At the time of this interview, Benson Bana was a senior lecturer on public administration and human resource management for the Research and Education for Democracy in Tanzania program at the University of Dar es Salaam. He also consulted and conducted research in the same fields. A Tanzanian citizen, Bana earned a doctorate from the University of Manchester in the U.K. He worked in the Tanzanian public service, and as a human resource training and development manager in a multinational company. 

At the time of this interview, Semboja Haji was a researcher at the Economic Research Bureau at the University of Dar es Salaam. Trained as an econometrician in Sweden and Norway, he later became a senior research fellow at the Economic and Social Research Foundation in Tanzania, where he worked for eight years. He helped develop the Tanzania 2025 Vision and Zanzibar 2020 Vision strategies, and had extensive experience advising the Tanzanian government in areas including national investment policy, energy policy, telecommunication, economic growth and poverty reduction.

Joseph Rugumyamheto worked in several capacities in the Tanzanian civil service for 30 years, ultimately serving for five years as permanent secretary of public service management in the President’s Office. He was responsible for the management of all civil servants in the Tanzanian government in terms of human resources and development. He previously served as chairman of the Government Board of the Eastern and Southern African Management Institute and chairman of the Board of Global Development Learning Centre Network. Rugumyamheto retired in 2006, and at the time of the interview he was chairman of the board and a director of Douglas Lake Minerals Ltd., a joint-venture company holding mineral concession rights in Tanzania. In April 2006, he was awarded the Jit Gill Memorial Award for Outstanding Public Service by the World Bank.

At the time of this interview, Rakesh Rajani was the founder and head of Twaweza, a civil society organization that worked toward transparency and accountability within Tanzania.  He also founded and served as executive director from 2001 to 2007 of HakiElimu, an organization to promote public engagement in governance.  Rajani earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and English literature from Brandeis University in the United States, and a master’s of theological study from Harvard University in 1989.  He was also a fellow of the Harvard Global Equity Initiative.

At the time of this interview, Khalfan H. Khalfan was executive director of the Organization of People with Disabilities, an advocacy group that he founded in 1985 in his native Zanzibar.  He became involved in disabled-rights activism after traveling to Singapore to attend a meeting for the disabled in 1981, the International Year of Disabled People.  Khalfan also founded the Eastern African Federation of the Disabled.  He was a member of the World Council of Disabled People International for more than 20 years, an elected vice chair for development and underrepresented groups of Disabled People International from 2002 to 2007, and chairperson of the Pan African Federation of the Disabled for 12 years.  Prior to his activism on behalf of rights for the disabled, he worked as a secondary-school teacher for almost 20 years.  He died in March 2009.

At the time of this interview, Japhet Hasunga was the director and deputy principal of the Tanzania Public Service College.  Earlier, he served for five years as director of finance and administration at the college.  Prior to joining the college administration, he worked for six years at the National Social Security Fund.

At the time of this interview, Fatma Ally was the chairperson of the Zanzibar Female Lawyers Association.  She also worked as an executive counselor at the association.

At the time of this interview, Faisal Issa was director of human resource development in Tanzania’s Public Service Reform Program.  He served previously on the faculty of Mzumbe University in Malogoro.