WHY ARE WE TANZANIANS POOR???

Endowed with enormous mineral deposits, abundant wildlife resources in protected area covering 28% of the total land, numerous water bodies, and massive forests resources covering 39% of total land plus fertile soils all over the country in which any crop can be grown.
With population of around 40 million plus 2.7% annual growth rate it is not anymore the responsibility of government to change this equation but rather the responsibility of every citizen of this country we all love. 45 years ago the population was only 8 million and the projection is around 100 million in next 25 years.

If there are some Tanzanians out there who still think that their government remains to be the only remedy for the massive poverty that continues to rock the majority of Tanzanians then they need to consider this benefits sharing agreement between the Tanzania government and mining companies where 97% for company and 3% for Tanzania for get about unrecorded utilization of wildlife, forest and fisheries resources.

To be precise, it is next to impossible for the existing government to reverse the situation because this was not done blindly but purposely to benefits leaders and their relatives. I think there is an urgent need to do “resources inventory” in Tanzania and empowering the communities through education and information. Informed communities are usually more-or-less organized and are likely have good leadership for strong government that is prerequisite for any sustainable development.

The government is obviously enjoying this situation and would never take the risk of educating and informing the local communities because this would mean end of exploitation and power. Instead, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Tanzania are expected to play these crucial roles of educating, informing and organizing the local communities to manage their God given natural resources in Tanzania. However, CSOs need committed and skilled individuals who will be ‘change agents’ in educating and mobilizing local communities for their resources management.

All in all, there will never be proper solutions for these problems until we realize the need to address the real causes of the problems which is certainly the extremely corrupted and non-functioning Tanzania government. For sustainability of our nation, we need good legal framework and systems whereby one becomes rich because he/she is hardworking and creative entrepreneur and not because he/she is a politician. As a nation we must address the fact that 5% of Tanzania population seized 95% of Tanzania wealth. If nothing is done now then sooner or later the country is likely to collapse.

Joseph Gambay