Elections or no elections, our people's lives matter!

BY EDITOR

15th October 2015.

 There is every reason for the government to make a thorough review of whatever challenges have made it difficult for the once vehemently touted national Property and Business Formalisation Programme to bear the fruit it was expected to bear.

 

The programme was conceived by the government in 2004, its primary objective being to create a unified legal and institutional framework that would recognise secured and accessible property rights.

 

That way, or so it was argued, implementation would constitute an important stepping stone into a wide range of economic benefits available in the formal market chiefly for ordinary people.

 

The idea was that the expected reforms would be sought while placing a premium on good governance, in part by making land and other laws friendly enough to help spare poor members of society the misery they endured.

This would, in the main, mean simplifying matters so as to fast-track the creation of opportunities for newly formalised property to access capital from financial institutions and other sources.

 

Records show that, after a few “teething problems” were dealt with, things gradually got moving and parts of the country tastes the fruits promised – on a pilot project basis.But we do not see encouraging signs of progress these days and, for all practical purposes, the whole plan appears to be heading to a sudden death.

Even a cursory glance at Mkurabita finds parallels between the programme and the 1967 Arusha Declaration, where it   is stipulated that the surest foundation of our country’s social and economic development is the people and their hard work – most especially in agriculture.

 

It is noted in the Arusha Declaration that because the country’s economy heavily depends on agriculture and animal husbandry, Tanzanians can live well without depending on help from outside if they use their land properly.

“Land is the basis of human life and all Tanzanians should use it as a valuable investment for future development,” says the AD, adding: “It is the responsibility of the government and the co-operative societies to see to it that our people get the necessary tools, training and leadership in modern methods of agriculture.” 

 

This ties in excellently with the government’s rationale for supporting not only Mkurabita but also several previously implemented and latter-day national policies and initiatives including “Kilimo Kwanza”.

It is sad indeed that factors most people know about, among them lack of political will, continue to reduce many well-meaning interventions like these to costly non-starters.

 

One would have expected the highly eventful countdown to the upcoming General Election to highlight the fate of the likes of Mkurabita and other programmes meant to spare our people the dehumanisation resulting from grinding poverty.

 

Unfortunately, we have not been treated to many such heartwarming parties – only the indulgence by candidate upon candidate in the sweetest of promises about the paradises to come after October 25 should “something and something else” happen.

 

There is still a bit of time before Polling Day. The dirt-poor in our midst are still hoping the incoming political leadership will make a difference in their lives. That should be the case.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN