Maria Sarungi: The Rise of the Anti-Establishment

[Mtimbo]

With the US election campaign season in full swing since the beginning of the year, a topic often discussed has been the “Establishment” and the rise of candidates who are outside the Establishment on both sides – Donald Trump on the Republican side and Bernie Sanders on the Democrats’ side. Both men were not members of their respective parties until recently when they decided to run. But what is the Establishment?

I am no political analyst and will not attempt to find the official definition; instead I will give my understanding of it with a Tanzanian link. Establishment can be viewed as all that links into the ecosystem that is in charge of the political and economic functions of a nation.

In the US, it is those sitting in the branches of government and civil service including the legislative (regardless of political parties), executive branch, the judiciary and so on. It also extends to the heads of large businesses (dubbed ‘Wall Street’ in the US) who are at the helm of the economy of a nation.

In Tanzania we often refer to this as the “system”and we can add into this mix the 4 pillar i.e. media and the civil society as well.
The anti-Establishment sentiment is clearly on the rise in the US but it is also in many ways on the rise in Tanzania. The so-called Establishment in Tanzania is strongly linked to the ruling party CCM which has been in power since independence first in the form of TANU and ASP and later united into CCM.

Clearly one cannot speak about the Establishment in Tanzania without taking into account CCM which ruled singularly until the 90’s and still remains heavily linked with the government including the fact that the President of the United Republic is the Chair of the Party. Given rising anti-establishment sentiments, it is not surprising that in the past election, CCM saw its share of votes decline. However this is where the narrative took a new twist in Tanzania.


The candidates for presidency from the two major parties at first glance would have been categorized as follows: CCM – the Establishment candidate VS CDM / UKAWA – the anti-Establishment candidate. Yet this is not what happened.

In the internal primaries of CCM, the most favored candidate of the establishment – Edward Lowassa – was jostled out by a small group of the top leadership. In turn the presumed favorite of the top leadership and rival of Lowassa – Bernard Membe – was voted out by Lowassa loyalists and instead a lesser known, inconspicuous John Magufuli was elected.

And when I say – lesser known Magufuli, let it be clear that all foreign media and governments as well as many in the private sector were running around to find any information about him. And information in the public domain had been extremely sparse. This is because despite his previous popularity when he had headed various ministries, little was known about Magufuli outside his job.

He was not known to hold long stump speeches, be accessible to the media or meet with various interests groups and lobbyists etc. He was an outsider despite being part of the Establishment (and arguably remains one in many ways).

Then came the twist of Edward Lowassa moving to the opposition and becoming their candidate. The opposition ‘sold’ this radical swap as being advantageous because Lowassa was expected to bring the Establishment with himself – the money and business interests backing him, high level officials in government who were on his side and even CCM heavyweights who all had backed him openly during the primaries.

And this is where the anti-Establishment attribute shifted from the opposition to Magufuli; who maintained and strengthened it by distancing himself from CCM as much as possible throughout the campaign.

To the extent of emphasizing that the ‘Magufuli government’ will do A,B,C; not the CCM government. On the other hand, the opposition was busy lining up any CCM heavyweight switching over including Kingunge Ng’ombale Mwiru a figurehead of CCM, and another former Prime Minister Fredrick Sumaye; thus strengthening its pro-establishment credentials. There was also a show of money and power during the rallies of the opposition, with constant use of helicopters, big crowds and entertainment.

Of course, CCM matched each show of force, but this was not really new to the voters. What had been different was Magufuli personally not using helicopters during the campaign and travelling by car; an earmark of a low key, low budget campaign.
After election, one would have expected Magufuli “to drop the act” and get comfortable with the Establishment as many within the party, government and the business community had expected.

Much to everyone’s surprise, the newly sworn in Magufuli continued the anti-Establishment narrative, being ‘unpresidential’ by cleaning the streets of Dar-es-Salaam, curbing foreign trips, directing money from MPs cocktail to buying hospital beds. This anti-Establishment behavior has earned him respect and praise in Tanzania as well as in Africa and around the world as everyone is asking: who is this new president who doesn’t seem to have any regard for formalities and procedures and is rather focused on pragmatic solutions and results?

President Magufuli remains little known. Gaining access to him has proven difficult even to those members of the Establishment who had been used to coursing the corridors of the State House. So the only glimpse we can get of Magufuli’s thinking process, vision or approach is via the rare speeches he has given since taking office. On these occasions, like the recent one he gave during Law Day on February 5 2016, we get unrehearsed speeches, which are arguably controversial.

Like this recent speech, where some critics have said is un-presidential, un-statesman-like and even down right impeachable. This may be considered a fair assessment from the perspective of conventional presidential speeches, but these and such, in fact all, criticisms do not seem to have much effect on the citizenry who continue to support and defend, aggressively, the President.

President Magufuli has also very cleverly addressed his critics in this speech saying explicitly “I am neither mad, nor am I dictator, but it gets to a stage that you need to close your eyes and make tough decisions due to the extent to which government officials have ruined this country. [own emphasis].

My sacrifice in serving Tanzanians is to serve them so well that when I get to Heaven I can be made leader of Angels”. Many may skim past this statement in a 46 minutes long speech, but this is crucial: it gives a rare glimpse into two things. One, Magufuli remains firmly anti-Establishment despite being the head of Government. Second, Magufuli seems to be convinced that he is on a mission entrusted to him by God.

It is too early to judge whether this is only a tactical ploy or the true self of President Magufuli. What is clear is that the Establishment (including ruling and opposition parties, the legislative, judiciary, media, civil society and part of the civil service) is clearly unhappy. Yet Magufuli remains highly popular with the public at large who seems fed up with the Establishment and its cozy self-serving alliances and entanglements. Magufuli’s anti-Establishment attitude and actions for now remain his biggest strength.

However in the long run, can he run the country as an outsider without finding common ground with the Establishment? Difficult to imagine. Unless he is planning to take on the extraordinary task of entirely revamping the Establishment, a first in our history since the introduction of democracy and free market economy.

MY TAKE: this is a "must read" article

 

[TEKNOLOJIA]

Dr Magufuli might be the right leader for this country but a disaster to CCM,I remember one novel called 'beautiful one is not yet born',in one part the author talked about a bird known as 'chichi dodo',a Ghanaian word. That bird used to hate dung yet it was eating mushrooms which grew inside the toilet. That bird didn't know that the mushrooms it used to eat grew luxuriously because of that dung it hates.
Now back to topic,I don't think Magufuli will be successful in his bid to revamp the system though I really want him to do that because it is the same rotten system which helped bringing CCM back to power. If he attacks this system the primary victims will be CCM.You can't seperate CCM from the rotten system.In my opinion,Magufuli is playing a chichidodo,he hates corrupt system but he forgets that it was the same corrupt system that helped him win the presidency.

