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Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office responsible for Regional Administration and Local Government (PMO-RALG), Prof Riziki Shemdoe, has urged local government leaders to put aside personal differences and focus on delivering better services to citizens.
Prof Shemdoe said conflicts among leaders and government employees can undermine the effectiveness of local authorities and ultimately affect the quality of services received by citizens.
He made the remarks on Friday, August 21, 2026, while closing the 16th Annual General Meeting of the Tanzania Organisation of Local Government Improvement (TOA), which brought together regional administrative secretaries, council directors and district administrative secretaries in Dodoma.
“Please avoid conflicts among yourselves—between directors and administrative secretaries, directors and district commissioners, regional administrative secretaries and regional commissioners, and between leaders and the employees they supervise. There is no efficiency or development where there are conflicts,” Prof Shemdoe said.
He urged local government officials to resolve differences professionally and work together, stressing that citizens should remain the main focus of government leadership.
“There is no reason for a council director to fight with a council chairperson or mayor,” he said.
Prof Shemdoe said his experience in public administration had shown him that cooperation and mutual respect were critical to effective leadership.
He said he had maintained constructive working relationships with council chairpersons when he served as a council director and with regional commissioners when he served as a regional administrative secretary.
He said local government authorities have a particularly important role because they are the closest level of government to citizens.
“Citizens measure the performance of government largely through the services they receive where they live,” he said, pointing to primary healthcare, basic education, transport and other essential services.
The minister urged leaders to use their knowledge, professional skills and experience to improve service delivery rather than allowing internal disagreements to distract them from their responsibilities.
His remarks come as the government continues to emphasise decentralisation and stronger local government institutions as part of efforts to improve access to public services and accelerate development at the community level.
Prof Shemdoe also thanked President Samia Suluhu Hassan for providing funds to support government institutions and development projects, saying the investment was helping create an environment in which citizens could pursue economic activities and improve their livelihoods.
TOA Chairman Albert Gabriel Msovela assured the minister that the organisation would continue working with the government to advance national development priorities, including the implementation of Tanzania’s Development Vision 2050.
“Through this 16th Annual General Meeting, we will come out with strategies, resolutions and concrete plans that we will share with citizens and implement to bring development to the people,” Mr Msovela said.
The three-day TOA meeting, held from August 19 to 21, was conducted under the theme: “Decentralisation of Power in Local Government Authorities is a Strong Pillar for Achieving Tanzania Development Vision 2050.”
