The Future of Democracy and Freedom in Tanzania is at Stake

Controversial pieces of legislations have been passed in Tanzania that will undermine press freedoms and democracy. Chadema's Chairman Freeman Mbowe comments on these legislations that put the country at stake ahead of the general elections in October.  

By Freeman Aikaeli Mbowe

The ruling party, the Chama Cha Mapindizi (CCM), has enacted a cluster of laws to clamp down on freedom of the media that will put a country once admired for its transparency and openness - and a significant development partner of the West - into the same league as other dictatorships on the continent.

The Media Services Bill will bar all but officially licensed journalists and media houses from operating, create a "media council" to control publications down to small newsletters and blogger sites, and impose stiff penalties such as the banning of newspapers.

The Cybercrimes Act will outlaw online publication of what the government deems "misleading, deceptive or false" information, and grant police the power to search the homes of suspected violators, seize their computers and demand their data from online service providers. It will be an offence to send an email or other electronic communication without solicitation.

The Statistics Act outlaws the publication of statistics deemed by the government to be false, an offence punishable by a $6,000 fine or a three-year prison sentence. A researcher or journalist can go to jail for publishing data that the government does not agree with.

The laws ostensibly set out to confront concerns such as child pornography and hate speech but instead strangle freedom of speech both on traditional and social media.

The laws have either passed Parliament or are being fast tracked through. President Jaya Kikwete has announced that he will assent to all, though he has not yet signed them into law.

There is only one motive that explains the breadth of these measures and the speed with which they have been rushed into law: Tanzania is to hold national elections in October this year.

Cumulatively, the new laws could silence criticism of poor governance and stifle what has been a feature of media reporting in recent years: investigations and exposes of corruption in government.

By setting stiff penalties for breaking the law, the government is assembling a series of traps that will force the opposition to choose between silence and jail.

The CCM has effectively ruled Tanzania since independence in 1961, and won every election since the country became a multiparty democracy in 1992. But this year, it is faces the prospect for the first time that it could be beaten, by an opposition movement spearheaded by my party, the Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema).

Millions of Tanzanians are tired of endemic corruption and paralysis and are eager for change. Tanzania has become one of the largest recipients of aid in Africa, yet we have the resources and opportunities to become one of the economic powerhouses of the continent.

The government is determined to hold onto power by all means, and we see the crackdown on the media and free speech as part of a broader attack on democracy.

As our support has grown, our members have been violently attacked - several have been killed and hundreds more jailed. Almost a dozen Chadema members face politically motivated charges in court. I personally narrowly escaped with my life when a hand-grenade thrown at me during one of our rallies killed four people.

Why should this matter to people in the US?

Tanzania is first among the West's development partners in Africa. From the US government alone, it is one of the leading beneficiaries of aid from the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Feed the Future, the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief and Obama's signature Africa initiative, Power Africa.

Many Americans know Tanzania as a land of great beauty and one of the world's most splendid wildlife refuges. It is the home of the Serengeti Plains, Ngorongoro Crater, the Olduvai Gorge and Mount Kilimanjaro.

And yet an NGO, the Environmental Investigative Agency, says more elephants are killed for their ivory in Tanzania than in any other country, as a consequence of corruption and criminality.

The British television station, ITN, published statistics recently that elephant numbers in the Ruaha-Rungwa ecosystem had fallen by 60 %, from 20,000 to 8,200. National Geographic has pointed out that mere publication of these facts will soon be a criminal act. Under the cloak of censorship, the slaughter will continue.

The international community does have leverage and bears some responsibility if nothing is done. President Kikwete appeared to acknowledge this when, addressing the opening of the US-sponsored Open Government Initiative in Tanzania recently, he claimed to be open to hearing objections to the legislation and to be willing to fix them - after they have been signed into law.

We have a better solution: the international community should insist that he should not sign these laws. He should send them back to Parliament so that all measures designed to crack down on the media or stifle freedom of expression can be expunged.

This is not just about these laws, bad as they are. This is about ensuring that there is a level playing field in the election so that the will of the people can prevail. Nothing less than the future of democracy and freedom in Tanzania is at stake.

Freeman Aikaeli Mbowe is the chairman of Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA - Party for Democracy and Development) and the leader of the opposition in Tanzania's Parliament. Mbowe was elected to the National Assembly in 2000 representing the Hai Constituency in Kilimanjaro Region.

