Time has come for Tanzania to formulate sound delivery frameworks and hold political leaders and top executives responsible for their failure, President Jakaya Kikwete said here.

He made the remarks when opening a special Cabinet retreat on transformation of government delivery systems.

Facilitators at the retreat included the Minister and CEO of the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU) in the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Office, Mr Dato Sri Idris Jala.

Mr Jala was invited by the president to conduct the seminar during one of his official visits abroad.

Mr Kikwete expressed the need to learn from other countries which were not long ago at the same level with Tanzania. He said he had invited the far-eastern country to come and tell their success story.

“This seminar is a good starting point that will enable us to develop a forceful follow up mechanisms. I, therefore, ask all of you here to be attentive throughout the seminar and learn the new tested approaches of delivering high quality services to citizens and develop a nation,” he said.

The president noted that a strong delivery system is a key element to sustainable improvement and development. He pointed out that a weak delivery system breeds a poor service delivery to the public and makes it difficult to break the poverty cycle.

He noted that the planning commission he established in 2008 came up with a reviewed Vision 2025, which was divided into three phases of five years each. “In June, last year, we launched the first of the three five-year development plans covering the period from 2011/12 to 2015/16. The main objective of this plan is to remove obstacles to growth and unleash Tanzania’s latent growth potentials,” he explained.

President Kikwete noted that persistent efforts and commitment have enabled the country to post modest progress, especially at the macro-economic level. He said macro-economic stability has been preserved; expenditure on social services has increased; exports and foreign currency reserves have increased; FDI flow has increased and inflation has been kept in check despite current challenges.

Mr Kikwete explained that the country has enjoyed relatively high economic growth rates over the past decade and a half, adding that the nation has registered a modest increase of per capita income.

However, despite the encouraging progress made, the president said the country still has a lot of ground to cover as poverty remained a major challenge, with many people still living below the poverty line.

“In my view, strengthening government delivery systems and improving the performance of the private sector and the individual farmer and worker is the answer,” he added. “We would be able to adequately translate our wishes inscribed on the many papers and documents into concrete results that would change lives of our people and our nation,” he added.

He said the seminar should be the turning point towards a journey where plans are effectively implemented – and where performance will be measured against clear and concrete deliverables.

“It is a journey of entrenching accountability that will see us move beyond planning and focus more on implementing what we have agreed. A journey that we must all embark today and lead Tanzanians and their great country to momentous victory in the fight against underdevelopment, hunger, poverty and deprivation,” he said.

The seminar was attended by the president himself, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Anne Makinda, cabinet ministers, and permanent secretaries and heads of public institutions.

By ROSE ATHUMANI, Tanzania Daily News