MsemajiUkweli
JF-Expert Member
- Jul 5, 2012
- 13,172
- 23,974
Comprehending events and situations in life is best pursued when there is a mental model with which it is being compared, often what had happened in the immediate past, like it is usually the case in evaluating a government's economic performance.
At times this directly temporal comparison is unhelpful and instead some mental rules are needed, and that is where axiomatic expressions compiled in a literary manner in the course of history comes up. When one says 'like father like son' it removes the need to explain someone's behavior, 'cutting a long story short.'
In like manner comprehending events in the country's leading opposition party, CHADEMA can take hours without a model with which to work on, since there are elements of political position taking, personal loyalties, and even family affinities in relation to the top leadership.
All these elements play a part in how the conflict is engendered or unfolds, for instance the issue of party chairman Freeman Mbowe not being eligible to quit after two terms has to do with blessings from party founder Edwin Mtei. The latter is also conjugally related to the chairman.
That is why events in North Korea can serve as a mirror to grasp our own situation - using a plural in the sense that the leading opposition party has for several years taken up the imagination of millions, much as this writer isn't counted among its followers.
In that case this discussion isn't a defence of Zitto Kabwe - the pain in the neck of the party leadership, whose excision. like a cancer, will take more than its allotted space in the body, with fears of hemorrage in other organs. Those in charge of CHADEMA wish that Zitto Kabwe was just an MP, like all the others.
Briefly CHADEMA wants Zitto Kabwe to drop his own ambitions and file behind Dr Wilibrod Slaa, the party secretary general as the party's nominee for 2015, and treats dissent on that point as sabotage.
They also wish that he falls behind overall party discipline of considering Freeman Mbowe as best able to lead, and no need for leadership terms arises, despite that he obtained a tenth of the vote of CCM candidate Jakaya Kikwete in 2005. When the party chairman is unelectable in a general election, there is need for renewal at that level so as to widen party appeal.
That is where party founder Edwin Mtei comes in, on account of widely quoted remarks lately obtained in relation to the situation around Zitto Kabwe and discord in the party's appeal countrywide for that reason.
The party founder said there is still room for Zitto in CHADEM if he examines what he is doing and rectify his methods, in orher words, there is no room in CHADEMA for a leader like Zitto, his orientation and political outlook.
That viewpoint fails to comprehend the ethos of a political party, as a union of individuals with certain core values they hold together, but with ranges of opinion that can be as diverse as their own origins.
There is a stream of charges in Zitto's direction, chiefly that he is by and large insubordinate to Dr Slaa, failing to campaign for him in 2010 polls, and keeping his distance even now.
Those who don't know enough about Dr Slaa may start to believe that those charges are correct, but at an earlier period, in the 2005 run when Mbowe was the candidate, a certain Shaibu Akilombwe, earlier a senior cadre in the Civic United Front (CUF) and then joined CHADEMA, participated in the campaign. He would be directed by Dr Slaa to criticise Nyerere strongly in a particular zone, say in the coastal regions - and then Mbowe voids it in his speech.
Akilombwe left CHADEMA soon afterwards, and those who hear that story are made to comprehend that the criticism of Nyerere was meant for his co-religioners in the coastal regions, but the proper CHADEMA leadership, mindful of its social origins, doesn't take that road.
In other words campaigning for Dr Slaa, or if it had been for Mbowe as earlier, can reduce a top level cadre to a marionette, where his own image is disfigured and that of the chairman, or the candidate, improved in turn. That is possible for middle of the road cadres like Akilombwe, though even then he finally reasoned that enough is enough. With a person like Zitto, he says what he wants to say; he is a leader in his own right, not just a cog in a big wheel.
When one goes through remarks by party elder Mtei in that connection, the idea that comes up is a throwback to the days of a one party state, where Mtei himself knows what sort of error it was to criticise 'vi-DECO' and other money wasting economic entities of the Ujamaa policy at that time.
Taking a different position on issues is what gives a political party its health and vitality, how it shapes its view of things on a day to day basis, largely on the basis of how specific leaders, who are informal heads of opinion groups in the party, feel about something.
If I were a CHADEMA follower I would be listening to Prof. Mwesiga Baregu as a senior colleague in past years. Younger academics may listen to Dr Kitila Mkumbo, etc.
