Idle minds and their take on the Royal Tour documentary

Finally, I have had a chance to watch The Royal Tour documentary made by Peter Greenberg about Tanzania with Her Excellency the President as the Chief Tour Guide.

Without any shadow of doubt, criticism of The Royal Tour comes from a deep-seated place where ignorance is bliss.

For some reason, a large number of Tanzanians are so deeply entitled that they have no idea that Tanzania as a nation is a concept that not even existing Tanzanians can own.

Let us take the United States of America as an example. It is without doubt a wealthy nation with rich history of time and place behind it. But in spite of that wealth of resources and history, even the Trumps of this world cannot take away the name of the US from its friends and foes, at home and abroad.

It does not matter who sits in the Oval Office, there shall always be those who agree and those who disagree with them. It has never stopped the US, its citizens, its worst critics – home and abroad – from achieving one goal, intended or otherwise, of promoting brand USA.

Criticism of the ignoramus mass on The Royal Tour includes why it was done by one Peter Greenberg and how come the same chap owns the rights and is making money from it.

The reality is that the very idea, the concept and rights came from Peter Greenberg and it makes no sense for us to claim any rights to it. If Clouds Media Group, and I am simply using them as an example, registers proprietary rights to Jahazi and continues to broadcast a world-class production in the US, no one, and I mean no one, in the US will make a fuss about it.

Our national broadcaster has a wildlife TV channel. The last time over a year and a half ago that I watched it, it was busy telling us that wildlife migration was based on loyalty to the Tanzanian side of the border, not on scientifically proven migration theories.

We have this penchant for owning Kilimanjaro and doing nothing with it but getting offended when someone produces something touching on the Kilimanjaro, something we do not do.

The criticism that Mwijaku or Steve Nyerere could have done a better job can be answered by the same line of argument. No one stops journalists from Tanzania from doing their own version of something that can reach international audiences. The managing director of Mwananchi Communications Limited has done an excellent interview with the President, and it is on YouTube.

Yet others were questioning the monies that were used on the tour. Let us be honest. As soon as we have a government in office we are never really going to pick and choose everything the government does for each citizen’s approval.

The reality is that The Royal Tour was never being done for you and me even if I enjoyed it.

The Royal Tour was being done for international audiences, not Mapishi Nyumbani audiences. The project aimed at informing and enticing those with dollars to come and spend them here.

It was aimed at ensuring that the tourist dollars are attracted to visit Africa’s tallest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro. It was meant for international tourists to shake their bank accounts and come and visit the island archipelago of Zanzibar and leave us with dollars to boost our economy and create jobs for our people.

The Royal Tour was only the beginning and many more need to be done by those who can do them. On the other hand, I wonder why the government, knowing this truism about The Royal Tour, decided to launch the documentary in a costly show of might in different towns and cities in Tanzania.

Why were we spending money we do not have to scream to the wrong audience about the Serengeti, something we can all watch on our phones on YouTube?