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Poetry Night at Soma Book Cafe
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CFP: Conference on Capitalism in the Countryside
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A Re(turn) to Self-Censorship
A Re(turn) to Self-Censorship
Chambi Chachage
(@udadisi)
This blogger is about to close up shop. After ten years of exercising his constitutional right to freedom of expression by blogging, he no longer feels safe. Self-censorship, it seems, is now the safer option.
Last year he received a clarifying email from a brave compatriot. "I have no problem" with circulating my comments, the mailer said. "However", s/he cautioned, "it may bring problems in the future with the enforcement of the Cybercrimes Act" of 2015 in Tanzania.
If such a courageous person could be that worried as to practice self-censorship, what would a coward do? As Shakespeare reminds us, "cowards die many times before their deaths". After all, within a space of one year more than ten people — including the co-founder of Jamii Forums — have been charged under the Cybercrimes Act.
Moreover, on February 5, 2017, the Minister of Information declared that the Media Services Act became operational as of December 31, 2016. Despite the opposition from journalists and activists, the Parliament passed its Bill and the President promised, prior to its passing, that he will promptly assent to it. Among the reservations that the critics had is that of its definition of 'sedition'.
Article 52(1)(a) of the Act partly defines a "seditious intent" as "an intention to bring hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against the lawful authority of the Government of the United Republic." In subsection (d), the definition includes the raising of “discontent or disaffection amongst people or section of people."
“In determining whether the intention for which an act was done, any word spoken or any document published, was or was not seditious”, Article 52(3) stipulates, “every person shall be deemed to intend the consequences which would naturally follow from his conduct at the time and in the circumstances in which he conduct himself.” Then Article 53(1) defines seditious offences in terms of:
For a non-profit-making blog that is an enormous amount. More significantly, suspects are left to the (discretionary) mercy of state apparatuses when it comes to determining whether they have/had a "seditious intent" and/or committed "seditious offences." Hence the cautious would play safe by self-censorship lest they are charged.
With such uncertainty it is not surprising to read this recent tweet from the leader of one of the opposition parties: "And today it's my turn I've been informed by parliamentary security personnel that police will arrest me for sedition details are not known." By his turn, he means following the arrest of the chief whip of the official opposition camp in the Parliament who was arrested a day before.
Of course, one can hardly fault this leader of paranoia or publicity stunts for courting arrest given that on February 6, 2017, he publicly shared this personal encounter with a state apparatus: "I myself have been questioned by police twice and write this article after escaping an arrest on dubious sedition charges".
For some of us, in times like these, all we can do is to hearken to what a 'mama cartoon' told her dear baby: "Watch your mouth..."
"A change is gonna come", sung Cooke. Watch this space. So long.
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Against 'A Re(turn) to Self-Censorship'
Did I seriously hear closing shop? I am not sure which words to use, or which philosopher to quote to persuade you not to do that. Watching our mouths, we will, but silence - that is the last thing that should happen now.
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While reading your article what went through my mind were the words of Martin Luther King Jr. in his 'Letter From Birmingham Jail'. Kindly review the letter to remind yourself of its contents, much of it is relevant to our situation today.
I know of a couple of examples, which are not yet in the public sphere, that show how low we have already sunk as a nation. Our biggest problem today, I submit, is not the fact that some people are being taken to jail for expressing views contrary to the government's wishes: our biggest problem is that THERE ARE VERY FEW OF THOSE!
Looking at history, there are just so many people the oppressors can imprison, or even worse, but the society will at one point awaken to the injustice that is being committed. And that cannot happen if rational people remain silent.
Again, with the view of history in mind, the oppressors' power and clout of invincibility is always a house of cards. I usually look back in awe at the fall of people like Mobutu, Gaddafi, Saddam, Mubarak, et al. - they were just men of flesh and blood. It all comes down at some point.
Let me finish by quoting from 'First They Came' poem. According to Wikipedia: "First they came ..." is a statement and poem written by Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the cowardice of German intellectuals following the Nazis' rise to power and subsequent purging of their chosen targets, group after group.
"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
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The fact is - there is no better time to speak...