This tonality of a one party state and its unquestionable position of the leader, a generalissimo as in the days of World War II fascist leaders worshipped by their people as saviors and exacting total obedience from them is too vividly evident in the leading opposition party.
It parallels the situation in North Korea where lately Kim Jong Un, the youthful leader of that country and chairman of its so-called Workers' Party, expelled his onetime mentor and uncle, Jang Song Thaek, saying that he abused drugs, disobeyed orders and worked in secret to build up his base of power. Charges of a totalitarian state parallel those of a 'democratic' CHADEMA.
Pyongyang news commissars said the uncle (Mtei in this case) was relieved of all posts and expelled from the Workers Party after a meeting Sunday of top officials in Pyongyang - same as the recent meeting of the CHADEMA central committee, where as in this case, there is no higher organ with power on the issue, above the committee chaired by the party chairman. The world was utterly surprised to see on television and newspaper photographs the uncle being humiliated, being sent out by secret police at a central committee meeting, humiliated by his young nephew.
What was worse was the sort of charges it levelled on the disgraced top level official and close relative of the state president or supreme leader. Seoul (the capital of the southern republic) newspapers said that although the North has previously banished high-level leaders, never has it described their alleged transgressions in such detail, citing its analysts.
"The statement about Jang, released by the state-run news agency, ran nearly 1,400 words and said dissent would not be tolerated under its monolithic leadership system, with Kim as the unitary center. That is precisely what Mtei seemed to say in regard to Zitto, that he was a dissident, which in CHADEMA equals undermining the party, and has criticisms of chairman Mbowe, which in that context is treason, building own base.
Seoul networks said the North Korean statement came six days after South Koreas spy agency briefed select lawmakers in Seoul on Jangs likely removal, noting that
Jang (67), had been installed as a caretaker for the third-generation power handoff by Kim Jong Il, who died two years ago.
Until recently, Jang was one of Kim Jong Uns closest lieutenants, accompanying him at public events nationwide and last year representing him at a meeting in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Jangs removal marks the most significant shake-up under Kim Jong Un, and some experts see the unusually vivid account as a public warning against disloyalty. The move sort of crowns Kim Jong-un as proper leader, not still relying on his uncle.
Seoul analysts also noted that Kim Jong Un punishes his political rivals more severely than Kim Jong Il, by listing a page long litany of Jangs crimes whose less than one year ago represented the supreme leader at a function as important as meeting President Xi, the single most important ally that North Korea boasts. In like manner, the length of charges being drawn against Zitto Kabwe smacks of this same situation or lack of tolerance for dissenting views, or personal alliances in this or that manner.
For instance it is said Zitto was in regular contact - presumably payments as well - with ex-Igunga MP and ex-CCM treasurer Rostam Aziz, and this is seen as an anti-CHADEMA stance. But individuals like Rostam push their own agenda in Parliament and in public opinion; the issue there isn't CHADEMA.
Other charges that Kim Jong Un levelled at his uncle display recklessness and an attempt to character assassinate someone totally just in order to find room, a minimum of public sympathy, in removing him from positions of authority.
The North Korean lengthy charge sheet similarly said that the party and family elder "disobeyed the orders of Kim Jong Un and obstructed the work of previous leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. He tried to build up his power base one with ideals different from those of the state and was double-dealing behind the scene. In his personal life, Jang was dissolute and depraved, as well as corrupt.
The North Korean leader, in those meaningless and depraved charges, wishes the world could forget that one year ago, uncle Jang was the most knowledgeable and articulate as well as loyal person whom the North Korean leader could trust to make things easier for him, with President Xi.
It can also be said that Kim Jong Un may have expected that Jang could achieve more in discussing with the Chinese leader than himself, on account of his age and experience.
So the disrespectful, not to say silly charges like abusing drugs and building a power base lack merit, as those ills couldn't have started over the past year, or couldn't be discovered earlier.
In like manner, charges as to the Kigoma North MP receiving bribes are well off the mark for a respectable political party, despite that some columnists have been seen to label that action as 'daring.'
Can a political party wash all its dirty linen in public and remain electable, or is it a matter of careful elimination like in the case of a totalitarian state? That is why for CHADEMA as well as North Korea, there is a toll in public confidence and faith that comes with such acts of purging respected individuals, veteran leaders as in the case of the presidential uncle. It is damaging.
