Africa-Press – Tanzania. AS Tanzania celebrates 60 years of major post-independence strides, the ruling party CCM owes much of the credits.
Formed in 1977, following the merger of liberation parties Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) and the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP), CCM is the second longest-ruling party in Africa.
The party has dominated the politics of post-independence Tanzania, producing strong leaders and guiding the country’s development path.
Speaking on Wednesday, CCM Secretary-General Daniel Chongolo touted the party’s and its governments’ great achievements during the 60 years of independence.
CCM has won all presidential elections at both the national level and in Zanzibar at the autonomous level under the multi-party system: 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015. It has regularly won a majority in legislative, councilors and local government authorities.
And Chongolo attributed the achievements to CCM’s capability to frame, publicize and supervise the implementation of its election manifesto.
Chongolo also mentioned proper strategies, patriotism and strong leadership within the party are the main factors that enabled it to maintain its status for the six decades.
“As we mark the 60th independence anniversary, CCM brags of national values such as peace, national unity, patriotism and stability that all have been properly supervised by the party since the eras of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) and Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP),” said Mr Chongolo in Dar es Salaam yesterday.
According to him, proper implementation of the CCM party manifesto has enabled the country to record huge transformation in all sectors ranging from economic, political, social and cultural development.
Counting major progresses in the health service delivery, Chongolo said in 1961, there were 1,343 health centres; but today, there are 8,537 health centres. Pre-independence, there were 1,236 dispensaries; now there are 7,242. Since independence, the number of health facilities has expanded from 22 to 926. District hospitals have gone from 68 to 178, while regional hospitals have increased from 12 to 28.
Tertiary care services are currently available in 12 hospitals and include major heart surgery, dialysis and kidney transplants, advanced cancer treatment, and osteoporosis treatment.
With only 400 medical graduates and less than 20 natives when the country attained independence, the number of specialists and important cadres in the health sector has been growing to around 71,365 and is continuing to expand.
A lot of strides have been attained in the education sector as well, with Chongolo noting that the number of primary schools has increased from 3,270 in 1961 to 18,546 in 2021. From 486,470 pupils in 1961 to 11,196,788 pupils in 2021, the number of pupils has equally increased dramatically. The number of teachers has risen from 9,885 in 1961 to 197,929 in 2021.
Meanwhile, the number of secondary schools has increased from 39 in 1961 to 5,289 in 2021. The number of students has gone from 11,832 in 1961 to 2,671,927 in 2021. The number of teachers has increased from 764 in 1961 to 190,335 in 2021.
The country now has 746 special needs primary schools from two in 1961, while secondary schools are 81. In addition, the Inclusive Education initiative is implemented in all primary schools by 3,956 institutions. The number of students with special needs has increased from 1,000 in 1960 to 70,265 in 2021, and the number of special education colleges has increased from one to 11.
Tanzanian higher education began on October 25, 1961, with the University of Dar es Salaam, which was then known as the University of London. At the time of its founding, the university had only one law faculty, six lecturers, and 14 students, one of whom was Julie Manning. The university had one structure at CCM Lumumba Street. To date there are 78 higher learning institutions.
Public Service
Public servants have increased from 17,565 in 1961 to 528,290 by last month. Of the public servants currently in service, 13.8 per cent are health workers and 53.3 per cent are teachers.
Tanzania currently has 5,179 doctors in comparison to 12 during independence and 270,424 teachers in Primary and Secondary Schools as well as Teachers ‘ colleges unlike 36 on 9th December in 1961.
Technological advancement is among the achievements in 60 years since independence, seeing the E-Government Agency coming up with systems, which link the government and connectivity and make it easier to manage information and data. The use of ICT has enhanced efficiency and improved service delivery.
Water
Tanzania’s urban water supply was 25 per cent when the country got independence, but water supply in urban areas now stands at 86 per cent. While access to water was less than 10 per cent of the rural population at the time of independence, it has since increased to 72 per cent.
Livestock
Livestock development has been accompanied by an increase in milk production, which has increased from 3,340,000 litres in 1961 to 3.1 billion litres presently, with milk processing at 41,026,000 litres at independence and now 76 million litres. The dairy processing industry has increased from seven public factories to 105 currently. In addition, meat output has climbed from 97,000 tons in 1961 to 738,166 tons currently.
The meat processing sector has also grown from one factory of Tanganyika Parkers, which could slaughter 800 cattle per day, to eleven factories that can slaughter 374 tons per day now.
Fishing
The fisheries sector accounts for 1.7 per cent of the country’s GDP. There has been a huge growth in the number of modern-engine marine vessels operating on Lake Victoria, with 172 vessels running from independence to 1987 and 13,593 vessels working in 2020, a 65 per cent increase.
The number of fish processing plants has also expanded, from four in 1992 that could produce three tons to 15 in 2021 that can generate 40 to 60 tons per day.
Regional Administration and Local Government
Expansion of administrative areas in mainland Tanzania and delivery of services to the people; areas of governance have been relocated in order to strengthen the power and deliver development services to the people. Regions 15 to 26, 45 councils (now 184), city councils from 0 to 6, 1 to 20 municipal councils, 9 to 21 town councils, and 10 to 137 district councils
There are currently 64,361 hamlets, 4,263 streets, 12,318 villages, 3,956 wards, and 570 divisions, which has improved individuals’ access to social and administrative services. The shift has been accompanied by the employment of specialists and government personnel in areas such as administration and service delivery, as well as the continuous devolution of power to residents.
Roads
The district road network has grown to 144,429.77 kilometres from 17,600 kilometres in 1961.
