In
this article, I
am advancing the view
that
Mwalimu Nyerere’s role in
influencing the imposition
of that Constitutional limitation on
Presidential terms of
office, deserves to be given
a prominent place
in the compendium
of his legacy to
our nation; in the
hope that it
could serve as another
useful contribution to the
variety of commemorative
events designed to celebrate
the 20th death anniversary
of his death
during this month
of October, 2019.
This is
because of the ‘greatest
good’ that this
constitutional provision has
contributed to the
country’s continuing stability,
unity and peace,
even after his
departure from this
world.
I can
bear personal testimony
to the fact
that it was
President Julius Nyerere himself, who personally influenced
the inclusion in the
Constitution of the
United Republic of
Tanzania, of that (seemingly controversial) provision, which
limits Tanzania’s Presidents to
a maximum of only
two terms in
office. This is because
I participated fully in
the decision-making process
which endorsed Mwalimu
Nyerere’s powerful submission
to the CCM
National Executive Committee, in
1984; which subsequently
gave birth to this
Constitutional decision.
I will
attempt to paraphrase what
he said in
my own words,
as follows:-“It
is in the
nature of the
political man who, having
acceded to power, to want
to remain in that power,
especially when he
is so encouraged
by some of
his deceitful followers,
(who normally will
have their own
personal vested interests); who
will connive to
convince the leader
through deliberately misinforming
him, that “
this is
the wish of
the majority of
your people”.
Now, it
has been rightly
said by some
wise man, that “power corrupts”.
Thus, because power corrupts, the victim leader will
succumb to that great temptation,
probably claiming that ‘he has
fallen captive to
the will of his people.’
But woe
to the nation
if that leader,
under the influence
of the power
corruption, later turns
dictator and starts
inflicting serious harm on the
people.
The affected people
will have no
remedy whatsoever! Hence, even for that
reason alone, It is of vital
importance that
the decision to
quit Presidential office
should NOT be
left to the
individual who holds
that office. That crucial
decision should be
made for him
by the Constitution”.
Mwalimu Nyerere’s
powerful argument was
so convincing that
it was easily
accepted, thus clearing
the way for
it to be enacted,
soon afterwards, by Parliament as
a Constitutional provision.
But
subsequently, several (failed) attempts
have been made
by some ‘vested
interests’ at different
times in the
political history of
our country, to
have this provision
removed from the
Constitution. In view
of such attempts,
my reference in the preceding
sentence that this
provision is “seemingly
controversial”, was probably
an understatement ! For, looked at in
the context of
African countries , this issue
has, in recent
years, become truly
controversial , with as
many as five
countries removing such
provisions from their
Constitutions since 2015.
The African
experience with Presidential term
limits.
It
is worth noting,
that these attempts
(to change the country’s
Constitution so as to remove,
or increase, the
presidential term limits),
have not been confined to
Tanzania alone.
Information given
by the CITIZEN
on SATURDAY of 19th October,
2019, quoting the Africa
Center for Strategic
Studies, says that “the
leaders of FIVE
African countries have
put aside, or
changed, their constitutional term
limits since 2015,
bringing the number of countries
in Africa that
do not have Presidential term
limits, to 18.
However in contrast,
21 countries, including
Tanzania, have continued
to uphold these,
and an additional
15 countries have
such term limits
in the books.“
The fact
that as many
as five countries
have removed the
Presidential term limits
from their Constitutions
in such a
short period, needs
more detailed examination; and, specifically, in order
to establish the source of
their strength that
enabled them to succeed.
In fact, there is
no secret at
all regarding that source; because
anyone who cares,
can easily pinpoint the
source of such
pressures for constitutional change to remove this
limit. And it
is equally easy
to pinpoint whose
interest such exercise
is actually aimed to
serve. This is so because
there can
only one source,
namely the top
leader himself who
happens to be there at
the material time, and who
also
happens to be so ‘power-hungry’, that
he wants to
remain in power indefinitely for
his entire life;
or “until death
do us part”,
by sending such
leader to ‘another
Kingdom.’ Furthermore, such
exercise can only be in the
interest of that
leader, plus a
few others who expect to benefit from
his continued occupation
of the highest
office in the land.
The CITIZEN
story quoted above,
also gives a
lot more information
about how certain
specified countries have
cunningly handled this
matter, as follows:- “Experience
from across the Continent
shows that all
the movements to
scrap term limits
off the respective
countries’ Constitutions, started
with the beneficiaries of the
proposed changes pretending
to be against them;
but later giving-in, in the
name of the
public interest. It
is the script that
has been followed
throughout, that
it is difficult
to be ignored” .
And specific examples
relating are given
therein, relating to Uganda; Rwanda;
and Burundi; which
help to buttress
the point.
For
example, in the
case of Uganda, it
says that “ President
Museveni had
promised in his
2001 Presidential campaign,
which was his
second after Uganda
had returned to electoral
democracy in 1996,
that that would
be his last
term. Yet before it
was even halfway
over, a movement
was initiated among
the National Resistance
Movement (NRM) members, to lift
the two-term limit
established in the
1995 Constitution. He
denied orchestrating that
movement, but took
no steps to
quash it, arguing
that if Ugandans
were intent on
drafting him, how could
he refuse?”.
