Emily's Worldview

So you may have heard that President Bush recently stopped by Arusha on his trip around Africa. Members of his 900+ retinue were visible a few days before, obvious military types hanging out in strange places, like the white man with a laptop in the maternity ward of a hospital Bush was to visit. (The head of this hospital is a minor tyrant who has threatened more than once to kick me and our organization out of his district; I am not looking forward to the new size of his ego with a picture of himself and Bush on his wall).

While local people were overall thrilled at the visit and engaged in a frenzy of painting and road grading to show an Arusha that was up to snuff, I was struck repeatedly by all the manifestations of American arrogance. At the start of one of his speeches, Bush greeted a crowd of dignitaries with "Mambo vipi?", the equivalent of starting a speech to a group of prominent African-Americans by saying "Wazzzzzup?". The thousands who lined the streets were miffed when the motorcade zoomed by without so much as a wave (on TV, he had been shown shaking hands with people in Dar). The Secret Service also saw fit to more or less shut the town down for his visit. About 55 kilometers of road were shut down from 8 am to 5 pm, with thousands of people lining them. Even bicycles weren't allowed to cross and there was a shortage of fresh milk in town because the dairy farmers in the hills could not cross into town. Trying to move in the opposite direction, we had to cancel a community outreach day in one of the hill villages. The local newspapers carried articles from miffed businesspeople in Arusha and Dar who wondered why it was necessary to close the roads.

Overall, people were excited and proud to have the visitor, curious to see him, and quick to trade gossip about his itinerary and what he did (jumping in imitation of a Masai dance was a favorite). Myself, I had a series of nightmares where I met the man and could think of nothing civil to say.

While Kenya has been continuing its political and economic freefall to the north, Tanzania is quietly experiencing a different kind of revolution. Last Thursday, one of my young staff members came to the office with a portable radio blaring. The prime minister had just resigned, a day after having been publicly implicated in a rotten deal for emergency power last year. $170 million had been lost to a briefcase company in the US and people were angry. More resignations followed and the cabinet was dissolved. This came on the heels of another scandal involving similar amounts of money stolen from the Bank of Tanzania. The director of the Bank of Tanzania was fired.

When President Kikwete was chosen as the ruling party's candidate in 2005, many people saw his youth and pronounced drive against corruption as a new start for a party of big men who began their careers in the independence era. Last year, Kikwete started with the party leadership, chasing away some of the most wealthy and well-connected operators. Now he has an opportunity to take more decisive actions against the blatantly corrupt members of parliament, and he has a public and political mandate to do it.

Up until Sunday, people had been riveted by the African Cup of Nations (a soccer tournament that Tanzania failed to qualify for for lack of a single goal), but now people at the barber shop next door to my house are gathered around the television watching late night sessions of parliament. With Kenya in tatters, a visit from the US president, and Kikwete assuming the head of the AU for a year's term, this is a big moment for Tanzania and everyone is excited. Some people, including me, think that Kikwete can strike a blow against corruption and set an example for the continent. Rooting for a better government is more exciting than any soccer cup!