Of ATCL debacle and selfish interests

My former editor, during my apprentice days at the Daily News in 1977/78, Makwaia wa Kuhenga was very angry the other day over Tanzania’s failure to keep its wings, Air Tanzania Limited Company, ATCL, in the air.

He said he could not understand how Tanzania could fail in what its neighbours, Kenya and Uganda, have succeeded, keeping their respective wings in the air.

For those who do not know the history of this country, especially that part relating to its public institutions, it is very easy to dismiss Mkwaia’s arguments with the wave of a hand.

Yet for some of us who witnessed the birth of ATCL’s predecessor, Air Tanzania Corporation, ATC, there is nothing so painful than the mere knowledge that that airline has failed to remain in the air!

Of the three East African countries that formed the original East African Community, EAC, no country showed the world that it stood to succeed in airline industry more than Tanzania!

For unlike Kenya and Uganda, for some inexplicable reasons, Tanzania had more pilots, aircraft engineers and technicians than Kenya and Uganda.

By the time the East African Airways, EAA, collapsed along with the original EAC, Tanzania had over 300 pilots, engineers and technicians including the deputy engineer of the EAA, Mr Lyatuu!

It is important to note that during the time, EAA’s chief engineer was an expatriate, a Briton and his deputy was a Tanzanian.

After the EAC’s assets had been equally distributed among former EAC member states by the Swiss diplomat, Professor Victor Umbritch, Tanzania ended up with two Fokker planes and three Twin Otters.

And because the EAA’s biggest hangar located in Nairobi was now out of bound for Tanzania, the country’s five planes were flown to Maputo, in Mozambique where Tanzanian aircraft engineers and technicians worked on the planes like a bees in a beehive.

After they had carried out major maintenance work on the planes and repainted them with Tanzanian colours, the five planes were flown back home where they were received with pomp and pageantry, hence marking the birth of what came to be officially known as Air Tanzania Corporation.

And one of the international media that captured the sensational arrival of the Tanzanian planes was the London based magazine, Africa Business.

In one of its cover stories, the magazine carried a headline that said: What a way to start a new airline.

The magazine went on to predict a bright future for the nascent Tanzanian airline which was run and operated by Tanzanians.

To understand the historic nature of the launch of the ATC, consider the following:

When Tanganyika was getting its independence on December 9^th, 1961, the country had less than ten graduates (natives) that included the President  Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, one medical doctor, Dr Mtawali and one engineer!

However, 16 years later, Tanganyika had grown up not only in physical size and political stature (it now became known as Tanzania following its union with another sovereign state, Zanzibar), but also in terms of development of its human resource!

And instead of talking about ten graduates, it had produced an all Tanzanian crew of pilots, aircraft technicians and engineers for its proud nascent airline!

That was arguably a head-start as far as the establishment of an airline in East Africa was concerned and should have been jealously guarded by subsequent second, third and fourth phases of the country’s leadership.

But as we all know, that has not been done.

In a nutshell, the source of the London based magazine’s prediction lay in the adequate number of pilots, engineers and technicians the Tanzanian nascent airline had.

It would be recalled that this was the time that Tanzanian pilots not only flew ATC planes, but they were also engaged by a number of African countries that included Nigeria, Zambia, Malawi, Kenya and Botswana.

The foregoing countries hired Tanzanian pilots, engineers and technicians because they had inadequate number of such crew.

It is important to note that the London based Africa Magazine has, in its history, paid tribute to only two Tanzanian public institutions, the Tanzania Electric Supply Company, TANESCO, in 1974 and the ATC late in 1977.

In 1974 it described Tanesco as the best example of a highly technical institution built from scratch by a developing country.

Later the ATC’s fleet was boosted with the purchase of two brand new aircrafts, Boeing 737 that were christened Serengeti and Kilimanjaro bringing ATC fleet to nine planes!

The two names were given to the two planes used for regional and international flights for one main reason, to publicise Tanzania’s tourist attractions, the then biggest national park in the world, Serengeti (that position has lately been taken by Ruaha National Park) and Africa’s highest roof, Mount Kilimanjaro.

As you read this article today, the ATC is no more having been replaced by ATCL that has two nondescript aircrafts, one grounded at the Julius Nyerere International Airport and the second one holed up somewhere in South Africa!

Looking back at the ATCL’s debacle, the government is squarely to blame for what befell the airline.

It was always too slow in taking to task the airline’s chief executive officers who messed up the airline.

Indeed, the airline had the right crop of trained staff, pilots, engineers and technicians.

However, the problem lay with managers, and in particular, the airline’s CEOs.

It was no wonder that the airline which was run by all kind of people including a judge and banker, basing some of the appointments on know-who rather know-how finally collapsed!

Why some significant people who had served in top managerial positions in the EAA such as Arnold Kileo (Corporation Secretary and Lytuu (deputy engineer) were not appointed as ATC’s CEOs as the airline lasted,  to date that remains a conjecture.

But one thing is certain. ATC was failed by the government through appointment of very poor managers as CEOs.

Makwaia spoke about the mushrooming of private airlines, linking them, somewhat, with ATCL’s failure to take to the sky.

He also linked the mushrooming of road transport to the government’s deliberate moves against the establishment of a reliable railroad network.

While he may have touched on the two foregoing separate issues as a possibility, however, a hard glance shows the issues shows that the man has been spot on.

