Siku ya Jumatano 30 Septemba 09 Judge Warioba alinukuliwa na vyombo vya habari hapa nchini akizungumzia mambo mbali mbali ikiwemo na swala la ufisadi. Aligusia kuhusu ufisadi wa EPA, Meremeta na n.k.
Miaka miwili iliyopita wakati Dr. Slaa na wenzake walipoanika ile orodha ya mafisadi maarufu kama List of Shame pale Mwembe Yanga, Judge Warioba alikuwa ni mmojawapo wa watu mashuhuri (mwingine Kingunge) waliojitokeza hadharani na kuwabeza wakina Dr. Slaa. Akasema wanatupotezea muda kwa mambo ya kipuuzi badala ya kuongelea Kilimo.
Miaka miwili baadaye Judge Warioba siyo yule wa 2007 (he has turned full circle)! 2007 niliandika makala ya kiingereza kwenye ThisDay kuhusu Judge Warioba na Mzee Butiku katika dhana ya kukemea ufisadi ndani ya CCM wakati huo. Nimeona vizuri niitoe hii makala tena kwenye JF wenye muda waisome na kulinganisha hali ya sasa.
Read on:
We are living in interesting times and enjoying every moment of it. When we thought the excitement and dust raised by the list of shame was settling down we got a dramatic treatment from of a rather strange source. Nobody expected Mzee Joseph Butiku to come from relative political obscurity to propel himself straight to the political center stage of this country. Mzee Butiku has stolen the limelight from Judge Joseph Warioba who hitherto was highly regarded as the anti graft crusader until a few weeks ago. Judge Warioba seriously undermined his own cause and public standing when he exhibited his true character as a double talker when it comes to serious national issues. No one expected the respectable former prime minister to oscillate from one firm position in the morning to another shaky one in the evening particularly on corruption matters.
Truth to be told. By coming out openly to take sides with the list of shame and defend Mr. Mkapa on the abuse of office assertion, Judge Warioba has sung his political swan song. When it became clear that Judge Warioba was going down and out as a serious anti-graft crusader, Mzee Butiku jumped onto the ring to salvage the situation. It seems Mzee Butiku does not believe in shadow boxing as a fighting tactic. As we shall see shortly, the old man stormed onto the stage throwing punches while stinging like a bee and floating like a butterfly as the boxing legend Muhamad Ali used to boast.
Mzee Butiku decided to break his silence on the current political crisis in the country on 14th October 2007 during the public discussion held at the University of Dar Es Salaam. The timing and the subject in question was perfect because it coincided with the commemoration of 8th anniversary of Mwalimu J. K. Nyereres (RIP) death. The anti-graft and good leadership ethics topic was Mwalimus personal crusade in his entire adult life. When his time came to speak, Mzee Butiku did not mince words at all. He put former President Benjamin Mkapa under the spotlight as he was equally spot on. Mkapa, come clean . he demanded. Silence is sending a wrong signal he chastised! This was in response to recent revelations about Mr. Mkapa unethical behavior while he was a tenant at State House.
Mzee Butiku was not yet done. From Mlimani he went on the campaign trail.His next stop was at a TV talk show; he subsequently gave an interview to the local newspaper and addressed a press conference where he let the genie out of the bottle. Mr. Butiku unleashed a two years old letter, which he wrote in 2005 to President Mkapa in his capacity as the CCM national chairman. Some prominent politicians have since joined Mzee Butikus anti graft choir and the media has since been having a field day.
The reply letterwas kept a secret, save for his few CCM colleagues. It is baffling that it never leaked to the ever prodding local press for two years! No doubt Mzee Butiku decided to make it public after more than two years of waiting for an answer came to naught. Mzee has indeed opened a can of worms. Forget about Dr. Slaas kid stuff at Mwembe Yanga a month ago, Mzee Butiku is zeroing in on the lions. The mightiest in this country, to be precise.
Mr. Joseph Butiku is the current Executive Director of Mwalimu Nyerere foundation (MNF), a former Regional Commissioner, a former Permanent Secretary and a former Presidential Private Secretary (PPS) of the late President J.K. Nyerere. We can therefore conclude that as a close confidant of the father of the nation, Mzee Butiku knows with great precision what is talking about when he says Mwalimu abhorred corruption to the core.
