Washington Post: After a Tanzanian opposition leader’s arrest, hopes for a democratic turn fade

[Missile of the Nation]

After a Tanzanian opposition leader’s arrest, hopes for a democratic turn fade​

NAIROBI — The sudden death of Tanzanian president John Magufuli in March plunged much of the East African country into mourning but prompted some to hope his successor would reverse his government’s authoritarian tendencies.

Much of that hope was dashed in recent days, after the chairman of Tanzania’s most prominent opposition party was arrested last week and charged Monday with plotting to assassinate government officials.

The opposition leader, Freeman Mbowe, had been campaigning for changes to Tanzania’s constitution that would lessen the central government’s power and create greater parliamentary oversight. The party he leads, the Party for Democracy and Progress, commonly known as Chadema, is focused on rooting out corruption, which it says worsened under Magufuli.
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For many, the arrest was reminiscent of crackdowns on the opposition and journalists under Magufuli.

The charges against Mbowe, which include paying three men to blow up gas stations and other “terrorism-related” activities, were farcical, said his lawyer, Peter Kibatala.

“It is too much of a coincidence, the timing,” he said. “Why arrest him at this moment right when agitations for a new constitution are taking shape?”

Police and government spokesmen did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

In death, as in life, Tanzania’s Magufuli polarized his country

“They are saying: ‘We will not accept any kind of conversation around any kind of reforms,' " said Maria Sarungi Tsehai, founder of Change Tanzania, an online platform that advocates for democracy.

Samia Suluhu Hassan, Magufuli’s successor and the country’s first female president, had made some overtures during her first months in office that had given activists reason for hope. She moved away from Magufuli’s pandemic denialism that had left Tanzania without any public monitoring of covid-19’s spread or a plan for procuring vaccines. Tanzania received its first vaccine doses through the global Covax program this week and has released some new case data.

Hassan also replaced numerous officials, including the top public prosecutor, and traveled to neighboring Kenya, lowering tensions over tariffs that had flared under Magufuli.

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, center, arrives to pay her respects as the body of former president John Magufuli lies in state in Dar es Salaam on March 20. (AP)

Kibatala said he was not notified by the court where Mbowe was arraigned that charges were being read, which Edward Hoseah, president of one of Tanzania’s biggest federation’s of lawyers, said was unlawful.

Magufuli’s authoritarian tendencies brought about a new era in Tanzania that saw widespread intimidation of the opposition, the arrests of dozens of journalists and curtailing of freedoms of speech. But he was also admired for his fierce nationalism and focus on infrastructure projects that earned him the nickname “the Bulldozer.”

He had won reelection just months before his death, which leaves Hassan, formerly his vice president, with most of a five-year term to finish.

Magufuli’s pandemic response — which centered at first on denial and then on playing down its severity — earned him international reprove. Rumors swirled around the cause of his death, but officials said he succumbed to a long-standing heart ailment.

Mbowe’s son, James, said that while his father had been arrested before, the seriousness of the charges this time came as a shock to the family. A day after Mbowe’s detention, the health of his beloved uncle Alfayo Mbowe, 88, quickly deteriorated, and he was taken to a hospital where he died.

“We thought that things had changed when Mama Samia said that this is not the time to look back,” the younger Mbowe said. “But we are seeing that things are not as she promised.”

source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/27/tanzania-freeman-mbowe-arrest/

 

[Behaviourist]

 

[Kajiarashid]

MAMA RAISAT SAMIA, USITULIE:

Ukweli ni kwamba, UPINZANI Tanzania, ni silaha ya wakoloni wazungu; iliyo oteshwa UN NY na kumiminiwa maji na udhwalimu wa kimagharibi (TAMAA YA MADARAKA) kwa lengo LA kuwahujumu RAIA wa nchi ziitwazo ulimwengu wa tatu.

KWA NINI IWE HIVYO?

UPINZANI ni chimbuko LA ghadhabu juu ya MPINZANI wako. Ni leseni ya kuwatenganisha watu katika familia, ukoo, jamii na taifa, pasiwe na maelewano yenye msingi wa pamoja kuendea lengo moja.

UPINZANI ni tiketi ya ruhusa umtukane kiongozi wa juu kwa dhana kuwa anakufanyia mabaya.

