Democratic government is supposed to bring about, more or less, the wants of the people. Tanzanian democracy should be no different. The problem with the Tanzanian people, however, is that they do not always know what they want.
When a certain power company was supplementing electricity for the power grid at significant cost to the people, the people decided to abandon this arrangement. This move led to resumption of power cuts, a deserved litigation defeat and thus a hefty fine for a contractual breach. Is this what the people wanted? Absolutely not. They did not want to pay the fine, yet they seemed to not want the initial deal either.
The policy makers, who were privy to the relevant information (particularly about the terms of the contract), should not have succumbed to populist politics and informed the people of the consequences of not only breaking contract but the ensuing power blues without some sort of long term contingent plan.
Recently I, along with many other residents in Tanzania, have enjoyed uninterrupted power supply due to improved electricity generation at the Independent Power Tanzania Limited’s Tegeta thermal plant. Additional power generating projects are also in the pipeline (no pun intended). This is good news. So this is my beef: Why is it that when the country is in darkness because of power rationing, people are quick to voice their criticism of the government and yet when that situation gets relatively better, no one is even shedding light (pun intended) on the government’s ongoing positive work to solve this problem?
As an aspiring responsible democracy, we need not only criticize our government for its inefficiencies, but also praise its triumphs. We need not only oppose wasteful mismanagement of our government’s revenues but also laud prudent and transparent spending. The Bunge seems to be taking the lead on being critically aggressive towards public policy put forward by the current administration. Yes, somethings are still wasteful and there is certainly a need for greater accountability and transparency. But legitimate debate need not be loud for it to be legitimate.
Unless you are Boris Yeltsin atop a tank defending one’s democratic ideals seldom warrant yelling and random pounding of the fists. Let us voice our concerns, but let us also voice our praises when our government gets it right. Let us stop this deafening silence and send our many kudos to the people responsible for this much needed respite from the darkness.
We can’t applaud the government for putting us in a Catch 22.
@Hyperkei No we can’t, but I agree with Constantine in terms of our need to voice our approval to our government just as much as we voice our disapproval. The last week has been blessed in comparison to the rationing before…
@Hyperkei: It is easy to say that when the government even does provide progress. Look at other countries out there where not even an ounce of progress happens. Case in point: Bob’s Zimbabwe.
@AK: Thanks for the support.
Constantine,i dont get your point…the role of a government is to govern and deliver promises made at elections, the defeaning silence is because they are failing. Approval/praises are given at the election box when Tanzanians grant the government the privillege of leading them:apart from this,nothing else matters.
If the government is looking for praises then maybe they should start a team and join the Premier league (but even there they’ll need to kick goals to win accolades from their fans). But in short i see nothing wrong with “the defeaning silence”,after 50 years of quite applause for mediocracy,it is probably more than over due.
For example, consider that,even with the power situation,when it is on,only 14% of Tanzanians “enjoy” uninterupted electricity supply;the rest are in the dark with no connection to the grid: after 40 years of self-government you want to applaud that? Please,its too much!
@Kadebe: Correct me if I’m wrong; but you want to bank every 5 years worth of political, economic and social development on one tick that you put on a sheet of paper and dump into a box? I’m sorry compadre but I think that is an illusion imported from other countries into Tanzania. If you want to see real things happening in Tanzania you will need to put your pens and papers away and try and act and voice your concerns – and approvals – every step of the way. That means monitoring your government’s actions on a day to day basis, as every citizen has a right and a responsibility to. OK, you sound stressed and angry about the things you should be stressed and angry about. But how do you expect things to become better when you simply complain from a macro perspective? We might as well be living back in 1912 my friend. Look at the bright side a little, no pun intended.
@Kadebe: Sawa. The citizenry voices their approval/disapproval at the ballot boxes. But to say that political discourse among the ruling and opposing fractions of our government starts and ends at the ballot box is to undermine the level of intellect and fervor for political discourse in our country. And am sorry, the Tanzanian people are among the most skilled debaters when it comes to many things, least of which is not politics. Take for instance, discussions on rosters, strategy and the like about the English Premier League (to borrow from your example), where Tanzanians debate constantly as skilled as any one in England itself.
So I do not agree that the public should only voice their criticisms and not their approval of good policy. If you read my pieces, I try my best to do both. Whenever the government does something stupid, I am quick to point that out, however, for the sake of symmetry (and fairness), I also try and point out when our government gets it right.
And lastly, 14% however meager this might seem is still better than the 0% before. Additionally, the denominator for that 14% is incorrect. Usually, that denominator is the whole populace (even those that were never connected to the electric grid even before these rations). That denominator should be those that are connected to the grid, and I can guarantee that the percentage will increase. Also, our government like or not, has electrified more people since Independence. Prior governments have done worse to this country than the current people working immensely hard, having inherented the mismanagement of years of institution neglect, including investing in electricity generation. I understand your frustration, ila we should stop and think before always criticizing and not praising.
@Fierce Fred: Kabisa.
If a person is inflicting extreme torture to you but decreased the intensity of that torture for a bit then you should applaud because in Zimbabwe they are in constant pain? No I don’t so
That logic sounds like it is from a person suffering from Stockholm Syndrome
And your proof that the government is working immensely hard is?
@Hyperkei: That is a good way to put it, and I see your point now. But what you are calling for is a little different from what Kadebe was saying.
While in my perspective Kadebe was suggesting that the “democratic process” will solve problems in Tanzania, you are suggesting that a complete overhaul of the governing process is needed.
I think the problem is that while Constantine and I seem to be justifying the democratic process and using it for positive moves, you and Kadebe do not want to settle on the current system at all.