I cannot say that I am a 'fan' of Udadisi Blog - but whenever you post something here I go and read the post. It is one of those intelligent and thoughtful blogs, and there are very few of those around. I can't say that I will greatly miss the blog, I tend to be too distracted by ideas and conceptual issues that happen all over the globe. But it will be very unfortunate if Udadisi closes shop under the current pretexts. That will not only set a terrible precedent but will also end one of the voices that I believe is positive, constructive and well - I can't resist taking a cheap jibe - generally progressive!
Keep the oil burning. Let the light shine. Darkness shall not prevail.
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Don’t stop blogging, your voice is needed
"I hope you don’t mind me writing you a public letter like this. But it feels like the most appropriate way of saying what I want to say" - http://mtega.com/2017/02/dear-chambi-dont-stop-blogging-your-voice-is-needed/
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Book Tasting at Soma Book Cafe
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Children's Story Time at Soma Book Cafe
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Mhadhara na Simulizi za Azimio Kavazini
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Public Debt and Economic Stability in Tanzania
Public Debt and Economic Stability in Tanzania
Kochecha Heriel
(@kosahm)
The Tanzanian economy is continuing to prosper with an annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) averaging 7% as per World Bank and IMF reports. The performance and increasing trends of GDP is attributed, to a great extent, to the buoyant performance of construction, trade, agriculture, services and transport sectors. Its projection is promising in contrast to the real picture behind the scene. The distribution of the national cake is still unequal in urban and rural populations. The World Bank overview report shows that, about 12 million Tanzanians are still living in poverty.
In fact, the same development challenges that faced Tanzania since 1961 are still debates and topics of the day. Mwalimu J.K Nyerere (the founding father of the nation) declared war against poverty, diseases, and ignorance. Worse enough, fifty years down the line, with five presidential terms, the country and its administrative system is still swimming in the same ocean with increased tragedies and development challenges such as fraud, rampant corruption, infrastructural bottlenecks, unemployment, illiteracy, diseases, poverty and power inaccessibility. There has been numerous development programs, slogans and jargons with little or any profound achievements, especially when one looks at value for money.
The national debt burden and the gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots” are widening. In April 2000, the IMF and the World Bank classified Tanzania as a heavily indebted country and thus eligible for enhanced Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt relief assistance. There has never been concrete efforts to reduce the increasing debt burden despite the IMF and the World Bank's regular alerts and reports. What has been persistent, and regularly practiced by the government in relation to this, is increasing the share of government expenditure to GDP ratio in a bid to reduce the savings-investment gap and minimize the Balance of Payments (BOP) problems.
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), in its global competitiveness report (2015-2016), in which Tanzania was ranked 120th out of 140 countries, there were a number problems which require immediate attention: quality of overall infrastructure (115th out of 140 countries); irregular payments and bribes (121st out of 140 countries); quality of electricity supply (120th out of 140 countries). All these hurdles, including others attributes, have had far reaching negative effects, both direct and indirect, in the economy. These include deterring investments, both local and foreign, reduced local production, which in turn results into increased importation and Balance of Payment (BOP) problems.
The overall situation has slightly improved over the year with the WEF's global competitive report for 2016-2017 ranking Tanzania as 116th out of 138 countries. In terms of the macroeconomic environment, the two successive WEF reports indicate that the country has moved from being number 111 out of 140 countries to 106 out of the 138 countries in terms of the annual percentage change in inflation. However, its ranks for country's crediting rating has shifted from 103 out of 140 countries to 109 out of 139 countries. Its government budget balance as a % of GDP moved from a value of minus 3.9 to minus 3.3, corresponding to a shift in ranking from being number 90 out of 140 countries to number 83 out of 138 countries. The WEF reports show its ranks for Tanzania's general government debt as a % GDP shifted from number 43 out of 140 to number 54 out 138.
In a similar vein, the IMF report for 2016 indicate that Tanzania’s total public sector debt (internal and external) gradually increased from 20% of GDP in 2007/2008 to an estimated 37.5% of GDP in 2015/2016. Worse enough most of borrowings were from commercial sources due to decrease in aid and concessional loans from development partners and other multilateral agencies.
