You need to be a great thinker to know the impliedly the complaints of Mtwara people, We Africans have always failed to know the sources of our problems. Even if the gas stays in Mtwara it is futile if it does not create value. if the value chain is lacking you are not going to feel the presence of valuable natural resources. People of Mtwara need to be prepared to create the value chain though i know it is an uphill task for many people due to lack of prerequisite knowledge of capitalist economy.
The Mtwara saga should be taken by our policy maker as an opportunity to think twice; I would suggest the following to our policy maker:
1. Any income obtained from a natural resources such as gold, diamond, gas etc, 20% of income should go back to the respective local government where the resources were obtained, not only that but also 50% of 20% should go to the specific area of resources.
2. It is high time now that our African governments reject policies imposed by IMF which prohibit our governments to make direct investment while knowing exactly that our private sector don't have sufficient capital to create new investments which could lead to the creation of value through direct employment to our people and ultimately benefit from the presence of natural gas etc.
The structural adjustment program (SAP) is largely to blame for what is happening in Mtwara. To know the way it affects our economy one need to read more about the consequences of SAP in various countries.