Mkapa, Kikwete are worlds apart

There are many ways to deal with problems. One can pretend that there is nothing unusual, play the ostrich game of hiding one`s head in the sand and wrongly believing that the storm would soon finally be safely over, take things in stride, or choose rough means of changing the status quo. Those in positions of leadership can choose to allow people under their command to discuss the problems or challenges openly, treat any attempts to elaborate on the problems as criminal, or pretend that the people are so naive and ignorant of the situation on the ground as to be easily fooled. These facts ought to be considered whenever attempts are made to compare and contrast the performance of different institutions or agencies like governments or individual players. The same should thus apply in the particular respect of the findings of a study by the Research and Education for Democracy in Tanzania (Redet) project covering the last 16 years as released in Dar es Salaam yesterday. According to the study, public discontent over accountability in the government peaked during the second-phase (Ali Hassan Mwinyi) presidency, things improving appreciably during the next (Benjamin Mkapa) tenure from 1995 to 2005 and deteriorating again during the current (Jakaya Kikwete) leadership. Granted, the Redet experts behind the study have their own time-tested scientific ways of conducting research and it would be rash for anyone to dismiss their findings as roundly untenable. However, it would help to know the extent to which the experts went in establishing the comparative nature of the social, political, economic and other conditions characterising the three eras evaluated as well as that of Founding President Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and their impact on the lives of our people. Merely comparing the number of public complaints levelled against particular government agencies or in relation to particular acts of commission or omission in or by those agencies does not paint a complete enough picture of the level or nature of their performance. There would obviously be much fewer overt media and public complaints against a dictatorship overly allergic to or intolerant of criticism than against a truly democratic government. Similarly, even the most repressive and corrupt of regimes could register impressive economic wealth without that necessarily translating into a higher standard of living for the populace. Some of the things Tanzanians have witnessed during the last 16 years tell stories that belie the Redet study findings. The most notable examples include the flawed belief by some leaders that few locals outside the government have enough brains to contribute to the development of their nation as outstandingly as some of their compatriots in ``the system`` or as expatriates. The Redet study has doubtless come up with interesting findings. However, it involved a tiny percentage of the Tanzanian population � perhaps acceptable for research purposes but obviously far from representative enough, and hence the need for caution in digesting and internalising the findings so as to give credit where credit is due. Mkapa assumed the presidency promising, in his words, to lead by example by working hard, being as open as possible consistent with government regulations, meeting the people � not just lecturing them � and meeting the press regularly. He not only never kept the promise for long nor showed any respect to his own country`s media institutions and practitioners. In fact, the twilight years of his presidency saw him enjoy being interviewed by foreign media agencies as greatly as he abhorred speaking to Tanzanian journalists, whom he brushed off as irredeemably incompetent. The Mkapa government will also be remembered for brooking no nonsense at the slightest indication of looming dissent such as opposition, however justified, to official policies. He once publicly declared that he just had no time for the opposition. A ready example is how it used heavily armed contingents of paramilitary police to install South Africans as the new managers of the strategic state-owned Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) in implementation of a hugely controversial contract that was later to prove a disastrous embarrassment. Mkapa took over Tanzania's leadership promising corrupt elements zero tolerance. But by the end of the show the monster was threatening the country's very survival and he was himself acknowledged as one of the causes of the tornado. The rest is a history we are still learning bitter lessons from. And how does the Kikwete government rank on these scores? It is common knowledge that the President took off as a darling of the Tanzanian media who held local journalists in very high esteem and they, in turn, knew him as a ready partner and friend whom they now fondly refer to only as JK. He said as much in his maiden address in the National Assembly in Dodoma only days after his election. Like Mkapa before him, Kikwete promised to give corrupt elements a very hard time. Has he delivered on the promise? Very much so, despite hiccups one can explain, as anyone with eyes that see and ears that hear will admit. With respect to transparency, there isn't the slightest doubt that the Mkapa government died a sudden mid-stream death but the JK one is soldiering on despite having inherited a mountain of problems from the one it succeeded. The State House has become a lot more approachable. It is talking more appealingly and credibly on issues like the war on AIDS, serious crime and grand corruption - and listening more attentively. Indications are that it will keep its doors open. Finally, the nation is awaiting with immense eagerness, enthusiasm and hope President Kikwete`s address in the National Assembly in Dodoma today because they know that he has a message of national importance. And what more would a national leader wish for than that his or her people should rally behind him or her through thick and thin? Mkapa said he would be appeased if history remembered him as a president who had led an Administration that demonstrably fought corruption and strengthened leadership that promoted good governance and discipline in the sense of law, order and regulations but consistent with fundamental freedoms. In the main, the wind blew in the wrong direction. JK�s vision and dream should be much similar. So far, he has lived up to popular expectations without bragging so much about it. He has quite some time to go. We should evaluate his mid-term performance as seriously and fairly as we have done all along while wishing him all the best and helping him to steer the ship of our state safely even through rough seas.