Here is the full version of the interview I did for this weeks The EastAfrican newspaper. Among other things, I explained the reasons why I decided to contest for the top seat and outlined the changes I wish to bring about in our country. Please read and let me know your thoughts: WHAT DROVE YOUR DECISION TO CONTEST FOR THE TOP SEAT? I want to see my country change for the better. Tanzania is at a critical stage in its history – we can take a path to greater prosperity or we could continue to be called a sleeping giant. What will determine the path we will take is the quality of leadership we get in the next election. I am confident I have the requisite foresight, experience and ideas to move our country forward at a greater pace. I have worked in the State House as close aide to the President and was exposed with how the country is run. I have been a ruling party leader – Member of Secretariat, Member of Central Committee, Member of National Executive Committee, and was exposed to the mechanics of high-level party politics and was able to understand how politics can and should be realigned to serve a greater good. I am elected Member of Parliament – and that role has enabled me to appreciate what trust of the people in a leader means and how that must not be abused. I have travelled to every corner of Tanzania – twice within the past 10 years and I have been able to appreciate the immensity of the challenge of uplifting our people to better living conditions. I have travelled across the world and got to see examples of good governance and bad governance – and what a difference can leadership make. So the sum of all these exposures plus my deep belief in the possibility for transformation of Tanzania – and my desire to drive and lead that transformation has propelled me to enter the race. In addition, many of us also believe that time is now for generational transition in political leadership in our country. Tanzania’s demographics have changed dramatically over the past 20 years. Political leadership needs to reflect the changing demographics. We need the leadership that is attuned to the complexity of an emergent new society, basically an entirely new country, with an entirely new set of people, who are wired differently, every 15 to 20 years. It is difficult to see those who have been in politics for 40 years, who are steeped in the ways of one-party state, rigidly planned economy, and controls of freedoms, being able to contend with the unique challenges of ongoing fast change. So, I have entered this race with absolute desire to win and lead Tanzania’s transformation into a new glorious era. WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT CHANGE - WHAT SPECIFIC THINGS DO YOU WANT TO CHANGE IN YOUR COUNTRY? Many things – but the first start will be a change in our mindset. It is important for Tanzanians to believe that it is within our ability to achieve great things both individually and as a country. We will start with children in schools and through popular mobilization to get the entire society to believe and act on the things we desire for our country. If, for instance, we want clean cities, and zero cases of cholera, we can easily attain that as it is within our means. We want inculcate a culture of personal responsibility. I believe that this is where change begins. We want to set very high ethical standards for public servants. Accountability is very key. There will be zero tolerance on corruption and maladministration. People must have faith that they are governed justly. This way, we can maintain peace and harmony but we can also have the legitimacy and credibility to ask people to take on causes greater than themselves. In terms of policy specifics, we don’t have time to go through it all here but I am looking at four key areas where change is necessary. First, is people’s incomes. Tremendous progress has been made over the years but still majority of our people do not have sufficient incomes to cater for their needs, to save and invest in productive activities. So, our economy must grow faster than it currently is, particularly in sectors involving majority of people – agriculture, industries and small and medium sized enterprises. We have 22 million people in the job market at the moment, with 900,000 new entrants each year, this number is expected to reach 40 million in the next 20 years. This must be tackled as an emergency and I have a plan for this. Second, I want to transform our education system. As I travel to rural Tanzania and see learning conditions there and every year you look at results for primary and secondary education and you also travel around the world and you see the kind of education they provide to their children, you know for sure that if we do not change fast, if we do not transform our education and impart skills to young people that are relevant to this century – we are going to be perpetually poor, we are not going to be able to have people capable of being part of the new century and new knowledge economy. Third, we will set the conditions for private enterprises to thrive by focusing on six key areas: energy, transport infrastructure, ICT, financial services, a facilitative public sector, and predictable and stable fiscal policies. It absolutely must be easier to start and conduct business in Tanzania. Fourth, as I mentioned earlier, we will focus on better governance and on building strong institutions. We will lead a government that is honest and transparent, and accountable. We will also seek to build and foster trust in public institutions which will protect people’s interests and guard against abuse of power. What we want to have eventually is a stronger, prouder, more peaceful, more prosperous, more united Tanzania that is at peace with itself, its neighbours and the community of nations. RECENTLY YOU WERE REPORTEDLY AMONG THOSE REPRIMANDED BY YOUR PARTY THE CHAMA CHA MAPINDUZI (CCM) FOR CAMPAIGNING FOR THE TOP JOB PREMATURELY. WHAT ARE YOUR OPTIONS IF YOU ARE NOT ENDORSED? Let me first say that the reprimand was more or less a reminder to abide by the party electoral calendar. It has no bearing on whether or not one will not be endorsed by the party. Also, there is a general consensus within the party and in the general public that contenders for high office should come out early so that they can be vetted by the party membership and general public. That’s what we have been doing and that’s what almost everyone is doing. We have not contemplated non-endorsement. The party is looking for someone who can win a general election for the party, who can excite the majority of the electorate which happens to be young people, who has the ability to fulfill the party’s election manifesto and strengthen the foundation for future party victories. I believe I am that person. We have and are going to demonstrate that we can win an election – the office for the party. The party has lately been having difficulties with young people- we are going to convince the party that our candidacy will remove that difficulty. We are going to run a campaign that has never been seen in Tanzania. We