And when all is said and done, it is time Tanzanians realized that they don’t have any other country, other than Tanzania, and it is in this country that they should and must invest on their time and resources for their children and the prosperity!

But that can only be realized if we made a break with our insatiable self-interests that is threatening to to tear the country asunder.

It is now or never!

By Attilio Tagalile  

  

Kaseja tells it as it is

Simba Sports Club were two weeks ago knocked out of the continental Confederation Cup by Motema Pembe in the second leg match played in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC.

They failed miserably to make full use of the golden opportunity handed to them by the Arab influenced Confederation of African Football, CAF, following their appeal against DRC’s TP Mazembe who had knocked them out on a 6-2 goal aggregate in the continental qualification series for the Champions League.

For the first time in Simba’s history, one of the club’s players bitterly complained over lack of commitment exhibited by his colleagues during the away match.

For those who taken keen interest on soccer development in the country, this was a departure from what Tanzanians have been subjected to by returning national and clubs soccer players.

National goalkeeper, Juma Kaseja blamed Simba’s failure in Kinshasa on his colleagues.

He said they failed to make good use of several scoring opportunities that came their way in the course of the match.

He said Simba players had exhibited not only lack of seriousness but childishness, saying it was important for his colleagues to realize that that was not a premier league encounter, that it required seriousness on the game.

For the first time, Tanzanians were told the cause of Simba’s two nil defeat was not refereeing or hostile fans, but rather Tanzanian players.

Kaseja’s complaints were somewhat supported by their Ugandan coach, Moses Basema, who complained that his players had lost the match due to their failure to make good use of several scoring opportunities which came their way.

Although Basema was not as blunt as his goalkeeper, however, his use of words; ‘I’m very disappointed with the results,’ and ‘we had contained (Motema Pembe) them,’ clearly showed his agreement with what Kaseja had said.

Unfortunately Kaseja’s complaints are not new!

Many Tanzanian soccer fans have for a long time strongly believed that the failure by Tanzanian clubs/national teams soccer teams in regional, continental and international tournaments have, to a great extent, had nothing to do with coaching/coaches, but players.

And talking about coaches, no country in East Africa has had some of the best coaches in the world than Tanzania.

Some of the high profile coaches the country has had include former Manchester United German goalkeeper, Bert Trautman and former Bayern Munich coach who gave the German club a Bundesliga shield, Rudi Gutendorf.

But despite having such high profile coaches, Tanzanian players came a cropper!

Our players just like other Tanzanians in many other sectors that includes politics, lack commitment in whatever they do.

By the way, have we all forgotten what a section of DRC national players said a few months ago about Tanzanian players during the Nile Cup tournament organized by Egypt early this year?

The Congolese players were quoted by local papers to have said they were shocked by Tanzanian players’ conduct on the pitch when they were pumped five goals to one by the Egyptians.

They said instead of feeling sorry, some Tanzanian players smiled whenever they conceded a goal from their Egyptian counterparts!

Now for one to understand Kaseja’s complaints-cum-arguments, one has simply got to make a flashback on what happened during the last three or so matches of the premier league when Simba appeared to have almost wrapped up the league title.

But we all know what happened in what is now history.

 Simba lost the title to their arch-rivals, Young Africans.

Had Simba had serious leaders this was an incident they would have been expected to take a hard look at.

And this for the simple reason that the incident had contained all the tell-tale signs of the club’s imminent fall.

Unfortunately they did not, and the Kinshasa result is the outcome of the leadership’s lack of focus and commitment.

Simba’s Chairman and legislator, Ismail Aden Rage, now says he will never commit his club to future matches in the DRC.

Rage’s pronouncement is a result of what both Simba and journalists who accompanied the club to Kinsasa say, that they were violently targeted by Motema Pembe’s fans.

While I personally share Rage’s concerns, however, his planned response is wrong!

Instead he should do exactly what he did a few weeks ago, write a letter to the CAF, cataloguing all problems his players encountered in the DRC’s capital, Kinshasa.

If the continental soccer governing body buys their story, then DRC pitches will be banned for a couple of years until its clubs start behaving decently.

Meanwhile one hopes that the Simba club leadership will take appropriate steps, sooner than later, in order to ensure that their players take future matches more seriously.


By Attilio Tagalile

Peace more important than who wins

OCTOBER 2010, DAR ES SALAAM

If what Tanzanians witnessed during election campaigns in the run up to the General Elections scheduled for this Sunday is anything to go by, then every soul on this land ought to start preparing for a balancing act of sort for future elections!

One thing is certain, this year’s election campaigns were arguably the most hard fought since the introduction of multiparty politics in the country in July 1992.

After this year’s election campaigns, general elections in Tanzania will never be the same again, hence the need in the 2015 general elections to work out strategies to avoid any unpleasant political developments.

And that can be realized through massive civic and voters’ education that will arm Tanzanians with the requisite knowledge in the two areas.

A dose in civic and voters’ education will, hopefully, also help in inculcating a sense of civility in the kind of language that candidates seeking elective posts ought to use during their election campaigns.

It is indisputable that some of the language employed by candidates for elective posts from some opposition parties in the country left a lot to be desired.

A case in point happened on Tuesday, October 26^th when the Chadema candidate for Temeke parliamentary seat abusive language against President Jakaya Kikwete.