With the US election campaign season in full swing since the beginning of the year, a topic often discussed has been the “Establishment” and the rise of candidates who are outside the Establishment on both sides – Donald Trump on the Republican side and Bernie Sanders on the Democrats’ side. Both men were not members of their respective parties until recently when they decided to run. But what is the Establishment? I am no political analyst and will not attempt to find the official definition; instead I will give my understanding of it with a Tanzanian link. Establishment can be viewed as all that links into the ecosystem that is in charge of the political and economic functions of a nation. In the US, it is those sitting in the branches of government and civil service including the legislative (regardless of political parties), executive branch, the judiciary and so on. It also extends to the heads of large businesses (dubbed ‘Wall Street’ in the US) who are at the helm of the economy of a nation. In Tanzania we often refer to this as the “system”and we can add into this mix the 4 pillar i.e. media and the civil society as well.
The anti-Establishment sentiment is clearly on the rise in the US but it is also in many ways on the rise in Tanzania. The so-called Establishment in Tanzania is strongly linked to the ruling party CCM which has been in power since independence first in the form of TANU and ASP and later united into CCM. Clearly one cannot speak about the Establishment in Tanzania without taking into account CCM which ruled singularly until the 90’s and still remains heavily linked with the government including the fact that the President of the United Republic is the Chair of the Party. Given rising anti-establishment sentiments, it is not surprising that in the past election, CCM saw its share of votes decline. However this is where the narrative took a new twist in Tanzania.
The candidates for presidency from the two major parties at first glance would have been categorized as follows: CCM – the Establishment candidate VS CDM / UKAWA – the anti-Establishment candidate. Yet this is not what happened. In the internal primaries of CCM, the most favored candidate of the establishment – Edward Lowassa – was jostled out by a small group of the top leadership. In turn the presumed favorite of the top leadership and rival of Lowassa – Bernard Membe – was voted out by Lowassa loyalists and instead a lesser known, inconspicuous John Magufuli was elected. And when I say – lesser known Magufuli, let it be clear that all foreign media and governments as well as many in the private sector were running around to find any information about him. And information in the public domain had been extremely sparse. This is because despite his previous popularity when he had headed various ministries, little was known about Magufuli outside his job. He was not known to hold long stump speeches, be accessible to the media or meet with various interests groups and lobbyists etc. He was an outsider despite being part of the Establishment (and arguably remains one in many ways).
Then came the twist of Edward Lowassa moving to the opposition and becoming their candidate. The opposition ‘sold’ this radical swap as being advantageous because Lowassa was expected to bring the Establishment with himself – the money and business interests backing him, high level officials in government who were on his side and even CCM heavyweights who all had backed him openly during the primaries. And this is where the anti-Establishment attribute shifted from the opposition to Magufuli; who maintained and strengthened it by distancing himself from CCM as much as possible throughout the campaign. To the extent of emphasizing that the ‘Magufuli government’ will do A,B,C; not the CCM government. On the other hand, the opposition was busy lining up any CCM heavyweight switching over including Kingunge Ng’ombale Mwiru a figurehead of CCM, and another former Prime Minister Fredrick Sumaye; thus strengthening its pro-establishment credentials. There was also a show of money and power during the rallies of the opposition, with constant use of helicopters, big crowds and entertainment. Of course, CCM matched each show of force, but this was not really new to the voters. What had been different was Magufuli personally not using helicopters during the campaign and travelling by car; an earmark of a low key, low budget campaign.
After election, one would have expected Magufuli “to drop the act” and get comfortable with the Establishment as many within the party, government and the business community had expected. Much to everyone’s surprise, the newly sworn in Magufuli continued the anti-Establishment narrative, being ‘unpresidential’ by cleaning the streets of Dar-es-Salaam, curbing foreign trips, directing money from MPs cocktail to buying hospital beds. This anti-Establishment behavior has earned him respect and praise in Tanzania as well as in Africa and around the world as everyone is asking: who is this new president who doesn’t seem to have any regard for formalities and procedures and is rather focused on pragmatic solutions and results?
President Magufuli remains little known. Gaining access to him has proven difficult even to those members of the Establishment who had been used to coursing the corridors of the State House. So the only glimpse we can get of Magufuli’s thinking process, vision or approach is via the rare speeches he has given since taking office. On these occasions, like the recent one he gave during Law Day on February 5 2016, we get unrehearsed speeches, which are arguably controversial. Like this recent speech, where some critics have said is un-presidential, un-statesman-like and even down right impeachable. This may be considered a fair assessment from the perspective of conventional presidential speeches, but these and such, in fact all, criticisms do not seem to have much effect on the citizenry who continue to support and defend, aggressively, the President.
President Magufuli has also very cleverly addressed his critics in this speech saying explicitly “I am neither mad, nor am I dictator, but it gets to a stage that you need to close your eyes and make tough decisions due to the extent to which government officials have ruined this country. [own emphasis]. My sacrifice in serving Tanzanians is to serve them so well that when I get to Heaven I can be made leader of Angels”. Many may skim past this statement in a 46 minutes long speech, but this is crucial: it gives a rare glimpse into two things. One, Magufuli remains firmly anti-Establishment despite being the head of Government. Second, Magufuli seems to be convinced that he is on a mission entrusted to him by God.
It is too early to judge whether this is only a tactical ploy or the true self of President Magufuli. What is clear is that the Establishment (including ruling and opposition parties, the legislative, judiciary, media, civil society and part of the civil service) is clearly unhappy. Yet Magufuli remains highly popular with the public at large who seems fed up with the Establishment and its cozy self-serving alliances and entanglements. Magufuli’s anti-Establishment attitude and actions for now remain his biggest strength. However in the long run, can he run the country as an outsider without finding common ground with the Establishment? Difficult to imagine. Unless he is planning to take on the extraordinary task of entirely revamping the Establishment, a first in our history since the introduction of democracy and free market economy.

MY TAKE: this is a "must read" article

 

[simplemind]

As long as he turns a blind eye to the elephant in the room -Zanzibar crisis will taint Magufuli leadership .

 

[simplemind]

As long as he turns a blind eye to the elephant in the room -Zanzibar crisis will taint Magufuli leadership .

 

[sizya007]

This still a stage performance to me, if he really hate corruption and injustice he should say something about Zanzibar ongoing situation. Otherwise this is just a double standard game wich will take us nowhere.

 

[Hoshea]

Dr Magufuli might be the right leader for this country but a disaster to CCM,I remember one novel called 'beautiful one is not yet born',in one part the author talked about a bird known as 'chichi dodo',a Ghanaian word. That bird used to hate dung yet it was eating mushrooms which grew inside the toilet. That bird didn't know that the mushrooms it used to eat grew luxuriously because of that dung it hates.
Now back to topic,I don't think Magufuli will be successful in his bid to revamp the system though I really want him to do that because it is the same rotten system which helped bringing CCM back to power. If he attacks this system the primary victims will be CCM.You can't seperate CCM from the rotten system.In my opinion,Magufuli is playing a chichidodo,he hates corrupt system but he forgets that it was the same corrupt system that helped him win the presidency.

The rotten eggs (system) shifted to Ukiwa.

