 that "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" ("all these things" refer to money, food, and all that issues of life that pre-occupy our minds away from God).

So what's the moral of the story? The moral of the story is that you and I are not created to just float by. We are created for a greater purpose - and that purpose could be realized by worshipping higher, and not lowly things. I only testify of one thing - worshipping lower has never fulfilled me, but worshipping higher has given me an unspeakable peace and joy.

What about you? We can talk about politics and analyze things, but is that it? Is that all?

Lipumbas: Exactly Why the Opposition Sucks

I am not particularly against CCM. I am not particularly against opposition parties either. The bottom line is that I am pro-progress, if such a word exists. The thing is, I am fond of progressive thinking and doing. I can care less if a wonderful idea comes from CCM or Chadema. As long as such a thinking is helping the regular mwananchi, I will rise my praise flag up.

It is not a lie the pathetic economic condition in Tanzania is mainly due to an ineffective CCM leadership. I know we can sing the popular "it is the wazungu's fault" song, but let us face it, wazungu left that country over 44 years ago!. So let's talk about the contribution of the Ujamaa policy. Let's talk about what somebody like John Malecela contributed to the country. Can you name me any policy or creative idea that the old dude came up with? You can probably search the entire world library and you can find none. So let's blame the power rationing in Tanzania on CCM. I think that's fair.

Given that "educated" wananchi understand the problem in Tanzania really is CCM, some received the introduction of multiparty system with such high hopes. I can't blame such wananchi, for I hoped too that the opposition will provide meaningful challenges and creative alternatives. Boy was I wrong! I strongly believe that given a choice between the two devils - opposition and CCM, the CCM devil surely is much better right now. The opposition devil, truly speaking, stinks!

And this is why. Recently, Professor Lipumba, lambasted President Kikwete for traveling too much. Specifically, he wanted the President to stick around the country to solve the electricity problem. Can you believe that? Can you believe that this is actually coming from a guy with a PhD designation? Honestly, I think that was a stupid comment. If anything, it helped to justify the notion that the opposition is not ready to run the country. If anything, it made CCM looked brilliant. Way to go Lipumba! Actually, I think the dude actually acted to his name - Lipumba.

Mr. Lipumba, here is a little school for you. Those in power are entitled to do all they can to execute their vision. If the CCM's manifesto can be executed by allowing the President to go outside the country to hawk Tanzania and wooing investors, please let him do that. We can only judge those in power by the failure to deliver on their promises. Had CUF beed in power, they would have done all it could to execute their vision too. So zip it up.

We can take a look at the President's itinerary this time around to see why Professor Lipumba's comments are childish. The President was in Cuba for the NAM meeting. He then had to attend a UN General Assembly Meeting in the United States. Quite logically and given the President is already in the United States, why not include a business/investment pitch work while in the United States? What is wrong with that? As I pointed out earlier, I am not particularly pro-CCM nor a pro-opposition, but I would support that which makes sense. In this case, Professor Lipumba did not make any sense.

I believe being in the opposition does not equate only to being a cry baby. Being in the opposition should be a way of producing effective, creative alternatives. But it appears like that ain't happening right now. It is actually saddening to see such educated folks like Professor Lipumba allowing themselves to be shortsighted by being overly political. Worse though, it gives the impression that there are no true thinkers in the opposition camp. But why would one argue with that? The opposition camp in Tanzania has failed to be relevant.

As a crazy as Rev. Mtikila is, I actually believe he has achieved some historical battles than the educated Lipumbas. So if one wants to put all his eggs in the opposition basket right now, I can only say one thing, pole sana. The camp simply stinketh, if can borrow the old English a little bit.

The PM is Right, But…

Recently, the Prime Minister was doing his regular visitation around the country. One of the destinations was Kigoma, where he caused a typical EL’s havoc. In a nutshell, he refused to accept both the District and Regional Commissioners’ progress reports. Essentially, he regarded those reports as “crap”.

To be honest with you, I kind of liked that. I liked the Prime Minister’s reaction and evaluation. I like that reaction because for quite a long time, we have had folks in leadership position that have never taken their responsibilities seriously. It is a reaction and response that is not only breaking the old mold; it is setting a new precedent. It is setting new higher standards that were never there.

See, this is my belief. I am totally convinced that most folks in Tanzania are or were used to viewing leadership positions as a sign of success. Kuuchinja. I have witnessed poor people bragging that so-and-so from their tribe is a Minister, Regional Commissioner, District Commissioner, or some other big shot in the government. These “fans” never stopped to question the ability of these “tribesmen” to produce. They have never questioned their ability to meet the laid out expectations, but bragged on tribal representation.