Mzee Butiku is wondering very loudly how Mr. Mkapa who entered state house as Mr. Clean could end up being accused of being unscrupulous contrary to his mentors expectations! According to the former PPS, Mr. Mkapa was an incognito and against all odds was literally baby seated, carried and spoon-fed by Mwalimu all the way to the highest office in the land. To observers this is not just an ordinary call to order but a complete dress down of the former president. It takes a man and half to do that especially if you are pointing and wagging your finger to the former president of the United Republic of Tanzania.
Quite frankly very few people, if any, expected this kind of reaction from a man who we can say his political shelf life was fast approaching a sell by date. In his twilight years Mzee Butiku has nothing to hide or fear. Given his stature in this country he is not the type of a person who can be gagged easily. The old man is un-tishable to use contemporary Kiswanglish.
Mzee Butikus letter to President Mkapa is a must read for those who keenly follow the political dynamics in this country. His letter was reproduced in the Tanzania Daima Newspaper of 17th October 2007. In this long letter written in August 2005, it is quite obvious that Mzee Butiku was incensed by five key issues which in his deep conviction required the immediate attention of top CCM leadership. Dear readers, in order to be on the same wavelength with this writer, it is important to note that this letter was coming shortly hot on the heels of the CCM nominations of the presidential candidates which took place in May 2005. Mr. Kikwete was chosen as CCM flag bearer for the general election slated for October 2005.
Mzee Butiku could no longer fathom what he saw as serious shortcomings during what the Americans call primaries to nominate the CCM presidential candidate for 2005 general elections. He therefore decided to fire a salvo at Mr. Mkapa in his capacity as the CCM chairman.
Listen to this;
According to Mzee Butiku, once Mr. Mkapa was at the helm of CCM as a chairman, he started behaving like a rogue village chief turning the party into his personal fiefdom. Mzee Butiku charges that under Mkapa, CCM rules, principles, procedures and guidelines were being circumvented without wider consultations and the chairman was leading the party according to his personal whims. For example, during the presidential primaries in Dodoma the Chairman suddenly and without consultations and good reasons changed CCM voting procedures. Despite the fact that a one-delegate-three votes formula had been re-affirmed at the previous CCM meetings, this method was discarded in favour of a one-delegate-one vote system. Ironically this (the discarded) is the procedure which was used during 1995 CCM presidential primaries were Mr. Mkapa emerged on top for the Ikulu race. Mzee Butiku is wondering why what was good for goose suddenly couldnt be good for the gander? The change of goal posts at the eleventh hour was clearly aimed at short changing certain candidates, Mzee Butiku alleges.
Mzee Butiku gives us some amusing insight on the CCM undercurrents. Apparently CCM Chairman Mkapa and his Vice Chairman, Mr. John Malecela did not see eye to eye. This was a big source of instability and possibly petty squabbling within the top leadership of the party! The hate and more hate (not love) relationship between the two came to the fore during the presidential primaries in May 2005. We are told that Mr. Mkapa single-handedly scuttled Mr. Malecelas presidential candidacy and bulldozed and bamboozled the CCM Central Committee (CC) and the National Executive Committee (NEC) to drop the once-upon-a-time worlds wise man from the presidential race. However, it is clear in this letter that Mr. Malecela did not take it lying down. He put up a spirited fight which culminated in a shouting match between him and the chairman which left the CC and NEC delegates holding their noses and faces in shame! Hapo mpo?
Under Mr. Mkapa, Mzee Butiku goes on, CCM has slowly but surely transformed itself from being a revolutionary and proletariat party into a capitalist and petty bourgeoisie politicking tool. Corruption, a taboo in the old CCM, has now taken center stage rationalized under a cleverly crafted Takrima law to justify vote buying and jockeying for positions in the party. Money speaks has become the new CCMs buzzword. Mzee Butiku does not mince words. He says Mr. Mkapa openly and without any remorse looked the other side when certain candidates through their well known branded ATMs (Automatic Teller Machines) were openly dispensing cash for votes to CCM general conference delegates. Mzee Butika does not hide the fact that he believes that the eventual winner of CCM presidential race was clearly nominated on a corruption platform. How can such a leader pursue an anti-graft stance when he is from the same mould? He asks.