In terms of media coverage, election campaigns this year afforded Tanzanians the opportunity of witnessing in their own midst one of the worst checkbook journalism.

Thanks God that most of the media outlets that peddled checkbook journalism are nondescript in terms of readership.

Had some of the mainstream papers in the country conducted themselves in the manner those swahili weeklies had, Tanzania could have easily slipped into the 1994 Rwanda scenario!

What was interesting about those nondescript Swahili weeklies is that most of them appeared to be owned by one person, going by the kind of advertisements they carried.

Of course, there is nothing wrong about businessmen and women owning media outlets.

Unfortunately for these weeklies, they had nothing to do with journalism apart from peddling outright hate.

How such weeklies could be left scot-free despite feeding the nation with untold venom week in, week out that is left to conjecture!

Could the continued existence of these Swahili weeklies be due to the fact that they (papers) directed their venom to individuals in the opposition parties?

On election proper, it is very unlikely that the massive number of people who turned out during political parties’ campaigns would be reflected in the voting pattern.

One of the main reasons for this is very simple. More often than not most of the people who turn out in such political rallies have not registered themselves in the voters’ register!

These therefore constitutes the first major lesson, if one is to talk of any lessons from the just ended election campaigns, for political parties, especially, from the opposition.

Indeed, at no time was the importance of grass-root structures for political parties (that include, among others, recruitment of members and education on parties’ policies and election manifestoes) been laid bare than during the just ended election campaigns.

Some political parties’ rallies could be compared to a handful group of friends usually found at a pub, hence literally reducing such meetings into nothing more than a laughing stock.

As for opposition parties like Chadema and CUF, they must be cursing themselves over their failure, after the end of the last elections in 2005, to embark on massive building of their structures, especially in the rural areas.

It was perhaps for this reason that Chadema’s Presidential candidate, Dr Willibrod Slaa said at one time, during election campaigns, that he was not bothered by being out of Parliament on account of his involvement in the presidential race.

That if he lost the presidential election, he would spent the rest of the five years building the party, from grass-root level, throughout the country in readiness for the 2015 General Elections.

This year’s campaigns, save for one sad incident in which an innocent citizen was killed in Maswa West Constituency, was very exciting although at times it threatened to get out of hand.

But when all is said and done, one thing is indisputable. No political party can stand up and say its acts, as political campaigns lasted, were clean, through and through!

Indeed, every political party in the race had its dirty side. Perhaps the only difference lay in the degree.

However, it is not the intention of this article to name names, but rather to look into, albeit in brief, the remaining exercises-vote casting, vote counting and announcement of results.

According to election experts, for any political party under the sun to do well in general elections or any elections for that matter, there are many factors which ought to be fulfilled by the party.

The factors include, among others, nomination of candidates, within a political party, for various elective posts, registration of voters, party’s policy and election manifesto, election campaigns, casting of votes and finally, vote counting and announcement of results-winners and losers.

For instance, during the just ended election campaigns, Tanzanians bore witness to how nomination in the primaries within one political party-in this particular case, CCM, continued to raise a lot of dust.

The point is, mishandling of any of the processes, in the electoral process, starting from within the political party to the top could, in the end, have a bearing on the party’s election results.

The Secretary General of the Inter Religious Council for Peace in Tanzania, IRCPT, Alhaj Ayoob Omar early this month said it was important for political leaders to realize that winning in elections involved many factors.

Alhaj Omar who was addressing the opening of the IRCPT three-day meeting at Landmark Hotel in Dar es Salaam said the road to a party’s success in general election started from its own organization.

He named other factors as the nomination process of its candidates, registration of voters, casting of votes and announcement of results, winners and losers.

For instance, he bemoaned about a political party which had fielded only 75 percent of candidates for the parliamentary race in the country.

“The implication of this is that the party in question has lost 25 percent of parliamentary seats even before the general elections on Sunday.” He said.

He said losing 25 percent of parliamentary seats even before the start of the voting exercise was not a small thing, that this development was bound to have its effects on the final results.

While some of the leading opposition parties fielded lesser number of candidates for parliamentary seats, as evidenced by the no-show off, the story in the ruling party is different.

CCM has fielded one hundred percent number of candidates for parliamentary seats.

But this does not mean that the ruling party will sweep all parliamentary seats, far from it.

The point is, the law of average is more likely to favour the party which has fielded candidates for all parliamentary seats.

For instance, it would be recalled that most opposition parties allowed the ruling party space in numerous parliamentary constituencies.

Of course, there have been claims about some opposition candidates being allegedly bought by their counterparts from the ruling party.

However, whatever is said about such claims the point still remains, and that is, this is the opposition parties’ problem.

In fact, this is part of what was touched on earlier, namely about the importance of every political party being well organized well before the general election.

If a political party is well run and organized, it will not have in its midst candidates who can be easily bought by opponents in order to sail unopposed!

Party and individual members’ discipline is another factor which is very important for a party whose candidates are seeking elective posts.

Once picked, through the nomination process, to run say for a parliamentary seat, then it is incumbent upon such candidate to steer away from misconduct which could lead to his or her disqualification from the race.

A parliamentary candidate for any party is more or less like a member of a football team that is contesting for top honours in the form of a trophy.

If a footballer behaves on the pitch in such a way that he ends up being red-carded, it goes without saying that such a player ends up reducing his colleagues’ ability to win!