In the modern world, no country has yet moved from being underdeveloped to being developed or industrialized without borrowing. Therefore, the problem is not borrowing or the size of borrowing but how do we use the credit towards economic growth and development without falling into the trap of defaulting or overpaying. Specifically, to our country (Tanzania), statistics shows that, while the total government expenditure demonstrated an increase of 6.2% from 17.7% in the financial year 2008/9 to 23.9% in 2015/16, the domestic revenue collection grew only by 1.9% from 12.2% to 14.1% in the 2008/9 and 2015/16 respectively. This calls for external borrowing in order to fill the expenditure gap.
From an analytical point of view, if all is said and well understood, we must not concentrate on faults and criticism only but also on the remedies that are vital for progress. The question is; should Tanzania stop borrowing or what should be done with respect to the present economic situations facing the country. The relatively new political regime under President John Magufuli shows a promising future especially in terms of accountability, governance and investment in development projects; however, it is too early to judge with respect to the challenges lying ahead.
President Magufuli’s fifth phase government ought to ensure, especially in regard to debt sustainability, that the country channels most of its borrowings to investments projects rather than recurrent expenditures as it used to be in earlier presidential reigns. Efforts must be put in place to ensure that all the investment projects realize value for money as per the specified objectives and timeframe. For instance, a big stake of the budget for the government’s five-year development plan (FYDP-II), with its potential investments on hydropower plants, roads, a standard gauge railway, the Dar es Salaam Port, the water and transportation systems should be sourced through Public Private Partnership (PPP) and, where necessary, through concessional loans. This will reduce the government's borrowing and risk to debt sustainability.
In line with this, the government should use its diplomatic ties and international relations to lobby for concessional loans to fund its development projects from agencies such as the African Development Bank (ADB), the Export-Import (Exim) Bank of China, India, Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and the likes due to their generosity, low interest rates and long grace period compared to market loans from conventional International Financial Institutions (IFIs).
Tanzania still lacks adequate technological expertise and personnel in almost all domains. This has been attributed to the use of borrowed money (forex) for purchase of equipment and paying for the technical services rendered by international experts, hence the exposure to exchange rate fluctuations and persistent depreciation of the Tanzanian shilling against foreign currencies especially the Unites States of America's Dollar (USD). Therefore, the government should focus on borrowing from countries which do not use USD such as Japan, China, Germany and the UK hence reducing exchange rate volatility taking into account that, until June, 2015, the total external debt was dominated by USD at 54% while Euro was only at 18%.
On the other hand, there should be a separate agency with full autonomy entitled, by law, to audit all the government borrowings, payment plans and produce reports (both Swahili and English) in a very transparent manner. To make things more transparent, the reports should be discussed and debated in the parliament. This will ensure optimal and effective use of government borrowings hence eradicating the occurrence of embezzlement of funds and related financial misconducts like stealing of $133 million (Sh279 billion) from the External Payment Arrears Account (EPA) from the Bank of Tanzania (BOT) in 2005/06.
Contracts transparency is an issue of concern and should be addressed immediately. All contracts relating to extractive industry such as oil, gas and mining should be disclosed and well known to the public. Those who have experience with Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) techniques would concur with me that, whether educated or not, citizens are researchers. They are good in investigating and seeking informatio. As such, through contract disclosure, they will be allowed to monitor contracts in areas such as environmental compliance where they may be better placed than the government. This would reduce or eliminate the resource curse problem facing other countries like Nigeria, Sudan and Somalia.
The backbone of Tanzania’s economy with more than the estimated 50 million people is based on agriculture. This suggests that the government has to undetake several reforms to free the agricultural sector from all technical and business related shackles. Among the key areas for agricultural reforms include increase in agricultural subsidy, price stabilization, adoption and sustaining of agricultural based irrigation, promoting agricultural extension, agricultural mechanization and more efficient intermediation of savings into capital formation for agriculture and its related activities.