Mzee Butiku goes further to allege that during the presidential primaries chairman Mkapa deliberately shunned from taking action against open xenophobic tendencies which marred the nomination exercise. In particular Dr, Salum H. Salum, one of the CCM presidential contenders, was singled out and targeted simply because of his colour and historical background. Mzee Butiku says that this fact alone must have made the late Mwalimu turn his grave given the fact that one of CCM cardinal principals is anti racism. To add salt to an injury Dr. Salum was not given a chance to argue his case in the CC and the NEC when issues of Dr. Salums colour and his previous party affiliation were brought up. Mzee Butiku argues that this was the last nail in the coffin of Dr. Salums presidential ambition on a CCM ticket.
Mzee Butiku is of the view that under Mr. Mkapas watch, CCM had become a top-down management outfit. Collective leadership was put on a backburner because the chairman preferred to lead in isolation, Mr. Butiku charges. Top leaders of the party were no longer interacting with the chairman freely and requests to have party meetings went unattended in the chairmans in-tray only to be sent to the trash bin. The once amiable Mkapa had become quite unsociable and no member could dare cross his path during party deliberations. As a result monologue has replaced dialogue during CCM party meetings. In short chairman Mkapa was CCM and the CCM was for Mr. Mkapa! Mzee Butiku concludes.
Let us pause for a moment and try to make sense of this infamous letter. Did Mzee Butiku believe from the bottom of his heart that Mr. Mkapa would reply this mother of all letters? Frankly I do not think so. Likewise I do not think the former president is going to come out to tell his side of the story any time soon. May be in his memoirs if there are any. For instance, do we honestly expect Mr. Mkapa to deny the allegations that he has an animal in his rich kraal going by the name of ANBEN, born and groomed while he was a chief at state house? It will be quite laughable for him to call the press and deny that on behalf of our creator he did not bequeath Kiwira Coal Mine to his favorite son as caretaker on behalf of all Tanzanians? Can he deny that Kiwira Coal Mine was not given as a just token of appreciation to his in-law advocate for marrying off his beautiful daughter to his son? That while this daylight robbery was going on, the minister responsible for energy and minerals, Bwana Daniel Yona, could not just look on like a fool and had to join the fray to share the spoils?
With Kiwira Coal Mine, a money minting machine, under Mkapas family grip what is five million dollars from the Mo Ibrahim Prize? It is chicken feed. We have to be patient because it is a bit early in the day to call upon the retired president to declare his balance sheet when the auditors are still number crunching to establish his exact net worth. Anyone who thinks Mr. Mkapa is going to waste his precious time to answer the obvious should look for nearest psychiatrist. Let us stop this petty jealous (wivu wa kike) and go for serious issues like tilling our farms as Judge Warioba suggests.
Having said that. I think we owe Mzee Butiku a big ovation. His letter is an eye opener to some of us. Thanks to Mzee Butiku we now have first hand information on what actually transpired during May 2005 CCM presidential nominations. It was intrigues and manipulations all the way. We are now aware that the CCM which glitters from outside is actually fake inside. It is a what the Bahaya call a Kikwangala . We now have a better perspective why the new CCM is quite a different party from the Old Nyerereist CCM. The new CCM is just a shadow of the old self! Thanks to Mzee Butiku, we now understand better why the current top leadership is handling creeping Kleptocracy with kids gloves and paying a lip service to the anti-graft efforts in our country with Richmond and Buzwagi leading a peck of scandals.
We are able to see where the president and the likes of Judge Warioba are coming from when they talk about corruption in generalities and not specifics as a veteran journalist Hilal K. Sued said the other day. We can no longer believe the President when he says that his presidency is not a joint venture with anyone. From Mr. Butikus letter it is quite obvious that Mr. Kikwete presidency is indeed a private joint venture and not even a public one at that! We can now say with a high degree of confidence that the so called invincibility of CCM is just a myth. That what the opposition parties in Tanzania need is to produce a Raila Odinga to bring CCM crumbling like a pack of cards just like KANU caved in during 2002 elections in Kenya.
It is said that a week is a very long time in politics. Mzee Butiku has been in the political limelight for just two weeks and Tanzania will never be the same.
