Kinyambiss
JF-Expert Member
- Dec 2, 2007
- 1,374
- 72
Recently in Tanzania there has arisen a great outcry from all corners of the country, and even from the diaspora about the abuse of power carried out by corrupt government officials, criminal activities conducted by business tycoons, intelligence officials and other opportunists who have taken the first chance they got of stealing and illegally enriching themselves at the expense of the state and therefore the 'peasant'. In view of 2008, there were a great number of news paper headlines, blog articles, forum threads, circulating text messages, e-mails, web pages, radio programmes, civil society demonstrations, warnings from religious leaders, (at times stating the obvious),and other media, all talking about 'ufisadi'. Corruption is one of the most cancerous problems that plague the human mind, behaving in a fluid manner, perhaps more like the HIV virus than any cancer. I need not state, particularly in this forum, the reasons why we must combat corruption in Tanzania and elsewhere in the world, even though we all know it is inherently immortal making it almost impossible to remove it altogether, for it arises from human nature.
Having acknowledged the scale of the problem, I feel compelled by the trend to ask several questions.
Hearing all this talk of 'ufisadi' and 'mafisadi' brings to mind one fundamental question which, as you might gather from the heading of the thread, is: Is Ufisadi the biggest problem that we have in Tanzania, so big that if today, in a flash, it were to go away, the great majority of our problems will be solved? Before I leave room for people to highlight my words and respond by stating the obvious, I must, myself highlight that there lies no doubt in my mind that we would be living in a better country (as far as the socio-economic, political, well basically all sectors). But would we be where we want to be as a country and as a society, and if so could we be better? Bearing in mind that such a situation is purely hypothetical, in that, corruption can not be brought down to zero, as we see in virtually every country in the world, is ufisadi really the problem that should be addressed more than all others?
What really are the great issues that hinder development in Tanzania? And as it is very uncommon for us to do, looking into the future, what prevalent conditions that exist at this time are going to create major problems for tomorrow's generation? Why are they not part of the national dialogue? why are they not adequately considered in political fora such as this one?
I am tempted to discuss in great detail the view that I hold but I must refrain because this thread is intended to be interactive, for in my pondering on this matter, I came to the inference that prose was not the best approach. Instead, I decided to ask questions, so that we may all discuss this issue. Is the 'war on corruption' really a war or just a battle in a greater WAR and if so, what happens when you march your troops towards one front and disregard the impending danger brought about by the other battles?
Having acknowledged the scale of the problem, I feel compelled by the trend to ask several questions.
Hearing all this talk of 'ufisadi' and 'mafisadi' brings to mind one fundamental question which, as you might gather from the heading of the thread, is: Is Ufisadi the biggest problem that we have in Tanzania, so big that if today, in a flash, it were to go away, the great majority of our problems will be solved? Before I leave room for people to highlight my words and respond by stating the obvious, I must, myself highlight that there lies no doubt in my mind that we would be living in a better country (as far as the socio-economic, political, well basically all sectors). But would we be where we want to be as a country and as a society, and if so could we be better? Bearing in mind that such a situation is purely hypothetical, in that, corruption can not be brought down to zero, as we see in virtually every country in the world, is ufisadi really the problem that should be addressed more than all others?
What really are the great issues that hinder development in Tanzania? And as it is very uncommon for us to do, looking into the future, what prevalent conditions that exist at this time are going to create major problems for tomorrow's generation? Why are they not part of the national dialogue? why are they not adequately considered in political fora such as this one?
I am tempted to discuss in great detail the view that I hold but I must refrain because this thread is intended to be interactive, for in my pondering on this matter, I came to the inference that prose was not the best approach. Instead, I decided to ask questions, so that we may all discuss this issue. Is the 'war on corruption' really a war or just a battle in a greater WAR and if so, what happens when you march your troops towards one front and disregard the impending danger brought about by the other battles?