Ndani ya Bunge la Katiba: Mbowe na Marafiki wa Tanganyika

Ni siku chache tangu Bunge la Katiba lianze kazi yake mjini Dodoma. Mbali na uteuzi wa Mwenyekiti wa muda Pandu Ameir Kificho, mjadala umekuwa wa posho za wajumbe hawa. Ni aibu kubwa kwa taifa letu kuona kwamba mjadala anzilishi wa Bunge la Katiba sio wa hoja bali ya posho za wajumbe. Nimeamua makusudi kukwepa mjadala huu na hata kuchangia kwa upana. Sio jambo la kupoteza muda wako.

Nimependezwa na uledi na ustadi makini na hatua ya Mwenyekiti wa Chadema na Kiongozi wa Kambi ya Upinzani Bungeni Mh. Freeman Mbowe kuanzisha kundi la marafiki wa Tanganyika. Waingereza wanaiita "caucus". Ni hatua madhubuti ambayo kulingana na Mh. Mbowe, itajumuisha aina mbali mbali ya makundi ndani ya Bunge hilo. Mtazamo huu chanya ni muhimu katika kuteka hoja mbali mbali ambazo zinahusu upana wa maslahi na sio ufinyu wa maslahi ya kichama, kikanda, ama hata ya kidini. Kwa mujibu wa Mbowe, kundi hili halitakuwa na chembe ya itikadi ya chama cha siasa, bali litaundwa na 'marafiki wa Tanganyika'.Licha ya mtazamo wa wazi wa Chama cha Mapinduzi kudai Mfumo wa Serikali mbili ndani ya Muungano, Mbowe anaohisi sio mtazamo wa WanaCCM wote. Misingi bora ya demokrasia katika demokrasia pevu na zilizostawi, mfumo huu wa kuleta makundi "Lobbying and Caucusing" kwa kimombo, ndio njia muafka wa kujenga maridhiano (building consensus) hata kama kuna mitazamo tofauti (diverging opinions). Ni kwa msingi huu Mbowe amependekeza uundwaji wa vikundi vya sampuli hii. 

Rai yangu kwa wajumbe wa Bunge la Katiba kujenga maridhiano kupitia makundi ya kirafiki ambayo itahusisha itikadi mbali mbali na kuleta umoja wa kitaifa. Historia inatufundisha kwamba michakato ya Katiba inaweza kuigawanya nchi kama haitaendeshwa kwa ufasaha ila inaweza kutumika kama nyenzo kuu ya kuleta watu pamoja katika maazimio ya pamoja (common aspirations) ambayo ni nguzo kuu ya katiba yoyote duniani. 

  

Chadema washeherekea kwa mbwembwe Arusha!

Waendesha bodaboda

Chadema washeherekea ushindi Arusha

Wafuasi wa Chadema wakicheza na kufurahia mjini Arusha baada ya ushindi wa diwani wa kata ya Sombetini.

 Mbwembwe za wafuasi wa Chadema.

 Mbunge wa Arusha mjini akiwapungia wafuasi wa Chadema walifurika licha ya mvua kubwa.

Maandamano ya waendesha pikipiki almaarufu kama bodaboda (Toyo) wakiongozana katika msafara wa ushindi karibu na hoteli ya Palace jijini
Arusha.

Maoni kuhusiana na Mgogoro ndani ya Chadema

Kufuatia mgogoro mzito ndani ya Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema), nimetuma maoni yafutayo kwenye gazeti la Mwananchi. Chini ya kichwa cha habari Chadema yamtimua Dk. Kitila, Mwigamba.

