TSenior Staff Writer Anaclet Rwegayura (left), being received by the US Ambassador to Tanzania, Alfonso Lenhardt (right), upon arrival for the interview.
he new US ambassador to Tanzania, Alfonso Lenhardt, granted an exclusive interview to THISDAY in Dar es Salaam recently, being his first interview with the media since arriving in the country. Following are excerpts of the interview between the American envoy and our staff writer ANACLET RWEGAYURA...
Q. Your Excellency, welcome to Tanzania. The people would like to know your impression of the country and how you go about your goals as the new US ambassador to this country.
A. I have been fortunate in being selected ambassador to Tanzania because we have a well-established, close working relationship with Tanzania. And in the years that the partnership has developed and matured speaks volumes about the excellent relationship. You asked me what my goals are as the ambassador. It is to preserve and enhance wherever possible the excellent partnership that already exists between the government of Tanzania and its people and the United States. Preserve and enhance wherever possible.
It is a very simple thing for me because I see it as something that all the actions that we have undertaken, whether or not it is the eradication of malaria, the PEPFAR, the MCC (Millennium Challenge Compact), in the local teams that are out helping citizens in the communities and villages, Peace Corps volunteers and others. It is all part of that. It’s preserving and enhancing the partnership that already exists. There are significant resources – money – that is directed to Tanzania each year. In fact, Tanzania receives the largest MCC amount -- $698m – of any compact of any nation so far. That is over five years. That in itself is testimony of this great partnership and relationship
President Barack Obama selected me. He personally made the choice to send me here and it was with that understanding … to preserve and enhance as much as possible the excellent working conditions and relationship of our two nations.
I need to acquire information about the people and so be able to see at first hand. One of the things you can do. If you are not careful because there is such a large workload you find yourself staying here in Dar es Salaam. I [want] to get to the countryside, see the people and see the various projects, programmes and initiatives that we have been working throughout Tanzania. That’s my goal.
The action is out there. That’s where I need to be. As ambassador I want to be out and about and seeing first hand the work that is being done and seeing where the need is and experiencing the great partnership that we have with the Tanzanian government and the Tanzanian people. I have heard so much about it, so I want to see it for myself.
My observations about Tanzania and the people of Tanzania…. I have a very strong impression about the dignity, about the pride and about the industrious nature of the Tanzanian people. They have been clearly welcoming and I have had nothing but a good sense that they are pleased to see me here. As someone coming in from the outside, never having spent a lot of time in this region of the world, it’s always nice to have that feeling. So, I find it very encouraging, very welcoming. And so when I hear welcome, it’s genuine. The feeling that I have about the expression, the friendliness, the kindness from the Tanzanian people, I think it’s something special.
Q. Tanzania was a victim of terrorist attack from al Qaeda in 1998 that targeted the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam. Do Americans find this country secure after that incident and the increasing threats in the region?
A. Sadly, terrorists and other violent criminals attack citizens throughout the world, including in the United States and Tanzania. Americans realise this. We have great respect for Tanzania’s security professionals. We often work closely with them. We are aware of certain areas of the country where political unrest and violence are common during election season. We urge responsible leaders to support peaceful, fair and healthy politics.
Violent crime harms Tanzanians directly and by discouraging tourism. We have noted an increase in violent crime recently. This trend concerns us. We count on Tanzania’s law enforcement officials to put an end to these attacks. Additionally, I recommend everyone take proper individual safety actions to help prevent crime from occurring in the first place.
There is something about terrorism. Terrorism is not just directed at any particular country and/or particular people. Terrorist incidents occur anywhere in the world. There is one thing that we have discovered -- that terrorism is unpredictable. And so the worst thing that can happen is that we would in some way let the terrorists run our lives. We have to look at terrorism as something that happens, but it cannot affect the way we operate.
