Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan Should Learn from Malawi and Zambia

Although political scenarios and styles in Tanzania’s two neighbours, Malawi and Zambia are different, they can provide some good lessons to Tanzania’s new President Samia Suluhu Hassan shall she aspire or plan to stay on after concluding her term in 2025. Signs show that she’d like to throw her cap in the ring in the coming elections. To jog you mind, two then Vice Presidents Joyce Banda  in power (7 April, 2012–31 May, 2014) and Rupiah Banda (19 August, 2008–23 September, 2011) took the office of president after the death of Bingu wa Mutharika and Levy Mwanawasa respectively. Provided that the duo wasn’t prepared for big things–––for, if they’re, they’d continue to be presidents even after completing their predecessors’ terms–––the electorates showed them the door. There are various reasons for and lessons from their failures to recapture presidency. 
Firstly, they both lost elections and thus, were unable to continue to be in office due to various and related reasons that have to do with how they governed.
Secondly, their leaderships didn’t satisfy their citizens. Thus, they kicked them out through the ballot boxes also for different and various that were mostly connected to abuse of office and corruption.
        Let’s look at them in particularity. Beginning with Joyce Banda–––I’ll use their first names to avoid slip-ups since they share the surname Banda. Truth to tell, Joyce failed to recapture the presidency after some squabbling groups erupted soon after the demise of Mutharika. These groups supported Mutharika’s brother, Peter and wanted him to take power instead of VP Joyce. However, sanity prevailed, and Joyce took power as per the stipulation of the constitution of Malawi. Later, Peter defeated Joyce after completing Mutharika’s term.
        Apart from being sabotaged by power brokers, Joyce faced cashgate scandal as a straw that broke the camel’s back as far as her presidential ambitions were concerned. It was alleged that  her government sold a presidential jet  for US$15 million of which US$1.5. million was spent on purchasing maize and the balance just varnished. For the poorest country like Malawi, such an amount of money is humongous and the sin from it unforgettable or unforgivable. Thus, we can say that corruption was among the root causes of the fall of Joyce from power. After being defeated, Joyce went to self-imposed exile from 2014 to 2018 for fear of being apprehended. Apart from the above scandal, under Joyce’s watch, allegedly Malawi lost approx. US$250 million that’s paid to fraudulent businessmen for supplying the services that weren’t actually rendered (BBC, 27 January, 2014).
        When it comes to Rupiah who was defeated by the late Michael Sata, nothing can be blamed for it like allegations that he stole US$11 million  just in the three years he was in power. This scandal surfaced after Rupiah entered an agreement of purchasing oil from Nigeria, wherein his son Henry–––who’s been living in neighbouring South Africa for fear of being brought to book–––was allegedly involved. Because of this scandal, Rupiah was arrested in 2013 and charged. Apart from this scandal, Rupiah was accused of abuses of power, especially benefiting his family. As was for Joyce, Rupiah lost elections as the results of Zambians’ wraths for such allegations he failed to dispel.
        Considering the above scenarios, there are some good lessons for Samia Suluhu Hassan (SSH). For her not to replicate what transpired in Malawi and Zambia, she needs to fight graft brutally and practically by seeing to it that she manages public funds wisely as was the case for her predecessor who performed wonderfully for the satisfaction of the majority of Tanzanians. By so doing, SSH will endear herself to citizens and voters. The second lesson is for her to avoid making her office a family business as was the case in Zambia. Normally, family members don’t know the burden/value of the trust bestowed on their relative. Thus, they can use her to mint and print money for his/her perils but not theirs.
        Thirdly, SSH needs to know that even if she isn’t going to involve herself in corruption personally, she needs to keep tabs on those under her watch as well. For, much of what Joyce was accused of were the results of  her not keeping tabs on her officials so as to cause the loss of between US$15-250 million for a poor country like Malawi. If anything, this irked many Malawians who decided to vote her out. Thereafter, Joyce joined the opposition led by the current president Lazarus Chakwera. When the opposition defeated Mutharika, Joyce was safe to return home as she did.
        Fourthly, the two examples above show that citizens and voters watch carefully; and when an opportunity to punish the villains comes, they don’t miss it as was in the cases of two Banda in Malawi and Zambia. Thus, president SSH has a very good class from the two former presidents who took over after their bosses died in power to end up being kicked out of power through the ballot boxes.
        In sum, abuses of power and corruption denied them opportunities to retain power. If anything, this is the cardinal lesson for SSH from Malawi and Zambia shall she want to proceed as the president after effecting her predecessor’s term 2025. As noted in the introduction, Malawi’s and Zambia’s political sceneries are different from Tanzania where the opposition is a wee bit feeble. Though,  this shouldn’t deceive SSH. Things do change. The opposition can wake up from the slumber and gain traction after seeing and seizing an opportunity. If SSH works on the lessons this piece provides, she’s nothing to worry about but to entrench herself in power and deliver starting from where her processor ended. Essentially, SSH has what it takes to rule even after 2025. The capital her predecessor left behind will propel her to victory shall she maintain the speed and tempo. She’s already begun to show this by fiercely descending down on corruption and slackness in her government.

Source: African Executive Magazine.

Kodi ya Uzalendo Ianze Sasa kwa Wabunge Wetu

Kwenye kikao cha bunge kinachoendelea, Mbunge wa Ilala, mheshimiwa Musa Azzan Zungu (CCM) alitoa wazo zuri la namna ya kukuza wigo wa kodi kwa ajili ya mapato ya taifa. Alipendekeza kuanzishwa kwa kodi ya uzalendo ambapo kila mtumia simu anapaswa kutozwa angalau shilingi mia. Hili wazo, kama nilivyosema hapo juu ni zuri. Ila katika utekelezaji wake tunapaswa kuwabana wale wanaopata fedha nyingi kama mishahara au marupurupu. Hivyo, kuanzia, tuanzie na wabunge ambao mishahara na marupurupu yao ni makubwa ukiachia mbali kutokatwa kodi. Kama tutalenga kweli kupanua wigo wa mapato, basi waheshimiwa wabunge wakatwe kodi kwenye mishahara na marupurupu yao ambavyo ni vikubwa ikilinganishwa na wale wanaosema wanawawakilisha.
Natoa pendekezo hili la kuanza na wabunge kutokana na sababu zifuatazo:
Kwanza, wanapata mishahara mikubwa na marupurupu makubwa ikilinganishwa na wananchi wa kawaida wanaowawakilisha. Kwanini wawakilishwa wakatwe kodi lakini watumishi wao ambao ni wabunge wasikatwe kodi?
        Pili, wabunge––––ambao ni kioo cha jamii kama viongozi na wawakilisha wa umma kama kweli wanauwakilisha na siyo kujiwakilisha–––wanapaswa kuonyesha mfano mzuri wa kuchangia kupanua wigo wa mapato kwa taifa lao kwa ajili ya maendeleo na ufanisi wa waajiri wao na taifa kwa ujumla.
        Tatu, wabunge wetu ni wengi kuliko idadi inayohitajika kulingana na uwezo wetu wa kiuchumi kama taifa. Kimsingi, majimbo yetu mengi yameanzishwa kisiasa na si kiuchumi wala kiuhalisia. Hata baadhi ya mikoa nayo kadhalika imeanzishwa kisiasa hasa tukizingatia kuwa tokana na kuwa na miundo mbinu mizuri kwa sasa, tuna haja ya kuipunguza.  Hivyo, sehemu nyingine ya kupanua wigo wa mapato ya serikali ni kubana matumizi ambapo mojawapo ya njia inanaweza kuwa kupunguza majimbo ya uchaguzi. Mfano, ukiangalia wabunge watokao visiwani na idadi ya watu wanaowakilisha, unashangaa mantiki ya jumla ya kufanya hivi. Katiba ya Tanzania inatamka wazi kuwa watanzania wote ni sawa. Je ni usawa gani iwapo wabunge mfano, toka Visiwani wanawakilisha idadi ndogo ya wapiga kura na wananchi wakati watokao Bara wanawakilisha idadi kubwa? Lazima tukiri. Hapa kuna tatizo la kimfumo ambalo lisiposhughulikiwa, linaweza kuleta malalamiko baadaye.
        Nne, kama ilivyodokezwa hapo juu, mishahara na marupurupu ya wabunge ni makubwa. Kwanini wananchi wenye mishahara kiduchu–––tena ambayo haijapandishwa kwa miaka mingi–––wakatwe kodi lakini wabunge wasikatwe kodi wala kuwa na mishahara inayolinga au kufanana au kukaribia na ile ya wale wanaowawakilisha? Kazi ya serikali siyo kuhudumiwa wanasiasa huku ikiwaminya wananchi wa kawaida.
        Ukiachia mbali na kuwakata kodi wabunge–––na hata ikiwezekana kupunguza marupurupu yao na hata majimbo–––kuna haja ya kubana matumizi kwa kupunguza nafasi za kisiasa zisizo na ulazima zaidi ya kuwapo kwa sababu za kisiasa kama utititiri wa majimbo. Kwa kumbukumbu ni kwamba Hayati John Pombe Magufuli alipunguza mshahara wake na ile ya wakurugenzi waliokuwa wakipata mishahara mikubwa kuliko hata rais na mawaziri ili kuleta uwiano wa kipato na usawa. Je kwanini mantiki haya yasitumike hata kwa wabunge ambao kimsingi, ni matajiri ikilinganishwa na wananchi wa kawaida wanaodai kuwawakilisha. Ukitaka kujua kuwa ubunge ni sehemu ya kutajirikia, angalia namna watu wanavyoacha hata taaluma zao na kujiunga na siasa ili kupata hii fedha na kutajirika haraka. Watu wako tayari kutoa hata rushwa ili waupate ubunge kwa vile unalipa sana. Wengine wanaacha hata makanisa yao ili kwenda kuchuma fedha hii kubwa inayowafanya si wawe matajiri tu bali hata wawe na ushawishi katika jamii. Hivyo, njia mojawapo inayoweza kuongeza mapato ya serikali ni ku-decolonise ubunge na nafasi nyingine za kisiasa ambazo zinatoa mishahara mikubwa isiyolingana uhalisia wa taifa kiuchumi.
Suala jingine ni kuachana na mfumo wa kikoloni ambapo uchumi ulitumikia siasa badala ya siasa kutumikia uchumi. Tangu tupate uhuru, tulishindwa kuliona hili. Tulisahau kuwa wakoloni walikuwa wakipeana mishahara mikubwa kama njia ya kutudhoofisha ili waendelee kutunyonya na kutusikinisha ili tuwategemee kama ilivyo sasa. Sioni mantiki ya mbunge ambaye, kimsingi, hana ulazima wala hatoi huduma inayohitajika sana kuwa na mshahara mkubwa kuliko daktari au profesa. Ubunge hausomewi wala hauna ulazima wa kujieleza mambo yanapokwenda mrama sawa na watumishi wa umma na wana taaluma. Tokana na ubovu huu wa kimfumo, hata vijana wetu siku hizi hawana motisha wa kusoma. Badala yake wanaona usanii, siasa, uhubiri na mambo kama hayo ni muhimu kwa vile vinawaingizia fedha kuliko usomi.
Eneo jingine linaloweza kutozwa kodi kubwa ni masuala yote ya starehe. Kwa mfano, mabaa, kumbi za muziki, wanamuziki na wasanii kwa ujumla, wanapaswa kutozwa kodi ya kutosha kwa vile huduma zao ni za upili na siyo za kwanza kwa maisha ya binadamu. Ili nisionekane nawakandamiza baadhi ya watu wetu, inakuwaje, mfano, mwanamuziki awe na fedha nyingi kuliko daktari au mtunzi wa vitabu ya kiada kama siyo mfumo mbovu wa kuangalia nini tunataka kama binadamu na taifa? Katika hali ile ile, inakuwaje mazao ya mkulima yawe na bei ya chini kuliko hata muziki ambao hauliwi wala kuhitajika sawa na chakula? Jibu ni ni wazi kuwa tulirithi mfumo wa kijambazi na kikoloni ambapo watu wachache wananeemeka kwa mgongo wa maskini walio wengi. Kimsingi, mfumo huu hauna tofauti na mfumo wa sasa ambapo mtu anaamka asubuhi na kuanzisha kanisa lake na kuanza kuwanyonya maskini na wajinga waliokata tamaa na kulala tajiri bila hata kutozwa kodi huku serikali ikiangalia na kulalamika haina vyanzo vya kupanulia wigo wa kodi kwa ajili ya mapato ya serikali. Hii ndiyo siri ya utitiri wa makanisa kila sehemu kwa vile ni biashara inayoingiza fedha nyingi bila kukatwa kodi sawa na siasa.

