Thursday, February 09, 2012

GENERAL PERFORMANCE FOR NECTA FORM IV 2011 EXAMINATION RESULTS

According to the Citizen report, 225,126 of the 426,314 candidates equivalent to 53.37% candidates did well, which is an increase of 2.63 per cent compared to the 2010 results. A total of 223,085 or 50.74 per cent of students who sat for the 2010 examinations passed. 2011 saw a decrease of 14,209 students who sat for the exam from 363,589 in 2010 to 349,390. Of that number, 199,019 were males and 150,371 were females. Among private candidates, there was an increase of 6,409 candidates to 100,934 candidates with males numbering 49,506 and females 51,428.

For more views and statistics read the following articles from The Citizen & Mwananchi Tanzania. (Click to open) 

Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Africa Is Open for Business


Angola is offering financial aid to debt-ridden Portugal. The Economist recently declared Africa a "hopeful continent" after years of writing it off as "hopeless." More than a million Chinese are in Africa exploring opportunities in villages and cities. The continent is attracting top global brands and has a growing middle class. There's a sense of upbeat optimism with possibilities that seem endless. As the lions roar from Kenya to Ghana, and cheetahs from South Africa to Mali, young Africans are unleashing their entrepreneurial energy and most governments are offering stronger leadership, a more business-friendly economy, and less corruption.
But, Africa is not an isolated island in the world, and ongoing uncertainty with some of its trading partners could imperil any sustainable progress. A trade shock is just around the corner, as the continent remains reliant on a mineral-based economy. And new, rosy economic statistics have not managed to stop strikes, riots, and other protests, which are the result of the continued reality of economic inequality. What's more, Africa is complex, fragmented and multicultural. What works in Nigeria is not guaranteed to work in Kenya.
But, none of this should keep businesses from expanding into African markets. The international community should not ignore a growing market of roughly a billion people. Africa needs about $50 billion to meet its development goals over the next few years, and it needs the help of the international community to tackle the vicious cycle of poverty, disease and hunger in Africa today.
African economies are growing, and millions have moved into the middle class category within the last decade. And Africans are buying things, from iPads to Porsches. Africans are also becoming global players, with some of their banks — such as United Bank for Africa and Guaranty Trust Bank — opening offices in the U.S., France and the U.K. Investments in the continent will grow, and the following areas remain the most promising:
·         Energy: Despite the abundance of resources like solar, oil, water and gas, most Africans still have no reliable energy supply. The challenge has been the cost-intensive, long-term reward nature of these projects in unpredictable political systems. It's simply too risky for businesses to invest in this sector.
·         Minerals: As the world economy recovers, African minerals such as crude oil and gold will remain important to the global economy, as demand increases. Investing in extracting and processing these minerals will remain a lucrative venture.
·         Agriculture: Africa is unfed in a continent with good, arable land. Africa imports its food, despite the fact that it produces enough to feed its citizens. The problem is that harvests are poorly managed due to a lack of preservation techniques, which means that much of the food goes to waste and Africa goes hungry even after bumper harvests. Food production, processing, and preservation will remain a profitable growth area.
·         Technology: Africa has not attracted capacity-building investments, such as R&D centers and hi-tech manufacturing. In the coming years, as global buyers become more sophisticated, companies that differentiate their products within local markets will have a strong competitive advantage. Africa is no exception. For example, telecoms can be profitable in Africa not for selling airtime, but for powering value-added services such as mobile banking and mobile business, among others, that address the needs of this unique population.
Four things will drive the African economy in this decade:
·         African diasporas: The diasporas who have acquired world-class skills with international networks will drive sustainable African development. As the global economy recovers from recession, their impact will continue to expand.
·         Education: Education is a weak link in the development of the continent. Major foreign investment has not come to the sector owing to low return, but some African governments are working hard to change that. For instance, Rwanda and Carnegie Mellon University have teamed up to offer a graduate-level program in East Africa. The new campus will train talent for companies who want to make products closer to Africans. Better education will also serve to advance the entrepreneurial ecosystem on the continent.
·         Intra-trade: The trade route to colonial links will become weaker as these nations become richer and make choices purely based on market factors. For instance, Cameroon could choose South Africa, rather than France, to process some of its food.
·         Infrastructure: Though the regional economic communities (RECs) have not lead to monetary unions, Africa is poised to benefit from the integration of its various economies, and can learn from the euro zone crisis when strategizing about its own single currency program (PDF). The RECs will form free trade areas, which will help modernize infrastructure, among other things.
Africa's biggest risk is its political system. New governments have cancelled mine contracts and leases executed by predecessors. The continent faces challenges if it cannot prepare for its post-mineral era. As I drive by dead mines that generated billions of dollars of wealth around the world, but left no sustainable community development behind, I have to wonder: What will the domino effect be if the continent cannot transmute effectively into a post-mineral era? Africa needs a redesign of its economy towards a knowledge-driven one. New industries remain underfunded and quality startups are scarce.
Africa is open for business, and tomorrow's global leaders should understand both the risks and the opportunities that are available here. There is the potential for corporations to make billions of dollars in profits in Africa. But, much more importantly, contributing to a strong and sustainable Africa could just be the next generation of global leaders' greatest legacy.