Consequently, these appointed or elected officials never had any challenges. They got showered by an overflowing abundance of praises and adoration. Worse enough, their bosses and superiors also suffered from the same disease. So the whole leadership rank got corrupted. The sure sign of that “corriuption” is the fact that some Wabunge truly believed they were above the law. Apart from having big egos, these leaders climbed on an irresponsibility mountain and they believed that nothing would ever bring them down. They stopped performing.

Just hear this. And this is not from me, but from the Prime Minister himself, when he was giving an assessment to the DCs’ reports: “DC huwezi kusoma taarifa eti Kibondo iko wapi, Magharibi inapakana na nani, hayo mambo nayajua tangu shuleni, nataka kujua mkakati unaotekelezeka, hasa katika suala la elimu, afya na kilimo”. Source: Tanzania Daima.

I liked that. Why wouldn't anyone?

But don't go blowing your praise horns yet. We gotta take a deeper look and see these issues in a wider perspective.

While the Prime Minister should be given some props, the government – particularly the President and the PM himself - cannot get off the hook so easily. The poor performance exhibited by some of these DC’s is a reflection of the President and the PM’s own standards. That is due to the fact that the President appointed these folks. So when these DCs perform so poorly, the ball falls right back to the President’s hands. The central question that we must ask is this: why did the President appoint incompetent DCs in the first place?

See, an effective leader is capable of identifying superior personnel to assign in various roles to achieve the desired outcome. As such, the inability of a boss to identify suitable subordinate to execute his or her vision is a clear indication of the leader’s own ineffectiveness. I believe the Prime Minister was right in challenging those stupid reports from the Kigoma DCs and the RC. Nonetheless, while the DCs could be incompetent, we must ask ourselves, how did they become DCs in the first place?

Think for a minute. The answer to that question could be the problem.

When Criminals Walk Free

Crime is crime. Full stop. Period. At least that is how I view it. It appears, however, that the world is not aligned to my liking all the time, for criminals are not viewed the same. I am talking about criminals in Tanzania and in some other countries as well. But we can first focus on Tanzania, for charity starts at home.

Folks, Tanzania is a poor country. And that is not according to me, but according to the measuring standards that have been accepted across the globe. There are so many theories that have been cooked as to why Tanzania is lagging behind economically despite her over 40 years of political freedom and independence. One of the factors for our continued poverty, I am convinced, is theft. Stealing of public funds for trusted officials’ own enjoyment. Hilo sidhani kama lina ubishi, because there are so many cases to back my argument.

The recent example, of course, is Professor Mahalu, who allegedly stole a whole lot of dough for his personal gains. I am convinced that you know of a former or present official in the Tanzanian government who got away with some cool loot. For some reason it appears that stealing is justified. It appears that leaders who do not steal are an exception to the rule. In a nutshell, “ujambazi” in the Tanzanian government is rampant. It is an epidemic. It is sickening.

Despite that fact, it appears that no one is concerned in the government (Duh! Metty, why would someone create a law to deal with him or herself?). But anyways, the government guys came up with an idea. In their thinking, they thought majambazi were a bigger problem than white-collar criminals in the government. So they created a law that would award majambazi 30 years in jail. That is fine, because any government has to do what needs to be done.

While it may sound that ujambazi, as we know it, is a bigger problem, white-collar criminals hurt wananchi more than we think. Let’s face some facts. According to the Auditor General’s report issued in February 2006, the Ministry of Health alone misappropriated over $1 million during the 2002-2003 fiscal year. So let’s try figuring out the magnitude of the problem. Assuming each ministry “ate” the same amount – we will get roughly $20 million dollars cleanly misappropriated in 2002/2003 alone. Try multiplying that to the past 10 years – you get a staggering $200 million! My question is: has majambazi caused such a loss in the past 10 years? You know the answer – NO.

I can understand the sentiments surrounding the loss caused by majambazi, because in many cases, they have not only got away with lots of money, they have cut short innocent lives. The bigger question, however, is whether the effects of ujambazi are greater than that caused by the white-collar criminals as the government wants us to believe. This is the reality - a government official who is entrusted to purchase medicine but does not practically kills many Tanzanians each year. A government official who is entrusted to engage a good contractor to construct our highways but does not, also kills Tanzanians through an ever-increasing poverty spiral.

