Let A Thousand Flowers Grow

[Augustine Moshi]

Was it not only yesterday that we couldn't open our mouths without endangering our lives? I recall vividly my life as a liberal, beer-drinking undergraduate who would be lovingly cautioned by relatives not to talk in town as I did on campus, as that would be dangerous! The status quo then was that what came from the mouth could lead to serious bodily harm. You could be arrested for a crime called "kuongea hovyo". It was such a bad crime that it was not possible to find an English word for it.

Oh, what a difference a few years can make in the life of a nation! Now as you can see on JF and elsewhere, we seem to be free to say what we want. That is as it should be. And, as you may have observed, we do indeed have things to say.

But this freedom seems to bother a few law enforcement officers. I hear that they recently arrested Mtikila and accused him of saying uncomplimentary things about the President. It should never be a criminal offence to say anything about anybody. There could be civil matters in it, but not a criminal offence. If the Laws of Tanzania criminalize the making of derogatory comments about leaders, then they are incompatible with our newfound freedom. They must be changed.

Kenyatta used to say that Kenya "grabbed Independence". In Tanzania we say we "got Independence". Sometimes, we make it worse by saying we were "given Independence". How did we lose our Independence in the first place? Did we "give" it, or did others just "grab" or "rob" us of it? It is astoundingly meek to say that we were "given", or even we "got" independence in 1961. We grabbed, or should have grabbed it.

It remains for us to fully "grab" our freedom from the new rulers. They are from us but are often not for us. We need our full freedom, including the freedom to choose them and say what we think about them. The courts, and not the Police, should deal with any claims of defamation. No arrests should made in such matters because they are not criminal offences. Civil suits do not allow prior arrests.

We have nothing to fear from complete democracy. Let party leaders be chosen by party members. It is a mockery to have the Chairman appoint party executives and have the members approve them. I am, as you may have noticed, thinking about the just ended CCM elections. Every party member should have had the right to be nominated and voted for. It is my considered opinion that if that had happened, then JK would still have emerged Chairman, but the rest of the top party leadership would almost certainly have come out differently. The biggest loser in Dodoma was democracy.

 

[Kitila Mkumbo]

Great stuff, thanks Augustine. Nawe unapotea sana bwana.

 

[Dua]

......................................................

We have nothing to fear from complete democracy. Let party leaders be chosen by party members. It is a mockery to have the Chairman appoint party executives and have the members approve them. I am, as you may have noticed, thinking about the just ended CCM elections. Every party member should have had the right to be nominated and voted for. It is my considered opinion that if that had happened, then JK would still have emerged Chairman, but the rest of the top party leadership would almost certainly have come out differently. The biggest loser in Dodoma was democracy.

In actual fact it was a shame for CCM to allow this to happen on their nose. How can anybody disobey his boss? CCM should change tactics and become more democratic.

 

[Augustine Moshi]

Kitila Mkumbo na Dua,

Kupotea kwangu ni kutokana na majukumu kuwa mengi. Hata hivyo, nategemea kuwa na likizo mwezi Desemba. Nitakuja Dar, na nitakuwepo hapa JF kila siku. Kama mnatembelea maeneo ya Mbezi Beach basi tukutane Karibu Art Gallery majira ya jioni.

Uchaguzi wa viongozi usiokuwa wa demokrasia unaonyesha chama kisichokubali demokrasia. Kwa nini CCM inaogopa demokrasia? Wanaotumia mbinu za kuzima demokrasia kwenye vyama vyao wataweza kudumisha demokrasia ya taifa?

Augustine Moshi

 

[Kithuku]

Kitila Mkumbo na Dua,

Kupotea kwangu ni kutokana na majukumu kuwa mengi. Hata hivyo, nategemea kuwa na likizo mwezi Desemba. Nitakuja Dar, na nitakuwepo hapa JF kila siku. Kama mnatembelea maeneo ya Mbezi Beach basi tukutane Karibu Art Gallery majira ya jioni.

Uchaguzi wa viongozi usiokuwa wa demokrasia unaonyesha chama kisichokubali demokrasia. Kwa nini CCM inaogopa demokrasia? Wanaotumia mbinu za kuzima demokrasia kwenye vyama vyao wataweza kudumisha demokrasia ya taifa?

