Vision 2025 ‘difficult to achieve’

Interview. By 2025, Tanzania will have graduated to a middle income country. However, some pundits are sceptical that if certain issues are not dealt with once and for all, the goal will remain a far-fetched dream.

Having served in various ministerial positions before retiring from active politics recently, Dr Juma Ngasongwa keeps an eagle eye on the development plan. He spoke to BusinessWeek’s Exuper Kachenje at his home in Morogoro.

Can you please remind our readers the various positions that you served before your retirement?

I have retired after 42 years of working in government in various positions. My employment in government started in 1967.

That was after I completed my secondary education in Ulanga District, Morogoro Region, and before I undertook my first degree in agriculture and the second in agricultural development at the University of Dar es Salaam. I served as district development director in different districts – with the first one being Kasulu in Kigoma and the last was Mpwapwa in Dodoma.

In 1976, I started teaching at Sokoine University of Agriculture. Four years later, I obtained my Master’s degree before obtaining a PhD in Economics in 1984 at East Anglia University in Norwich City in the United Kingdom.

I continued with my teaching post at SUA until 1992 when I was appointed as an adviser( economics) to then President Ali Hassan Mwinyi. I worked in the President’s Office for four years before contesting and winning a parliamentary seat in Ulanga West in 1995. During that same year, former president Benjamin Mkapa appointed me Natural Resources and Tourism minister.

During your days as a cabinet minister, what would you say were your achievements and challenges?

I remember we worked hard to revive tourism. We prepared a new tourism policy and for the first time we marketed tourism in the UK, instead of the traditional countries like the United Arab Emirates and South Africa.

For the first time we were able to design and advertise a jingle known as “Tanzania, The Land of Kilimanjaro,” that clearly conveyed the message to tourists that Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa has a unique tourism potential.

I remember by that time I had worked with the director of tourism, Mr [Credo] Sinyangwe. We also changed the jingle to read: “Tanzania, the Land of Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar.” That was done also to promote scenic attractions in Zanzibar. They include attractive beaches and hotels. Furthermore, we vigorously marketed the Serengeti and Ngorongoro national parks and Serena hotels in Zanzibar.

At one time, you were the minister for Planning, Economy and Empowerment as well as one of the respected economists whose voices did matter within the ruling party. How was it like for you to execute such positions at one time?

When I was the minister for Planning, Economy and Empowerment, I worked with a team of professionals to prepare the National Policy on Small and Medium Enterprises or SMEs and the Anti-Dumping Strategy, focusing on restricting the dumping of scrap materials or industrial waste, which are all still in use.

 We also prepared a policy on Export Processing Zones of EPZs. On the political scene I find no reason of hiding the fact that I was the team leader in preparing CCM election manifestos in 1995, 2002 and 2005.

Election manifestos normally provide the national vision and the strategies for implementing the goals. With that in mind, what are your views on the achievement of Vision 2025?

It is very difficult to attain it.

Why?

It is difficult due to the fact that we do not plan properly for our development endeavours. The Father of the Nation, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, taught us that to plan is to choose.

 I remember he issued such a statement in 1968. He called on Tanzanians to choose correctly in order to move forward. This implies that if you have numerous priorities you can’t move forward.

The country now has too many priorities to help it move ahead. In my view, these priorities do exist like mere collection of opinions rather than attainable goals.

Economically, the planning process is important because resources are always scarce. Our needs are more than the means to satisfy them at once. We can never implement everything using our meagre resources. Basing on the foundation laid by Mwalimu Nyerere, we have to plan.

We have to emulate the Chinese and even Indians who had plans to build heavy industries in 20 years. With these industries, China and India are now exporting goods and technologies to other countries like Tanzania. Industries are the cornerstone for development.

Those days, we started with a number of factories. I remember we had a factory for manufacturing trucks known as Nyumbu, but I don’t know where it went. Nyumbu was important also for manufacturing tractors that are highly needed to increase agricultural productivity.

In line with this I am also calling for the revitalisation of the National Vocational Training, science and technology studies. If we want high quality education we have to start with teachers; we have to give them incentives to work hard. We must take a rigorous approach without mixing things.

What is your major economic advice to the nation?

I advise the nation to identify major priorities in the planning process. The government must cooperate with the private sector during the planning process.

Formerly, the government thought that it could plan for the private sector, but it has been proved wrong in terms of implementation. It is important to note that the attitude of the private sector is different from government’s attitude.

 The private sector normally negotiates for furthering its interests while the government normally tends to use force.

We should not take the attitude of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund which normally want their policies to be primary and most important.

We should emulate Japan and China in the planning process. The private sector is important for national economic development and it must be given ample opportunity.

The private sector can be given opportunity to build infrastructure like roads and railways under the system known as build, operate and transfer. But the government must continue to invest in infrastructure development to attract more local and foreign direct investments. This is the noble role of the government.

Taking in mind that you are a retired public figure, what is your major source of income? Do you plan to contest a parliamentary seat once again?

I have worked for 42 years and I have decided to retire and engage in farming. I am a farmer. I normally cultivate rice at Dakawa and Malinyi. I normally harvest between 2,000 and 3,000 bags annually. I am satisfied with this economic activity. Iam not thinking of contesting a parliamentary seat anymore.

Enough is enough, but we are facing the problem of low rice prices due to the fact that the government had allowed importation of huge amounts of rice from Thailand and India which have negatively affected the market for the locally grown rice.

That was a wrong decision, taken at the wrong time. In Kilombero Valley we are facing a problem of land crisis because the government wants to reserve it as a wetland area, especially in Malinyi.

 The government is kicking farmers out and the farmers have responded by deforesting land. This is wrong. The government must rethink about this decision to designate reliable areas for agriculture.

 The interests of farmers must be protected. Apart from farming I’m also engaging in providing advisory and consultancy services to investors who are venturing in agriculture, manufacturing industries and oil. and gas exploration.