Investment in the industrial sector is vital and inevitable. Tanzania is experiencing inflation, loss of currency value against other currencies especially USD and BOP problems caused by importation of a litany of goods which can even be produced locally. It is only through revamping the old and dead industries and increasing investment into other new industries that we can do so. Such investment in the industrial sector will have far reaching direct and indirect impacts to the economy and the community at large through employment creation and increased revenues. The BOP problem will also be addressed through increased exportation and reduced importation. The production, supply and distribution of reliable electricity requires our sustained attention. Electrical power is the engine and heart for increased production in all sectors of the economy, particularly in industries, mining and agriculture.
Despite the fact that, IMF Debt Sustainability's Analysis (2016) and the Ministry of Finance's Medium Term Debt Management Strategy (2015), underscore that Tanzania’s risk of debt distress remains low and none of them have breached the respective threshold as per their indicators, for a developing country like ours, with rampant corruption, an underperforming export sector, Balance of Payment (BOP) problems and inflated currency, borrowing needs to be well scrutinized and allocated. Therefore, the government should remain firm on implementing prudent fiscal policy, opt for appropriate financing mix coupled with strengthened debt management capacity and continuous financial and public reforms.
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New Book On the Relevance of Walter Rodney
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Mhadhara wa Maadhimisho wa Miaka 50 ya Azimio
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Give a Book, Take a Book at Soma Book Cafe
"Bring a book you have read to exchange with other readers. Wrap the book and enclose a card inside that explains why you like the book. When you get to Soma write your name on a piece of paper and drop it in a bowl at the counter. During the book exchange pick a name from the bowl (not yours) and give your books to the person whose name you picked" - http://somabookcafe.com
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Barua kwa Mpenzi Wangu Azimio
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A Re(Turn) to the Arusha Declaration?
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Growing Up with the Arusha Declaration
The Arusha Declaration at Fifty: A Return to its Praxis?
Chambi Chachage
Introduction
It had been thirty years since the Arusha Declaration on Socialism and Self-Reliance was a primary subject of national and international symposia. After its proclamation in 1967, it became both an ideological and intellectual ritual to commemorate the Declaration after each decade. Mwalimu Julius Nyerere who was instrumental in its formulation initiated this practice in 1977 when he issued ‘The Arusha Declaration –Ten Years After’, a publication that received much scholarly attention to the extent that it was republished in several academic journals. Scholars from the University of Dar es Salaam and other institutions also gathered in Arusha and London on the eve of 1987 to reflect, critically, on twenty years of its implementation. In 1997 and 2007, however, such gatherings were conspicuous by their absence. What has happened since then to make 2017 as a year of convening such reflective commemoratives of the virtually discarded Declaration in Arusha, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Edinburgh?
In this paper, I attempt to address that question of ‘why now’ as I reflect on my own journey of making sense of the history of the Arusha Declaration. My starting point is Mwalimu Nyerere’s prediction, or rather a ‘deathbed wish’, about its future. After acknowledging his mistakes in implementing it to Ikaweba Bunting in 1998, he affirmed that he thinks that the country will return to its values and basic principles. My paper is thus divided into four sections that reflect on the extent to which Tanzania has returned or is returning to those values and principles ideologically, politically, legally and socioeconomically, respectively. In practice these arenas of engagement are entangled; however, for theoretical clarity, I hereby disentangle them.
Ideological (Re)Turn
I was born a year after the commemoration of ten years of the Arusha Declaration. As I came to learn later, the country was at a critical juncture. It was at war to ouster Dictator Idi Amin from Uganda. The East African Community had collapsed. Some regions had experienced draught and plague of locust whereas production in other areas dwindled. Productivity in the industrial sector had also hit a record low. Hence the economy that had shown some signs of improvement was on the brink of a crisis.
As such, I was raised at a time when the government was attempting to come up with a workable economic recovery programme. The only childhood memory I have of the difficult economic conditions is having to eat a slippery cornmeal from a yellow flour known as ‘yanga’ in Kiswahili that the country received as food aid. Oblivious to me was that fact that the ruling party and the government were going through an intense struggle over the tenets of the Arusha Declaration. In hindsight, one sees that this obliviousness was partly due to what we were taught in nursery and primary schools.
