In most African countries, efforts to alleviate poverty from the side of the mainstream systems, meaning governments, are crowded by the entangling webs of corruption.
This corruption comes in variety, from rigging elections and denying right people the political power, to systemic embezzlement, manipulation of data and statistics, patronage networks, procurement frauds, tax frauds, etc.
In some cases countries remain poor because corruption punctuates the entire governance structures.
It should be concerning when extravagance is hidden in the very processes of public service delivery.
The priority of public servants should be to deliver the services, meaning that funds are controlled to make the most for the end beneficiaries, meaning the general public.
The fanciness of the process or the public servants is not a priority of public service, and it is unfortunate where it has been made that way.
In a third world country it should not be taken lightly that the health minister publicly displayed the national health budget carried in an ultra-luxury Louis Vuitton bag, costing over $5,000 (Over Sh13 million).
Tanzania is not only a third world country, it is among the poorest in the bottom third globally, with about 49 percent of the population living below basic needs line ($2 per day, or Sh5,000), and about 51.35 percent experiencing multidimensional poverty involving lack of education, health, living standards, and income. (Source: World Bank Open Data).
With the resources Tanzania has, in the ideal sense we can say there is a possibility for growth.
But with the way things work, we can hardly rise from where we are because of misplaced priorities and sham patriotism on the side of those entrusted with governance.
With our health system being underfunded and many people needing financial assistance in healthcare, luxury should be the last thing that comes to mind. In fact a fair portion of our budgets is donor-funded, in the health budget above 20 percent.
A culture of extravagance, when nurtured from above, it grows deeper roots in the lower levels as there will be no moral justification for overseeing lower levels of governance with regards to fiscal responsibility.
The result of this is chaos and irresponsibility where everyone in the government gets to look for best ways of fetching the public funds for themselves.
It is a similar thing that happens when the government implements projects, where houses costs hundreds of millions and bridges cost incomprehensible billions.
The allocations in paper are deliberately disproportionate to the actual work for the personal benefits of leaders.
In a country with so much poverty and many deaths that could be prevented if all resources were apportioned as allocated, no one is questioned or convicted after government audits.
If at all there are independent and functioning internal government’s purchases control bodies, such unnecessary purchases could have been flagged, if at all it was purchased by government funds. Of course the answer from the political actors will always be “NO!”
Reports of CAG come and go with no one being held responsible for anything among the big fish. It is because we have normalised corruption.
As a nation with a predominantly young population, Tanzania might be heading towards irredeemable poverty if governance continues to be a circus.
With all the complaints in every sector, and especially the health sector, the government should discern what to do and do it well. There are people who die for lack of a mere Sh10,000 for purchasing medicine.
The bureaucracy and deceit is over the board, and no one is held accountable.
Whatever the story behind the scandalous ultra-luxury customised Louis Vuitton budget bag, and other scarier stories of luxurious living among the leadership circle, the message that has gone around is that our leaders are extremely extravagant, and therefore have different priorities from the service they ought to deliver.
At a local community level, the price of such luxury can go a long way to make change if it translates into services.
The sum of Sh13 million, which can buy over 20 quality hospital beds, should not be used to buy a bag for carrying papers of the national health budget.
The priority is not the budget papers, but to deliver quality service to the maximum capacity of our funds.
