INTERVIEW WITH PREMEDIA SOUTH AFRICA ON SUNDAY

Dear Followers, Readers and sympathisers, I am having an interviewwith South African Primedia  on Sunday at 8:00 to 9:30 South African time in J'burg or 2:00 to 3:30 Central Times in Manitoba, Canada. This live interview, hosted by Lee Woolf 
will exclusively dwell on my newest book Decolonising Colonial Education: Doing Away with Relics and Toxicity Embedded in the Racist Dominant Grand Narrative. I thus, will update you on the interview as it unfolds.

Angalia Makazi Binafsi ya Mwizi wa Zamani wa Ivory Coast Felix Houphouet Boigny

Jambazi huyu aliyeitwa rais wa nchi aliishi maisha ya anasa sana kwa kodi za maskini waliokuwa wakifa njaa wakati yeye akilisha hata kenge na mamba. Mbwa huyu binadamu alitanua akijidai kumwamimi Mungu wake wa Kikoloni hadi kumjengea Kanisa  kubwa kuliko yote lililofunguliwa na papa mwenyewe. Afrika isipoamka itafanyiwa kitu mbaya. Huyu alipaswa afukuliwe na kuchapwa viboko akiwa mfu.

WIMBO WA WIKI-NGOMA, MCHAWI ALIPOKUJA USIKU AKAROGA NYAMA PATAMU

’WAR AGAINST CORRUPTION INTENSIFIES THROUGH E-GOVERNMENT’’: We are trying but have not yet found a lasting solution.

                                                                                                                                                      The words in the heading of this article are quoted from a news item which appeared on page 8 of the DAILY NEWS on Friday, June 21^st, 2019, which continued thus: ‘’The Internet Society (ISOC) Tanzania Chapter, sees promising results in the war against corruption, as the Government now embraces online services through the e-government system. The Society’s remarks came at a time when the fifth phase Government has heightened the fight against the vice in the country’’.                                                                          

 is, certainly, most welcome good news. For it provides manifest independent evidence to show that President Magufuli is indeed ‘walking his talk’; because ‘’fighting corruption’’ was one of his firm promises made when he was campaigning for election to the Presidency in 2015.  Then later on in the week, another piece of good news appeared in the SUNDAY NEWS on June 23^rd, 2019; which disclosed the information that:  ‘’The Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), in partnership with the Embassy of Switzerland  and Netherlands, are implementing a special integrity project to step up the fight against graft in the country’’.  In summary form, it was a week of encouragement for the anti-graft campaigners.                                                     

Corruption is, of course, by far the most debilitating illness of ‘good governance’ in any country.  That is why I have chosen this matter as the subject for today’s article, for it enables me to draw attention to two basic facts, namely:  (a) that the fight against corruption in our society is an ongoing battle, i.e. there is no fixed time frame for concluding the war on corruption.  And (b) that it is a battle in which every good citizen is expected to participate. 

My weekly articles in this column are primarily intended to make a contribution, albeit a small one, to the enhancement of general knowledge regarding specified topics. For that reason, in this article, we will focus on the historical aspects, specifically the markedly differing strategies, that have been employed by different individual Presidents under different phases of our country’s Governments, in the on-going fight against corruption.  In this context, the word ‘strategy’ is used to mean ‘the process of carrying out a plan in a skillful way’.

President Nyerere’s strategy: ‘’Tulitutumia sheria kali’’.

Basically, the ‘war against corruption’ in Tanzania was initiated by Mwalimu Nyerere himself, even before he assumed office as the country’s top national leader. It was on 17^th May, 1960, when he delivered his ‘pathfinder speech’ regarding the evils of corruption in the Tanganyika Legislative Council, of which he was a back bench member and leader of the Tanganyika Elected Members Organization (TEMO); wherein he said the following:  ‘’I want to add another enemy to the list of our three declared major enemies of poverty, ignorance, and disease. I think it is necessary to add a fourth enemy, that is corruption . . . Mr. Speaker, I do believe that corruption is much more damaging to the well-being of the people during peace time, than the damage caused by actual war during war time. Corruption must therefore be fought relentlessly’’.             That was Mwalimu Nyerere’s clarion call to action in the war against corruption. He had declared it an ‘enemy of the people’, thus making it obligatory for every good citizen to participate in this war.                   