 

[Kifyatu]

I will respond to Ms. Sarungi's article with a little bit of schooling for her. I hope she is not offended.

First of all no one should compare Tanzania's so-called "the SYSTEM" with "the ESTABLISHMENT" in USA. To compare the SYSTEM with the ESTABLISHMENT is like comparing APPLES to a SISAL PLANTATION. I will explain.

USA Political System
In the US there is only one ESTABLISHMENT. This is made up of large banking systems in Europe (like the Rothschilds, who helped to bail out Europe after WWII and created the State of Israel), their offshoots in the US (like Goldman-Sachs et al. of Wall Street), big arms manufacturers (the Military Industrial Complex), big Pharmaceutical Companies, big Oil Companies, and of late the likes of Microsoft, Google, etc. All these entities form a group (one group) that meets periodically to plan on how to control world resources - otherwise known as creating the New World Order.

All this fighting in the Middle East is not because they want to oust ISIS, no. They use that as a pretext (just like weapons of mass destruction in Iraq) to balkanize Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Yemen (break them up into tiny factions - the divide and conquer tactic) so that they can gain control of vast energy resources of Iran, Iraq, Syria, with Lebanon as essential to develop pipelines into the Mediterranean sea. I will not bore you more with this stuff but, if you are interested, you may start with a Youtube speech by Gen. Wesley Clark about this break-up plan.

Please note: Saddam's Iraq, Iran, Syria, Qaddafi's Libya, all had/have strong and stable leaders who were/are independent of western influence. They had/have to go in order to control the region effectively. This is what this hoopla in Middle East is all about. Next is Russia and China - mark my words.

​

The rest of the information I gave here is detailed elsewhere in the internet. Do your homework.

Now that we have defined what the ESTABLISHMENT is, let us look at the US political system.
News Flash. USA is not a democracy. It is a plutocracy. A plutocracy is a government of corporations, by corporations and for corporations.

What the ESTABLISHMENT does is divide itself into two groups. Each group pumps an obscene amount of money (read about super-pacs) to both Republicans and Democrats (in other words, buying candidates). So, for an ordinary American going through the motions of campaigns and elections, they get the illusion (yes, an ILLUSION) of a democratic process at work. Party members rejoice if they win and they sing songs of praise to a democratic process well in play. What they don't realize (now people are waking up with Sanders) is that it doesn't matter who wins the election, Republican or Democrat, the chosen candidate (bought and paid for by the ESTABLISHMENT) will always work for that one ESTABLISHMENT which bankrolled their campaigns. Same works for the President. This is the reason why we never had, and will never have an anti-ESTABLISHMENT (Independent) presidential candidate win an election in USA.

Now, don't get me wrong. There are some kitchen-table issues like social safety nets, etc., where a Republican representative may differ in terms of outcomes to a Democratic representative. But this difference ends there. On larger issues, especially foreign policy and Israel, these matters are decided by the ESTABLISHMENT (not the President, not the Congress) whereby some of the ESTABLISHMENT members are not even Americans. US Congress and the President are often used as rubber-stamps for the policies of the ESTABLISHMENT. Yes, US foreign policy is almost exclusively being guided and decided by outside interests, sometimes to the detriment of ordinary Americans (like sending young kids to die in wars of choice - Iraq or Vietnam). This may explain the sometimes schizophrenic nature of US foreign policies. Maybe the only exception (aberration) is the Iran Nuclear Deal agreed by Iran and the P5+1. I won't go into the details for now.

This is a short civic lesson about American political system.

Now I will turn your attention to Tanzania.
Ms. Sarungi compares the SYSTEM in Tanzania to the ESTABLISHMENT. Obviously you can see that the CCM machinery can never be compared to the corporate ESTABLISHMENT in USA. The two are not even in the same category.

What we have in Tanzania is an old party (TANU + ASP = CCM) that has entrenched itself thoroughly throughout Tanzania - I mean even into remote isolated villages. This is where CCM gets its power, the masses. If UKAWA had won, this CCM system would never have been able to control an UKAWA government. We all saw that if it hadn't been for the ineptness of UKAWA to field Lowassa (a person they had disparaged and trashed in the past), they might have won. If UKAWA had won, CCM would have been relegated to the back burners with little or no influence (I think).

Even though Ms. Sarungi says Magufuli was not well known outside his public service, what Tanzanians (voters) knew about him was enough to make him carry the day. Yes, there were (for the majority of Tanzanians) frustrations with CCM regarding their cronyism and corruption. However, Magufuli's campaign speeches were more convincing than Lowassa's terse and incoherent speeches. Also, CDM's past relentless attacks on the corruption-ridden Lowassa were used effectively by CCM to pivot and crush UKAWA's campaign messages.

Magufuli is not implementing policies that are anti-ESTABLISHMENT or anti-SYSTEM, no! He is implementing policies that are in the CCM's campaign MANIFESTO.

In the past, CCM used to create excellent manifestos but after elections the government would not implement them for a myriad of reasons, the biggest one among them being rampant corruption. This time CCM learned a lesson after realizing that there was the possibility of loosing power because people were tired of empty promises.

What happened during the nomination of candidates within CCM was a classic case of DICTATORSHIP of the ELITE at work. Top CCM echelon looked at all candidates and made a decision as to who would do the "dirty work" of cleaning CCM's image in light of the country's low expectations. This process dropped Lowassa early even though he had a popular following. Magufuli was the right candidate for this dirty work because he didn't have a group (makundi) of followers who would later demand favors if he won. Everybody, with the exception of few party elites who picked him, was fair game for his policies. We can see now in his rule, it seems no one (with some exceptions) is untouchable.

Well, UKAWA also mimicked the DICTATORSHIP of the ELITE act done by CCM and brought in Lowassa. Big freaking mistake, and the rest is relegated to the annals of Tanzanian political anthology.

I will hazard a prediction here. CDM or UKAWA (I hope we will not have UKAWA by then) will have to wait until 2025 for them to even think of twitching their pinkies towards Magogoni.

My Take. Kifyatu.

 

[kui]

I doubt it if he or anyone for this case can run the country as an outsider without finding a common ground with the Establishment so long as they're part of the Establishment or, if they used to be a part of it. CCM Establishment to be exact. A good example is from the last election, I think this is what Lowassa tried to do after CCM'S Kamati Kuu skipped his name, he ran as an outsider probably while thinking he'd change the system if he had won, and what happened after is so well known.

Also, I don't think Magufuli can 'Entirely Revamp' the Establishment. Doesn't that mean completely change THE, Status quo?!...another impossible thing to do.
CCM is famous for misconduct, from the National level to the local level and now the President himself seems to turn the blind eye on some humongous issues that's facing our country, caused by the CCM Establishment. Isn't he bold enough to tackle those issues?!, as an outsider?!

We witnessed how hard it is to uproot the System/Establishment. It doesn't matter how you do it whether by 'Peoples Power' or the Power of People it's not going to happen anytime soon. The roots are pretty deep.