            Japo binadamu anahitaji huduma za kiroho na kisiasa, si kwa ulazima sawa na huduma kama afya, elimu, chakula, mavazi, maji na hata uzoaji taka mijini ambavyo umuhimu wake ni wa kwanza na wajuu kuliko miziki, maigizo, nyimbo, mpira, siasa, dini na mengine kama hayo.
        Naomba niwasilishe kwa kutoa mchango wangu wa namna ya kupanua wigo wa mapato kwa kuangalia mambo ambayo hatukuyaona au kuyarekebisha kama tulivyoachiwa na wakoloni nasi tukayashikilia na kuyaendeleza hata baada ya kupata uhuru. Mfano mdogo, hapa Kanada, mambo yasiyo ya ulazima wa kwanza katika maisha ya binadamu yanatozwa kodi ya juu kiasi cha kutisha ili kupata fedha ya kugharimia huduma za msingi na siyo za upili. Mfano, wabunge hapa wanajiendesha. Hakuna serikali kuwalipia fedha za madereva, wasaidizi na mengine kama hayo. Hivi tukiondoa madereva wa wakuu wa idara, mawaziri, wabunge, makatibu wakuu wa wizara, makatibu wakuu wasaidizi, manaibu wa mawaziri, wakuu wa wilaya na mikoa, wakurugenzi wa kada mbali mbali na wengine wengi wanaoweza kujiendeshea magari yao tutaokoa mabilioni mangapi? Je hao  madereva na wasaidizi wengine wadogo wanahitajika? Hakuna haja ya kulalamika wala kuwabana walalahoi bure. Hivi ni vyanzo vikubwa na vizuri vya mapato. Basi waheshimiwa wabunge waonyeshe mfano kwa kuanza kubana matumizi yao na kutozwa kodi ili umma ufuatie.

Chanzo: Raia Mwema kesho.

CONGRATS JUSTICE KOOME FOR BEING SELECTED TO BE THE FIRST FEMALE KENYAN CJ

 

Kenya, for the first time, has made history by selecting a female Martha Koome to become its new Chief Justice. Time for closing the gender gap is slowly creeping in. In the neighbouring Tanzania, recently a female became president after the death of its former president Dr John Pombe Magufuli. As well, the deputy speak in Tanzania is a female. Welcome Madame Koome. For more, please CLICK HERE.

Letter to fallen comrade of Chad, Idriss Déby

Dear Idris Deby Itno, 
I discern that physically you are no longer with us. Reports we received is that you’re shot dead as you fought to protect and keep your dear and beloved power. That’s when the blinds fell off for every eye to see about you and there’s nowhere to hide. Human, human, what are you to wrongly think that you can get away with murder? It’s only for gullible and crazy that can think they can defeat the hand of nature. Ta-ta my friends. Ta-ra, when I received the news of your timely demise, I tossed and drank a beer for your life. To those to/in whom you arose and enflamed fear, you no longer are a fear but a past tense. However, we still have the likes of you who irrationally and voraciously cling to dear and sweet power no matter what even if it means to detain, hijack or kill others whenever they feel they are a danger to them and their greed. I’m writing this chaunt so that others, especially the likes of you, can learn something from your flummoxing legacy as far as power is concerned. You, indeed, were a democrat-cum-hero of your own kind so to speak. Africa and the world will always celebrate your demise, sorry, life as the man who prised to rule; the man who lived by guns and, true to this law of nature, truly died by bullets. What a fate-cum-feat! Those with eyes must see and those with ears must hear and those with sanity must comprehend and learn a lesson thereof. Those who want to pointlessly and mindlessly retroflex what you perfected be warned, God isn’t human. 

        Dear Idris, you died a nada, sorry hero protecting your country, your government and your beloved and private power as one of the longest serving rulers who is no longer serving but rotting. What a fetid, sorry splendid legacy and a favour to your beloved country that you ruled draconically, sorry democratically for over three decades! True leaders die in power either naturally or by bullet. They are power and power is them. I know. Undemocratic people are now referring to you as a stinking dictator. Shame on them sorry on you! Those who don’t know how dear and sweet power is to you and the likes and those who don’t love their countries just rule for a few years and vacate. They call this crazy wont democracy. Who doesn’t understand that democracy is sometimes crazy or call it democrazy. You, indeed, showed the world how to rule and misrule your country demicratically altogether as a democratic daemon. 

        True democrats and men like you are the ones that don’t let power go. For real and true democrats, like you, there’s the beginning to power but not the end. Power for them is everything, and in this game, the means justifies the end not to mention that power is means and end in itself. Importantly and immortally, true democrats, like you my brother, see to it that power is theirs to own and protect even if it means to rig or convoke sham elections or being killed as was the case for you. Your sycophants call this martyrdom if not martyrs’ doom. Those who disbelieve this assertion must ask themselves: How’d you clinch six terms in office consecutively if you aren’t a true democrat that citizens loved dearly so as to allow you do as you please? True democrats die in power. They’re ready to kill others or be killed by others in order to keep their powers. Most of true democrats ignore aging or ineptitude in order to rule ‘democratically like Paul Biya (Cameroon) has futilely been doing.’ They always use and misuse public powers since they own it to see to it that it doesn’t slink off from their dirty and feeble hands.

Dear Idris, you sacrificed your body, life and soul for the love of your country, your life, your enemies even your victims. What an ideal love for a leader! I want you to know that you’re neither the first, the only, and the last. Gnassingbe Eyadema (Togo), Omar Bongo (Gabon), Laurent Kabila (DRC) and now you did the same. You and those dogcrats created self-serving systems that saw to it that whenever a demicrat died naturally or killed, their sons, stooges, wives even their goats inherited their beloved powers. Others are pondering  on this by making sure that they outdo your example by securing niches for their kids, stooges or wives in the upper echelons of power. Who’d think that you 37 years old son of yours Mahmoud would easily and quickly and preferentially slither to the rank of a ‘Major General’ without applying this democratic means of keeping power in the family if not in the tribe? That’s the secret behind quick promotions of the kids of the presidents in their fathers’ armies. Power must remain in the family since it runs in its blood. Power’s always in the DNA of true democrats. 

        Dear Idris Deby Itno, please allow me to let you rest and wait to face the afterlife justice–––as it’ll heavily rain down on you–––after democratically and diligently serving your country, particularly your family. You’re a rare breed, especially in Chad. That’s why there’s no one to beat you or replace you up until your heir apparent came to the horizon to save and serve Chad. Long live the king. Long live Idris Deby and the likes. Rest in Pieces Idris. Amen.

Source: Sunday Monitor today.

The Mwende Mwinzi vendetta

Mwende Mwinzi when she appeared before the National Assembly Committee on Defense and Foreign Relations on May 28, 2019 for vetting after being nominated for the position of Kenya's ambassador to South Korea.

Jeff Angote | Nation Media Group

Makau Mutua

Professor at SUNY Buffalo Law School and Chair of the KHRC.