My argument is that creating a law to jail majambazi for 30 years while slapping white-collar criminals on the wrist is just an insult to our intelligence. Furthermore, it just creates a notion that white-collar criminals are not criminals enough. It makes it creates the impression that a Matonya who wags a gun to steal $2,000 is more dangerous than a Matonya who wags his pen to steal $20,000. It makes it look like a Matonya who can affect one person at a time is more dangerous than a Matonya who affects the entire society at once.

Well, we have examples to prove my argument. We all know that Aden Rage stole a lot of money from TFF. Not only did he get slapped on the wrist by the legal system, it is amazing that he has also been awarded a leadership position with Morogoro United even though he has a criminal record. We can go on and talk about the Professor Mahalus and many more who looted the country, but are regarded highly than majambazi.

My conviction is that in a Tanzanian context, white-collar criminals are more dangerous than regular majambazi as they affect wananchi at a larger magnitude. This is something that you would expect the government and the Chama officials to realize. Given the development goals that we have, and knowing that white-collar thieves stand on our way, why aren’t we sending them to jail for 30 years or more?

May be the boys in the government and parliament could tell us why. But I guess I am a little ambitious, because who would set a trap for themselves?

Wimpy or Forgetful Media?

Occasionally there are stories that pop up in Bongoland that I would personally regard as historical. I regard them as such because they carry with them a potential for bringing a change in the political and ethical climate in the country. Such stories include an episode about our former ambassador to Italy, Professor Mahalu who is accused of “stealing” a lot of public funds. Another such story is of members of parliament, who were never mentioned publicly, for allegedly misrepresenting their academic credentials.

Those two stories I have cited as an example surfaced not last week, even last month, but over three months ago. As far as I know, no resolution has been made as to whether these individuals officially be brought to justice or otherwise. As you already know, the reason given by the Prevention of Corruption Bureau (PCB)for the delay of the Professor Mahalu’s story is the classical crap “uchunguzi bado unaendelea”. I have not heard any inquiries or development as far the accused mbuge’s saga, but I can guarantee you with 100% certainty, that the same classical reason would be given.

I would not want to dwell on the government’s own snail-type kasi mpya resolution of the issues, but rather I would like to hammer the Bongoland media for letting these stories “die”. See, in my point of view, the media has let wananchi down at times. That is due to the fact that they have chosen to dwell on stories that are meaningless. You can always tell such stories by the headlines they come with – a classic "Kikwete Kiboko". Such a headlines give the impression that the reader will find a dramatic event, only to come across not-so-extraordinary contents.

My expectation was the media, particularly the independent media, would pursue these stories to the very end. For one, to help the government realize that covering up rotten officials is not going to fly. If the government cannot take the likes of Professor Mahalu to the courts of law, at the media can help “prosecute” such people in the court of “public interest”. Whether the media in Tanzania recognizes this or not, there are so many incidences in the world where the course of history has been changed by a journalist who decided to use their pen for delivering the masses. Why is the media in Tanzania doing the same?

Secondly, given the track record of the Bongoland government in covering up such stories through formation of meaningless investigative commissions and deliberate delay in uchunguzi, it is only safe to presume that the government is “helping” out Professor Mahalu and the “lying” mbunge in covering up their dirt. I would expect that some serious editor, journalist, or somebody in the media circles would deliberately decide to break the back of this filthy government tactic. I am sure by publishing these stories on a constant basis; these issues will be very well alive. At some point, those guys in the PCB office will take notice. At some point, those bureaucrats at Ikulu will pay attention.

Social activism is not only about picketing or hitting the streets burning cars and shouting aloud, it could be done through a constant reminder of the masses’ expectations. I couldn’t think of a better way of helping the government realize its duty of promoting ethical standards among its officers and prosecuting those who have breached public trust than a through a newspaper story. So as I sit here and see that someone like Professor Mahalu, despite all that he did, is becoming a forgotten villain. So my question to the Tanzania media is, are you wimpy or just forgetful? Whatever it is, you are letting the public down. Would you keep these stories alive until we see the end?

Making Us Proud

You know, while it may seem that only politicians make headlines in Tanzania – mostly through bogus deals and less admirable deeds – some Bongolanders are making us proud out there. The list is not that exhaustive, but for sure, these folks have made me feel proud.