Terrorism is something that is unfortunate. It’s something that we have to deal with. And President Obama has said that the thing we are going to do with terrorism is that we want to disrupt it wherever possible. We want to deny terrorists the opportunity to commit their nasty deeds, and we want to destroy them when the opportunity presents itself. Terrorism is something that affects everyone, every man, woman and child throughout the world. It’s something that right now is in the news; it’s something that we live with. I don’t put a lot of stock in worrying about it as much as we do with it, because the worst thing that can happen is that a few people who are involved in terrorism, if they are allowed to control our lives, then we’ll always be running scared. That’s not something as a free people, as a democratically elected government, any government wants to experience. Basically, we have to deny, disrupt and destroy terrorism wherever we find it.
We cannot allow these few terrorists to run our lives. In a democracy you must have the ability to do your work in an open framework. The worst thing that can happen is that we want to protect ourselves with walls, and gates and all matter of things. We want to be as open as possible. Be prudent in our precautions and the safety of our people but we cannot let terrorists run our lives.
Q. Being a retired US Army general, your appointment as ambassador to Tanzania is seen by some observers as a signal that security concerns remain at the top of the US agenda in East Africa. Will the war on terror and security issues be the cornerstone of your tour of duty in Tanzania and would you be pleased to see the US setting up a military base in Tanzania?
A. The short answer is ‘NO’. I don’t know how that got started but it’s something that is in no one’s planning, no one’s thinking. I think it’s a rumour that someone got started. It’s simply that, a rumour. Our partnership, the US and the government of Tanzania, is a working partnership that has achieved levels of support, assistance and our relations and cooperation are so strong that there isn’t any need for that. When President Obama spoke a few months ago in Accra, Ghana, he used the expression that ‘Africa is not only important to the United States but it is also important to the world’.
So, there is a strategic framework, a construct that he has in mind that Africa must be completely linked with the rest of the world at all levels. And so to put up any kind of military base doesn’t make sense for the standpoint of focusing and achieving that effort. So there isn’t any plan. No one is talking about establishing a military base of any kind in Tanzania, or for that matter, anywhere else in Africa.
It’s a rumour … it has no basis. It doesn’t make sense. It flies in the face of the things we are trying to do. It is the government of Tanzania who has the lead and primacy in protecting its people and ensuring that they live in a safe, free and democratically elected government. It’s a rumour. Put it to rest.
As discussed earlier, security cooperation is an important aspect of our partnership. We have tremendous respect for Tanzania’s selfless acts of solidarity in sending its peacekeepers to Lebanon and Sudan so that the citizens of those nations can enjoy the same stability and security that Tanzanians have always had. We are honoured to work with the Tanzania People’s Defence Force in support of these efforts.
That said, the largest aspects of our partnership will remain health and infrastructure development, with growing cooperation in education and food security. As to the last part of your question, there are no plans of a military base here. And I know of no one in the United States government who has at any time expressed the slightest desire to have such a base in this country. To my knowledge, at no time has any United States official ever discussed such a thing with an official of the United Republic of Tanzania. General Kip Ward of Africa Command made this very clear to the press when he was here some months ago. And yet this rumour persists. I’d like to know who is spreading such nonsense.
Q. Tanzania has been struggling with the crime problem and the threat of terrorism as well. As a former US Army general and CEO of the US National Crime Prevention Council, will you use your experience to help Tanzania combat crime?
A. Much of my military leadership was in the law enforcement sector. I note that American and Tanzanian law enforcement officials have an excellent record of cooperation in anti-narcotics, anti-trafficking in persons and anti-terrorism, among other areas of mutual concern.
Every society has some degree of crime. Criminals act out in some way. Most of my career has been of a law enforcement officer. And one thing I have never been able to understand in all these years is what causes people to commit crime. There are a couple of things. At one level it certainly is something that sociologists have to understand in terms of how we eliminate opportunities for committing crime. How do we train individuals and [plan] collective actions on how to prevent crime? How do you protect yourself and your family by taking simple precautions?
