In Tanzania today, air-tickets, school fees, hotel accommodation, automobiles, import duty, merchandise and even rent within affluent parts of the country is being priced and paid in United States Dollar. Those unwilling to pay the dollar are required cough the local currency, based on the days prevailing exchange rates.
It leaves many to wonder on the countrys economic direction, worthiness of her currency and the seriousness of her leadership to contain the rapidly spreading dollarization virus. Tanzania is being dollarized at whose benefit, and does this mean our country is a failed state, economically?
By definition dollarization means an extreme situation of an economic instability in which a foreign currency often the US dollar- replaces a countrys currency in performing basic functions of money.
In some countries it becomes an official policy of the government to curb economic dilemma by letting the dollar become medium of exchange. It also implies that the domestic central bank is no longer available as a lender of last resort.
In other words some countries adopt the use of dollar so as to tie trade of their goods to world prices, so that the domestic inflation is closely related to United States Inflation. Official dollarization has been adopted in countries suffering from CHRONIC and extreme economic problems such as inflation; basically it is adopted in almost failed states.
While in Tanzania recently, I took a short vacation to Bagamoyo. I went to one of the resorts, and was requested to pay for the services in US dollar. I adamantly refused to pay the dollar because I was in my country, alternatively was advised to pay in domestic currency based on the days prevailing exchange rate, and believe it or not, the rate demanded was USD 1 was TSH 1355 as opposed to TSH 1315 which was the median. This sent me into a state of confusion on how useless the domestic currency has become to Tanzanians.
Amid Zimbabwes descent into social political turmoil, and economic nightmare characterized by historic and record breaking inflation levels, in the threshold of being a failed state, Zimbabwe was forced to dollarize her economy.
Zimbabwe dollar became worthless despite the relentless effort by the central bank to stabilize and even peg the countrys currency with hopes of restoring economic vitality of a nation that once stood as Africas breadbasket.
Zimbabweans had to swallow their pride and adopt a foreign currency US dollar- for her survival. Comrade Mugabe, an African hero, and a dictator in the eyes of the west, succumbed to colonization, which he has been against all of his life, by letting his country use a foreign currency. American dollar, therefore, became and perhaps is still the official medium of exchange.
Tanzania is one of the few African countries boasting peace and stability. The countrys strategic wealth of natural resources should have rendered her currency to be one of the strongest around the region should it have been blessed with good and formidable management; blessed with leaders who foresee the future and ready to be sacrificial for the good of their nation, than the gluttonous, economic vultures the country is blessed with today.
My inquisition as to why I was being charged a foreign currency in a sovereign nation brought about new discoveries; it came into my knowledge, while in Bagamoyo, that some of the frequent guests in these resorts are Cabinet Ministers and Members of parliament.
And all of them pay for the services rendered in United States Dollar. And my only question is, if ministers, high ranking government officials and Members of parliament can pay their bills in US dollar, who else then, can fight for the common man whose pillars of hope are being fractured and fragmented by the introduction of the dollar social divide culture? He has no defense!
We are going to be so naïve to believe that, these businesses charging foreign currencies are owned by ordinary citizens. These facilities are owned by the society elite and the KLEPTOCRATS; economic robberswithin the establishment- around the country who control the resources of the masses, collecting from the poor citizens, and even looting the public coffer just to turn around and transfer their loot into their offshore accounts. These few persons make life particularly harder and unattainable to the poor majority.
Picture a scenario likely to be faced by a peasant, hardened by poverty from the countryside that has never touched a dollar, must go through to pay for his or her childs school fees? Picture a recent graduate, trying to find housing, and has to pay in terms of the dollar. Does this mean that the poor are marginalized in their own country, at the expensive of the rich minority who retains exclusive rights to better services and preferential treatment?
Is it the new class Identity where dollar rules and serves as sign of power and prestige?
Currency is a symbol of nations sovereignty; source of cultural identity and pride. but when the very leaders we hold with high regards as custodians of our laws, and protectors of our sovereignty, lead the way by supporting the notion of our currency being worthless, then we have a problem.
And there is no way we can resolve our economic issues unless we vote in leaders who walk the talk, not just hypocrites and inexorably feebleminded, who dont understand the negative consequences of using foreign currency in your own country. Unless this is a government project meant to stabilize or get rid of the already worthless currency, the unworthiness of our currency will only get worse.
Unnecessary imports must be curtailed to encourage domestic innovation, and thus lessen demand for foreign currencies. The parliament must make sure all corrupt individuals who are threatening the economy, by having so much money in circulation are arrested and expeditiously tried, with their assets either frozen or confiscated.