 I often wonder what MPs and state functionaries are smoking. It must be strong stuff, whatever it is. Either that, or the most senior potentates in the state can’t think their way out of a paper bag. Maybe it’s because they are simply petty and “small” people. I know it’s a Sunday and I should be magnanimous. But I am pissed off. Once again, the National Assembly has published a doozy – a stinker – of a bill.
        The Foreign Service Bill of 2021 is simply the anti-diaspora Mwende Mwinzi Amendment. Without shame, or even pretence, the bill seeks to outlaw and disqualify Ms Mwinzi from her post as Kenya’s ambassador to South Korea. Jubilee’s Uhuru Kenyatta must reject it pronto.
        Section 23(3)(a) of the Foreign Service Bill is the odious and offending provision. It provides that a nominee for ambassador “shall be a citizen of the Republic of Kenya and shall not, during the duration of their appointment, hold the citizenship of another country”.
        Apart from poor English in the legal drafting, it’s entirely unconstitutional. The matter is cut and dry. An ambassador isn’t a “state officer” among the positions enumerated in Art 261 of the Constitution from which there’s a prohibition on dual citizenship by virtue of Art 78(2). It doesn’t get any more crystal clear. Further, a court has held that Parliament can’t force Ms Mwinzi to renounce her American citizenship, which she acquired at birth.
Inconsequential matter
        MPs have subjected Ms Mwinzi to an ordeal. They are determined to stop her from serving her country abroad. What’s even befuddling is that some of Mr Kenyatta’s henchmen in the legislature have gone mano-a-mano with him on such an inconsequential matter. Why would they expend so much political capital for something Mr Kenyatta wants done? Is it out of pique, principle, or fidelity to the Constitution and the law?
        It’s clear the dual citizen objection of the Parliament to Ms Mwinzi’s ambassadorship has no legal, or constitutional, legs. Is there more than meets the eye? I am left to wonder whether Ms Mwinzi rebuffed these men’s advances. Who can explain the sexist and misogynistic crusade against her?
Let me single out a few culprits. One is Speaker Justin Muturi, who’s Mr Kenyatta’s man in the National Assembly. He once served as a magistrate but left the Judiciary under a cloud. I know him well. He was a year ahead of me in law school at the University of Nairobi. It was Kanu’s heyday and he was reputed to be close to the repressive state. I was a senior official in student leadership then. Students regarded him with hostility and at one point came close to “teaching him a lesson”.
He has done very well for himself. But we know that ambition can blind people to ethics. Is he using the Mwinzi issue as a bargaining chip?
        It seems Mr Muturi wants to inherit Mr Kenyatta as the ethnic kingpin in Mt Kenya. He’s a Mbeere from Embu. That will not cut it because all the region’s kingpins “must” be Kikuyu. To make up for this obvious deficit, Mr Muturi has been playing footsie with DP William Ruto. He’s positioning himself as Mr Ruto’s running mate from the region.
        My guess is that the DP’s allies want Ms Mwinzi out so that one of their own can sit in Seoul. Mr Muturi is playing ball with them. It’s a huge gamble that may end his nine political lives. But perhaps he figures Mr Kenyatta is a lame duck who can’t exact revenge against him.
The other anti-Mwinzi anti-diaspora mandarin is Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary  Macharia Kamau. The man has a long career in the UN system punctuated – and marred – by his hostile machinations against the International Criminal Court. He has a very high opinion of himself.
At a Kenyan diaspora conference in Washington DC some years back, he invited himself to a conversation between me and renown Kenyan legal scholar James Thuo Gathii of Loyola Chicago University School of Law. He was smug, snobbish and pretentious. He left me aghast at his brusqueness. Ambassador Macharia has been waging a war against Ms Mwinzi. It just baffles me why all the “hating” and disdain.
Full-on war
        More broadly, the vendetta against Ms Mwinzi is a full-on war against all Kenyans in the diaspora.
Where other countries, including the US, Israel, Egypt, Canada, South Africa and Germany welcome dual citizens and allow them to serve in most official positions, Kenya is stuck in the Stone Age.
Last year, the Kenya diaspora remitted $3 billion eclipsing tea, coffee and tourism as sources of GDP – and foreign exchange.
        Reportedly, there are many Cabinet secretaries, MPs, and senior civil servants who hold dual citizenship. No one has gone after them. Diasporans are loyal and don’t steal from Kenya.  Let them serve.
@makaumutua.

SAKATA LA BANDARI BAGAMOYO MAJIBU HAYA HAPA

 

HAPA TATIZO NI UJINGA, JINSIA AU UMAARUFU WETU KAMA NCHI?

Why Terrorism Is Cultural Imperialism

I last week delved into the needs for collectivity and unanimity in fighting terrorism wherever it surfaces in East Africa and Africa in general.  Today, I’ll revisit the same by delving into and examining the coloniality of the criminality. This is because terrorism is viewed as a religious and political matter while it actually is colonisation in itself. Why are all current terrorist groups fighting for political ends using foreign ideologies? Why most of them are affiliated or identifying themselves with Arabic or Islamic organisations such as ISL, al Qaeda and others? Are these group free or just the tentacles of their masters who hide themselves behind religion and whatnot? Are there any foreign groups that is fighting under anything African out of Africa? Why then African groups are fighting under foreign ideologies if they are not colonised. If anything this is what cultural imperialism is all about and what it general means.                  Another face of terrorism as neocolonialism or its tool is the fact that our former colonial masters use it as pretext for occupying militarily. Currently, in West African countries of Mali, Mauritania and Niger  and some in Central African countries such as Cameroon and the Central African Republic (CAR) are occupied by their former colonial rulers under the pretexts of flashing out terrorist groups. If you closely examine these countries, are all endowed with immense sources of natural resources. To know what this is about, you can look at Somalia that has been occupied by terrorists for decades, nobody is coming in to help since the country has no resources. While these currently military occupied countries invited their former colonial masters to ‘help’ them, I don’t know if they pondered on the nature and size of the problem they are creating. If it took Africa many years to fight for freedom from a small contingent of colonisers, how long will it take to fight the militaries of its former colonial masters?  
        Sometimes, some of people tend to take things for granted simply because they are there. Culture in this aspect is an important element we need to take seriously in order to avoid cultural imperialism spread by religions. If we interrogate some Africans who were enslaved and taken out of Africa how they crave their natural culture, Africa would not have allowed this cultural imperialism that has now given birth to terrorism that’s playing Africans against others easily. It is because of allowing the destruction of African cultures. This being said, allowing foreign dogmas to disturb Africa’s equilibrium can be termed as religious divide and rule, which is another type of colonialism. Nonetheless, divide and rule is one of the hugest strategies colonialism used to antagonise and destabilise Africa. Given that this is a problem many countries are now facing, there are many ways of dealing with this problem constructively and scientifically by attacking the root causes of the problem. One of the surest ways of combating terrorism in Africa can be done through the decolonisation of the minds of the victims of fundamental ideologies. Colonisation is the means one may use to analyse the thingamajigs that have been used to imprint colonial concept in the minds of victims and find ways to remove it from our consciousness. On the same footing, Africa needs to decolonise its education and general schooling. Decolonising schooling and education to make sure that the decolonisation of the mind incorporates all facets of education.  
First, the decolonisation of the mind is logically truth due to the fact that colonialism attacks the mind so as to make it sick and vulnerable for perpetual exploitation and subjugation. Once the mind has been negatively affected, it sees things differently from what they actually are. You can see this on how identity, for example, is easily distorted so as the victims to view themselves as different personalities and people from who they actually are. It is only in Africa where Africans view themselves as Christians and Muslims first but not Africans.  It is this disease that propels people one would think are sane to commit atrocities against other innocent human beings as they way of making political gains or statements. Arabs, Europeans and Indians are their nationalities first but not their religions. We need to embark on the process of decolonising our minds and our people despite the fact that it takes a long time to realise its goals because it likewise took a long time  to toxify the minds of its victims. That’s why the global war on terror becomes a double-edge sword for Africa in that it propagates the security of Africa while at the same time it causes insecurity military invasion is going to cause in the near future. This disease asks Africa to treat it clinically.  Like any doctor, those trying to decolonise the minds of the victims of colonialism need to embark on a diagnostic and prognostic approaches in their undertakings in order to prescribe accurate cure not to forget the right dosage the victims need. One of the prescriptions I offer to address this is to limit the influence and privileges of the institutions that have always preached toxic dogma that shows Africa’s cultures as inferior and uncivilised. The ideologies that our traditions and ways of life are ungodly need to be abolished by declaring that if all human beings are equal, their cultures are likewise equal.  It is not offensive to say that the victims of terrorism are sick, specifically if we consider the war religions were introduced to Africa. So, too, when we consider perpetual traumas they have been subjected to either by their masters or their enemies, we need to treat such victims as sick persons that need our help for their benefits and ours too. There is no way a group of people can kill others simply because it feels aggrieved and fail to be collectively insane.
Secondly, although education can be seen as a new strategy in combating terrorism in Africa if it can be well utilised, it can be a good weapon in the war against terrorism in Africa. So, one of the ways decolonisation of the mind can work is through education, decolonised education. Therefore, the first step towards decolonising the minds of terrorists and their sympathisers is through overhauling and regulating the current syllabi to make sure that education provided in African countries meets its aspirations, goals and values. Here the ministries of education should make and provide syllabi to all educational institutions in their countries. For, the anticipated type of education provided should make citizens to be citizens first before being believers or followers of certain ideologies or faiths. Whatever faith or faiths that oppose or contrast the natural identities of citizens or societal concord should be banned right away. All schools should be under inspection time after time to see to it that the type of education and skills provided comply with the national goals.
In sum, for today, I’ll wrap up with the mind. Shall I get more time, I’ll address other aspects as far as fighting terrorism is concerned for Africa. What Africa at large needs to underscore is the fact that terrorism is not a threat to a few but all African countries. Since it is used to occupy Africa militarily, it’ll expand slowly as colonialism did in the 18th century. So, those who think that terrorism is not their problem, should think twice.

Source: African Executive Magazine tomorrow.

