See my opinion below following the article!


"Spend more wisely to tame brain drain 2007-05-15 09:39:23 By Editor SOURCE: Guardian

A just-released report by the United Nations Development Programme paints a stark picture of the roll the brain drain is having on Africa. The term `brain drain` gained currency decades ago and refers to the skilled personnel that keep fleeing Africa and other parts of the developing world in hope of finding greener pastures elsewhere, particularly in Europe and North America. The authoritative report says the drain has been costing Africa an annual 200,000 professionals for the past sixteen years. The continent has, meanwhile, been spending a monstrous USD4 billion a year employing 150 expatriates to plug the human skills� gap created by this exodus of its own qualified sons and daughters. Foreign embassies in Tanzania are daily swamped with young Tanzanian talents scuttling for visas to leave the country. For some of those fortunate enough to land overseas scholarships, it is usually goodbye Tanzania. This is as pathetic as it is bothersome when one considers that the local experts flee after having been educated and trained on taxpayers� money. It is especially saddening seeing Tanzania in this sorry state when the economies of some advanced countries are driven by smart Tanzanians living abroad, including doctors and engineers. In a very important way, the brain drain is a self-inflicted calamity that has assumed alarming proportions and it would serve nobody any good if we fail to make our own human capital feel comfortable enough at home to stay. Africa is faced with insidious poverty, diseases and many other social and economic problems. Few of us have ever imagined that fly-by-night power supply and chronic water shortages are a sufficient incentive to make talents hate their motherland. In the midst of omnipresent unemployment, most of our urban centres harbour ever-swelling hordes of young professionals who have long lost hope of finding a decent job. The only logical way they see themselves ending their frustrations is stowing away or turning to crime. Without consistent creation of decent jobs, many of our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora would swiftly resist temptations to return home. UNDP Administrator Kemal Deris calls for an urgent adoption of economic strategies and policies that would enable Africa to make its pattern of growth pro-poor and economic-centred. Measures to eliminate poverty and produce more bread and butter in Africa would act as incentives to Africans in the Diaspora to return home and help in development initiatives. But many African economies will just not refrain from unnecessary public expenditure and massive embezzlement of public funds so as to retain their human capital even by offering better engagement terms. With the continent experiencing the pangs of the erosion of its human capital largely thanks to socio-economic deprivations, stable democracy and human development are hard to attain and figures inspiring economic data will not mean much unless the citizenry gain from the growth factors through decent jobs and decent life. African leaders must create this conducive environment to develop, maintain and retain its human capital." - ends

The money spent to get expatriates there does not always mean that these people are skilled, though many are very enthusiastic and want to help "the poor" for very small sallaries, others just come because they are paid better than home for working under "dangerous" conditions far away from home.

For example: How can an employee of the NMZ (Hamburg Mission, Germany) work in the ELCT diocese in Makete in the years 2003/2004 in in the treasury (as treassurer) and in 2005 an external audit by Tanzanian auditors found out that more than 400.000 Millions were lost from different departments of the diocese?

What happened here?

This probably well paid Expatriate or Missionary was:

1) Not skilled enough to do books or to find out that there were huge losses ? (The Tanzanian expert working there as General Secretary during the last two years (2005/2006) found out in no time that there are "problems" at the diocese. This did not make his life in the church easier, reportedly he was rather threatened instead of supported and thanked for helping to clean the temple.

2) Not willing or able to follow the Tanazanian laws, the constitution or human rights? In so many ways these regulations work against stealing, embezzlements, missmanagement and suppression of the poor and for the right use of ressources to support development. On paper you will find human right support in every NGO or Faith based (e.g. Church) organisation in the world, when it comes to implementation and to fight for the right of your brother and sister.... it obviously starts to get very complicated.

3) Scared to report to the responsible Tanzanian Authorities or her own Mission about the fincanical chaos indicating fraud ? Sometimes expatriates use the excuse that they do not want ot interfere with the souvereignity of the host country or organisation.... is this the right way, even if you work there as an expatriate and even if you learn that the countries laws are violated?

4) Could not read or write?

5) Was not able to do accounting work?

6) Participated in the irregularities, benefitted...?

7) Did not go to work?

8) Was living in a potemkin workplace?

9) was sick all the time...?

10) was.....

In any way it is very strange that a lot of donor money - probably given by the poor kind hearted pensioner in Europe to help the poor orphans in Makete (he is touched when he sees the children of Africa suffering on his TV screen) - ended up in paying a good salary to this "expert" expatriate, the rest ended somewhere ... we do not know... we just know it did not help the poor or their developmement... An expatriate who just messed up without being made responsible! In Germany things would have gone quite differently. Why can expatriates be sent to "poor" countries just to mess up and sometimes earn a good salary?

What is the need and help of such expatriates? Maybe somebody can explain this to me?

I think if Tanzania needs expatriates it should employe them and controll them and should make sure that they are skilled. Mistakes can happen, but have to be corrected and I do not know how to justify such losses.
No open word by the sending missions. No call to the poor to be forgiven. No sign to correct, no sign to find out where the money went. No open announcment ot the responsible authorities - this would be a big scandal in Europe - just Africa?

No clear word and action in the LMC/ELCT reports. Not from the missions, the donors, the country, the churches...

Why are so many of the TV pictures showing poverty in Africa and rarely the pictures of the intelligent enthusiastic young Africans who are keen to challenge their world and develope their societies?

(Do not take me wrong here, I do have a LOT to critizise for many people I met in Tanzania and who were keen to leave Africa, or keen to steal, though always complaining about poverty and that they cannot do anything and that they are poor and colonialsimus is to blame, the worldbank and many other forces but themselves... But I met a lot of others too, very intelligent people - you can meet them everywhere in the world - who tauhgt me a lot about enthusiams and intelligence and idealism - they are not given a chance, sometimes they are blamed - even by foreigne expatriates, unprofessional mission secreatries do not talk to them for example - but issue the next cheque to another "project")

Of course many people in Tanzania are spoild by NGO money, being in the "humanitarian business", they have all colours, all nationalities, different educations, habits,....

The money of the poor european pensioner - and for him 10 US$ a months are a lot - rarely ends up with the poor Makete orphans - these serve just as a billboard to ask for the next donations.

The Makete bishop still drives his new very expensive A/C 4WD, bought from donations - the orphans die, the Makete monies are still not fund - a huge part was given to help the poor!

So, to bring an expatriate is sometimes costly and does not solve problems.

It is a business and the poor have nots serve as advertisment for the next donation. That's their role: To stay poor, so that Do-Gooders and corrupt Elites (from all over the world, citizens and foreigners) can go on to benefit from the business with poverty.

The Have Nots provide them a job, who helps whom here?