Friday, February 03, 2012

10 SIMPLE TRUTHS SMART PEOPLE FORGET

Some of the smartest people I know continuously struggle to get ahead because they forget to address a few simple truths that collectively govern our potential to make progress.  So here’s a quick reminder:

#1 – Education and intelligence accomplish nothing without action.
It doesn’t matter if you have a genius IQ and a PhD in Quantum Physics, you can’t change anything or make any sort of real-world progress without taking action.  There’s a huge difference between knowing how to do something and actually doing it.  Knowledge and intelligence are both useless without action.  It’s as simple as that. 

#2 – Happiness and success are two different things.
I know an extremely savvy businesswoman who made almost a million dollars online last year. Every entrepreneur I know considers her to be wildly successful.  But guess what?  A few days ago, out of the blue, she told me that she’s depressed.  Why?  “I’m burnt out and lonely.  I just haven’t taken enough time for myself lately,” she said.  “Wow!” I thought.  “One of the most successful people I know isn’t happy.”
I also know a surfer who surfs almost all day, every day on the beach in front of our condo complex in San Diego.  He’s one of the most lighthearted, optimistic guys I’ve ever met – always smiling from ear to ear.  But he sleeps in a van he co-owns with another surfer and they both frequently panhandle tourists for money.  So while I can’t deny that this man seems happy, I wouldn’t classify his life as a success story.
“What will make me happy?” and “What will make me successful?” are two of the most important questions you can ask yourself.  But they are two different questions.

#3 – Everyone runs their own business.
No matter how you make a living or who you think you work for, you only work for one person, yourself.  The big question is:  What are you selling, and to whom?  Even when you have a full-time, salaried, ‘Corporate America’ position, you are still running your own business.  You are selling one unit of your existence (an hour of your life) at a set price (the associated fraction of your salary) to a customer (your employer).


#4 – Having too many choices interferes with decision making.
Here in the 21st century where information moves at the speed of light and opportunities for innovation seem endless, we have an abundant array of choices when it comes to designing our lives and careers.  But sadly, an abundance of choice often leads to indecision, confusion and inaction.
Several business and marketing studies have shown that the more product choices a consumer is faced with, the less products they typically buy.  After all, narrowing down the best product from a pool of three choices is certainly a lot easier than narrowing down the best product from a pool of three hundred choices.  If the purchasing decision is tough to make, most people will just give up.
So if you’re selling a product line, keep it simple.  And if you’re trying to make a decision about something in your life, don’t waste all your time evaluating every last detail of every possible option.  Choose something that you think will work and give it a shot.  If it doesn’t work out, choose something else and keep pressing forward.

#5 – All people possess dimensions of success and dimensions of failure.
This point is somewhat related to point #2 on happiness and success, but it stands strong on its own as well…
Trying to be perfect is a waste of time and energy.  Perfection is an illusion.
All people, even our idols, are multidimensional.  Powerful business men, polished musicians, bestselling authors, and even our own parents all have dimensions of success and dimensions of failure present in their lives.
Our successful dimensions usually encompass the things we spend the most time doing.  We are successful in these dimensions because of our prolonged commitment to them.  This is the part of our lives we want others to see – the successful part that holds our life’s work.  It’s the notion of putting our best foot forward.  It’s the public persona we envision as our personal legacy:  “The Successful ABC” or “The Award Winning XYZ.”
But behind whichever polished storyline we publically promote, there lies a multi-dimensional human being with a long list of unprofessed failures.  Sometimes this person is a bad husband or wife.  Sometimes this person laughs at the expense of others.  And sometimes this person merely takes their eyes off the road and rear-ends the car in front of them.