The songs we sung in school were carefully chosen to inculcate the values and principles of the Arusha Declaration. For example, we committed to memory a popular poem on a dying father whose final words to his sons is about the importance of farming together. Although my primary school was in an urban area, it also had a school farm for collective farming. However, in contrast to the primary school in my grandmother’s village, we did not spend half a day or so tilling the land collectively.
It is thus interesting to observe – and indeed participate – online in collective recollections of the late 1980s and early 1990s with my generation. We were the last cohort of Tanzanian schoolchildren to read 9 volumes of a textbook on Kiswahili entitled ‘Tujifunze Lugha Yetu’ i.e. ‘Let us Learn our Language’. Published in 1971 and republished between 1980 and 1982, these volumes contained chapters that were primarily concerned with ensuring that we understand and embrace the Declaration.
For instance, chapter 11 of volume 9 is entitled ‘Mji wa Arusha’ i.e. ‘The Town of Arusha’. Out of more than 20 regions in the country, the Ministry of Education opted for this particular one because of the Declaration. This is how its second paragraph describes it:
Kwa wanasiasa mashuhuri duniani jina la Arusha lawakumbusha mahali ilipotangazwa siasa ya Ujamaa na Kujitegemea iliyo lengo la maendeleo ya Watanzania. Siasa hii ilikubaliwa na kupitishwa katika kikao cha Mkutano wa [Tanzania African National Union] TANU uliofanyika mwaka 1967. Katika kikao hiki Watanzania wameamua kukomesha kila aina ya unyonyaji, ukabaila na ubepari na kusisitiza usawa wa binadamu [For prominent politicians the name Arusha reminds them of where the political ideology of Socialism and Self-Reliance, which is the target of the development of Tanzanians, was declared. This ideology was embraced and approved by TANU's General Assembly that was held in 1967. In this Assembly Tanzanians decided to stop all forms of exploitation, feudalism and capitalism hence upholding human equality.]
The same volume also contains a chapter on ‘Usawa wa Binadamu’ i.e. ‘Human Equality.’ Interestingly, chapter 22 of Volume 5 is entitled ‘Azimio la Arusha’ and it concludes with a poetic dialogue between a brother and a sister in which one of them asks what the Declaration is all about and the other explains its role in ending exploitation. It is important to note that we read these impressionist materials between the tender age of 7 and 13, so, one can imagine their ideological imprint on our minds.
Incidentally, I completed my primary school education in 1991 – the year of the Zanzibar Declaration that delivered a coup de grâce to the Arusha Declaration. By allowing political leaders to accumulate private wealth while in public service, the new resolution was an assault on the principle of equality. As I started my secondary education in 1992, the country returned to multiparty politics and soon ‘Civics’ replaced ‘Politics’ as a core subject in both primary and secondary school. This change, as Hilda Mushi recalled on 22 February 2017 at the Nyerere Resource Centre’s commemoration of fifty years of the Arusha Declaration in Dar es Salaam, shifted our attentions from it. We stopped learning about it in school and started focusing on the discourses of governance from the likes of Plato and David Ricardo.
Little did I know then that the country was on a neoliberal turn that did not only cause the change in our curriculum but also in how we access social services such as education. We started asking our parents for school fees even though I went to a public school. As one of our teachers, Peter Mashanga, led a massive protest in 1995, I hardly understood the shift from the Arusha Declaration that had promoted free social services to the Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) that imposed user fees. This is the context that led Nyerere to utter these words about a trip he made in the US:
Twenty years since then, the conditions have not improved significantly. As we shall see in the socioeconomic below, the steady growth of the economy at an average rate of 7 percent for over a decade has not trickled down to the majority of the people. It is thus not surprising that there is nostalgia about the aborted promises of the Arusha Declaration. Young people are starting to ask questionsabout its whereabouts. Intellectuals across the left-right divide are also going back to the drawing board to reflect on it. When one such intellectual, Honest Ngowi, searched for “Arusha Declaration” in Google Scholar on 9 June 2007 he got a total of 2,930 hits. Today, on 24 February 2017, the hits are 5,920 with inverted commas and 16,600 without them.