In
my humble opinion,
the basic reasons
for Tanzania’s success in
resisting this evil temptation
are: (a) the realization of
the dangers associated
with the removal
of Presidential term
limits; and (b), the proven resilience
of our political
system, represented by
the ruling party CCM.
Experience from
several African countries
shows that where
Presidential term limits
exist, attempts to
remove them have
often led to violence,
causing death to hundreds
of innocent people,
or to internal
displacement of thousands
of other people.
But on
the other hand, where
they continue exist
undisturbed, and specifically
in the case
of Tanzania, the
Presidential term limits have been an
important mechanism for lowering
the stakes around
general elections, and
ensuring greater trust
in the political
system; which are the crucial
factors underlying the democratic legitimacy,
by increasing the
willingness of Opposition
political actors to accept
a given election
loss, and patiently wait
for the next following general
election, when they know that
they will be competing
against a different
CCM Presidential candidate.
But despite
these advantages, , as
already shown above,
there have been
pressures exerted from
time to time, by
some ‘vested interest’ individuals
or groups, to
have this provision
removed from our
Constitution, all of which,
fortunately, have failed.
I would suggest
that there are
two main factors,
which have enabled
Tanzania, so far,
to retain that
Constitutional provision, and
its operation, exactly in
the way it
was crafted and intended by
the father of
the nation, the
late President Nyerere. One
is the determination
of the ruling
party to keep
it so; and
the other is
the sincere obedience
to the directives
of their party,
by all the
CCM nominated successor
Presidents, who took
office after Mwalimu
Nyerere ‘s voluntary retirement.
Evidence of the
positive influence generated
by both these
factors, is readily
available in the
records, as briefly
narrated here below.
A brief survey
of the past.
The
opening first test
occurred during President Ali
Hassan Mwinyi’s tenure
at State House,
when some elements in
his official group
of advisers devised
a strategy, which
apparently convinced him,
to propose relevant
amendments to the Constitution
that would remove
this provision, in
order to enable President
Mwinyi to vie
for a third term
in office. Mwalimu Nyerere
soon got wind
of this plot,
and immediately set
to work, through
the CCM National
Executive Committee, to
prevent its success. He
did indeed succeed, and as
a result of
which, two senior
advisers to President
Mwinyi, namely the
Prime Minister, and the
CCM Secretary General, lost
their jobs.
The full story
of Mwalimu Nyerere’s endeavours in connection
therewith, is succinctly
told in his
book titled “Uongozi wetu
na Hatima ya
Tanzania." A
little later, similar attempts
were made in
Zanzibar, where a
‘group of CCM
elders”, claiming to representing
the “voice of the Zanzibar
people”, also attempted
to obtain a
third term for
the then Zanzibar
President, Hon. Salmin
Amour, who was
serving his second
and final term.
But this
was easily contained ,
through prompt preventive
action taken
by the party Central
Committee, then under the
chairmanship of President
Benjamin Mkapa, the
CCM national Chairman
at the time.
These two
incidents serve to
provide ample proof
of the “resilience of the
ruling party” which
I mentioned earlier above, in
terms of its
capability to overcome
such personal, or group ‘vested interests’, in favour
of the public
interest.
One
weak point in
many of these
attempts, is that
they normally tend
to base their
arguments on the
good performance of
the incumbent President
at the material
time. That is
what explains why
the proponents of
the current initiative
to extend President Magufuli’s
term of office.
The
incurable weakness of such argument,
lies in two
distinct areas. One, is the factor
of “power corrupts”. We all have seen
examples of certain
excellent Presidential performers
in the initial years
of their stewardship,
but subsequently
turning into ugly
dictators, obviously as a
result of having
been corrupted by
power which they held
over too long
periods. But the
other, is the
possibility that electors
may, quite unknowingly,
vote for the
wrong person, who
subsequently makes himself
‘unwanted’, by becoming a
very bad President, whom
the people will
rightly want to
get rid of.
The limit
prescribed by the Constitution
is what gives such
people the needed relief, absolutely
effortlessly on their
part, when
his term in
office comes to
an end by
operation of the
Constitution.
In
that connection, It
should be appreciated
that the
“Parliamentary system” of
governance, also known
as “Government by political
party” that is
operating in Tanzania; that
has enabled Chama
cha Mapinduzi (CCM)
to remain in
power for all these
years; and whose internal
“candidate selection” procedures
have enabled this
party to select
worthy candidates (like
John Pombe Magufuli, and
his predecessors) ; who,
even as Presidents,
faithfully obeyed
the directives of their
party, in relation
to maintaining the
Presidential term limits
prescribed by the
Constitution; a factor
which has, no
doubt, contributed to the
country’s unity, stability,
peace and tranquility.
Thus, as
we commemorate the 20th anniversary
of Mwalimu Nyerere’s
death. We should also
remember to say kudos, or
hats off, to
all our Presidents,
past and present, for
sustaining Mwalimu Nyerere’s
legacy in that particular
respect.
piomsekwa @gmail.com /0754767576.
Source: Daily News and Cde Msekwa Himself.
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