will focus on issues and seek debates among the candidates. It is not going to be easy, as we have started a bit late, but we have a strategy to prevail. Our plan is to be at the top of polls around February next year. THE RECENT TURMOIL IN BURKINA FASO HAVE REINFORCED THE IMPORTANCE OF TERM LIMITS - AN ISSUE THAT REMAINS A POLITICAL HOT POTATO IN MOST AFRICAN COUNTRIES WITH MOST AFRICAN LEADERS NOT HONORING THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL TERM LIMITS TO THEIR PRESIDENCY. WHAT IS YOUR VIEW ON TERM LIMITS? The strength of democracy is not defined by term limits. You can have term limits but still have misrule or a succession of bad leaders. What I believe is that if the constitution sets term limits it should not be the decision of the sitting leader to change the constitution to remove term limits. This is wrong. Citizens should be able to decide on how they want to be governed. The key thing is to strengthen the legitimacy of institutions and the constitution itself. We also must say that the constitution is a living organism. If there is consensus in the society for people to change the constitution like we are doing it in Tanzania at the moment through a process that people have agreed to that’s fine. But Burkina Faso should be looked much more deeply than a mere constitutional change issue. The lesson we can learn there is that leaders get mandates in elections but must continually renew their legitimacy in the way they conduct themselves in office. We also learn that all over Africa we have a new and empowered citizenry – that is able to mobilise and organize mass actions to effect change, including removing a President. But we also learn that citizens actions for change must not lead to after-change chaos. In Burkina Faso, the people removed a president only for the military to occupy the vacuum and take power. I believe this is not what the people had in mind. THE INVIDIOUS INCREASING ROLE OF MONEY IN POLITICS IN PARTICULAR DURING ELECTORAL CAMPAIGNS IS CAUSING DEEP ANXIETY NOT JUST TO POLITICIANS BUT TO ALL THOSE WHO CARE ABOUT DEMOCRACY. HOW ARE YOU PLANNING TO FUND YOUR PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS IN A MANNER THAT DOES NOT UNDERMINE DEMOCRACY? It is true that the increasing role of money in electing our leaders gets us bad and corrupt leaders. In addition, it keeps young people out of politics because in most cases young people do not have sufficient resources to compete with those who have been in politics for many years and have created networks of patronage. I will not need the money to buy voters because I believe deeply that that is not the right thing to do and it cannot bring about good and ethical leadership. But it is also naïve to say that money will not be needed in this process. Obviously you need resources to be able to reach as many people as possible to tell them who you are and what you stand for. And this is not crazy amount of money. So, we are going to run an inspirational campaign, that will get the people to believe in their abilities to elect the President they feel can serve them. And when people believe that you need to be elected for their hopes and aspirations to be met, they not only work for your campaign but they will also contribute resources. And this is what we are going to do. We have seen some good signs for this. You know, to collect nomination forms cost about one million Tanzanian shillings. So far, different groups, especially university students, have offered to pay for this when the time comes – and we have counted these groups that have made this offer and it comes to about 14 million Tanzanian shillings. This gives me hope that I will live by my pledge of remaining an ethical candidate. What touched me about this is that these offers are not from individuals with resources but groups, like students, which resources are hard to come by. With the changing demographics now and the capacity that young people have to mobilise and I am confident in that we will have no problems. If young people can remove Presidents without using any money, as we have seen in different countries, you can easily mobilise them to democratically, and without much resources, install a President they want. And this is what we are going to do. At the end of the day, we need to change the current political system to limit the influence of money. TODAY TANZANIA IS LARGELY SEEN IN EAST AFRICA AS NOT KEEN TO FAST TRACK THE INTEGRATION PROCESS. HOW DO YOU VIEW THESE ALLEGATIONS? I would say Tanzania has been too careful not unwilling. They beauty of EAC Treaty is that it is essentially a staged roadmap towards the final ultimate destination of greater unity, which is the political federation. So, when you sign the Treaty, as we did, you commit yourself to that path. So, Tanzania will not abdicate this important commitment which I believe is advantageous to Tanzania as well. So far, we have been signatories to all the key protocols that get us along that path. But I have heard about these accusations everywhere in the region – you hear consistently from business and political leaders. We have a task to address these and some very specific impediments towards greater harmony. I am a firm believer of the EAC integration. Majority of Tanzanians, as polled recently, also want this. I believe Tanzania, given its size, influence and uncontested history of Pan-Africanism, should take leadership of the process. We stand to benefit from regional integration than not being part of it. Also, to build goodwill and understanding, members should not isolate each other on projects that benefits the community. Assumptions should not be made about willingness or unwillingness of different partners states to participate in certain projects. EAC will be stronger if we move in unity as a one unit. LOOKING AHEAD, WHAT NEEDS TO BE PRIORITIZED TO MAKE REGIONAL INTEGRATION MORE EFFECTIVE TO ITS CITIZENS? Regional infrastructure will be important. Infrastructure projects are economic activities in themselves but they also catalyze integration. So, more investments in regional infrastructure need to be done. It is good to see that the Northern Corridor is taking a good shape. We will make sure that on our part of the Central Corridor is developed. We have a moral obligation as a country that has access to the sea to facilitate our landlocked neighbours to conduct efficient international trade. We have to fulfill it by getting rid of some of the impediments that increases the cost to our neighbours. This is a win-win for Tanzania and its neighbours. Tanzania makes almost the same amount of money from transit trade as from agricultural exports. So, facilitation of transit trade for our neighbors is a good thing for Tanzania. Another item is the facilitation of all steps to get to the maturity of Common Market. We need easily invest in each other’s countries and we need to quickly become one investment destination. Understandably, each country may be at a different level of readiness. But we must deal with this.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 07:30:01 +0000