Mwinyi outlines his strategies for Zanzibar if elected President-VIDEO

Question: What are your expectations after being nominated to vie for the Zanzibar Presidency?

Answer: I expect to win the presidency and that is my main agenda. We are getting prepared for elections….Elections require serious preparations and I am confident that my party will do well in the elections. We will win and serve people, and that is all I expect. I am into this race with a view to serving the people Zanzibar and that is exactly what I expect.

What is it that gives you confidence that you will do well in the election?

I get the confidence because of the strength of my party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). It has been the ruling party since the dawn of multiparty politics and therefore, I find no reason why we could think of losing. It is also my belief that our party members are strong. CCM has many followers, so certainly, we will do well.

What inspired you to seek the Zanzibar Presidency?

As I said earlier, I want to serve the people of Zanzibar. After working in the Union Government for 20 years, I have acquired enough experience to serve the people of Zanzibar. I am also well educated. I believe time is ripe for me to serve them as President.

How do you intend to make use of your 20-year experience in senior government positions to serve the people of Zanzibar in case you win?

I have acquired enough experience after working with three presidents of the Union Government during the 20 years of my service. Each of the three presidents has had his own leadership style and I have been able to learn a thing or two from each of them. I have also worked with President of Zanzibar Dr Shein [Mohammed] during his days as Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania during which period, I was a minister of State in the Vice President’s Office. This means that banking on what they achieved, I will have something good to implement [in Zanzibar].

While in Dodoma, you hinted that you would emulate President John Magufuli’s leadership style in the execution of your duties. What else have you learnt from President Magufuli?

I have learnt a lot from President Magufuli, the first one being his style in the administration of government issues. He is the kind of a leader who makes close follow- ups on issues that you have agreed upon to ensure that they are implemented. Even my colleagues in government will tell you that it is normal for President Magufuli to call to you even at midnight. He is quite good at making follow-ups on the agreed issues and this is a wonderful trait for a leader. We have a number of good plans, but we’re seriously challenged when it comes to implementation stage. Things are moving forward because of President Magufuli’s keenness on following up on the implementation stage of what has been agreed upon. The second thing is that President Magufuli is the kind of a person who will not tolerate negligence [of his appointees]. He does not tolerate corruption and the embezzlement of government funds. This is also another wonderful trait and if you want things to move, then you will have to ensure that you deal with those who are relapsing once and for all. You don’t need to give more time or simply transfer such people from one workstation to another. You need to deal with them once and for all. All these can help us in take the country to another level.

While working with Dr Shein on the Zanzibar side, what is it that you learnt from him?

Dr Shein has achieved a lot during his 10-year period as Zanzibar President. My aim is to start from where he ends so that we can sustain the achievements, but at the same, aiming at further developing Zanzibar. He has achieved a lot in terms of implementation of development projects. I have also learnt that Dr Shein is the kind of a person who listens attentively to advice. He receives advice. In these tasks [leadership positions], you must listen to advice and make your own informed decisions.

As I mentioned earlier, you served in various positions under former Presidents Jakaya Kikwete and the Late Benjamin Mkapa. The second-phase President Ali Hassan Mwinyi is your father, and I have no doubt that you also learnt a thing or two from the leadership of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere - and you are familiar with his philosophy and administrative strategies. Just briefly, kindly narrate your experiences with these former Presidents.

Let me start with the Father of the Nation, the late Mwalimu Nyerere. He brought independence. He also played a key role in building and strengthening solidarity and patriotism among Tanzanians. These are among the key roles that Mwalimu played. Today, we (Tanzanians) enjoy peace and solidarity. All these achievements are due to Mwalimu’s effort. There are other countries still experiencing tribal conflicts but in Tanzania, where there are many tribes, there are no such civil conflicts.

Therefore, apart from his contribution to the country’s independence, our founding father, Mwalimu Nyerere, had played the pivotal role to strengthen both solidarity and patriotism among Tanzanians.

In my opinion, every incoming President has an obligation to follow Mwalimu’s footsteps. However, I thank God, as the nation, we are still on the right track when it comes to embracing solidarity and patriotism.

Secondly, talking about the achievements made by the second phase government, I can say that the administration had managed to bolster the country’s economy by introducing a market economy to replace the monopoly economy, something that accelerated the economic growth.

Since then, I think, other administrations just worked on issues which were not achieved by the second phase so as to build a strong nation.

Some of us were still at schools, but we could clearly observe the situation.

