EMT
Mwisho umesema inabidi CDM wabadili strategy ki vipi wakati mikutano ya hadhara ndiyo njia rahisi ya kuhamasisha wananchi.
Mkuu sorry for a late response. Labda nitarespond sio tuu kwa Chadema bali pia kwa vyama vingine vya upinzani. Hata CCM inabidi ibadilishe strategies za kampeni. Kuna umuhimu mkubwa wa vyama vyote vya siasa kubadilisha njia wanazotumia kuwasiliana na wapiga kura. We need a two ways conversations kati ya wapiga kura na wapigiwa kura. Mikutano ya hadhara do not lead to two way conversation. In fact wanapiga kura wanakuwa neglected; hawapewi nafasi ya kutosha ya kum-scrutinize mgombea. Political parties should not take voters for granted.
Vyama vya upinzani vimefanya mikutano ya hadhara mwaka 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010 but they didn't work out. Watu wengi wanajitokeza kwenye hiyo mikutano ya hadhara ikiwemo hata ile ya CCM lakini ni wangapi wanapiga kura? Kuhamasisha tuu haitoshi. Inabidi kuhakikisha kuwa the voters actually vote for you. Labda tuangalie strategy aliyotumia Obama.
Kwanza Obama kama community organizer alituambua the power of grass-roots campaigns. Tokea mwanzoni strategy yake ilikuwa sio kutafuta big endorsements kwenye mikutano ya hadhara but kujitambulisha kwa wamarekani tena kwa kuanzia Iowa. Obama maintained that if he could win Iowa, it would generate enthusiasm and confidence throughout the rest of the country. Na hivyo ndivyo inavyotakiwa kwa vyama vya upinzani hapa kwetu. Badala ya kung'ang'ania mijini wakajitambulishe vijijini kwanza. By the way majority ya Watanzania wanaishi vijijini.
Badala ya mikutano ya hadhara ambayo mara nyingi ni one way conversation, wakae na watu wajadili issues. Watu wataji-feel open and safe kujadili issues internally bila drama yoyote. Kama huko vijijini wa-recruit timu ambayo lives the people lives that way. Sio unatoa watu mijini waka-campaign vijijini. Build connections huko vijijini kwa kutumia watu wa huko huko. Sina maana kuwa mikutano ya hadhara ni useless, but isiwe ndio kigezo pekee cha kuwasiliana na wapiga kura.
Wape watu the means of participating and keep them informed kwa njia mbalimbali. Hapa nina maana sio wanachama tuu bali watu wote uliokutana nao. Teams zijikite huko vijijini either as volunteers or paid (ruzuku si zipo?) wakiwasiliana na kujadiliana na wanavijiji, wakifanya surveys and building databases.
Badala ya mikutano ya mihadhara hata door to door campaigning ni much better kwa sababu inakuwa two way conversations. At the end of the day, mtu unaweza ukawa na uhakika kuwa kwenye nyumba fulani una guarantee ya kura ngapi. Na inapofika wakati wa kupiga na kuhesabu kura inakuwa rahisi zaidi ku-monitor uchakachuaji wowote kwa sababu tayari utakuwa na preliminary data kuwa kwenye kata fulani ulikuwa unategemea kura ngapi.
Pia asikudangaye mtu personal charisma ni muhimu sana. Obama had a personal charisma that struck a chord deeply in the American psyche. Kwa mfano angalia lack of personal charisma ilivyom-cost Gordon Brown wa Uingereza. You can talk hard about policy za chama, ufisadi etc, lakini kuna umuhimu pia wa kuwa na personal charisma. Persona charisma inatengeneza a national mood. Mfano Rais Sata wa Zambia is a charismatic crowd-puller and this helped him a lot.
Wapo watakaosema kuwa vijijini bado watu wamejikita zaidi kwenye chama cha CCM lakini Obama needed to appeal to white audiences and he suceeded. In short, political professors are now teaching the strategy aliyotumia Obama as a new model for how to campaign for president.
Pia wapo ambao watasema labda kutokana na sababu mbalimbali Obama's strategy inaweza isifanikiwe Afrika. May be lets examine why in just five years, President Sata managed to built an admirably big party, attracting huge crowds at campaign rallies and paid off in the 2006 election, raising 44 legislators in the 150-member National Assembly kabla ya kushinda urais mwaka huu? Kwa nini Chadema na vyama vingine vya upinzani Tanzania vimeshindwa kufanya hivyo tokea mwaka 1995?