The Chant of Savant

Thursday 13 May 2021

CCM UNDER PRESIDENT SAMIA’ STEWARDSHIP : WHAT CHANGES SHOULD WE REASONABLY EXPECT?

There was  a  historic  ‘change  of  guard’  in  CCM,  when   President  Samia  Suluhu  Hassan  was  elected  CCM  national  Chairperson  on  30th  April,  2021.  At the  time  of  her  election,  CCM  had     just   attained  the  age  of  forty  four  years.  A  political  party  of  forty  four  years   is,  obviously,    pretty  oldish.  And  there  is  a  ‘wicked’  inclination  in  some  people,  to  suppose  that   old  political  parties  “have  outlived  their  usefulness”!  
        Today’s  article  will  endeavour  to  dispute  that  notion,  by  just  narrating  how  CCM  has  managed  to  survive  for  all  these  years,   despite  going  through  some  difficult  political  challenges  which,  under  some  other  multi-party  political  jurisdictions,   could  have  easily  thrown  the  ruling  political   party  out  of  power.   
Down  memory  lane.
        The  gurus  have   been  said,   that  “history  is  the  memory  recorded  in  our  brain”.  I  personally  had  the  great  good  fortune  of  being  a  key  player  in  the  hectic  preparations  for  CCM’s  establishment, when  I  was  appointed   member/secretary  of  the  joint  TANU/ASP  20-man  Commission  which  had  been  set  up  to  make  preparations  for  its  establishment,  and  subsequently  being  the master  of  ceremony   at  its  birth  day  celebrations  at  Amani  Stadium  in  Zanzibar  on  5th  February,  1977;  plus,   soon  thereafter,  being  appointed  the  first  Executive  Secretary  General  of  the  newly  born  party.  I  therefore  have  some  rich, pleasant  memories  ‘recorded  in  my  brain’,  which  could   help  in  facilitating   informed   discussions  regarding   this  topic.   For  that  reason, this  article  will   now   take  our  readers  ‘down  memory  lane’,  by  recalling  the major  historic  events  which  led  to  CCM’s  establishment;  and  its  subsequent  chequered   ‘stages  of  growth’  thereafter.  
It  was  Mwalimu  Nyerere’s  bold  initiative.
        The  starting  point  was  President  Nyerere’s  acceptance  speech  on  22nd  September,  1975,   upon  his  re-nomination  by  the  joint  TANU/ASP  electoral  conference,   as  TANU’s  candidate  for  that  year’s   Presidential election.  In  the  course  of  that  speech,  President Nyerere  made  the  following  ground  breaking   proposal:-                                                                                                                                                                                “Our  country  is,  legally  and  constitutionally,  a  One-party  State.  But,   in  reality,  we  have  two  parties.  I  believe  that  this  is  a  constitutional  anomaly,  which  is  a  very  serious  matter.                        It   is  my  sincere  conviction,  that we  should  now  give  serious  consideration  to  this  matter,  and  find    way  of  removing  this  anomaly.  I  am  convinced  that  we  will  greatly  strengthen  the  unity  of  our  people,  and  also  give  ourselves  greater  capacity  for  carrying  our  revolution  forward,  if  we  now  agree  to  merge  our  two  parties,  in  order  to  form  one  strong  revolutionary  party,  which  will  lead  our  revolutionary  nation”.                                                                                                                                                                (I should  perhaps  draw  special  attention  to  the significance  of  the  words  “in  order  to  form  one  revolutionary  party”  in  the  last  sentence;  because  that  is  precisely  why  the  new  party  was  named  “Chama  cha  Mapinduzi”).
Nyerere’s   proposal  was  received  with  enthusiastic  acclamation  by  the  entire  conference,  no  one  dissenting.  Hence,  the  practical  implementation  of  that  proposal  subsequently  commenced  when,  on  2nd  October,  1976,  a  20-person  joint  Commission,  comprising  an  equal  number  of  members  from  both  parties  was  appointed,  and  given  the  task  of   “making  all  the  preparations  necessary  preparations  for  the  formation  of  the  new  party,  resulting  from  the  voluntary  merger  of  the  two  parties”.   And, as  already  stated above,  I  was  appointed  Member/Secretary  of  that  Commission.
  CCM’s   measured  stages  of   growth  thereafter.
         The  new  party  was  born  under  the  monopolistic  ‘One-party  State’  political  dispensation.  Its   Mission and  Vision,  were clearly stated in the Preamble  to  its Constitution,  as  follows:- “Tumeamua  kwa  pamoja,  kuunda  chama  kipya  cha kuendeleza  mapinduzi  ya  kijamaa  nchini  Tanzania,  pamoja   na  mapambano ya  ukombozi  wa  Afrika,  juu  ya  misingi  imara   iliyojengwa  na  TANU  na  ASP.  Chama  kipya  tunachokiunda,  tunataka  kiwe  ni  chombo  madhubuti  katika  muundo  wake  na   katika  fikra  zake;    na   pia  katika vitendo vyake vya  kufutilia  mbali  aina  zote  za  dhuluma  na  unyonyaji  hapa  nchini;  na  kupambana  na  jambo  lolote  lile,  ama  la  mtu  kuonea  mtu  mwingine,  au  chombo  cha  Serikali  kuonea  au  kudhalilisha  wananchi;  au  kudhoofisha  uchumi  wa  nchi  na  kuzorotesha  maendeleo  ya  Taifa  letu”.  
