CAMARADERIE
JF-Expert Member
- Mar 3, 2011
- 4,419
- 1,920
Source: The East African: - Comment |Relax, JK, you aren
Just as there are many ways to skin a cat, there are many ways to make a speech.
One was shown some two weeks ago when Muammar Gaddafi made a public appearance soon after a section of his people had rebelled and were calling for his overthrow.In an emotionally charged tirade, Gaddafi punched the air, tugged at his shawl, and struggled with his elaborate headgear as he ranted against the rebellious crowds in various Libyan towns, calling them rats and cockroaches, among other nasty things.In another outburst, Kenyan Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta banged tables, clenched fists and wagged fingers as he railed against Raila, in a show of minimum decorum.
Midway between the air-puncher in Tripoli and the table-banger in Nairobi, President Jakaya Kikwete made his own speech in Dar es Salaam in which he looked and sounded so under the weather that some of those who watched him wondered what had happened to him.
It may be more because of bad speechwriters than poor delivery, but even the content left little clarity on the issues he attempted to tackle.
Issues attaching to the escalation of the cost of living and worsening power cuts were dealt with in a manner that raised more questions than answers.
At least when he dealt with the latest bomb explosions in an army depot in Dar es Salaam, his demeanour came across with the sombreness befitting a national funeral, but then he failed to point out the grave responsibility that the army chiefs and their political principals must bear for occasioning two major blasts in as many years, killing civilians, destroying homes and sowing panic.
It is this failure to be tough on people and institutions under him that offsets his attack, in the same speech, on Chadema, the main opposition party, which has become Kikwetes veritable nemesis.
Its not easy to understand the president when he asserts that Chadema leaders are intent on removing the government in place by force because there is nothing to suggest it in the records of what they have been saying. It is true they have been making some extravagant statements, such as giving the president a number of days to rectify this or that, but arent all these the usual gimmicks that politicians of all sorts resort to when they want to attract attention?
That the CCM has lost ground in the esteem of the masses cannot be doubted, as the throngs at Chadema rallies indicate and as the results of last Octobers elections showed.
But thats no reason to suggest that there will be, any time soon, a mass movement capable of toppling the government Tahrir-style.
Indeed, breaches of the peace only take place when the police interfere with the peoples right to self-expression, as was made clear during the Arusha demos a few weeks ago. When bigger demos and mammoth rallies were held in the Lake Zone this last week and the police kept their distance, all was calm.
Just as there are many ways to skin a cat, there are many ways to make a speech.
One was shown some two weeks ago when Muammar Gaddafi made a public appearance soon after a section of his people had rebelled and were calling for his overthrow.In an emotionally charged tirade, Gaddafi punched the air, tugged at his shawl, and struggled with his elaborate headgear as he ranted against the rebellious crowds in various Libyan towns, calling them rats and cockroaches, among other nasty things.In another outburst, Kenyan Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta banged tables, clenched fists and wagged fingers as he railed against Raila, in a show of minimum decorum.
Midway between the air-puncher in Tripoli and the table-banger in Nairobi, President Jakaya Kikwete made his own speech in Dar es Salaam in which he looked and sounded so under the weather that some of those who watched him wondered what had happened to him.
It may be more because of bad speechwriters than poor delivery, but even the content left little clarity on the issues he attempted to tackle.
Issues attaching to the escalation of the cost of living and worsening power cuts were dealt with in a manner that raised more questions than answers.
At least when he dealt with the latest bomb explosions in an army depot in Dar es Salaam, his demeanour came across with the sombreness befitting a national funeral, but then he failed to point out the grave responsibility that the army chiefs and their political principals must bear for occasioning two major blasts in as many years, killing civilians, destroying homes and sowing panic.
It is this failure to be tough on people and institutions under him that offsets his attack, in the same speech, on Chadema, the main opposition party, which has become Kikwetes veritable nemesis.
Its not easy to understand the president when he asserts that Chadema leaders are intent on removing the government in place by force because there is nothing to suggest it in the records of what they have been saying. It is true they have been making some extravagant statements, such as giving the president a number of days to rectify this or that, but arent all these the usual gimmicks that politicians of all sorts resort to when they want to attract attention?
That the CCM has lost ground in the esteem of the masses cannot be doubted, as the throngs at Chadema rallies indicate and as the results of last Octobers elections showed.
But thats no reason to suggest that there will be, any time soon, a mass movement capable of toppling the government Tahrir-style.
Indeed, breaches of the peace only take place when the police interfere with the peoples right to self-expression, as was made clear during the Arusha demos a few weeks ago. When bigger demos and mammoth rallies were held in the Lake Zone this last week and the police kept their distance, all was calm.
