Tanzania's Treasury Registrar directs public institutions to prepare succession plans

Dar es Salaam. The Treasury Registrar, Mr Nehemiah Mchechu, on Monday instructed the boards of public institutions in Tanzania to prepare a succession plan by identifying internal experienced executives who may be appointed for top positions.

Mr Mchechu said the lack of such plans leads to appointment of officials who were not part of the respective institution, lacking necessary experiences to manage.

Mr Mchechu made the statement on Monday, July 15, 2024, when he spoke to editors and journalists about the preparations for a working session of the heads of public institutions and organisations.

He said the boards should propose at least three names.

"I direct the chairpersons of the boards of each institution to have a succession plan by identifying at least three people within the institution," he said.

According to him, starting this year, the boards are required to have the names of the proposed successors who will be selected from among the employees within the respective institution.

He said his office will prepare a procedure for providing special training to each person appointed to lead public institutions.

"Many have been appointed and go straight to work without training. Within a month or two, we will sit with the appointees of the past two years to pass on to them what the government wants," he said.

He said that the procedure will be ongoing and will be done at least every six months.

On the BRT project

In his meeting, Mr Mchechu spoke about the challenges facing the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project which, according to him, were fueled by its early journey.

He said that the project, which is currently 85 percent government-owned, started with numerous challenges that led to debt and vehicle breakdowns.

He explained that the government inherited problems which are now being solved.

"I have held meetings with the Dar es Salaam Rapid Transit Agency (Dart), Udart and the Land Transport Regulatory Authority (Latra) and now we are on the verge," he said.

Among the challenges, he said, is shortage of buses and that he has already talked to NMB Bank to finance 100 buses.

"Tomorrow (July 16) I will have a meeting with NMB for the purchase of 100 buses and so we will solve the challenge of bus shortages," he said.

According to Mr Mchechu, the buses that are expected to arrive within six months from now, will only operate on main routes, while feeder routes will wait.

However, he said that for the existing routes, more than one company is needed for investment, suggesting that there should be three or four in all six phases.

"I don't want to have one company so that if they get stuck or go on strike, the whole city will come to a standstill. If we have more than one investor, it will help to know who is providing good services," he said.

In line with the challenges, he said he has already directed Dart to ensure that it completes the installation of an electronic fare payment system.

"We have already agreed that by August this year, Dart will get rid of the cash payment system to avoid theft," he said.

He said the government wants to revive the company before starting the process of selling shares to investors.

According to him, the government plans to offload between 30 and 35 percent of the shareholding to private investors.

Workshop

During the last week of August this year, there will be a workshop for the heads of public institutions in Arusha.

The officials will discuss the resolutions of the 2023 workshop as well as regional and international opportunities for the institutions to invest abroad.