This must indeed be so, because corruption is like a virus, which is always around to infect any governance system, anywhere in the world.  If this virus faces no resistance or check, it will eat right into the vitals of the system itself, and eventually destroy it. Thus, in any truly democratic polity which observes the rule of law, a strong and vigilant public opinion is the only ‘built-in’ immune provision that can effectively resist, and restrict, the onslaught of the corruption viruses.
 This now reminds me of the ‘words of wisdom’ which came from Edmund Burke (1729 – 1797), who is reported to have said the following: ‘’For evil to triumph, it is only necessary for the good man to do nothing about it’’. His statement appears to underscore the point that the ultimate solution to the problem of corruption is for every citizen to become that ‘’good man’’ who refuses ‘’to do nothing about it’’, by actively participating in the eradication of this vice.

When he subsequently became Head of State and of the Government of Tanganyika, and later of the United Republic of Tanzania, Mwalimu Nyerere did in fact treat the evil of corruption with great determination and near ruthlessness.  He cased Parliament to enact legislation which imposed a mandatory sentence of two years imprisonment (without the alternative of a fine); plus, twenty-four strokes of the cane, twelve upon entry into prison, and twelve more on departure, upon completion of the prison term.  In doing so, his most fervent hope and primary desire, was that these tough measures would act as effective deterrents on prospective offenders, which would therefore produce the desired results of reductions in the numbers of corruption crimes.   But alas, that was not to be.

Many years later in 1995 (ten years after he had voluntarily left office), in his ‘reminiscence speech’ delivered on May Day in Mbeya, when he was narrating how he deliberately caused Parliament to enact the tough legislation referred to above, Mwalimu Nyerere used the following words: ‘’Tulitumia sheria kali sana kupambana na rushwa’’;  He did this in order to put in place a more effective mechanism for combating corruption.   
Unfortunately, however, that strategy did not succeed in eliminating corruption from the country’s governance system. Hence, the fight against corruption had to be continued by his successors in office.

President Benjamin Mkapa’s strategy: ‘’Kuziba mianya ya rushwa’.

When President Benjamin Mkapa was elected to the office of President of the United Republic in October 1995, he quickly came up with the idea of ‘plugging the corruption loopholes’, or ‘kuziba mianya ya rushwa’ in Kiswahili.  In 1996, he appointed the ‘Warioba Commission’ for that purpose, which immediately sat down to work on their assignment, and later produced a report, which they submitted to the President who, in turn, directed the responsible state organs to do the needful. 

President John Magufuli’s strategy: fighting corruption through e-government.

The DAILY NEWS item referred to  above, quoting the Chairman of ISOC Tanzania Chapter Mr. Abibu Ntahigiye,  went on to report the comments he had made, that : ‘’e-government will remove the face-to-face contacts between public  officials and the service seekers,  which create a conducive environment for corruption, and has therefore been a major loophole for corruption . . . We therefore commend the Government for coming up with the e-government system’’.                                                                                                         
It may, however, be much too soon to rejoice in the expectation that this innovation will make any substantial positive contribution to the war against corruption. In my humble opinion, with the advanced technology in the area of financial transactions which we are now witnessing, the said ‘face-to-face contacts' between public officials and the service seekers’, is no longer necessary for corrupt transactions to take place. 

We have not yet found a lasting solution.

As useful background information for our readers, a brief history of the fight against corruption will presumably be appropriate. It is that over the years, sustained efforts have been exerted in the war against corruption, at all levels of our governance system.

