By Bernard James
The Citizen Reporter
Dar es Salaam. President Jakaya Kikwete’s reshuffle of his Cabinet amid growing public frustration over high food and fuel prices, an endless power crisis and massive embezzlement of public funds is the third in the almost six-and-a-half years he has been in office.
Soon after he took office in January 2006 following a landslide election victory, President Kikwete named his first Cabinet comprising 29 ministers and 30 deputies.
The President earned plaudits when he began visiting individual ministries, warning that he would not tolerate inefficiency and corruption.
There was renewed optimism that the new cabinet would be the main driving force towards the realisation of President Kikwete’s “better life for every Tanzanian” promise he made during his 2010 election campaign.
Many hoped that the visits would keep ministers on their toes. When he visited the Lands ministry, for example, President Kikwete directed the minister, Mr John Magufuli, to sack all corrupt officials. A few months after the Cabinet was unveiled, there was a public outcry over the mishandling of the power crisis, which was linked to ministers’ underperformance and corruption.
It was announced on October 15, 2006, less than a year after the 2010 General Election, that President Kikwete was reshuffling his Cabinet for the first time.
He neither dropped any minister nor stated reasons for the changes that saw the transfer of ten ministers and eight deputy ministers.
President Kikwete restructured several ministries, splitting some, saying it was necessary to place emphasis on key areas such as water supply, health, education, planning, economy, people's empowerment and agriculture and livestock development.
Although he did not cite specific reasons for the reshuffle, there was no doubt that the persistent and worsening power crisis was among factors that prompted him to act. Tanzanians were becoming increasingly disillusioned with the government's handling of the energy crisis. As usual, public reaction after the shake-up was sharply divided. While others saw it as a wake-up call for underperforming ministers, others did not hesitate to dismiss it as a cosmetic move.
As is the case this time, there were calls in 2006 for underperforming ministers to be sacked after they were criticised in Parliament. Analysts then said the President was trying to send a clear message to his ministers that those who failed to deliver would be sidelined.
This time, the changes also have been necessitated by, among other things, the handling of energy crisis.Again, the main question being asked is: will it take changes of ministers to solve the energy problem without the government being committed to restructuring and reforming the sector?
The Cabinet named in the first reshuffle had the highest number of women ministers in Tanzania’s history.
There were seven and ten women ministers and deputy ministers, respectively, far outstripping the previous number of only four.
The second reshuffle
President Kikwete reshuffled his Cabinet for the second time in Ferbuary 2008 in the wake of the Richmond corruption scandal.
He was forced to make the changes after the then Prime Minister, Mr Edward Lowassa, was adversely mentioned in the report of the parliamentary committee that investigated the multi-billion-shilling scam. The committee accused Mr Lowassa of interfering in the process to award a lucrative contract to generate emergency power and called for his resignation.
Mr Lowassa resigned along with Energy and Minerals minister Nazir Karamagi and minister for East African cooperation Ibrahim Msabaha, who was in charge of the Energy and Minerals docket when the scandal surfaced. This prompted the Head of State to reshuffle his team again with Mr Mizengo Pinda being brought in to replace Mr Lowassa.
The reshuffle was seen to be more of a shuffle than a comprehensive reorganisation that would have helped to instill discipline and efficiency in the government machinery.
The post-2010 poll Cabinet
After his re-election in November 2010, President Kikwete appointed a new cabinet comprising 21 ministers and 29 deputy ministers.
He said he only made minor changes to the previous cabinet as most of the ministers possessed the qualifications he needed to push his agenda forward.
Among those who retained their portfolios were Mr Bernard Membe (Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation), Dr Hussein Mwinyi (Defence and National Service) and Mr Mustafa Mkulo (Finance).
The main question being asked today – even as many shower praise on the new team – is whether the changes will at least ease the litany of problems that ordinary Tanzanians have been facing for a number of years.
Credit to The Citizen.
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