For the last two weeks or so, Tanzania was engulfed in a man-made fuel crisis that brought the economy almost to a halt.
It all started when the government rightly put its foot down following the unfolding of uncontrolled fuel price rises by fuel pump operators who appeared to be least concerned with what happened to the struggling nation!
The conflict between fuel pump operators and the government was triggered when the latter directed, through its agency, the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority, EWURA, all fuel pump operators in the country to reduce fuel prices by 200/-.
As had been widely expected, fuel pump oerators ignored the directive with other operators going further than that, threatening the government over the move!
The latter move rekindled, in Tanzanian minds, the warning that had been issued by the founding father, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere over what could befall a weak ruling party (Chama legelege) which tended to engender a weak government (huzaa serikali legelege).
Perhaps what was interesting, as the fuel crisis deepened, is that it came to pass barely a few days after the NCCR-Mageuzi Legislator, David Kafulila (Kigoma South) had quoted Mwalimu in the august House in relation to the President Jakaya Kikwete’s administration, fueling heated discussions.
The fuel situation became more serious from August 7th onwards, forcing some motorists, especially in Dar es Salaam, to park their vehicles for lack of fuel.
On August 8th and 9th this year, the number of vehicles on Dar es Salaam city roads were reduced quite considerably due to untold shortage of fuel.
Meanwhile EWURA continued to do what it has for years been well known for, barking and issuing one threat after another against fuel pump operators!
But since the latter knew no one had the guts of taking any punitive action against them, least of all Ewura, they simply looked the other way!
For political analysts who have been following closely politicians’ utterances in the last two or so months, were quick to recall what former Prime Minister, Edward Lowassa was quoted by the media as saying about the fourth phase government when he accused it of lacking the ability to make hard decisions.
Talking about the Monduli CCM Legislator, there is one thing that I would personally like to make clear from the outset especially in this country where supporting an opposition view or a dissenting voice is always looked at by the powers that be as negative!
There are certain issues I don’t agree with the maverick politician.
However, on this particular issue about the government being cast in a toothless bulldog mould, the man was spot on, and I totally agree with his assessment.
Simply put, the fuel crisis that engulfed the nation a few days ago reached the level it reached due nothing but the government’s softness against fuel pump operators!
The fuel crisis would not have gone beyond one day if the government, through Ewura, had read the riot act against fuel pump operators.
Indeed, the government should have simply told fuel pump operators that they sell fuel according to government directive or it would close their fuel pump outlets for good!
The government’s failure to deal with fuel pump operators with an iron rod lost a golden opportunity of making through wayward businessmen and women.
It is an open secret that the government is presently going through tough times that increasingly making it extremely difficult for it to finance numerous projects for lack of money.
The government could have easily recouped its revenue through punitive action against wayward fuel pump operators.
For instance fuel pump operators who had ignored the government’s directive, the government could have slapped over 300m/- for whoever wanted to renew his or her operation’s licence.
In that way, the government could have killed the proverbial two birds with one stone, got its hard sought revenue and sent a lesson to fuel pump operators not to play around with the government.
The experienced fuel crisis is yet another lesson to successive CCM governments that have since the third phase government of President Benjamin Mkapa become obsessed with liberalization-cum-privatization that there are certain services that should be best left on government’s hands, and that includes fuel!
Had Kikwete’s administration implemented its long overdue plans to get involved in fuel importation, it would not have been afflicted with the recent fuel crisis.
The fuel crisis should now serve as lesson to the CCM government that institutions like railways, national airline, the Tanzania Telecommunication Company Limited,TTCL, are best left on government’s hands for national security reasons.
For instance, how on earth does a government that claims to be working for the people go out of its way to privatize own ears in the form of its telecommunications company?
Until recently, there have been plans by the government to privatize the Tanzania Telecommunication Company Limited, TTCL!
One hopes that the government of the day or any future Tanzanian government would not go beyond what it did when it curved out Celtel out of TTCL’s proceeds!
Indeed, how can a serious government privatize its own arteries, in the form of TTCL and railways in this present world where espionage and eavesdropping at international level has been transformed into a business for multi/transnational companies and industrialized nations?
Industrialized nations and the so called development partners who have been advising the Tanzanian government to liberalize and privatize everything have not been doing what they have been telling Tanzania to do!
For instance, the same countries continue to offer subsidies to their farmers, but when they talk to Tanzania they say subsidy is bad for agriculture business!
Our development partners have liberalized everything except railways, telecom business and to some extent, fuel business!
That is why the British government made sure that it protected BP when the latter turned the world into environmental disaster in the backyard of the United States a few months ago!
Had that company been private in the way we all know, that would have spelled its demise!
By Attilio Tagalile
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