(i)   At the political party level:  Right from the time of founding the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) way back in 1954, appropriate steps were taken to include in the party’s Constitution, the provision that constituted a formal pledge,  to be solemnly made by every individual member of that party,  to participate in the fight against corruption. It reads as follows: ‘’Rushwa ni adui wa haki. Sitatoa wala kupokea rushwa’’.                                                             
This particular provision was carried forward to Constitution of TANU’s successor party, the Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM). But, unfortunately, it appears to have had no visible positive impact on the actual behaviour of many of its members, who continue to engage themselves in corrupt activities, particularly relating to electoral corruption, which we will discuss later.                          

(ii) At the government level:  The Union Government has invested appropriately in establishing the necessary anti-corruption infrastructures, including an anti-graft legal regime.  Indeed, even at the time of the country’s independence, the requisite legal regime was already in existence, having been established by the previous colonial Administration. But subsequently,  Act No. 6 of 1971 was enacted by  Parliament, which consolidated all the previous provisions relating to the fight against corruption, and provided a comprehensive definition of the full range of what are regarded as corrupt transactions; plus imposing   severe punishments  on  all those who would be found guilty of having offended this Act.   This Act was amended in 1974, in order to empower the President to establish a state anti-corruption Agency, which gave birth to the present ‘Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau’ (PCCB).  

Engaging in corruption is a criminal offence.

The Government’s intention in setting up such legal regime was, of course, to criminalize corruption. In other words, to make corruption a criminal offence, which is punishable by law. It should therefore be a matter of general concern, that despite this obvious fact, and also despite the fact that the existence of corruption is roundly condemned by everyone as an unmitigated evil;  with everyone  waxing  eloquently on the evils of corruption, yet the corruption menace continues to flourish in our governance system!  This is partly because, when such discussions eventually reach the crucial point of suggesting a solution, that is when everyone seems to run out of ideas, and quickly resorts to saying that ‘’the Government must do something about it’’. Or that ‘’the President must make hard decisions’’.                                            

 It is of course granted, that the   Government has a binding obligation to take appropriate measures to combat corruption. But as the anonymous ‘men of wisdom’ advised a long time ago, ‘’prevention is better than cure’’. Thus, it is far more effective to prevent the occurrence of a crime, than to wait until it is committed, and only then start taking steps to punish the offenders.  As already noted above, crime prevention is a shared responsibility between the Government and the citizens, with the citizens bearing the greater portion of that responsibility.

Corruption in politics.

A major component of the general corruption vice is corruption in politics; and, specifically, corruption during elections.  This could be the primary source of subsequent corruption by some of the elected leaders, who might be seeking to recover what they spent in ‘buying votes.’                                                  

 Tanzania has experienced many election petitions to the High Court being successful, on the ground that the offence of corruption had been proved beyond reasonable doubt. This shows that the problem of electoral corruption in our country is a real one, which needs to be seriously addressed. And here is where the ‘good men’ citizens could effectively play their part, by refusing to put their votes ‘on sale’.                                                                  

The recent enactment of a new law requiring all election candidates to make a sworn declaration of their election expenses, is a step in the right direction towards a solution to this problem.  

We are certainly trying. But we have not yet found a lasting solution.

piomsekwa@gmail.com   / 0754767576.  

Source: Daily News and Cde Msekwa Himself

The coming of the DRC to the EAC is tipping point

            News that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has officially applied to join the East African Community (EAC) is good news member states must have welcomed and cheered. This is because the DRC is not only humungous in landmass but also in resources. This resource-parked country, if well utilised, apart from improving the conditions of its people, it will contribute immensely to the economies of the EAC member states and the regional in general.

            The coming of the DRC to the EAC presents a golden opportunity for commerce due to the fact that since the country gained its independence that turned out to be its burned, has never been developed. So, goods of all kinds are needed to be supplied. This means, the industries in the area have a very big and reliable source.

           Likewise, the DRC needs to be constructed mainly its infrastructure. This presents another opportunity to cement factories, building materials and construction companies in the region that will win tenders to build this mega country.  By presenting such huge opportunities, the businesses an investment that will be done after this country joins will not only benefit companies and factories but other areas such as employment, service provision, transportation air, land and water, hotels big and small and others as well.  Further, this presents an opportunity for regional businesspeople to enter partnerships to supply each other each need from another.  Arguably, the EAC needs to work fast and fast-track the membership of the DRC as it seeks to entice other countries such as Zambia and others in the region that seek to make good of this regional unification which must aim at unifying the region not in a big bloc but a big solid country. If this succeeds, it will be a good reagent for the unification of the entire continent as the only doable, plausible and practical means of liberating Africa from colonialism, dependence and poverty among others.