1. Rogers Mtagwa [check out Rogers' brief profile ]. For sure, the Matumlas made us proud in boxing. This family managed to successfully represent Bongoland at the amateur level and even at the professional level. This family has become sort of a household name when it comes to boxing, but some other folks are emerging. Such a dude is Rogers Mtagwa. Did you know that this guy is based in Philadelphia, PA and recently scored a fourth round knockout over Kansas City import Alvin Brown to retain his NABF 126-pound belt? I am not kidding. Check out the story for your own self .

But it ain’t just Metty noticing, the Tanzania Sportswriters Association (TASWA), recently recognized Rogers as a runner-up for the Sports Person of the Month award.

2. Hasheem Thabeet [check out his brief bio posted on the Huskies' official website]. ] Let us hope that the kid will break out big and eventually make it to the NBA. Regardless of whether that happens or not, he has certainly help the basketball world in the USA know that we not only play chandimu, but we can also produce our very own Yao Mings.

3. Tired of reading the Chinua Achebes and other non-Tanzania writers? Well, Deus Gunza has introduced you to Professor Joseph Mbele – but the list of Tanzania writers includes Professor Julius Nyang'oro, Edwin Semzaba , Dr. Penina M. Mlama , Professor Euphrase Kezilahabi and many more.

The moral of the story is: keep on plugging away. Keep on keeping on. The system may be depressing you, but for sure there are other brothers and sisters out there who are surely making us proud.

Do you know anyone else out there that is making us proud? Please let me know so I can add them up on the list.

Update:
Thanks to Jeff Msangi , Godfrey Mwakikagile is also making us proud.

Can We Be Smart, Just a Little?

Sometimes I just get mad at what is happening in Bongoland. Sometimes I just wish I could yank our leaders, magically, from the Internet photos I see and have a man-to-man conversation with them. That is due to the fact that they keep on making bad choices and unwise decisions. Sometimes I just silently scream in my brain, “how could this be!” How come our leaders are so blind?

May be they get mesmerized by foreign cuisine that they fail to think straight. May be they get fazed by high-rising building and languages in foreign countries that their brains stop working. Whatever it is, I can’t just put my finger on it. So before I get so immersed in generality, let me pinpoint the culprit. It is the other half of the Boyz II Men – the honorable PM.

He is still on his Asian tour and obviously; he is continuing to sell the country out. He may be meaning well, but from my angle, he is not doing Tanzanians any favors. The current news is that he is in Vietnam, [read the article here] where he has signed some sort of a bilateral agreement with the Vietnamese. According the agreement, in a nutshell, Tanzania will export cashew nuts, coffee, cotton, tea and oil seeds for a specified period of time before Vietnam assists the country to process the crops locally through establishment of own industries.

Just rewind a little and read again. Tanzania will export cashew nuts, coffee, cotton, tea and oil seeds for a specified period of time before Vietnam assists the country to process the crops locally through establishment of own industries.

Think for a minute. So we are giving up ours for cheap to the Vietnamese, before they give us anything. Folks, the bottom line is tunaliwa.

I don’t want to act like a super sleuth, capable of decoding hidden agendas across the world, but this agreement smells like a rotten fish all over. This is because I have written on this topic before. By the virtue of exporting raw cashew alone, Tanzania has lost about 30,000 jobs and $40 million in incremental revenue (please refer to my August 7, 2006 post under the heading “Ours is a Snoozing Government”).

It might look like the eventual receipt of a technical assistance from Vietnamese in processing these crops locally is a great idea. Nonetheless, it is just a bunch of crap. That agreement makes it sound like we have never processed these products ourselves. Ask yourself, where do you get our Green Label tea and Africafe coffee from? Aren’t these processed in Tanganyika? Oh, wait a minute; didn’t we have processing plants for cashew in Tanzania before some stupid managers killed them? So what’s the point of going to the Vietnamese to “teach” us how to process coffee, cashew and tea? You already know what I am going to say – it is stupid.

Furthermore, don’t we have a Sokoine University in Morogoro, established specifically to generate our own experts in agriculture? So what’s up with going to sell Tanzania to the Vietnamese in exchange for “expertise” that we already have in the country? Is it simply because the Vietnamese sounds too intelligent than our very own Ned and other who paid their dues at Sokoine University? What is the point of having Sokoine University then if we can't utilize them for even none-complex issues?

