Kenyans Blocked From Entering Tanzania

Regular readers of this blog will hardly be surprised at the latest of many controversies involving the Tanzanian government and Kenyan entrepreneurs.

It happened at the Namanga border post late last week. Kenyan tour drivers delighted that the $100 temporary work permit the Tanzanian authorities had been charging Kenyans and Ugandan traders entering the country since February this year, had been scrapped, confidently approached the border intending to take their cargo of tourists into Tanzania as they usually did. They were in for a shock.

The immigration officers at the border simply told them that they also have tour drivers in Tanzania and that they should hand over the tourists to the Tanzanians. That left the tourists on a carefully planned itinerary stranded at the border.

The minister responsible for East African affairs, John Koech, when contacted for comment made excuses for the Tanzanian government and remarked that the immigration officers had not received communication from the authorities in Dar about the free movement of East Africans in the region. My contact in Tanazania says he laughed loudly at this comment. Either the Kenyan government is completely blind at what is happening or it is hiding the truth. The truth includes the fact that the immigration officers who barred the Kenyan tour drivers from entering Tanzania last week did so on instructions from the very same people who Hon Koech believes would have instructed them on the “free movement” of East Africans within member states.

Here is the true reality behind all the developments we have seen and those we are bound to see in the months to come;

a) During his campaign for the presidency, president Jakaya Kikwete promised the Tanzanian electorate that his government would create 1 million new jobs for local Tanzanians during his tenure. The end of his first year in power is fast approaching and apart from “sweet words” which Tanzanians have been eagerly drinking in so far, president Kikwete has little to show in terms of achievements. Inflation has moved from 4 per cent in 2004 to a double-digit figures currently (and still climbing). Investors are jittery and as a result the flow of foreign currency into the country has dramatically been reduced to a trickle. The result is that the local currency has taken a serious “beating” from major world currencies. And this at a time when oil prices have risen dramatically. Then there is this crippling 5-day 12-hours-a-day electricity rationing that has been introduced recently.

What all this means is that it is clear to even the blindest of analysts, that a serious economic crisis is looming for the country (some say it is already here). This seems to have caused some panic in the current government that is now very desperate to create jobs for local Tanzanians at all costs (even if it is at the expense of antagonizing foreign investors.) Top officials have vowed to weed out foreigners working illegally in the country without work permits (a vast majority of whom are Kenyans). As it is, we are now rapidly heading towards a situation where foreigners will require work permits to even be able to breathe in oxygen anywhere in Tanzania.

In this kind of scenario it is unrealistic not to expect the Tanzanian government to keep on introducing all sorts of barriers to other East Africans whom they see as a threat to their creating the promised one million jobs for locals.

b) The style of this government is to say one thing and do the very opposite. This means that it is difficult to expect to hear policy statements directly spoken out, especially in issues of foreign relations. Recently foreign investors in mining have had a rather nasty shock in seeing the exactly how this works. Despite firm government assurances that all was well, all sorts of unfavorable things have been happening which has culminated in local miners recently asking the government to kick out all foreign investors. The government in a quick rejoinder ruled out this possibility but added an ominous kicker to the effect that the government will continue to review the situation from time to time. This has now been followed by a government investigation into the mining industry on allegations that the taxes being paid by mainly freign companies was too low.

c) One does not need to be an expert to see that current government policies will succeed only in taking the country back after the major economic strides made, especially under the government of the immediate former President Benjamin Mkapa. Sadly these policies are very popular amongst most Tanzanians who seem to be stuck in some time warp.

Therefore like the government, they do not realize that the East African Community will benefit the country much more, and will have a bigger positive impact on Tanzania than it will on the other two member states.

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It is worrying that the government of President Jakaya Kikwete does not seem to be addressing a crisis that interestingly seems to have started at the beginning of this year and can be directly linked to policies of the new government. If anything everything they are doing now seems to be designed to worsen the situation.

At the beginning of this year as the new administration settled into office, the Tanzanian shilling was exchanging at about Tshs 1,184 to the dollar. As I write this post it is exchanging at Tshs 1,348 (a drop of almost 13%) and still falling.

There are a number of factors that Tanzanian officials point to as culprits and it is true that some of them are beyond their control. However it is clear that policies of the new government are designed to “bite the hand that feeds the nation.”

The media had been rife with the sort of reports that would alarm any sane foreign investor in the country. Then to make matters even more complex, it is becoming increasingly difficult to secure work permits for key staff in a country where the labor force is far from ready to handle the challenges of the 21st century business environment.

In the wake of these uncertainties, it seems that what many investors in the country are postponing any expansion projects and generally trying to keep as much of their money as possible in foreign currency. Naturally this is weakening the Tanzanian shilling even more.

Read about the latest controversy between the Tanzanian government and foreign investors in mining.

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