What are parastatals?

What are the good and bad governance of Tanzania under the fourth government under president kikwete?

NAME:JUDICATE SAWE SWA:QUESTIONWITH CURRENT EXAMPLES DISCUSS THE PRACTICE OF GOOD AND BAD GOVERNANCE IN TANZANIA UNDER THE FOURTH PHASE GOVERNMENT (UNDER KIKWETE PRESIDENT)INTRODUCTIONOn 21st December 2005 Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, who won a landslide victory presidential elections in Tanzania, was sworn-in on Wednesday at a colourful ceremony in the commercial capital of Dar es Salaam. "I am proud to become president of this beautiful, peaceful and united nation, with people who are friendly and proud of their country," he told some 30,000 spectators at the ceremony, among them heads of state and government from at least 15 countries. Kikwete who ages 55yrs old pledged to deliver on his electoral promises. One of these was to root out poverty and speed up the economic reform programs adopted by his predecessors. "We are not going to turn back," he said. "Those who are dreaming that we will reverse the economic reforms are damn wrong," he said in apparent response to critics of his socialist background and his close links with the country's founding president, the late Julius Nyerere.DEFINITIONGOVERNANCE is the ability of the Government to discharge its function effectively and efficiently according to the National Policy, to formulate policy, observing the rule of law, equity, transparency, allow participation, and to accommodate Civil Society. In short governance is the form of Political authority that exists in the society. But also one can look at the term Governance under different perspectives as follows:-GOVERNANCE UNDER WORLD BANK'S PERSPECTIVE:Its the capacity of Government to set rules, norms, structure and institutions which creates a predictable and transparent frame work for the conduct of public and private business and also to accountability for socio-economic and financial performance. The ability of the Government to discharge its function effectively, efficiently and equitably through the design, formulation and implementation of sound policies on socio - economic management. The ability of the government to adopt socio-economic and context based on the rule of law. Its the government capability to supervise, overseer and enforce formulated policies, rules and management systems in the creation of accountability in public life and partcularly financial accountability. Ability of the Government to establish efficient structures to impliment sound policies for social economic development, to set transparent rules and institutions for accountable development. The ability of the Government to adopt legal framework based on the rule of law. Governance means Regime, Public Legitimacy norms, values, the ruled and institution of the Governance in the socio-economic system.Governance is a broader notion than Government whose principle elements include the Constitution, Legislative, Executive and Judiciary. Governance Involves Interaction between these formal institutions and those of Civil Society.GOVERNANCE UNDER UNDP'S PERSPECTIVE:Governance as the exercise of Political, Economic and Administrative authority to manage Nations Affairs. This definition entails that governance involves complex mechanism, processes, relationships and institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their rights and obligations mediates their differences. UNDP has Conceptualized governance into four types of governance namely:-Economic GovernanceThis is the part of governance which includes processes of decision making that directly or indirectly affect a country's economic activities or its relationship with other economies. Issues of concern include Equity, Poverty and Quality of life.Political GovernanceRefers to decision making and policy implimentation of legitimate and authoritative state. Issues of concern includes Separation of Power (Executive, Legislative and Judiciary) political representation and Interest Articulation.Administrative GovernanceThis is the system of policy implementation carried out through an efficient independent, accountability and open public sector. Issues of Concern includes Efficiency, Effectiveness, professionalism, autonomy, accountability, transparency, predictability and competence.System GovernmentEncompasses/ includes the processes and structures of society that guides political and economic relationships to protect cultural and religious beliefs and values and to create and to maintain an environment of Health, Freedom, Security and with the opportunity to exercise personal capabilities that lead to a better life for all people.NB: The general concept of governance according to UNDP's perspective is Peoples Empowerment, that is development by the people by giving citizens the Opportunity to participate in societ's development process and on an equitable basis.GOVERNANCE UNDER UN COMMISION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND ASSIAN PACIFIC'S PERSPECTIVE:To them governance is focused on Human Rights. Asian Pacific focus governance on the formal and informal decision making process. THE PRACTICE OF GOOD GOVERNANCEPOLITICAL GOVERNANCE:TransparencyTRANSPARENCY is undisputedly one of the key watchwords in all nations that embrace the concept of good governance. It provides a participatory approach to all spheres of governance. The people, in all walks, are part and parcel of the decision-making process, either directly or by representation. An open government has been and will always be a good government.The fourth government of Tanzania is one of them, the fact that Tanzanians can proudly attest to. Since assuming high office in early 2006, President Jakaya Kikwete has amply demonstrated the credentials of a very open and transparent leader. In all