Mbowe Cites Politics Hurting Kilimanjaro’s Economy

The National Chairman of the Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) Freeman Mbowe ,has cited reasons for the economic decline in the Kilimanjaro Region, attributing it to politics infiltrating the coffee industry.

He further stated that many young people from the region are forced to seek livelihoods elsewhere due to government interference in the coffee sector, which was once the lifeblood of the economy.

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As a result, Mbowe emphasized the need for Kilimanjaro residents to reorient themselves towards investing in their children’s education, moving away from current dependency on remittances from children living far away.

Speaking recently in Mamsera, Rombo District, Kilimanjaro, as part of the ongoing ‘Operation GF’, Mbowe remarked:

“The Kilimanjaro Region lacks a comprehensive commercial and economic system to uplift the income of its citizens. Today, Kilimanjaro’s economy depends on remittances sent by children to relatives living far from Kilimanjaro.

“The substantial economy of Kilimanjaro now depends on what is termed in English as ‘remittance’; that is, money sent by children to relatives far from Kilimanjaro.

…Our education and our entrepreneurial spirit are the only capital Kilimanjaro has. That’s why today, many young people under 50 do not own a single acre of land. We are left with small plots to bury our dead and build houses to sleep in.”

Mbowe mentioned that farms in Kilimanjaro can no longer serve as large-scale commercial enterprises because the land is increasingly divided among children and is insufficient.

Furthermore, he went on to say that due to these circumstances, Kilimanjaro residents must invest in the education of their children.

“Let us continue to ensure that we invest in the education of our children so that they receive quality education, enabling them to seek and support development back home.”

Chairman of CHADEMA, Northern Zone, Godbless Lema, added that many young people nationwide have lost hope because there are no jobs. They wake up in the morning without farms to tend or businesses to work for, resorting to dangerous alcoholic drinks to alleviate their stress.

“When they wake up in the morning, they wake up without hope for survival; they have lost hope.”

When people lose hope, they resort to excessive drinking. But not just young men, this is happening across the entire country, from Dar es Salaam to Arusha, Kilimanjaro to Mwanza, in major regions.

“I was shocked the other day in Muheza (Tanga), even our young sisters are on the streets selling themselves for Sh. 3,000.

“These are not prostitutes; they have been forced by the harsh living conditions. When you see a young girl standing on the street selling herself for Sh. 3,000 a day, before you point fingers, call her a prostitute, pray for mercy.

“Because poverty has forced us to do things our souls reject but our bodies follow.”

“Behind me here is Mount Kilimanjaro, in Rombo, where there is plenty of coffee in the entire Kilimanjaro region. Today, our mothers and grandmothers in Moshi town are selling second-hand socks. When I was a child, I never saw an adult street vendor.

“But these days, if you walk along the road, you’ll find a mother selling a gallon of tomatoes, a gallon of bell peppers, with a capital of 15,000 shillings. They have been left with grandchildren at home; poverty hurts people.”