Ambassador Mike Retzer's Dispatch #1

September 28, 2005
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Greetings from Dar es Salaam.

As the world watches events unfold in Mississippi and Louisiana with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, I have been half a world away beginning service as the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Tanzania. I hope to be reporting to friends and fellow citizens back home in Mississippi on a regular basis.

As I left Mississippi, the first rains of Katrina were falling on my home in Greenville, and after a briefing in Europe I arrived in the capital of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, on Wednesday, August 31.

Since there had been no U.S. ambassador here for well over a year, the Tanzanian government was eager to receive me. The morning after I arrived I went straight to the Foreign Ministry (their State Department), and then proceeded in an escorted motorcade to the Presidential offices, where I presented my credentials to President Benjamin Mkapa. The President here has served for ten years and will be replaced by a successor to be chosen in general elections on October 30. Tanzanians have had multi-party elections since 1995, and have adopted the custom of presidential service limited to two terms. This is fairly unique in Africa. In the coming month, I will tell you more about the developing political scene in East Africa. It is a fascinating laboratory in democratic and economic development.

After meeting with President Mkapa, I traveled to the island of Zanzibar. The Republic of Tanzania is a combination of two countries, the former Tanganyika and Zanzibar. The Island of Zanzibar is part of the republic, but is semi-autonomous with the ability to elect its own president and local legislature as well as vote for the republic’s president and send representatives to the national legislature (think of it as a two state nation).

In Zanzibar I met with President Amani Abeid Karume, who has served as president since 2000. He is from the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, which is the same party that holds power on the mainland. The major opposition party is the Civic United Front (CUF). In the elections of 2000, voting in Zanzibar was marred by irregularities and a certain amount of chaos. When the ballots had been counted, CCM was declared the winner. The opposition cried foul and some observers agreed. Civil unrest erupted and nearly 40 people were killed while hundreds fled the island as refugees. In this year’s election, the President is facing his long-time CUF opponent Seif Shariff Hamad.  

After meeting with President Karume, I met with Hamad. Both men appear very confident; it should be a very interesting election with everyone in Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam holding their breath and hoping for a free, fair and violence free election.

Politics aside, my first month on the job has been busy. One of my first official duties was helping my old friend Victor Smith from Jackson open the headquarters of his “Here’s Life” mission in Tanzania, located in Arusha. I met with Victor and his Board and cut the ribbon on their new offices for this important Christian organization. Almost 40% of Tanzanians are Christians and many have received their elementary and secondary school education from missionary schools.

While in Arusha, I also visited a Lutheran clinic that is doing vital work treating HIV/AIDS patients. This organization has been lead for the last 20 years by an American named Mark Jacobsen, with help from another American who is a Harvard educated doctor, Kristopher Hartwig. To expand upon their work at the clinic, they are building a $6 million, 70-bed hospital in Arusha.

Additional stops on that trip included a visit with a Maasai farmer who, with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is growing an herb called artemesia. The plant has been shown to be an effective treatment for malaria. Malaria is the number one killer of children in Tanzania, and President Bush has announced a program to help Tanzania and several other African countries begin to confront and eliminate this deadly disease.

In the following days, I met with various civic, business, and political leaders as I made my rounds of the capital. One of my most pleasant duties was giving out 12 small grants totaling less than $75,000 (the usual grant is about $6000) as part of the Ambassador Special Self-Help Fund.  This small fund enables me to reach out and support communities that are trying to help themselves. Typical projects include buying a water tank or pump for a small village to have fresh water; or buying desks for a school.

The most difficult part of this job is touring hospitals and clinics that treat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis or malaria patients.  In the past decade the average male life expectancy in this country has dropped by seven years since 1990, from 49 years to 42 years, because of these terrible diseases. Through various USAID and Centers for Disease Control programs, we are trying to help the Tanzanian people deal with these terrible health problems, but there is no quick solution and it is very painful to see so many people in misery.

That sums up my first few weeks on the ground here. I’ve met a surprising number of Tanzanians who have visited the fine State of Mississippi, and I hope to send more your way. I’ll be back in touch with you again soon.

Michael L. Retzer