The government’s acknowledgement that its finances are in poor shape must have sent shockwaves across the nation. According to an admission by minister of State (Regional Administration and Local Government) George Mkuchika, the Treasury has had problems remitting money to councils—and it is this that has stalled development projects.

Things should never have been allowed to come to this—not when the leaders are wont to declare to all and sundry that Tanzania’s economy is growing.

Such declarations have traditionally been received with reservations by ordinary wananchi whose lives are ravaged by extortionate prices of goods and services. That skepticism would appear to be justified for, if figures on the country’s overall economic performance are deemed good, how come the government is broke?

It must have something to do with the way the taxpayer and development partners’ money is spent. The dominant press headlines for the last quarter of the year have been on MPs’ sitting allowance, which went from Sh70,000 to Sh200,000.

Supporters of the MPs’ new perks argue that the legislators should not be singled out for criticism because there are other ordinary public officials who earn more!

This week, the President gave a directive that his foreign travel entourages should be trimmed in a bid to save much-needed money.Besides widening the tax base to boost the public kitty, more efforts should be made to eradicate unnecessary expenditure.

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