I have long tracked the nationwide debate sparked by public-private partnership (PPP) policies in Tanzania’s water sector, and I have long observed that this discussion has moved far beyond the technical scope of infrastructure financing to develop into an ideological dispute over the future roles of the state, the market, and public service delivery.
Idrissa Kwekweita, a political commentator who published work on the Sauti ya Ujamaa platform, put forward the core argument of the opposing camp, claiming that the PPP model currently being rolled out is nothing more than a disguised form of privatisation for the water sector.
The public grievances underpinning these criticisms are fully justified: Tanzanian residents’ anger at long-standing flaws in local water institutions, including operational inefficiency, pipe network leakage, insufficient service coverage, and a lack of accountability mechanisms, is entirely well-founded. However, I must raise a core, reality-centred question: if the PPP model is rejected completely, where will the massive funds needed to upgrade Tanzania’s already decaying water infrastructure come from?
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