STAR RATINGS
INCOME DISTRIBUTION | +,,,,
Tanzania remains one of the countries
with the highest income inequality in
the world. A 2018 International Labour
Organization report ranked it third
among 64 countries with the highest
level of wage inequality.
LITERACY | +++,,
78%, with 83% among men and 73%
among women.
LIFE EXPECTANCY | ++++,
66 years (Kenya 67, UK 81) – up nine
years in the past decade.
POSITION OF WOMEN | ++,,,
Allocating women special seats has
increased the proportion in parliament.
But the general tone set by the current
government has been discriminatory- following recent serial rape incidents
in the north, Magufuli commented that
this was not a serious matter. Teenage
mothers are expelled from school and
not allowed back after pregnancy.
FREEDOM | +,,,,
There has been an increasing number of
people disappearing or being attacked
by unknown assailants after being
critical of the government. Among them
are missing journalist Azory Gwanda,
missing political activist Ben Saanane
and Chief Whip Tundu Lissu, who
was shot and was lucky to survive.
Self-censorship by the press has also
increased.
SEXUAL MINORITIES | +,,,,
Homosexuality is illegal and technically
punishable by life imprisonment. There
has been an increasing crackdown on
the rights of LGBTQI people and their
advocates.
POLITICS | +,,,,
The challenge to international free-
market orthodoxy and defence of state
economic intervention has justifiable
elements but the current regime has
been leaning worryingly towards
authoritarianism, with a negative
impact on the LGBTQI community,
women, journalists and opposition
activists. The Magufuli government
claims it is trying to reconcile
development and democratic values.
Some politicians are saying that
those things are mutually exclusive,
indicating that they are willing to
sacrifice the rights to freedom of
speech, association and protest, as if
these things hinder development.
+++++Excellent
++++,Good
+++,,Fair
++,,,Poor
+,,,,Appalling
AT A GLANCE
LEADER: President John Pombe Magufuli.
ECONOMY: GNI per capita $920 (Kenya $1,460,
UK $40,600).
Monetary unit: Shilling.
Main exports: Gold, coffee, cashew nuts, cotton,
tea, tobacco and cloves.
Tanzania’s economy depends heavily on
agriculture, which occupies 65% of the
workforce, though gold now makes up a third
of exports. The country’s main trading partner
is China. Earlier this year Magufuli blocked
publication of an IMF report that projected
economic growth to be 4% – substantially below
the official government estimate of 7%. All land
in Tanzania remains owned by the government,
though it can be leased for 99 years.
POPULATION: 60.9 million, out of which 1.3
million reside on the islands of Zanzibar. The
current annual population growth rate is 2.7%.
People per square kilometre 64 (UK 271).
HEALTH: Infant mortality rate 38 per 1,000 live
births (Kenya 34, UK 4). HIV prevalence remains
very high at 4.5%: along with malaria it is a key
cause of death.ENVIRONMENT: A country-wide ban on plastic
bags has been introduced, effective from 1 June.
This is not the first time such a ban has been
imposed, but there has been a positive response
this time, with alternative bags being introduced
into the market.RELIGION: There is an almost equal number of
Christians and Muslims, while a small number
follow traditional beliefs. Zanzibar is almost
entirely Muslim.LANGUAGE: More than 120 languages are
spoken in Tanzania but Kiswahili and English are
both official. Arabic is widely spoken in Zanzibar.HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX: 0.538, 154th
of 189 countries (Kenya 0.590, UK 0.922).Photos, clockwise from top left: a woman working in a greenhouse, fertilizing female plants with male
flowers for a company that produces seeds for export to European farmers; Itaga Sasa Masuke, 21, who
works at the Kahama goldmine, prepares to go underground without safety equipment; teenagers,
including 16-year-old girl Mwanaid Abeid, learning about electrics at the Nzega vocational training
centre; a supporter listens to a speech by (soon to be elected) President Magufuli.
SVEN TORFINN/PANOS
live TV for underperformance, and he
removed 10,000 ‘ghost workers’ from
the government’s payroll after the fraud
was revealed. Clearly, he had not come to
play. The people were happy.
It wasn’t long, however, before things
took a more worrying turn. Magufuli
ended live radio and TV coverage of par-
liamentary sessions; laws were passed
aiming to punish anyone who gossips
against the president on social media;
and Tanzania withdrew from the Open
Government Partnership, an interna-
tional initiative that seeks to promote
open government and citizen empower-
ment, and fight against corruption. He
started a crackdown on the Opposition:
some who challenged him have either
been jailed or have disappeared.
The government has shifted from
doing business with the private sector
to doing business with itself and has tar-
geted anyone who is against the presi-
dent’s ideas as to how to improve the
economy. Magufuli has publicly stated
that it is cheaper and more trustworthy
to use state-owned contractors rather
than private companies for infrastruc-
ture projects. In 2018 he ordered the
army to buy the whole crop of cashew
nuts after a dispute over prices, sending
shivers through international commod-
ity markets. He has declared in speeches
that he will ‘recover’ the country from the
influence of the West, giving power back
to the people. He calls his critics vibaraka
wa mabeberu (‘bootlickers of the imperi-
alists’). But the extent to which the West
is a friend or an enemy remains unclear- and the growing trend towards authori-
tarianism a major concern. O
REHEMA AMANI
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2019 39