Department of Development Studies, Political Science and Public Administration, and History

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Fifty Years of the Union: the Relevance of Religion in the Union and Zanzibar Statehood Debate
(The African Review Journal, 2014) Poncian, Japhace
Embracing Natural Gas Discovery and Extraction as a Blessing for Equitable and Sustainable Benefits to Tanzania
(IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2014) Poncian, Japhace
Explaining Election Violence in Tanzania: The Interplay Between the Union Politics and Electoral Administration and Management
(Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA), 2015) Poncian, Japhace
The Gender-Energy Nexus in Tanzania: Assessing Rural Electrification in the Context of Gender Mainstreaming among Women
(Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA), 2015) Kigodi, Henry Michael; Poncian, Japhace
This chapter presents empirical evidence from the study conducted in two rural districts of Tanzania. The aim was to assess government rural energy strategy undertaken by Rural Energy Agency (REA) to electrify rural Tanzania in the context of gender mainstreaming in energy projects as well as its viability in resolving gender energy challenges that rural women face. A total of 22 semi-structured interviews were conducted with rural women and TANESCO officials in Kilolo and Shinyanga rural districts over a period of two weeks. Our findings indicate that although government takes gender issues seriously, more remains to be done as most of our informants had little knowledge on what rural electrification is; an indication that gender may just have been mainstreamed in energy policy, plans and strategies on paper by a mention of the word gender and gender mainstreaming. Again, the study found out that patriarchal practices that marginalize rural women are still entrenched in rural Tanzania to the extent that rural electrification may only end lighting rural Tanzania instead of altering complex and multiple energy challenges women face. High costs of energy and limited energy choices were also mentioned as main issues that challenge rural electrification. From the findings, it is recommended that the government ought to go down to rural women to learn of their expectations and challenges; build awareness to rural women over the use of different energy sources; diversify energy sources; and implement energy policies, plans and strategies effectively to resolve gender energy challenges.
The Fallacy of Limited Financial Resources for Development in Tanzania: Evidence from Local Government Authorities Audit Reports
(Public Policy and Administration Research, 2015) Poncian, Japhace; Mpambije, Chakupewa Joseph
The Fallacy of Limited Financial Resources for Development in Tanzania: Evidence from Local Government Authorities Audit Reports
(2015) Poncian, Japhace; Mpambije, Chakupewa Joseph
Often times people are told by government officials that there are limited financial resources to finance different development projects/programmes and to provide assistance for self help. This view is also held by the academic world. This is usually taken as an absolute truth and usually as an excuse for the limited socioeconomic development of the citizens and societies. While this may be true, we propose a problematisation of this by gathering and making sense of evidence from the annual audit reports for the Local Government Authorities (LGAs) in Tanzania. The central aim of the proposed paper therefore is to show the fallacy of “the limited resources” by arguing that it is not a matter of limited resources but whether and how the available resources are put to intended use for development and poverty reduction goals. The relevance of this is to shift focus on development resources available to whether and how the extent to which the resources are put to use and toestablish whether LGAs are keeping people into poverty by using or not using the available resources.
Mineral Extraction for Socio-Economic Transformation of Tanzania: The Need to Move from Papers to Implementation of Mining Policy and Law
(Journal of Social Science Studies, 2015) Poncian, Japhace; George, Constantine
The Persistence of Western Negative Perceptions about Africa: Factoring in the Role of Africans
(Journal of African Studies and Development, 2015) Poncian, Japhace; Poncian, Japhace
Christian-Muslim Relations in Tanzania: A Threat to Future Stability and Peace?
(Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 2015) Poncian, Japhace
Natural Resource Conflicts as a Struggle for Space: The Case of Mining in Tanzania
(International and Multidisciplinary Journal of Social Sciences, 2015) Poncian, Japhace; Kigodi, Henry Michael
Africa’s Leadership Challenges in the 21st Century: What Can Leaders Learn from Africa’s Pre-Colonial Leadership and Governance?
