TAMISEMI Minister Mohammed Mchengerwa rebuked the Dar-es-Salaam regional commissioner, Albert Chalamila, for permitting vehicles to pass through roads earmarked for public transport. The RC aimed to ease congestion, but the minister said his ministry was bypassed! The minister felt heavy-duty trucks would damage the newly constructed roads. He wasn’t against light vehicles using the roads, but permission ought to be sought and secured from his ministry. Is this a matter of a bloated ego dunning for a masseur, or are there deeper personal issues stoking this diatribe? This article seeks to answer these questions and more.
TAMISEMI stands for Tawala za Mikoa na Serikali za Mitaa. (PO-RALGA- President Office – Regional Administration and Local Government Authorities. It used to be under the prime minister’s jurisdiction but was shifted to the president’s office for reasons relating to the management of elections more than for anything else. It is a delicate subject I will visit sometime in the future. Tamisemi minister Mohammed Mchengerwa has lambasted the Dar-es-Salaam regional commissioner for issuing a popular decision on completed DART roads, awaiting the bus operator to assume the operations of the whole project. This is what the minister complained about in his own words;
“Wakati fulani mlitoa maelekezo ya kuruhusu watu kupita kwenye barabara za mwendo kasi mkasahau barabara za mwendo kasi si za kwenu ni za waziri wa TAMISEMI. Ziko chini ya waziri wa TAMISEMI. Ninyi mkasimama mkaruhusu watu wakapita wakati ule nimewasemehe. Lakini maelekezo yangu, barabara ya Mbagala yanapita malori ya tani 30 mpaka tani 40 yanapita, yanakatiza pale katikati.
Barabara imeanza kuharibika. Madhara yake kwenye miradi hii itaenda kusimama. Yote ni ya World Bank. Wenzetu wa World Bank walipotupatia fedha hizi walitupa masharti. Barabara hizi ni kwa ajili ya mwendo kasi siyo kupitisha malori.
Barabara hizi ni za mwendo kasi kwa hiyo huu utaratibu mliouanzisha miradi hii itakuja kukosa pesa. Na nyie watu wa Dar eS Salaam ndiyo mtakuja kulalamika. Sijui mnanielewa vizuri lakini? Barabara ya Mbagala imekwisha anza kuharibika hata mwendo kasi haujaanza. Ni kwa sababu mnapitisha malori katikati. Na mmetoa kibali na sijui nani amewapa mamlaka ya kutoa kibali hicho?
Kwa sababu mwenye mamlaka ya kutoa kibali hicho ni ya kwangu. Barabara hizi zinasimamiwa na DART, na DART iko chini yangu. Ninyi mamlaka mliyatoa wapi? Mkaruhusu watu kupita kwenye barabara za mwendo kasi na barabara sasa zimeharibika. Kuharibika kwa barabara hizi maana yake mnaleta khofu ya Benki ya Dunia kuzuia fedha hizi.
Sijui ninaeleweka vizuri hapo? Mtasababisha Dar Es Salaam wakose barabara. Dar Es Salaam watakosa barabara. Hii mipango ambayo tunaifanya leo maana yake wenzetu watakwenda kuzuia. Nilipokuwa Utalii, wizara ya Utalii, tulikuwa na miradi kama hii ya Benki ya dunia ya ujenzi wa viwanja na mambo mengine.
Ikatokea changamoto ndogo sana Benki ya dunia wakafuta fedha zote. Na wakakataa kuendeleza miradi iliyokuwa ikitekelezwa na wao wenyewe Benki ya dunia. Sasa changamoto hiyo isije ikatokea hapa Dar Es Salaam. Ninawasihi sana tunataka tulale majumbani tupange muda mzuri wa kutoka maofisini kurudi majumbani.
