Opps: sorry folks, I had to repost this after taking off the link to Christopher Mtikila's Wikipedia page. I lazily didn't read before linking and so did not realize it was hostile.
True confession: when I was a sapling, my secret ambition was to work for the government when I grew up. I still experience twinges of envy when I come across civil servants, and have to force myself not to question them to death about what work is like. The good ones never really tell you anything anyways- you have to pry stuff out of them with a crowbar and a bottle of whiskey.
And while I love politicians the way Premier League fans love their star footballers, I have a whole other level of awe that I reserve for good career public servants. It has been more than a little frustrating watching how the past couple of generations of civil servants have succeeded at killing the 'profession' in Tanzania. Of course it isn't all of them, but must such an overwhelming majority of civil display contemptible behavior? We the people are exhausted and apathetic thanks to their shenanigans. I place the blame squarely on the shoulders of one Mzee Ruksa, who softly led us into the land of laissez-faire. Lovely man, but really.
From time to time, I have to forcibly resuscitate my belief in the whole national project thing. The good Reverend Mtikila is unfailingly helpful in this regard. I love that the good Reverend keeps our Judiciary exercised by making a persistent nuisance of himself. He is at it again, this time suing them for trying to sell off their own offices. Not all great public servants are paid by the state :) Coming this week to an East African near you:
True confession: when I was a sapling, my secret ambition was to work for the government when I grew up. I still experience twinges of envy when I come across civil servants, and have to force myself not to question them to death about what work is like. The good ones never really tell you anything anyways- you have to pry stuff out of them with a crowbar and a bottle of whiskey.
And while I love politicians the way Premier League fans love their star footballers, I have a whole other level of awe that I reserve for good career public servants. It has been more than a little frustrating watching how the past couple of generations of civil servants have succeeded at killing the 'profession' in Tanzania. Of course it isn't all of them, but must such an overwhelming majority of civil display contemptible behavior? We the people are exhausted and apathetic thanks to their shenanigans. I place the blame squarely on the shoulders of one Mzee Ruksa, who softly led us into the land of laissez-faire. Lovely man, but really.
From time to time, I have to forcibly resuscitate my belief in the whole national project thing. The good Reverend Mtikila is unfailingly helpful in this regard. I love that the good Reverend keeps our Judiciary exercised by making a persistent nuisance of himself. He is at it again, this time suing them for trying to sell off their own offices. Not all great public servants are paid by the state :) Coming this week to an East African near you:
"Dar es Salaam recently lost the wonderful Nyumba ya Sanaa which had the ill fortune of being placed next to... a historic, flashily refurbished hotel currently incarnated as the Movenpick. There is a pattern here- obviously unique old buildings shouldn't be placed anywhere near hotels as they seem to attract a strange kind of predation. What makes the Forodhani Hotel case particularly distasteful is that the Kilimanjaro is proposing to put in a parking lot. Of all things, the judiciary is willing to give up this historic space in favor of a parking lot? This is exactly the kind of decision that exasperates citizens. If the highest legal authority in the land is not nuanced enough to understand the ramifications of such a decision, who knows what else they get horribly wrong?"
No comments:
Post a Comment
No biting, spitting, trolling or ugly insults- only pretty ones allowed.