(RedFame, 2015-04-09) Poncian, Japhace; Mgaya, Edward
Africa continues to face serious development challenges despite recent record growth rates. Such challenges as dependency, corruption, underdeveloped infrastructure and production sectors, and leadership and governance are some of the impediments to Africa’s quest for sustainable and equitable development. Explaining such development challenges has continued to elude scholars. To the radical leftist scholars, Africa’s underdevelopment can adequately be explained by its forceful and uneven integration into the global economic system. However, with over fifty years of independence, the debate is increasingly focusing on Africa’s leadership as good explanation for its poverty and underdevelopment. This paper argues that the current poverty and underdevelopment of Africa have much to do with enabling conditions created by African leaders and proposes that addressing this requires Africans to go back to pre-colonial history where they can tap good lessons rather than continuing importing Western based models which may not necessarily fit into Africa’s unique characteristics.
The Search for ‘Her story’: Women in the Narratives of African Migratory History
(American Research Institute for Policy Development, 2015-06) Mgaya, Edward
Gender has become a category of concern for many historians of labour migration in contemporary scholarships. This article notes some of the factors which made it possible for historians to turn to questions of gender. It is a modest attempt to survey the historiography of labour migration and gender as it developed in the late 20th Century and explore some current directions in this scholarship showing how African historians have gained a more understanding of African migration through the examination of women migration in particular. In short, the article examines the pace through which women have been integrated into the narratives of African migratory history. In this article I argue that although African women were for centuries viewed as non-labour migrants, the historiography of labour migration from the late twentieth century reveals women as both national and international labour migrants. This came as a challenge to the then dominant paradigms which were silent on women issues.
Forest and Forestry in Tanzania: Changes and Continuities in Policies and Practices From Colonial Times to the Present
(Geographical Association of Tanzania, 2015-11) Mgaya, Edward
The forest sector has a very important role to play in Tanzania’s economy. Although, in absolute terms, their contribution to total gross domestic product (GDP) is relatively low, the country’s forests contain such a high level of resources that make Tanzania one of the richest and most biodiverse countries. Due to such importance, forestry has variably featured in Tanzanian policies from colonial time to the present. This paper, therefore, examines such policies relating to forests and forestry in Tanzania from the colonial to recent times. It argues that, although there has been a change in the approach from a preservationist approach in the colonial and postcolonial period towards a managerial/win-win approach in the current forest conservation, there is a resurgence of the preservationist tendency in the focus on managing forest solely to increase carbon stocks. Drawing evidences from various existing policy documents and other literature, this paper concludes that forestry policies have been, and continue to reveal a notable protectionist and reservationist propensity while also expecting revenues from them through various forest products. These policies, to a greater extent, have throughout resulted into conflicts between both colonial and post-colonial states and local population who demands free access to the forest resources for their survival.
Social Capital: A Neglected Resource to create Viable and Sustainable Youth Economic Groups in Urban Tanzania
(Journal of Education and Practice, 2016) Manyerere, David
There has been an alarming increase in the rate of unemployment among active urban population in Tanzania whereby the youth are severely affected. In this regard Youth Economic Groups (YEGs) program was formed as one among the best alternative strategies to address this perennial problem. Membership in YEGs act as a means to complement youth abilities and strengths to accomplish their common goal of addressing unemployment problem, through facilitating access of financial, human and physical capital from various sources. This paper argues that the arrangement, in which YEGs program has been implemented, overlooks the pivotal role of social capital resource to ensure that youth undertake Income Generation Activities (IGAs) amicably and effectively. Most of previous research works on youth unemployment were focused on challenges related to financial, human and physical capital. Hence, very little attention has been paid on fact that YEGs are constituted by members with different socio-economic background whose behaviour and interests need to be harmonised by appropriate relations to achieve their common objectives. The paper contributes in filling that gap by drawing empirical evidence of YEGs in Kinondoni Municipal Council (KMC) and suggests how various forms of social capital can be nurtured to create and sustain viable Income Generation Groups (IGGs) in urban Tanzania so as to address the perennial unemployment problem facing the urban youth.