JPM Aachwe Apumzike Hawezi Kuja Kujitetea

 Baada ya kufariki ghafla kwa rais Dk John Pombe Magufuli, na makamu wake Mheshimiwa Samia Suluhu Hassan kuchukua ukanda kwa mujibu wa katiba, kuna mambo mengi tena ya kipuuzi–––kwa kukopa maneno ya Mheshimiwa Mbunge aliyekerwa–––yanaanza kujitokeza hata kabla mwili wa marehemu haujaoza wala arobaini yake kwisha. Wameanza kujitokeza watu–––tena wengine wanufaika na juhudi za Magufuli–––na kuanza kumsema vibaya na kumuonyesha kama mtu mbaya. Wengine wameanza hata kuponda miradi aliyoikatalia kama vile mradi wa ujenzi wa bandari mpya ya Bagamoyo ambao Marehemu alisema hata kichaa asingeweza kuupitisha. Ni ajabu. Hata kabla mwili wake kuoza, wameshajitokea ‘vichaa’–––tena wengi na wengine waliokua karibu naye–––wanaotetea mradi ‘kichaa’ husika. Je hapa tatizo ni Magufuli au mradi wenyewe? Je kuna namna tunavyoweza kuuboresha mradi husika ili kuondoa mapungufu yake–––kama yanaondosheka–––ili uweze kuleta manufaa kwa pande zote, yaani kwa taifa na mwekezaji? Je serikali iko tayari kuweka wazi mradi mzima kwa umma ili ujionee na kuamua kama unafaa au la? Je hawa wanaoanza kuutetea hata kwa kumsema vibaya marehemu wamehongwa? Mbona hawakuyasema haya wakati Marehemu akiwa madarakani? 

        Kuna  haja ya watanzania kujulishwa figisu figisu zinazodaiwa kuufanya mradi husika kuonekana kutofaa wala kupitishwa na utawala uliopita tokana na sababu ambazo Hayati Magufuli aliweka wazi kuwa mradi hauna maslahi yoyote kitaifa. Siyo hawa hawa waliokuwa wakimsifia kwa kila alilofanya ambao sasa wanamponda na baadhi ya miradi aliyoanzisha kama kufufua ATCL NA kununua ndege kwa taslimu? Je hii inajenga picha gani? Yaani tumekuwa wa hovyo hivi? Tumekuwa wasahaulifu kirahisi hivi tena ndani ya muda mfupi? Nadhani, rais Samia anapaswa kuwatahadhari na kuwaogopa hawa kama ukoma. Kwani kuwasema watu vibaya ni sehemu ya tabia zao wasizoweza kuziacha. Leo wamemgeuka na kumdhulumu Magufuli ndani ya muda mfupi. Kesho, watamgeukia yoyote akiwamo rais Samia wanayemsifia wakati hajamaliza hata siku mia lau awape picha ya anakoelekea. Maana hii ni tabia yao. Huu ndiyo tunauita umalaya wa kisiasa.
        Maneno makali na ya uchungu ya Mheshimiwa Livingstone Lusinde (Mtera-CCM) hayawezi kupita bila kudurusiwa ili kuambua lao somo au masomo. Lusinde alikaririwa na vyombo vya habari akisema “hivi leo ni mbunge gani hakutetewa na Magufuli,  tupo humu ndani kwa sababu ya Magufuli na Samia. Walipita kila sehemu  kuwaombea kura. Kuna watu hapa walikuwa hawachaguliki lakini Magufuli na Samia wakapita wakasema tupeni huyu tutafanya naye kazi tutamrekebisha,  kwa sababu yao wakachaguliwa.” Haya maneno ni mazito na yana ukweli. Pia, yanaonyesha si uchungu wa mbunge bali hata ithibati yake hasa wakati huu ambapo kila mtu anajitahidi kujipendekeza kwa rais hata kwa kumhujumu au kumvunjia mtangulizi wake aliyemfanya kuwa rais. Hili hawalioni. Lusinde anaendelea kusema “leo Magufuli asemwe vibaya na sisi tupo hata 40 haijafika, hili jambo halikubaliki, hawa watu washike adabu na adabu ziwashike. Hatutaki warudie tena mambo ya kipuuzi kama hayo.”
        Mbali na Lusinde, mwingine aliyeguswa na uzandiki na unafiki unaoendelea dhidi ya Hayati Magufuli ni mheshimwa Lembris Noah (Arumeru Magharibi-CCM) aliyekaririwa na vyombo vya habari akisema “jamani akina Yuda wamejitokeza kumsaliti Dk Magufuli na Serikali yake. Inasikitisha mzee wa watu ametangulia mbele za haki hawezi kujitetea nyie mlioko ndani na nje mnataka kumdhalilisha. Haiwezekani kabla ya kumdhalilisha na Serikali yake ya awamu tano nina uhakika Mungu atawashughulikia usiku na mchana.” Kama alivyowaita mwenzao, kweli wanaomsema vibaya au kumgeuka Hayati Magufuli ni wasaliti ambao mheshimiwa anawalinganisha na Yuda Iskariot aliyemchuuza Yesu–––anaye alizoea kumbusu kama ishara ya upendo–––kumbe unafiki mtupu kwa vipande thelathini vya fedha.
Somo kubwa na muhimu nililojifunza kwenye kadhia hii ya kumhujumu Hayati Magufuli ni kwamba baadhi yetu ni wepesi wa kusahau. Pia ni kwamba wengi wa watu wetu wanafikiri kwa matumbo badala ya vichwa–––sitaki niseme–––ashakum––––manonihino. Kwani, hawa wanaomponda Magufuli watakumbuka 2025. Watakaposhindwa ulaji watamkumbuka na kumlilia sana. Maana, kama alivyosema Lusinde,wamejaa wengi bungeni ambao wasingechaguliwa kama si juhudi na ushawishi vya Magufuli wanayemgeuka wakijua hawezi kuamka na kuwakaripia hata kuwashangaa walivyo wasahaulifu na wa hovyo.
        Leo tunawaona wanaotumia ndege alizonunua Magufuli wakizikandia na kudai ni ushamba kununua ndege kwa fedha taslimu kana kwamba hawajui adha na utumwa wa madeni. Kimsingi, ni kwamba ni wachache wanaoweza kuona mbali na kile alichokiona Hayati Magufuli. Pamoja na kutojua kwao, bado wanajifanya wajuzi na wakosoaji wazuri wasijue watakuja kula maneno yao pale wakati utakapowadia. Wanamdhihaki mtu aliyependwa na wanyonge wasijue wanyonge hawa hawa wanasikia na kuona kila kitu.  Unachoweza kuwaambia wanaomkosoa na kumsimanga Hayati Magufuli ni kwamba kuna siku watakula maneno yao kiama chao kikiwadia miaka michache ijayo tutakapokwenda kwenye uchaguzi ujao. Kweli  wasaka tonge ni viumbe wa ajabu. Yupo aliyefikia kutaka kudanganya dunia kuwa hata mradi wa Bwawa la Nyerere si muhimu kwa vile umeme wake eti ni aghali kuliko wa gesi. Sijui watu wengine–––tena wanaojiita wasomi waliobobea–––wanafikiriaje kiasi cha kuzidiwa na hata wale wanaowaita darasa la saba wenye akili na busara kuliko wao.
Tumalizie kwa kuwaomba watanzania kuwa wakweli kwao binafsi na hata kwa umma wakijua wazi kuwa hatarudi kuja kujitetea. 

        Hata hivyo, rekodi ya utendaji wake itamtea si leo wala kesho bali hata kwa vizazi vijavyo. Na si kwa Tanzania tu bali ulimwengu mzima. Magufuli hakuomba apendwe. Anapendwa tokana na utendaji wake. Tuache kigeugeu, unafiki, ubabaishaji na uzabazabina. Tuwaheshimu marehemu na tujenge taifa letu kwa kuwa wakweli badala ya wababaishaji na wasaka tonge kama wanaomgeuka Magufuli wanavyoonyesha. Acha wote waseme ila siyo wana CCM hasa wabunge ambao wengi wamenufaika na utendaji na ushawishi wa Hayati Magufuli (Mungu ailaze roho yake mahali pema peponi. Ni ushauri wa bure.

Chanzo: Raia Mwema kesho.

Futility of the ‘Dotard Coalition’

President Uhuru Kenyatta (in white) with other leaders during a press conference by political party Leaders at State House, Nairobi.

Makau Mutua, Professor at SUNY Buffalo Law School and Chair of the KHRC.

