Tanzania's Politics

Hatip Bookerrisng

http://bookerrising.blogspot.com/

The Economist (Britain) discusses that there have been few changes since a new president took office more than a year ago: "Just over a year ago, Jakaya Kikwete won a landslide victory in the presidential poll, securing more than 80% of the popular vote. Tanzanians were clearly optimistic that the dynamism of Mr Kikwete's campaign would be translated into government, and that the new administration would be capable of pushing ahead with an ambitious reform agenda on multiple fronts.

Unfortunately, the reality is rather different, with the government beset by corruption allegations and bogged down in a seemingly never-ending power crisis. In fact, it has arguably become a mirror image of Benjamin Mkapa's administration, which, while capable, was hardly inspiring. To be fair, many of the problems experienced since Mr Kikwete's election—such as the power crisis in 2006—were inherited from the Mkapa government, while the new president stresses that his tenure should be judged over the full five-year term rather than his first 12 months in office.

"It continues: "Another problem with the Kikwete presidency may be more fundamental. During his first year in office all the major decisions appear to have been made by the president himself. Mr Kikwete and the first lady are clearly the centre of attention and the locus of political power. The vice-president, who was not selected as a running mate by Mr Kikwete, has been sidelined, while the prime minister, Edward Lowassa, appears loyal but not particularly dynamic. This centralisation of power does not necessarily have to be a problem—it is arguably common in many African countries—but it has become one because of the substantial amount of time the president has spent abroad in his first year in office. He claims this is necessary in order to raise the profile of the country and to attract foreign investment, but the rest of the government seems unable to make important decisions in his absence.

There is a flurry of activity whenever the president returns from a foreign visit, but this quickly dies away with his next trip, and on his return the focus of attention has moved on and there is little follow-up with respect to implementation. In one sense this isn't crucially important. The Economist Intelligence Unit expects growth to be robust at around 6-7% in 2007, and inflation relatively low, thanks to the end of the power crisis in early 2007, good rains, high commodity prices, a stable macroeconomic environment and large donor inflows. However, it does mean that the government is unlikely to get to grips with the challenges need to turn Tanzania into an economy with a growth rate of between 7-10% a year—the level required to make sustained inroads into high levels of poverty in the country."