Tanzanians, just like many other fans the world over, were able to see, during the World Cup in South Africa mid this year, how red-carded players literally dented their national teams’ chances of doing well in the tournament.

The same thing could be said about candidates for elective political posts.

Their misconduct in the form of say, using abusive language during election campaigns and other misconduct, could easily lead to their disqualification from the election race, hence denting their party’s chance in the election.

One of the motives behind enumeration of the foregoing factors/problems is to show that a political party’s victory over other parties depends on a many factors.

It is therefore the hope of many Tanzanians (who have the interest of the country at heart) that before complaining about election results, political parties consider their general conduct well before the elections.

But this does not mean that political parties should not complain if they discover that their victories have been stolen, far from it.

The point is, it is important to complain in a manner that would not end up inciting people against one another in the same way it had happened in Kenya.

The Kenyan experience is well known to all and sundry. Disagreement over the results led to the killing of over 1000 people in post-election violence!

Again, saying what happened in Kenya in relation to general election should not be viewed as an attempt to ‘frighten’ the people.

The point here is simply analogous. And one cannot run away from such glaring facts, especially given the fact that Tanzania is not an oasis.

We all wish a peaceful general elections since peace is more important than who wins in the elections.

By Attilio Tagalile 

Hillary repositions US in Tanzania

United States Foreign Secretary, Hillary Clinton wound up her three-day tour in Tanzania on Monday with a pledge to help the country in solving its energy crisis.

She said her government will help Tanzania get 3000 megawatts and thereby bring to an end endless power blues which have been dogging the nation for over two decades now.

Although she was not specific on when the 3000 megawatts would be attained, however, one thing is certain, US firms have lately been investing heavily in gas mining where the country’s potential is second to none in Africa.

Last month, a US private energy firm, Symbion Company, bought the controversial thermal powered plant, Dowans which was brought in the country through the assistance of equally controversial businessman, Rostam Aziz.

The US energy company is already planning to transform the plant from thermal to gas powered.

According to a statement released by Tanzania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation last Friday, the US Foreign Secretary’s short tour to Tanzania was a friendly visit.

But according to observers, the foreign secretary’s visit to Tanzania was aimed at repositioning the US in the country, especially in the mineral sector.

Observers say the US government has special interest both in the energy and mining sector, and especially uranium.

They say the US government is fearful of uranium landing into the hands of what it describes as rogue states, the Islamic Republic of Iran and North Korea.

The US government’s fear is actually strengthened by the alleged involvement of a Tanzanian, Mohamed Ghailani, in high profile terrorism against the US.

Ghailani was last year sentenced to a life imprisonment by a US court for his role in terrorism.

And the US government appears to be convinced that only by strengthening its physical presence in Tanzania would it be able to monitor terrorist activities in the country.

The purchase of Dowans thermal power plant by a private US energy company is also seen by observers of the Tanzanian political scene in the same vein, namely, ensuring that the energy sector does not fall in the hands of people who could be used or controlled by terrorist.

“In short, the US government is very uneasy about the involvement of the Arabs/Persians in Tanzania’s energy sector that include, among others, the oil industry,” an analyst told the blog recently.

 By Attilio Tagalile

kiwhelu's complaints against govt. quite proper

Under-23 national soccer coach, Jamhuri Kiwhelu is very angry and says he will step down after the second leg match against their Nigerian counterparts.

The coach’s outburst is a result of the statement made by the Deputy Minister for Information, Youth, Culture and Sports, Fenella Mukangara in the Parliament recently in relation to Kiwhelu’s post.

The tactless minister told the House that the government was planning to hire a foreign coach to replace the former Simba and national soccer defender.

The minister is tactless because you don’t say what she said against a person who is doing what any coach under the sun is supposed to do, winning!

Kiwhelu is quoted by a section of the local print media to have said that  whatever results he will get in Benin City in the return leg, he will resign from the post because the government does not value his efforts.

Interestingly, just when Kiwhelu was airing his complaints against the government, a former Taifa Stars national coach, Dr Mshindo Msolla wrote in his sports column in The Citizen about the same thing, the country’s failure to value contribution made by local coaches in soccer!

In short, Kiwhelu is not alone in saying what he has said. The issue is fast becoming a national problem!

Kiwhelu is damned right and I personally support him to the hilt.

Indeed, how do you work for a people who do not recognize your efforts?

People who have the audacity to blurt out whatever comes into their minds as long as they satisfy the august House!

And as if that is not bad enough, we are told that Kiwhelu has been training the national U-23 soccer team without a proper contract!

One would have expected the ministry responsible for sports to have at least ensured that local coaches were not only well paid, when they are engaged to train national sports teams, but are also given proper contracts.

Surely, the deputy minister for sports owes both Kiwhelu and the nation at large an apology for saying what she said in the august House.

By Attilio Tagalile

Clinton to visit Dar

US Foreign Secretary, Hilary Clinton is expected in Dar es Salaam this week according to well informed sources in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Her visit, which is being kept under wraps by the Tanzanian authorities, is coming barely two months after US Seals (commandoes) killed the Al Qaeda founder, Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

However, sources have it that during her visit in Dar es Salaam, the Foreign Secretary will also visit a US energy company that recently bought the controversial gas fired Dowans plant, Symbion Company, at Kibaha, 20 kilometers west of Tanzania’s commercial city.

