NEWS about the setting up of an Endowment Trust Fund named after the late Zanzibar and then Union president Ali Hassan Mwinyi, lodged with the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), will definitely be well received in many quarters. Past national leaders are dotted with foundations to uphold their legacy, the late president Mwinyi is now being honoured in the way. Zanzibar President Dr Hussein Mwinyi was fittingly asked to officiate inauguration, even as the endowment fund looks pretty close to a state-based initiative, not the leader’s family.

The Zanzibar leader symbolically handed over the chancellor’s academic regalia to the Mwinyi family and laid the foundation stone for the new College of Medicine, to be attached with the Mloganzila branch of the national hospital. There were intense expressions of support for MUHAS, since the education sector is crucial for strengthening the healthcare system, as MUHAS enrolls 30,000 students annually. Still, areas where the newly established endowment fund would play a role in advancing MUHAS educational and research goals need to be reset.

The minister responsible for Education, Science and Technology affirmed the government's commitment to supporting the endowment fund, noting that the board of trustees had been asked to submit a formal proposal so that the government can allocate funds for the endowment in the coming financial year. This can explain why there was no clear distinction in enumerating areas where funds from this endowment will be used, as different from routine budgetary support for MUHAS for that matter. There were remarks that the endowment fund will be pivotal in enhancing expertise and improving healthcare services, supporting students through scholarships, bursaries and grants, ensuring equitable access to quality education for diversely picked students.

The difficulty comes up in adding expectations that the fund’s resources will be also used to help develop modern teaching and research facilities, setting up state-of-the-art laboratories and advanced technologies to enhance teaching, learning and research. That is likely to have been an overstatement, as to add infrastructure some other sort of endowment is needed, for instance any major university wishing to extend its activities, formulas or philosophy in Tanzania, where MUHAS can be the host and the fund be used for soft needs while capital expenditure comes from such institutions.  This is probably what is likely to be advised by the board of trustees formed to oversee its administration, drawn from among experts in finance, investment and legal affairs, MUHAS alumni among them. Their interest lies in the outreach to communities, students.

The first VC at MUHAS who is a prominent adviser in this quest, described the late president as a visionary leader and moral icon who championed education and public service throughout his career. As chancellor he worked to advance MUHAS dreams before national authorities and that proximity has endured, as subsequent national leaders like Benjamin Mkapa and Jakaya Kikwete started endowment funds or foundations with strong attachments to the medical field, etc. Still it remains valid that endowment funds don’t excessively o rely on state subsidies but voluntary contributions, so it is unlikely that they can pick up infrastructure development as a preoccupation.