Byase Luteke
Contact: byasel@hotmail.com
Miaka miwili iliyopita wakati Dr. Slaa na wenzake walipoanika ile orodha ya mafisadi maarufu kama List of Shame pale Mwembe Yanga, Judge Warioba alikuwa ni mmojawapo wa watu mashuhuri (mwingine Kingunge) waliojitokeza hadharani na kuwabeza wakina Dr. Slaa. Akasema wanatupotezea muda kwa mambo ya kipuuzi badala ya kuongelea Kilimo.
Miaka miwili baadaye Judge Warioba siyo yule wa 2007 (he has turned full circle)! 2007 niliandika makala ya kiingereza kwenye ThisDay kuhusu Judge Warioba na Mzee Butiku katika dhana ya kukemea ufisadi ndani ya CCM wakati huo. Nimeona vizuri niitoe hii makala tena kwenye JF wenye muda waisome na kulinganisha hali ya sasa.
Read on:
HOW MZEE BUTIKU STOLE THE LIMELIGHT FROM JUDGE WARIOBA
We are living in interesting times and enjoying every moment of it. When we thought the excitement and dust raised by the list of shame was settling down we got a dramatic treatment from of a rather strange source. Nobody expected Mzee Joseph Butiku to come from relative political obscurity to propel himself straight to the political center stage of this country. Mzee Butiku has stolen the limelight from Judge Joseph Warioba who hitherto was highly regarded as the anti graft crusader until a few weeks ago. Judge Warioba seriously undermined his own cause and public standing when he exhibited his true character as a double talker when it comes to serious national issues. No one expected the respectable former prime minister to oscillate from one firm position in the morning to another shaky one in the evening particularly on corruption matters.
Truth to be told. By coming out openly to take sides with the list of shame and defend Mr. Mkapa on the abuse of office assertion, Judge Warioba has sung his political swan song. When it became clear that Judge Warioba was going down and out as a serious anti-graft crusader, Mzee Butiku jumped onto the ring to salvage the situation. It seems Mzee Butiku does not believe in shadow boxing as a fighting tactic. As we shall see shortly, the old man stormed onto the stage throwing punches while stinging like a bee and floating like a butterfly as the boxing legend Muhamad Ali used to boast.
Mzee Butiku decided to break his silence on the current political crisis in the country on 14th October 2007 during the public discussion held at the University of Dar Es Salaam. The timing and the subject in question was perfect because it coincided with the commemoration of 8th anniversary of Mwalimu J. K. Nyereres (RIP) death. The anti-graft and good leadership ethics topic was Mwalimus personal crusade in his entire adult life. When his time came to speak, Mzee Butiku did not mince words at all. He put former President Benjamin Mkapa under the spotlight as he was equally spot on. Mkapa, come clean . he demanded. Silence is sending a wrong signal he chastised! This was in response to recent revelations about Mr. Mkapa unethical behavior while he was a tenant at State House.
Mzee Butiku was not yet done. From Mlimani he went on the campaign trail.His next stop was at a TV talk show; he subsequently gave an interview to the local newspaper and addressed a press conference where he let the genie out of the bottle. Mr. Butiku unleashed a two years old letter, which he wrote in 2005 to President Mkapa in his capacity as the CCM national chairman. Some prominent politicians have since joined Mzee Butikus anti graft choir and the media has since been having a field day.
The reply letterwas kept a secret, save for his few CCM colleagues. It is baffling that it never leaked to the ever prodding local press for two years! No doubt Mzee Butiku decided to make it public after more than two years of waiting for an answer came to naught. Mzee has indeed opened a can of worms. Forget about Dr. Slaas kid stuff at Mwembe Yanga a month ago, Mzee Butiku is zeroing in on the lions. The mightiest in this country, to be precise.
Mr. Joseph Butiku is the current Executive Director of Mwalimu Nyerere foundation (MNF), a former Regional Commissioner, a former Permanent Secretary and a former Presidential Private Secretary (PPS) of the late President J.K. Nyerere. We can therefore conclude that as a close confidant of the father of the nation, Mzee Butiku knows with great precision what is talking about when he says Mwalimu abhorred corruption to the core.
