“My experiences in Tanzania”
What has caught my attention most during my first nine months as Swedish Ambassador to Tanzania? I got the question some weeks ago and there are quite a few possible answers. I could mention good things like the overwhelming friendliness of the people. I could mention less positive experiences like the EPA scandal in BoT or the standstill in the Mwafaka-process in Zanzibar.
But first and foremost I would say: democratic accountability at work. Manifested i.a. in mainland media investigating alleged corruption, challenging people in power, giving voice to ordinary people. As a former journalist I am encouraged to see the openness in mainland newspapers and the gradually improving work done by brave and qualified media professionals. I certainly also hope to see media pluralism developing in Zanzibar.
I see accountability manifested also in many other areas of society. As a former political advisor in the Swedish parliament I am fascinated to see the Bunge reforming and increasingly playing an active role as part of the accountability chain (like happened in February). And as development partner supporting the National Audit Office I am inspired to see how the Controller and Auditor General is rapidly and increasingly improving his contributions to the essential system of checks and balances. Not to mention the selfsacrificing work done by civil society including e.g. Media council of Tanzania and human rights-activists giving crucial contributions to the development of Tanzanian democracy.
Being an expatriate here I continously reflect upon differences and similarities between the evolution of democracy in Sweden and in Tanzania – what can be shared, what can be learned?
One thing we have in common is a strong belief in the crucial role of universal and high quality education. Well informed, critically thinking boys and girls becoming students and eventually adults create the backbone of democracy.
A major difference is to be found in the division of reponsibilities between central and local levels of government. Sweden has a far reaching system of local self governance through municipalities with a taxbase of their own and with a history dating back to 1866. It has meant not only healthy limits for centralised decision making but also democracy being put into practice close to citizens and creating an atmosphere where politicians from different parties work together to find reasonable and practical compromises.
In my youth I spent some years as a local politician. From that experience I take with me a firm belief in the effectiveness- and democratic values of decentralisation. Consequently, arriving here, I attach great interest to the Decentralisation by Devolution process (DbyD) as the well as to the crucial challenge of making the flow of funds from the central level to schools and health clinics more efficient, transparent, streamlined and predictable.
Still, the issues I have reflected most upon regard transparency – and lack of transparency.
In my country the right to information is guaranteed – in very practical terms – in the constitution, thus safeguarding public access to all official documents. There are of course exceptions but they are few, narrowly formulated and specified in law. As a citizen you do not need to state any reason for asking, you just do it. And all government authorities are required to keep a public register stating which documents are there. Obviously all citizens cannot go to Ministries in Stockholm and collect information but some certainly do and above all: journalists do – which helps ordinary citizens to hold government accountable. And that in itself creates not only transparency but also some trust in society because people know that it is difficult to keep mismanagement secret.
Over and over again I meet people in Tanzania that while appreciating the existing trend towards increased transparency hungers for more – more facts available, more updates on what happens with people accused of corruption, more documents being public, more possibilities to exercise their right to information. They sometimes just hear the message “Be patient!” followed by silence.
I believe many of them are looking forward to the outcome of the dialogue between stakeholders and government on the two new bills being prepared (Right to information and Media services) where there is a huge opportunity to get transparency and media freedom even more institutionalised than today. And I suppose most citizens would regard themselves as the main stakeholders in this process, since transparency is not a gift to journalists but a right for ordinary people. At the end of the day transparency is also an indispensable tool for a government wanting to use scarce resources effectively to fight poverty rather than seeing them mismanaged or stolen.
I read recently that Tanzania has improved its ranking on press freedom substantially. This is a change that both the media and its institutions as well as the Tanzanian government can take pride in. The article itself is an illustration to what this country has to gain internationally when improving the systems of democratic acountability: Tanzania can be a model and inspiration for other African countries - and you can benefit from this in terms of reputation and appreciation.
During 20 years in Swedish politics I learned at least three important lessons. First the importance to make sure you know the real facts and not only have some vague about what is supposed to be the facts. Secondly: While taking your starting point in well informed opinions and firm principles you should be prepared to find good compromises in the interest of results. And thirdly: The crucial importance of having checks and balances, creating systems where they can function and interact to the benefit of well informed decisionmaking and accountability. With that logic auditors and editors certainly are among the heroes of democracy.
With these lessons in mind I look forward to continue following the evolution of Tanzanian democracy – and I take with me some encouraging impressions in that respect from my first months in this fantastic country.
Staffan HerrströmAmbassador of Sweden to Tanzania