#6 – Every mistake you make is progress.
Mistakes teach you important lessons.  Every time you make one, you’re one step closer to your goal.  The only mistake that can truly hurt you is choosing to do nothing simply because you’re too scared to make a mistake.
So don’t hesitate – don’t doubt yourself.  In life, it’s rarely about getting a chance; it’s about taking a chance.  You’ll never be 100% sure it will work, but you can always be 100% sure doing nothing won’t work.  Most of the time you just have to go for it!
And no matter how it turns out, it always ends up just the way it should be.  Either you succeed or you learn something.  Win-Win.  Remember, if you never act, you will never know for sure, and you will be left standing in the same spot forever.

#7 – People can be great at doing things they don’t like to do.
Although I’m not suggesting that you choose a career or trade you dislike, I’ve heard way too many smart people say something like, “In order to be great at what you do, you have to like what you do.”  This just isn’t true.
A good friend of mine is a public accountant.  He has told me on numerous occasions that he dislikes his job – “that it bores him to death.”  But he frequently gets raises and promotions.  At the age of 28, out of nearly a thousand Jr. Accountants in his division, he’s one of only two who were promoted to be Sr. Accountants this past year.  Why?  Because even though he doesn’t like doing it, he’s good at what he does.
I could come up with dozens of other examples just like this, but I’ll spare you the details.  Just realize that if someone dedicates enough time and attention to perfecting a skill or trade, they can be insanely good at doing something they don’t like to do.  

#8 – The problems we have with others are typically more about us.
Quite often, the problems we have with others – our spouse, parents, siblings, etc. – don’t really have much to do with them at all.  Because many of the problems we think we have with them we subconsciously created in our own mind.  Maybe they did something in the past that touched on one of our fears or insecurities.  Or maybe they didn’t do something that we expected them to do.  In either case, problems like these are not about the other person, they’re about us.
And that’s okay.  It simply means these little predicaments will be easier to solve.   We are, after all, in charge of our own decisions.  We get to decide whether we want to keep our head cluttered with events from the past, or instead open our minds to the positive realities unfolding in front of us.
All we need is the willingness to look at things a little differently – letting go of ‘what was’ and ‘what should have been,’ and instead focusing our energy on ‘what is’ and ‘what could be possible.’

#9 – Emotional decisions are rarely good decisions.
Decisions driven by heavy emotion are typically misguided reactions rather than educated judgments.  These reactions are the byproduct of minimal amounts of conscious thought and primarily based on momentary ‘feelings’ instead of mindful awareness.
The best advice here is simple:  Don’t let your emotions trump your intelligence.  Slow down and think things through before you make any life-changing decisions.

#10 – You will never feel 100% ready when an opportunity arises.
The number one thing I persistently see holding smart people back is their own reluctance to accept an opportunity simply because they don’t think they’re ready.  In other words, they believe they require additional knowledge, skill, experience, etc. before they can aptly partake in the opportunity.  Sadly, this is the kind of thinking that stifles personal growth.
The truth is nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises.  Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow emotionally and intellectually.  They force us to stretch ourselves and our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first.  And when we don’t feel comfortable, we don’t feel ready.
Just remember that significant moments of opportunity for personal growth and development will come and go throughout your lifetime.  If you are looking to make positive changes in your life you will need to embrace these moments of opportunity even though you will never feel 100% ready for them.

By: Marc

Monday, January 30, 2012

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

IS COMPETITION IN POLITICS GOOD FOR A COUNTRY?


Competition is as essential in politics as it is in business. The principles of economic reform apply to politics as well. Competitive economy cannot thrive without truly competitive politics offering real choice, and promoting leadership. There is a strong link between a strong opposition presence in Parliament and the performance of the incumbent party. 