Source: THE GUARDIAN
At times this directly temporal comparison is unhelpful and instead some mental rules are needed, and that is where axiomatic expressions compiled in a literary manner in the course of history comes up. When one says 'like father like son' it removes the need to explain someone's behavior, 'cutting a long story short.'
In like manner comprehending events in the country's leading opposition party, CHADEMA can take hours without a model with which to work on, since there are elements of political position taking, personal loyalties, and even family affinities in relation to the top leadership.
All these elements play a part in how the conflict is engendered or unfolds, for instance the issue of party chairman Freeman Mbowe not being eligible to quit after two terms has to do with blessings from party founder Edwin Mtei. The latter is also conjugally related to the chairman.
That is why events in North Korea can serve as a mirror to grasp our own situation - using a plural in the sense that the leading opposition party has for several years taken up the imagination of millions, much as this writer isn't counted among its followers.
In that case this discussion isn't a defence of Zitto Kabwe - the pain in the neck of the party leadership, whose excision. like a cancer, will take more than its allotted space in the body, with fears of hemorrage in other organs. Those in charge of CHADEMA wish that Zitto Kabwe was just an MP, like all the others.
Briefly CHADEMA wants Zitto Kabwe to drop his own ambitions and file behind Dr Wilibrod Slaa, the party secretary general as the party's nominee for 2015, and treats dissent on that point as sabotage.
They also wish that he falls behind overall party discipline of considering Freeman Mbowe as best able to lead, and no need for leadership terms arises, despite that he obtained a tenth of the vote of CCM candidate Jakaya Kikwete in 2005. When the party chairman is unelectable in a general election, there is need for renewal at that level so as to widen party appeal.
That is where party founder Edwin Mtei comes in, on account of widely quoted remarks lately obtained in relation to the situation around Zitto Kabwe and discord in the party's appeal countrywide for that reason.
The party founder said there is still room for Zitto in CHADEM if he examines what he is doing and rectify his methods, in orher words, there is no room in CHADEMA for a leader like Zitto, his orientation and political outlook.
That viewpoint fails to comprehend the ethos of a political party, as a union of individuals with certain core values they hold together, but with ranges of opinion that can be as diverse as their own origins.
There is a stream of charges in Zitto's direction, chiefly that he is by and large insubordinate to Dr Slaa, failing to campaign for him in 2010 polls, and keeping his distance even now.
Those who don't know enough about Dr Slaa may start to believe that those charges are correct, but at an earlier period, in the 2005 run when Mbowe was the candidate, a certain Shaibu Akilombwe, earlier a senior cadre in the Civic United Front (CUF) and then joined CHADEMA, participated in the campaign. He would be directed by Dr Slaa to criticise Nyerere strongly in a particular zone, say in the coastal regions - and then Mbowe voids it in his speech.
Akilombwe left CHADEMA soon afterwards, and those who hear that story are made to comprehend that the criticism of Nyerere was meant for his co-religioners in the coastal regions, but the proper CHADEMA leadership, mindful of its social origins, doesn't take that road.
In other words campaigning for Dr Slaa, or if it had been for Mbowe as earlier, can reduce a top level cadre to a marionette, where his own image is disfigured and that of the chairman, or the candidate, improved in turn. That is possible for middle of the road cadres like Akilombwe, though even then he finally reasoned that enough is enough. With a person like Zitto, he says what he wants to say; he is a leader in his own right, not just a cog in a big wheel.
When one goes through remarks by party elder Mtei in that connection, the idea that comes up is a throwback to the days of a one party state, where Mtei himself knows what sort of error it was to criticise 'vi-DECO' and other money wasting economic entities of the Ujamaa policy at that time.
Taking a different position on issues is what gives a political party its health and vitality, how it shapes its view of things on a day to day basis, largely on the basis of how specific leaders, who are informal heads of opinion groups in the party, feel about something.
If I were a CHADEMA follower I would be listening to Prof. Mwesiga Baregu as a senior colleague in past years. Younger academics may listen to Dr Kitila Mkumbo, etc.
This tonality of a one party state and its unquestionable position of the leader, a generalissimo as in the days of World War II fascist leaders worshipped by their people as saviors and exacting total obedience from them is too vividly evident in the leading opposition party.