I don’t like being a naysayer, but – and this is nothing but the truth – I go wherever the facts take me. Let me state the bottom line upfront: Kenya’s political elite is braindead. The folks lining up to take the baton in 2022 from Jubilee’s Uhuru Kenyatta are mired in scandal, washed up, or have the charisma of a doorknob.
     If you were a pretty girl, you would never give them the time of day. I have come to conclude that Kenyans are held hostage by the political elite. We are in the grip of “abusive husbands” who rain blows on us without pause. Today, I focus on the “Dotard Coalition”. I don’t use the word as an insult.
    The word “dotard” was famously used by North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un to describe former US President Donald Trump. It’s Old English for a person of advanced age who has lost his mental faculties. I don’t use it in that sense.
Rather, I employ it to describe a political formation that’s bereft of imagination because of an inert brain trust. It’s true the owners of the Dotard Coalition want power, but they can’t tell you why. All they know is that they want to succeed Mr Kenyatta and block DP William Ruto from power. Those aren’t cogent reasons to seek power. It’s like a prince seeking to become the monarch because that’s what he was born to be.
More charisma
Let’s take the tenants of the Dotard Coalition one after the next. I will start with the two most senior members of this concoction. Wiper leader Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka is the most politically senior of the quartet. He’s more astute than Amani’s Musalia Mudavadi. He boasts more charisma than Kanu’s Gideon Moi. And he’s miles ahead of Ford-Kenya’s Moses Wetang’ula, a fellow lawyer. 
    Mr Musyoka is a political spouse thrice jilted – PNU’s Mwai Kibaki refused to anoint him successor despite obviously genuflecting to the man from Nyeri, he twice deputised ODM’s Raila Odinga and they came up empty, and on both occasions he’s failed to inherit Mr Odinga. Yet, Mr Musyoka insists he’s destined to perch on State House.
    What Mr Musyoka – who’s my friend – has not offered is a compelling reason why he’s the chosen one. His vision for Kenya that’s different simply hasn’t come through. I want to listen, but I haven’t seen it yet. Should he stand atop the Dotard Coalition simply because he’s the most senior and astute of the quartet? Methinks nyet.
    If Mr Musyoka wants to be taken seriously, he must tear himself from the mediocre politicians he surrounds himself with and strike out as a national figure with a bold vision. But I think he prefers the people around him because they are a security blanket since he’s afraid of coming out as his own visionary unbeholden to ethnic interests.
    Mr Mudavadi is a man with a good heart and a gentlemanly manner. He speaks with good diction, conviction and logic. However, he simply doesn’t connect. I personally think that he could improve his wardrobe. His shirts and jackets are ill-fitting, with sleeves that go way past the knuckles of his hand. A crisper look would give him more charisma to go with his thoughtful delivery.
First among equals
I have no doubt that Mr Mudavadi is the most democratic of the quartet, but he doesn’t demonstrate that he’s ready to be the first among equals. It may be because he was born a prince and therefore isn’t used to hunting for himself. An aggressive opponent could make short work of him.
    Kanu chief, Senator Moi, occupies a station all by himself among the four. He’s the only son of a President – one who ruled for a quarter century, no less. You can tell that Mr Moi doesn’t really want to be president; he’s running because others want him to. He should be knocked out on that account.
    Lastly, there’s Mr Wetang’ula, an individual with a perpetual sneer and dour look. I still wonder why a person with so little to offer has risen so high in Kenya. But then I am reminded there was ex-president Moi too. Perhaps mediocrity is the coin of the realm in Kenyan politics. I am increasingly convinced that only mediocre people succeed in Kenya.
    It’s clear that apart from a compelling reason for its existence, the Dotard Coalition is a work of shoddy and muddled thinking. It’s a solution in search of a question. That solution is two-fold. How to stop Mr Odinga, on the one hand, and Mr Ruto, on the other.
    The Dotard Coalition is toiling in futility because it has put the cart before the horse. The question ought to be:  what type of society do we want? How do we get there? Who gets us there? We don’t settle on the leaders first, and then decide on the type of society we want.
That, my readers, is backward.
 @makaumutua.

Source Sunday Nation tomorrow.

HONGERA RAIS SAMIA, MPANGO CHAGUO LA NGUVU

Baada ya kuapishwa na kukalia kiti cha urais, macho ya watanzania walio wengi yalikuwa kwa mheshimiwa rais Samia Suluhu Hassan (SSH). Wengi walitaka kujua nani angemteua kuwa msaidizi wake mkuu yaani makamu wa rais kama alivyokuwa yeye kwa hayati John Magufuli aliyetuondoka hivi karibuni na Mungu ailaze Mahali Pema Peponi. Katika mitandao, majina mengi yalirushwa huku wengine wakitumia fursa hii kupenyeza watu wao wawanadi kama wanaofaa kuteuliwa. Kama ada, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) ambacho kinasifika kwa kuteua wale usiowadhania, kimeendeleza ugwiji wake katika hili. Kwani, pamoja na majina mengi kurushwa kwenye mitandao na vijiwe, lilikuja jina ambalo wala halikutajwa hata mara moja. Nalo ni la Daktari Philip Isidor Mpango, makamu mteule wa rais aliyeteuliwa na SSH hivi karibuni, akiwaacha wengi midomo wazi. 
Pamoja na kwamba Mpango hakutajwa tajwa, ana sifa nyingi. Anafaa kuwa makamu wa rais. Tutagusia sifa chache katika nyingi alizo nazo mheshimiwa Mpango kama ifuatavyo:
Mosi, ni msomi wa kiwango cha juu ambaye amejikita kwenye uchumi kazi ambayo ameifanya vilivyo chini ya awamu mbili mtawalia akijizolea sifa ya kuaminika na kuchapa kazi. Daktari Mpango ana shahada ya Uzamivu (PhD) katika uchumi toka Chuo kikuu cha Lund nchini Sweden. Na historia yake inaonyesha ameutumia vizuri usomi wake hadi kuchomolewa na rais wa awamu ya nne toka aliko kuwa na kumwamini wadhifa mkubwa hadi ilipoingia awamu ya tano ikamtafuta na kumpa nyadhifa nyingine nzito kwa mfuatano hadi anateuliwa mbunge na waziri wa fedha aliyehudumu kipindi chote cha JPM.
Pili, ni muaminifu ambaye¬¬–––katika nchi ambayo kashfa ni sehemu ya maisha–––hajaguswa na kashfa yoyote tuijuayo hadi sasa. Kitendo cha kuhudumu chini ya rais aliyesifika kwa kutumbua–––kama ilivyo kwa rais SSH–––ni ushahidi tosha wa uaminifu wake.
Tatu, sambamba na sifa ya uaminifu, Mpango ni mchapakazi. Ndiyo maana ameweza kuhimili kasi ya uchapazi kazi ya hayati JPM kiasi cha kubakizwa kwenye wizara nyeti ambayo, kimsingi, ndiyo ilikuwa kwenye moyo wa JPM na ndiyo ilikuwa nyenzo yake kubwa ya kukamilisha miradi aliyoweza kuikamilisha kwa muda mfupi huku akianzisha mengine mingi.
Nne, ni mtulivu asiyependa makuu. Wakati wa kupitishwa na bunge, karibu kila mbunge aliyepewa nafasi ya kuchangia, alimueleza Mpango kama waziri ambaye hakuwa na majivuno wala kujikweza. Mmojawapo Joseph Kasheku alisema kuwa, wakati mawaziri wengi huwa hawawajali wabunge, yaani wanaringa kwa maneno mengi, yeye amewahi kupewa lift na Mpango.
Tano, ni msikivu. Usikivu unahitajika sana hasa kwenye nafasi ya umakamu ambapo kazi kubwa ni kumshauri na kumsikiliza mtu ambaye ana mamlaka makubwa ya kuweza kuajiri na kufukuza wakati wowote bila kuulizwa na asiwe ametenda kosa. Hili nalo, kadhalika,  waheshimiwa wabunge wamelithibitisha kuwa–––akiwa waziri wa fedha–––anasifika kwa uwezo wake wa kumsikiliza kila aendaye kwake bila kujali cheo chake. Hata kwa rais aliahidi kumsikiliza, kumtii na kumshauri rais bila ya kumsaliti.
Sita, Mpango si mtu wa kujikomba hasa nyakati hizi ambapo wapo wengi hutegemea kujikomba lau wateuliwe. Hatuzushi. Chini ya awamu iliyopita, tuliona watu wengi wakijikomba hadi JPM akiwakaripia kuwa hataki kusifiwa bali kuchapa kazi. Mfano, yupo waziri mmoja aliyewahi kuwa shabiki wa mmojawapo wa mafahari wawili wakati wa kinyang’anyiro cha kugombea urais mwaka 2015 waliokuwa wakiongoza hadi wakaharibiana na kutoteuliwa kupeperusha bendera ya Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). Aliwahi hata kumponda JPM. Lakini siku chama kilipompitisha JPM na kumtupa mtu wake, wengi walishangaa jamaa huyu alivyogeuka haraka na kuwa kipenzi cha JPM kwa kujikomba kila namna asibanduke karibu naye hadi uchaguzi ulipokwisha akapewa uwaziri wa wizara moja nyeti. Hata hivyo, uzoefu unaonyesha kuwa mtu anayejikomba, mara nyingi, huwa hajiamini, wengine huwa na mapungufu wanayoficha kama vile kughushi au mengine kama hayo na utendaji wake unaweza kutoridhisha. Mtu yeyote anayejiamini, hajikombi bali kujiamini kuwa anatosha. Mpango anatosha kweli kweli. Na rais aliyemteua ameliona hili na atafaidika naye.
Saba, Mpango hajawahi kuonyesha kupenda makuu au kuyatafuta madaraka kwa nguvu. Maana, kila anapoelezea teuzi zake zote huwa anasema kuwa hakuwahi kuotea kufikia ngazi fulani. Huwa haachi kumshukuru Mungu kwa kumkweza. Mtu wa namna hii anaweza kuhimili nafasi ya makamu wa rais ambaye anaweza kumwamini na akamsaidia kama ilivyo kwa bosi wake ambaye wakati wa utawala wa JPM aliweka kichwa chake chini na kumuacha bosi wake afanye mambo aliyoona yanafaa yeye akishauri nyuma ya pazia. Uzoefu unaonyesha kuwa rais anapomteua mtu ambaye ni mtaka madaraka, watakosana kwa vile kila mmoja atakuwa anavutia upande wake.
Nane, Mpango ni mcha Mungu ambaye wengi waliomuongelea bungeni¬¬¬–––kama wanavyomjua–––walishuhudia hili. Mtu wa namna hii hawezi kulaghaiwa au kujiingiza kwenye wizi wa mali ya umma hasa ikizingitiwa kuwa mojawapo na sifa za wacha Mungu ni kutokuwa mafisadi na waroho wanaojilimbikizia mali. Hata nyumba yake kule kijijini kwao–––kama ilivyoonyeshwa kwenye mitandao baada ya kuteuliwa–––ni ya kawaida.
Kwa ufupi, kwa kuangalia baadhi ya sifa tajwa za Mpango, japo si zote, ni mtu anayefaa kumsaidia mheshimiwa rais kutekeleza majukumu yake bila shaka yoyote. Kimsingi, sasa ni wakati wa Mpango kuonyesha ukali wake kama alivyosema wakati akithibitishwa na bunge kuwa yeye si mpole bali mkali hasa kwa majizi ya mali za umma. Hivyo, si vibaya kumpa pongezi rais SSH kwa chaguo bora lisiloleta mgawanyiko wala malalamiko tokanana kutokuwa na makundi.

Chanzo: Raia Mwema leo.

