Bishop Njoya and Dr. Mvungi Juxtaposed: Tanzania will get a new Constitution!

Nico Minde, Arusha

 

The death of Dr. Sengondo Mvungi, a member of the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) is a major blow. A man described by his colleagues as bright, humble and dedicated, Dr. Mvungi indeed was a man respected by many. Dr. Mvungi was a constitutional law expert and a law lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam. In 2005 he ran for the presidency on a NCCR Mageuzi ticket coming a distant fifth with a paltry 0.49% of the votes. He was badly injured after robbers broke into his house beating hima nad injuring him badly. He passed away after being admitted in a South African Hospital on 12 November. 

World over, prominent and even ordinary people have lost their lives while pursuing dreams. Nationalists in Africa bore the brunt while fighting for independence. Some like OR Tambo did not see the fruits of independence whereas a man like John Garang only lived a month after helping his country, South Sudan get independence. Their memories still live on, we celebrate them. 

The famous Kenyan cleric Bishop Timothy Njoya who fought the state using the pulpit now enjoys the fruits of a new constitution.  "I was defrocked by the PCEA three times, and I have been reinstated three times. I have also been ‘killed’ by the government three times and I have ‘risen’ three times,” he says. Rev. Njoya was once beaten by gangsters, who chopped his fingers and left him for dead because he campaigned for multiparty politics in Kenya. He says his greatest rewards is dismantling one-party rule. Just like Rev. Njoya, Dr. Mvungi was beaten and left for dead by unknown assailants. However, unlike Njoya, his fate was tragic. No one is alluding foul play to his death or any other sinister or ominous allegations in that regard, apart from the fact that he was attacked and beaten up by thugs and later died. But as Njoya likes to say "Through my beatings, comatose, and humiliation I bore a new constitution for Kenya". Maybe Dr. Mvungi's blood is first amongst the many that will fall for a cause, but eventually a NEW CONSTITUTION WILL COME TO BIRTH IN TANZANIA. Fare thee well, Dr. Mvungi!