71% OF TANZANIANS ARE LAZY!

Jenista Muhagama 1

The Minister for Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Labour, Employment and Youth in the Prime Minister’s Office, Ms. Jenista Mhagama (C) displays the research report with findings that show 71% of Tanzanians are lazy (Photo Credit: Khalfan Said)

By Raymond Mushumbusi, Tanzania Government Information Services (MAELEZO).

 

Recent research conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has found 71% of Tanzanians spend most of their time doing unproductive activity adding no value to their lives and the nation.

The Minister for Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Labour, Employment and Youth in the Prime Minister’s Office, Ms. Jenista Mhagama announced the findings when launching the research report in Dar es Salaam on Thursday, 14 April 2016.

The Minister said that many Tanzanians spend most of their time servicing their bodies, sleeping and doing other leisurely activities instead of doing productive work.

The Statistics clearly show why many Tanzanians are not able to earn money they need for their living, she said.

“My fellow Tanzanians, you find a person sitting in the bar or playing pool table from morning till evining and you are not able to  tell which productive work this person is doing,” the minister said. “It is time we started feeling ashamed.”

 

Jenista Muhagama 2

The Minister for Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Labour, Employment and Youth in the Prime Minister’s Office, Ms. Jenista Mhagama delivers speech in Dar es Salaam. (Photo Credit: Khalfan Said).

 

The research found 18.5% of Tanzanians  were engaged  in productive activity while 10.6% were domestic servants which did not provide wages. Analysis also found  that 23.8% of the men in the country engaged themselves  in economic activity while it was only 13.5% of the women in the country who were engaged in economic activity.

Of the women in the research sample, 16.5% were found to be working in homes without a wage, while only 4.4% of the men were found to be working at home without a wage.

The NBS Director, Dr. Albina Chuwa, said it was his bureau’s hope the research findings would create impetus for new government approaches to solve the unemployment problem through proper engagement with the informal sector.

Dr. Chuwa said this research conducted from December, 2015 was the fifth using population data from  the 2012 census, adding that the research was conducted in collaboration with  a number of stakeholders who included the Ministry of Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Labour, Employment and Youth in the Prime Minister’s Office, the International Labour Organization (ILO),  The World Bank, the African Development Bank (ADB) and non-governmental organizations.