Crime is something that every society is affected by. The one thing that I have seen in my experience is that when you have citizens working with law enforcement to help prevent crime, crime rates go down. Law enforcement, of course, is the one agency that has the expertise that knows how to defeat crime and what actions to take in terms of identifying and bringing to justice the [suspects] … once they are identified and captured. But it is also the citizens working with law enforcement that help identify the potential crime by doing simple things like making sure that your property is secured, that you have proper lighting around your home, around your business that would deter [criminals] … from doing their nasty things. But it’s also about citizens being the eyes and ears helping police to identify conditions that would be conducive for crime. In the US we have neighbourhood watch in which citizens take an active role in protecting their own communities. They do that by watching out, listening to all indications of crime. If something looks suspicious, it is reported to the police who have the training, the expertise, the ability to respond to prevent an incident from occurring.
Tanzania certainly has its own unique circumstances, but things I am talking about in terms of education, being the eyes and ears of law enforcement have proved to be useful and successful throughout the world.
You have the police force, but training is very important to ensure that you have ability to bring the expertise to a problem for its resolution, to provide whatever you can to prevent, to protect and certainly to arrest. Training is certainly important also for individual citizens. Citizens also should have awareness. Everyone should have a sense of self-awareness, situational awareness before crime occurs. It’s really not that scientific. We all have that ability.
I have not had the honour of meeting Tanzania’s security sector leadership. I plan to do so soon. At that time we will compare experiences and capabilities, with a view toward identifying how my country can be helpful to Tanzanian efforts to reduce the level of crime.
Q. Issues of energy are of great importance to everyone around the world. Is the US interested in working with Tanzania to exploit minerals such as uranium, oil or natural gas?
A. I am not aware of any American companies planning major investments in these sectors. Of course we would be happy to see additional mineral and hydrocarbon resources discovered in Tanzania. We have faith that the Tanzanian authorities would apply appropriate measures to ensure that such resources are developed responsibly and that revenues from such resources would be used in a manner that best serves the interests of Tanzanians.
What we hope to do is work with the Tanzanian government and take the lead from the Tanzanian government. If the Tanzanian government wants to enhance its own mineral resources, oil, metals and other commodities, some of which may not be discovered yet, for the future we want to do whatever we can to help the government and its people. And we hope, by the way, that the Tanzanian government does look upon these opportunities to find additional resources that can then be used to provide for a healthier living situation, helping people secure more improvement of education, improvement of roads and improvement of everything. All that will come as a result of additional resources and utilisation of those resources to help Tanzania and its people.
Q. In your speech before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee you stressed the need for continued vigilance in the fight against corruption in Tanzania. How are you progressing in this area?
A. Corruption is a problem in every country in the world, including my own. Corruption exists in every country. If I can wave my magic wand, we will eliminate corruption everywhere. But the reality is we don’t know what drives people to steal, to look at themselves to the detriment of everyone else. What is in the mind of a criminal? I absolutely don’t know. Corruption is not beneficial.
Tanzania has had incidents of corruption. What distinguishes countries on this issue is whether or not rich, politically-connected individuals who steal from the public can be prosecuted.
The entire world admires the life story of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere. He lived a modest life. He did not build palaces or acquire large tracts of land and businesses. He did not use state power for personal gain. That is a model of leadership that inspires. I plan to share experiences with my Tanzanian friends of how we address corruption in the United States.
Tanzanian law enforcement officials investigating corruption cases that involve the United States in some way will find that the United States Mission to Tanzania will cooperate to the full extent of our laws, which are quite vigorous as regards this issue.
In the Millennium Challenge Compact, as I mentioned earlier, one of the conditions of securing a compact is that you must identify that the government has anti-corruption mechanisms, laws, regulations and policies put in place before it is given a compact. So, Tanzania has already qualified for that. It has demonstrated that it has taken and it is prepared to take the right steps to eliminate corruption wherever possible. What needs to happen now is to ensure that the rule of law and good governance are the things that we focus on.
Again, Nyerere was a good example. He did what he did because he loved people. He wanted people first. He was not about his self-promotion and self-aggrandisement. He was about the people first. These are the kind of people that you want to put in jobs because they are going to protect the common good.
Q. You cited prosecutions of high level former government officials in Tanzania as a sign that the government does not tolerate corruption. Yet, many investigations into corruption allegations involving the Bank of Tanzania and a former president have not resulted in prosecutions. What will the US do to ensure Tanzania lives up to its responsibilities on good governance, rule of law, transparency and fighting corruption as part of the MCC?
