Benjamin Mkapa

Infobox President
name=Benjamin Mkapa
order=3rd President of Tanzania
term_start=November 23 1995
term_end=December 21,2005
Prime Minister=Frederick Sumaye
predecessor=Ali Hassan Mwinyi
successor= Jakaya Kikwete
birth_date=Birth date and age|1938|11|12|mf=y
birth_place=Mtwara, Tanzania
party=CCM
spouse=Anna Mkapa

Benjamin William Mkapa (born November 12, 1938) is a former President of the United Republic of Tanzania (1995 - 2005) and former Chairman for the Revolutionary State Party (Chama Cha Mapinduzi, CCM).

Biography

Mkapa is a graduate of Makerere University. Previous posts include being the administrative officer in Dodoma and the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education. He also led the Tanzania mission to the United States and was the Foreign affairs Minister from 1977 to 1980 and from 1984 to 1990.

Mkapa's second 5-year term of office as President ended in December 2005. During this term Mkapa continued the liberalization of the economy that began under his predecessor Ali Hassan Mwinyi. He privatized most of the state owned corporations and pursued free market policies designed to attract foreign investment.

His supporters argued that attracting foreign investment was the only way to achieve economic growth. His policies won the support of the World Bank and IMF and resulted in the cancellation of some of Tanzania's foreign debts.

He has also, however, drawn criticism for his lavish spending. He spent £15 million on a private presidential jet, as well as almost £30 million on military aviation equipment which experts deemed beyond the limited needs of the country's armed forces. It was over the latter purchase that then British International Development Secretary Clare Short expressed public outrage, resulting in her becoming known as 'Mama Radar' in the Tanzanian press.

Having left office due to a two term limit, Mkapa is dogged by many accusations of corruption among them improperly appropriating himself and his former finance Minister Daniel Yona the lucrative "Kiwira Coal Mine" in the southern highlands of Tanzania without following procedures.

External links

* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitextlo/int_benjaminmkapa.html 2001 interview with "Public Broadcasting Station"]
* [http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/dec2001/tanz-d29.shtml "British government split over Tanzanian radar system"]
* [http://www.ippmedia.com/ipp/guardian/2007/02/01/83504.html "Blair blasted over Tanzania radar deal"]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/2044206.stm "Tanzania radar deal "waste of cash""]
* [http://www.thisday.co.tz/News/2497.html "Kiwira coal power project ownership:The Mkapa-Yona link"]