Reshuffles, service delivery and political certainty in Tanzania

President Samia Suluhu Hassan made a minor reshuffle to her cabinet. As soon as she ascended to the presidency, and even after earlier rearranging the cabinet she inherited, it was largely expected that another cabinet reshuffle was on the way to help the new president consolidate her power and stamp her authority on the team that would help her achieve her goals.

Minus the new defence minister, who was also expected to be named to the cabinet as soon as she was nominated as an MP, the rest of the ‘new’ ministers had been there before, with one landing the same portfolio he held some few years back.

These reshuffles are easier when the appointing authority does not require any parliamentary approval for those appointed to the cabinet. This is common in countries with parliamentary democracies as it helps the party leader to keep the appointees in line and prevent leadership challenges. In our political system, which has been described by some as a ‘bat’, for it uses elements from both, the parliamentary and presidential systems; it achieves the same outcomes as well.

Reshuffles can be a result of death, an election, forming a team that works for you or it could be about party politics.

The past, if it is any guide has shown that when matters were relatively silent within the ruling party, reshuffles were few or those necessitated by some other ‘political accidents’. In situations where the rumblings from within the ruling party would never go silent, reshuffles were frequent to appease those grumbling about their new positions or reflect emerging power dynamics within the party forming the government.

They could as well be about boosting the government’s popularity by returning a popular minister to a certain portfolio or removing another due to their unpopularity. Others are simply about poor delivery of some of the appointees who have to be replaced.

The latest reshuffle was certainly not about party politics.

The president gave some of the reasons behind the latest changes in her cabinet which pointed to her dissatisfaction with some ministers. It was about improving government’s performance as much as it was about keeping her house in order. Unfortunately, to the new member of her team, the defence minister, the discussion has largely turned into her being the first woman to hold that position in the country. As much as that is groundbreaking in this country, it has taken the focus away from her accomplishments which landed her that job. Little attention has been paid to the geopolitical realities in which we find ourselves at the moment.

Presidents rarely give reasons as to why an individual was sacked and when they do, more often than not prefer to give general explanations and not go into the specifics of it. President Samia said for the last six months of her time in office, some of her appointees did not understand her and never took her seriously. That leaves too many questions to those listening but also point to other developments behind the scenes which led us to the latest reshuffle. After all, the feeling that another reshuffle might be in the offing before the year is out is still in the air.

She is not the first president to never be understood by those they appoint. Some of her predecessors had the same challenge as well. Could be that the presidents do not better understand the individuals they appoint and not the other way round?

The president pledged that going forward, her government will be one of tangible results which are seen or felt in the lives of the people not merely glimpsed through televisions. This is a toll order for sure, and with the ‘honeymoon’ period of her presidency about to be in the rear view-mirror it will not be long before the judgments about her time in office are delivered. Some of her new appointees do not raise any confidence in their ability to deliver in their new portfolios.

The feeling is that this cabinet lineup is still a work in progress and that does not inspire certainty, as far as politics is concerned. That affects the quality of services delivered.

Once political certainty settles in, perhaps her promises of service delivery might come to pass. In the meantime, those paying attention are scratching their heads.