EAST AFRICAN COUNTRIES MUST FIGHT TERRORISM COLLECTIVELY

When al Shabaab started its terrorist campaigns in Somalia, it was a local issue that many overlooked because it was a new thing in the region. Again, when the US embassies in Dar and Nairobi were attacked by al Qaeda in 1998, slowly the narrower perception about terrorism started to change and shift. The final straw came in  2001 after the same al Qaeda attacked and brought down America’s symbol of hegemony, the twin towers in downtown New York. What followed thereafter is the story of another day.
        Let us look at how slowly but looming terrorism is creeping in EAC. Three countries among six members of the EAC, namely Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda  know  first-hand the pangs and twangs of terrorism. Close to the EAC now Mozambique is embroiled in a cat-rat battle. Islamist militants known as Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama, meaning the “followers of the prophetic tradition” (Bloomberg, August 20, 2018) linked to an Arabic terrorist group, the Islamic State (IS), attacked the town of Palma, killed hundreds and left thousands displaced. The Palma was attacked simply because the biggest gas deposits that are currently in the process of developing are in the area. Thus, for militants, attacking such an area sends a message to its followers that it seriously means business. Because of these attacks many refugees fled to Tanzania; and there is unconfirmed news that some Tanzanian villages along the border have already been attacked. This means, Tanzania will soon be pulled into the conflict provided that it also has gas reserves close to those of Mozambique.
        Considering what transpired in Mozambique and the way we’ve viewed terrorism as a specific countries problem, we need to rethink our stance on it. For, there are reasons that’ve somethings to do with our countries and governments, which need to be fixed in order to arrest or mitigate the reasons that help terrorist groups to recruit our youth to join them to destabilise and destroy our countries through destroying properties, frustrating investment and insecurity resulting from lack of peace, which  are, among others, central ingredients for development of any country and people.
    Importantly, what unifies all terrorist groups is their drive to achieve political goal or power by way of manipulations and violence. To do so, such groups, particularly sectarian ones, place God on the top of everything they do in order to justify whatever they do which they say is a divinely mandate ordained by their dictatorship or God. In so doing, such group persuade many ignorant and poor people that they can bring about changes and improvements in life the governments failed to bring. 

        As well, such groups attract political swashbucklers who want to surreptitiously use them to reach their political goals. When such political opportunists, who are elites, join such groups, they also know how they aim at using them to meet their goals with the idea in mind of deposing them soon after actualising their goals. Essentially, this is the marriage between two foes or cons who use each other cautiously. It is like the business wherein on con sells fake gold to end up receiving fake money from another con he wants to dupe.
         Indeed, terrorism has justified assertion that if Karl Marx were alive today, he’d have much to add to his great observation that religion is the opium of the people that, indeed, drugs them. Such an avowal applies nicely to modern-time terrorism as it is hidden ideological get-up-and-go. And you can see this in the fact that many of the founders of the modern-time terrorist groups, the Assassins (Islamic group) and Zealots (Christian group) in approx.. 74CE, were either illiterate or semiliterate in the world issues in general. Although two major religions, Christianity and Islam are used to make and preach peace, they need to own it that they are the harbingers of terrorism that is currently disturbing the world. Because of this origin, modern time terrorist groups seem to use old formulas seeking to solve new problems,  which cannot work in the modern world. And, indeed, that’s why this we strongly argue that terrorist groups fight an unwinnable war they purposely know so as to cause destructions and sufferings as the way of assuaging themselves. For, either way, in their wars, they have nothing to lose but to give it a shot under the pretext of doing God’s work.
        Although nobody has ever met or seen God, methinks no sane God–who is known to be a loving and the most merciful creator–would, under whatever circumstances, sanction destruction and megalomania like terrorism to be applied on the creators’ people that religions assert God created and loves. As well, no sane God can use mortals to fight for his or her cause while he or she is immortal.
            Given that the major aim of this piece, inter alia, is to reconnoitre terrorism in Africa, it therefore shan’t delve deeper into other continents vis-à-vis the emergency of terrorism or terrorist groups in the world as a whole.  Instead, the emphasis is to concentrate on Africa by however only delving into the evolution of terrorism globally in a nutshell. As argued above, the major aim of any terrorist group is to use violence to make a political statement aimed at creating fear to the general public and thereby forces the authorities to either comply with its demands or act repressively, thereby enabling terrorist groups to get sympathy from the general population.
            In a nutshell, this is the history of terrorism that we know of today. It has been there. However, it got tractions or slipped into oblivion depending on the realpolitik of the day. Many terrorist incidents were not as famously known as it currently is today. This is because, sometimes back, mass media were not as globalised as it currently is. What’s never changed, however, from the birth of terrorism, is the commission of brutalities and spreading fear terrorism causes to the general public. 

            Arguably, the invention of internet’s changed the ways the world disseminates and gets information. Anybody with a gadget can do what’s a venue for professionals without necessarily being a professional. The arrival of free media such as Facebook, YouTube and many more have enhanced the fastest and widest dissemination of the information so as to author the era of free movement of uncensored information that many modern-terrorist groups use.
            Now, let’s look at the causes of terrorism that can be blamed on governments. Firstly, bad governance in many countries is to blame. Bad governments have failed to solve the problems of their people so as to force some of them to be duped into partaking of terrorism with the hope of getting the answers their governments failed to provide or fulfilling the promises they made to them. Secondly, bad governance is always defined by many things the major one being corruption. Corrupt governments use public funds and resources greedily and unreasonable so as to create poverty that forces ignorant people, especially youth, to seek other means to survive even if such means are detriment to them and others.
            In sum, if our countries want to do away with terrorism and its argumentative effects for good, must collectively address and arrest the root causes as discussed above. Terrorism isn’t a national but an international menace all countries need to practically fight collectively. Who’d think that Mozambique whose population of Muslim is small would suffer what it is now facing? Essentially, those joining Islamic terrorist groups are not only Muslims but poor young people whom terrorist group promise better life their government arrested or failed to deliver.

Source: African Executive Magazine.

A SELF-TRAINED SCHOOL DROPOUT SCIENTIST WHO SHOOK THE WORLD FOR HIS ACTIONS AND HEART

 

AFRIKA TUMEFIKIA HAPA NA NINI DAWA YA BALAA HILI?

Je kweli kuna ukosefu wa wanaume? Je wanawake ni wengi kuliko wanaume? Je ni tatizo la mtu binafsi au jamii? Je tusikilize upande mmoja bila kujua ni kitu gani kimemfikisha dada yetu huyu hapo alipo anapoonyesha kukata tamaa? Je hii ni mbinu ya kutafuta mchumba au umaarufu? Je hapa tatizo ni nini? Mila za Kiafrika hufundisha maadili mema ikiwemo kujithamini na angalau kuwa na subira na aibu. Je yote haya yamekwenda wapi?

Punish Covid vaccine profiteers

       Makau Mutua Professor at SUNY Buffalo Law School and Chair of the KHRC.

Recently, I woke up to two tweets gone viral. Both were from wealthy and powerful lawyers – the pugilistic Ahmednasir Abdullahi and the flamboyant Donald Kipkorir. Full disclosure – both “learned friends” are my BFFs, colloquialism for Best Friends Forever. I have no animus towards them. The pictures in both of their tweets were taken from a lofty corner office with a seductive view of the Nairobi skyline.
    I suspect power, mulla and luxury reside in that office. There’s more. The backdrop to their pictures was a large advertising billboard of the Russian Sputnik V Covid vaccine. The two gentlemen proudly announced – in your face – that they were the first and second Kenyans to be vaccinated with the notorious Russian vaccine.
    Mr Abdullahi’s tweet went a little further. One of the pictures in his tweet was of DP William Ruto being jabbed with Sputnik V by a fellow in a medical gown.
In one picture, Mr Ruto is sitting in front of Kenyan flags. In another, the DP can be seen beside a huge screaming flag of the Russian Federation. I was flummoxed. Not because I can’t “read” pictures. One thing was clear – DP Ruto was vaccinated in an official residence, or his office. Mr Abdullahi was vaccinated in a private office elsewhere, most likely on his own. Mr Kipkorir appeared to have been vaccinated there too. Were the famous lawyers shooting a commercial, an advertisement, for Sputnik V?
Sputnik V vaccine
What message was DP Ruto trying to send by allowing a picture of himself – the second in command in the republic – beside a domineering Russian flag? Was he implying that the Russian state had imported the vaccine into Kenya as an official act? Or was he endorsing the vaccine on behalf of the Republic of Kenya?
    There’s no doubt Mr Ruto should’ve been one of the first Kenyans to be vaccinated. But as we now know, the Sputnik V vaccine was brought into Kenya irregularly, and possibly, illegally without going through the appropriate approval processes by the state. If so, why would the country’s DP publicly take an “illegal” vaccine? Isn’t that a manifest threat to national security?
A few days earlier, Mr Ruto’s boss – Jubilee’s Uhuru Kenyatta – had been publicly vaccinated with his family with the AstraZeneca vaccine in State House.
    Mr Kenyatta did so, he said, to combat vaccine hesitancy because the AstraZeneca vaccine has been dogged by safety concerns. He wanted to boost public confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine, the only one officially and legally available in Kenya. Since then Health CS Mutahi Kagwe has disowned any state’s role in the importation of Sputnik V.
 In fact, he’s banned the importation of any vaccines by private entities. Which begs the question – who authorised Sputnik V in Kenya? Who imported it? Which cartels are behind its importation? Who cleared it? We need answers now.
Financial interest
Ominously, why was DP Ruto promoting an “illegal” vaccine, a product not approved for use in Kenya? Why was the DP countermanding his boss? Everyone knows that DP Ruto isn’t a fool. The man isn’t one to walk into a trap eyes wide open, or ingest a product he doesn’t understand, or in which he has no interest. So, what’s going on here? Was the DP a dupe of dark forces?
    Or was he a willing collaborator? Did he, and the two aforementioned lawyers, have any pecuniary, or financial interest in Sputnik V? They all need to clear the air. The state needs to investigate the matter and let the law take its course without fear or favour.
    We are living in the worst pandemic since 1918. Millions have died around the globe. Kenyans are dropping dead like flies. The primary purpose of the republican state – of which Kenya is a variant – is to safeguard the security of its people and their property.
There’s no more serious existential threat to Kenya now than Covid. That’s why the state must do everything in its power to defeat the virus. Masks, social distancing and proper hygiene can help. But the Covid vaccines are the only ones that will eradicate the virus from our midst. It’s why only the state should approve, purchase and administer, or oversee the administration of, the vaccines. Private profiteers must be banned.
    Covid vaccines must not be commercialised and sold to the highest bidder. It’s unacceptable to see wealthy and powerful people – who aren’t on any priority list – being the first to be vaccinated.
In every civilised country, medical personnel, frontline workers, essential staff, first responders, those with comorbidities, and the highest state officials have been the first to get the vaccine – for free.
No one should directly pay for the vaccine. It’s immoral and illegal for Sputnik V to be sold for as high as $150 in Kenya. The culprits must be sanctioned without pity. The state must have the monopoly to import vaccines and give them freely to Kenyans.
@makaumutua