Water and Sanitation Services in Informal Urban Settlements and their Implications to Peoples Health in Tandale, Dar es Salaam Tanzania
(2016-07) Mpambije, Chakupewa Joseph; Nuhu, Said
The alarming growth of informal settlements in Tanzania is bringing with it multifaceted impacts. Health problems are the most felt among others. The study aimed at establishing how residences in informal settlement access sanitation and water service, and the prevalence of water borne diseases due to informal settlement and the public health consequences of this. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches informed by case study design in which Tandale ward from Dar es Salaam Region were used. The study administered closed and open ended questionnaires were administered whereas interview was employed to the selected key informants. The study found that residents do not access clean water and sanitation in which poverty were attested to a major cause for the problem. Also, disposal and collection of wastes is seldom undertaken due to high cost of the service. Moreover, households lack permanent areas for the collection of wastes materials due to overpopulation. It was found that Tandale is worst hit with diseases caused by unsanitary environment and poor water provision. Respondents mentioned diseases like diarrhea, cholera, worms, malaria, schistomiasis and typhoid that have even led to incidences of death especially among children under 5 years. The study concluded that health problems affecting people living in informal settlements are real and that people are really suffering. However, such situation can be averted if the government works together with all stakeholders to get rid of the problem.
Acquiring Human Capital Skills through Labour Migrancy: The Case of Colonial Njombe District, 1900-1960s
(Hipatia Press, 2016-07-30) Mgaya, Edward
The migration of labourers to centres of mining, plantations and industrial production has been one of the most important demographic features of the African continent since its incorporation into the capitalist money economy. It is, however, surprisingly that the influence of this phenomenon on rural transformations remains largely unexplored. Most of studies have addressed the negative consequences of labour on the local communities. This is the impression that this paper aims to correct by using colonial Njombe as a case study. While not denying the detrimental impacts of labour migration, the paper integrates written and oral information to establish that such exclusive attribution of rural underdevelopment to labour migration was indeed a traditional way of viewing labour migration. Such views were mainly a result of macro-economic cost-benefit analysis that economists have always considered and emphasized upon. This article, therefore, is an effort to go beyond such economic arena by considering the acquisition of human capital particularly linking labour migration with western education and the spread of the Kiswahili language. Drawing from transformational approaches, this article argues that knowledge and skills that Njombe migrant labourers got from different work places, imbued them with elements which knowingly or unknowingly became part of the instruments for the wider rural transformations
Do Management and Leadership Practices in the Context of Decentralisation Influence Performance of Community Health Fund? Evidence From Iramba and Iringa Districts in Tanzania
(2016-09) Mpambije, Chakupewa Joseph; Maluka, Stephen
Background: In early 1990s, Tanzania like other African countries, adopted health sector reform (HSR). The most strongly held centralisation system that informed the nature of services provision including health was, thus, disintegrated giving rise to decentralisation system. It was within the realm of HSR process, user fees were introduced in the health sector. Along with user fees, various types of health insurances, including the Community Health Fund (CHF), were introduced. While the country’s level of enrollment in the CHF is low, there are marked variations among districts. This paper highlights the role of decentralised health management and leadership practices in the uptake of the CHF in Tanzania. Methods: A comparative exploratory case study of high and low performing districts was carried out. In-depth interviews were conducted with the members of the Council Health Service Board (CHSB), Council Health Management Team (CHMT), Health Facility Committees (HFCs), in-charges of health facilities, healthcare providers, and Community Development Officers (CDOs). Minutes of the meetings of the committees and district annual health plans and district annual implementation reports were also used to verify and triangulate the data. Thematic analysis was adopted to analyze the collected data. We employed both inductive and deductive (mixed coding) to arrive to the themes. Results: There were no differences in the level of education and experience of the district health managers in the two study districts. Almost all district health managers responsible for the management of the CHF had attended some training on management and leadership. However, there were variations in the personal initiatives of the top-district health leaders, particularly the district health managers, the council health services board and local government officials. Similarly, there were differences in the supervision mechanisms, and incentives available for the health providers, HFCs and board members in the two study districts. Conclusion: This paper adds to the stock of knowledge on CHFs functioning in Tanzania. By comparing the best practices with the worst practices, the paper contributes valuable insights on how CHF can be scaled up and maintained. The study clearly indicates that the performance of the community-based health financing largely depends on the personal initiatives of the top-district health leaders, particularly the district health managers and local government officials. This implies that the regional health management team (RHMT) and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW) should strengthen supportive supervision mechanisms to the district health managers and health facilities. More important, there is need for the MoHSW to provide opportunities for the well performing districts to share good practices to other districts in order to increase uptake of the community-based health insurance.
