Anti - Corruption

Kalumekenge story revisited

Kalumekenge refused to go to school. His father asked the dog to bite Kalumekenge because Kalumekenge has refused to go to school, but the dog refused. He then asked the stick to beat the dog because it has refused to bite Kalumekenge who has refused to go to school, but the stick refused. He asked the fire to burn the stick that has refused to beat the dog that has refused to bite Kalumekenge who has refused to go to school, but the fire refused. He asked the water to put out the fire because it has refused to burn the stick that has refused to beat the dog that has refused to bite Kalumekenge who has refused to go to school. Luckily, the water agreed.

So it went like this: The water put out the fire… the fire burnt the stick… the stick beat the dog… the dog bit Kalumekenge, and Kalumekenge went to school.

The story of Kalumekenge is an old folk tale known by many Tanzanians, especially those who were in primary schools during the 1970s, as it was in the Kiswahili text book for primary schools: “Someni Kwa Furaha”. But as we revisit the story today, we could easily speak of the successes of Pact Tanzania over the years, and especially its efforts in helping with the fight against cooption in the country.

With Tanzania, the authority is Kalumekenge; the authority that had to be bitten by a dog in order to force change. The society as a whole is the stick that had to beat the dog, and the voices are the fire that had to burn the stick. And guess what Pact Tanzania is? Exactly; the water. The water that prompts the action.

The authority knew about the problem, but did not put a priority on it. The society was afraid of speaking; and although it tried to speak, there was no change. The voices tried to grow louder but it was like noise, and finally, Pact Tanzania had the opportunity to participate and take a leadership role.

The governance program that deals with the anti-corruption strategy is a story that has had a vast achievement, especially over the past year. When the Public Expenditure Tracking (PETS) was introduced in the country, the public was not very sure if it would work out. People were scared of questioning their leaders, and just kept mumbling and grumbling on how public funds were being misspent.

But when they realized that it was actually their right to raise queries about how their public funds were being spent, they accepted the idea, and now more and more officials are being held accountable for what they have done.

The same could be said of the media part of the governance program. In the past, journalism in Tanzania was viewed as a failure job, and all journalists were called gossip mongers who weren’t even able to make change happen. During the past two years, the media has opened up and when Pact Tanzania trained more than 300 journalists on investigative journalism skills in corruption and good governance, change moved even more quickly. Stories were written and followed-up, corruption was uncovered, the accused resigned, and now the ‘big fish’ are being taken to court.

The Anti-Corruption Investigative Journalism Award has boosted the morale of the journalists. Not only are they uncovering sensitive issues because they know that awards are being given to the best stories, but also because they now have faith that when they write, action is taken, and Tanzania is becoming a better place.

And as the story of Kalumekenge is revisited, it is quite obvious that Pact Tanzania being the water that agreed to put out the fire that were the voices, also led to the fire burning the stick that is the society, and the stick beating the dog that is the authority that seems to be more accountable now, and at last, change has come to Tanzania…. Yes, Kalumekenge has finally agreed to go to school.