Source: Sunday Nation tomorrow.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan Is Indomitable

Muddy waters make catching fish easy; Chinese proverb’s it. Every cloud’s a silver lining. One can add. However, not in every muddy water catching fish’s as easy as ABC. Nonetheless, for President ma’am Samia Suluhu Hassan (SSH), this may conditionally be the case. She’s become president when Tanzania’s in the cusp of huge transformation credited to her predecessor the late Dr John Pombe Magufuli (1959-2021) who took power when Tanzania’s in the bog of sleaze, drug peddling, pilfering; and had a poorly performing economy among many ills the country faced then. Now, this is history.  For, after Magufuli took over, everything changed dramatically and quickly so to speak. Now that Magufuli’s no more, will his successor deliver on his promises? Ma’am SSH answers saying “let me take this opportunity to assure you that nothing will be lost. Our country is in safe hands” (Citizen, March 23, 2021). Former President Jakaya Kikwete concurs saying “I have no doubt that Tanzania is in safe hands” (Citizen, March 20, 2021).
Ma’am SSH’s an achiever with many firsts on the roll. She’s the first Vice Chair of the Constitutional Assembly whose approbations were shelved. It is at this moment her stars shone and aligned and propelled Ma’am SSH to where she’s today. She too is the first female Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania and now the first female President not only in Tanzania but in the East African Community. She’s the first female Vice President and the first from Tanzania Islands. For, Ally Hassan Mwinyi, the union’s second President, was born in the Mainland Tanzania. Similarly, she’s the first Tanzanian VP to become president, the first unelected President and the first CCM’s female Chair respectively. Overall, she’s very strong as proved this in her first speech as President saying, “let me say something here.” She added “for those who have doubts that this woman, if can handle being a president, I want to tell them that the one who is standing here in front of you is the president of Tanzania” (VOA, March 25, 2021). She forebodingly assured to those who were still in doubts if the woman became their President. 
    That said, currently Tanzania’s facing its first test. Since its independence, it never buried a President who died in office. At personal level, this is yet another test for Ma’am SSH who’s a part of this huge transformation as Magufuli’s VP. Thus, she isn’t learning the ropes about how to run a country.  Ma’am SSH won many accolades for after being appointed VP. Her practicability, predictability, sagacity and serenity earned her the moniker of Mama Jasiri by some Tanzanians. Being able to match Magufuli’s high rigour and speed also adds up to her quality as the president who might fit in big shoes that Magufuli left.  
    Magufuli’s superbly top notch and gallant services to his country can’t be gainsaid or pushed under the rag. I don’t want to call it a marvel though it looks like it for those who know how things work in the upper echelons of power. Thus, for Ma’am SSH, fulfilling all projects that Magufuli started and promises he made will not only define her but will also endear her as the person who fittingly fits in Magufuli’s huge boots. Whoever tries disparaging and underrating Ma’am SSH–––simply because she is a woman–––must automatically either be ignorant of the truth or just a Janus-faced fella, which is normal in politics, especially the politics of sewage as the late Samuel Sitta, former speaker of the parliament would agreeably put it. Such a person must think again. Similarly, whoever’ll underrate Ma’am SSH must do so for his or her shock the first place. The way she presided over the transition period when the entire nation was mourning the leader who’s hugely loved and trusted can give you a hint into the person that Ma’am SSH is. 
     I’m neither Ma’am SSH’s spokesperson nor even next to him or her. Surely, what I can comfortably say’s: whoever doubts Ma’am SSH’s political achievements under whatever decoy, must be doing a self-disservice and committing suttee to her/himself and to his or her ambition of unseating the Irony Lady in Dodoma. The long and short of this is that fair and square: the majority of Tanzanians have fully accepted and supported her since she ascended to power. Apart from being a workaholic like her predecessor, she’s a unifier who grew up in the CCM. Importantly, she knows the system as her palm.
The sage’s it that it’s better to arrive late in this world than early in the next one. Politically, though doubting Ma’am SSH’s capability’s a democratic right, it’s next to never to ignore her meritocratic rise to where she now’s. If anything, those who wrongly think that Ma’am SSH is in office to warm up the seat must think twice. What they might attain from such a stance is nothing but arriving early in the next political world and a shock. When it comes to winning the hearts and minds of Tanzanians–––to unseat her come next elections after lapsing her phase–––the opposition needs something credible and concrete to firm up their assertions, if any, by conducting more research in order to show what they all are about that all citizens can support. By so doing, hopefully, the message will unequivocally hit home. Again, is there anything convincing that one can pick against ma’am SSH’s poise in office? If anything, the opposition has a lot of jerky road to cover to convince any sane bin-Adam to desert the CCM even after Magufuli. 
    If ma'am SSH fulfills the promises she made after being sworn in that she’ll deliver Magufuli’s big and many dreams, for the opposition or any CCM cadres, to unseat her is as good as an elephant to pass through needle’s eye. Forget about the biblical Carmel. There’s more to this than meets the eye so to speak. Or put it this way. For the opposition to beat ma’am SSH in a ballot box only extraordinaire miracles must happen. Again, beating ma’am SSH is rare and next to never like dreaming to find an aye-aye in the desert or Greenland. Her political capital that Magufuli left is huge and developable shall she stay course.
Apart from the miracles that can’t happen to unseat ma’am SSH, the opposition, and others who are pondering on joining the craze and maze, the CCM can assuredly take this to bank. With ma'am SSH at the helm, it’s hard for the opposition to unseat it . If they, by any stretch of imagination mean business, those envisaging unseating ma’am SSH, must remember what happened when a rookie Magufuli burst into the scene. This is easy and simple to gauge and grasp. The support ma'am SSH got from Tanzanians makes any attempts to unseat her futile.
I heard some people cajoling her predecessor for constructing bridges, flyover, roads, ships and purchasing planes saying that such are things but not humans as if they’re constructed for themselves not humans. Go figure. Similarly, cynics used to deride Magufuli for purchasing the planes they’re now using to crisscross the country easily to tell their fibs and fabrications. It came to light recently that they are operated on loss thanks to Covid-19 among other reasons. Shall Ma’am SSH turn this situation around, nobody’ll be able to unseat her.  More importantly, some were jeering the Hapa Kazi mantra saying that, when we gained our independence, the Father of the Nation, Mwl JK Nyerere had the chant of Uhuru na Maendeleo, namely freedom and Development but not Hapa Kazi they’re now misconstruing as the tool of enslaving Tanzanians! Startlingly, such people are calling themselves Christians whose book of authority says that “if a man will not work, he shall not eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Gender preferences aside, should we rob Peter to pay Paul? Time will surely tell.

Source: African Executive Magazine today.

