Thread by @JMakamba

[THREAD] 1. Great #CSOWeek #WikiYaAzaki2019 festivities. I’d like to contribute to the week’s deliberations by posing some few questions with hope that they will further the important agenda of creating a civil/better society in Tanzania. Here we go:

2. What is the impact of this week’s festivities/conversations in CSOs overall objectives, mandates and functions and how do we measure that impact? And how do we know we have achieved value for money in terms of impact and cost of organising the week?

3. By making this a Civil Society Organization Week (#CSOWeek) instead of Civil Society Week (#CSWeek) are we not de-emphasising the actual idea and concept of CIVIL SOCIETY and instead put more importance on ORGANISATIONAL agendas and justification for organisational existence?

4. And, as organisations, how do we measure the impact of our work (higher online decibel for our issues? policy change? money received/disbursed?), and who are we accountable to when we fail? Should be there be requirements for democratic governance and transparency within CSOs?

5. If a CSO is 100% funded by foreign money, is it a local CSO? Should CSOs find legitimacy, relevance and usefulness in the amount of money (forex) they bring into the country? How’re the people connected to CSOs agendas if they are just “programming” objects? Where’s agency?

6. Should CSOs be pragmatic and compromising - in that should they overlook “bad things” with hope to achieve the removal of “worse things” in the long run? And, should they work with “bad people” with hope that they will either turn good or still facilitate a better society?

7. Should there be professional CSO people or should people earn bread in different vocations and advancement of civil society be just a “civic” duty of everyone? Who should set the agenda of what CSOs pursue as important? And through what process should that agenda be set?

8. Should CSOs be politically neutral or should they support parties and candidates that are aligned with “their” agendas? Are Tanzanian CSOs [leaders] too elite (timid?) in background, posture, philosophy and interests to agitate for radical, but necessary, policies?

9. Is writing up policies worth the money if no political incentives exist for their adoption? Should CSOs work for political incentives for better policies? Can partnership exist if goodwill don’t exist? How do CSOs advance goodwill when it’s sometime necessary to condemn govt?

10. Sometimes, CSOs have nasty “political” fights over relevance, prominence, resources, alliances - and rarely about ideas. There’s been allegations of embezzlement and dictatorial leadership. How can CSOs garner moral authority to speak to wrongs that they’re also accused of?