Since President Jakaya Kikwete came to power six years ago, there have been considerable increase in US, Tanzania relations with the former taking keener interest in the mining sector.

The confirmation of vast uranium deposits in Tanzania is another factor that has increased US interest in the country, especially in an era where a number of third world countries have equally shown interest in acquiring the all-important mineral that can be used for developing energy and weapons of mass destruction.

One of the US’s interests in the uranium is certainly to ensure that the yellow cake does not land on the hands of what it considers as rogue states, the Islamic Republic of Iran, North Korea and far eastern dictatorships such as Burma.

And much as Tanzania enjoys relative peace and political stability, the US government is all the same fearful of the role played by one of the country’s sons, Mohamed Ghailani, a Zanzibari, who was last year handed a life sentence by a US court for his role in terrorism against the United States.

The argument appears to be ‘if Tanzania was able to produce Ghailani, there is no reason why it cannot produce another Ghailani,’ hence the need to keep a close watch on the East African state through its close association with those in power.

Besides, Tanzania was one of the two countries (the other is Kenya) Al Qaeda struck US embassies on August 7^th 1998 in which 12 people, mostly members of a local security company at the embassy were killed.

Before the bombing of the US embassy in Dar es Salaam, the US government had failed to get a foothold in Tanzania, especially in its security institutions, although the two countries enjoyed cordial relations.

However, after the bombing incident, the two countries came closer, sharing security information between them.

And a few weeks later, for the first time in their relations, Tanzania security officials were send to the US for further training in their respective fields.

It is indisputable that this development would later mark the establishment of a major link between the two countries’ security institutions.

Unlike members of the European Community, which have for a long time had contacts in defence and security, the US is a late comer as far as relations in the two areas is concerned.

Since then, there have been a number of visits by US military commanders and frigates in Tanzania although the relations were somewhat cautious.

In fact, nothing reflects past uneasy relations between the two countries than a visit to Dar es Salaam by a US frigate six years ago that was officially met on board by Tanzania’s naval commander (a Brigadier General) rather  than the minister for defence and national service or the chief of defence of forces.

Relations between the then Tanganyika and US were very cordial during the first years of President Julius Nyerere in the days of President John F. Kennedy who was Nyerere’s personal friend.

However, after the US president’s assassination and Nyerere’s decision to lead his country into a socialist path, the two countries’ diplomatic relations grew slowly, but steadily apart.

This was the time Tanzania moved away from the West, but settled on the laps of Scandivian countries, led by Sweden which would play a pivotal role in Nyerere’s fight against ignorance.

The only link that remained between the two countries was when Nyerere took Zanzibar on board, to the glee of the US government, which had feared the possibility of the Isles’ going the Cuban way.

Presently no Tanzanian president has visited the United States more frequently than the present head of state, President Kikwete, who was the first Third World president to meet the first American President, Barrack Obama, barely a few days after being sworn in as the President of the United States.

By Attilio Tagalile 

Of controversial budget and lopsided priorities

The opposition in parliament has torn apart the government’s 2011/12 Budget tabled in parliament on Wednesday, this week (June 8^th 2011) by the Minister for Finance and Economy, Mr Mustapha Mkullo, describing it all sorts of names.

In fact, it (the official opposition) has already made it clear to the government that come Wednesday next week when the debate on the budget resumes in the House, it will take the government by the horns!

Of course, the government cannot blame anybody except itself for lacking seriousness when handling such core issues.

In short, it should have seen it coming long before it made up its mind to table the controversial budget that was praised by some so-called experts only to be torn apart on the following day!

It had all started with dilly-dallying on issuance of budget books to members of parliament, something that has never been done by the ministry in recent memory.

Mps complained that the government had failed to furnish them with budget books before, Mr Mkullo tabled his budget that was preceded by the state of the economy speech in the august House.

From the outset, the government appears to be afflicted by one major malaise, an attempt to try to appease everybody!

Somebody ought to stand up and tell it (the government) that that is extremely difficult given its meager financial resources.

Actually the best thing for the government would have been to deal only with the following things in its development budget in next financial year, namely, education, health, rails, as opposed to roads and energy.

In short, its development budget should have involved only four ministries of health, education, infrastructure and transport.

Therefore only the foregoing ministries would have received both sets of budgets-recurrent and development expenditure.

As for the other remaining ministries, the government could have accorded them only recurrent budget.

The point is, it is time the government learnt how to work on its priorities instead of its present practice of carrying on board everything when it knows that it does not have the requisite financial resources.

You cannot for instance talk of 13 priorities! That is absurd because once you have 13 priorities, then you don’t have priorities to speak of!

Had the government decided that this time around it would only deal with the energy, railways, education and health problems, it would not have found itself in its present situation in which the opposition is accusing it of lying to the people!

There was absolutely no point of coming up with the kind of budget the government tabled in the parliament this week!

But the question is, has the government learnt anything as it prepares to face the opposition next week? Time will certainly tell.

By the way, one of the present eyesores in the budget include the almost one trillion shillings that has been set aside for allowances!

What is perhaps very unfortunate is that the foregoing whopping sum has been set aside for civil servants who also earn salaries and other fringe benefits!

It is the same kind of providing government houses, almost at a song, to ministers and other top-flight civil servants who already own houses!

And as if that is not bad enough, we are told, and very casually at that, that land-cruisers and other luxury vehicles can now be imported only after the nod of the prime minister!

