Author: LUDOVICK KAZOKA
AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE government has embarked on the process to shift the Tanzania Cooperative Development Commission (TCDC) from the Agriculture Ministry to the President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government) to boost efficiency.
State Minister in the President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government) Selemani Jafo said this, while directing regional commissioners to start developing strategies that would be used to improve the performance of cooperatives.
“The government has decided to shift cooperatives to the President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government) by 100 per cent to boost efficiency,” said the minister during his meeting with regional commissioners.
Mr Jafo explained that the regional commissioners should be aware of the number and type of cooperatives in their respective regions.
“Regional commissioners should outline shortcomings of the cooperatives in their respective regions and start developing strategies to address challenges facing them,” he noted.
Mr Jafo said the government had made the decision to shift cooperatives after discovering inefficiency in cooperatives, saying to shift cooperatives to the President’s Office would improve monitoring from the top office and increase efficiency.
“Regional commissioners will thus be main supervisors of cooperative operations in their respective regions. The cooperatives aim at boosting the national economy,” he said.
Mr Jafo said the meeting with regional commissioners was geared towards raising the awareness of regional authorities.
He noted that based on the current leadership structure, it was difficult for regional commissioners to intervene in cooperatives, hence there was a need to shift the cooperatives to the President’s Office to enable regional commissioners to intervene in cooperatives.
“The government deems it right for cooperatives to work under the Tamisemi portfolio. It is vital for the regional commissioners to have a right to supervise operations of cooperatives in their respective regions,” he said.
Speaking at the same meeting on behalf of fellow regional commissioners, Iringa Regional Commissioner Ally Hapi commended the government for the decision to shift cooperatives to the Tamisemi portfolio.
“The power given to the regional commissioners will enable us to intervene in cooperatives when in crises. We will control the misappropriation of resources caused by cooperatives leaders,” he said.
Permanent Secretary in the President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government) Joseph Nyamhanga said the ministry would build the capacity of regional commissioners as regards cooperatives laws and operations.