Most voters, particularly the older generation, still see the opposition as a motley crew of charlatans who cannot be treated seriously. After all, these folks grew up associating the word “opposition” with people who oppose for the sake of opposing. Many if not most people still see the ruling party through the rose-tinted glasses of sentimentality. After all, the CCM of yesteryear was honest, incorruptible and relentless in its drive to turn Tanzania from a colonial backwater into a bustling metropolis. Many older voters still recall the days when they lived in dilapidated shop-houses, and appreciate the fact that they now benefit from modern sanitation. After all, when CCM came into power, the only means of waste disposal was to wait for the night-soil collectors to do their rounds. The younger generation did not experience such hardships, and are unlikely to give the present-day CCM much credit for achievements gained in the 1970s to 1990s.

The presence of young, promising candidates like Mr David Kafulila (NCCR-Mageuzi), Mr. Zitto Kabwe (Chadema), Ms Halima Mdee (Chadema) and many others will only serve to highlight that there is absolutely no stigma attached to joining the opposition. If one were to look beyond the quantitative aspects of the election results and consider the qualitative progress that has been made, it is indeed remarkable that an alternative elite has emerged, the real change that has taken place in Tanzania’s political landscape and CCM now has much more competition than ever before.

The threat is no longer singular; it can no longer be confined to one constituency not when so many CCM strongholds saw the CCM scrape with just 68.6% in the 2010 presidential elections from about 80% in 2005. The final results also showed some progress for the opposition parties. The CCM took 186 of the 239 seats, down from 206 recorded in 2005. Unless the main opposition parties once again shoot themselves in the foot, there is no way the competition will get weaken. Rather, it will grow more intense, and this is a reality that will not be escaped. 

CCM being the ruling party, much is expected, not only by its members, but also by Tanzanians as a whole. The party has been in existence for about 34 year more than any of the other parties and has an immense challenge to perform in a manner that it doesn't betray the people's trust.

The population is getting increasingly younger and correspondingly, the number of people with an emotional attachment to CCM, a "child" of Tanu and ASP, and who would vote it to power "no matter what", is dwindling. It is, therefore, by delivering on its election promises and pushing its government to act decisively on people's concerns that the party can assure itself of survival at the helm. When you give a promise, people, especially the young, take note, and you must expect very difficult questions if you deliver anything short of what you pledged you would give in exchange for their vote.

I believe that its time for the party leaders to question themselves if there is anything they should have done to make the lives of Tanzanians much better but did not do it. Ours is a country endowed with natural resources that are the envy of Africa; minerals, arable land, water bodies and appreciably favourable climate. But why then, have we continued to remain one of the world's poorest countries?

Despite our legacy as a country that cherishes equality and justice, the gap between the haves and the have-nots is getting wider. Yet, we haven't deleted the clause in the Constitution that defines Tanzania as a socialist country! The only way forward for the party is to acknowledge that the world, now defined a global village, has changed and continues to change fast. CCM's survival, as the ruling party or indeed, just as a party, will heavily depend on how adept it will be at handling new challenges in the face of "the wind of change".  

No one can be forced to stay in a party, and any such attempt will violate the freedom of association guaranteed in the Constitution. And yet, instinctively most of us feel that party-hopping is reprehensible. How do we deal with this problem? The problem can be posed differently. The economic liberalization process initiated in 1991 is all about removal of entry barriers in the market, and offering greater choice to consumers. The resultant competition improved quality, gave choice, and stabilized prices. As monopolies are broken and genuine competition is ushered in, firms became competitive, and productivity went up. But in the realm of politics, entry barriers remain, monopolies continue, and choices are denied.

Should we interpret greater choice in politics as license to defect at will? Obviously a lot of defections are self-serving, and voters are still denied choices. Today all mainstream parties are somewhat indistinguishable, notwithstanding their valiant efforts to differentiate themselves by symbolism and clever jargon. Therefore people feel cheated despite a 'free' and 'fair' poll. No genuine alternatives are offered to the electorate. Politicians too can cross fences with the ease of acrobats, as all major parties look and feel alike. Who will represent which party on a given day is a guessing game. Except for a few top leaders of major parties, almost anyone can switch loyalties any time. It is as simple as selling the shares of a company, and buying those of a new one. All that matters is anticipated returns, and short-term maximization.

