TOUGH JUSTICE : Change is ugly and bitter, but how tolerant are we?

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This week I will focus on a number of obstacles to engagement inherent in us, arguing that we need to reinvent ourselves before taking on the gargantuan task of turning Tanzania into a success story, on matters development.

This week I will focus on a number of obstacles to engagement inherent in us, arguing that we need to reinvent ourselves before taking on the gargantuan task of turning Tanzania into a success story, on matters development.
Sense of entitlement
We live in a culture that makes it easy to ask for things. From attendants at parking lots almost everywhere; guards at banks, ATMs, shopping malls and supermarkets; to youngsters standing around, pretending to watch over cars; even traffic police officers who catch you without offence; if you own a car, rarely will you drive around without feeling pressured to part ways with your few thousand shillings.
One could easily trace this back to our socialist roots and ideas of undugu na ujamaa. To our neighbours, the “naomba culture” is often an object of scorn and praise, in equal measure. In Kenya, for instance, the idea that in Tanzania, police officers ‘ask to arrest’ their subjects before they do so, is somewhat common. Similarly, the tone we use to buy things, when we use the polite (read weak) word naomba, instead the more assertive nipe, is often ridiculed.
The friendly, brotherly spirit that is inscribed in us from the founding of our nation is perhaps manifesting itself now that we are ‘under a disciplinarian regime’. We are being called upon to work harder so that we can better service the regime that we, rather gladly, entrusted with our lives in 2015. But we are also complaining when tough measures are applied to make us give to Caesar what rightfully belongs to him.
There is also a lot of casual begging in Tanzania, and I reckon it happens quite a lot in cities. Dar es Salaam, for instance, has had its fair share of struggles with beggars. Their presence has been fought off and ignored interchangeably, long since the days of Yusuf Makamba and the famous beggar from Dodoma, Matonya.
In early 2016, the city’s Regional Commissioner made quite an effort to ensure the city is not flooded with beggars, even banning the act of giving money to them. However, as is always the case, they find their way back to the streets whenever they sense a bit of laxity from the government to enforce its own directives.
What’s easy to learn from the long history is that, the begging is a mere reflection of a larger problem—that of an inherent sense of dependency in our culture, which I call the “naomba culture”.
Need or greed?
But is it driven by need or greed?
I remain curious as to whether these cases are a result of income inequality. A look at our Gini index, measuring the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income in our country, in comparison with neighbouring countries, convinces me otherwise. Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda in that order, all seem to have worse inequality levels than ours.
I therefore look at casual begging as a combination of both our cultural disposition to dependency, and ‘visible inequality’. The latter perhaps explains why begging in cities mostly targets car owners.
A parking attendant, for instance, has a salary, but sees it fit to ask for money from car owners both because it seems obvious to him/her that there is money to be given, and also because it is culturally accepted to ask for things, instead of earning them.
My observations come at a very interesting time. Early this year, the President announced that his government would not build houses for victims of the Kagera earthquake, and expectedly, some saw his attitude as outright ruthless. Perhaps the tone of the President’s message was uncalled-for, and perhaps some level of assistance could have been provided following a case-by-case assessment of each victim’s situation. But still, in my view, he did address a lingering attitudinal problem in the country—that of people feeling entitled to handouts.
Disaster or not, opportunists will always find ways of riding on the coattails of a few genuinely needy people who deserve assistance, and this usually makes humanitarian assistance an unnecessarily strenuous task.
Carry one’s own cross
While telling everybody to “carry their own cross” may be harsh on those who are sincerely needy, the admonition is befitting of all those who would rather beg, instead of strive to earn the life they want.
We must shift our attitudes and refuse to be a country of beggars. With that said, our government must also set the tone. I am quite curious to see if they can make good on their promise to end donor dependency.

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TOUGH JUSTICE : Change is ugly and bitter, but how tolerant are we?

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