Clare Short arrives for talks

Clare Short, Britain's Secretary of State for International Development, arrived in Tanzania on Tuesday for talks with the Tanzanian government. While it is officially being seen as a routine visit, there is speculation that the focus of the trip will be the controversial air traffic control deal between the Tanzanian government and British Aerospace Systems (BAe). Short will spend two days in Tanzania, Britain's second biggest recipient of foreign aid, talking to various government officials on a range of issues, an official of the British government's Department for International Development (DFID) told IRIN. However, analysts and journalists in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's commercial capital, believe that the real focus of the trip will be on the air traffic control system that the Tanzanian government controversially bought off BAe, and the subsequent withholding of £10m ($16m) of budgetary support. The granting of the export licence for the $40m system by the British government in December last year sparked off heated debates, both within the British government and in Tanzania, as questions were raised over whether Tanzania really needed such an expensive system so soon after being granted debt relief. However, the government seems to be sticking to its decision to buy the system. Tanzanian Finance Minister Basil Mramba recently told Members of Parliament in the capital, Dodoma, that it would not shy away from this position. "We refuse to be told what to do, even if we are poor. We are even prepared to eat grass, let them withdraw aid if they choose to," he said, referring the British government's decision to freeze $14 million worth of aid support to Tanzania. Within the British government, Short has been the most vocal critic of the decision and has even questioned whether the deal "could have been made cleanly", but she was overruled in a reported cabinet row. The development minister has criticised the procedures involved, saying she found it extraordinary that the system was being built and paid for before the export licence had been granted and the report completed to see if it really was what Tanzania needed. "It was an absolute condition of Tanzania's completing its debt relief process with the IMF and the World Bank, that they gave a written undertaking that they would not go on with this contract until it had been reviewed and the World Bank would help them find...the best value for money," Short was quoted saying on Britain's Sky News television channel. This report, commissioned by the World Bank and compiled by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), has been completed but, so far, its findings have not been published. However, in the UK, the 'Guardian' recently said the report "brands the system a complete waste of money", that ICAO experts describe the system as "dated technology" and that an alternative system could have been bought for "around a tenth of the £28m ($40m) price". Reacting to these revelations, Prof. Ibrahim Lipumba, Chairman of the Civic United Front (CUF), a prominent opposition party in Tanzania, has called on the government to demand a refund of the money already paid and to sue BAe for supplying a system that is reported to be outdated. He has also called for a special investigation into the government's purchase of the radar. Amidst much speculation and what a local paper has called a "media blackout", observers say Short's visit is sure to arouse much interest both in terms of the air traffic control deal and Britain's future aid to the country.