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Eyakuze reflects on a decade of successes and challenges at Twaweza

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Outgoing Twaweza East Africa executive director Aidan Eyakuze. Photo | The Citizen

Dar es Salaam. It has been a journey full of ups and downs in policy advocacy and listening to citizens' voices, and now the Twaweza East Africa Executive Director, Mr Aidan Eyakuze, is concluding his tenure.

Mr Eyakuze, who is retiring this year from Twaweza East Africa, is set to become the chief executive officer (CEO) of Open Government Partnership (OGP), which is based in the United States..

Speaking during an exclusive interview with The Citizen’s sister newspaper Mwananchi on January 8, 2025, here, Mr Eyakuze shared his 10-year journey at Twaweza East Africa, as he has managed the core principles of the institution: transparency, citizen engagement, and accountability, which have been filled with both successes and challenges.


Successes

Speaking to The Citizen, Mr Eyakuze highlighted successes achieved when addressing citizens' issues by amplifying their voices.

“Before I joined Twaweza, they had already started the Citizens’ Voices project, where we survey citizens on their understanding of various issues, economic matters, income and education,” he said.

“Soon after starting this project, President Jakaya Kikwete’s government introduced a budget proposal to tax phone cards by Sh1,000. We went to the citizens, surveyed them, and they said this was problematic, leading to a change where the tax was turned into an excise duty on airtime, which was more equitable and did not burden the lower-income citizens,” he said.

He noted that they revisited similar research in 2022 when the sixth-phase government introduced a new tax on mobile transactions.

"We asked the citizens for their views on the newly introduced tax. This was in August 2022. The government and ministers listened and started to explain the reasons behind it. After some time, by October 2022, the tax was reduced," he said.

“So, I see this as a sign that our work has amplified the voices of ordinary citizens, influencing the government to change policies,” he added.

During his tenure, Mr Eyakuze, an economist by profession, mentioned that his institution developed a system to incentivise teachers whose students excelled in basic skills like reading, writing, and arithmetic.

“We provide promises to teachers when the schools open. Initially, we started with 100 schools, and now we have expanded to 265 schools in 10 regions with significant educational challenges, unlike regions like Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro, where basic education infrastructure is better,” he said. “We don’t provide them with training, more tools, or materials. We simply tell them that if their students succeed in these basic skills, they will receive a reward, which is a cash incentive,” he added.

Additionally, Mr Eyakuze noted that they collected the citizen’s opinions on constitutional amendments, which were then used in the process of developing the 2050 National Development Vision.

“That’s why, if you read the Vision, its foundation is governance, security, peace, and stability because the citizens said these are important,” said Eyakuze, who is also a member of the National Committee for the Preparation of this Vision.

Mr Eyakuze was named among the 50 most influential people globally in government and political reforms by the World Economic Forum in 2021.

He explained that this recognition was based on Twaweza’s innovation in providing mobile phones to citizens to collect their opinions.

"We created something that was adopted by the World Bank and other countries. They referred to it as an institutional innovation that influenced other nations," he said.


Challenges

Mr Eyakuze, who joined Twaweza East Africa in 2015, mentioned that one of the challenges he faced was the 2019 amendment to the NGO Act.

“Even here in Tanzania, we encountered obstacles because we were registered under the Companies Act (2019) and had to re-register under the NGO Act,” he said.

He highlighted the differing decisions of various countries, which at times hindered the institution's objectives.

“Twaweza also operates in Kenya and Uganda, and you may find that the governments take different stances regarding civil society organisations,” he shared.

Due to these legal changes, Mr Eyakuze stated that civil society organisations (CSOs) were losing their independence in carrying out their activities.

“If you speak out too much or act in a way that goes against certain policies they favour, or if you raise your voice too loudly, you could face interference, as the laws allow such interventions,” he shared.

“There are laws like the Cybercrimes Act, the NGO Act, and others that allow the government to intervene or control you,” he added.


Reason for Tanzania’s withdrawal from OGP

Mr Eyakuze, who also served as the chair of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Steering Committee as well as on boards of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD) and Open Contracting Partnership (OCP), shared reasons for Tanzania's withdrawal from these programmes, noting that it was due to challenges faced.

He said Tanzania joined OGP in September 2011 in New York under the leadership of the then Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, the late Bernard Membe, and withdrew in July 2017.

“OGP requires member governments to report every two years on their plans and commitments for reforms and ensure accountability,” explained Mr Eyakuze.

He added that when Tanzania withdrew from OGP, the government argued that its operations were similar to those undertaken by the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

“We tried hard to persuade them to stay, but it didn’t work. Since President Samia Suluhu Hassan took office, we have written letters encouraging them to rejoin, so we are still waiting,” he said.

He mentioned that apart from Twaweza, there were other organisations and professional bodies, such as the Research on Poverty Alleviation (Repoa), the Foundation for Civil Society, and the Tanganyika Law Society (TLS), which had collaborated with the Office of the President’s Public Service and Good Governance office.

"At that time, the perspective shifted, and it seemed there was no need for such transparency or extensive citizen engagement. They probably thought, Why be hypocritical in engaging citizens when we don't intend to do so? It was better to withdraw," he said.

He argued that Tanzania’s exit from OGP resulted in a decline in public trust in the government.

“Whether it’s Tanzania, Canada, France, or anywhere, public trust in governments is declining drastically. A study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) indicates that people feel they are no longer listened to by their governments,” explained Mr Eyakuze.


Research that got him in trouble

From 2018 to 2020, Mr Eyakuze faced difficulties after the Immigration Department revoked his passport. This happened shortly after releasing research findings that included a decline in the popularity of the late President John Magufuli.

"My work requires me to travel to offices in Kenya and Uganda, so for almost three years, I couldn’t travel outside Tanzania. It made it difficult to carry out my duties," he said.

However, he said that by 2020, when COVID-19 travel restrictions were implemented, he was already experienced in working remotely.

He also expressed his gratitude for the support he received from his employers during that time.

“That’s why I am very thankful for working at Twaweza. I’ve had a board and directors who supported me 200 percent, not just 100 percent, to help us manage our core principles of transparency, participation, and accountability,” he said.

He said that after their requests had been rejected by the Tanzanian High Court, they took the matter to the Court of Appeal, where the decision was overturned on 4 December 2020.

“The court ordered the government to return my passport within 60 days, and on the 61st day, I got my passport,” he said, revealing that the government had raised concerns about his citizenship.

"However, according to the laws of this country, there was no offence, because both my parents were born here, my paternal and maternal grandparents were born here, and before that, there was no Tanzania. Many people supported us, but we were in a time of fear, so it was difficult to openly show support," he narrated.


Changing direction

After facing these challenges, Mr Eyakuze said they re-evaluated and developed new operational strategies that reduced friction with the government.

“We asked ourselves, how can we ensure that citizens’ voices are heard without antagonising the government? Remember, we moved from the Companies Act to the NGO Act, so if you want to fail, provoke the government. But who benefits from that?” he questioned.

“Our goal is not to seek fame by fighting the government; our goal is to achieve results for the citizens every day,” he concluded.