New Chinese leader is up and running – in Dar

AS I sat down to pen this week’s piece, I had to contend with the bad news that one of Africa’s greatest wordsmiths had passed away. Chinua Achebe, on whose works many found their first literary steps, is no longer at ease. He is gone and may he rest in peace. It is quite a shame that at the time of his death some Kenyans on Twitter were engaged in a senseless cyber fight with Nigerians. I have complained before about the gang mentality that Kenyans have adopted while on Twitter, always beating down anyone they deem to have disrespected them. Closer to home, the biggest story has been the surprise appearance of a wanted man at the US embassy in Kigali. I am talking about the man some have referred to as ‘The Terminator’ (I thought Arnold Schwarzenegger had some form of copyright to that title). I am talking about Bosco Ntaganda (the T is silent). With an ICC charge sheet, the US government had gone ahead to put a $5million bounty on his head even though it is not an ICC signatory. To cut the long story short, he showed up at the embassy and asked to be transferred to the ICC. And so far his wishes have been granted. If I had a chance to talk to him, you are sure I would have asked him to pretend I caught him so that I land that $5million. Ntaganda’s story and Raila Odinga’s careless statements about how he won the election with 5.7 million votes seemed to cloud the news space and in the process blind us from a more significant development in Tanzania. To make matters worse, in Uganda, more noise seems to be going around the Marriage and Divorce Bill and a controversial dossier from catholic priest. The big story in the region for me was the fact that Tanzania is set to be the second stop for the newly elected Chinese leader, President Xi Jinping. By the time of writing this, he was in Russia meeting Vladmir Putin, but most probably by the time you read this he will be smiling with Mheshimiwa Jakaya Kikwete in Dar es Salaam. In the recent years, Tanzania has discovered a number of valuable natural resources both under their land and offshore. It is therefore no surprise that China has noticed and is now cementing its relationship with our neighbour. It may actually not be the first time the two countries are working together if you consider the strong ties they shared during the times of Mwalimu Nyerere and Chairman Mao Zedong. It was during those times in the 70s that the 1,800 kilometre Tazara railway was built.Close to 40 years later, China has an appetite for resources and Tanzania has them in abundance. The country is one of the few that still has large tracts of land that can be farmed, oil, natural gas, tanzanite and so many other minerals that Xi Jinping would love to taste. Tanzania needs capital, skills and technological resources to exploit its wealth, and china is in position to help in this regard. On the other hand, China also has an appetite for Tanzania’s resources to keep its economy growing. China knows the value of the wealth that Tanzanians are sitting on and that is why it was added to their leader’s itinerary as he moved from Moscow to South Africa for the BRICS summit. All these developments that have seen Tanzania becoming a very resourceful country get me thinking. Is this not the time when we should be getting our houses in order so as to wean ourselves of foreign aid? Isn’t it high time we stopped marketing our wild animals and instead started marketing the resources we have? Instead of our politicians always crying foul about foreign interference, they should work towards self-reliance. But how can we achieve this when for example MPs in Kenya are complaining about salaries even before they are sworn in? How do we become self-reliant when, instead of drilling oil, we are talking about whether or not Tullow Oil bribed Museveni? There is simply too much talk and less work. When shall we have politicians willing to perform beyond their stomachs?Blog: www.ssenyonga.wordpress.comTwitter: @ssojo81