Given our poverty level, we ought to be in a rush, but intelligently. We have no time to waste. Furthermore, we have to be looking out for our interest before anybody else. It appears to me that this deal is benefiting the Vietnamese more than Tanzanians. This is because at the core of it, the Vietnamese have secured cheap raw materials to keep their industries running, while we are going to be on hold for a while. This isn’t a win-win deal; this is a win-lose for Tanzanians. While the Vietnamese are assured of 30,000 jobs in their food processing industries NOW, while we are waiting in line to the unknown future. The devil is in the details, so Americans speak.

I strongly believe that Tanzania must come to the point where bureaucrats are not making technical decisions. Instead technocrats should be heavily involved in the decision-making process. I am sure even SIDO in Tanzania can help out with processing raw cashew than some sleazy Vietnamese who are only looking out for their interest. Besides, we are only insulting our experts from Sokoine University, who are as good as the rest…

Can we get smart, just a little?

A Thin Line Between Creativity and Insanity

The Bongoland Prime Minister, Hon. Edward Lowassa is currently on an Asian tour. One of the countries he paid a visit to is Thailand. In Thailand, the PM was wowed by a rainmaking technology; the he ordered the technology to be applied in Tanzania. You can make reference to the original story yourself. Given the PM’s working style, I am assuming he made the remarks on the spot without…err...thinking or consulting.

Having visited Thailand myself, I was amazed that this country was capable of such a technology. The reason for that is that all I witnessed was spicy food, tourism, massage parlors and a lot of transactions involving other types of “massages”, if you dig what I mean. Obviously, rice production is one of the major things that Thailand involves herself in. I didn’t know that these dudes can make some rain through mixing chemicals. That should wow anybody.

So given the fact that Mtera Dam has been drying out, the PM saw a golden opportunity to come home with a success story. I guess he thought that this is bound to make the whole Dodoma and Iringa folks, dependent on the Mtera Dam, to be elated. But wait a minute! Some details should make you cringe, given the fact that we have been burned before.

Chemical rain, regardless of how the Thais drum it to be safe, needs to be tested. Thus when the PM orders the testing to be done in Tanzania – he is taking a huge risk for the entire Tanganyika…and Zanzibar. I am assuming he was operating under the kasi mpya mantra, but certain things do not require such an approach. The testing of such a process should be done by our very own chemists. I mean, if the process is such elaborate and the chemicals are widely known, the decision to order such a technology should rest with the Chief Chemist. Unless otherwise this technology was reviewed before the PM made the decision…which I doubt happened.

Another troubling factor with regards to the PM’s impromptu ordering of the “rain makers” is lack of clarity as to which national program, strategy, or policy this order falls under. Essentially, what I am trying to understand is whether this is one of the strategies drafted to improve agriculture, energy, or environment protection. I can rule out the agricultural focus, because even Mr. JK didn’t mention that . So what was PM trying to resolve? I am yet to understand that.

In simplistic terms, the rain that we would chemically make would solve the drought problems in Mtera. That is good, very good. However, ordering the Thais to come and shower the Mtera Dam with chemically made rain is just a quick fix to a long-term problem. I am sure the Mtera Dam dried out of factors that we can control. I can only theorize that the dam dried due to overuse through overpopulation in the area around the dam. Given the fact that Dodoma is a dry region, water would definitely pull folks close by. So my question is: why wouldn’t we deal with factors that led to the drying of the dam in the first place before embarking on a technology that could be harmful?

See as an auditor, I am trained to look for hidden detail. So when the Thai Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Suthiporn Chirapanda tells the Mr. Lowassa that “they had received such requests from Middle East countries, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka”, that raises major red flags. Essentially what the message from Dr. Chirapanda is telling is that this technology has not been applied anywhere else but Thailand. Had there been any practical application in any other country, Dr. Chirapanda would have said, “the technology is currently applied in Middle East countries, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka”. See the difference?

So the moral of the story is that the Thais are making Tanzania their guinea pig. Think about that.

If I were the PM, this is what I would do. I would nod through the presentation and tell the Thais of how I am impressed by their technology. But I would order a thorough review of Tanzania’s own experts before we get too excited. Furthermore, instead of letting the Thais drum up their “wonderful” technology, I would wait until there are proven applicability, safety and results from this technology. I would collect such a proof from other countries in which this technology has been applied. I wouldn’t go first in line to be burned by the Thais, for I know that there is a fine line between creativity and insanity. We need to fill the Mtera Dam, but not through unproven technology.

