siyo kweli makamba mnamsingizia ingawaje siipendi hiyo familia lkn anayetesa watanzania siyo makamba, the fish stinks from the head …
Kanusha na hii umtetee unayemshikia pochi ili upate mkate
Aisee! Yeye si ndio alisema amri hizi ziliwafanya Tanesco washindwe kufanya ukarabati ambao sasa hivi unafanyika na ndio sababu ya umeme kukatika hovyo?!! Ama kweli mwanasiasa akikwambia sasa hivi ni usiku toka nje kahakikishe. Sababu alizotoa January kwa umeme kukatika ni kwamba kuna...
www.jamiiforums.com
Zaidi soma hapa
How politics contributes to electricity problems in Tanzania
- By Damas Lucas
- Economic and political news analyst
29 March 2022
"....The Minister of Energy of Tanzania, January Makamba has recently said that the problems of frequent power outages in Tanzania will continue until the repair of the energy transport infrastructure is finished.
The statement shows how serious the problem of electricity in Tanzania is and how the promises made in the 2015 general election by the leaders of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi, (CCM) regarding the electricity problem have historically had politics or the problem of electricity used to meet political goals.
The CCM presidential candidate, John Magufuli (now deceased) said during the election campaign in 2015 that if he was elected, the power outage would be forgotten.
But now Minister Makamba says it is his duty to tell the people the truth about the problem of power outages in Tanzania: "We will not lie to Tanzanians about what is going on if we do that, we will remember that in the future and we will not do justice to the opportunities we have been given," Mwananchi newspaper quoted Makamba as saying while talking to reporters of news, Thursday, 24 March about the success of the leadership of President Samia Suluhu Hassan within one year.
Despite the bitter truth of Makamba's statement, it is clear that not many Tanzanians will be surprised by it. Frequent power outages are a problem that is so common in Tanzania that it is not a big event to be reported by the international media when it happens.
Compare this with the situation in the neighboring country of Kenya. On January 11, 2022, electricity was cut for several hours in the entire country of Kenya after a high-stress power line between Nairobi and the Kiambere hydroelectric dam developed a fault.
The event was reported not only by local media but also by international media. It was the third time in four years that such a problem occurred. The media announced that such an incident happened for the last time in May 2020. After the incident, nine senior leaders of the Kenya Power company that distributes electricity in Kenya were brought to court for failing to prevent damage to the power line.
How has the economy of Tanzania withstood the effects of corona?
Tanzania discovers more gas - How do citizens benefit?
For here in Tanzania, if there is a difficult task that can be given to someone to do it, it is to count how many times the electricity goes out in Tanzania in a month or even in a week. It is indeed a difficult task.
And minister Makamba says the source of frequent power outages is the poor electricity distribution infrastructure that has not been repaired for many years.
On February 15, 2022, while responding to the arguments of MPs at the 16th meeting of the Parliament in Dodoma, Minister Makamba explained in detail about the problem and the steps the government is taking to solve it.
But some MPs rejected the minister's explanation claiming that there is something hidden behind the scenes regarding the electricity problem. They claimed that during the period when Makamba said that the electricity infrastructure was not being repaired, the electricity was not interrupted.
Politics in the electricity sector in Tanzania
Power outages are the result of politics that have caused major professional decisions to be made politically.
Even the fierce debate about electricity that rocked the Parliament in January 2022 was also more political. You were dominated by one-on-one political attacks and shovels against Minister Makamba as if the minister was the cause of the power outage.
Some MPs wanted to show that the problem of power outages was over but it only returned after Minister Makamba started to lead the Ministry of Energy, an issue that is not true.
Fortunately, the figures provided by Viti Maalamu Member of Parliament, Jesca Kishoa while contributing to parliament showed that the problem of power outages has never ended. Member of Parliament Kishoa read in parliament the 2018 report of the Water and Energy Regulatory Authority (Ewura) which showed that in 2017 electricity was cut 2,844 times in Tanzania. This means that in 2017 the electricity went out about seven times a day. This is the period that some MPs claim electricity was uninterrupted.
Politics in the electricity sector in Tanzania did not start this year. They started when private investors were allowed to produce electricity in the early 1990s. Some of the Independent Power Producers companies that entered Tanzania were IPTL, Richmond, and Dowans. Most of these independent producers were associated with the politics of the ruling party, CCM.
But their arrival was overshadowed by allegations of corruption that led to the resignation of Prime Minister, Edward Lowassa at the beginning of 2008. However, Lowassa speaking in Parliament before resigning, complained that he was bullied by being accused and sentenced without a hearing, so he resigned in the interests of his party and the government.
It is clear that politics was inspired by the industry to be a big source of money for injustice for politicians who are spiritual and unscrupulous. Even the political battles fought in parliament in January 2022 show that they can be linked to the feelings of consuming public funds in the electricity sector.
The result of political decisions is that the defective contracts entered into between the government and independent electricity producers made the electricity company in Tanzania, Tanesco, buy electricity at high prices from those producers. This resulted in high operating costs that prevented regular infrastructure repairs. Attempts by the government to break the contracts led to lengthy court cases......."