his public forums, he has openly discussed various issues of national interest with the people. All these occasions have been broadcast or shown live by all the electronic media, the radio and television. The president's sessions with top editors from the country's media houses have all been aired to the public either live or recorded. During his term of office so far, Tanzanians have been able to follow all, repeat all, the business in Parliament.In November 2008, the government took a significant step toward enhancing transparency through the announcement of its intention to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). This represents an important commitment, but Tanzania's government, civil society, and private sector will need to be vigorous in institutionalizing EITI via an open and inclusive process if it is to have the desired impact. Over the course of 2008, the public outcry for greater transparency in Tanzania grew, substantially, in the wake of several scandals related to the procurement and enforcement of contracts and fiscal obligations. One such scandal actually led to the sacking of the prime minister and the dissolution of the cabinet in February 2008. Citizens are also paying close attention to a government review of the legal and fiscal rules governing the mining sector, which many Tanzanians believe to provide a disproportional share of the benefits of exploitation to international companies.Legal Review and Contract Transparency In 2008, the government-sponsored Bomani Commission presented its recommendations about potential revisions to the legal, contractual, and policy regime governing the mining sector. The Commission's recommendations-which included calls to revise tax and royalty mechanisms, promote stronger economy-wide linkages, enhance government contract enforcement capabilities, and improve environmental protection-have helped frame a broad debate around mining law and policy. As of the beginning of 2009, the government indicated that it was reviewing the national mining policy and would propose reforms to enhance the national benefits derived from the sector.ACCOUNTABILITYPositive results were realised in controlling the problem of ghost workers and in enhancing the welfare of staff, bearing in mind their competencies, experience and economic ability of the government to pay. Some achievements of the phase, which ended last December, included the institutionalisation of performance management systems in public institutions; harmonisation of national planning and budgeting processes; instituting a performance-based accountability framework by having an open performance review and appraisal system; introduction of an open, competitive and merit based recruitment system.Despite widely held perceptions of corruption in Tanzania, the country has excellent scores on the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) assessment, a framework developed to assess the possibility and risks of direct budget support. The creation of a legislative commission to investigate a recent scandal involving the electricity company provider Richmond is another positive step towards new checks and balances and stronger accountability of the executive to the parliamentADMINISTTRATIVE GOVERNANCEPRESIDENT Jakaya Kikwete, his deputy, Dr Ali Mohamed Shein, and the Prime Minister, Mr Mizengo Pinda, have during their tenure so far extensively travelled to almost all regions to meet the people, inspect development projects and help solve some of the challenges the people face. Such visits, which start with the reading of regional and district progress reports, have to a large extent helped to stimulate development in the regions covered, galvanizing some action where complacency had set in.One thing such regional visits have shown though is the existence of a myriad of problems that the people have been facing for a long time include water shortages or lack of clean water, poor road infrastructures, inaction and laissez-faire attitude by some regional and district functionaries that have been hindering development and inconveniencing the people and embezzlement of public funds.In most such occasions, the top national leaders have been able to provide on-the-spot solutions, sometimes to the extent of taking disciplinary measures against officials who have caused such problems in one way or another.There are examples of some regional and district functionaries who have been relieved of their duties for failure to perform during such visits by top national leaders. In the most recent example, residents of a village in Newala District had to block the entourage of the prime minister, who was on a tour of Mtwara Region, to secure an audience with him. He stopped and listened to the villagers' grievances. He took the Mtwara Regional Water Engineer to task demanding immediate explanation from him on the Newala water woes. This is all very commendable. It shows how close the top national leaders are to the people. Such visits should be sustainedJJHOSYSTEM GOVERNMENTAs a direct result of discriminatory and harmful cultural practices, at least 28 albino people were murdered in what were believed to be ritual killings in different parts of the country, including Tabora, Arusha, Mara, Shilela and Shinyanga. These killings were allegedly driven by the belief that the body parts would make people rich when used in witchcraft practices. Some of the bodies were mutilated. The President condemned these killings and called for the arrest and prosecution of perpetrators and the central registration of all albino people in order to assure them of police protection. Police announced the arrest of 47 suspected perpetrators of the killings.Tanzania's president even sponsored an albino woman for a seat in Parliament to show that "we are with them in this," said