WHY ARE PEOPLE LOSING FAITH IN THEIR GOVERNMENT? TANZANIA CASE STUDY

Tanzania is currently facing a lot challenges and there are a lot of blames in different sectors which affect directly human life like land conflict, national interest in different contracts, education problems, corruption etc. In practice most of them should be enforced by the president. Many Tanzanians have been arguing of the of president’s silence on critical issue. Leaders have not kept their promises and are failing their citizens, according to a new report published by AU to monitor how African governments deliver on their development commitments, from increasing investment in healthcare and agriculture to improving human rights and tackling corruption, It found a picture of unfulfilled promises, missed targets and failure to invest in the development of the continent. African politics is now characterized by broken promises and there is a vast gap between the words of our leaders and the reality of our citizens, and we hope holding governments accountable can be the tipping point to bring real change. The reality on the ground is in accord with the discontent. Unremitting blackouts, clean and safe water shortage, and the interminable traffic blockade in Dar es Salaam are among the distresses that, if the ministers responsible had delivered on their promises, would have been problems of the past. 

We are getting more and more promises while problems are still getting worse by the day. University students from poor and struggling families are still not getting the allocations they deserve from the loans board, hand-to-mouth farmers are still being ripped off their meager harvests by greedy middlemen and fraudulent peddlers, and there is the question of public security as armed bandits strike and kill at their convenience across our borders and even within towns and cities. If a majority of Tanzanians, the poor and the rich, the schooled and the unschooled think a big cabinet is a burden and not the solution to the country’s problems why does it keep getting bigger? If it is really excessive and has a high cost of maintenance at the expense of taxpayers as claimed, what does that say about the perspicacity and intentions of the president who created it?

I believe you are one among millions of Tanzanians who believe the President and his whole cabinet has not done enough for this country yet, and perhaps his "Nguvu mpya, ari mpya na kasi mpya" and “Maisha bora kwa kila Mtanzania”slogans no longer conceal the reality which is accelerating abysmal poverty among millions of Tanzanians. It is true that the work of the president and his administration is to formulate realistic policies which are to be implemented hand in hand with the citizen’s commitment if they are to bore any desired fruits.

Before placing much blame on any one, lets us ask ourselves. “How actively have we evolved ourself in the wok of building our country in our respective field of profession? Or better still, "who is the problem, us or the government? I believe after critical analysis of these two questions we can be in a better position to define where our country is now and who pushed it there.

There few selfish individuals among government officials who use the position they are given for their personal benefits and this in turn discourages those interested when it comes to contributing on the country’s development. The leaders, have either forgotten their responsibilities, or don’t know what they are supposed to do, or it’s just the act of ignorance of the fact that most of Tanzanians are suffering while they and their families enjoy the effort of many Tanzanians who suffer to try and find ways to develop their country!

Look at the tax so called "PAYE" or pay as you earn, housing tax Etc. Check how much tax you’re charged for electricity bills under EWURA, TRA and other government agencies. In general Tanzanians are sweating a lot in terms of paying taxes they we pay but there is no proper, rational and realistic expenditures or allocation of those funds.

Now, the question is these people taxed are they not Tanzanians? Is that not playing their part in building their nation? Does the government want people to kill themselves such that it can appreciate their contributions? NO! I think the problem is leadership; our leaders have made politics as a project to provide good life to themselves and those close to them and not the general common interest of the Tanzanians!

No one can tell a person that he has not played his role in building the nation while being charged about 600, 0000 TSHS as income tax, pay 120,000 TSHS as motor vehicle license for his/her car, pay about 10,000 TSHS for every 40,000 TSHS worth of electricity used every month and pay VAT in almost everything every product he/she purchases daily.

Look at the mining sector, despite of having all those valuable minerals, 54.5% of revenue generated by the mining industry is just deductions from the workers’ wages and not levies on extracted minerals. This implies that the government depends more on labour tax than production by mining companies to boost revenue from the sector. Now what is the point of attracting more investors in the mining sector at the expense of workers? You can see that that minerals, gas and oil are not contributing as required to the national income. There are many investment attractions in the mining sector than the profit which is expected to be generated from projects. We are paying more than we get. According to the citizen report, it was revealed that over Sh24 billion which mining companies claim to have paid in taxes could not be traced on government books. The extractive companies paid about Sh89 billion to the government, which, in turn, reported to have received Sh64 billion only. Lack of strong mining policies, information and corruption are the reasons of such differences in revenues.

The battle against corruption, am personally not happy with government’s efforts to fight corruption not only but almost everyone is losing faith with the government. In 2010, Agenda Participation 2000 NGO through its project of Tanzania Corruption Tracker System did opinion gathering that collected citizen’s views on the way the government combat corruption in Tanzania. 88% of the respondents said the government was not doing enough to combat the vice. Recent reports released by Transparency International in 2010 also indicated that the general feeling was that corruption was on the increase globally and Tanzania was one of the most affected Countries, ranking poorly on the TI index.

It’s mostly poor citizens that are more affected by corruption because they have limited access to basic social services and in some instances lose lives for failure to pay a bribe for a service. The result from the poll is an indicator that government and other stakeholders have to put in more efforts to combat the vice. The government argues that a lot has been done in the fight against corruption, including arresting; prosecuting and even imprisoning some senior government officials for graft and negligence but this poll is a big litmus indicator that something is not.

Politicians are not doing enough to help the situation. Most politicians in Tanzania have emerged themselves in power struggle, they come to polls with sweet words to lure votes, but never deliver what is expected of them as soon as they get power. The situation is dire, and the current political turmoil which is sweeping out not only Tanzania Africa as a whole. Most politicians dwell on this weakness of the people to harvest our nation coffers. They know our society is quite ignorant, and then exploit the ignorance, at the end, the effects of such abuse of power fall harsh on average citizens just like you and me. 

We Tanzanians must open up their eyes and put their heads high. It’s time for action and not LAMENTATIONS! It is our duty to take it as our personal missions to make sure that every Tanzanian is educated, or those few who are being educated are receiving the necessary education for our time. The greatest power of any government lies within the people hands; we could pressure the government by peaceful and constructive ways to throw more light in the education area. By doing this, we will be building firm roots for any larger reforms which shall better our lives.

The doors are open for a debate on the need for a new constitution. I hope this will end the complaints and start an open cogent dialogue towards a new constitution. The fate of our nation is in our hands, we either build it now or break it into pieces!

Thank you