The Nature of Leadership and Policy Problems in Tanzania

 Introduction:

There are noises and confusion everywhere across the country concerning leadership and public policy issues in Tanzania. The fact that there are leadership inadequacy and policy problems across the Nation seems to become a nationwide consensus today. The call for and the eventual agreement to reevaluate the constitution is a vivid evidence of the matter.  The evidence can also be seen all across the Nation as citizen’s outcry regarding socio-economic problems is spreading like a wild fire. Over the last six months alone [from September 2012 to March 2013] we have witnessed intense citizen outcry over the issues of gas exploration in Mtwara, the form four national examination results fiasco, the everyday clashes between police and citizens, the continue electricity and water supply woes as well as the issue of religion conflicts – to mention the few.  All these issues bring us to a realization that how leaders formulate and implement socio-economic policies in Tanzania is more than a puzzle. It is a perplexity that requires a shift in mindset and a recognition that the current socio-economic landscape is changing, and as it changes, the role of everyone involved [in formulating and implementing policies] from citizens to leaders and all stakeholders must evolve. Who decides how the country’s future will look, in terms of policies, politics, governance and the economy, that affects people well being is an important question that requires a paradigm shift (or at least a semi-paradigm shift). It is the million dollar question, the challenge and the opportunity for all Tanzanians that stimulate a rich dialogue as Tanzanians consider their varying needs and the types of leadership that is required to lead them to reach their new objectives.

 The nature of leadership and policy problems in Tanzania is nothing new to a young and upcoming developing nation. The problem has been a long standing Public Administration challenge of reconciling public policy theory and practice. Sabatier & Mazzmaiman, in their book The Implementation of Public Policy (1980), defined the gap as the widening of the distance between stated policy goals and the realization of such planned goals. For Tanzania, in specific, the problem is a result of lack of citizen participation; lack of fundamentals of stable and responsible government; the structure of constitution; the structure and system of government as well as the nature of country’s presidential institution, democracy and the policy system.

Although Tanzania is a democratic country but the effectiveness and responsiveness of its government comes into question when you analyze their actions and their policy results. The Tanzanian leadership and policy system –the government, the constitution, its democracy and leadership - is an old paradigm. The old system has been left behind. Times have changed; the Nation has changed; public needs, objectives and goals have changed but the system has remained the same. And making the changes necessary, given the power and stereotype that remains in the minds of citizens and rigid leaders, may be very difficult unless the first generation of leaders and administrators which has grown old agree to transfer their responsibilities to the new breed of leaders and administrators. By acknowledging the potential for positive change and renewal that can arise from a new breed of leaders and administrators, Tanzanian’s can find a different paradigm for transforming government performance. The task is our, Tanzanians, to assist our leaders to achieve a revolution in management and leadership thinking. Through a revolution in mindset “public managers will acquires a new world view, a new intellectual framework, and a new paradigm from which to see both the current requirements for leading organizations and the challenges of creating institutions capable of qualitative and transformational change in performance and service deliver (Kiel, 1994; Daneke, 1990).

This Paper is Part of a Literature Review that was written by Mr. Kilian M. Kamota. Kilian Kamota can be reached at kilkam2001@yahoo.com. Please click here to see the entire paper. http://www.kiliankamota.blogspot.com/2013/03/business-ideas.html