BureauCRAZY!

I learned a new word today, bureauCRAZY. Let me give you an example.

Three weeks ago I had asked a member of the city council to do environmental site visits with me, a task which is within the mandate of the work of this department of the city council. She agreed and the visits were planned to start on September 5.

This Monday she called me saying she could no longer assist me due to *familyproblemssomethingorotherthereareamillionexcuseshere* however, she provided me with the phone number of her coworker who could conduct the visits with me.

Bureaucracy headquarters. This is possibly the town's firetruck as well.

I met with this coworker that same day and was immediately struck by how he could not directly answer any of the questions I was asking him. He actually wanted to talk to me about his other side business selling groceries instead. But I persevered with the original purpose of this meeting. He said he needed permission from his boss to work with me next week, so we had to meet with her.

His boss spent the first half of our meeting ignoring me and talking to him in Swahili. Once I butted in and introduced myself politely (Shikamoo madam) she finally paid attention to why I was there. However, every time I started to explain why I was there she would interrupt me with something else. And also was on her phone for half the meeting.

She let me know I had to write an official letter to the city director in order to get permission to do the work with her subordinate next week, so I wrote that letter and sent it the same day.

I called today to see if I can indeed borrow her employee to do the work that is supposedly part of their job tasks anyway. She let me know that I needed to edit the letter to the city director, I needed to change the intro from "Dear sir/madam" to "Dear sir" and there was no way she would send it otherwise.

Okay, I edit the letter and send it back. She calls and lets me know that half of the businesses I am visiting are actually in the Ilemela district, not the Nyamagana district so her department can't do the work there.

Okay, I edit the letter and specify only those businesses in Nyamagana district will be visited. When I asked her who I could talk to on the Ilemela council she said she didn't know, but her subordinate would know.

I called the subordinate and he gave me a name but no, he doesn't have a phone number for that person, and no he doesn't have an address for the Ilemela offices either.

These visits are supposed to start on Monday and I'm further away from getting them done today than I was three weeks ago. Arg!!