STRAIGHT TALK : Shifting govt to Dodoma, let it be in piecemeal

What you need to know:

  • While there, I have been always a keen observer of the town, which is set to become the capital of our country. The intention could be more politically motivated; my main interest is to know whether the country is prepared for this move.

Dodoma, yes, but is it possible at the moment? I had an opportunity and privilege of living in Dodoma, the presumptive capital of Tanzania, in the last few months by virtue of my having a seat in the august House.

While there, I have been always a keen observer of the town, which is set to become the capital of our country. The intention could be more politically motivated; my main interest is to know whether the country is prepared for this move.

If I were to give my opinion, I would say that the country has never been ready to shift its capital to Dodoma. So, I find the recent pronouncement of moving to Dodoma with immediate as something that would not pass without consequences, and if we are to push harder, it could even be disastrous.

It has been four whole decades since the decision was passed. During that period, Dodoma has refused to grow accordingly … not even reaching the status of the city let alone the capital city of the country. It has been a dream and will remain as such for a long time.

I must admit, I am not impressed by what has come to public in recent utterances by President John Magufuli and Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa because none of the ministries serving the two top leaders can genuinely claim to be fully prepared to move now.

There is no enough office space, no enough housing and nothing solid to support huge staff and other needs. The Dodoma town is not prepared currently and in the foreseeable future to become the capital city.

Imagine the need for such amenities as schools, cinema halls, theatres, stadia and many others … are they prepared for the new pressure the town is going to experience?

Secondly, this is the wrong time to push for the move because of huge financial implications at the time when the country is still pulling up its socks to try and start implementing the industrialisation drive as it strives to become a middle-income economy – a status it should have acquired long ago.

I wonder how we will get the resources needed for the project – from where shall we source it? Will it come from the exercise of auctioning government properties allocated in Dar es Salaam as stipulated by President Magufuli? I shudder to think of that move.

Of course there are good examples of countries moving capital cities but such successes were achieved through research, plans, timing and commitment and not only some political whims.

How this should be done

My take is that this was to be done in piecemeal – by either moving the services that can be centralised or departments on that line. Alternatively, a few ministries could be selected for early shift and the rest follow suit at a later date.

My other humble suggestion is that we set the target of achieving a certain level after, say, two years. But if we insist of the now, when we know there is no budgetary allocation, we are surely making mockery of the whole system and are surely bound to fail.

I generally agree with the plan of moving out of Dar es Salaam, but as we do we should take into consideration the implications of huge out movement of the diplomatic corps and regional and international organisations which will stand aside watching with interest to see this as a reality or just a circus.

Mr Saleh is a lawyer, journalist, author, political commentator, media consultant and poet. He is also the Member of Parliament for Malindi in Zanzibar