On the achievements by the third phase government, I can also say that the administration had embarked on comprehensive strategies aimed at bolstering the country’s economy. These strategies are still operational up to date. Therefore, each phase of the government has played a role and each has contributed to the country’s socio-economic development.

These achievements surely encourage those in power to deliver more for the nation.

How do you describe the former Presidents’ leadership capacities?

Each former President had his own style of leadership. But I can further describe only those whom I worked with. President John Magufuli’s leadership style focuses primarily on monitoring and making quick solution-based decisions to remove the barriers that hamper the country’s socio-economic development.

Many of us have learned that Magufuli’s style of leadership provides the best options when it comes to achieving development goals. But all in all, the previous administrations made a number of notable achievements.

You said one of Mwalimu Nyerere’s key achievements was strengthening patriotism among the people. However, there are a few concerns that the current generation is not that much familiar with the ideology. What is your comment on that?

It is true. This challenge is attributed to advancement of technology. Therefore, those in power have obligations to reinforce and promote the patriotism agenda among the population.

Back in those days, security organs such as the national service were entitled to promote such agendas (patriotism and solidarity). However, due to economic crisis, the army had to stop performing the task. But due to the alarming erosion of moral values and patriotism ethics in the society, we later decided to reintroduce the programme, which is overseen by the national service.

While you were in Dodoma on July 10 this year, you said one of the greatest challenges that you ever faced was seeking the party’s endorsement to vie for the Presidency in Zanzibar. What did you mean?

While you were in Dodoma on July 10 this year, you said one of the greatest challenges that you ever faced was seeking the party’s endorsement to vie for the Presidency in Zanzibar. What did you mean?

As human beings, we normally face various challenges in our lives. Therefore, what I meant to say was that the party’s internal election to nominate its Presidential candidate for Zanzibar was very competitive due to the fact that the contest had involved prominent candidates.

Was it difficult to win the party’s endorsement? As I recall, you even said that you had lost weight due to the challenges...

(Laughs)! It was all about the pressure for the competition especially when you vie for this top position. You spend most of the time asking around about the progress of the election process. Therefore, all these anxieties put you under great pressure all the time regarding the fact that leading the nation is not an easy task.

It involves a number of issues. It was due to this phenomenon that put me under great pressure, frankly.

There is a perception that children of past leaders face few or no life obstacles. What is your comment on this perception? Have you ever faced any difficulties?

First, let me say that children of past leaders, particularly in Tanzania, live normal lives. Speaking of my own experience, I have been living a normal life since childhood. I couldn’t differentiate myself with other children. We all went to the same schools. My life was the same even before and after my father was elected the President.

Secondly, my father had served the office as President for only 10 years. He was not the President throughout my lifetime. And it has been almost 30 years since he retired from the presidency. I lived and I still live a normal life just like other ordinary people.

Can you recall any act from your experience which you think your parents did deliberately to shape you into becoming a good national leader in future?

Indeed, as I said earlier, we lived a normal life. Before my father was elected the President, we lived a normal life. Even when he was elected the President, we still lived a normal life. We went to the same public schools. It was in 1985 when my father was elected the President, by that time I joined the Medical University. My mother attended my graduation ceremony and it was at that time that my colleagues came to find out that I was the President’s son.

During the party’s primaries in Dodoma on July 10 when you were elected the CCM’s Presidential candidate for Zanzibar, you publicly said you would be a tough person. What did you mean?

What I meant was that when you lead the country, being too polite and kind can ruin your leadership credibility. The nature of us, human beings, is one that we sometimes need to be pushed to attain achievement.

So I meant that if I am elected the President of Zanzibar, I won’t hesitate to push those who want to be pushed [for development to be attained]…Those who will be responsible and accountable in their undertakings will feel no pressure from the government.

You were on two occasions shifted from the Health ministry to that of Defence and National Service between 2008 and 2012. What did you learn from these transfers - and what challenges did you face in those ministries?

Frankly, I have no idea why I was transferred from one office to another. For example, when I was transferred from the Defence ministry to the Health docket, by that time the medics went on strike.

Then former President Kikwete reshuffled his cabinet and that was how I was shifted to the Health ministry. Therefore, I have no idea what was the motive of the transfer.

I thank God when I took over the docket, I managed to hold talks with the medics and they called off the strike. I was so pleased to be part of the successful reconciliation process to settle the medics’ strike on my first days in office.