A serious government simply says no more importation of such vehicles until further notice.

By Attilio Tagalile

Boosting Chadema's image in style

The Tanzanian government last week spent a whopping 50m/- to publicize Chadema opposition party and its chairman, Mr Freeman Mbowe!

According to the government’s own statement/admission, part of the money was spent in hiring a plane from the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF) which transported Mr Mbowe from Dar es Salaam to Arusha.

The ‘arrest Mbowe operation’ was carried out by the police who were apparently implementing a directive in the form of warrant of arrest against the Chadema chief issued by the Arusha based resident magistrate’s court.

What is however, interesting is that after spending such big amount of heard earned taxpayers’ money in carrying out the arrest, it took the very court that had issued the warrant of arrest in the first place less than one hour to release Mr Mbowe!

Some of the questions worth asking the government include the following: was the Mbowe exercise necessary? Was the expenditure of 50m/- in the exercise justifiable?

It is indisputable that the Chadema chairman broke the law when he failed to meet his bail conditions that had required him to report in court on the scheduled date.

Secondly, his arrest was quite in order, but the style and expenses incurred in the course of fulfilling the arrest has unfortunately placed the government in the dock!

Yes, it now faces the challenge of justifying its use of 50m/- in taxpayers’ hard earned money or else it may be accused of using the arrest as a ruse for eating public funds!

What is worse is that through the Mbowe project, the government ended up giving the opposition party a free publicity!

Indeed, Mr Mbowe spent two days in the cooler but at the end of the day, the man walked out of the court as hero of sort, covering up his illegal conduct and all because somebody in the government misdirected the government!

Without spending a single cent, the opposition party last week found its public image being boosted by the government!

And as if that was not bad enough, somebody responsible for operations in the police force started off with a statement that sought to distance the police force from the Mbowe debacle, but ended up bungling the whole thing!

A critical analysis of the conduct by the police and the government on the Mbowe project clearly indicates one thing, tactlessness and communication problems on the part of the two institutions.

It is important for the government to realize that whatever move against the opposition, and Chadema in particular, that is likely to be deemed ‘hostile’ by the general public, automatically plays in their favour.

And this is precisely what happened when the Chadema chairman was arrested, transported to Arusha and finally released.

And the man seized the golden opportunity with both hands, explaining to inquisitive journalists all minute details that attended his arrest.

 Given, a layman would easily become prey of CHADEMA’s ploy to gain popularity but, Jamani, is the government thus asleep? I mean,  Aren’t there people out there (government think tanks) who can smell a rat and stay alert not to easily fall victim again and again and again at own expenses?

By Attilio Tagalile

The Ivory Coast tragedy: How secure is Tanzania?

When former Ivory Coast President, Laurent Gbagbo (now under custody) refused to step aside for employee, Mr Alassane Ouatattara, who had won the election, triggering fighting.

The world held its breath and said, ‘if only he could step down. The war will be brought to an end.’ Unfortunately, Gbabo did not until he was forced out.

Defeated and thoroughly embarrassed he has now paved the way for the former United Nations’ employee, Ouattara.

Yet international media that had all along made the world believe that once Gbagbo stepped aside all would be well, now say that all is not well in Ivory Coast!

Lest some of us forget, Ivory Coast was touted by the West in the days when Mwalimu Julius Nyerere was Tanzania’s President and Chairman of what came to be known as the Frontline States as the most politically and economically stable African country in black Africa.

Those were the days when Tanzania and Ivory Coast held views which were contradiction in terms, economically and politically.

While Tanzania pursued the policy of socialism and self-reliance, Ivory Coast decided that she would have nothing to do with economic experiments.

Major differences between the countries were also to be found in the political realm.

While Tanzania was committed to the hilt in the liberation struggle against racist minority regimes such as Southern Rhodesia (present day Zimbabwe) and South Africa, Ivory Coast sought to colour its international relations with the rest of the world by hobnobbing with the racist regimes.

Apart from Ivory Coast, the other country that is known to have publicly had very cordial relations with racist regimes in Southern Africa is Malawi.

These were the days of Ngwazi Dr Kamuzi Banda, a man whose administration fed its opponents on crocodiles.

Again fast back in history. At one time, during Nyerere’s era, Malawi allowed itself to be used by the powers that be in the world, during the cold war era, by claiming parts of Tanzania, starting from the shared lake to the land.

As already noted, a lot have been written about Ivory Coast by the international media.

Yet one thing that many people, including some Tanzanians, don’t seem to realize is that Ivory Coast’s population distribution, in terms of tribes and religion, is not very much different from that of Tanzania.

Indeed, just like Tanzania, Ivory Coast has a strong dose of Christianity and Islam with the former dominating the southern part and the latter, the northern part.

Again, just like Tanzania, Ivory Coast’s population is around 40 million, two million less than that of Tanzania.

The West African country is however, thoroughly outstripped when it comes to the number of tribes.

While Tanzania has over 120 tribes, Ivory Coast has 62 tribes, merely half the number that one finds in Tanzania.

Therefore when one looks at the foregoing statistics, there is very little difference between Tanzania and Ivory Coast.

However, the million dollar question is why is Ivory Coast presently locked in religious, tribal conflict despite the disappearance, from the scene, of what we had all along been made to believe (by the international media) was the main factor in the conflict, namely, Gbagbo?