It parallels the situation in North Korea where lately Kim Jong Un, the youthful leader of that country and chairman of its so-called Workers' Party, expelled his onetime mentor and uncle, Jang Song Thaek, saying that he abused drugs, disobeyed orders and worked in secret to build up his base of power. Charges of a totalitarian state parallel those of a 'democratic' CHADEMA.
Pyongyang news commissars said the uncle (Mtei in this case) was relieved of all posts and expelled from the Workers Party after a meeting Sunday of top officials in Pyongyang - same as the recent meeting of the CHADEMA central committee, where as in this case, there is no higher organ with power on the issue, above the committee chaired by the party chairman. The world was utterly surprised to see on television and newspaper photographs the uncle being humiliated, being sent out by secret police at a central committee meeting, humiliated by his young nephew.
What was worse was the sort of charges it levelled on the disgraced top level official and close relative of the state president or supreme leader. Seoul (the capital of the southern republic) newspapers said that although the North has previously banished high-level leaders, never has it described their alleged transgressions in such detail, citing its analysts.
"The statement about Jang, released by the state-run news agency, ran nearly 1,400 words and said dissent would not be tolerated under its monolithic leadership system, with Kim as the unitary center. That is precisely what Mtei seemed to say in regard to Zitto, that he was a dissident, which in CHADEMA equals undermining the party, and has criticisms of chairman Mbowe, which in that context is treason, building own base.
Seoul networks said the North Korean statement came six days after South Koreas spy agency briefed select lawmakers in Seoul on Jangs likely removal, noting that
Jang (67), had been installed as a caretaker for the third-generation power handoff by Kim Jong Il, who died two years ago.
Until recently, Jang was one of Kim Jong Uns closest lieutenants, accompanying him at public events nationwide and last year representing him at a meeting in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Jangs removal marks the most significant shake-up under Kim Jong Un, and some experts see the unusually vivid account as a public warning against disloyalty. The move sort of crowns Kim Jong-un as proper leader, not still relying on his uncle.
Seoul analysts also noted that Kim Jong Un punishes his political rivals more severely than Kim Jong Il, by listing a page long litany of Jangs crimes whose less than one year ago represented the supreme leader at a function as important as meeting President Xi, the single most important ally that North Korea boasts. In like manner, the length of charges being drawn against Zitto Kabwe smacks of this same situation or lack of tolerance for dissenting views, or personal alliances in this or that manner.
For instance it is said Zitto was in regular contact - presumably payments as well - with ex-Igunga MP and ex-CCM treasurer Rostam Aziz, and this is seen as an anti-CHADEMA stance. But individuals like Rostam push their own agenda in Parliament and in public opinion; the issue there isn't CHADEMA.
Other charges that Kim Jong Un levelled at his uncle display recklessness and an attempt to character assassinate someone totally just in order to find room, a minimum of public sympathy, in removing him from positions of authority.
The North Korean lengthy charge sheet similarly said that the party and family elder "disobeyed the orders of Kim Jong Un and obstructed the work of previous leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. He tried to build up his power base one with ideals different from those of the state and was double-dealing behind the scene. In his personal life, Jang was dissolute and depraved, as well as corrupt.
The North Korean leader, in those meaningless and depraved charges, wishes the world could forget that one year ago, uncle Jang was the most knowledgeable and articulate as well as loyal person whom the North Korean leader could trust to make things easier for him, with President Xi.
It can also be said that Kim Jong Un may have expected that Jang could achieve more in discussing with the Chinese leader than himself, on account of his age and experience.
So the disrespectful, not to say silly charges like abusing drugs and building a power base lack merit, as those ills couldn't have started over the past year, or couldn't be discovered earlier.
In like manner, charges as to the Kigoma North MP receiving bribes are well off the mark for a respectable political party, despite that some columnists have been seen to label that action as 'daring.'
Can a political party wash all its dirty linen in public and remain electable, or is it a matter of careful elimination like in the case of a totalitarian state? That is why for CHADEMA as well as North Korea, there is a toll in public confidence and faith that comes with such acts of purging respected individuals, veteran leaders as in the case of the presidential uncle. It is damaging.
Source: THE GUARDIAN