RAIS SSH ANAWEZA KUWA RAIS BAADA YA 2025 AKIWASOMA AKINA BANDA

Japo siasa za mataifa jirani ya Malawi na  Zambia ni tofauti na za Tanzania, zina somo kwa Tanzania. Kwa wanaokumbuka namna mwanamama Joyce Banda alivyokuwa rais wa Malawi (7 Aprili, 2012 – 31 Mei, 2014) baada ya kufa kwa rais Bingu wa Mutharika au Rupiah (19 Agosti, 2008 – 23 Septemba, 2011) baada baada ya kufa kwa Levy Mwanawasa, watakubaliana nasi kuwa–––kama wangekuwa amejiandaa–––wangeweza kuendelea kuwa marais hata baada ya kumaliza kipindi cha watangulizi wao. Hata hivyo, hawakufanikiwa kuwa marais japo waliutaka urais. Kuna mambo mengi yalichangia kushindwa kuendelea na urais. Mosi, walishindwa kwenye uchaguzi uliofanyika baada ya kumaliza ngwe ya mtangulizi wake.
Pili, uongozi wao hakuwaridhisha wamalawi na wazambia tokana na sababu mbali mbali nyingi zikitokana na ufisadi na namna walivyotumia madaraka yao. Tutaanza na Joyce Banda ambaye alishindwa urais tokana na kuhujumiwa na kambi ya mdogo wa marehemu Mutharika, Peter Mutharika aliyemshinda na kuwa rais miaka michache tu baada ya kaka yake. Ndiyo maana, tumesema kuwa siasa za Malawi na Tanzania ni tofauti. 
Mbali na kuhujumiwa au kuzuiwa na kambi ya Mutharika, Banda alikabiliwa na kashfa ya wizi wa mabilioni ya shilingi ya fedha za umma kwenye kashfa iliyojulikana kama cashgate ambapo ilidaiwa kuwa aliuza ndege ya rais baada ya kuishusha thamani yake kwa kiasi cha dola za kimarekani milioni15 ambapo  milioni 1.5 zilikwenda kwenye ununuzi wa mahindi huku zilizobaki zikiyeyuka bila kubakiza unyayo. Kwa taifa maskini kama Malawi fedha hii si ndogo hata kidogo. Hivyo, tunaweza kusema kuwa ubadhirifu na kushindwa kusimamia fedha ya umma kulimkosesha Banda urais mbali na kuhujumiwa na makundi yaliyomuunga mkono Mutharika. Baada ya kushindwa kwenye uchaguzi, Banda alikwenda ukimbizini kuepuka kukamatwa kwa miaka minne tangu 2014 hadi 2018. Kwa mujibu wa Shirika la Habari la Uingereza (BBC, 27 January, 2014), chini ya utawala wa Banda, Malawi ilipoteza yapata dola milioni 250 tokana na malipo huduma hewa.
Kwa upande wa Rupiah Banda aliyeshindwa na Michael Sata, hakuna sababu kubwa iliyofanya ashindwe kama kutuhumiwa kuibia taifa $11 milioni ndani ya kipindi cha miaka mitatu aliyoongoza Zambia. Kashfa hii ilitokana na Banda kununua mafuta toka Nigeria ambapo hata mwanae Henry, mfanyabiashara mwenye makazi yake nchini Afrika Kusini naye alituhumiwa kuhusika na kashfa hii ya ununuzi wa mafuta toka Nigeria iliyomlazimisha kuishi ugenini kuepuka kukamatwa. Mwaka 2013, Banda alikamatwa kuhusiana na kashfa hii ya mafuta iliyolenga kunufaisha familia yake. Mbali na kashfa hii, Rupiah alikabiliwa na mashtaka ya matumizi mabaya ya madaraka jambo ambalo alilikanusha.
Hivyo, basi, somo la kwanza kwa rais SSH toka kwa marais Banda ni kupambana na ufisadi vilivyo na kusimamia fedha na mali za umma vizuri ili kukubalika kwa wapiga kura na wananchi kwa ujumla. Somo la pili ni kuepusha familia kujiingiza kwenye utawala wake ili kuepuka vishawishi. Kwani, wanafamilia hawawezi kujua dhamana, maana na ukubwa wa mzigo alio nao rais wan chi. Hivyo, wanaweza kujiingiza kwenye ufisadi kwa mgongo wa ndugu yao wasijue hatari wanayomsababishia na taifa kwa ujumla kama inavyoonekana kwenye kesi hizo mbili juu zinazowahusisha akina Banda ambao waliukosa urais tokana na kutokuwa makini na wadhifa huu.
Somo la tatu ni kwamba hata mhusika asipojihusisha binafsi kwenye ufisadi, anapaswa kuwaangalia walio chini yake. Kwa mfano, pamoja na mashtaka dhidi yake binafsi, Joyce Banda anatuhumiwa kuzembea kuwabana wa chini yake kiasi cha kusababisha hasara ya dola za kimarekani milioni 15-¬––250 kwa nchi yake; jambo ambalo liliwakasirisha sana wapiga kura na wamalawi kwa ujumla na kumtupa nje ya uringo wa kisiasa hadi akakimbia nchi yake kwa muda wa miaka minne. Ili kuweza kunusurika na kifungo, Banda alijiunga na upinzani wenye nguvu chini ya rais wa sasa Lazarus Chakwera. Hivyo, kunusurika tokana na kitendo hiki.
Somo la nne ni kwamba wananchi wanaona kila kinachofanyika. Hivyo, wanapopata nafasi ya kutoa hukumu, wanafanya hivyo kwa ukali sana kama ilivyotokea kwa marais wawili tajwa. Hivyo, rais SSH ana darasa zuri toka kwa maisha ya marais tajwa ambao waliutaka urais baada ya kumaliza kipindi cha mpito lakini wakaukosa. 
Kwa ufupi ni kwamba wahusika walikwamishwa na ufisadi na usimamizi mbaya wa fedha na mali za umma na matumizi mabaya ya madaraka yao. Hilo ndilo somo la msingi katika yote. Kama tulivyosema hapo juu, siasa za Malawi na Zambia ni tofauti na za Tanzania tokana na nchi hizi kuwa na upinzani makini na ulioshikamana. Hata hivyo, hili lisitudanganye kuwa hali ya kisiasa nchini haiwezi kubadilika. Upinzani unaweza kuimarika, kuungana na kufanya maajabu tokana na hali itakavyokuwa baada ya rais SSH kuonyesha staili yake ya utawala. Kama atayaelewa na kuyatia maanani masomo tajwa hapo juu, hana haja ya kuogopa chochote bali kujimbia ofisini na kuweza kugombea na kushinda–––jambo ambalo tunajua ana uwezo wa kufanya bila wasi wasi wala upungufu wowote. Isitoshe, mtaji aliorithi ni mkubwa kiasi cha kumwezesha kufanikiwa haraka na kirahisi. Kwa mtaji wa uchakazi na uwezeshaji ulioachwa na hayati Dk John Magufuli, SSH ana kila sababu ya kuwa mojawapo ya vigogo wa siasa nchini kama ataweza kushinda uchaguzi ujao. Hata hivyo, mwanzo wake unaanza kuonyesha hili hata kabla ya visa tajwa ambavyo naamini anavijua. Tunachofanya ni kumkumbushia tu.

Chanzo: Raia Mwema kesho.

TUONGOZE BABA WIMBO WA WIKI

 

Like Kivengere to Amin, I Dearly and Faithfully Love Museveni

Responding to my open letter to President Yoweri Museveni in the Daily Monitor, some people owlishly and iniquitously accused me of hating His Excellency. How can I, in the first place, hate a good dude like Yowe? Who am I to hate a lad of God from Rwakitura? I know. His hecklers call him a dictator, and many names. Others say he’s a bad.  Ask ‘em why. They say because isn’t good. They say he’s bad because he’s bad. For, my part, I neither call him a democrat nor dictator but the son of God. How many Ugandans and others remember the late Festo Kivengere, especially his masterpiece “I love Idi Amin?” Janan Luwum, the late prelate who defined the commitment of the men of the cloth to fighting injustice even under a coldblooded dictator like Amin?             Essentially, Kivengere wrote his book not to show his hatred to Amin. He did so to show his love for a person who misruled UG as if he’d live forever. Although in this case, Mr. Museveni, whom I love and follow dearly is different from Amin, there are some commonalities. Amin and Museveni are Ugandans, presidents who grabbed power after evidencing some weakness in the upper echelons of power. 

     Secondly, they both pulled the mass after becoming presidents; and were acclaimed like heroes on the days they pulled down the regimes of their predecessors. 

    Thirdly, they promised a lot of positive changes thereof.  Fourth, equally, though in different styles, they both didn’t make good on all of their promises not to mention not being aware about how hoi polloi viewed them.
Fouthly, the duo had connection with Julius Nyerere of Tanzania though antithetically whereas one’s cloned and the other destroyed. This connection with Tanzania’s a lot to do with the history of Uganda, especially after the Tanzanian People’s Defence Forces (TPDF) supported Amin’s opponents to wage the war that saw him going to exile after his army’s badly defeated in 1978; thus pulling his regime down unceremoniously. Another fact is: Uganda is the only country on earth that hosts many more Tanzanians than any. Similarly, many Tanzanians who visit or got to Uganda for studies and other reasons feel more at home in UG than in any country in the East Africa Community and Africa generally.
Now, let me tell why I love Museveni whose foes love to hate. Like Kivengere on Amin, Museveni’s a good guy whom many misconstrue. Do you know that even Amin’s comportments many don’t know? Ask for any Ugandan who knows how much Amin fleeced from the public coffers. You’ll get nobody. This shows how Amin’s trustworthy when it comes to public lolly. Comparably, Amin’s better than the likes of Jommy Kinyatta who used presidency to enrich himself, Joseph Mobutu, Congolese aberrant who turned the country into his private estate, Felix Houphouet-Boigny (Ivory Coast) who pauperised his country by building a basilica in his hamlet not to mention the zaniest Jean Bedel Bokassa (CAR) who crowned himself emperor spending a big chunk of the national budget on his hogwash emperorship. 
Apart from his being a wholesome guy, I love Museveni for doing Uganda a favour. Guess what. When he took over many decades ago, he promised Ugandans he’d not overstay in power. He knew how abhorrent this is. Again, for the fear that Amin and the likes would return and recapture power and terrorise UG, Museveni decided, out of great love, to soldier on to see to it that Uganda is always safe.  Instead of turning Uganda into his private estate, using office to hoard wealth, build  a basilica or anything like it in Rwakitura or crowingly unction himself Uganda’s emperor or president for life, Museveni decided to serve the people from the above-mentioned looming danger. Who wants the Amins to come back from their tombs and destroy beloved Uganda? Being a good guy, I once heard him complaining that whenever he wants to call it a day, the NRM compels him to stay on. Whoever hates him, for this revelation, the penny will drop. For, being a good guy who respects the authority, Museveni, against his will, has been in power for a while, which his detractors use to call him a tyrant, which he’s because of the NRM, without knowing the reasons why he’s been in office for such long. What’d you do if you’re him? If he were a bad guy who disrespect authority, he’d have been in retirement many years ago. Is it wrong for me to love such a democrat really?
I love Museveni for his love of everything. Have you ever hearkened or seen him  beautiful talking about his cows? The other day, I heard him saying that cattle are his relatives. Museveni loves cows dearly the same way he loves Ugandans. Knowing his love of almost everything including mama Janet and family, how can any God-fearing type like myself hate Museveni?
Another reason I love Museveni’s nothing but his mission, to be precise, the one the NRM gave him to complete not to mention the other of uniting the East and Central region to complete the message that Mwl Nyerere didn’t actualise. With such big missions and visions, can any sane person hate Museveni? I once heard Museveni telling those who want him to relinquish power to think twice. For, he doesn’t only have the mission but somewhere to retire and look after his  dear cattle. Museveni’s love for Uganda and the EAC’s caused him a lot of suffering politically.  Let me wind up with this piece by quoting Kivengere in that “on the cross Jesus said ‘Father, forgive them, because they don’t know what they are doing.’ As evil as Amin was, how can I do less toward him?”  Like any human being, Museveni will one day die or became senile to rule. Then, why hate him instead of loving him and pray that he understands this natural science?

Source: Sunday Monitor