13th December 2015.
The 34-member cabinet carries high public expectation given the pace already shown by the President himself, Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan and Prime Minister Majaliwa Kassim Majaliwa.
Looking quickly at the composition of the cabinet one can easily draw a quick assessment that majority of the appointed ministers and their deputies have never been linked with any scandal, save two members.
The integrity of the members appointed to the cabinet has also been expressed by the general public, sending a signal that politicians picked to head the ministries indeed deserved appointment.
That being the case, members appointed into the cabinet must understand that they have to hit the ground running just like what their bosses did immediately after they entered office.
Ministers and their deputies sworn in yesterday and those who are yet to be appointed to head the remaining four portfolios ought to understand that for the past ten years Tanzanians have witnessed conflicts between ministers and Members of Parliament most of which were a result of poor performance of the cabinet.
Poor performance was rife in the previous government, something that always kept Parliament awake whenever it convened in Dodoma. Records show that scandals, from petty to grand, caused former President Jakaya Kikwete to reshuffle his cabinet not less than four times between 2010 and 2015, leaving aside reshuffles carried out between 2006 and 2010.
As the fifth phase government gets down to business ministers and their deputies should understand that Tanzanians are now bored stiff of hearing about scandals.
Tanzanians would now like to hear that minister X has done A, B, C, or D to wananchi, not Minister X has stolen, embezzled or misused a certain amount of public money.
Ministers and their deputies must understand that President Magufuli campaigned vigorously along the lines of bringing change to the public in most spheres of government activity, meaning that the public would be eager to witness what he preached, now that the cabinet is there.
There is no doubt that ministers and their deputies are aware that President Magufuli’s performance has gone viral across the world. We don’t expect his speed to be slowed down by the newly appointed and eventually sworn in ministers.
Tanzania is among developing countries in the world that has received sharp criticism for the widespread poverty despite the abundant resources it is endowed with, and definitely the new ministers are aware about this fact.
It will now be their duty with assistance of technocrats and researchers to devise mechanisms to expedite the country’s development, lifting the standards of living of citizens. Here ministers and the general public understand that while others are walking we in Tanzania ought to run just in order to be in league.
It is gratifying to learn that having being sworn in yesterday every minister promised to keep pace with the speed of President Magufuli, including dealing with bureaucrats who become a stumbling block to popular expectations and welfare.
Well, this is not time for them to celebrate; rather it is now the moment they start to crack heads. That is what the President told them at the time of presenting his list of ministers and their deputies to editors convened at the State House.
SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY
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