Before tackling the foregoing ‘why Ivory Coast question,’ it is interesting to note what some international journalists are writing now that Gbagbo is confined to his cell.

In an article headlined: ‘Cote d’Ivoire in deep fissures even after Gbagbo arrest,’ a local English daily wrote:

“Even if Gbagbo had honoured the results of the November 28 (2010) run-off presidential election and stepped aside, Ouattara would have experienced difficulty governing.

The election results demonstrated a closely divided electorate: 54.1 percent voted for Ouattara and 45.9 percent voted for Gbagbo.”

Now we all know the kind of problem one gets into in an attempt to arrive at correct statistics in Africa.

It is an exercise that is always fraught with numerous problems that include, among others, doctoring of figures/statistics.

To appreciate the serious nature of this problem, Tanzania has in fact managed to get a terminology for the problem which is referred to in the local parlance as kuchakachua.

One does not get a fitting term to express a given problem if such a person is not thoroughly disturbed by the problem.

Therefore looking at the above voting figures, one can safely say that Ivory Coast is divided in two parts, the south from the north.

The implication of the two quoted paragraphs means that while the international media harped on the Gbagbo factor, it also knew that even if Gbagbo left, the problem was so deep-seated that Ouattara will get nowhere.

In fact this is the same way the world was misled, during the era of Presidents Bush and Blair in US and Britain respectively, about the existence of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq.

It would be recalled that the lie of the century finally led to the Iraq war and a few years later, the international media has done it in Ivory Coast!

The article went on to write: “Moreover, the intense post-election violence that left almost 1,000 dead, internally displaced one million people and sent 100,000 across the border has surely exacerbated existing regional, ethnic and religious differences.”

What does the foregoing ugly development lead to?

Again, going by similar experiences in Africa that include Ethiopia, before the birth of Eritrea and The Sudan, before the referendum early this year that saw Southern Sudanese saying No to one Sudan, one can draw one conclusion.

The recipe for cession in Ivory Coast is now ready to be served! This is glaring reality for everyone! As for Ivory Coast, the West African nation as the world knew it is no more.

And now back to the why Ivory Coast question posed earlier, and its comparison to Tanzania.

Tanzania would have long gone through what is presently going on Ivory Coast had Nyerere not spent most of his time building unity, firstly, through the nationalization of some religious owned schools, a move that would earn him the wrath of his own church.

Mwalimu’s move was aimed at ensuring that children of followers of all religious denominations could go to.

Committed to national unity, Nyerere went on to introduce Kiswahili as a national language and later, the National Service.

The latter brought together Tanzanian youths, both illiterate and educated and the end result Tanzania leads, in inter-tribal, inter-religious marriages East Africa.

Mwalimu was not done. He later ensured that those who went through their final primary school examinations, O Level and A Level were sent to schools located far away from their home regions.

The move helped further in cementing national unity.

Nyerere’s decision to embark on the foregoing national unity building effort was a result of being subjected to the 1964 army mutiny that almost toppled him.

He realized how fragile his country was in terms of national unity.

The army mutiny taught him that dependency on foreign powers both for manning and training of armed forces was nothing but suicidal.

Fortunately for Tanzanians, there are plenty of examples on this.

Foreign trained Rwandan army were no match to locally trained, home focused and committed RPF when the chips were down during the post genocide in the Central African nation.

Interestingly, what befell Rwanda’s General Habyarimana army has now come pass in Ivory Coast.

Like in the erstwhile Rwanda, the majority members of Gbagbo’s army were foreign trained.

And as expected, Gbagbo’s men were no match to Ouattara’s rag-tag army driven to the fore not by money, but rather commitment and vision.

It is indisputable that in the economic realm, Nyerere was, in the words of Professor Ali Mazrui, a heroic failure.

However, his template in the nation building process is not only second to none, but has stood the test of time.

But the question is, is the East African country capable of maintaining its national unity, hence peace?

The validity of the above question lies in the fact that there are a number of similarities between Ivory Coast and Tanzania that make the latter equally vulnerable.

What is more, contrary to what Tanzanians are made to believe, all political parties in the country, including the ruling party, CCM, are capable of bringing chaos in the country.

In short, no political party has a monopoly for chaos! The sooner Tanzanians realize this the better.

 By Attilio Tagalile

EAC retirees' court battles get setback

Pandemonium almost broke out on Tuesday, April 13^th 2010, at the High Court, when Judge Mwaikugile was presiding over a case that had been brought to him by one of the two groups claiming to be representing retirees of the defunct East African Community, EAC.

It all started when a group of six led by one, Mr Mlaki had tendered an application before Judge Mwaikugile seeking the execution of a decree on case no. 95/2003 that dwells on claims that the government underpaid the retirees when it paid them their terminal benefits in 2005.

The execution of the decree was supposed to have been conducted in secrecy without the knowledge of the seven bona fide retirees’ representatives led by plaintiff number one, Mr Ernest Karatta and plaintiff number seven, Mr Ahmed Kabunga.

However, the move leaked to the seven plaintiffs who have since 2003 been represented by advocates Mr Lukwaro, Mr Byamungu and DMK Bishota. The latter is however, presently indisposed.

The leakage on the secret move had led, on the material day, to the appearance in the High Court of both parties along with their advocates.

The presence in the court of advocates from both parties forced the judge to seek clarification on the legality of the legal counsels on the material case.

The seven plaintiffs told the judge through their counsel, Mr Lukwaro that they were the bona fide representatives of the EAC  retirees and that they were not only recognized legally, but they were also recognized by the High Court and the debtor, the government of the United Republic of Tanzania.

Mr Lukwaro further told the judge that the legality of the group he was representing in the court lay in the fact that it had also signed the Deed of Settlement that facilitated the payment to the retirees of their now disputed terminal benefits in 2005.

The advocate for the group of six, Mr Pius Chabruma admitted before Judge Mwaikugile that it was true that the seven plaintiffs led by advocate Lukwaro had since the start of the case in 2003 been the bona fide representatives of the EAC retirees.

He however, said that as one of the retirees himself, he had been appointed by the Mlaki’s group to help after the group had differed with Kabunga’s group over what he claimed to be its delay in executing the all-important decree.

After listening to both parties, Judge Mwaikugile asked Mr Chabruma if the case they now sought execution from the High Court had previously been heard and ruling on it made.

Mr Chabruma admitted that the case had neither been heard nor had any ruling on it made.

“If the case has never been heard and ruling on it been made, how have you as an advocate submitted to the High Court an application seeking execution of the decree without adhering to court procedures,” the Judge asked Chabruma.

However, when the advocate to give a satisfactory answer, the Judge told Chabruma that he was misleading his clients through his failure to explain to them, and transparently, the court’s laws and procedures guiding demands that had been submitted before the court.  

He then ordered the two parties to sit together and resolve, amicably, the differences that had cropped up between and among them and return to the court on Friday, April 30^th 2010.

He called on the two parties to use wisdom in bringing about reconciliation between them for the benefit of all the EAC retirees instead of continuing to abet the tug-of-war between them which he said was doing more harm than good to them.

Unfortunately instead of working towards what the judge had counseled them, Mlaki’s group that had positioned itself outside the court vowed to deal with the seven plaintiffs physically!

The High Court’s premises was all of sudden transformed into an arena for show of strengths as members of Mlaki’s group for three hours moved menacingly from one end to the other as they challenged the seven plaintiffs to come out of the court chambers and face ‘music’.

The foregoing conduct on the part of the Mlaki’s group caused a lot of anxiety at the court forcing proceedings to be suspended.

Meanwhile the threats against the seven plaintiffs forced authority at the High Court to provide the group inside the court chambers with security as Mlaki’s group refused to leave the court premises.

The police later took out the seven plaintiffs from the High Court through the back door and drove them to the Central Police station.

However, Mlaki’s group somehow came to learn of their departure. They later also went to the Central Police Station where they continued with their fracas.

At that point, the Dar es Salaam Regional Police Commander, Suleiman Kova talked Mlaki into calming down his group.

He cautioned him that their continued unruly conduct at the police station was likely to disrupt peace.

Finally the group melted away, giving the seven plaintiffs the opportunity of leaving the police station for their respective homes.

However, one thing is crystal clear. The EAC retirees’ rightful quest for their terminal benefit had, through Mlaki’s group conduct both at the High Court and the Central Police Station, soiled the EAC retirees’ quest for their rightful terminal benefits.

KABUNGA’S STATEMENT

Mr Kabunga told the website in an interview recently that they will continue to seek their rights from the government until the issue of underpayment is addressed.

He said from the start the government had not involved them in the issue pertaining to how much the government owed each retiree in terms of his or her terminal benefits.

He said since the government had elected not to be transparent in the whole issue, it had now no alternative but to listen and solve the problem once and for all.

He said what they wanted from the government was to ensure that their terminal benefit was pegged on two things: real value (in accordance with the present value) and the seven percent compound interest.

Meanwhile, ruling on the case could not be made by Judge Mwaikugile on Friday, April 30^th as had been agreed as on the material day the judge lost his father.

As we went to the press, the date for the ruling had been postponed to May 5^th 2010.

Whatever happens on the case, the EAC retirees’ question over payment of their terminal benefits which has dragged on for 33 years has left an irreparable damage on the government’s image locally and internationally.

The seriousness over the government’s failure to honour its obligations to the EAC retirees for over three decades casts doubts over the entire process it is presently involved in on the regional path towards federation.

The proverbial million dollar question is if it has failed to settle once and for terminal benefits for the retirees of the defunct EAC how is the same government going to respect benefits of the Tanzanian employees in the new EAC?

Equally important to delve into is the conduct of former senior government officials, on the entire issue, such as Mr Mramba and Mr Mgonja.

Pertinent questions ought to be posed to the foregoing senior government officials.

They owe the nation explanation as to why they behaved the way they behaved.

What was their main motives behind doubling of the number of retirees from 15,000 to 31,000?

What is interesting about the government’s figure on the number of EAC retirees is that even on the latest document dated April 21^st 2010 issued by the seven plaintiffs, it refers the number of retirees entitled to terminal benefits as being around 17,000 as opposed to 31,000.

As to the group led by Mr Mlaki, the group of seven led by Mr Karatta and Mr Kabunga were spot on when they said that conflict within the retirees was likely to give the government an opportunity to continue denying them their right of being paid fully their terminal benefits.

Indeed, if the government dilly dallied on the issue for over three decades, what would stop it from making use of a crack in the retirees’ leadership by continuing to postpone the retirees’ payment of their rightful terminal benefits?   

By Attilio Tagalile