Chief Secretary for Public Service Management

Adeladius Makwega – Mbagala

The sessions of the Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania are ongoing in the middle of the city of Dodoma, Tanzania. Mwanakwetu, while closely observing, has been following everything being presented and discussed step by step, evaluating how our Members of Parliament contribute, give their opinions, and even ask questions within this Parliament of Tanzania, a nation in East Africa.

Mwanakwetu clearly understands that one of the major challenges facing African countries is having a dependent budget—one that relies heavily on external donors—while also suffering from the persistent problem of spending money on routine, non-essential matters.

In analyzing this, on April 19, 2026, Mwanakwetu held a discussion with a postgraduate scholar in Tanzania about the state of the national budget for the 2026/2027 fiscal year, based on parliamentary presentations.

This scholar first said:

“The main source is domestic revenue from the Revenue Authority, and for the current budget the capacity is 40 trillion. Other revenues such as fines and local government collections are about 6 trillion, making a total of 46 trillion.”

My reader, note that Mwanakwetu understands that you can collect revenue effectively, but the challenge comes in how you plan to spend it. This is where things can go wrong—like cooking poorly prepared food that becomes inedible. Tanzanians, metaphorically, are wearing their shoes the wrong way: left on the right and right on the left.

“If you look at the Office of the President, the Vice President’s Office, and the Prime Minister’s Office: the Vice President’s Office doesn’t have many activities—mainly Union Affairs and Environment. The challenge lies in the Prime Minister’s Office and the President’s Office, where recurrent expenditure amounts to 9.5 trillion. That is a lot of money. The Vice President’s Office usually gets only about 150–200 billion.

Ministries that typically receive large allocations include education (about 7 trillion in past years), health (5 trillion), energy (4 trillion), and construction (4 trillion). So here we want to see what the structure of our budget looks like.”

Indeed, there are many weaknesses, and as Mwanakwetu continues to follow various ministerial presentations, the expectation is that Members of Parliament will recognize these issues so that funds can be directed to essential priorities.

Let us now look step by step at the responsibilities of the President’s Office for Public Service Management and Good Governance:

“This office is responsible for strengthening good governance, managing human resources, overseeing policies, laws, and procedures of public service, and promoting ethics and e-government to provide better services to citizens.

Its key duties include formulating and overseeing policies, laws, and procedures; managing recruitment, salaries, training, and development of public servants; promoting integrity, accountability, and transparency; overseeing ICT systems and modern government operations; managing national records systems; and improving infrastructure and service delivery.”

This office is led by Minister Ridhiwani Kikwete (MP), appointed after the October 29, 2025 election, and the Chief Secretary is Juma Seleiman Mkomi, who has held the position since February 27, 2023.

Now let us examine the budget presented in Parliament for this office, prepared by Mkomi and his team:

“They have allocated 1.4 trillion for recurrent expenditure. This is a very large amount. For comparison, the Kigongo–Busisi Bridge was built for 700 billion—this is equivalent to building two such bridges. The Tanzanite Bridge in Dar es Salaam cost about 200 billion—you could build six of those. Is it really justified to allocate 1.4 trillion to routine expenses like allowances?

Also remember that the President borrowed 1.3 trillion (COVID-19 funds), which was used to improve schools, classrooms, and health centers—despite controversy at the time that even led to the resignation of then Speaker Job Ndugai. These funds had a significant economic impact. So is it reasonable to plan 1.4 trillion for recurrent spending?”

My reader, do you see this? Are our Members of Parliament seeing it?

This is part of an ongoing budget analysis from the perspective of a critical observer and scholar, using this office as a case study for the 2026/2027 fiscal year. Perhaps Parliament can still correct these issues.

What does Mwanakwetu say today?

For this ministry, Ridhiwani Kikwete may be set aside as a newcomer who inherited this budget. The person to focus on is the Chief Secretary, Juma Seleiman Mkomi:

“It is unacceptable to allocate 1.4 trillion to recurrent expenditure while Tanzanians still face major challenges in sectors like health, agriculture, and education.”

In summary, Mwanakwetu advises that since Mkomi has served in this position since 2023, the appointing authority should consider assigning a new Chief Secretary and transferring him elsewhere.

“This would create room for new ideas, fresh perspectives, and opportunities for other Tanzanians to demonstrate their capabilities. Public service is one of the key resources inherited from the colonial era.”

Allocating 1.4 trillion to recurrent expenses is like wearing shoes the wrong way—left on the right and right on the left. You cannot walk properly like that; the leader may lose direction and wander into danger.