Another intellectual, Issa Shivji, has been instrumental in renewing the debate on the Arusha Declaration. I had the privilege of working with him in reprinting 2000 copies of the Declaration in 2010 when he was the Mwalimu Professorial Chair of Pan-African Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam. These copies were distributed to participants of the second annual Nyerere Intellectual Festival Week. More significantly, copies were also sent to students at Makongo, Perfect Vision, Manzese, Azania, Tambaza and Jangwani secondary schools and uploaded on the World Wide Web. The generous support from HakiElimu, a leading civic organization advocating for educational rights, in reprinting it is a testament to its recent relevance.
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PUBLIC LECTURE BY PROFESSOR SAMIR AMIN: 10/03/2017
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Is Chairman Magufuli Revolutionizing CCM?
As President Magufuli starts his four-day official tour in Pwani, Lindi and Mtwara after appointing Former First Lady, Salma Kikwete, to be a Member of Parliament (MP) - and as the ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) is about to deliberate on what it refers to as "mageuzi makubwa yanayofanyika ndani ya chama chetu" i.e. 'the ongoing great transformation in our party' - we may all wish to recall the 'prophetic' comments below from a political scientist and investigative journalist in Tanzania, respectively:
It is worth noting that Lowassa’s defection and Magufuli’s succession have had profound after-effects on both CCM and the opposition. Magufuli is an anomaly in that, as a de facto nominee resulting from two factions cancelling each other out, he came to power without his own power base. Meanwhile, those aligned with Lowassa—politicians, party members and financiers—are now labelled traitors and are lying low. Magufuli now has the upper hand and has seized the opportunity to pursue—whether out of genuine conviction or as a political strategy given his lack of a personal network—a relentless anti-corruption campaign. This has seemingly helped neutralize potential opponents within CCM. Indeed, the party had come to operate on the principle that rival factions were all implicated in corruption of one form or another such that they were incapable of holding each other to account (Gray, 2015). Magufuli, by contrast, is seemingly unafraid to burn bridges by firing or prosecuting allegedly corrupt officials and politicians, actions that have seemingly helped cow otherwise vocal opponents into silence. In this way, Magufuli claims he is en route to cleanse a corrupted CCM in order to restore it to the Nyerere ideal.
The analysis in this paper would suggest, however, that this is an unrealistic objective. Tanzania’s economy is such that CCM can no longer hope to recentralize power, although there is renewed talk of started party-owned businesses in order to address its perennial lack of adequate resources. Even so, at least in public Magufuli continues to vilify and seemingly alienate a class of commercial elites who previously supported the party, either directly or through its individual candidates. Meanwhile, the party organization remains weak and in need of substantial investment of energy and resources—a point emphasised by the outgoing party chairman and former President Jakaya Kikwete when handing over the chairmanship to Magufuli. These two factors—the lack of a credible plan for generating party income and the party’s organizational slack—both suggest CCM might be in trouble. Perhaps it is no wonder—authoritarian tendencies aside—that Magufuli is actively repressing the opposition, whether it be by banning political meetings or by prosecuting individual opposition politicians. Even with a severely weakened opposition, it only seems like a matter of time, though, before Magufuli will have to learn either to tolerate some degree of mtandao (network) politics—perhaps after ensuring he has consolidated his own support base—or else face opposition from opponents from within his party amidst severe organizational decay. The third possible alternative is a continued and exacerbated authoritarian crackdown, which it is not clear he has the ability to pull off. For now, Magufuli is still enjoying a honeymoon period with many rank and file voters who initially responded positively to a series of populist (and some more substantive) gestures. But if that begins to wane, as it is already showing signs of doing, he will face a reckoning.
Cf.
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Launch of ‘Her-Story Book’
Public Forum on Women & Girls Leadership in Tanzania & Launch of ‘Her-Story Book’ organized by Women Fund Tanzania (WFT) and Women Coalition on Constitution/Election and Leadership.