The network of tarmac roads has increased from 1,360 km in 1961 to the current 11,186km, thus facilitating transport and transportation services in various parts of the country, connecting to neighbouring countries. These are all specific objectives, as outlined in the CCM Manifesto for 2020 – 2025, to ensure every area of the country is accessible by road.
Experts in charge of road construction have increased, especially the engineering profession wherein 1961 there were two indigenous engineers, and now the number of registered engineers has reached 32,145.
Railway
When Mainland gained independence in 1961, it had a 2,068-kilometre-long railway network known as the Meter Gauge Railway (MGR). Following independence, the government extended the Central Railway Network by constructing a total of 639 km of new track to connect various local and international markets. The Central Railway now has a total network length of 2,707 kilometres as a result of this development.
Furthermore, the country constructed the TAZARA Railway, which is a joint venture between Tanzania and Zambia and has tremendously aided in the facilitation of transportation and trade between the two nations. The government is now working on a 1,219-kilometer Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) construction project.
Air Transport
After the collapse of the former East African Community (1977), Tanzania Airlines (ATCL) began providing air transport services using three aircraft, one DC-9 and two Foker Friendships F27 but currently the national airline boasts a total of 12 modern aircraft providing services locally and abroad. These developments have improved and expanded the scope of travel and enhanced tourism.
Water transport
Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) now manages and recognizes 89 ports, up from two previously. There are also 693 other ports that TPA does not service. The volume of cargo passing via TPA ports has increased from 1,185,000 in 1961 to 17,716,429 in 2020/2021.
Ships have continued to grow since independence and the collapse of the East African Community in 1977, thanks to the TPA’s addition of baths, ports, and shipping lanes in all major ports, which have allowed large ships to dock for commercial transport, boosting investment, the economy, and employment.
Energy
Electricity generation in the country increased from Megawatts 17.5, 1961, to Megawatts 1,609.91, September 2021. The level of electricity supply in the country has also increased by 78.4 per cent, whereas in urban areas it has reached 99.6 per cent and in rural areas, it is 69.8 per cent.
Establishment of Rural Energy Authority (REA), where through the agency, a strategy has been put in place through the CCM Manifesto, to ensure all villages across the country have access to electricity by December 2022.
Agriculture
Agricultural Research Centres have increased from five stations when the country gained independence, and there are now 17 stations.
Tanzania lacked a single local seed discoverer in 1961. Tanzania now boasts an average of 100 innovators, who have identified 461 seed varieties with rapid maturation and pest and disease resistance.
There are currently 55 researchers with PhDs, 213 master’s degrees, and 171 undergraduates working in agricultural institutes who were not present when the country gained independence.
Industry and trade
Since independence, industry and trade have made important contributions to the country. Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) have been successful in enhancing productivity, quality, and job creation for the people, while the country collects revenue (and foreign exchange) from internal and international trade.
Manufacturing, for example, generated only 3.5 per cent of GDP in 1961 and only 9 per cent of employment in the country, but after 60 years of independence, the manufacturing sector has managed to contribute 8.4 per cent of GDP and create a total of 482,601 jobs.
Democracy, governance and justice
There was not a single Tanzanian judge in any of the courts in 1961 but currently all of the judges are Tanzanians at the moment. The expansion of the country’s judicial network, which includes primary courts, district courts, regional / resident magistrates’ courts, high court registers, and the appellate court circuit, has gone hand in hand with this.
CCM Secretary General Chongolo was proud of the party’s role in ensuring Tanzanians enjoy more democracy in line with the promotion of national development. He recalled that CCM managed and lead the country through the transition from multi-party to a one-party system, and then back to a multi-party system, in which the party listened to the views of a few people who wanted the country to return to a multi-party system in 1992, through the Commission of Justice Francis Nyalali.
CCM’s government has also supervised and directed the processes of modifying various laws and the State Constitution in response to changing circumstances. The government has on the other hand established and strengthened several good governance institutions such as the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), the Controller and Auditor General, and others.
Tourism
Chongolo said major reforms executed by the Ministry of Tourism and Natural Resources have seen an increase in the number of tour operators in the country. There are now around 1,687 tour operators in Tanzania, from the initially 643 registered companies.
The rise has been led by a number of factors, chiefly being the review of the once disputed Tanzania Tourism Business Licence (TALA) for tour operators from 4.6mn/- ($2,000) to 1.1mn/-($500).
Tanzania received around 9,847 tourists before the country gained its independence but the number of visitors reached 1.5million in 2019. The country earned over 6tri/- from the sector in 2019, compared to just 259 million collected 60 years ago.
Land
When Tanzania got her independence, official land ownership stood at 26,499 but currently there are 2, 067,044 registered land ownership countrywide.
Also, 112,787 human settlement licences have so far been provided to people living in unplanned urban areas, some of them use the documents as collateral to acquire loans in order to carry out different economic activities.
For the past 10 years (2011-2021), the government has collected 735.8bn/- from the land sector, with revenue from the sector increasing from 1.4bn/- in 1996/97 to about 121bn/- in 2021/22.
Information, Communications and Information Technology
Tanzania is among the leading countries in the region to have several media outlets be it broadcast, print, or online media.
Statistics show that currently, Tanzania has 270 registered print media, over 200 radio stations, 48 television stations, 122 blogs, and 20 online radio stations and over 500 online television stations.
The communication sector’s growth is reflected in the increased use of mobile phones, the internet, financial transactions, and the proliferation of various online service delivery systems. For example, on December 9, 1961, Tanganyika had 16,238 landline phones in use across the country, most of which belonged to government institutions and departments. There were 53,111,246 mobile phone lines and 71,405 landline phones in June 2021. Internet users surpassed 29,152,713 for the first time since the country’s independence.
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