That is a very gloomy picture that you’ve painted.
It’s like there is no hope.
Is there anyone out there who has genuine integrity that can do the job well and restore public trust in government?
I remember Mkapa was sold as such but look how he turned out to be!
The words Mkapa and integrity cancel each other out!!!
Ours is a systemic problem.
Bashiru was very candid when he said CCM does not have a grooming process for young leaders. What he left out, out of respect for the elders perhaps, is that even the elders are not properly covered.
I think it was Socrates who said that, those who shun politics are condemned to be governed by their inferiors.
In our case, I have some sympathy towards those who shun political office. I will explain as concisely as I can.
1. We have so many good people who have a lot of potential.
2. We also have a lot of megalomaniacs driven by naked ambition.
3. The way our system of ascending to power is, the good guys will either weed themselves out by not venturing into politics at all, or, if they do venture, will fail miserably due to a lack of the requisite ruthlessness, machination, lack of integrity etc required to rise. If bribing is a requirement to become an MP, the good guy who refuses bribing will never be an MP, will never get a junior cabinet position, which will elevate him to a full cabinet position and national visibility.
The party politics in the opposition is not that much different.
4. As a result, you are almost guaranteed to have all presidential candidates as professional megalomaniacs who are very good at convincing people with some boilerplate bs, but deep down they are so cynical they make Kiranga look like an optimist.
So you are stuck with this abracadabra. Especially because we have an imperial presidency which, in practice, can hardly be checked.
Short of a benevolent Bodhisattva descending on us by some unlikely strike of lightning, we have the proverbial forty years to wander in the desert before we reach the promise land.
And even with that scenario, I am not sure how many months will he endure before "development fatigue" starts to kick in.
For our problems are legion and our resources are meagre.