Augustine Moshi

Mzee Moshi natamani sana ningekuwa Dar muda huo nami niwepo hapo Karibu Art Gallery jioni jioni tungekuwa na mazungumzo yenye uhai sana, mara nyingi nimetamani mazungumzo haya ya hapa JF tungepata nafasi hata once a year kuyafanya tukiwa pamoja over a glass of wine (or why not beer, water, juice etc).

Kuhusu huo uchaguzi wa CCM wa mtu kugombea dhidi ya kivuli, hiyo ni njia tu ya kuhalalisha kutokuwepo kwa uchaguzi. Yaani ilishapangwa kwamba watu wa wadhifa A, B, C ndio watakaokuwa mwenyekiti, makamu nk, kwa hiyo wengine wanaelewa kabisa kwamba viti hivyo si vyao (ni "reserved"). Kwa kuwa kwenye CCM kuna "nidhamu", basi hakuna mwingine atakayechukua fomu kugombea viti hivyo. Kwa hiyo ile kura ya ndiyo au hapana ni geresha tu. Ili mwanachama mwingine awe huru kugombea kiti cha mwenyekiti au makamu, pa kuanzia ni kuondoa hizo "reservation" za viti, kiwe ni cha yeyote, ndipo yeyote agombee.

Kipimo changu kimojawapo cha umakini na uwezo wa chama kuendesha nchi ni uwezo wa chama hicho kujiwekea kanuni na kuweza kuzisimamia na kuzifuata at organizational level. Labda niitungie terminology yangu niite "institutional discipline". Kwa kuweza kukubaliana kama chama kwamba madhali ki madarakani rais achaguliwe uenyekiti wa chama, na hakuna anayempinga (yaani anayetaka kugombea nae cheo hicho), nadhani hawa CCM watakuwa wamedhihirisha wana nidhamu ndani ya chama chao, kwani hayo ni makubaliano yao ya ndani. Hapo nadhani wanastahili pongezi. Maana ingekuwa aibu au wangeonekana hawana maelewano iwapo angejitokeza mtu baada ya makubaliano hayo, aanze kupanga makundi ya kupingana na rais, actually ya kupingana na chama chake mwenyewe. Sisemi kupingana na chama ni kosa, lakini jambo kama hilo lilipaswa kufanywa katika ile hatua ya awali ya kukubaliana kwamba rais ndio awe mwenyekiti, hapo ndipo walitakiwa wapinge waseme si lazima iwe hivyo. Lakini wameshakubaliana utaratibu huo, na kwa pamoja wanauheshimu, nadhani ni jambo la kistaarabu.

 

[Mtanganyika]

"Let the freedom ring from mount Kilimanjaro to southern Mtwara". Mapinduzi ya mtandao yanwaumiza vichwa madikteta wengi kama kina Musharaffu na wengine.
Internet imeleta freedom of speech katika nchi nyingi dunia.

 

[Augustine Moshi]

Kithuku,

Hata katiba inaweza isiwe ya kidemokrasia. Kuna wakati tulikuwa na kura za NDIYO au HAPANA kwa ajili ya nafasi ya Rais. Ilidaiwa "tulikubaliana" hivyo, kwa hiyo ulikuwa ni "mpango mzuri". Wakati wa kuhesabu, ilikuwa kama kura inasema NDIYO, basi inasomwa "NDIYO aendelee". Kama ni ya HAPANA, basi inatafsiriwa kwamba "HAPANA mwingine, ni yeye tu.

Kama uchaguzi wa CCM ungekuwa wa kidemokrasia (au wa kistaarabu kama unavyosema), basi Msekwa hangetoka Makamu. We all know that. Democracy was defeated at Dodoma.

Ni woga wa demokrasia ndiyo unaifanya CCM iogope kuwepo kwa wagombea binafsi. Kunyimwa demokrasia ni kunyimwa UHURU. Bado hatujajinyakulia UHURU kamili.

 

[Augustine Moshi]

Some of our leaders are still very much afraid of democracy.

Masaju and Werema are afraid of democracy. If they had their way, no group would be allowed to declare their choice of President.

Our Chief Justice and his learned colleagues are afraid of democracy. They won't rule in favour of individuals to stand for elections without affiliating themselves to political paries.

The President is afraid of democracy. He won't allow regions and districts to elect their leaders. He would rather appoint them himself.

When will we have true democracy? A democracy in which the people themselves elect all political office bearers?

Kaza buti Kamanda Slaa. Tunahitaji uchukue uongozi ili utupatie demokrasia ya kweli. Tuko nyuma yako. Wewe ni tegemeo letu.