BongoTz
JF-Expert Member
- Nov 3, 2006
- 272
- 3
For those few sane people out there who really want to see some real and lasting change to this country of ours we call Tanzania; you'll totally value what I'm about to say. But for those few ones who like to take pleasure in the temporally excitement of the moment, you won't understand a thing. Instead, you'll probably go back to your default mode and start arguing, shouting, yelling and/or perhaps cursing at me.
It's not right, but it's ok.
Now, whether you like it or not, after the dust has well and unjustly settled, Kikwete and his insanely misguided henchmen will go back to the State House for five more boring and tedious years, again. You can whine, complain, scream, cry or even quit-but that won't make any difference. Why? Because early estimates suggest/indicate that Mkwere will win the presidency by 64.2%-71.8% margin.
[Sh*t!]Yeah, that's what I said, too.
Anyway, Dr. Slaa, Mtamwega, and Lipumba have done their part already. They have already kicked off the door [wide open] for the rest of us. They have started/sparked the blaze of change, and now it's our turn to step in/up and finish the job.
It's quite simple, folks: if you really want change, you need to get off your butts and go out there and fight for it. Nobody is going to give it to you freely. Gandhi knew it. Dr. King knew it. Mkwawa knew it. Cesar Chavez knew it. Malcolm X knew it. Mandela knew it. And yes, you and I too should know that!
And even though the tactics which were employed by these few brave individuals back then were somewhat different, there's one thing we can all agree-that-they didn't sit on their butts and expect someone to just hand them what they desperately needed [i.e., change].
They had to [literally] go out there and fight for it. And that's exactly what we should be shooting for. In plain English, it's time for a new plan/tactic. [Well, that doesn't mean that you should go out there and get violent].
What exactly do I mean by that? By that I mean it's time now to seriously start planning for the next election [2015] by doing the followings:-
[1] Launching a well-coordinated nationwide voters education campaign [especially in rural areas] educating voters to look out for their socio-economic interests rather than continuing drinking the same flavored CCM Kool-aid.
[2] Starting an early voter-registration drive (don't wait till 2014 to start)-targeting young people/students (who are most likely to vote Mageuzi). In addition to that, concerted lobbying efforts/measures should be put in place to make sure that what happened to many students in this year's election [calculated disenfranchisement] never happen again.
[3] It's time we go high-tech. We need to create a compressive voter database. Let me explain what I mean by that. Ah, one of the most central parts of any modern campaign is to make certain that its own loyal supporters go to the polls on Election Day and actually cast ballots to their candidate. And in order to do that, a comprehensive voter database is very, very crucial. The point here is: we need to develop a new tactic on how we campaign and/or mobilize voters and get away from the old primitive ways of campaigning. We need to be able to dissect considerable segment of the electorate and understand their voting pattern. In this day and age, we should at least be able to know how many supporters we have in each ward, district, and region. We need also to know the voting history of these potential voters [i.e., do they vote frequently or infrequently. And if infrequently, we need to know why?]. I'm pretty sure there must be some sort of efficient yet low-priced voter database management software out there that can help us accomplish this goal.
And so, my fellow countrymen, in weeks and months ahead, I'll be officially starting what I call "a listening tour" [you too are invited to join]. In this tour, I'll likely criss-cross every small-town and city in Tanzania-starting in my home district, Tarime (trying to understand why the hell did the voters there voted for that Nyangwine guy?!). From there, my next stop will be Nyamagana, Mwanza (to congratulate the voters for staying vigilant in this election), then Marangu (drink two or three Kili baridi). From Marangu, will stop in Nzega, and then to that other district [whatever its name is]. The aim here is to enlist all Tanzanians to believe in themselves, and to tie that belief to highest ideals that-"There is nothing wrong with Tanzania that can not be cured with what is right with Tanzania."
One may curiously ask, "Mr. BongoTz, sir: why are you doing this?" The answer is simple: I-a-m not a q-u-i-t-t-e-r, and so are you my friends [I believe].