And I’m beginning to believe that is the only way as well… Your thoughts?
@Anonymous: I believe Constantine was referring to the few days last week when we had between 48-72 hours of continuous power in TZ.
By the way everyone, the East African this week has a comprehensive report on the power rationing that is taking place across the EA region (not just TZ). Where does this leave us?
@ Fierce Fred
I’m not suggesting anything actually, all I’m saying is we can’t applaud the government for solving the electricity saga because the saga shouldn’t have been there to begin with.
The government has been under the same political party these last 50 years, so it can’t shift the blame to nobody else.
Now this Constantine guy (presumably) is asking us not to criticize the government for putting us in a dubious power deal just because we can’t live with the consequences if the deals are revoked. He forgets that the government had no business putting us in such a deal in the first place.
And democracy has no part in this one since the dubious deals were not achieved democratically. It’s not like the people were asked about the contracts and now are saying otherwise.
We will give props to the government when it deserves e it, but not for this one.
@Anon Cool, I get you now. So how do you suggest we move forward with our power crises?
@ Fierce Fred
All I know is we cant solve the problem with no long term strategies
I personally think our best and quick option is to use coal to generate electricity. Coal efficiency is pretty low but it is an option taken by almost every country in the world.
We have sufficient coal for it to be cost affective but it seems the few elites in the government are still searching for some loop holes to make some quick bucks out of it.
Another option is the Stigler’s George Project, but it is also moving at a snail’s pace.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:-ynwjPdBlggJ:www.foreign.go.tz/index.php/news/more/brazil_nods_at_tanzanias_stiegler_gorge_power_project/+steiglers+george+tanzania+power&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&client=firefox-a&source=www.google.com
Both options are not popular with ‘environmentalist’, but as a nation we need to do some cost benefit analysis and come up with solutions benefiting the mwananchi .
And if a project is not beneficial to the mwananchi then the mwananchi should be told so with clear proof.
@Hyperkei So now the Brazilians have come to Rufiji Basin as well! Not too long ago, this website has something about the same area being host to South Korean investment. That Mr. Masanja guy either knows what he’s doing or is selling out. We’re a coastal nation, couldn’t we use wind and tidal power like… Yesterday?
Sijui kama coal is a good solution just ’cause the “others” are using it. We need to be smarter than them, our development is different from their, just as theirs is different from one another.
@Hyperkei: I love that you are thinking of ways out of the current crisis. That is exactly what we should encourage of our legislators Bungeni. I personally am against coal as it is incredibly pollutant. I would advise for major investments in renewable environmentally friendly methods, such as solar, wind and the like. However, as an interim solution, am very willing to concede to coal and any other suggested. I am very willing to be part of this discussion.
@Anonymous: Firstly, there is no need for the jazba. The government being from the same political party is correct and incorrect at the same time. CCM is a fusion between mainland’s TANU and the Isles’ ASP. This happened in 1977, which would make the party a mere 34 years.
And secondly, the party has evolved immensely since then, from being a purely socialist party to now being some schizophrenic version of a socialist party. So, no, the CCM today is not the CCM of yesterday.
Additionally, when an administration inherits issues from another administration, regardless of the party, these are still inherited and deep-rooted issues that take more than the wave of a wand to mend. CHADEMA, perhaps viewed as the lesser of the two evils, have the people convinced that all it will take is a wave of the wand to mend whatever deep-rooted issues they will inherit from CCM. 1. Their change will not come as easily as they think. And 2. the people will be unforgiving if they use this “we inherited the problem” excuse if things do not go their way. So, whether CCM or not, the people will and do not care whether the issue was inherited. The people are certainly less forgiving than my piece suggests. The piece merely suggests that although we are in this mess (in no part due to many in government today), the people in government TODAY should be lauded for ANY effort to ameliorate the problem. And yes, Anonymous, reducing pain, however infinite is certainly better than the status quo or even worse, increasing the pain. That is why it is called poverty ALLEVIATION and not poverty ELIMINATION.
@Fierce Fred: I am loving your point. We should not follow others like a heard of nyumbu. We should observe and “Tanzanianize” their successes. Well put, Sir. Well put.
@ Fred
The way things are being run in Tanzania right now it is not possible to be as smart as them let alone smarter than them.
We can’t use tide because of the same reasons other countries near the ocean can’t. We don’t have favorable conditions for tidal power. Wind is a better option though one of it’s many problem is it’s abrupt variance in voltage and frequency with wind speed, which is not good for a weak grid like ours. Solar is not cost affective at all at the moment and the subsidy from the government will be humoungous to run the project (especially since the price of electricity is pretty low comparing to the real costs)
I will still vouch for coal since it is available and using oil as we are doing now is no better for the environment.
And again I will not applaud the government for taking away the pain which it inflicted in the first place. I refuse to be like those ppl who feel they need to protect their kidnapers in court just because they didn’t rape them too
Somebody is asking us to give props to the government when the ministry’s badget couldn’t be approved by the parliament, was full of falsified data, and over 1billion shillings bribe scandal!
You guys are not serious …..
Constantine, you have provoked a fantastic debate. I share your fundamental view of seeking and celebrating solutions and progress. one place to start is, as you have done, by recognising that we are led by imperfect human beings, that the crowd can be incredibly unwise, and that praise can lead to more good deeds, even from governments.
@Aidan: Debate is quite healthy, and this one is as healthy as they come. I agree with you completely. In fact, your articulation is far better than mine a la: “…we are led by imperfect human beings, that the crowd can be incredibly unwise, and that praise can lead to more good deeds, EVEN (emphasis mine) from governments.” Outstanding. In one sentence.