    Theoretically, if the EAC becomes a solid country, the plunderage of the DRC will come to an end and result into an opportunity the EAC can bank on. In this, the EAC needs to be spot on and right on the money to turn the DRC that used to be like a blight into a bright future of the country and the region or a new country resulting from the EAC.

 In his letter for application for membership of the EAC, DRC’s president Felix Tshisekedi was quoted (Daily Nation, June 14, 2019) as saying that “this request follows the ever-increasing trade between the economic players of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and those of the states of the Community.” I am sure with the membership to the EAC, trade will become healthier and more increasing than it currently is not to mention the member countries to see to it that the DRC is becoming peaceful so that they can go on enjoying and benefit from such an opportunity from its sister member state. Importantly, the EAC needs to have a joint protocol of joint responsibility in that the problem of any member is the problem of all members.

            Resources of all kinds are plenty in the DRC. By joining the EAC, the DRC will signet the gap the coming of tiny countries without resources except their population such as Burundi and Rwanda caused. The DRC still have not only a virgin soil but also an inhabited big chunk of land that can address many landlessness problems shall the bloc decided to become one single country wherein its citizens are allowed to acquire land and live anywhere.

            Although the issues of landlessness and land in general have never been brought to the fore, they were thorn. This is why Tanzania that currently is the giant of the region in land and resources was adamant to fully immerse itself in the EAC. With the coming of another giant, shall efforts be undertaken for the total unification of the EAC, will have nothing to worry about or holding it back. Compare the DRC’s population of at about 92, 000, 000 and the landmass of 2, 345, 409 km^2. compared to the EAC’s population of at about 170, 000,000 and the landmass of 2, 467, 202 km^2., this is why the coming of the DRC to the EAC is a game changer.

On its side, the DRC by joining the EAC, is surely assured of minimising feebleness and vulnerability resulting from conflict it has faced and suffered from those who put the boot in since gaining independence. Its membership to the EAC also assures the DRC of economic and political development as Tshisekedi concurs noting that “so that we can work together for the development of our respective countries and stabilise this part of Africa.”

Quite frankly, the arrival of a new kid on the block into the EAC is but a game changer shall the regional body take this challenge competently and strategically. Thus, the duet needs to equivocally and seriously gear up for staid business that’ll see them actualise and realise the dream of unifying the continent of Africa. Shall the EAC unite and form one big and strong country, apart addressing some chronic problems and have a strong voice internationally, others will either ask to join or take a leaf out of book. 

This Goon Should not Be Ignored; Kenya should not Play with Fire

THE PROPOSED 2019/2O GOVERNMENT BUDGET:The salient features of the Fifth Phase Government

Thursday of last week, the 13th day of June 2019; was “Budget day” for all the six countries that together constitute the members of the East African Community. That was the day when the Finance Ministers of these countries, simultaneously presented their respective Governments’ Budget proposals before their countries’ Legislatures. This is in accordance with “The Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community”, which provides that “the annual estimates for the revenues and expenditures of all the partner States shall be introduced simultaneously in their respective Legislatures”. That is to say, on the same day, and at the same time. The partner States subsequently agreed that the chosen day for this event shall be a Thursday, and the chosen time shall be four o’clock in the afternoon.        

         But article 55 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, requires that their country’s budget proposals must be presented to the National Assembly not later than the 15th day of June. That is what explains why this year’s budget day was the 13th day of June 2019, and last year’s budget day was June 14th. In other words, it is always the last Thursday just before the Ugandan Constitutional deadline of June 15th.

The fourth budget of the Fifth Phase Government.                        