Mzee Butiku is wondering very loudly how Mr. Mkapa who entered state house as Mr. Clean could end up being accused of being unscrupulous contrary to his mentors expectations! According to the former PPS, Mr. Mkapa was an incognito and against all odds was literally baby seated, carried and spoon-fed by Mwalimu all the way to the highest office in the land. To observers this is not just an ordinary call to order but a complete dress down of the former president. It takes a man and half to do that especially if you are pointing and wagging your finger to the former president of the United Republic of Tanzania.
Quite frankly very few people, if any, expected this kind of reaction from a man who we can say his political shelf life was fast approaching a sell by date. In his twilight years Mzee Butiku has nothing to hide or fear. Given his stature in this country he is not the type of a person who can be gagged easily. The old man is un-tishable to use contemporary Kiswanglish.
Mzee Butikus letter to President Mkapa is a must read for those who keenly follow the political dynamics in this country. His letter was reproduced in the Tanzania Daima Newspaper of 17th October 2007. In this long letter written in August 2005, it is quite obvious that Mzee Butiku was incensed by five key issues which in his deep conviction required the immediate attention of top CCM leadership. Dear readers, in order to be on the same wavelength with this writer, it is important to note that this letter was coming shortly hot on the heels of the CCM nominations of the presidential candidates which took place in May 2005. Mr. Kikwete was chosen as CCM flag bearer for the general election slated for October 2005.
Mzee Butiku could no longer fathom what he saw as serious shortcomings during what the Americans call primaries to nominate the CCM presidential candidate for 2005 general elections. He therefore decided to fire a salvo at Mr. Mkapa in his capacity as the CCM chairman.
Listen to this;
According to Mzee Butiku, once Mr. Mkapa was at the helm of CCM as a chairman, he started behaving like a rogue village chief turning the party into his personal fiefdom. Mzee Butiku charges that under Mkapa, CCM rules, principles, procedures and guidelines were being circumvented without wider consultations and the chairman was leading the party according to his personal whims. For example, during the presidential primaries in Dodoma the Chairman suddenly and without consultations and good reasons changed CCM voting procedures. Despite the fact that a one-delegate-three votes formula had been re-affirmed at the previous CCM meetings, this method was discarded in favour of a one-delegate-one vote system. Ironically this (the discarded) is the procedure which was used during 1995 CCM presidential primaries were Mr. Mkapa emerged on top for the Ikulu race. Mzee Butiku is wondering why what was good for goose suddenly couldnt be good for the gander? The change of goal posts at the eleventh hour was clearly aimed at short changing certain candidates, Mzee Butiku alleges.
Mzee Butiku gives us some amusing insight on the CCM undercurrents. Apparently CCM Chairman Mkapa and his Vice Chairman, Mr. John Malecela did not see eye to eye. This was a big source of instability and possibly petty squabbling within the top leadership of the party! The hate and more hate (not love) relationship between the two came to the fore during the presidential primaries in May 2005. We are told that Mr. Mkapa single-handedly scuttled Mr. Malecelas presidential candidacy and bulldozed and bamboozled the CCM Central Committee (CC) and the National Executive Committee (NEC) to drop the once-upon-a-time worlds wise man from the presidential race. However, it is clear in this letter that Mr. Malecela did not take it lying down. He put up a spirited fight which culminated in a shouting match between him and the chairman which left the CC and NEC delegates holding their noses and faces in shame! Hapo mpo?
Under Mr. Mkapa, Mzee Butiku goes on, CCM has slowly but surely transformed itself from being a revolutionary and proletariat party into a capitalist and petty bourgeoisie politicking tool. Corruption, a taboo in the old CCM, has now taken center stage rationalized under a cleverly crafted Takrima law to justify vote buying and jockeying for positions in the party. Money speaks has become the new CCMs buzzword. Mzee Butiku does not mince words. He says Mr. Mkapa openly and without any remorse looked the other side when certain candidates through their well known branded ATMs (Automatic Teller Machines) were openly dispensing cash for votes to CCM general conference delegates. Mzee Butika does not hide the fact that he believes that the eventual winner of CCM presidential race was clearly nominated on a corruption platform. How can such a leader pursue an anti-graft stance when he is from the same mould? He asks.
