The role of local government in reactivating self-help spirit in Tanzania: the case of Iringa district council

The current governments commitment is an engagement in a major effort to enable it restore self-he lp spirit among the local people. As a first move towards that effort, it reintroduced local government system with an objective of enabling local people participate in planning for their development and to undertake self-help activities, just among others. This study, then, attempts to investigate and present the steps which the rural local authorities have taken towards that end, of reactivating self-help spirit among the local people. Other researchers dealt with popular participation in development planning in general. One of them, Dr. Walter Ouma Oyugi, set out a yard-stick for testing local participation, in his article "Participation in Development Planning at the local Level" found in rural administration in Kenya edited by Leonard D.K. (1973 :73 ). In this article, Oyugi argues that "What is critical (in efficient local planning) is the human factor." That "If we have competent Government Officers at the local level - men who know how to use people and their institutions - we are likely to achieve the objective of good planning, in so doing, to ensure the people's participation" This line of argument is suggestive of people's involvement in planning for their development. In doing this study, therefore, we sought to test development planning procedures in Tanzanias new local government system by applying the above tools of analysis. What was evidenced however, confirmed Homquist's(1979: 139) claims and the gradual decline of peasant initiative and participation that ensued from augmented bureaucratic power and reasserted control over local development. Apart from that bureaucratic power and control, it was found out that the district councils officials in Tanzania do not know how to use people and their institutions in planning; they neither make use of information, enthusiasm, work nor co-operation from people's involvement. Furthermore, due to bureaucratic insistence on cost benefit rationality in development planning, the local people, became overwhelmed and chose to simply stand on the sidelines and watch while quiescently implement what is decided for them. Consequently self-help spirit, which was a burning issue soon before and immediately after political independence, the spirit that glowed but thereafter ceased completely due to already cited reasons, is yet to be revived contrary to the government's anticipation when it decided reintroduce local government system. The summary of the following chapters is presented at the end of chapter one and it intends to give an insight of what is contained in this study.