ARUSHA: Tanzania’s prime minister has threatened to blacklist contractors who fail to pay subcontractors and casual labourers on government-funded projects, signalling a tougher stance on labour compliance amid a rapid public infrastructure drive.
Dr Mwigulu Nchemba issued the warning in Arusha while laying the foundation stone for a new students’ dormitory at the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST). His remarks were prompted by a public complaint from a young man who said he had not been paid for construction work on the hostel.
“I will speak with the Attorney General so that contractors who fail to pay subcontractors and casual labourers in government projects are blacklisted,” Nchemba said, indicating that non-payment could lead to exclusion from future state tenders.
The intervention comes as Tanzania expands public spending on large-scale infrastructure and higher education. But the prime minister made clear that headline projects cannot mask failures in basic accountability or service provision.
He directed executive directors of local government authorities to ensure that, within the first six months of the new budget cycle, no school or dispensary is left without toilet facilities.
“As a nation with resources and a middle-income economy, we should not hear that a school or dispensary has no toilets,” he said. “After six months of the budget, I do not want to hear such reports.”
The remarks underscored a broader tension in fast-growing economies: balancing flagship investments with essential social infrastructure.
Nchemba said it was unacceptable for Tanzania to construct one of Africa’s longest modern standard gauge railways while pupils queue for basic sanitation.
He also pressed the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to ensure the timely completion of the NM-AIST hostel, arguing that the institution must consolidate its role as a regional hub for advanced research and innovation.
In an increasingly technology-driven global economy, he said, Tanzania must produce specialists capable of delivering scientific solutions to everyday and industrial challenges.
Government spending on higher education has expanded sharply under President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
According to Nchemba, the student loans budget has risen from 464bn Tanzanian shillings to more than 916bn, while enrolment has grown from 177,925 to 252,773.
The Samia Scholarship Programme, which provides full sponsorship rather than loans, is intended to cultivate high-achieving graduates committed to national development.
Prof Adolf Mkenda, the education minister, said NM-AIST was established during the presidency of Jakaya Kikwete to train high-level specialists in science and technology.
Unlike many universities in the region, it focuses exclusively on postgraduate and doctoral training.
The vice-chancellor, Prof Maulilio Kipanyula, said the 7.9bn-shilling hostel project will expand accommodation capacity from 279 to 459 students. Of the 184 rooms, 160 are self-contained, with dedicated spaces for women with newborns, caregivers and students with special needs — a move designed to widen access to advanced scientific study.
With enrolment rising from 600 in 2021/22 to 1,000 today, university leaders say further investment in staffing, infrastructure and research commercialisation will be critical if NM-AIST is to compete as a continental centre of excellence in digital technologies.