Same way, I don't think it'll be easy for (President) or anyone to go after CCM biggies and revamp the establishment, it doesn't matter if they're outsiders or insiders and if they want to survive in this Political Arena, I doubt anyone will try anything cos that will be a political suicide to themselves.

 

[Kifyatu]

I doubt it if he or anyone for this case can run the country as an outsider without looking for a common ground with the Establishment so long as they're part of the Establishment or, if they used to be a part of it. CCM Establishment to be exact. A good example is the last election, I think this is what Lowassa tried to do after CCM'S Kamati Kuu skipped his name, he ran as an outsider probably while thinking he'd change the system if he had won, and what happened after is so well known.

Kui, there is this myth that CCM has a machinery that can only be dismantled by an outsider, say UKAWA. No, I don't buy that. CCM, as a party has its inner circle and a trusted group of party cadres. What used to happen, even during Nyerere's time, was a culture of protecting one another and their families (cronyism) and Nyerere was very vocal against it. This made fighting corruption very difficult and we all know what that did to our country's economy.

But that mess was not created by CCM machinery. It was created by bad governance. The past governments didn't institute airtight institutional structures to stop bad actors because most beneficiaries of those loopholes were protected, maybe because top officials were also getting a piece of that action. Example, containers leaving the port without paying required taxes is simply bad governance.

What Magufuli is doing which past presidents didn't do is to restructure his government in order to control all loopholes that used to hemorrhage the country's sources of revenue - GOOD GOVERNANCE. It can be done by an outsider or it can be done by a CCM president. To make this process permanent you need good legal/institutional structures that will force any other government, CDM or CCM, & others, to follow it after Magufuli leaves office. I have heard opposition members insinuating that Magufuli is implementing UKAWA policies. It can be done by CCM, or UKAWA. You just need to have the will to bring changes.

I am sorry you still believe that Lowassa won the elections. I don't.

Also, I don't think Magufuli can 'Entirely Revamp' the Establishment. Doesn't that mean completely change THE, Status quo?!...another impossible thing to do.
CCM is famous for misconduct, from the National level to the local level and now the President himself seems to turn the blind eye on some humongous issues that's facing our country, caused by the CCM Establishment. Isn't he bold enough to tackle those issues?!, as an outsider?!

I am not sure if I am following you. What "humongous issues facing our country" are you talking about?

We witnessed how hard it is to uproot the System/Establishment. It doesn't matter how you do it whether by 'Peoples Power' or the Power of People it's not going to happen anytime soon. The roots are pretty deep.

Same way, I don't think it'll be easy for (President) or anyone to go after CCM'S's biggies and revamp the establishment, it doesn't matter if they're outsiders or insiders and if they want to survive in this Political Arena, I doubt anyone will try anything cos that will be a political suicide to themselves.

I am sorry you feel this way.

What you call "CCM system" is/was a system of cronyism that made those in power participate in major corruption ventures undeterred. CCM has been in power for many many years. There are many people (some of them are now in the opposition) who benefited greatly from that laxity. It may even be legally impossible to go after past government officials and scrutinize how they got their wealth. But a journey towards a just Tanzania begins with the first step.

What CCM did this time is to put someone who would dismantle this network and reign in bad actors. Someone who is not afraid or shy to confront these big usurpers of country's resources. It will take more than the 10 years Magufuli has in office, God willing. That is why I said Magufuli needs to enact legal/institutional structures that are self perpetuating.

 

[Kifyatu]

Kifyatu you have the best summaries of countries' political systems, thank you .

From an ideological perspective, anti-establishment sounds nice and I think it should be good. However, I understand what she stands on and it is what I stand on - reality and practicality. I shift my preference based on whether something works.

The status quo of Tanzania right now is a meritocratic authoritarian state with some fascist attributes and democracy at lower levels of government (actual example is Zanzibar). This is largely a revamped system the Tanzania have used and thrived on for decades. This is not to say the system is perfect so I am all for incremental adjustments to improve the system, giving people more freedoms, accelerating growth and elevating political standards.

A democratic system for Tanzania would be a shift away from status quo and being a total change the proponents of democracy ought to provide solid, political - based, reasoning as to why we should support such a change. Ideology does not matter, functionality does.

Thank you Sir for the compliments.

I completely understand your concerns about what is happening in Tanzania now. I knew coming in that Magufuli's government would be rough. He is not your typical politician - he lacks diplomacy. His speech to the Judges made me cringe at times. I believe with time he and his cabinet will learn civil ways of doing business.

Going into places of work and shaming executives in front of subordinates and media is not a good way to start your administration. It may give you street popularity but it demoralizes the very people you want to help you. You instill fear in people and you may not get the best cooperation and effectiveness from them.

Your point is well taken. However, our country is rotten to the core. A bit of a shock-therapy may not be a bad thing. I hope someone he respects advises him to use diplomatic techniques in implementing his policies.

 

[Barbarosa]

This still a stage performance to me, if he really hate corruption and injustice he should say something about Zanzibar ongoing situation. Otherwise this is just a double standard game wich will take us nowhere.

Hahah establishment mwingine huyu, wewe ni establishment tu!​

 

[Barbarosa]

I will respond to Ms. Sarungi's article with a little bit of schooling for her. I hope she is not offended.

First of all no one should compare Tanzania's so-called "the SYSTEM" with "the ESTABLISHMENT" in USA. To compare the SYSTEM with the ESTABLISHMENT is like comparing APPLES to a SISAL PLANTATION. I will explain.

USA Political System
In the US there is only one ESTABLISHMENT. This is made up of large banking systems in Europe (like the Rothschilds, who helped to bail out Europe after WWII and created the State of Israel), their offshoots in the US (like Goldman-Sachs et al. of Wall Street), big arms manufacturers (the Military Industrial Complex), big Pharmaceutical Companies, big Oil Companies, and of late the likes of Microsoft, Google, etc. All these entities form a group (one group) that meets periodically to plan on how to control world resources - otherwise known as creating the New World Order.

All this fighting in the Middle East is not because they want to oust ISIS, no. They use that as a pretext (just like weapons of mass destruction in Iraq) to balkanize Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Yemen (break them up into tiny factions - the divide and conquer tactic) so that they can gain control of vast energy resources of Iran, Iraq, Syria, with Lebanon as essential to develop pipelines into the Mediterranean sea. I will not bore you more with this stuff but, if you are interested, you may start with a Youtube speech by Gen. Wesley Clark about this break-up plan.

Please note: Saddam's Iraq, Iran, Syria, Qaddafi's Libya, all had/have strong and stable leaders who were/are independent of western influence. They had/have to go in order to control the region effectively. This is what this hoopla in Middle East is all about. Next is Russia and China - mark my words.

​

The rest of the information I gave here is detailed elsewhere in the internet. Do your homework.

Now that we have defined what the ESTABLISHMENT is, let us look at the US political system.
News Flash. USA is not a democracy. It is a plutocracy. A plutocracy is a government of corporations, by corporations and for corporations.