Demokrasia ndani ya vyama vya siasa ni suala ngeni na gumu hususan katika nchi yetu ya Tanzania. Kwa nchi kama yetu ambayo tumekulia na kulelewa katika mfumo wa chama kimoja na kutawaliwa na chama kimoja kwa muda mzima wa uhuru wetu, utamaduni wa siasa ya vyama vingi bado hujakita mzizi licha ya mabadiliko katika katiba mwanzoni mwa miaka ya 90. Minghairi ya hayo, yanayotokea Chadema ni moja wapo ya michakato ya upevu na upanuzi wa mjadala wa demokrasia nchini. Kunao wanakubalina na kunao wanapinga yanayotokea Chadema. Tuyachukulie yanayojiri ndani ya Chadema kama hatua moja wapo katika demokrasia. Demokrasia, msingi wake ukiwa katika vyama na asasi mbali mbali inajengwa kwa muda mrefu na sio rahisi. Hatua tuliyofika ya vyombo vya habari na umma kujadili kwa hisia kubwa yanayojiri ndani ya Chadema ni hatua nzuri. Tusiyachukulie tu hivi hivi bali tuombe pia vyama vingine vipate kujadili wanachama wao, kujadili mada za kitaifa na mustakabali wa nchi yetu kwa ari kama hii. Upanuzi wa mijadala ndio msingi wa demokrasia. Mungu ibariki Tanzania.

Chadema Yateka jiji la Arusha, Lema asema Arusha ni kitovu cha mabadiliko Tanzania

Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo kimetoa rai kwamba Arusha ndio chimbuko la mabadiliko Tanzania. Mbunge aliyerudishwa baada ya kuenguliwa Godbless Lema amesema mwamko wa wananchi wa Arusha ni taswira kwamba wakati wa mapinduzi umefika. Mwaka wa 2013 umetajwa na viongozi wa Chadema kama ni mwaka wa kazi na hawatalala. Baada ya Lema kushinda kesi yake, viongozi wa Chadema wakizungumza kwenye hafla ya kumkaribisha Lema kwenye viwanja vya Kilombero, Arusha wamesema kwamba watazunguka nchi nzima kuwahamasisha wananchi kuhusu maovu ya CCM. 

Lema’s victory has championed Chadema’s ‘People Power’ mantra

Nicodemus Minde, Arusha

Jubilant celebrations echoed from Dar es Salaam to Arusha. The ecstatic celebrations were not only felt by the people of Arusha Urban Constituency of who were denied for almost two years their right to have an MP, but to everyone with progressive democratic ideals. Godbless Lema was reinstated as the Arusha Urban legislator by the Court of Appeal after a protracted legal battle stretching to almost two years. Lema had lost his seat after the High Court nullified his victory on grounds that he had engaged in election malpractices leading to his election in 2010. The charges were that he had used abusive language against his opponent Batilda Burhan which was interpreted to contravene the election code of ethics and regulations. The charge was seen by many as a political witch hunt aimed at dethroning Lema who had won on the opposition party Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) beating the ruling party Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM). 

Reading the judgment before the court, the Deputy Registrar for the court of Appeal, Elizabeth Mkwizu said that there was no evidence to show that the people who filed the petition against Lema were Arusha voters and did not possess any voter identity cards. The judgment by the Appeals Court has raised eyebrows on the exact motive behind the case. We should therefore critically examine the lessons from his acquittal and way forward.

The case has given Chadema more political currency

The progenitors or the masterminds behind the case must have miscalculated the outcome of the case. They put themselves in a political quagmire which in whatever way could have led to win-win situation for the opposition party. That is to mean that appellants which in this context are the legal counsel of the MP together with Chadema party and the people of Arusha town would have prevailed whatever the outcome. I argue this from the following theoretical points of departure. First, if in the unlikeliest event that the Appeals Court could have annulled Lema’s seat, then the people of his constituency either through a by election or mass protest could have reinstated him as their leader. Arusha, being a cosmopolitan constituency and with a wave of political awakening could have done what it takes to bring their man back. Secondly, pursuant to the verdict given by the Appeals Court to reinstate Lema is in itself a double victory. The verdict is a testament to the wheels of justice, which were served. The verdict is a hummer blow to the detractors of progress, the doomsayers of justice and the marauders of democracy and people power. It is rewarding that the evil forces have been defeated. Chadema and democracy has triumphed.

The way forward

Chadema party should now embrace itself for more political witch hunts and constant negative propaganda. This notwithstanding, Chadema should use this victory to spearhead change in Tanzania. The party has branded itself as an alternative choice to the people of Tanzania. The party has modeled itself as a crusader for political accountability by shaming corrupt government officials and institutions. The party has rallied people to shun leaders that are involved in grand corruption and economic malpractices. The party and the people with good will of Tanzania should now ready themselves for change that will inspire Tanzania to economic heights and prosperity. We can do it. God bless Tanzania.