UPINZANI ni ruhusa kupinga serikali iliyo madarakani ili kuihujumu isifanikishe malengo ya kitaifa.

Jamani, Jamani, JAMANIIIIIII, vipi Waingereza kwa miaka 70, dereva ni mwanamke, wanaitawala dunia? Nchi yao haina chochote, lakini mama huyu kupitia BBC, sote tumenywea.

Wao taasisi ya Malkia haina UPINZANI. hapigiwi kura. Hana chama. Ni wa kudumu. Na SERIKALI ya nchi yao ni YAKE. MAGUFULI alipokaa ikulu kama Mtawala na serikali ikadhihirika kuwa ni YAKE, alitenda kiasi chake. Jambo ambalo wabaya wa maendeleo ya mwafrika, hawakulipenda. Leo Magu karejea zake mbinguni na mwili ukahifadhiwa kwao Chato. What next??

RUHSA MAMA YETU SAMIA:

NCHI ni YAKO. SERIKALI ni YAKO. FEDHA YA TAIFA ni YAKO.

Kwa hiyo Mama Samia, tulia na kujipanga. Njia ni ndefu, lakini ukiwa na mastaplani, hata kama si kama ya mtangulizi wako, utafanya maajabu katika miaka mitatu minne kabla ya 2025.

Umerithi uozo (mfumo wa uongozi na utawala) wa tangu mkoloni na hivi Leo ukoloni mambo Leo. Sekta zote - serikali, majeshi, elimu, uchumi, biashara, viwanda, tiba, michezo, siasa, dini n.k; ni DHANA. Ni MIHEMKO kila kona. Akipata nafasi mtu, ni kuchapa; maarufu chukua chako mapema (CCM), huku Mali na utajiri wetu ukimiminikia ulaya, marikani na bricks kupitia vitengo vya manunuzi wizarani, mikoani na wilayani kwa wakurugenzi.

Ni uozo huu, ambao kwa wazungu ni Mali, unatumaliza na kutufunika tusijue nini LA kufanya.

Wamekutangulia MARAIS SHUPAVU WATANO WANAUME. Mbona bado tunalumbana?

You need to bring a change katika FIKRA, UONI, UFAHAMU na UELEWA wa mambo na ULIMWENGU.

Mama, change the COURSE, uione njia; then GO. Sisi tuko behind you.

MASIKINI! Tundu Lisu, Lema na MBOWE, mchezo wa wazungu wanauelewa, lakini wanacholilia ni ajira seat namba one, basi. Wakiingia ikulu, mambo ni Yale Yale.
Na yatakuwa mbaya zaidi, mbona?

SUALA LA DEMOKRASIA NI GIZA NENE KWA UKOMBOZI WETU WA UCHUMI:

Mwanzo DEMOKRASIA ilikuwa ni-
1) serikali ya watu,
2) kwa ajili ya watu na
3) ikisimamiwa na watu wenyewe.

Leo UN NY, Demokrasia ni-
1) haki za kulawitiana, ngono huru. 2) haki watoto na wanawake,
3) haki za uhuru wa habari
4) haki za biashara huria na
5) haki za kuoana watu wa jinsia moja.

Lakini bado- Demokrasia kwetu Tanzania wababe wa upinzani chama tawala na upinzani ni-
1) serikali ya wasomi,
2) kwa ajili ya wasomi na
3) ikisimamiwa na wasomi;
Huraaa, hii safi; ili hali 96% ya RAIA ni masikini hohehahe na masikini walio mavumbini.

Khaaaaa!!!!!

TUNATAKA DEMOKRASIA YA KWELI, itupe-
1) ELIMU, Mungu atupe
2) UHAI kwa kuishi kikamilifu
3) MAISHA (dini yetu watu weusi -UTII, HESHIMA na UAMINIFU).

SUALA LA KATIBA NI NYETI:

Lakini Katiba hii ya nchi sio kwamba eti ibadilishwe na kuandika mpya! La. Bali SIYO.

Katiba IPO na inakusubiri UIKAMATE. Ikuvushe kama Mama Elizabeth II ANAVYO FANYA. Wao hawajaandilika katiba kwa mikono yao?!

UTAWEEEEEZAAASSSS. TRUST IN GOD.