This will in the long run, bring stability into the economy by letting the market play fairly following natural economic laws, reversing the current artificial environment created by the few rich who have inflated prices basically for everything to unrealistic levels, while demanding foreign currency for the services they offer.
I inexorably believe that, the Bank of Tanzania, has the power, and an upper hand, through its monetary policies to tame the problem if it decides and has the will to do so, especially by compelling depository and other financial institutions to cooperate in an effort to contain the dollarization pandemic. Countrys leadership, especially the parliament through passage of sweeping financial reforms and laws, can have far reaching effects in the efforts to rid the country of this problem.
The will to bring change must exist amongst the lawmakers; they must also understand the consequences of the dollarization to an economy. Alternatively, monetary experts may need to consider currency pegging as known in the economic circles or capital markets, in order to bring a temporary corrective measures while exploring long term solutions to the problem
The greatest solution of all is the citizenry who has more powers than any other institution .An ordinary citizen has the ability to refuse paying a dollar for the services rendered. This effort is the most effective and has far reaching consequences if can be pursued and adapted, because in the long run, it will bite where it hurts the most; the pocket of the perpetrator. An ordinary citizen has the power to boycott all businesses conducting their trade or services in foreign currency, and above all, has the power to vote out leaders who do not represent their interest and are part of the corruption syndicate .
There is no salvation available to the common man than his own self; Consumer Protection Agency which would have organized mass action, boycott, or institute legal action against these businesses is either dead or does not exist, or has been infiltrated by corruption, and rendered useless by the Kleptocrats, and I guess ordinary citizens are praying for the rise from dead Edward Sokoine, Julius Nyerere, and a few other true patriots who hated corruption with passion, to save their country.
If only we could unite and get rid of our enemy FEAR, we will see the re-birth of the Nyereres and Sokoines, of our generation, and the wind of change will blow our way.
Reminiscent to recent Zimbabwes, and Latin Americas dollarization of their economies in the turn of the decade, the musky and nascent cloud of dollarization of Tanzanian economy, is spelling the chronicle of failure foretold; collapsing of an economy at some point, unless immediate vigorous measures are taken.
Without being careful, and working aggressively to combat the growing dollarization, we may find ourselves in a state where all we have worked for becoming worthless, in exchange for sacks of banknotes to buy a loaf of bread. We must STOP the usage of dollar in our country, else we are handing our country over to the vultures of corruption
Mungu Ibariki Tanzania
John Mashaka
Mashaka.john@yahoo.com
It leaves many to wonder on the countrys economic direction, worthiness of her currency and the seriousness of her leadership to contain the rapidly spreading dollarization virus. Tanzania is being dollarized at whose benefit, and does this mean our country is a failed state, economically?
By definition dollarization means an extreme situation of an economic instability in which a foreign currency often the US dollar- replaces a countrys currency in performing basic functions of money.
In some countries it becomes an official policy of the government to curb economic dilemma by letting the dollar become medium of exchange. It also implies that the domestic central bank is no longer available as a lender of last resort.
In other words some countries adopt the use of dollar so as to tie trade of their goods to world prices, so that the domestic inflation is closely related to United States Inflation. Official dollarization has been adopted in countries suffering from CHRONIC and extreme economic problems such as inflation; basically it is adopted in almost failed states.
While in Tanzania recently, I took a short vacation to Bagamoyo. I went to one of the resorts, and was requested to pay for the services in US dollar. I adamantly refused to pay the dollar because I was in my country, alternatively was advised to pay in domestic currency based on the days prevailing exchange rate, and believe it or not, the rate demanded was USD 1 was TSH 1355 as opposed to TSH 1315 which was the median. This sent me into a state of confusion on how useless the domestic currency has become to Tanzanians.
Amid Zimbabwes descent into social political turmoil, and economic nightmare characterized by historic and record breaking inflation levels, in the threshold of being a failed state, Zimbabwe was forced to dollarize her economy.
Zimbabwe dollar became worthless despite the relentless effort by the central bank to stabilize and even peg the countrys currency with hopes of restoring economic vitality of a nation that once stood as Africas breadbasket.
Zimbabweans had to swallow their pride and adopt a foreign currency US dollar- for her survival. Comrade Mugabe, an African hero, and a dictator in the eyes of the west, succumbed to colonization, which he has been against all of his life, by letting his country use a foreign currency. American dollar, therefore, became and perhaps is still the official medium of exchange.
Tanzania is one of the few African countries boasting peace and stability. The countrys strategic wealth of natural resources should have rendered her currency to be one of the strongest around the region should it have been blessed with good and formidable management; blessed with leaders who foresee the future and ready to be sacrificial for the good of their nation, than the gluttonous, economic vultures the country is blessed with today.