Corruption is among our key challenges. During your recent public meetings in Zanzibar on July 15, you said corrupt and unaccountable people will be in trouble when you take over as President. How serious is corruption in Zanzibar?

Corruption has been a burden for many years here in Zanzibar. It is one of the key items on the agenda that the public want to be addressed.

To be more specific, even if the current rate of corruption burden is too small in Zanzibar, we still need to erase it and make the country free from corruption.

We have witnessed that President Magufuli found discipline in the Ministry that you serve as its minister for a long time [Ministry of Defence and National Service]. Is this one of the areas that you will focus an eagle’s eye on [assuming you do win the Presidency]?

Definitely. The most important thing that I have learnt as Defence Minister is that members of the defence force are very disciplined, very professional and obedient. If each and every citizen could have those traits, then most of the challenges that we contend with could have been non-existent. We have learnt and it will be good if we can bring such traits to civilians.

What strategies will you use to instill military-like discipline into the running of day-to-day government business?

The first thing is professionalism - and that everyone should be given a role that befits his/her professional acumen. Choosing inapt people for professional tasks will obviously cause problems. People should be given jobs/tasks based on their expertise.

The second thing is discipline. I will ensure that there is discipline in the way Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and Directors are well disciplined and that that [discipline] is maintained up to their subordinates.

Should you be elected President of Zanzibar: what will differentiate your administration from your predecessors’ in terms of [the Isles’] economic position, regional cooperation, security as well as issues pertaining to social, environment, youth, women and children?

Let me repeat the same thing I said earlier: that I had learnt several things from previous phases. Each leadership phase has had better achievements in certain areas than in some areas. Some phases did better in building the economy than in other areas while others managed to bring discipline in the public service. My task is to evaluate and take what is good for the people and do them better.

As a leader it is wise to sustain what your predecessors had started. For instance, we are heading to the elections at a time when the seventh phase administration of Zanzibar has registered a number of achievements. It is our task to sustain them.

What would you say regarding regional cooperation?

Zanzibar is part of the United Republic of Tanzania. As such, we are a member of the East Africa Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (Sadc). However, there are some regional blocs where Zanzibar gets in as Tanzania or as an independent country. What I can say is that we have a wonderful regional and international relations policy that if maintained, Zanzibar will maintain its good relations [with the rest of other regional countries].

What do you have for Youths, Women and Children who claim that they were not being involved in the decision making process for the implementation of various development projects?

Youth, women and children together create a huge group that anyone with vision to improve the lives of citizens must pay attention to. They must be involved in socio-economic services and all kinds of development.

What is your perspective on the issue of National Unity in Zanzibar? As president: what would you do to unify the people for their development?

Unity is the most important thing in any country. Having classes of any kind, be it religious, ethnic or regional strata, create problems. We will take concrete steps aimed at ensuring that there is no discrimination of any kind, be it in public employment, education and business opportunities. Everyone must be free to undertake his/her personal development project so long as it is within the confines of his/per profession and laws of the land.

I have said in one of my meetings that I will get rid of what is termed as u-Unguja [people from Unguja] and u-Pemba [people from Pemba] or Northerners and Southerners. We will have to get rid of political wrangles because we are all people of Zanzibar and we all want to build Zanzibar. Let us differ ideologically but be united in building the country.

Out of all the development projects that you seek to implement [once elected], which ones will you give much of your time and efforts to, pray?

It is true that every government has its own priorities which are based on the available opportunities. The priorities are also based on the existing challenges. For my experience, the island economy is a unique one with limited features. Zanzibar is a place where the Port business can offer a great opportunity. It needs a modern port that will be able to employ a lot of people. Again, as it is surrounded by water, we have deep sea fishing, and fish farming. Tourism is one very big sector that we must prioritize.

Sports activities touch on the lives of youths. What is your perspective on the sector in Zanzibar?

I understand that, in the past, sporting was done for fun. However, sporting has grown into an industry that is a source of employment and health resolution to our youths. We do not need to neglect it.

The industry needs to be well managed so that it provides employment to our youths and reduces bad habits like getting into drugs and so on. I believe that engaging youths in sports will save them well.

We all understand that the most popular spectator sport is soccer - and, in the past, teams like Mlandege, Small Simba and Malindi were really doing fine; but they seem to have gone astray, especially since 2004 when the Union League was terminated. What do you think should be done to restore the motivation?

In that regard, we expect experts in the field to advise and guide us. If we used to do well - and then later slowed down - I think we must sit down together and evaluate where we did wrong, and how to get back to success.