Dodoma: The creation of the capital authority (Part 2)

Dar es Salaam. Soon after the resounding victory in the vote to decide to transfer Tanu and the nation’s capital, the government moved swiftly to set up structures to oversee the new capital.

To some, the plan was too ambitious to be achieved and to others, it was a mere fantasy- for they saw nothing wrong with Dar es Salaam as the seat of the government.

At conception, the entire plan to relocate government offices to Dodoma was to take 10 years.

Sir George Kahama, one of the key figures in the transformation takes a peak in his biography of how Mwalimu Nyerere’s government kicked off the proceedings.

The government announced the setting up of two bodies to manage the development of the new capital- a ministry for the Capital Development and the Capital Development Authority.“The ministry was created in the office of the President and was assigned the role of providing the national framework for the development of the new capital,” writes Sir George Kahama.

Chief Adam Sapi was appointed Minister of State, his task was to prepare and organize the transfer of government to Dodoma.

On the other hand, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) was charged with implementing the vision and overseeing the construction of the new capital.

Time was of essence, the President immediately announced the appointment of Sir George Kahama as the first Director General of CDA.

Why Sir George?

Sir George Kahama was one of the long-serving and experienced public officials who had played a significant role in the pre-independent and post-independent Tanganyika (later Tanzania) cabinets.

It was, therefore, no wonder that Mwalimu Nyerere plucked him from the National Development Corporation (NDC) to lead the nascent CDA.

His successes at the NDC were pivotal to his appointment as was his extensive experience and background in management.

Besides, George Kahama’s ability to conceptualise ideas and to implement strategies had made him one of the most accomplished managers in the cabinet at that time.

His stints as Tanzania’s Ambassador to both the Federal Republic of Germany and the European Economic Community (now EU) gave him the required diplomatic skills for negotiations on the national and International stage.

However, even with such an illustrious resume, what was even more important was that he had the trust and the confidence of President Julius Nyerere.

The task at hand

This project was so important to Tanzania’s vision to the extent that a high level board was appointed for the Authority. “The board of directors comprised eight cabinet ministers drawn from ministries that would be most involved in the project, the principal secretary in the Ministry of Capital Development and the DG of CDA.”

As a result critics have argued that the strength of the authority and its board became one of the sources of its many problems.

“But at the time, few would have disputed the argument that such a bold vision required the most powerful structure at the time,” recollects Sir George.

To Sir George, one thing was clear, he had recognised that unless the new city was attractive, there would be considerable resistance by senior officers of government, who were comfortably settled in Dar es Salaam to the idea of moving there.

The first task of the Authority was, to appoint master planners for the new capital project and to engage key staff with the appropriate skills necessary to undertake the work of the Authority.

The brief to the planners was to develop a plan for a man-centred city with an attractive environment for both work and leisure.

A number of international consulting organisations submitted their design proposals.

With his understanding of, and experience in implementing, practicable workplans, Sir George judiciously assessed each proposal.

“After careful consideration, a Canadian firm, Project Planning Associates, was commissioned to prepare a capital master plan. The consultants were required to produce a report that included a statement of the objectives of the plan, the scope of work, and a detailed work programme.”

Recruitment of staff which was a more immediate task proved to be a difficult part of his new assignment.

“Most people with the right skills and experience were reluctant to leave the comfort that Dar es Salaam provided to go and live in a small town located in the poor part of the country,” writes Sir George.

After the early struggles the DG decided to divide the CDA into 9 directorates in an attempt to devolve responsibility and authority to the directors whom he expected would further devolve responsibility to their teams.

The result was a strong dedicated team of relatively young professionals brought together by a shared enthusiasm for the nation’s project.

The site of the city

“The first decision that had to he made was where in Dodoma the capital would be located. The area for investigation extended for approximately 40 km around the existing town and, initially, six potential sites were identified.”

However, this number was eventually reduced to three and eventually, in September 1974.

“The consultants produced a detailed study for the Board of Directors which recommended the area adjacent to the existing town as the most suitable site on physical, economic and infrastructure grounds.”

This recommendation was approved by the CDA Board and by President Nyerere.

Work on drawing up a draft master plan kicked off swiftly, a reflection not only of the capability of Project Planning Associates of Canada, but also the enthusiasm of Sir George and of the whole team associated with the project.

By the end of February 1975, a draft masterplan had been submitted, approved by the Board of Directors and sent for review and evaluation so an international panel of experts from every continent and to representatives of all relevant Tanzanian ministries.

The panel was chaired by Sir John overall, who had been the Commissioner of the Australian National Capital Development Commission and who had great experience of the challenges and pitfalls of developing an entirely new capital city.

By the end of 1975, the main outlines of the plan for a capacity city of between 350,000 and 400,000 people were clear and in an article in the journal Ceres Sir George described the thinking behind the plan.

According to Sir George, although in the first stage the city would be designed for 400,000 people, ‘cities do not stop growing once the impetus has been generated’ and that he saw the masterplan being flexible enough to provide ample land to accommodate long term growth, especially south of the railway.

He set out the four principal elements of the master plan. The first was the central spine of the national capital, set prominently where the long ridge from Hombolo met the lower slope of Chimwaga Hill.

This area had a commanding view over the city and was also, clearly visible from most places within the planned city borders.

The area would house Parliament building, Tanu headquarters, and government buildings.

At the western end of Itega Hill, would be the site of a major university. The central area would also provide sites for the High Court and for a major convention center.

The second clement was the provision of residential communities Sir George made it clear he was determined to avoid the unplanned urban sprawl which spoilt so many capital cities. The master plan was thought through to its finest details even to the extent of making the 10-cell house system of Tanu being the basic element in the layout of housing.

It was certainly an ambitious plan and many people criticized it on those grounds but even then, both Sir George and President Nyerere were firmly of the opinion that whatever temporary difficulties, it was necessary to aim high.

In their opinion, the City of Dodoma would become a concrete expression of their vision for a modern, equitable and socialist Tanzania.

Upon approval of the final master plan, it was envisaged that the initial development would take 10 years from 1976 to 1986 at a cost of Sh3.71 billion ($53 million).