Whopping Tsh.176 million spent on political congratulatory adverts

A whopping total of Tsh. 175,639,750 was spent by government departments and state corporations on 217 political congratulatory messages to winners of the 2010 general elections, in the form of advertisements which were published in various newspapers and other forms of media from 8th of November, 2010 to the 8th December, 2010 shortly after Tanzania’s General elections in October 2010.

According to the findings from a recent study, state corporations and government departments recklessly spent public resources on congratulatory messages with less regard to the increasing budgetary deficits that the government has been facing in the recent past as tax revenue collections fall short of target

The study conducted by Sikika, a non governmental organizations working in Tanzania focused on analyzing the expenditure on publishing congratulatory messages in the media and the impact they had on government expenditure

“It should be noted that, most of the adverts started being published after the swearing in ceremony held on the 6th of November, 2010”

A total of 132 adverts were published exclusively congratulating the President H.E Jakaya Kikwete at an estimated cost of Tsh 108, 239, 300 while a total of Tsh 25, 350, 500 was spent on 32 adverts congratulating both the President and the Prime Minister. Six (6) adverts were published congratulating the President, Prime Minister and Ministers at a cost of Tsh 4, 863, 000.

Some of the governmental departments and parastatals who topped the list of spenders were; The National Development Corporation (NDC) which was the highest spender as it paid Tsh 10, 185, 900 for eight adverts, while the President’s Office (MKURABITA) was next on the list as it spent Tsh 9, 574, 300 for 16 adverts. Parastatal Pension Fund (PPF) followed by paying Tsh 8, 356, 700 for 12 adverts.

It should be noted that the money used for paying of the published adverts were public funds (taxpayers’ money) as the institutions involved were directly funded by the government from state coffers. Part of the money was pension money collected from civil servants and the public through the social security system.

As the figures emerged and the cost of this exercise became evident, the question to ask was of what benefit did any do citizens get out of such an expensive venture?

Tanzania Standard Newspapers Ltd received most of the stated money through advertisements amounting to Tsh 88, 430, 900 in their income, followed by IPP media solutions received amount of Tsh 31, 575, 600 and Mwananchi Communications was the third, by receiving Tsh 31, 350, 000. Business Times Limited received a total of Tsh 13, 816, 250 and New Habari Corporation Limited received a total of Tsh 10, 075, 500, while Free Media Limited received Tsh 1, 512, 000.


It should be noted that the media publishing company which benefited most out of the congratulatory adverts was Tanzania Standard Newspapers Ltd which is a government owned media publisher unlike other mentioned media houses which are private owned.

“Such amount of money could be spent for developmental issues in areas such as health and education. For example, the health sector is crippled by countless problems that include lack of human resources, finances, medicine just to mention three”, Irenei Kiria, the Executive Director of Sikika said.

This practice can be grouped as “unnecessary government expenditure” as it doesn’t have much direct impact to the betterment of the citizens’ lives.

The research recommended the organizations to focus on their mandates and engage in activities that benefit general public rather than spending money on the unnecessary luxurious congratulatory messages.

On the other hand, citizens must make sure they don’t run a blind eye while their money is being abused. Instead they must keep their eyes open and deal with such problems that deprive them a lot when it comes to service delivery.

Currently, the pension funds have been dogged with scandals like using pension funds to grant loans to companies for investment with out collateral. The Controller and Auditor General’s (CAG) report of 2008/09 cited the National Security Fund (NSSF), the National Insurance Corporation (NIC), and Local Authorities Provident Fund (LAPF) among the victims of poor financial mismanagement of pension funds.

There have also been complaints from pensioners of low interests gained on their pension funds, and delayed payment of their pensions and retirements benefits.

According to recent media reports the National Property and Business Formalisation Program (MKURABITA) was reported as almost running bankrupt as the government and its key foreign donors had cut financial support to the project.

It was therefore absurd that these institutions, already bedeviled with scandals and cash flow problems could step their way out of the ordinary to doll out such huge amounts of money on political congratulatory messages whose value to the public was zero.