Salvator Rweyemamu, a Tanzanian government spokesman.Mr. Rweyemamu said the rash of killings was anathema to what Tanzania had been striving toward; after years of failed socialist economic policies, the country is finally getting development, investment and change. "This is serious because it continues some of the perceptions of Africa we're trying to run away from," he said.Despite all the good Efforts done by the Fourth Government on practicing a Good Governance, there are also short comings as seen under:-THE PRACTICE OF BAD GOVERNANCEADMINISTRATIVE GOVERNMENTFreedom Of ExpressionThe government withdrew the draft Media Services Bill, 2007, and stated that it would be redrafted. The Bill had been the subject of local and international criticism on grounds that, if passed into law, it would have severely restricted the right to freedom of expression. In October, local media civil society groups submitted a revised version to the government for consideration in the redrafting of the Bill. By the end of the year the redrafted version of the Bill had not been published. In October the government ordered a three-month ban on the weekly Mwanahalisi newspaper for publishing a story identifying individuals allegedly trying to impede the President's efforts to stand for a second term in office. The Minister for Information cited provisions of the Newspaper Act which allows the government to order a newspaper to cease publication "if it is against public interest" or if it is "in the interests of peace and good order to do so". The Minister also announced plans to charge the paper's publisher and editor with sedition. By the end of the year the ban against the newspaper was still in force.SYSTEM GOVERNMENTCultural, Religious Beliefs And Values."National leadership is now leaning more towards the rich than the majority ordinary citizens. Today, the rich hold the ultimate say in society, "Note that during debate in Parliament on the OIC, the MPs were divided along religious lines. The same applied to the Kadhi court question. On the controversial Catholic Church's pastoral letter giving guidelines to its followers on how to choose leaders in the coming elections, "It is just civic education. I wonder where the insinuation that if such documents are allowed to circulate, the country will be turned into the situation of conflict like in Lebanon, has comes from?"HUMAN RRIGHTSDeath Sentences and Albinism. (Human Rights)Although there were no executions, courts continued to hand down death sentences. Despite the commutation of death sentences to life imprisonment in 2006, the government did not take formal steps to abolish the death penalty. Most of the suspects in Albino killings were arrested. However, by the end of 2008 there were no records of any prosecutions. The Tanzania Albino Society, a civil society group, criticized the lack of prosecutions, the slow rate of arrests of alleged perpetrators and the lack of a long-term comprehensive government plan aimed at preventing the killings.Violence Against Women And GirlsViolence against women, including domestic violence, marital rape and early marriage of young girls, remained widespread. Female genital mutilation (FGM) continued to be practised in some rural areas. The government and a coalition of NGOs continued to campaign against FGM in the areas where it was prevalent. The government's efforts to eradicate it remains inadequate. Implementation of the law is slow and perpetrators are rarely brought to justice. Local organizations working against the practice reports the continuation of a trend where girls and women over the age of 18 are still being forced to undergo FGM (even if they escaped it at a younger age), partly as a result of the failure in the implementation of the 1998 law which only proscribes the practice for children under 18 years of age. Prison Conditions - GvcPrison conditions - both on the mainland and in Zanzibar - continued to be harsh and inmates complained of inadequate food and poor medical services. A report by the Legal Human Rights Centre and Zanzibar Legal Services Centre, two local human rights organizations, found overcrowding of up to 193 per cent in mainland Tanzania and that this was mainly attributable to delays in disposing of cases in courts. In a number of prisons children were held together with adult inmates, in breach of international standards. ECONOMIC GOVERNMENTCorruptionDespite the efforts and courage in the war on corruption and also in the handling of other sensitive issues, thus endangering national stability The president's Aides are not giving him enough support. A good example is when In an interview with The Citizen in Dar es Salaam, Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, who is also a distinguished career diplomat, said he was convinced that President Kikwete was determined to weed out graft, but was not getting the full support of his top advisors. "President Kikwete is trying hard and is determined to rid the society of corruption, but the system lets him down," said Dr Salim, who served as the Prime Minister from April 24, 1984 to November 5, 1985. He spoke to The Citizen at his Msasani home."Tanzanians are today divided by their religion and tribe, and as if that is not enough, we are now living in two distinct classes, the haves and have not, corruption had been a cancer in successive administrations, but the difference lay in the way the menace was being tackled.Privatisation and RepossessionI am also worried about the Government repossession of privatised companies. Recently the Government announced that it would repossess shares in the Kilimanjaro Airport Development Company (Kadco) and Kiwira Coal Mine. This was announced by the Government lately in the Parliament. Others include the termination of the management contract for the Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) with Sasktel. Economist Haji Semboja said the recent developments proved that "All was not well in privatisation deals", he gave examples of the TTCL management, Kiwira Coal Mine and the Tanzania Railways Limited as proof that something had gone awry with privatisation. "He said generally privatisation was a failure as it started off on the wrong footing".A St Augustine University of Tanzania lecturer, Dr Isaac Safari, said parastatals were privatised without thoroughly checking capabilities of investors. "We got into this mess because we do not have a strong private sector and partly because the Government hasn't done its best to boost confidence among investors whether domestic or foreign,"TransparencyThings get better when the messages get a feedback. Such feedback enables the concerned ministries, government departments and local government councils to know whether they are on the right track - or not - as far as implementation of their duties is concerned. It all augurs well with the concept of openness and transparency, a prerequisite for good governance.Because of the importance of information and communications aspect, most ministries have employed information and communications officers who have been given the specific task to disseminate information on the operations of their organisations. Yet there have been widespread complaints, especially from the media institutions, that they are not getting enough cooperation from the ministries' information officers. The 'best' they can do is to ask reporters to put their questions, even those questions that require immediate answers, in writing on a headed paper signed by a senior editor and send them to the ministries by post or by some dispatch form!Tanzania does not have a freedom of information law, which would represent a key step toward meaningful transparency and accountability in the extractive industries. Civil society advocacy around the right to information has been heavy.ProffessionalismThe Government did not have the right mechanism to check on investors who seek to acquire the privatised firms. Civic United Front (CUF) chairman Ibrahim Lipumba said the Government was supposed to privatise parastatals to financially capable investors. He added that many of the privatisation contracts were made secret, giving room to suspicion. Chadema secretary-general Willibrod Slaa said a serious problem with privatisation was secrecy."The fact that all these contracts lacked transparency explains that there was a corruption agenda behind them as has been demonstrated by the Richmond power deal," Explained Willibroad Slaa. He said it was strange that the privatisation of many parastatals was carried out without feasibility studies to justify the environments under which they should have been privatised.I always wonder, how can you privatise an organisation and then take money from the Government to run the same entity?. There are reports that funds from the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) were used to finance the Kiwira coal project. Without naming any firm, it is known that the Government has been spending money on bailing out companies such as TRL.Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) was among companies privatised without bearing in mind the consequences of doing so. "If the private PrecisionAir can flourish in a local market, why should ATCL fail? ATCL had an upper hand in the market because for a long time it enjoyed the monopoly.We have many institutions which train managers like the Mzumbe University, University of Dar es Salaam, Esami, [East and South African Management Institute] in Arusha and so on.All those could be used to improve the local managerial capacity rather than hiring foreigners for the same. {We should not criticise privatisation for the sake of it, but the Government should not privatise everything for the sake of it}. Mr Swai suggested a review of privatisation contracts. But he said the Government was supposed to be prudent right from the beginning. He said in some cases it was the managers of the privatised firms who caused huge losses and failed to perform. Under such circumstance, there was no need to privatise such parastatals. Other good leaders should have replaced the failures who had also to be prosecuted.POLITICAL GOVERNANCEThe Rule of Law and Separation of PowerThe tendency of the Fourth Government to form special committees to deal with issues that could be handled through the due process of the law. Such committees, he said, tended to be politically motivated. "I am not sure whether cases which have been prosecuted in courts following recommendations by committees could also withstand the rigors of the judicial process," he said, citing this was an area where his aides were not properly advising President Kikwete.If one looks into Zombe case, a commission appointed by President Kikwete under Judge Kipenka Musa found that four traders and a taxi driver were murdered. But since the case against former Dar es Salaam crime officer Abdallah Zombe and some of his colleagues, who were eventually acquitted, was prosecuted out of political pressure, it was obvious that certain legal requirements could have been overlooked. "It worries me when the President is drawn into cases in early stages. It is not his place," Mr Justice Warioba once Said.Even in the Bank of Tanzania EPA account cases, involving the theft of Sh133 billion, the President had been advised to ask the suspects to return the stolen money. Some did and others have been charged with theft. Now things are confused here, What will be the case if the court decides that those who returned the money have no case to answer.? Its Obvious that those advising the President will distance themselves from him.There is a credibility gap