Strong Government can Eradicate Poverty, Says Nyerere

Tanzania News Online, No. 6, 23 September 1997

Retired Tanzanian president Mwalimu Julius Nyerere recently warned that while the world was embracing capitalism's policies, only a strong government devoid of bureaucracy and corruption could rid the Tanzanian majority of poverty.

In his keynote address at the opening of a three days workshop in Dar es salaam for Catholic bishops as part of the silver jubilee of the activities of Caritas Tanzania, a department of the Tanzanian Episcopal Conference(TEC), the old statesman said capitalism was more an evil now than before when it used to have a human face for fear of communism. He said Tanzania had been a socialist country from its independence in 1961, but with the move to a multi-party system in 1992, the government's liberalising of the economy had sent down a destructive 'wave' on the economy, the effects now being felt by the poor citizen. He said that with many public firms closing or being sold, the new rules had left many redundant.

"I am not preaching socialism, it's to late for me now," said the retired president. He added that while capitalism was very efficient in creating wealth because it unleashes energies in people who want to get rich, it was not efficient when it came to distributing wealth. He discouraged government from buying the idea of depending on non-governmental institutions for the provision of fundamental social services like education and health, saying that government should tax the rich to generate sufficient income which could then be distributed to the majority poor though provision of social services. "This is the easiest way of reaching the poor."