What the ESTABLISHMENT does is divide itself into two groups. Each group pumps an obscene amount of money (read about super-pacs) to both Republicans and Democrats (in other words, buying candidates). So, for an ordinary American going through the motions of campaigns and elections, they get the illusion (yes, an ILLUSION) of a democratic process at work. Party members rejoice if they win and they sing songs of praise to a democratic process well in play. What they don't realize (now people are waking up with Sanders) is that it doesn't matter who wins the election, Republican or Democrat, the chosen candidate (bought and paid for by the ESTABLISHMENT) will always work for that one ESTABLISHMENT which bankrolled their campaigns. Same works for the President. This is the reason why we never had, and will never have an anti-ESTABLISHMENT (Independent) presidential candidate win an election in USA.

Now, don't get me wrong. There are some kitchen-table issues like social safety nets, etc., where a Republican representative may differ in terms of outcomes to a Democratic representative. But this difference ends there. On larger issues, especially foreign policy and Israel, these matters are decided by the ESTABLISHMENT (not the President, not the Congress) whereby some of the ESTABLISHMENT members are not even Americans. US Congress and the President are often used as rubber-stamps for the policies of the ESTABLISHMENT. Yes, US foreign policy is almost exclusively being guided and decided by outside interests, sometimes to the detriment of ordinary Americans (like sending young kids to die in wars of choice - Iraq or Vietnam). This may explain the sometimes schizophrenic nature of US foreign policies. Maybe the only exception (aberration) is the Iran Nuclear Deal agreed by Iran and the P5+1. I won't go into the details for now.

This is a short civic lesson about American political system.

Now I will turn your attention to Tanzania.
Ms. Sarungi compares the SYSTEM in Tanzania to the ESTABLISHMENT. Obviously you can see that the CCM machinery can never be compared to the corporate ESTABLISHMENT in USA. The two are not even in the same category.

What we have in Tanzania is an old party (TANU + ASP = CCM) that has entrenched itself thoroughly throughout Tanzania - I mean even into remote isolated villages. This is where CCM gets its power, the masses. If UKAWA had won, this CCM system would never have been able to control an UKAWA government. We all saw that if it hadn't been for the ineptness of UKAWA to field Lowassa (a person they had disparaged and trashed in the past), they might have won. If UKAWA had won, CCM would have been relegated to the back burners with little or no influence (I think).

Even though Ms. Sarungi says Magufuli was not well known outside his public service, what Tanzanians (voters) knew about him was enough to make him carry the day. Yes, there were (for the majority of Tanzanians) frustrations with CCM regarding their cronyism and corruption. However, Magufuli's campaign speeches were more convincing than Lowassa's terse and incoherent speeches. Also, CDM's past relentless attacks on the corruption-ridden Lowassa were used effectively by CCM to pivot and crush UKAWA's campaign messages.

Magufuli is not implementing policies that are anti-ESTABLISHMENT or anti-SYSTEM, no! He is implementing policies that are in the CCM's campaign MANIFESTO.

In the past, CCM used to create excellent manifestos but after elections the government would not implement them for a myriad of reasons, the biggest one among them being rampant corruption. This time CCM learned a lesson after realizing that there was the possibility of loosing power because people were tired of empty promises.

What happened during the nomination of candidates within CCM was a classic case of DICTATORSHIP of the ELITE at work. Top CCM echelon looked at all candidates and made a decision as to who would do the "dirty work" of cleaning CCM's image in light of the country's low expectations. This process dropped Lowassa early even though he had a popular following. Magufuli was the right candidate for this dirty work because he didn't have a group (makundi) of followers who would later demand favors if he won. Everybody, with the exception of few party elites who picked him, was fair game for his policies. We can see now in his rule, it seems no one (with some exceptions) is untouchable.

Well, UKAWA also mimicked the DICTATORSHIP of the ELITE act done by CCM and brought in Lowassa. Big freaking mistake, and the rest is relegated to the annals of Tanzanian political anthology.

I will hazard a prediction here. CDM or UKAWA (I hope we will not have UKAWA by then) will have to wait until 2025 for them to even think of twitching their pinkies towards Magogoni.

My Take. Kifyatu.

Maelezo mareefu lkn wala haujamulewa dada Sarungi alichomaanisha na yote uliyaandika ameyaelezea, kwanza inaelekea hata maana ya establishment hauielewi, dada Sarungi hajalinganisha TanZania na USA 1-1 bali amelinganisha na kuelezea tofauti ya establishment ya USA na TanZania, hivyo establishment ni establishment tu na siyo lazima ifanane 100% na USA, ndiyo iweze kuitwa establishement, hata nyumbani kwenu kwenye familia kunaweza kuwa na establishment pia!

Na ndiyo Fisadi Lowasa ni establishment TanZania na WatanZania tulikuwa tumechoshwa na establishment wa CCM, na CCM walilijua hili na ndivyo Magufuli alivyoibuka!

 

[Kifyatu]

Maelezo mareefu lkn wala haujamulewa dada Sarungi alichomaanisha na yote uliyaandika ameyaelezea, kwanza inaelekea hata maana ya establishment hauielewi, dada Sarungi hajalinganisha TanZania na USA 1-1 bali amelinganisha na kuelezea tofauti ya establishment ya USA na TanZania, hivyo establishment ni establishment tu na siyo lazima ifanane 100% na USA, ndiyo iweze kuitwa establishement, hata nyumbani kwenu kwenye familia kunaweza kuwa na establishment pia!

Na ndiyo Fisadi Lowasa ni establishment TanZania na WatanZania tulikuwa tumechoshwa na establishment wa CCM, na CCM walilijua hili na ndivyo Magufuli alivyoibuka!

Mama Sarungi alizungumzia uchaguzi wa Marekani na kuwa huko wanazungumzia wagombea ambao ni wa "Establishment" na wale ambao ni wa "Anti-Establishment".

Nilichojaribu kufanya hapa ni kutoa ufafanuzi kuwa Wamarekani wanaposema "Establishment" wana maana gani. Halafu nikaja Tanzania na kueleza kuwa hiki kitu kinachoitwa "System" au "CCM-Machinery" ni nini, na je kinafanana na "Establishment" ya Marekani?

Huo ndio uchambuzi wangu nilioufanya hapa. Na Mkuu, bila ya kujifaragua, mwenzio nimebobea kwenye haya maswalwa. Kwa hiyo sio kama nilikuwa nabahatisha, la hasha, nilichofanya ni kutoa somo.

 

[crabat]

Rejoinder

With the US election campaign season in full swing since the beginning of the year, a topic often discussed has been the “Establishment” and the rise of candidates who are outside the Establishment on both sides – Donald Trump on the Republican side and Bernie Sanders on the Democrats’ side. Both men were not members of their respective parties until recently when they decided to run. But what is the Establishment?

I am no political analyst and will not attempt to find the official definition; instead I will give my understanding of it with a Tanzanian link. Establishment can be viewed as all that links into the ecosystem that is in charge of the political and economic functions of a nation.

