Public Expenditure Tracking
New Meaning For Tanzanians To Question Their Leaders
Ten years ago, Steven thought that leaders were saints sent straight from God and it was a big sin to question whatever they do. He believed that the ‘saints’ could ask, demand, command, and use any other resources of the people, and yet be praised for everything they have done. Now, Steven has changed his mind.
Few months ago he received training from Pact partners on how to track public funds, and realized for the first time in his life that it was his right to question where funds have come from and how they are being used. He also learnt that it was his obligation to know that even funds from donors are used according to plans, budgets and expected quality results. Now, Steven no longer sees leaders as saints, but servants to the public.
Public Expenditure Tracking (PETS) is now part of the life of Steven Noel Lwitiko. He is Mpwapwa’s District Coordinator for the Anti-Female Genital Mutilation Network (AFNET), a local non-governmental organization that also deals with advocacy activities in various areas, including networking, economic empowerment and good governance.
Right now he has mainly one task: to educate the people of his district that they can question their leaders on anything, including in which hands do the public funds end. This process is what is called Public Expenditure Tracking – PETS.
AFNET received a grant under the US government’s good governance effort called? Millenium Challenge Account (MCA) in support of Pact’s BONGA program, which in Kiswahili means to ‘Speak Out’.
“The first time I spoke to the people about this they were a bit confused, because as you know, most of us used to worship our leaders, no matter how rotten some of them were. But then they understood and were happy to learn that they are allowed to question the leaders and demand explanation on any public issue they didn’t well understand,” says Steven.
But there are still problems when Steven tries to perform his task, since most people still don’t understand the meaning of good governance with all its components, and sometimes do not know how they should question their leaders. Some still feel that leaders are leaders – the saints they’ve always been.
“But that will change in time,” says Steven sounding optimistic, adding: “Of course Rome wasn’t built in one day, so I will continue with my task of educating the people of Mpwapwa, and eventually they will understand and start making good use of PETS.”
Currently there are ten partners of Pact who are conducting PETS, and these are AFNET, the Southern Africa Human Rights NGO Network (SAHRINGON), TACOSODE, Kigoma Kasulu NGO Network (KIKANGONET), Kilimanjaro NGO Cluster on HIV/AIDS and Reproductive Health Interventions (KINSHAI), Union of NGO’s (UNGO), Zanzibar NGO Cluster (ZANGOC), HAKIKAZI Catalyst, Pastoralists Indegenious NGOs Forum (PINGOS) and Forum for Grassroots Organisations – Tanzania (FOGOTA).
In the past however, conducting PETS had been a problem for most people, especially those in the rural area since they were afraid to question what their leaders do with the money. “They know that it is their (people’s) responsibility to contribute to the development of their areas, but questioning leaders is another issue,” says one partner from AFNET.
Luckily, most people are happy to receive the education on PETS and have promised to learn more in order to know exactly how they are supposed to execute their rights on the part of good governance.
One of them is Mzee Mathew Mbiji from Mlanga village, Kongwa Ward in Dodoma. He likes to know about PETS, but just doesn’t understand. “I’m not sure whether this is a new thing that the foreigners want to teach us for their own personal gain or really something that will help us Tanzanians,” he says during a village meeting.
But good enough Mzee Mbiji assures that he wouldn’t just kick the idea out of his way as easily as that; he is willing to listen to the facilitators., and agree with what he feels is right – on his part, that is democracy.
Mlanga’s Local Councillor, White Zuberi is also a great help when it comes to educating his people on the issue of good governance and PETS. He explains that the people have their part in contributing to the government’s budget, and therefore they also have the right to question the funds.
“We remember during President Mkapa’s era, for example, most rich nations cancelled our foreign debt. Now if this money is in the hands of the government, we have the right to know how it is being used for the development of our country,” says Zuberi, adding that he will work hand in hand with the facilitators and make sure that the people understand the PETS topic fully.
PETS has spread throughout the country, and facilitators of the projects found it necessary to include everybody in the process, be they from schools, clinics, churches, mosques, village and government leaders, and all sorts of people from different walks of life.
“Expectant mothers, for example, go to clinics for checkups. Now while they are there waiting to be attended to, they also talk about PETS and how it works; employees talk about it with their co-workers; traders with their customers, and so the word spreads on,” elaborates a facilitator.
And now, thanks to the good efforts of AFNET and other partners facilitating PETS, the word PETS is a common name among Tanzanians. It’s only a matter of time for families to be chatting about the same thing during their gatherings, similar to the way the other generous Tanzanians do at clinics and shops.
