Presidential hopefuls fail to impress, commentators claim

CCM State House aspirants 

They said the aspirants did not come up with clear roadmaps like the five-year plan for reducing poverty and enhancing the country’s economic growth

Dar es Salaam. Commentators have criticised presidential hopefuls on promises they made, saying these were empty as they were not elaborated well enough.

They said the aspirants did not come up with clear roadmaps like the five-year plan for reducing poverty and enhancing the country’s economic growth.

Speaking in separate interviews with The Citizen yesterday, the commentators said the majority of presidential hopefuls on the ticket of the ruling party, fell into the usual trap of giving promises which are not evidence-based.

Prof Honest Ngowi of Mzumbe University at Dar es Salaam campus refrained from pinpointing the best 10 candidates with clear economic policy, saying most of them lacked a vision on how to overcome poverty.

Prof Ngowi said that broadly speaking most aspirants touched on poverty in relation to the level of economic development, but failed of coming out clearly with the how side of the question.

“I cannot list down the 10 aspirants whom I think have clearly declared the economic policy they have in their hands. They have been talking about poverty, but they are yet to explain the best ways of overcoming it,” he said.

He added: “All of them have been giving promises of eradicating poverty, but the bigger question is: how do we eradicate it?”

Another missing link, according to him, is that none of the aspirants told Tanzanians why for the past 50 years since independence, the mission to eliminate poverty in the country has not been accomplished.

Trade policy analyst for East African grain marketing, Mr Kimwaga Mhando, said that there was none among presidential aspirants who came up with a clear strategy like a five-year development plan outlining ways of ending poverty.

“They must explain how they will mobilize resources for further reduction of poverty and boosting economic growth in the country. They have to explain and give data on how they are going to lift the majority of Tanzanians from poverty,” said Mr Mhando.

Tanzania Exporters Association’s executive director Mtemi Naluyaga reiterated that most of the hopefuls were giving rhetoric promises backed by urban supporters at the expense of majority who survive on smallholder agriculture.

/Daily News.