In the US, it is those sitting in the branches of government and civil service including the legislative (regardless of political parties), executive branch, the judiciary and so on. It also extends to the heads of large businesses (dubbed ‘Wall Street’ in the US) who are at the helm of the economy of a nation.

This part is correct definition of establishment…

In Tanzania we often refer to this as the “system”and we can add into this mix the 4 pillar i.e. media and the civil society as well.
The anti-Establishment sentiment is clearly on the rise in the US but it is also in many ways on the rise in Tanzania. The so-called Establishment in Tanzania is strongly linked to the ruling party CCM which has been in power since independence first in the form of TANU and ASP and later united into CCM.
Hapa ni Mfumo ndio anaokusudia mwandishi, bila ya mfumo kukubali huwezi kuchaguliwa na CCM


Clearly one cannot speak about the Establishment in Tanzania without taking into account CCM which ruled singularly until the 90’s and still remains heavily linked with the government including the fact that the President of the United Republic is the Chair of the Party. Given rising anti-establishment sentiments, it is not surprising that in the past election, CCM saw its share of votes decline. However this is where the narrative took a new twist in Tanzania.
Ikiwa ni kweli kura zilishuka kwa ajili ya anti establishment sentiments ? hapana Kura za CCM zilishuka kutokana na mwamko mkubwa wa Watanzania kutaka mabadiliko , Na walokikataa CCM majority ni kutoka Mijini zaidi ambao ni watu walio at list well informed na wenye kuchambua mambo kwa uhalisia wake.CCM ilipoteza zaidi viti vya ubunge mijini , Mfano Tanga, Arusha, Dar es salaam , Mbeya Na Iringa. Mwamko wa mabadiliko ya watu hawa ndio sababu kuu na Mgombea wa Ukawa Kupunguza kura za CCM NA SIO anayo iongelea bibie mwandishi

The candidates for presidency from the two major parties at first glance would have been categorized as follows: CCM – the Establishment candidate VS CDM / UKAWA – the anti-Establishment candidate. Yet this is not what happened.

Mhhh hapa tuende mbele….



In the internal primaries of CCM, the most favored candidate of the establishment – Edward Lowassa – was jostled out by a small group of the top leadership. In turn the presumed favorite of the top leadership and rival of Lowassa – Bernard Membe – was voted out by Lowassa loyalists and instead a lesser known, inconspicuous John Magufuli was elected.
Ukweli pro establishment ndani ya CCM waligawanyika kati ya Magufuli, Membe na Makamba. Lowasa nguvu zake ni kutoka wajumbe wa kawaida wasio na madaraka ndani ya NEC( Ukiondoa Mzee Kingunge) wasio na nguvu za kuchagua wanaye mtaka.


Lowasa alijenga imani yake kwa wajumbe wa chini wa Mkutano mkuu wa CCM . Lakini hakuwa kipenzi cha Establishment kama bibie mwandishi anavopenda tuamini.Hakuwa kipenzi cha Mkapa, Mwinyi, Kinana, Karume , Shein, Bilal, Malechela, Msuya, na hata hao establishment wa nje ya uongozi kama wafanya biashara wakuu ambao huwa wanajipendekeza zaidi lakini hawana influence yoyote . Wengi waliogopa visasi kwenye biashara zao. Na haya si mageni kwenye siasa za Tanzania , Bakhressa yalimkuta uchaguzi wa kwanza kabisa.



And when I say – lesser known Magufuli, let it be clear that all foreign media and governments as well as many in the private sector were running around to find any information about him. And information in the public domain had been extremely sparse. This is because despite his previous popularity when he had headed various ministries, little was known about Magufuli outside his job.

He was not known to hold long stump speeches, be accessible to the media or meet with various interests groups and lobbyists etc. He was an outsider despite being part of the Establishment (and arguably remains one in many ways).
Magufuli ni part ya establishment na watu wengi walitaka agombee ingawa yeye hakua anajiamini. Ni part ya establishment kwa nadharia ya kuwatumikia marais wote watatu waliopo hai.yupo serikalini kwa miaka 25 ..katika makundi ya wakubwa wa hiyo dubwana system walikuwepo wa upande wake.


Mkapa , Mwinyi , Malechela na Mangula hawakujulikana walikua upande gani lakini inaelekea wazi walipendela Magufuli kuliko wengine. Alikua na power base ya wakubwa na hakuwa outsider alijijenga sana na mambo yake ya barabara mara nyingi kaze za kujenga barabara alipenda mazuri yaonekane ni juhudi zake binafsi kama Magufuli na sio serikali! Alikua na nia na alijijenga kimya kimya


Then came the twist of Edward Lowassa moving to the opposition and becoming their candidate. The opposition ‘sold’ this radical swap as being advantageous because Lowassa was expected to bring the Establishment with himself – the money and business interests backing him, high level officials in government who were on his side and even CCM heavyweights who all had backed him openly during the primaries.

And this is where the anti-Establishment attribute shifted from the opposition to Magufuli; who maintained and strengthened it by distancing himself from CCM as much as possible throughout the campaign.

Hili sio kweli Lowasa hakua kipenzi cha establishment kama nilivo sema hapo juu. In fact establishment walianza kumpiga vita na kumchafua sana kabla ya kutoka kwani nguvu zake zilikua kwenye root , ndani ya mashina ya ccm sio wakubwa….au establishment. System nzima ilimuogopa labda atafanya kisasi . ukimtoa Kingunge ambaye wazi wazi alimuunga mkono kwa sababu aliona ndie kipenzi cha wana ccm wa kawaida hivo ni mtaji wa kisiasa.


Magufuli alisaidiwa sana na wanamtandao au Establishemnt wa ccm au establishment , waliunda kikosi kazi cha establishment cha watu 20 kumsaidia kupambana na upinzani ulopata nguvu kutoka na

1. Ufisadi ulokithiri ndani ya Ccm


2. Hamu ya mabadiliko


3. Na umaarufu wa Lowassa


Establishment wote kuanzia Mwinyi Mkapa , Kikwete Mangula Msuya Malechela Mama Nyerere na Watoto wake , Kinana , Shein Karume , Bakwata walisimama kidete kwenye majukwaa kuhakikisha mgombea wao anapita. Magufuli alijua nguvu za upinzani hivyo kikosi kazi chake ambacho ni part ya establishment walifanya kazi kubwa sana kwenye miatandao na media kumsaidia candidate wao. In Fact hakua peke yake na asingethubutu kujitenga na CCM


To the extent of emphasizing that the ‘Magufuli government’ will do A,B,C; not the CCM government. On the other hand, the opposition was busy lining up any CCM heavyweight switching over including Kingunge Ng’ombale Mwiru a figurehead of CCM, and another former Prime Minister Fredrick Sumaye; thus strengthening its pro-establishment credentials. There was also a show of money and power during the rallies of the opposition, with constant use of helicopters, big crowds and entertainment.