Do not get too excited, because that is just Metty thinking. Obviously, the PM has not heard the saying that “only fools rush in”. And in my world, foolishly rushing in is insane, unless the PM had information that I don’t.

21st Century Watemis

I firmly believe that human beings can learn alot from history. That is because what happened in the past is definitely bound to happen now and again, if all the factors that led to the historical happenings are not manipulated, altered or contained. I am sure that all of us have these crazy cousins who keep making the same mistakes over and over again, as if vikao vya ukoo have never taken place. You could label such a cousin as stupid, but I would rather brand them a very bad student of history.

When such mistakes take place on a personal level, and if they affect you, you could find yourself a number of measures, including “ex-communicating” a relative who is a pain in the rear end. But what do you really do when the national leaders commit such repeated blunders? Do you go out and kill  them? Killing wouldn’t the option that I would suggest, but I am convinced that our political leaders in Tanzania, and in most cases other African leaders, have not learnt a thing from the past. In my point of view, they are very dumb when it comes to the lessons that history has taught us.

Of late I have been thinking about how the Tanzanian government has entered into a number of “stupid” contracts. We know what Mr. JK has done to push for the amendment of a few of those contracts in order to yield fairness. While the president’s move is plausible (given the fact that that his predecessor couldn’t achieve that in 10 years), I couldn’t help but wonder, aren’t our current leaders acting like the old, uneducated (formally) watemis about 200 hundred years ago?

See, I wondering about that because the game has not changed, but our leaders seem to be oblivious. The fact of the matter is the nature of the white man (no bigotry or racism intended, but just putting things in a political and historical perspective things here) has not changed. As it was with Carl Peters in the early days, the core motives and the tactics of the white man has not changed at all. The white man still desires to rule the world – at any cost. I would not want to dwell on the white man’s tactics, because that is his game; I have to focus on “our” game plan.

Despite the fact that history has provided us with a very good lesson, our leaders still make the same mistakes. May be it is because they think having a degree in something is equivalent to being fully educated. Nonetheless, I am convinced that our current leaders are nothing more than a 21st century mtemi somebody. You can argue otherwise, but what is the different between a government official in 2005, for instance, who allows a stupid contract to be signed (and hence selling out the country) in exchange for a shopping spree in New York and a few bucks in his bank account and a mtemi who sold the entire chiefdom to a Carl Peters for gun power and a few stupid gifts?

I could even go as far as cutting a mtemi in 1817 a slack because he did not know how to read and write, therefore Carl Peters sweet talked him into placing his thumb stamp in something they couldn’t perceive. But what about a PhD holder in 2005 who sells out a population of 38 million poor folks in Tanzania for a few bucks in their bank account? I am sure that as mtemi somebody thought having a gun would make him powerful, a PhD minister in 2005 thinks $20 million obtained through selling out his own countrymen and women would make him a big shot. But in a wider perspective, isn’t this PhD holder from a dot.com university in 2002 more stupid than mtemi somebody in 1800’s because he has failed to learn from history?

So what’s my point? My point is that we are in the same spot as it was about 200 years ago. It is true we managed to kick the mkoloni out of the continent through political independence, but the fact remains that we are still under the mkoloni’s rule from an economic perspective. Look at how we boast of new investments from the mkoloni’s land, regarding that as an economic success. Look at how proud we are when the GDP is supposedly growing when we manage to sell our best sangaras to the mkoloni’s land, while we remain with mapanki as our meal. That is telling of how things have not changed at all from 200 years ago.

My point is that our leaders have no reason to brag simply because they have air-conditioned offices instead of a chiefdom hut. That is because they are similarly acting like our forefathers who fell victim to the white man’s lures. If anything, most of them are still under mental slavery. If you think I am lying, ask Mr. Kikwete why he modified the mining contracts (wasn't someone watching when the original contracts were signed?). If you think I am full of it, ask yourself why Sheraton walked out of Tanzania after the end of their tax concession. The current leaders are no better than Mtemi Mirambo who didn’t have a degree from Harvard. Period. If anything, they are 21st century Mtemi something...

Just to depress you a little, here is what the Carl Peters achieve in Tanganyika, as About.com writes:

One typical agreement, the "Treaty of Eternal Friendship", had Sultan Mangungu of Msovero, Usagara, offering his "territory with all its civil and public privileges" to Dr Karl Peters as the representative of the Society for German Colonisation for "the exclusive and universal utilization of German colonization."

Sounds like one of the contracts that some stupid Tanzanian government official signed in 2003, doesn't it?