My inquisition as to why I was being charged a foreign currency in a sovereign nation brought about new discoveries; it came into my knowledge, while in Bagamoyo, that some of the frequent guests in these resorts are Cabinet Ministers and Members of parliament.
And all of them pay for the services rendered in United States Dollar. And my only question is, if ministers, high ranking government officials and Members of parliament can pay their bills in US dollar, who else then, can fight for the common man whose pillars of hope are being fractured and fragmented by the introduction of the dollar social divide culture? He has no defense!
We are going to be so naïve to believe that, these businesses charging foreign currencies are owned by ordinary citizens. These facilities are owned by the society elite and the KLEPTOCRATS; economic robberswithin the establishment- around the country who control the resources of the masses, collecting from the poor citizens, and even looting the public coffer just to turn around and transfer their loot into their offshore accounts. These few persons make life particularly harder and unattainable to the poor majority.
Picture a scenario likely to be faced by a peasant, hardened by poverty from the countryside that has never touched a dollar, must go through to pay for his or her childs school fees? Picture a recent graduate, trying to find housing, and has to pay in terms of the dollar. Does this mean that the poor are marginalized in their own country, at the expensive of the rich minority who retains exclusive rights to better services and preferential treatment?
Is it the new class Identity where dollar rules and serves as sign of power and prestige?
Currency is a symbol of nations sovereignty; source of cultural identity and pride. but when the very leaders we hold with high regards as custodians of our laws, and protectors of our sovereignty, lead the way by supporting the notion of our currency being worthless, then we have a problem.
And there is no way we can resolve our economic issues unless we vote in leaders who walk the talk, not just hypocrites and inexorably feebleminded, who dont understand the negative consequences of using foreign currency in your own country. Unless this is a government project meant to stabilize or get rid of the already worthless currency, the unworthiness of our currency will only get worse.
Unnecessary imports must be curtailed to encourage domestic innovation, and thus lessen demand for foreign currencies. The parliament must make sure all corrupt individuals who are threatening the economy, by having so much money in circulation are arrested and expeditiously tried, with their assets either frozen or confiscated.
This will in the long run, bring stability into the economy by letting the market play fairly following natural economic laws, reversing the current artificial environment created by the few rich who have inflated prices basically for everything to unrealistic levels, while demanding foreign currency for the services they offer.
I inexorably believe that, the Bank of Tanzania, has the power, and an upper hand, through its monetary policies to tame the problem if it decides and has the will to do so, especially by compelling depository and other financial institutions to cooperate in an effort to contain the dollarization pandemic. Countrys leadership, especially the parliament through passage of sweeping financial reforms and laws, can have far reaching effects in the efforts to rid the country of this problem.
The will to bring change must exist amongst the lawmakers; they must also understand the consequences of the dollarization to an economy. Alternatively, monetary experts may need to consider currency pegging as known in the economic circles or capital markets, in order to bring a temporary corrective measures while exploring long term solutions to the problem
The greatest solution of all is the citizenry who has more powers than any other institution .An ordinary citizen has the ability to refuse paying a dollar for the services rendered. This effort is the most effective and has far reaching consequences if can be pursued and adapted, because in the long run, it will bite where it hurts the most; the pocket of the perpetrator. An ordinary citizen has the power to boycott all businesses conducting their trade or services in foreign currency, and above all, has the power to vote out leaders who do not represent their interest and are part of the corruption syndicate .
There is no salvation available to the common man than his own self; Consumer Protection Agency which would have organized mass action, boycott, or institute legal action against these businesses is either dead or does not exist, or has been infiltrated by corruption, and rendered useless by the Kleptocrats, and I guess ordinary citizens are praying for the rise from dead Edward Sokoine, Julius Nyerere, and a few other true patriots who hated corruption with passion, to save their country.
If only we could unite and get rid of our enemy FEAR, we will see the re-birth of the Nyereres and Sokoines, of our generation, and the wind of change will blow our way.
Reminiscent to recent Zimbabwes, and Latin Americas dollarization of their economies in the turn of the decade, the musky and nascent cloud of dollarization of Tanzanian economy, is spelling the chronicle of failure foretold; collapsing of an economy at some point, unless immediate vigorous measures are taken.
Without being careful, and working aggressively to combat the growing dollarization, we may find ourselves in a state where all we have worked for becoming worthless, in exchange for sacks of banknotes to buy a loaf of bread. We must STOP the usage of dollar in our country, else we are handing our country over to the vultures of corruption
Mungu Ibariki Tanzania
John Mashaka
Mashaka.john@yahoo.com