Ukitoka CCM , huwezi tena kuwa Pro establishment na Ukweli Sumaye hakua na nguvu yoyote ndani ya CCM tangu aachie u PM. Alikua akilalamika sana na hata ujumbe wa CC na NEC walimkata kabisa. Hakua na nguvu ya kisiasa na hakua tena part ya mtandao . Hapoa mwandishi anataka kutuaminisha jambo lisilo kweli kabisa…Lowassa hakuungwa mkono na heavy weight kabisa ..sio Jeshini , TISS ,Polisi

Of course, CCM matched each show of force, but this was not really new to the voters. What had been different was Magufuli personally not using helicopters during the campaign and travelling by car; an earmark of a low key, low budget campaign.

Hili lipo na kumbukumbu Magufuli alisema kuwa hato tumia Helicopter ili apate kukuta na watu wengi zaidi. Lakini CCM baada ya kuona ugumu wa ku cover nchi nzima kwa gari na muda uliopo wali engage Helicopter na Walikua nazo 3 na alizitumia .Na kuhusu Bajeti ya Election hapa muandishi hafichi mapenzi yake na CCM . Huwezi kuwa activists wa Change ukiwa unaegemea upande mmoja. Hakuna kufuru ya Matumizi makubwa ya fedha za kampeni kama mara hii upande wa ccm. wacha posters ambazo zilizagaa nchi nzima , bill boards , TV adverts , mafulana na kanga na pia mara hii ccm walifungua TV maalum kwa ajili ya uchaguzi...ni moja ya kampeni ilotumia fedha nyingi sana


After election, one would have expected Magufuli “to drop the act” and get comfortable with the Establishment as many within the party, government and the business community had expected.

Much to everyone’s surprise, the newly sworn in Magufuli continued the anti-Establishment narrative, being ‘unpresidential’ by cleaning the streets of Dar-es-Salaam, curbing foreign trips, directing money from MPs cocktail to buying hospital beds. This anti-Establishment behavior has earned him respect and praise in Tanzania as well as in Africa and around the world as everyone is asking: who is this new president who doesn’t seem to have any regard for formalities and procedures and is rather focused on pragmatic solutions and results?
Kukata matumizi ni hatua hazihisiani na establishment , au kununua vitanda ! au kuanzisha kampeni ya kufagia haya hata wao wanayapenda na kupongeza sijui kwa nini mwandishi ameona maamuzi haya ni anti establishment ! in fact wengi wanafurahia kwani chama chao angalau kinapata pumzi kwani kilikua ICU.



President Magufuli remains little known. Gaining access to him has proven difficult even to those members of the Establishment who had been used to coursing the corridors of the State House. So the only glimpse we can get of Magufuli’s thinking process, vision or approach is via the rare speeches he has given since taking office. On these occasions, like the recent one he gave during Law Day on February 5 2016, we get unrehearsed speeches, which are arguably controversial.

Like this recent speech, where some critics have said is un-presidential, un-statesman-like and even down right impeachable. This may be considered a fair assessment from the perspective of conventional presidential speeches, but these and such, in fact all, criticisms do not seem to have much effect on the citizenry who continue to support and defend, aggressively, the President.

President Magufuli has also very cleverly addressed his critics in this speech saying explicitly “I am neither mad, nor am I dictator, but it gets to a stage that you need to close your eyes and make tough decisions due to the extent to which government officials have ruined this country. [own emphasis].

My sacrifice in serving Tanzanians is to serve them so well that when I get to Heaven I can be made leader of Angels”. Many may skim past this statement in a 46 minutes long speech, but this is crucial: it gives a rare glimpse into two things. One, Magufuli remains firmly anti-Establishment despite being the head of Government. Second, Magufuli seems to be convinced that he is on a mission entrusted to him by God.

It is too early to judge whether this is only a tactical ploy or the true self of President Magufuli. What is clear is that the Establishment (including ruling and opposition parties, the legislative, judiciary, media, civil society and part of the civil service) is clearly unhappy. Yet Magufuli remains highly popular with the public at large who seems fed up with the Establishment and its cozy self-serving alliances and entanglements. Magufuli’s anti-Establishment attitude and actions for now remain his biggest strength.

However in the long run, can he run the country as an outsider without finding common ground with the Establishment? Difficult to imagine. Unless he is planning to take on the extraordinary task of entirely revamping the Establishment, a first in our history since the introduction of democracy and free market economy.

Ni mada ya kiuchonganishi zaidi kati ya hao establishment na Magufuli lakini bado ukweli system ipo pale pale nay eye anafahamu umuhimu wa establishment na ndio maana anwafata kutaka ushauri . amekutana na kikwete mara kadhaa na hata kumchagua muwa mkuu wa UDSM , Mkapa na e amekutana nae mara kadha , Warioba, Salim Ahmed Mwinyi wote bado wapo na hamwingilii ila wote wanampa nguvu kwa sapoti zao.


Pia bado hajawatupa watoto wa hio establishment wamo kwenye kabineti yake….!!


Yeye ni CCM hatokwenda kinyume na chama chake na waasisi wakuu wa chama hicho anayo fanya bila shaka yote yana Baraka zao…hakuna cha pro au anti establishment katika utendaji wake

 

[Kifyatu]

This is what I was trying to explain in my article above.

The Establishment in USA does not include those in Government and Parties. In fact, Party and Govt. people are OWNED by the establishment. The Establishment is a worldwide hydra whose members include humongous US and non-US entities. Wall Street banks and other big businesses in USA are just a tip of an iceberg called the ESTABLISHMENT. You can't compare it with the Tanzania's so-called "SYSTEM"

In fact, all countries in the world are controlled by the ESTABLISHMENT. Every time you use your credit-card you are using an arm of the ESTABLISHMENT. All countries in the world do their transactions using systems like SWIFT - another arm of the ESTABLISHMENT. The sanctions imposed on Russia, Iran, N. Korea, etc. were all imposed by the arms of the ESTABLISHMENT.

Any country in the world messing up with the ESTABLISHMENT is dead. When Qaddafi of Libya contemplated selling its oil in gold dinars we all know what happened to him. Russia is threatening to price its oil in Rubles or the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) have formed an alliance to counter the dominance of the Dollar are all serious affronts to the ESTABLISHMENT and we see its consequences with Russia and China. So the ESTABLISHMENT is not what the SYSTEM is to Tanzania.

In the US, it doesn't matter whether you are a Republican President/Congressman or a Democratic President/Congressman, both parties work for the ESTABLISHMENT. This is where the ESTABLISHMENT differs significantly with the Tanzanian SYSTEM.

In Tanzania, if UKAWA had won, the so-called CCM "System" would have had little or no influence to the UKAWA government. Just like now, the network of opposition parties (UKAWA) have no sway on Maguffuli's government.

Now, if you want to use the term "establishment" as a generic English word - fine, but don't draw these parallels.

 

[Kifyatu]

You quoted me wrong, I think the bottom line here is that, no matter which political system, as long as political party in power can constantly evolve itself to suit the needs of the people, will succeed. Simple as that. The adaptability of government is the key to its past success. As long as it continues to do so, it will remain successful.