Decentralization of Health Service Provision in Tanzania: Are Local Government Authorities Improving Anyway? Evidence from Local Government Authorities Audit Reports
(Research Publish Journals, 2016-09) Mpambije, Chakupewa Joseph
The economic woes and crisis of the 1980s and 1990s made several countries turn to decentralization of health services as a panacea to the worsening health service provision. Like many other countries, Tanzania introduced decentralization system in health service provision. Through HSR, Local Government Authorities (LGAs) are empowered to run health service delivery while central government acts as an overseer by injecting financial resources to the LGAs. With slight improvements that have been recorded among the LGAs since the implementation of HSR, there is a staggering difference among LGAs between what was thought to be achieved in health service delivery and what is actually seen on the ground. Because the failure of LGAs to equitably deliver health service has been widely researched, this article focuses on the efficacy of the LGAs to make use of financial resources. Drawing data from LGAs Audit Reports for 2007/08-2013/14, the paper analyses the LGAs use of financial resource availed to them for health service delivery. The focus is on health development project/project of Community health Fund (CHF) and Primary Health Services Development Programme (PHSDP). The paper finds that the financial resources meant for health service provision is either put to use or no. Arguably, this is due to lack of political will, poor community participation, and mismanagement of public financial resources and endemic culture of corruption among LGAs.
Public–private partnership in higher education provision in Tanzania: implications for access to and quality of education
(Bandung: Journal of the Global South, 2016-11-24) Mgaiwa, Samson John; Poncian, Japhace
Public–private partnerships (PPPs) in education are presented as capable of resolving several issues of education provision, financing, management, access and quality. This paper aimed at analyzing the impact of PPPs on access to and quality of higher education in Tanzania. Secondary research was used to gather data and critical review of the data and its analysis made. The focus of the paper was on higher education financing and on private higher education institutions. The findings indicated that PPPs have had a positive impact on increasing access to Tanzania higher education. However, although private universities and university colleges are many in number, enrolment has continued to be higher in public universities. It was further noted that an increase in higher learning institutions and subsequent increase in access to higher education has not meant an improvement in the quality of education provided by the institutions. As such, PPPs have had no significant impact on the improvement of quality of education. This is mainly accounted for by the number and qualifications held by academic members of staff in private universities, the infrastructure as well as the programmes they offer.
Decentralisation of Health Systems and the Fate of Community Health Fund in Tanzania: Critical Review of High and Low Performing Districts
(2017) Mpambije, Chakupewa Joseph
The deterioration of health services provision in Tanzania from 1980s to 1990s made decentralization of health service provision through the Health Sector Reform (HSR) a necessity. HSR aimed at bringing better utilization of scarce resources,improved quality of health services, increasing user access and cutting rising costs. It is through HSR that health insurance schemes were introduced. Community Health Fund (CHF) came as a result of such efforts. The efficiency and effectiveness of CHF rests on district councils which are responsible for ensuring better performance of CHF. Although the Government of Tanzania targeted 85% ofthe population to be members of CHF, enrollment has remained as low as 9.2% by 2014. The most sticking problem is the variation in enrollment in different districts. There are districts with higher performance in CHF enrollment like Iramba (54%) and Bariadi(40.9%). Whereas, there are districts with very low enrollments in CHF like Liwale (8%), and Rungwe (6.5%). This paper is an effort to shed some light on this phenomenon of performance variation of CHF enrolment in districts. It argues that poor performing districts are constrained by their own weaknesses such as poor management and leadership capacities of Council Health Management Team (CHMT) and lack of motivation among health facility staff and allied health workers. Also, poor sensitization and mobilization of people to join CHF, as well as poor quality healthcare to people has deterred performance of CHF in some districts. The papers’ conclusion apart from offering recommendation also adds to the broader ongoing debate of decentralization process mainly through health insurance.

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