We won't quit fighting until a true democracy in Tanzania is realized. Oh no, we won't quit fighting for few underdogs (especially in rural areas) who have no clean drinking water and other basic necessity of life like food, clothes, and shelter. No, we can't quit now.
But the question still remains: will you join me?
P.S. what you think we should do next [any suggestion]?
It's not right, but it's ok.
Now, whether you like it or not, after the dust has well and unjustly settled, Kikwete and his insanely misguided henchmen will go back to the State House for five more boring and tedious years, again. You can whine, complain, scream, cry or even quit-but that won't make any difference. Why? Because early estimates suggest/indicate that Mkwere will win the presidency by 64.2%-71.8% margin.
[Sh*t!]Yeah, that's what I said, too.
Anyway, Dr. Slaa, Mtamwega, and Lipumba have done their part already. They have already kicked off the door [wide open] for the rest of us. They have started/sparked the blaze of change, and now it's our turn to step in/up and finish the job.
It's quite simple, folks: if you really want change, you need to get off your butts and go out there and fight for it. Nobody is going to give it to you freely. Gandhi knew it. Dr. King knew it. Mkwawa knew it. Cesar Chavez knew it. Malcolm X knew it. Mandela knew it. And yes, you and I too should know that!
And even though the tactics which were employed by these few brave individuals back then were somewhat different, there's one thing we can all agree-that-they didn't sit on their butts and expect someone to just hand them what they desperately needed [i.e., change].
They had to [literally] go out there and fight for it. And that's exactly what we should be shooting for. In plain English, it's time for a new plan/tactic. [Well, that doesn't mean that you should go out there and get violent].
What exactly do I mean by that? By that I mean it's time now to seriously start planning for the next election [2015] by doing the followings:-
[1] Launching a well-coordinated nationwide voters education campaign [especially in rural areas] educating voters to look out for their socio-economic interests rather than continuing drinking the same flavored CCM Kool-aid.
[2] Starting an early voter-registration drive (don't wait till 2014 to start)-targeting young people/students (who are most likely to vote Mageuzi). In addition to that, concerted lobbying efforts/measures should be put in place to make sure that what happened to many students in this year's election [calculated disenfranchisement] never happen again.
[3] It's time we go high-tech. We need to create a compressive voter database. Let me explain what I mean by that. Ah, one of the most central parts of any modern campaign is to make certain that its own loyal supporters go to the polls on Election Day and actually cast ballots to their candidate. And in order to do that, a comprehensive voter database is very, very crucial. The point here is: we need to develop a new tactic on how we campaign and/or mobilize voters and get away from the old primitive ways of campaigning. We need to be able to dissect considerable segment of the electorate and understand their voting pattern. In this day and age, we should at least be able to know how many supporters we have in each ward, district, and region. We need also to know the voting history of these potential voters [i.e., do they vote frequently or infrequently. And if infrequently, we need to know why?]. I'm pretty sure there must be some sort of efficient yet low-priced voter database management software out there that can help us accomplish this goal.
And so, my fellow countrymen, in weeks and months ahead, I'll be officially starting what I call "a listening tour" [you too are invited to join]. In this tour, I'll likely criss-cross every small-town and city in Tanzania-starting in my home district, Tarime (trying to understand why the hell did the voters there voted for that Nyangwine guy?!). From there, my next stop will be Nyamagana, Mwanza (to congratulate the voters for staying vigilant in this election), then Marangu (drink two or three Kili baridi). From Marangu, will stop in Nzega, and then to that other district [whatever its name is]. The aim here is to enlist all Tanzanians to believe in themselves, and to tie that belief to highest ideals that-"There is nothing wrong with Tanzania that can not be cured with what is right with Tanzania."
One may curiously ask, "Mr. BongoTz, sir: why are you doing this?" The answer is simple: I-a-m not a q-u-i-t-t-e-r, and so are you my friends [I believe].
We won't quit fighting until a true democracy in Tanzania is realized. Oh no, we won't quit fighting for few underdogs (especially in rural areas) who have no clean drinking water and other basic necessity of life like food, clothes, and shelter. No, we can't quit now.
But the question still remains: will you join me?
P.S. what you think we should do next [any suggestion]?