Mzee Butiku goes further to allege that during the presidential primaries chairman Mkapa deliberately shunned from taking action against open xenophobic tendencies which marred the nomination exercise. In particular Dr, Salum H. Salum, one of the CCM presidential contenders, was singled out and targeted simply because of his colour and historical background. Mzee Butiku says that this fact alone must have made the late Mwalimu turn his grave given the fact that one of CCM cardinal principals is anti racism. To add salt to an injury Dr. Salum was not given a chance to argue his case in the CC and the NEC when issues of Dr. Salums colour and his previous party affiliation were brought up. Mzee Butiku argues that this was the last nail in the coffin of Dr. Salums presidential ambition on a CCM ticket.
Mzee Butiku is of the view that under Mr. Mkapas watch, CCM had become a top-down management outfit. Collective leadership was put on a backburner because the chairman preferred to lead in isolation, Mr. Butiku charges. Top leaders of the party were no longer interacting with the chairman freely and requests to have party meetings went unattended in the chairmans in-tray only to be sent to the trash bin. The once amiable Mkapa had become quite unsociable and no member could dare cross his path during party deliberations. As a result monologue has replaced dialogue during CCM party meetings. In short chairman Mkapa was CCM and the CCM was for Mr. Mkapa! Mzee Butiku concludes.
Let us pause for a moment and try to make sense of this infamous letter. Did Mzee Butiku believe from the bottom of his heart that Mr. Mkapa would reply this mother of all letters? Frankly I do not think so. Likewise I do not think the former president is going to come out to tell his side of the story any time soon. May be in his memoirs if there are any. For instance, do we honestly expect Mr. Mkapa to deny the allegations that he has an animal in his rich kraal going by the name of ANBEN, born and groomed while he was a chief at state house? It will be quite laughable for him to call the press and deny that on behalf of our creator he did not bequeath Kiwira Coal Mine to his favorite son as caretaker on behalf of all Tanzanians? Can he deny that Kiwira Coal Mine was not given as a just token of appreciation to his in-law advocate for marrying off his beautiful daughter to his son? That while this daylight robbery was going on, the minister responsible for energy and minerals, Bwana Daniel Yona, could not just look on like a fool and had to join the fray to share the spoils?
With Kiwira Coal Mine, a money minting machine, under Mkapas family grip what is five million dollars from the Mo Ibrahim Prize? It is chicken feed. We have to be patient because it is a bit early in the day to call upon the retired president to declare his balance sheet when the auditors are still number crunching to establish his exact net worth. Anyone who thinks Mr. Mkapa is going to waste his precious time to answer the obvious should look for nearest psychiatrist. Let us stop this petty jealous (wivu wa kike) and go for serious issues like tilling our farms as Judge Warioba suggests.
Having said that. I think we owe Mzee Butiku a big ovation. His letter is an eye opener to some of us. Thanks to Mzee Butiku we now have first hand information on what actually transpired during May 2005 CCM presidential nominations. It was intrigues and manipulations all the way. We are now aware that the CCM which glitters from outside is actually fake inside. It is a what the Bahaya call a Kikwangala . We now have a better perspective why the new CCM is quite a different party from the Old Nyerereist CCM. The new CCM is just a shadow of the old self! Thanks to Mzee Butiku, we now understand better why the current top leadership is handling creeping Kleptocracy with kids gloves and paying a lip service to the anti-graft efforts in our country with Richmond and Buzwagi leading a peck of scandals.
We are able to see where the president and the likes of Judge Warioba are coming from when they talk about corruption in generalities and not specifics as a veteran journalist Hilal K. Sued said the other day. We can no longer believe the President when he says that his presidency is not a joint venture with anyone. From Mr. Butikus letter it is quite obvious that Mr. Kikwete presidency is indeed a private joint venture and not even a public one at that! We can now say with a high degree of confidence that the so called invincibility of CCM is just a myth. That what the opposition parties in Tanzania need is to produce a Raila Odinga to bring CCM crumbling like a pack of cards just like KANU caved in during 2002 elections in Kenya.
It is said that a week is a very long time in politics. Mzee Butiku has been in the political limelight for just two weeks and Tanzania will never be the same.
Byase Luteke
Contact: byasel@hotmail.com
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