Objectives:
• Promoting Public Dialogue, Reflections and building consensus on how to move forward in increasing and strengthening women and girls’ leadership in the country.
• Launching of the ‘Her-Story Book’ (both in English & Swahili versions)
Venue: National Museum of Tanzania
Date: Friday, 10 March 2017
Time: 9AM - 2PM
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Samir Amin's Lecture on Social Progress in Africa
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Youth Accountability and Integrity in East Africa
Youth Accountability in the East African Community
Kamala Dickson
Introduction
Youth in the East African Community (EAC) constitute more than 63% of the population. Therefore they are the largest portion of the active population and significant stakeholders in the integration process. Article 120(c) of The Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community captures how integral we are as it states that, ‘The Partner states undertake to closely cooperate amongst themselves in the field of social welfare with respect to the development and adaptation of a Common approach towards the disadvantaged and marginalized groups, including…the Youth.’
Integration is an aspirational process and progressive goal. It is the youth who will ultimately realize and enjoy its fruits. As such, it is important that the youth take part in crafting and mainstreaming the integration agenda. We have a key role to play in ensuring the integration process is strengthened and comprehended so as it to make it sustainable reality. To that end there are a number of ongoing youth initiatives such as the East African Community Youth Ambassadors Platform (EAC-YAP). On its part, the African Youth Charter, recognizes efforts made by state parties and civil societies to address the economic, social, educational, cultural and spiritual needs of youth. Citizens, especially youth, are very impressed by this integration process.
Essentially, the future of the EAC depends on youth. So, any attempt to fast-track the process of integration without a proactive and assertive sensitization and educative campaign of its tremendous advantages to the public, especially the youth could endanger it and even lead to another collapse of the community in the near future. This is because the current crop of young people, which will certainly be in charge of our national agenda then, would not have been ingrained with the notion of integration.
Since 2012 the EAC's Nyerere Centre for Peace Research (NCPR) has been organizing the annual EAC University Students Debate on Regional Integration. The aim of the debate is to provide a platform to promote dialogue among university students across East Africa and thus motivate them to advocate for regional integration initiatives. After the 3rd annual debate, a team of Youth Ambassadors were appointed from the Partner States. Our responsibility has been to advocate for EAC Integration by conducting sensitizing, educating and engaging our peers at the national level. As a Youth Ambassador of Tanzania, I would like to share my thoughts about the role and prospects of African youth.
Youth Movement in Africa
When the African Union's (AU) Head of States and Governments met in Banjul, Gambia, from 1-2 July 2006, one of the significant outcomes of the meeting was to endorse the African Youth Charter (AYC). According to AU, the Charter is both a political and legal document, serving as the strategic framework that gives direction for youth empowerment and development, not only at the continental level but also at regional and national levels. It also "aims to strengthen, reinforce and consolidate efforts to empower us through meaningful youth participation and equal partnership in driving Africa’s development agenda." Hence it refers to "the rights, freedoms and duties of youth in Africa". Moreover, the charter laid down the foundation for the Youth Division of African Union Commission. This is how it describes our movement:
Youth Movement in the East African Community
Although constituting 63% of the total population, youth in EAC remain voiceless and less engaged in decision-making bodies and development agenda even on matters that should be championed by youth. All over East Africa, youth are still demanding for their rights of being included in development and decision-making bodies based as it is the case with gender and people with disability. In the case of Tanzania, the youth formed a movement to demand a body or platform in which will have the power to demand for our rights. In 2015 the Parliament passed a bill which became a law for establishing the Youth Council of Tanzania. However, until today there is less efforts on its establishment on the ground. Burundi has a slightly similar experience as Tanzania. Although they have established a youth platform, it is not constitutional. Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda have established Youth councils. The efforts made in every member state to constitute youth bodies also needs to be replicated at the regional level, that is, through youth representation in the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) and other governance bodies in the East African Community(EAC).