A. Our MCC colleagues review closely Tanzania’s status in the anti-corruption fight. Tanzania’s performance is independently scored every year in relation to its peers. Corruption is the one area for which a failing grade can disqualify an eligible country from receiving MCC funds. We are aware of the outstanding cases that you cite here. We are waiting for further follow up actions. No one can be considered “untouchable”, since every citizen is under the law. I believe that this is one of the fundamental democratic principles shared by Americans and Tanzanians.
Q. President Jakaya M. Kikwete was honoured as the first African leader to visit the White House after President Obama’s inauguration. What was the significance of their meeting?
A. As President Obama made clear in his speech in Ghana, his administration views good governance as the key that will unlock all the pent up talent and creative energy of the African people. President Obama’s invitation to President Kikwete was recognition of Tanzania’s unbroken record of stability, the success of Tanzania in establishing a strong political culture and a dynamic market economy. President Obama sought President Kikwete’s advice on how the United States could best support these shared values throughout the continent, how best to help African nations in crisis, and how to further broaden and deepen our partnership with Tanzania.
Q. Is there any commitment from President Obama to visit Tanzania during his term in office?
A. We do not know President Obama’s future travel plans. However, Tanzania’s vibrant civil society, good governance and media freedom, along with our thriving partnership and President Obama’s friendship with President Kikwete make this beautiful country an attractive destination.
Q. What are the US administration’s expectations from Africa in general and Tanzania in particular?
A. The Obama administration’s policy priorities in Africa are: supporting strong and stable democracies and good governance; fostering sustained economic growth and development; strengthening public health; preventing, mitigating, and resolving armed conflicts; and helping to address transnational challenges. We expect the leadership of African nations to be responsive to and accountable to their fellow citizens and to promote the vision of a peaceful, tolerant and prosperous continent. We are prepared to support that kind of leadership, as we are doing here in Tanzania.
Q. Are there areas/or issues in which the US and Tanzania are following divergent paths in politics, economics or international relations?
A. As I only recently arrived, there are key members of President Kikwete’s cabinet I have not yet met. I look forward to doing so soon. At those times we will share our perspectives on various issues. I will listen to what my Tanzanian friends have to say and I expect they will listen to what I have to say. Even between the closest friends, there can at times be divergent views. It is essential that mutual respect is maintained, that communication remains open and that issues be reconsidered when new information becomes available.
The United States and Tanzania are at different stages of economic development. That is no secret. Our perspectives and interests will indeed at times diverge. That is only natural. However, our shared values are the cement that holds our partnership together. Those shared values will not diverge.
Q. What would you describe as an unforgettable experience that you have had since your arrival in Tanzania?
A. Yes, it’s something that has moved me because it touched me deeply. During my trip to Mbeya last week, I was so inspired by ordinary citizens who were working to help prevent HIV and AIDS from so many of Tanzanians.
These are the people in the government as well as non-governmental organisations who are working in laboratories, in hospitals and in communities to help prevent HIV/AIDS. I was inspired by that. It wasn’t something that they said or did, but you look in their eyes and you can see the dignity of the Tanzanian people. These people had that going in a major way. That was inspiring; they want to help their fellow citizens by working at facilities such as water supply, training institutions. There are so many things to mention. There are others who were working on malaria eradication
On this trip I had the opportunity to visit the Mbeya Institute for Science and Technology. I was inspired by the administrator of the school and the students who were learning more about the tools and, certainly, the opportunities in the 21st century using computers, using various other sophisticated pieces of equipment to better prepare Tanzania to be a leader for the future.
I was out for three and half days. It was good enough for me to see and get a good sampling of the Tanzanian people. I saw it from every level, from the regional commissioner all the way to the people, government agencies and organisations giving everything they have to fight the terrible diseases. Ordinary people were doing extraordinary things. These people don’t do it for publicity. They do it because it needs to be done. That was inspirational response for the right reason because it needs to be done, not for the sake of getting recognition or awards. It is because they care about other people
Source:thisday.co.tz/
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