Engage in policy discussion

Interview with Gertrud Mugizi, National Policy Forum

Gertrud Mugizi, coordinator of National Policy Forum

“We want people to get engaged in the discussion of policy issues and understand how the stated priorities of the government link to the reality.”
Gertrud Mugizi who is coordinating the work of the Policy Forum is eager to engage more people in the development of civil society in Tanzania.
“In Policy Forum we are trying to make the MKUKUTA document more accessible and make people relate it to their own lives. It is in fact possible for people to take part in the monitoring of the PRSP (Poverty Reduction Strategy Program) and indeed necessary in order to enhance the accountability of our politicians”.
Policy Forum is a network of 86 NGOs. It operates legally as a project under Haki Elimu, but is in the process of being registered under the Non-profit company’s ordinance. Its main areas of focus are advocacy on poverty reduction, equity and democracy.
However, to understand the MKUKUTA is quite a challenge even among the NGOs. As Gertrud Mugizi says:
“It is not an easy document to access, that is why we published a youth friendly version of it in collaboration with Save the Children. Another strategy used is meetings held in collaboration with Haki Elimu at the UNICEF office every last Friday of the month. At July’s meeting for instance we discussed how the national budget actually links to the CCM slogan of “a better life for all Tanzanians”. Normally we have around 80-100 people attending from civil society, government agencies, the donor community as well as  academics and students. Newcomers are also warmly welcome.”

With budget tracking being one of the major activities of the Policy Forum how does that influence the relationship with the government?

“Well, we have a love-hate relationship. Government loved our publication on the MKUKUTA but sometimes our briefs are taken as mere criticism even though we make sure also to acknowledge also the good work done by our government”.
”We have now been endorsed by the government to work on the public expenditure tracking. It may indicate that they would like to keep an eye on what we do but it certainly also shows that our work is useful to them. When the President held his opening speech in Parliament no less than 8 out of the 9 issues he touched had earlier been brought forward by Policy Forum. I guess the public sometimes gets a slightly distorted picture of what is taking place because the media tend to focus more on our criticism.”
Media-training is one among several methodologies used by the Policy Forum in their budget tracking and around the country. Both local NGOs and press clubs are receiving training on how to work proactively with the media.
“We then link them to donors to ensure continuous funding for them to continue their work. We collect their findings, publish them and make sure it all feeds back into the monitoring process of the MKUKUTA. Networking and linking up with other organisations is also very important. The biggest advantage of the Policy Forum is the information sharing. We can help you get the analysis you need done to back you up in your advocacy work. You are also welcome to contact us at npf@ats-net.com”.

Members of the Policy Forum meet once a month and some are engaged in working groups on a number of topics like the Local Government Reform and the MKUKUTA. MS Program Officer, Maselle Maziku is heading a working group on the MKUKUTA.
He talks enthusiastically about the influence that civil society can have on the development agenda in Tanzania.
“Civil society is able to take part in the decision making and monitoring processes. Down to ward level civil society is represented in the ward development committees and may have a lot of influence on decisions regarding priorities in the spending of public funds. Use that influence!”