This will be the fourth budget of the Fifth Phase Government of President John Pombe Magufuli. The following day, the local Kiswahili language print media was awash with front page headline news relating to that budget. These included: “Bajeti ya kishindo” (MAJIRA); “Bajeti ya Kujitegemea”; (HABARI LEO); “Bajeti ya Wananchi” (MWANANCHI); and “Bajeti Funga Kazi” (UHURU).     

This apparent jubilation by the local media was presumably based on the positive contents of the Finance Minister’s speech to Parliament.  For it had revealed a number of welcome reliefs which will be offered to a variety of beneficiaries, including prospective investors, and other people engaged in business activities,  by proposing to review an assortment of related fees and levies, with a view to either reducing them, or even abolishing some of them (those which were described as “trade nuisance fees)”.  Plus the announcement of certain tax amnesties on products that are meant to promote Agriculture and local industries, such as imported packaging material for horticultural products, which will help the relevant farmers to get better prices for their produce; and the imposition of tax increases on specified imported products, in order to encourage the establishment and growth of local industries.                           

It was, no doubt, a good budget; which promises to increase considerably the confidence of many people in their Government’s satisfactory performances. And that, of course, is the basic political goal of all Government budgets.

The Salient features of the Fifth Phase Government budgets.

Perhaps the most notable features are the ‘structure’ and the ‘size’ of the proposed budget.  “Structure” in this context refers to the money appropriations, or allocations, to the various recipient sectors, while “size” means the total amount of money which will be spent during the coming financial year which, in this case, is a whopping 33.11 trillion. Actually, the size of the budget has been rising steadily from shillings 24.49 trillion in FY 2015/2016 (the last financial year of his predecessor in office). It quickly climbed to shillings 29.54 trillion in FY 2016/17 (the first budget of the Fifth Phase Government), and on to shillings 31.71 in FY2017/18. But climbed further to shillings 32.48 in the current financial year (the third budget); to shillings 32.48 trillion this coming financial year.  

Kudos to the Fifth Phase Government for this unprecedented achievement in its revenue collection effort6s. And with regard to the “structure” of its budgets, it is worth noting that the ratio between foreign sourced and locally sourced development funds; a substantial 37% of the total budget for 2019/20,  has been allocated to development, out of which the much larger portion of shillings 9.7 trillion will be sourced domestically; and only  2,5 trillion will be sourced externally.  No wonder, therefore, that the Kiswahili language Newspaper, Habari Leo, described the proposed new budget as “Bajeti ya kujitegemea”.    

And this now reminds me of the “Self-Reliance” provisions of the 1967 Arusha Declaration; which state as follows: “TANU is fighting a serious war with a view to transforming our nation from a position of economic weakness, to one of strength. Because of such weakness, we have been despised, and we have been neglected. We now need a revolution which will lift us from this position of weakness to a more respectable position of strength, that will shield us in future from being so despised and so neglected”.       

This diminishing dependence on foreign sources for financing our country’s development clearly demonstrates the current Government’s determination to “fight the war for transforming our nation from a position of economic weakness to one of strength”, in compliance with the clarion call made by the Arusha Declaration quoted above. Furthermore, with regard to this matter of excessive reliance on external sources for our country’s development, the Arusha Declaration provides as follows:

“There is no single country in the world which will give us sufficient loans and grants to meet all our requirements. But even if there were such countries, it would be extremely unwise for us to receive such donor money, without giving serious thought, or consideration, on its negative impact on the country’s freedom and security”. Hence, one of the relevant lessons to be learnt from the Fifth Phase Governments’ Budgets, is that they have, commendably, reactivated the implementation of “guidelines for Self-Reliance” which are stipulated in the Arusha Declaration. 

As noted above, the second outstanding feature of the Fifth Phase budgets, is the large size of its Budgets. What is clearly implied here, is that the country has got enough internal resources to support a much higher level of funding for both the recurrent, and the development expenditures, provided that these resources are properly exploited and utilized. This also appears to be a positive step in the direction of implementing article 9 (c) of the Constitution of the United Republic, 1977; which provides as follows: “Shughuli zote za Serikali zitatekelezwa kwa njia ambazo zitahakikisha kwamba utajiri wa Taifa unahifadhiwa, unaendelezwa, na unatumiwa kwa manufaa ya wananchi wote kwa jumla”.                               

