Researcher
Economic Research Bureau, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Focus Area(s):
Accountable Policing
Critical Tasks:
Internal accountability
Interviewers:
Daniel Scher
Country of Reform:
Tanzania
Town/City:
Dar es Salaam
Place (Building/Street):
University of Dar es Salaam
Country:
Tanzania, United Republic of
Date of Interview:
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Abstract
Semboja Haji describes the challenges facing police reform in Tanzania in 2006 and the assignment of a “team of experts,” which he led, to devise a reform strategy. He explains that prior attempts at police reform had failed because of a lack of commitment by the government and insufficient financial resources. He says outdated laws and regulations, some stemming from the colonial era, governed the police.The team, comprising seven academics and 28 police, conducted two years of research, including interviews with more than 2,500 police, politicians and civil society leaders, and reviews of police reform efforts in other countries. He explains that members of the Tanzanian police bought into the reform program because they felt the reforms reflected the input and suggestions they offered in interviews. He says the reform program was entirely designed by Tanzanians without external advisers or donors in order to avoid constraints imposed by donors, and because foreign experts lacked an intimate knowledge of policing conditions in Tanzania.
Full Transcript
Full Interview:
53MB
Semboja Haji Interview
Profile:
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.
Language:
English
Nationality of Interviewee:
Tanzanian
Yes
Semboja Haji
T
2
Keywords
rural policing
Reform sequencing
internal management
information management systems
incentive systems
Donor Relations
depoliticization
community policing