Thursday 31 October 2013

Chama Cha Mapinduzi and Kikwete presidential legacy



Dr Azaveli Feza Lwatama  
By Azaveli Lwaitama,The citizen

Posted  Thursday, October 31  2013 at  00:00
In Summary
Tanzanians of goodwill must be relishing the idea that allegations of corruption within the leadership ranks of the ruling party is coming from none other than President Kikwete who is also the CCM national chairman.


In a PhD study, titled ‘Challenges for Democratisation Process in Tanzania: Moving Towards Consolidation 50 years After Independence?’ submitted to the School of Global Studies of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, in 2011, a Swedish scholar, Jonas Ewaild, makes the following telling observations:
“The rate of positive change towards (liberal) democracy has declined in recent years, and even back-lashed in a number of states in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA). Authoritarian forms of rule continue, or even increase, but within a framework of formal democracy with regular elections.”
The above observations can to be read in the context of the current debate in the Tanzania media regarding criticism attributed to President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, to the effect that the party that has been in political power in Tanzania since independence, CCM, is being warned to mend its ways with respect to how it handles allegations of corruption within its ranks as a means for gaining political office or else it risks losing power come at the next general election in 2015.
Critical thinking suggests that it is possible that Mr Kikwete, who completes his second and last five year presidential term in office in October 2015, may be wishing to leave behind a legacy of having been a president of a ruling party in Africa who, nevertheless, refused to assist his party, to continue to be in power after he left office, whatever means it used, including corrupt ones, in ensuring that it remained in power.
Perhaps the President has sensed from his frequent travels abroad that respect for African heads of states is dented by observations such as the one by the Swedish scholar quoted at the beginning of this think piece to the effect that African presidents, elected or unelected, often come to power through elections that do not reflect the will of their people.
As Jonas Ewaild observed, the African people are put through the motions of appearing to be electing their leaders, while, in a way, the leaders actually elect themselves either through the use of election bribery or intimidation of opposition parties through the use of state instruments of coercion.
This will seem to explain the claim by that Swedish scholar to the effect that, as quoted earlier, “Authoritarian forms of rule continue, or even increase, but within a framework of formal democracy with regular elections.”
Tanzanians of goodwill must be relishing the idea that allegations of corruption within the leadership ranks of the ruling party is coming from none other than President Kikwete who is also the CCM national chairman.
These Tanzanians of goodwill must be wishing that this is yet another sign that President Kikwete is seeking to do what is good for his country and therefore perfect for leaving behind a good legacy of being a champion of greater democratic change in African than is the case with many of his fellow African leaders.
Furthermore, perhaps, the move he took of meeting leaders of opposition political parties who had earlier boycotted the passing of an amendment to Constitutional Review Amendment Act of 2012 last September, after which he directed that the Constitutional Review Amendment Act of 2013 that he had just signed into law be subjected to further amendment in the
Parliamentary session that commenced on Tuesday is the other sign that he is prepared to antagonise himself with his party colleagues if this would improve prospects of his leaving behind a good legacy of having been a facilitator of rather than a hindrance to democratic change.
Who know he may even earn himself the coveted Mo Ibrahim Prize for Presidential Leadership in Africa, which has had no winners for some years now. Tanzanians of goodwill must furthermore now be praying to providence to guide their leader to be able to act on his criticism of those in his party who seem to be bent on rocking his good legacy boat. He could for example, declare publically, from the outset, that if the CCM Parliamentarians, in the Parliamentary session that commences this week, refuse to pass the required amendments to the Constitutional Review Amendment Act of 2013 he will dissolve Parliament and call snap parliamentary poll! These are the amendments that have been put forward by a meeting last week of the top national leaders of all the political parties, including CCM, under the auspices of Tanzania Centre for Democracy.

SOURCE: the citizen