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Wednesday, April 18, 2018

DR. TIBAIJUKA’S IRRESPONSIBLE REACTION TO THE CURRENT DAR-ES-SALAM FLOOD MENACE.


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BY MOHAMED MATOPE

Yesterday, I read an article from a social media site written by former Minister of land and urban development, Mama Professor Tibaijuka. After going through the article, I was dismayed, to say the least, with her attempt to erase the history of the role she played in exacerbating the flood problem currently affecting hundred thousands of people in the country. “Without discipline and respect of the urban development plan, floods are going to be an ongoing menace”, wrote Dr. Tibaijuka. She continues by saying, “When I was a minister of land, I worked so hard to prevent Msimbazi valley from flooding by abiding to the Nyerere Master Plan. However, there was no political will for it.” The unanswered question on her part is: who was lacking the political courage to reinforce the Nyerere Master plan during her tenure as Minister?

To make the puzzle even more complicated, we know that she said that she was a Minister in charge of oversee the city survey, and development. The last time I checked, the Minister was the chief executive officer of the ministry, making her, the only political appointee in the ministry. So it appears, as Tupac Shakur said, the darker the flesh , the deeper the root. We can't deny that Msimbazi valley housing is a long-standing city construction disaster and that it's unfair to blame her alone for it. The failure, however, to acknowledge that she was a part of the problem is irresponsible.


The US President Nixon used to say “the buck stops right here with me.” With this concept, he was able to accept and absorb the blame for all the wrong actions and decisions of his government. This is what is lacking in our African leaders, today. They are only willing to take credit when good things happen under their watch and quickly distance themselves from their unfavorable decisions. In short, they don’t want to own-up to their mistakes or take responsibilities when they fail to fulfill their duties. History has taught us that if we don’t learn from our mistakes, we are bound to repeat them.

In this case, Dr. Tibaijuka has either chosen to deny her load of responsibility that has directly contributed to the current ongoing flood calamity or is entirely insensitive and blatantly void of empathy to the hundreds of thousands of people in Dar-es-salaam currently displaced or living under the water. It is utterly disgusting and purely insulting to tell these people that their problem will never be solved, and yet she was in charge of fixing it. She couldn’t/wouldn’t do it and no one will. It's undeniable that she is well informed on the matter. Reading her article, there is no doubt that she knows the root cause of the problem well enough. She mentions every area of the city, where the water is coming from and how it floods the city. However, she offers little to no details on how to mitigate it.

It would have been wiser for her to start writing her article by apologizing and saying…. “I'm terribly sorry to all the people affected by the floods; I feel your pain, more so, I let you down. When I was in the position of authority, I fell short in pursuing measures that could potentially reduce or eliminate the cause of today’s flood problem. My ministry failed to implement the plan that was made to curb the problem, and for that, I would like to offer my sincere heartfelt apologies. Nevertheless, from my experience, here is my advice to the current Minister on how to go about implement a solution for this problem.

Sometimes, the best way forward, starts with acknowledgement of the issue and the factors that led you down the path you are on. A great leader is not defined by their appearances, power or words but rather by the actions they take - something Dr Tibaijuka has clearly shown a great lack of in this case.

April 17, 2018



6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I 'm beginning to think that the black race has a congenital defect when it comes to governing themselves. It's the same dreary story, whether in Africa or in the cities in the U.S.that they've taken over. Detroit is an excellent example.

Anonymous said...

Town planning is unheard of in CCM because they do not understand town planning and whatever manpower we have is substandard manpower to plan urban area. i agree Mama T, was a leader of the Ministry but she was not a president. Presidents are the ones to be blamed. If we keep CCM in power , we will live with floods foever.

Anonymous said...

Real estate madness which led to the growth of cities like cancerous tumors. Never in the history of man kind existed so large , so populated and so full of filth , pollution and garbage as in present day in Dar. Something needs to be done.I disagree with our criticism of Dr Tiba , she made some mistakes while at ardhi but overall she was fine.

Anonymous said...

Mr MatopeI am with you on finding a solution to this problem, however I think its time for the Opposition to stop demanding that the Governing party find such solution. What I would like instead is for government, to come up with the plans as if you were the government, and then share that plan with the government and the general public, put it out there so we all can see what your plans are for this very thing you are calling on the Government to do. I don't think you have to be in the Minister to have great ideas which you can put to your government or the public.
This is not just the government problem its all of us problem we all can come up with serious plans to have things done and send them to the government then make them public.

Anonymous said...

wananchi tunatakiwa kuepuka kuishi maeneo ya uwezekano wa kupata mafuriko

Anonymous said...

This floods is nothing but CCM flood.Yes ni mafuriko ya CCM. Can you emagine ni miaka zaidi 20 toka Mwalimu afariki no miaka zaidi ya 35 toka ang'atuke madarakani and we are still talking about his urban develoment plan.cammon man!! tupo kwenye 21st century now. Cha kuchekesha ni kuwa kila mafuriko yakitokea ,Makonda na wanaCCM wengine wanaonyesha vifua vyao , yakiisha wanaenda lala bila long -term plan.