Clearly, that is not the kind of 'competition' and 'choice' we seek in politics. Then how do we reconcile our notions of freedom, choice and competition with fairness, principles and public good? This question must be addressed, if we are to build a political system we can trust and respect. How can we then offer choices, encourage competition, generate opportunities, and promote freedom in the political arena?

To addressing this question, first, we need internal democracy in political parties. Members are denied choice, and there is no true or fair competition among contenders within a party in the only arena that matters the market place of ideas. When Parties choose better candidates as a result of political competition, the better candidates become better politicians who get the job done. Therefore, from a normative perspective, the findings call for institutions and policies able to increase voters’ information and awareness about the quality of political candidates and enhance the degree of contestability of the electoral races. 

Secondly, the monopoly of power in state and national governments must end. People get better choices, and party workers get opportunities for leadership if local governments are truly empowered. Third, there are serious entry barriers in politics, promoting oligopolies. A party cannot be viable until it gets about 200 members. Chama Cha Jamii’s (CCJ). Was locked out of the 2010 general elections because  the party didn’t meet the Section 10 (b) of the Political Parties Act Cap 258 requires a political party seeking permanent registration to obtain not less than 200 members from each of at least ten regions. 

And also the Registrar of Political Parties office governed by  Mr John Tendwa, claimed it didn’t  have the budget to finance the verification of documents submitted by the opposition party.  The process includes sending officials to ten regions where the party recruited its members. Why did the Registrar’s office of deny the rights of CCJ?  This must had its roots in the transition from single-party rule to a multi-party democracy. It was a controlled transition rather than a negotiated one where all players are involved in the process. 

The transition was controlled by ruling party CCM, whose leaders appointed the Registrar of Political Parties that made him the controller rather than Registrar of Political Parties. I don’t understand when the Registrar claims that he doesn’t have money that he is supposed to have to do his work. Imagine what would have happen if more than one political party had applied for a permanent registration. Opposition parties are being marginalised, and people are denied real choices.  In order to prevent fragmentation, we can have a reasonable entry barrier high enough to promote consolidation, and low enough to allow real competition in the form of a minimum vote share requirement for representation in legislatures.

Lastly, praises and criticisms are ingredients of democracy and development because out of divergent views solutions to problems are found.  But the bottom line is respect. Proponents of either side of the argument must respect each other.  Ones argument can be rubbished for either being pro government or in support of the opposition. This is where we miss the point. Not only should we respect each other but also listen and tolerate different views.

Author 
Rodrick Wilbroad
Business Economics & Management  


Saturday, December 31, 2011

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Saturday, November 19, 2011

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

Thursday, October 27, 2011

DO YOU NEED TO FAIL TO FINALLY SUCCEED?


If failure is not exactly a prerequisite for success, it is very often a precursor. As some wise person once said, ‘show me someone who hasn’t failed and I’ll show you someone who hasn’t tried’.

The famous story of Thomas Edison in his quest to invent the filament that was to eventually power the electric light bulb is repeatedly told in self improvement literature as a model of persistence. It is said that Edison failed ten thousand times before he finally conducted the experiment that eventually led to the production of the first commercially viable incandescent light.

By the way, Edison didn’t invent the light bulb, as so many people seem to think. But when you come to think of his astonishing achievements of which the light bulb is just one, is it any wonder that his opinion of success embraces the concept of repeated failure? “Many of life’s failures”, said Edison, “are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

And here are some more failures who didn’t give up:

  1. Bill Gates, the richest man in the world was a Harvard University dropout.
  2. Marilyn Monroe was dropped by 20th Century-Fox because her producer thought she was unattractive and could not act.
  3. Beethoven’s music teacher said of him, “as a composer, he is hopeless”
  4. Michael Jordan was dropped from his high school basketball team because of his “lack of skill”.
  5. Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because, “he lacked imagination and had no good ideas”. 
  6. John Grisham’s first novel was rejected by sixteen agents and twelve publishing houses.
  7. Henry Ford’s first two automobile companies ended in failure.
  8. Soichiro Honda was turned down by Toyota Motor Corporation for a job as an engineer.
  9. J.K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected by twelve publishers.

Perhaps self-belief is what caused those people listed above to persist and perhaps too, they were not deluded in terms of their own abilities. Being realistic about what you are capable of achieving is no doubt an important factor, but whatever it is you are trying to achieve, you should realise that persistence is also a vital key to success.