Maelekezo yangu mwambie Mkuu wa Mkoa, hatuwezi kuruhusu malori kupita katikati ya barabara za mwendo kasi. Haiwezekani kwa magari ya abiria itaeleweka tunaweza kuruhusu. Ni bora kupitisha magari ya abiria kuliko malori ya tani 30. Nadhani nimeeleweka vizuri. Wekeni utaratibu mzuri na kabla hamjaruhusu leteni wizarani sisi ndiyo wenyewe mamlaka siyo ya kwenu.
Mwambieni Mkuu wa Mkoa siyo mamlaka yake. Tumeelewana vizuri? Nimewastahi tu…nimewastahi tu. Msifanye mambo bila kibali. Kwa hiyo, mwambie Mkuu wa Mkoa hili nalisema wazi kwa sababu changamoto hii inaweza kutuingiza mgogoro mkubwa na wenzetu wa benki ya dunia. Nadhani madiwani mnanielewa vizuri. Ninaomba muwaelimishe wananchi waweze kuelewa maendeleo yetu.
Anayetaka kuwahi majumbani atoke muda unaostahili ili aweze kuwahi nyumbani. Kwa sababu, vinginevyo utatuletea shida kubwa. Miradi hii trillion moja nukta moja ni fedha nyingi sana zikizuiwa hizi, Dar-es-Salaam watakosa barabara kabisa. Nadhani nimeeleweka vizuri. Mwambie Mkuu wa Mkoa wekeni utaratibu mzuri wa kuruhusu gari za kawaida hizo hazina shida lakini hicho kibali lazima muombe kwetu wizarani.”
But what did the Regional Commissioner say? Here is the whole audio reproduction.
“Huu ni mradi muhimu sana kwa maendeleo ya taifa letu. Lakini muda siyo mrefu mvua itaanza kunyesha wakandarasi na wataalamu mtaanza kujitetea tumechelewa kwa sababu ya mvua. Sasa agizo langu ni lilelile. Kwamba hiki kinachofanyika muda huu ndicho tunatarajia tukione muda wote. Na waandishi wa habari nitakuja na ninyi kwa kushtukiza. Kwa sababu leo tumekwisha kuwasikia wenyewe. Kwa hiyo nikupongeze meneja wa Tanroads mkoa wa Dar-es-Salaam na nikupongeze Mheshimiwa D.C mnaousimamia huu mradi.
Sasa agizo langu, Mheshimiwa Bashungwa ametoa maelekezo, ya kwamba kuna baadhi ya barabara sasa tuangalie kuingiza mabasi na magari madogo madogo. Kwa mfano, barabara ya kutoka Mbagala, unakuja moja kwa moja mjini. Barabara kutoka kwa DC mpaka Magomeni hayo mabasi ya Mwendokasi bado hayajaingia. Kwa hiyo, ifikapo kesho saa mbili, muwe mmekwisha andaa utaratibu ili hayo magari madogo madogo na mabasi ya abiria yaanze kupita kwenye barabara.
Ninaomba niweke “clear” siyo barabara zote za mwendo wa kasi bali barabara ambazo hazijapata mabasi ya mwendo kasi. Lakini barabara kama zile za Kimara ambazo tayari zina mabasi ya Mwendokasi yale hatuingizi mabasi au magari madogo madogo. Ninaomba niwe ‘clear’ hapo barabara ambazo mabasi ya Mwendokasi bado hayajapita tu ndizo zitumike. Yakishafika tunasitisha utaratibu huo na halafu tunaendelea na mabasi ya mwendo kasi.
Kwa hiyo, barabara hii ambayo ni takribani kilometa 23, kama nilivyozungumza ni barabara muhimu sana. Mheshimiwa Rais ametoa fedha na amesema siku moja nadhani mkuu wa wilaya unaweza ukakumbuka alisema: ‘…kama Rais silali wewe unalala kama nani?’ ”
In a nutshell, the regional commissioner said roads under DART that were already finished but are yet to procure the public buses should temporarily be used to ease congestion in those areas. He didn’t instruct heavy duty trucks of 30 to 40 tons to use those DART roads. He was specific that only small cars and buses should use the Mbagala DART roads.
