By Dr Alfred Sebahene
TO live with unreliable or expensive power can be devastating.
And yet many people in our region live their daily lives without electricity, something which has for so long represented a fundamental barrier to progress.
The same has and continues to impact on a wide range of almost all sectors - health, education, food security, gender equality, livelihoods, and poverty reduction, to mention a few. For Tanzania there is light at the end of the tunnel because Kambarage's vision of turning water into power at Stigler's gorge will shortly be realised.
Indeed, Mwalimu's dream will come to fruition sometime in mid-2021. Yes, it is coming soon despite the fact that the now Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (JNHPP), formerly Rufiji Hydropower Project (RHPP) has taken long to come to reality.
But one important thing we need to appreciate as wananchi is the resilience of our national leadership clearly shown in the implementation of the project. This is what has given us hope and brought us this far. Uplifting enough, the sustained project agenda is nested in a larger national economic and environmental conservation.
On a similar note is our national livelihood plan for the Tanzanian community of which JPM and his team are giving it keen considerations, as they continue to invest in the project despite the project going through many challenges. Anyway, at last it is around the corner.
I don't mind agreeing with those who go beyond and say our government views this project not only as a means of economic development but also as a vehicle to showcase our independence and political power. In my view, one should also add that this project is also a symbol of nationalism.
It's fine because some years back, probably even today, there were and still are many who look at us and say that by this kind of projects, "poor and primitive" countries will now be somewhat able to support their own needs and the neighboring nations.
Again, it is fine because this is, as President John Joseph Pombe Magufuli clearly emphasises, the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station is nothing but a state building mission and symbol of Tanzania's future.
President Magufuli is right, because we have seen his government sustain political commitment and financing, enabling policies and incentives and his ongoing efforts to build strong institutions.
No wonder Mr president always reminds Tanzanians that the project, when completed, will provide the water and cheap, bountiful domestic and internationally traded electricity necessary for Mwalimu's vision.
President Magufuli's vision on Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station reminds me of the visions of Kwame Nkrumah PC, a Ghanaian politician and revolutionary, the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana who led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957.
For Nkrumah, building the Akosombo Dam, was meant to realise his dream of creating a modern African nation that would join the industrialised world shaped by the parameters of science and technology. He was right.
It also reminds me of the Aswan High Dam, which, in the 1950s, Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Egyptian leader envisioned building across the Nile, one large enough to end flooding and bring electric power to every corner of Egypt. It was completed in July 1970, unfortunately two months before his death.
For Tanzania, we are told, a 2,115 megawatts (2,836,000 hp) hydroelectric dam is expected to produce 5,920GWh of power annually, meaning the project is more than a premier infrastructure delivering electricity, irrigation and the spectacle of development, but the future of Tanzania.
This is because we can now be guaranteed that here is a project set to increase energy to help drive Tanzania's development. In fact, beyond the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station, the country is already enjoying the goodness of the vision as the country experiences rapid development, not least in its entire energy sector.
This is true in that electrification and electricity-grid extension has seen marked progress, rising in terms of households connected, especially during the past 5 years, the first phase of Magufuli's term which began back in 2015. Well, Hon Minister Kalemani could best speak of this progress.
The good news is that the project will be completed successfully because of, among other things, the government commitment in assuring UNESCO of its continued collaboration and support in terms of execution of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention.
The expertise in the construction of the station cannot be ignored in this achievement. They did well because the space used is only a small portion of vegetation which will only cause insignificant effects on the ecosystem, about 2.0 per cent of the total area of Selous Game Reserve.
The same expertise we acknowledge shall need to be sustained and carefully adhered to because, as we indicated earlier, all economic opportunities relating to the project and its area are of national and regional importance and will be constrained, to mention an important aspect of the project, without better water management.
This we want to highlight because of the large scale potential for development of agriculture and tourism too. So once again let me remind my reader that the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station is a state building mission and symbol of Tanzania's future and the wider energy sector ambition is more critical now than ever before.
I think it is worth highlighting that when this project is fully operational, it could be the best time when all stakeholders, and especially development partners, to be challenged to learn from past experiences in order to improve the effectiveness of their interventions as they seek to keep cooperating and supporting us now and in the future.
This I mention because of what history suggests. In the past partnership engagements, it required that the colonial administration understand how to use not only a project like the hydropower, but the territory's natural resources as well.
Likewise, and on a similar note, we need to acknowledge the commitment of all well-wishers to help Tanzania work towards access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy for eradicating extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity.
And there is an important evidence, such as the successful World Bank supported power project which has substantially helped create the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and associated Rural Electrification Fund, an agenda which is being promoted throughout the country.
And finally, an advisory word to fellow local Tanzanian experts in the energy sector, the private sector, local communities and civil society, the nation's rich academia, and leaders who will be at the centre of Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station.
I wish to remind them that it is one thing to have this grand project with all its prospects, but it is altogether quite another thing to make it sustainable for the nation's sustainable future.
It is therefore important to remember that the decisions they will take and make, especially when the project is fully operational, should rest on how production, usage and distribution of energy shall benefit the nation. This will require a high level of patriotic spirit - an unwavering devotion to and vigorous support for our country.
Cheers!
Dr Alfred Sebahene, PhD Social Ethics Specialist and Anti-Corruption Consultant St John's University of Tanzania Dodoma, Tanzania Email Addresses: arsebahene2@ yahoo.co.uk, alfredsebahene@gmail.com Mobile: 0767 233 997
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