DAR ES SALAAM, Nov. 13 -- IT is easy to roll our eyes at the word project. We have heard it before namely in the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), Bus Rapid Transit, especially in Dar es Salaam-the Dar es Salaam Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT), water schemes, energy plants all spoken about as if they belong to some distant “they” in government offices.

But here is a truth we must all embrace: These projects are ours. The Standard Gauge Railway carries Tanzanians whether one is a farmer, politician, doctor and so on. The Dar es Salaam Bus Rapid Transit does not move ministers; it moves mothers, students and young hustlers chasing their next opportunity. Every drop of clean water from a public borehole quenches a citizens thirst, no...