in the case since some of those who retuned the money have been arraigned for theft while others have not.AccountabilityThere has been a noticeable U-turn from past norms in which ministers resigned in the middle of some scandal or unpleasant happenings involving their ministries in a show of accountability, which enhanced their integrity in the eyes of the public. In some cases, they bounced back after the dust had settled down. Now it is common to see public leaders, including MPs, clinging to their posts even when faced with damning allegations, including those of state funds embezzlement and grand corruption.We recently have been focused on the leaders-cum-suspects on handcuffs or boarding some prison van! In such cases, where is the credibility to lead? Leaders must make hard decisions when confronted with accountability woes. But this is exactly what is not happening now. In some disheartening scenarios, some of the crime-tainted leaders have vowed that they would not step down come what may (e.g. Mr. Hosea the PCCB Director). All this could only point to one main conclusion: Current Massive decline of leadership virtues in the country.SOLUTIONSMAJOR CHARACTERISTICS.The government should start Immediately to Exercise Positive Governance, It should be participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law. It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society.POLITICAL GOVERNMENTThe above conflicts of interests should be restored for the sake of greater democracy and good governance. What is required is a change of attitude among leaders who are equally required to be men and women of great integrity and honesty who can lead by example. Accountability must be the word.ADMINISTRATIVE GOVERNMENTResource persons and other speakers should underscore the importance of providing information to the media and the general public promptly. Information officers need to be reminded about their duties.They also need to learn communication skills to perform better. As things are now, most of them seem not to know what they are supposed to do. Information is power. Also Developing Strategic Communication Capacity for Greater Transparency through:-Strengthening the strategic communications capacity of the President's Ofï¬ce (Statehouse and Zanzibar) in order to more effectively communicate reform to the general public in a transparent manner; Facilitating the development of a communication strategy and guidelines on access to information. (Transparency is the word)ECONOMICAL GOVERNMENTGood governance is recognized as a precondition for sustained pro- poor economic growth and the National Framework on Good Governance,The Government has develop a culture of accountability and transparency, through the implementation of the national anti-corruption strategy and sectoral action plans.Instead of relying on foreign investors in privatisation, the Government should look for ways to empower local investors.The few flaws should not be used to judge the entire privatisation process. Failure of a few entities did not mean the total failure of privatisation. Privatisation should be taken on merits. For example, the TTCL used to enjoy a monopoly in the telephone sector. But with the introduction of mobile phones, the company found itself facing a stiff competition. One cannot judge privatisation as a failure by just looking at only two poorly managed companies. Look at the Tanzania Cigarette Company and Tanzania Breweries Limited. These entities were private, nationalised, then went private again and are doing quite well.There must be an extensive research to determine the viability of the projects. The main justification for privatisation was that, the parastatals were performing badly. We were to establish what made the entities perform poorly before we privatised them. By knowing the problems it would have been easy to also know how to carry out the privatisation process.The process was plagued by loopholes which attracted corruption. What should be done is to review policies and structures on privatization, call for a scrutiny of each privatised company and contract before being given a clean bill of health, thorough investigations are needed on the privatised entities to ensure that they are on the right trackSYSTEMATIC GOVERNMENTEnhancing Rule of Law and the Protection of Human Rights through:-Institutionalizing human rights training for the police, prison ofï¬cers, public prosecutors, magistrates and state attorneys, including specialized training for conï¬&sbquo;ict mediation for law enforcement ofï¬cer Improving reporting on human rights,including systematic data collection Improving public awareness of human rights through the media and NGOs Facilitating the revision of Police General Orders and Prisons Standing Orders to conform to international human rights standards.CONCLUSIONFrom the above discussion it should be clear that good governance is an ideal which is difficult to achieve in its totality. Very few countries and societies have come close to achieving good governance in its totality. However, to ensure sustainable human development, actions must be taken to work towards this ideal with the aim of making it a reality as appointed on the few examples above.STUDENT'S NAME:JUDICATE SAWE SWAISTUDENT'S SIGNATURE:_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _DATE OF CONCLUSSION:_ _ _ _ DEC 2009_ _ _ _ _REFERENCEshttp://www.revenuewatch.org/our-work/countries/Tanzania-transparency.phpRead more about governance from the Human Settlements Section website (not updated)Regional Consultative Meeting on Good Urban Governancehttp://www.dailynews.co.tz/editorial/?n=5573&cat=editorialhttp://www.thecitizen.co.tz/newe.php?id=13996http://www.tanzaniagateway.org/contents.asp?topicid=17&T=Governmen

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