Why new minor cabinet reshuffle vital

PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan

DAR ES SALAAM ANALYSTS have hailed President Samia Suluhu Hassan for creating a new position of deputy prime minister and dividing the ministry of Works and Transport into two ministries.

They told the `Daily News’ in separate interviews yesterday that the new move would improve efficiency in the government.

Political-cum-diplomacy analyst, Mr Goodluck Ng’ingo, said the minor reshuffle to the cabinet would boost productivity due to the division of responsibilities in the government.

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According to the statement unveiled by the State House yesterday the appointed Deputy Prime Minister will be handling the coordination of government activities.

Mr Ng’ingo argued that the position of Deputy Prime Minister is not a new thing in the country because 29 years ago in the year 1993 the second President Ali Hassan Mwinyi appointed the late Augustine Mrema to serve in a similar post.

When appointed, Mr Mrema was serving as Minister for Home Affairs, so he had to serve two posts at a time.

The similar post had also been held by Dr Salim Ahmed Salim between1986–1989.

On dividing the Ministry of Works and Transport into two ministries of Works and Transport, Mr Ng’ingo said the move would improve the efficiency of both the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Transport.

“The President’s decision will make division of responsibilities of the ministries which were previously under one roof,” he stressed.

“The Ministry of Works is the docket for spending since it uses funds to implement various construction projects, but the Ministry of Transport is a ministry that brings revenue to the government…so one Minister cannot manage all the responsibilities together effectively,” he added.

His argument was seconded by the University of Dodoma (UDOM) lecturer, Dr Paul Loisulie who noted that President Samia’ s decision to dissolve the docket of Works and Transport and forming the new ministry of Works and the Ministry of Transport would reduce the burden of responsibilities.

He said the disbanded ministry was packed with a number of things at the same time, hence formation of the new ones would improve performance and efficiency as well as enable the ministers for the relevant dockets to have focus.

“Dissolving the Ministry of Works and Transport is a good decision because it had many things in place, so making each of them independent will improve  efficiency.”

Commenting on the establishing the position of the Deputy Premier, Dr Loisulie said the decision would help to facilitate smooth implementation of some of the government’s responsibilities.

“President’s decision to establish the position of the Deputy Prime Minister will simplify the chain of communication and will reduce workload to the Prime Minister, “he added.

On his part, Prof Mohamed Bakari of the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Department of Political Science and Public Administration, advised the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister to work cooperatively and with harmony while avoiding conflicts of responsibilities.

 

Speaking about the formation of two new ministers, Prof Bakari said that the move would bring about productivity in the government.

He said due to the magnitude of the two sectors, the Ministry of Works would  focus on all aspects of construction, including the management of construction projects in the country, while the Ministry of Transport will focus on transport issues for the development of the country.

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