A Good Day Is Seen in the Morning

 

Adeladius Makwega – Mbagala

On this day, the Deputy Permanent Secretary from the Ministry of Culture, Arts, and Sports arrived to inspect one of the sports projects in Tanzania. Fortunately, he was accompanied by district leaders, including the District Commissioner. The District Commissioner became somewhat stern and said:

“This project belongs to the Ministry of Culture, Arts, and Sports, and it is located in my district. Every year, when we try to include it among the projects to be showcased in the Uhuru Torch (Mwenge) celebrations, we fail because the project has several issues. First, it is never completed on time—year after year. Whenever you come here, the contractor is absent. And whenever you ask questions, the answers come from the Mwanza regional contractor. Meanwhile, concrete is being carried upstairs in buckets, and to make matters worse, the project costs increase every year. What is the problem? Every time I come here, the former Permanent Secretary of the ministry complains that I am undermining him—how exactly am I undermining him?”

My reader, remember that the Permanent Secretary mentioned by the District Commissioner had already been transferred to another ministry.

 

Among the individuals involved, as I hinted earlier, Mwanakwetu knew that Permanent Secretary, and the Deputy Permanent Secretary knew him even better. The District Commissioner had known him since his time as a District Administrative Secretary. This situation greatly disturbed Mwanakwetu, who was present only as a journalist. He asked himself: Is this project the personal property of that Permanent Secretary’s father? He answered himself: This is a project of the United Republic of Tanzania—why are people treating public projects as if they are their own? Why is the supervision so poor? Even after that, nothing changed—the situation remained the same.

The management of the project remained poor, and even if it is eventually completed, it will likely be of low quality and at a high cost.

When it comes to projects under the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts, and Sports, there is indeed a serious problem. Tolerating it is a burden to Tanzanians. Let me present this argument:

“Does this ministry have the human resources capable of managing large-scale projects? Has it ever handled such projects before? How is it that the government assigns it major projects while its human capacity remains unchanged?”

From the time of Permanent Secretary Dr. Hassan Abbas, Ambassador Said Yakub, and Gerson Msigwa, does the appointing authority have evidence that these individuals have ever managed projects of such scale? Do they have a track record of effectively managing human or financial resources? These are fellow Tanzanians—we respect and like them, and perhaps they are very loyal to authority—but society knows them well. They lack proven competence in financial management, human resource management, and large project supervision. Assigning them such responsibilities is essentially risking public funds from Tanganyika, since this ministry is not a Union affairs ministry.

 

In his report, the Controller and Auditor General of Tanzania, Dr. Charles Kichere, stated:

“During the signing of the Arusha Stadium contract, the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts, and Sports was not careful.”

These are not jokes—they are serious statements, and action must be taken against those responsible.

If the institution was careless during contract signing, will it be careful in supervising the project? We in Mbagala believe: a good day is seen in the morning. If they were not careful then, they will continue making poor decisions—and they will bear the consequences themselves.

The CAG only mentioned the Arusha Stadium project, but if you investigate, you will find that the same contractor and the same consultant are repeatedly used. This is where the ministry has further confused itself and trapped itself.

Let me explain:

“Suppose Mwanakwetu is building five projects: Markets (2.5 billion), a residential building (1 billion), a hotel (5 billion), a secondary school (2 billion), and a technical college (3 billion)—a total of 13.5 billion shillings. All projects are handled by the same contractor, Msemakweli & Sons, and the same consultant, Kikulacho & Sons.”

This is exactly what the ministry has done. It is unreasonable for all projects to be handled by the same contractor and the same consultant.

A wise person does not put all eggs in one basket. So why have multiple contractors and consultants if only one is repeatedly used? Research shows that the ministry often favors a single consulting firm—the Ardhi University company. Why only this one? Mwanakwetu understands that in public institutions, government-owned consulting firms are often preferred because they are cheaper—but does that mean other government firms don’t exist? Or that private firms should be excluded?

Costs can rise up to 10% of the total project value. Mwanakwetu acknowledges that institutions like the Contractors Registration Board and the Architects and Quantity Surveyors Registration Board (AQRB) play an important role in maintaining standards. However, the ministry has mismanaged things by overloading the same institutions—resulting in poor outcomes.

Mwanakwetu writes this out of respect for Dr. Charles Kichere; otherwise, he might have chosen to remain silent, as trust among people in our nation is declining.

So what is Mwanakwetu saying today?

The problems with these decisions include:

“The contractor and consultant protect each other’s weaknesses. For example, the contractor may leave the site for long periods and claim delayed payments. But why are payments delayed? Is it a tactic to create unnecessary penalties and inflate project costs? Why start projects without sufficient funds? This is a major issue in many ministry projects—contractors are absent, costs double, and projects fail to finish on time.”

The main point is this: if the consultant and contractor are too closely tied, it’s not a partnership—it’s a trap.

 

What should be done? The appointing authority must recognize that if large projects are assigned to a ministry, funds must be released on time. At the same time, the ministry’s human resources must be strengthened. Either the Permanent Secretary or the Deputy Permanent Secretary should have expertise in construction and remain in position until projects are completed.

Mwanakwetu writes this again out of respect for Dr. Charles Kichere; otherwise, he might have chosen silence, as trust is lacking.

Mwanakwetu, are you there? Remember:

“A good day is seen in the morning.”

Have a good day.

makwadeladius@gmail.com

0717649257