Mwembetayari
JF-Expert Member
- Feb 21, 2012
- 331
- 125
Once again, the Tanzanian public is being treated to the ugly spectacle of political illiteracy, administrative incompetence and ethical bankruptcy within governing circles.
The just ended parliamentary session revealed these weaknesses to an extent never seen before, leaving pundits to wonder whether there was a government that was conscious that it was a government at all. Further down, I will illustrate.
This time, like so many other times, the issue was the escalating levels of official corruption, theft and wastefulness in government as laid bare by the report of the Controller and Auditor General and a number of parliamentary oversight committees.
The issues raised by irate Members of Parliament ranged from shady deals in infrastructure development, the spoliation of natural resources and money lots and lots of money that simply went missing.
I use the word escalating because that is what has been happening over the years during which trillions forget about billions of shillings have been reported missing and unexplained but with no action being taken.
It now seems that this absence of action has encouraged ministers and ministry officials to take what they want for themselves without fear of sanctions.
The national psyche has evolved considerably, amid worsening living conditions occasioned by rising fuel and food costs and the dwindling incomes of ordinary people.
The masses are restive, and they demand of their representatives urgent and resolute action.
In response, the legislators have been demanding that a number of ministers who have been found wanting resign or be sacked.
What has transpired is that Prime Minister Mizego Pinda has demanded resignation letters from these ministers and the said ministers have refused to write said letters, but the prime minister is powerless because his boss, the president, does not seem to see any urgent need for action.
This led many Members of Parliament including members of the ruling party to take action to force President Jakaya Kikwetes hand by instituting a process of an eventual vote of no confidence in the prime minister and his government, something that has never been done before.
Political immaturity does not come any more immature than this.
For how does a government allow itself to be pushed to the wall like this, eroding its prestige, demoralising its prime minister and putting the president in the line of fire by kowtowing to useless ministers who have shown themselves completely unworthy of the trust invested in them?
Is the captain ready to sink his ship rather than jettison a cargo of low-value bits of wood?
Instead of doing the done thing and resigning, one minister was heard blaming his deputy, suggesting he was the one who ate because prospective investors took him away on trips without the knowledge of the minister.
How does this happen in a government, and how does this get revealed in public? What calibre of ministers are we saddled with?
It has never been our culture to resign even when things go terribly wrong for we never accept responsibility personal or vicarious however close we may be to the wrongdoing.
The proper thing to do in these circumstances is to sack whoever becomes a liability to the body politic because not doing anything, or doing it when it has become too late, allows too much poison to run through the systems bloodstream until the whole body goes limp.
By the time you read this piece, Kikwete may have taken full action, he may have taken partial action, or he may have taken zero action; what is certain is that he has been raining on his own parade, big time.
Jenerali Ulimwengu, chairman of the board of the Raia Mwema newspaper, is a political commentator and civil society activist based in Dar es Salaam. E-mail: ulimwengu@jenerali.com
Ministers refuse to resign, PM Pinda is embarrassed, Kikwete twiddles his thumbs *- Comment*|theeastafrican.co.ke
The just ended parliamentary session revealed these weaknesses to an extent never seen before, leaving pundits to wonder whether there was a government that was conscious that it was a government at all. Further down, I will illustrate.
This time, like so many other times, the issue was the escalating levels of official corruption, theft and wastefulness in government as laid bare by the report of the Controller and Auditor General and a number of parliamentary oversight committees.
The issues raised by irate Members of Parliament ranged from shady deals in infrastructure development, the spoliation of natural resources and money lots and lots of money that simply went missing.
I use the word escalating because that is what has been happening over the years during which trillions forget about billions of shillings have been reported missing and unexplained but with no action being taken.
It now seems that this absence of action has encouraged ministers and ministry officials to take what they want for themselves without fear of sanctions.
The national psyche has evolved considerably, amid worsening living conditions occasioned by rising fuel and food costs and the dwindling incomes of ordinary people.
The masses are restive, and they demand of their representatives urgent and resolute action.
In response, the legislators have been demanding that a number of ministers who have been found wanting resign or be sacked.
What has transpired is that Prime Minister Mizego Pinda has demanded resignation letters from these ministers and the said ministers have refused to write said letters, but the prime minister is powerless because his boss, the president, does not seem to see any urgent need for action.
This led many Members of Parliament including members of the ruling party to take action to force President Jakaya Kikwetes hand by instituting a process of an eventual vote of no confidence in the prime minister and his government, something that has never been done before.
Political immaturity does not come any more immature than this.
For how does a government allow itself to be pushed to the wall like this, eroding its prestige, demoralising its prime minister and putting the president in the line of fire by kowtowing to useless ministers who have shown themselves completely unworthy of the trust invested in them?
Is the captain ready to sink his ship rather than jettison a cargo of low-value bits of wood?
Instead of doing the done thing and resigning, one minister was heard blaming his deputy, suggesting he was the one who ate because prospective investors took him away on trips without the knowledge of the minister.
How does this happen in a government, and how does this get revealed in public? What calibre of ministers are we saddled with?
It has never been our culture to resign even when things go terribly wrong for we never accept responsibility personal or vicarious however close we may be to the wrongdoing.
The proper thing to do in these circumstances is to sack whoever becomes a liability to the body politic because not doing anything, or doing it when it has become too late, allows too much poison to run through the systems bloodstream until the whole body goes limp.
By the time you read this piece, Kikwete may have taken full action, he may have taken partial action, or he may have taken zero action; what is certain is that he has been raining on his own parade, big time.
Jenerali Ulimwengu, chairman of the board of the Raia Mwema newspaper, is a political commentator and civil society activist based in Dar es Salaam. E-mail: ulimwengu@jenerali.com
Ministers refuse to resign, PM Pinda is embarrassed, Kikwete twiddles his thumbs *- Comment*|theeastafrican.co.ke
