53 years of Independence: Need to build on successes

Anyone believing that Tanzania has not made any meaningful economic strides since Tanganyika’s Independence in 1961 is neither fair nor honest. Similarly, anyone giving the country a 100 per cent pass mark on that score is not being realistic.

Tanzania started off very well. Grinding poverty, which persists in parts of the country to this day, was high on the development agenda soon after independence in 1961. The first independent government under Father of the Nation Mwalimu Julius Nyerere identified it as one of the three main challenges of development alongside ignorance and disease.

The country was later to become a United Republic bringing together the mainland (Tanganyika) and the Isles (Zanzibar) in April 1964.

To start with, Tanzania adopted a mixed economy in which foreigners and Tanzanian nationals took part in the development strategy.

But this did not mean very much as country’s economy was still in the hands of the foreigners, which precipitated to promulgation of the Arusha Declaration of 1967 under which the country adopted the policy of socialism and self-reliance.

The country opted for nationalisation as a way of putting the major means of production and distribution in the hands of the majority Tanzanians. However, this was interrupted by economic crises starting in the late 1970s and the early 1980s.

We have witnessed a peaceful succession of power from Founding President Mwalimu Julius Nyerere right to current (Fourth-Phase) President Jakaya Kikwete, with CCM having dominated the political landscape since 1961 when the multi-party system was abolished.

The country reverted to the multi-party political system in 1992. Since then, the number of parties participating in politics has grown from 11 to 19 and its members are considerably vocal on issues such as transparency, accountability and governance generally.

Another big achievement is when the country embarked on the rewriting of the country’s Constitution of 1977. That was in 2012. The idea is that a new Constitution will be in place before the October 2015 General Election, but the road towards that goal is thorny and bumpy indeed.

We now also have the Big Results Now initiative, which took off last year and seeks to facilitate the achievement of Tanzania’s Development Vision 2025 by focusing government efforts on accelerating the attainment of results in priority areas including education.

One of the most significant achievements in the economy has to do with the massive natural gas reserves recently discovered.

Meanwhile, the government says the country is expected to realise only three out of seven Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the 2015 deadline.
These are those related to combating HIV/AIDS and reducing infant and under-five mortality, while lagging behind in primary school education, maternal health, poverty eradication, and environmental sustainability.

With all these achievements, we are asking why Tanzania officially remains one of the world’s poorest countries. In 2012, its average per capita income stood at $570, which placed it in the 176th position out of 191 countries. 

One thing is for sure: fighting corruption and strengthening transparency and accountability across all sectors and at all levels is of paramount importance.