On the other hand, if the political parties stopped listen to its people, it will fail. That's why Magufuli work harder to restore hadhi ya chama which has been spared by Kikwete. Even in USA, If American political parties continue its path of not representing the masses; they will be in deeper trouble in the future. For that case, there will be the rise of anti-establishment.

I agree with your first paragraph completely - no reservations.

However, when it comes to the US, and especially on larger policy issues, both parties are part of the Establishment. It means for example, it doesn't matter whether the President is a Republican or a Democrat, on issues of wars, Israel, aggression towards Russia, China, N. Korea, Iran, you name it, will remain the same. This area is controlled by the "ESTABLISHMENT".

On some domestic issues like health care, taxation, pharmaceutical price gauging, Wall-Street gambling with taxpayers' money, etc., the two parties may be different depending on who is being lobbied by whom. Sometimes these lobbyist pump so much money to these parties in the form of carpet advertisements that ordinary Americans who only get their news from mainstream media (owned by the Establishment) may actually vote against their very own self interests.

For example, you will see poor homeless folks who live on food stamps (govt. program giving free food to the poor) and no healthcare vote against Obama universal health care program that guarantees healthcare to all (almost all). Or, elderly folks would say "get the government hands out of my MEDICARE" (a government health care program for the elderly). So, it is not a question of parties not listening to its people but rather it is the people who listen too much to establishment messages coming from lobbying groups (part of the establishment) via mainstream media and convince them to vote against their self interests.

That is a long-winded way of saying the "Establishment" in USA can never be compared to the "System" in Tanzania. Two different contraptions altogether.

 

[kui]

....What CCM did this time is to put someone who would dismantle this network and reign in bad actors. Someone who is not afraid or shy to confront these big usurpers of country's resources. It will take more than the 10 years Magufuli has in office, God willing. That is why I said Magufuli needs to enact legal/institutional structures that are self perpetuating.

Mkuu before I go any further, this's where the complexity is,....

Ccm dismantling it's own Network??!!!

And as you said, after years and years of rulling, putting their system in place and established themselves, it sounds a little weird for them kupotezea, unless, they're doing it for the show...

 

[Kifyatu]

Mkuu before I go any further, this's where the complexity is,....

Ccm dismantling it's own Network??!!!

And as you said, after years and years of rulling, putting a their system in place and established themselves, it sounds a little weird for them kupotezea, unless, they're doing that for the show...

You see, CCM realized after the shellacking they experienced in 2010 elections that they are going to loose power if they continue with their empty promises to the people. CDM was very instrumental in driving this message to CCM (especially the die-hard top CCM cadres).

But there was a dilemma within CCM as to who would clean up their act. Almost everyone aspiring for Presidency had so much following (makundi), and past baggages that made them unsuitable to do the dirty work needed to clean up CCM's image. Magufuli did fit the description of this candidate. This is why they tossed Lowassa even though he had a popular following.

CCM's strategy here is to "cut-off (amputate) its gangrened leg (their corrupt ways) to save the patient (holding onto power)," and it worked. Who knows, after Magufuli and if they think people then trust them, they may go back to their old merry ways - we will see.

This is why it was such a big mistake for CDM to bring in Lowassa. Hey, this is all water under the bridge now.

 

[kui]

Mkuu Kifyatu This's from your earlier response..

Where I get mixed up is, how could the Gov. Impose anything to restructure the country and clean up the mess while people who're running the same Gov somehow contributed in making that mess to begin with?!, that's why it's kind of hard to believe that ccm can make Real changes.

And when you say the mess wasn't created by the ccm machinery, rather bad governance. I think everything happening to our country, good, fair or bad, has been either controlled or run by the ccm machinery. And so under this ccm machinery, some top officials most definitely (bad governed) by cutting for themselves a piece of the Tanzanian pie, by ways that are not legal.

The question I have is, can Magufuli do what his predecessors couldn't do?, restructure the government, bring order, and bring the so called change for our country?, and that will mean working differently from rulers no. 4, no.3 et al...we shall see!

 

[Kifyatu]

Mkuu Kifyatu This's from your earlier response..

Where I get mixed up is how could the Gov. Impose anything to restructure the country and clean up the mess while people who're running the same Gov somehow contributed in making that mess to begin with?!, that's why it's kind of hard to believe that ccm can make Real changes.

People in the current government are no longer the same people who were in the previous administration. Here I mean their characters - they could be the same flesh and blood but the characters are different. Magufuli's team is somewhat different. Ministers are under contract now and can be jettisoned at a moment's notice. Those who were part of the problem in Kikwete's administration (Dr. Hosea, Dr. Bade, and others) are out.

It seems everyone who was in the previous administration and is in this one, is in a very precarious position (amekalia kuti kavu). They could be kicked out anytime. Now, this may be seen as intimidation or even called dictatorship, but it works. It instills discipline (some may call it fear) that was lacking in previous administrations.

And when you say the mess wasn't created by the ccm machinery rather, bad governance. I think everything happening to our country, good, fair or bad, has been either controlled or run by the ccm machinery. And so under this ccm machinery, some top officials most definitely (bad governed) by cutting for themselves a piece of the Tanzanian pie in ways that are not legal.

Not really madam. Yes, top CCM officials benefited a lot from the corrupt system but the foot soldiers down below (I mean TRA, Ports, Hospitals, Land offices, Traffic police, Judges, you name it) like you and I, were the ones doing the actual dirty work of stealing. These foot soldiers were not necessarily affiliated with CCM. Some of them could have been members of CUF, CDM, or non-partisans. These were ordinary workers taking advantage of a lax system and the system was lax because top officials allowed it.

If top administration officials do their jobs diligently (whether out of fear of Magufuli or not), corruption can be arrested (more revenue in government coffers) and more development projects can be implemented in good time.

Example: Just this week they caught the bandits who downed the helicopter and killed the pilot. Within this same week the defendants were found guilty and sentenced to 15 yrs jail terms each. In the past, since these bandits might have been working for vigogo's of this game reserve, maybe they would not have been apprehended or if caught their cases would have taken forever to be concluded. Does this have anything to do with Magufuli? You tell me.

The question I have is, can Magufuli do what his predecessors couldn't do?, restructure the government, bring order, and the so called change for our country?, and that will mean working differently from rulers no. 4, no.3 et al...we shall see!

Now this is a very good and an important question. I have no doubt Magufuli can do this. He has shown us what he can do in every ministry he held in the past where his predecessors had failed miserably.

But I think what we need to ask ourselves is: What will happen after Magufuli finishes his term or, God forbid, if he should be incapacitated while in office? This is where the need for proper legally-binding institutional structures are needed to force future administrations, CCM or otherwise, to conduct GOOD GOVERNANCE. This is our only hope mkuu, otherwise we are toast as a nation.

You know, people talk of profound changes if the opposition comes into power and I say, bull-crap. Human nature is fickle. Unless you have a legal structure/framework that constrains them, they will gravitate to what CCM had become. I think Magufuli is just as effective (if not more) as any UKAWA would-be president. Let us support him, please?