It is interesting to note that in 2016 the Aga Khan University launched its East Africa Youth Survey Report. Their findings indicates that, in the case of integrity, "21-58% believed it doesn’t matter how one makes money as long as one does not end up in jail; 30-58% admire those who make money through hook or crook; 8-45%% believe corruption is profitable; 73-75% are afraid to stand up for what is right for fear of retribution; Only 10-44% of the youth would readily take or give a bribe. Only 27-42% strongly believe that it is important to pay taxes."
This report also had this say about this crisis of integrity: "Up to 45% of the youth believe corruption is profitable and up to 58% would do anything to make money. Only 40% would pay taxes on earned income and up to 73% are afraid to stand up for the truth for fear of retribution. With the exception of Rwanda, corruption in the public sector, and indeed across all sectors of society has reached a crisis proportion. The government of Uganda recognizes that corruption poses a major challenge to good governance. In Tanzania President Magufuli campaigned on a platform of integrity and the restoration of the ethos of hard work. In Kenya President Kenyatta said corruption was a national security threat and costs Kenyans about 250,000 jobs every year...."
Transparency International's (TI) reports also place Rwanda ahead of other countries EAC in the war against corruption. Tanzania has also made substantial progress in this war in the first year of the fifth phase government. In order replicate these apparent success stories, it is important for this war to be coordinated, not only at the national level, but also at the regional level through EALA etc.
EALA should thus come up with a strong strategy on how to fight corruption collectively by focusing on youth as the future fabric of society. If we need steady and sustainable development, we should put much efforts as a community. Constitutionalism and the rule of law should be the core angle in which EALA should deal with corruption. The EAC should now start formulating of joint army that can help to remove leaders in power if they are not respecting the Constitution. But citizens should also be sensitized on being responsible by fully engaging in the constitution-making process and hold accountable leaders who hold power unconstitutionally. Our EAC should not only respect economic agreements among member states but also human rights and the rule of law in which every citizen has the same chance to contribute in governance.
We have recently observed how one person with coercive power can violate the constitution and creates chaos that has made EAC become a pool of refugees again with a negative impact on the environment and health in the region. The EAC should learn from ECOWAS in terms of constitutional respect and leadership exchange. The process of integration must be rooted in the people like our motto of “one people one destiny”. For it is only when people are empowered to appreciate the advantages of a customs union, common market, monetary union and lastly political federation that we can confidently assert that the community will survive. This is the community Mwalimu Nyerere and other Pan-African champions of African Unity and Freedom dreamt about.
Conclusion
Recognizing that Article 50 of the EAC Treaty on Election of Members to EAL provides that the "National Assembly of each Partner State shall elect, not from among its members, nine members of the Assembly, who shall represent as much as it is feasible, the various political parties represented in the National Assembly, shades of opinion, gender and other special interest groups in that Partner State, in accordance with such procedure as the National Assembly of each Partner State may determine.", Rwanda has managed to allocate one slot for youth. Hence Rwandese youths are well represented in EALA. Uganda is doing so. A call to my country, Tanzania, where the members of parliament will soon elect members of EALA, is that we should remember that the current parliament has a lot of youth. It is the case because we are many in the country and hence the need for a form of representation which reflects our demography. This should equally apply to EALA where among nine members from every country, one should be youth. My call to the current Speaker of the Tanzanian Parliament, Hon. Job Ndugai, is to address this matter.
I would also like to thank all outgoing EALA for their tremendous work. Their effort on their mission will remain a mark to be honored and implemented amongst youth. Hon. Speaker Dan Kidega who was a real brother and friend to the youth community in EAC but also former Secretary General to EAC, Ambassador Richard Sezibera, for his initiative to ensure that all young people should take responsibility in leadership and governance bodies in EAC. Ms. Barbara Kaboha at the NPRC for support. Outgoing Tanzania's members of EALA: Hon. Makongoro Nyerere, Hon. Shyrose Bhanji, Hon. Adam Kimbisa, Hon. Angela Kizigha, Hon. Bernard Murunya, Hon. Abdullah Mwinyi, Hon. Dr. Nderakindo Kessy, Hon. Issa Tasilima and Hon. Maryam Ussi Yahya. It is about time to pass the leadership baton to more youth of East Africa.
We can surely build our East African youth for the future of EAC.
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