When some of us heard that the first trip out of the country the president of Tanzania was making was to Rwanda, we were like, that’s great. Rwanda has acquired an international reputation for good governance and prosperity. Very fitting. Why?
The answer is in the motto of the nation of Rwanda. Unity, work, patriotism. Those words symbolise and capture very well the philosophy of the fifth president of Tanzania. His ‘hapa kazi tu’ motto, he has vowed to serve all Tanzanians regardless of political affiliation, and he keeps reminding Tanzanians that the country’s riches belong to all citizens. “You must know, first of all, that you are in your brother’s place.
Since you were elected, you presence has been refreshing. Your words and deeds reflect our vision. Your stance against corruption is very refreshing. We are committed to working with partners who feel we have to raise our level of dignity because that is what we deserve.”
That was president Kagame speaking at the official dinner he hosted in honour of President Magufuli. He said much more but I believe when he stated the above he was not playing the polite host but expressing genuine feelings about a leader he admirers and respects.
Tanzanian patriots must have felt very pleased to hear those words. Not too long ago there was a kind of frostiness between Rwanda and Tanzania and cold air and was blowing at the top of the food chain. Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya forged some kind of alliance in which Tanzania was quietly excluded.
Before Magufuli came to power, friendly Tanzania was beginning to look like the ugly bride often abandoned at the economic altar by political suitors. Then the bulldozer swept into power, levelling the money mountain of our very own Trump and toppling well-connected CCM establishment candidates.
In record time the East African sun began to shine on Tanzania. An oil pipeline to Uganda that was initially expected to be laid in neighbouring Kenya somehow changed course and shifted to Tanzania. President Museveni and his (dare I say) newfound friend announced the startling news in Arusha.
Now that JPM has visited Rwanda, will there be a railway line to Kigali? Anything is possible. Rwanda deserve to have a reliable railway line for the thousands of tons of imports and exports, most of which are transported by road, which is quite expensive.
But Magufuli has eased travel delays and unnecessary costs to road transportation to Kigali. He just removed eight roadblocks between Dar and Kigali that had been a sticky point on the relationship with Rwanda.
President Kagame had personally made the road trip in the past and had asked for help from the government of JK to address this, help that never came. JPM answered with few words but lots of works. He snapped his fingers and the road blocks disappeared. Hopefully Tanzanian traffic police will not erect temporary ones in their place because that source of ‘chai’ is gone.
Improving trade and investment between the two countries can significantly benefit their citizens in the short and long term. Better transportation of goods from Tanzania to Rwanda and back will save Rwanda millions of dollars.
With president Magufuli fighting corruption in his nation with all his powers, Rwanda will find it easier to do business with Tanzania. Hopefully JPM in his brief visit managed to pick some tips and tricks from the veteran president of Banyarwanda. How Tanzania can maintain high degree of cleanliness, the way Rwanda has managed to do. Or how to attract Bill Gates to support the IT sector in Tanzania.
There is so much we can do with computers in schools. I believe Microsoft had pioneered an affordable laptop that could be used by elementary school pupils. Instead of Tanzania investing a lot in building more classrooms and training many teachers, the teacher becomes the laptop.
What lessons can we learn from Rwanda about introducing ICT in classrooms? Clearly thousands of school-going children are accessing the internet in Tanzania through mobile phones, with or without the consent of teachers and parents. Can we enhance instead of impeding such access, and use it to make learning fun instead of duty? Back to the reality at home, it seems some public companies are giving workers bonuses.
Recently the energy minister ordered the power utility company to shelve their intention to award bonuses of between one and fifty million shillings to employees. Tanzanians concur with the minister wholeheartedly.
How can Tanesco reward its workers when electricity is still unaffordable and unreliable? You know Mr President, there are still thousands of unpatriotic Tanzanians who only care about what they can personally benefit from the county.
Look at how very high salaries are for leaders and managers of public entities. Tanzanians laud your decision to reduce your salary to 9.5 million shillings from 34 million. For a poor country like ours, even that is a lot of money. Many of the daily needs of the President are paid for by treasury.
You have free housing, transport, electricity, water and entertainment. Perhaps clothing and food are wholly or partly covered by public funds. Look carefully also at entitlements of retired political leaders, especially those put in place after the death of Mwalimu Nyerere.
Are they in line with modest lifestyles befitting a developing nation of peasants and workers? I was recently talking to a sister of mine who refused to understand the rationale of paying 35 million shillings salary to say the director of a company like the national housing corporation. How can we justify that?
From the many houses being built on loans? I said it is for making things happen, and for having the vision and drive to push through massive changes at NHC. She did not buy this. These days public workers are afraid to report late for work, but how are they performing?
There are many who were used to ‘easy money’ from sitting allowances, sleeping allowances, lunch money, frequent travel and maybe ‘chai’ from those desperate for services. Now that president JPM has closed some of those sources of quick earnings without productivity, are workers in good mood to work for the suffering public? How does Rwanda handle the remuneration and benefits of serving and retired public employees? And what of leaders? We need to make Tanzania great again.
For that to happen we have to work hard, be honest in dealing with the needs of the people and also be fair and just to both workers and peasants. Civil and political leaders must lead by example. Our neighbours are watching.
Source: Daily News

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