The minister changed the whole narrative by claiming the Dar R.C was behind the order of heavy duty trucks to use DART roads in the specified areas. Well, the R.C didn’t! That is where the whole thing gets perplexing. Then why the minister changed the whole conversation? There could be undercurrents between the two which may not be known to us.
The minister complained that his ministry was bypassed in the whole exercise. However, during the construction of those roads, DART had outsourced Tanroads as its main contractor, meaning that until the roads were handed over to DART, the ministry of Tamisemi couldn’t have anything to do with them. The minister attempted to interweave the World Bank conditions as another reason why Tamisemi’s role was paramount. The problem with this kind of reasoning was that until the day Tanroads handed over the roads to DART, the ministry had no part to play.
The minister was furious that the DART roads in question had deteriorated fast because heavy-duty trucks were passing them, threatening to cancel the World Bank contract. Still, it is up to Tanroads to hand over roads that were in perfect condition. If it is true that the roads have deteriorated, it is up to Tanroads to fix them before handing them to DART. So, the issue of heavy-duty trucks damaging the roads would surface during the handover. Surely, not before handing over an employer of a contractor beginning blowing a vuvuzela to issues that have everything to do with handing over of a project.
However, the minister was correct that heavy-duty trucks shouldn’t be plying on those roads, but whoever allowed them was certainly not the Dar-es-Salaam regional commissioner. Someone else did. That should have been a separate investigation to ensure the RC instructions were strictly adhered to in the letter. Strikingly, it impresses like the Dar-es-Salaam RC. is overshadowing the minister who feels alienated, irrelevant and insecure. I peek no other reason to justify his unsolicited outbursts.
What interested me most was the way the minister addressed his audience. I saw venom and a decided leader. He had made a judgement that the RC was guilty as charged while it was a case of mistaken identity. I must declare that I am no fan of the RC Many of his broadsides I find objectionable, but on this issue, he was spot on. High public demand directed the said DART roads to ease congestion of buses and small cars, and the RC correctly liaised with the then minister for works, Bashungwa, and the permission was secured. I cannot fault the RC for that!
Then why does the Tamisemi minister still feel he was disrespected when nothing bad had happened? Low self-esteem, deep-seated insecurity and an inferiority complex may be shaping his persona. Who knows? The public is satisfied their outcry has been quelled, but only the minister still insists what has already been decided ought to seek blessing from his office, which adds a layer of unnecessary bureaucratic inertia. His ministry cannot permit small cars and buses to use those DART roads for the simple reason that fiat has already been bypassed by events. It is no longer reasonable to do that.
What I now see is that there is a destructive power play between the minister and the Dar RC, which will affect tar-es-Salaam’s development progress. Of interest, the Tamisemi minister is also in charge of the Dar R.C. Why did the minister wash his ministry’s dirty linen in public? Couldn’t he have summoned the RC and ironed out their difference in private, if any? I have already found there was no reason to panic, knowing the works were still under construction and not yet handed over to the DART to stir a hullabaloo about heavy-duty trucks inflicting some serious damage to the DART roads under the spotlight.
This problem of congestion easing wouldn’t have arisen if DART had sorted out issues of procurement of the buses and the operator to manage them. The TAMISEMI ministry will do well to direct her synergies to solve a myriad of problems behind the real issues of Dar-es-Salaam public transport management. The heavy-duty truck problem is a minor distraction that shouldn’t waste valuable resources.
In the meantime, DART, with traffic police, should begin imposing hefty fines on heavy-duty trucks that are illegally filtrating the just completed DART roads that are tarring for the Dar-es-Salaam public transport operator to play his part. Mohammed Mchengerwa’s pillow fights were unfortunate but didn’t address the core issues of why his ministry is napping on the job.
Small cars and buses should continue using those completed DART roads since events have bypassed the Tamisemi ministerial order. The status quo ante is the best verdict for all, while the ministry finds its feet on the tangible predicaments of securing the bus operator and the buses.
Read more analysis by Rutashubanyuma Nestory
