The Role of Poor Governance in the Tanzanite-Al Qaeda Link Controversy, and Policy Options for Tanzania

Enabling it to Escape from ‘Curses ’ in the Mining Industry Tanzania has continued to struggle to address poverty issues with a host of political, social and economic challenges since gaining its independence in 1961. To achieve this objective, the country has had to overcome resource use challenges requiring dexterity and intelligence in terms of governance. The extent of the resource curse is great, now, especially with regard to the gemstones and Tanzanite. The mining sector has experienced large-scale ‘curses ’ since independence. The fourth phase President, Jakaya Kikwete, who took over leadership in December 2005, came to office at the time when the resource curse was a real issue. He has been trying to put the house in order, which includes making a review of mining contracts, but the exercise seems to be arduous, being partly due to the complex nature of corruption and abuses of power. This paper intends to take a look at examples of the resource curse. Many of the ‘curses ’ discussed refer to the mining industry from 1985 to 2006. This, however, doe