The performance of the Fifth Phase Government in this regard, helps to demonstrate its abundant political will, plus its commitment, to establish a direct link between policy declarations such as this one, and their practical implementation.

Parliament at work: the normal budget debat

Rule 106 (1) of the House Rules governing Parliamentary debates on the Government budgets, provides as follows: “mjadala kuhusu bajeti ya Serikali utaendelea kwa muda usiozidi siku saba”.

During this general debate, which normally starts on the Monday immediately following the Minister’s presentation of the budget proposals on the previous Thursday. (The intervening days being used by MPs to read and digest the contents of the proposals), in preparation for the debate thereon).                                                         

On conclusion of the said debate, the House is required to vote by way of roll call, namely that each individual MP’s name is called out, and he is required to respond by voting either in favour, or against, the motion for the adoption of the budget. The roll call method of voting is important and necessary, because of the provisions of article 90 (2) of the Constitution of the United Republic, which prescribes the special circumstances under which the President may dissolve Parliament, which is followed by new general elections of Members of Parliament, and of the President himself.

The said provision reads as follows: “The President shall have no power to dissolve Parliament at any time, save only if the National Assembly refuses to approve the Government’s proposed annual budget”.                                                         

It may be helpful to explain, that the framers of our Constitution intended this provision to mean that the National Assembly’s refusal to approve the Government’s proposed budget, is equivalent to an expression of “no confidence” in the Government of the day. Thus, should that happen, the President is compelled by the Constitution to dissolve Parliament, so as to give the electorate the opportunity for electing a new Government if they so wish (which might probably be formed by the Opposition parties).  This, in fact, is the sole reason for the strict application of what is known as the “party whip” by the ruling party to its MPs.  This is because their own party caucus Rules strictly require them to support their Government on this particular issue, since it is, literally, a matter of “survival, or death”! That is to say, either the party will survive in office if the budget is adopted or might be kicked out if they lose the ensuing election. That is also, most probably, the reason  why the opposition parties in our Parliament have consistently voted “NO” to every Government budget, of every financial year, right from the establishment of the first multi-party parliament of 1995; despite the obvious fact that their own salaries and allowances as MPs are paid from the same budget, which they seemingly take great delight in rejecting!  Presumably, they must respond positively to their own ‘party whip’ to that effect, or else!  

It is only in connection with this annual event of MPs voting to adopt the annual Government budget, that the party discipline inside Parliament becomes most visible to the general public. Hence, hopefully, this little clarification will help them to better understand the reason why this happens so regularly and repeatedly.

Procedure in the Committee of the Whole House

After the House has adopted the budget, there are two Budget related BILLS, namely the Finance Bill. and the Appropriation Bill; which must also be adopted in order to complete the circle of consideration of the entire budget business. The Finance Bill is required in order to give legal effect to the decisions which the house has made in adopting the budget proposals, specifically the revenue proposals relating to the imposition of any new taxes, or alterations to any existing taxes. The Finance Bill must be taken through all the normal stages of First Reading; Second Reading; Committee stage; and Third Reading, like any other Bill.                                                   
The other Bill which must also be adopted, is the annual Appropriation Bill. However, unlike the Finance Bill and all other Bills, there is NO committee stage for the Appropriation Bill. Instead, the Bill is taken rapidly through the three separate Readings. When these two budget related Bills have been adopted by the House, they will be submitted to the President for his Assent, like any other Bill which is passed by the National Assembly.  And when the Presidential Assent to them has been obtained, that is when the annual Government budget for the relevant financial year is regarded as being ready for implementation. It is, a seemingly, a very long process, but is absolutely necessary for the purposes of the country’s ‘good governance’ needs and requirements, which demand the full involvement and participation of the people’s representatives in certain specified matters of the country’s governance.

piomsekwa@gmail.com  /  0754767576.

Source: Daily News and Cde Msekwa Himself.