Tanzania: My Country As I See It
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The book highlights a number of themes covering the entire spectrum of development issues, and raises many pertinent questions for further discussion. The spirit and substance of the dialogue is captured in the following extract: “It seems evident, therefore, that if the war against poverty is to be won, relentless efforts must be made simultaneously at the family level, at the level of the local community, and at the national level, in addressing the development-inhibiting factors. History demonstrates that the successful performance at any of these levels depends more on good leadership than on technology, financial resources, or any other single factor. Experience also confirms that in the absence of good leadership, even large injections of funds from outside (including foreign expertise) will go to waste. Once the basic needs have been met, the development task – what we euphemistically call ‘nation building’ - can begin in earnest. What, then, is the way forward? No one has the magic answer – not the government, not the myriad of so-called development agencies, not the learned professors, and certainly not this author. We should all, as citizens, feel free – perfectly free – to contribute to the debate as best we can. The bottom line is that the development of our people, by our people, must have its own indigenous roots: it cannot be a mere transplant or carbon copy of some cherished model imported from the outside. This does not mean, of course, that we have nothing to learn from the outside world. On the contrary, we have much to learn from the achievements of others, as well as from their failures”
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About the Book
This book is about Tanzania and its development prospects. Within ten short chapters, each with well-chosen sub-titles, the text covers a wide range of subjects.
Each subject highlights a specific theme or themes that are of topical interest in the current development debate. Under each theme the author, without trying to delve deeply into the subject, raises a number of pertinent questions, enough to whet the reader’s appetite and to cause him to think twice about the contemporary debate.
From the outset, the author dismisses offhand the idea that Tanzania is intrinsically poor: he emphasizes that Tanzania is richly endowed with natural resources of all kinds, and lays the blame for the country’s underdevelopment squarely on the failure of its people to mobilize their resources, which he attributes largely to lack of education, poor leadership, and widespread corruption.
Tanzania: My Country As I See It is a simple easy-to-read text. But there is no mistaking the weight of the issues raised, and the challenges they pose.
About the Author
Peter Eliezer Temu graduated in 1962 at Makerere University College, in Kampala, Uganda, with a B.Sc (Econ.)(Lond). Subsequently, he obtained an M.A. and a Ph.D. from Stanford University, California.
Dr. Temu spent 10 years (1963-1973) in teaching and research: in Kenya, first as Economics Tutor at the College of Social Studies, and then as Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies of the University of Nairobi; and in Tanzania, as Director of the Economic Research Bureau, University of Dar es Salaam.
From 1974-1977 he served as National Planning Controller in the Tanzanian Ministry of Finance and Planning, and later as Director of the Institute of Finance Management in Dar es Salaam.
For over 19 years, from 1977 until his retirement in 1996, Dr. Temu worked for the United Nations as a professional economist at various duty stations; devoting half the time to the service of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (in Addis Ababa and Lusaka), and half to the United Nations World Food Council (in Rome and New York).
The present book is the fourth he has authored since his retirement. The others are: Fighting to Keep My Job – Case Study of a United Nations Retiree; The Unspoken Truth about Globalization; and The Unspoken Truth About Privatization.