         My  humble  submission is   that  CCM’s  continued strength over the past 44 years,  lies principally in its successful implementation of its  Mission and vision,  and  its  policies  and programmes  which  are  articulated  in  its  election  manifestos  every  five  years;  which  has  been   the main source  of   its  continued  appeal to the majority of the Tanzanian electorate,  giving   CCM  huge  successes  in  all  the  multi party general elections  that  have  been  held  over  all  these  years.
CCM’s   organizational  structure.
        CCM’s   other source of strength,   lies in its organizational structure, and  the  party’s  healthy  practice  of  regular  and  continuous  recruitment of  new  party  members   mostly  from  among the younger generations;  as  well  as  new party leaders at all levels of the party hierarchy, through the process of party elections which are held regularly  after every five years (or  every  ten years in the case of the national party Chairman);  plus  its  successful  implementation  of  its  election  manifesto  promises.  In  my  view,  these  are  the   factors  which  have   been   great  and  significant  assets  that  have  contributed  hugely to the party’s strength, and sustainability. 
  The  transition  to  multi-party  politics.
        The  party’s  transition  to  multi-party  politics  was  its  second  stage  of   growth,  when  it  was  effected  in  1992,  when  the country’s  Constitution  was  extensively  amended  in  order  to  include  new  provision  which  would   accommodate  the  new   multiparty  political dispensation. This  transition  was  actually  initiated,  and actively   processed,  by  CCM  itself;  having fully   realized  that  the political  landscape in  many  countries  on  the  world  was  rapidly  changing  in  that  direction. The  entry  into  multi-party  politics  necessitated   CCM’s  participation  in  the  multi-party. electoral competitions.     
The  challenges of  multi-party  politics.
        After  the  transition  to  multi-party  politics ,   CCM   has,  inevitably,  been  facing    a  variety  of  challenges,  including the  possibility  that  CCM’s longevity  alone   could   lead to  its downfall  from power, allegedly because “people will eventually get tired of it”! In  my  humble  opinion, this  is  not a  valid proposition,  simply because:  unlike  human beings,  who die basically due to biological causes  that lead to the human heart ceasing to function;   Organizations,  such  as  political  parties,  can  only die due to  avoidable  human errors  such  as  scandals,  and  other   which  are  committed  by  the  erring  parties  themselves. “self-inflicted  injuries”. 
Examples  of   CCM’s  self-inflicted  injuries.
        The dictionary definition of the word ‘self-inflicted injury” is that it is “an injury which one inflicts deliberately upon himself”. The word “deliberately” is a key word in this definition. It means that the resultant injury must have been deliberately inflicted upon the injured, through his own deliberate negligence.  Thus, as  a veteran ‘mzee wa Chama’ myself  who has all along been in its ‘corridors of power’,  I can venture to testify positively to the contention that CCM  has, sometimes,  been a victim of its own ‘self-inflicted injuries’. The following examples may serve to illustrate this point: 
 (i)  Its   dismal  electoral  performance in  the 2010  Presidential  election.
The results of the 2010 presidential election,  manifestly showed that CCM’s support among the voting population, had sharply declined  and  gone  down  to  unprecedented low levels. These results had provided a  loud and clear “wake-up call” to the party,  which,  commendably, lost no time in responding to this call, by embarking on a serious  internal evaluation exercise,  in order  to determine the true causes of this sudden  decline in its popularity among the electorate. 
        This exercise revealed, that the major sources for this loss of support were the following:
(a) The damaging scandals which were closely associated with the party’s leaders.                           These included the “Richmond scandal”, which effectively rocked the  National  Assembly, with  the CCM MPs being divided into two  antagonistic groups, with  one  group  being  labeled  as   the ‘mafisadi’  group;  and  the  other   identifying  itself  as  the ‘anti-mafisadi’  group.  As  if  that  was  not  enough,  the Richmond scandal was rapidly followed by another, equally damaging scandal,  known as the “EPA scandal”;  which  consisted of serious accusations being directed at certain prominent CCM   national  leaders, who were alleged to have  illegally ‘stolen’  huge sums of money from the External Payments Account (EPA) of the Central Bank (BOT).                                                                            Such accusations naturally raised anger among the community, and thus contributed to the loss of public trust in the ruling party. 
(b) The ideological challenges: the failure to implement Ujamaa.   
         The dismal failure to implement the Party’s Ujamaa ideology,  was  certainly  one of the major challenges to the strength and reputation of Chama cha Mapinduzi,  which  was  caused  primarily  by  factors  such  as;- 
 (i)  Attempting  to  build socialism without socialists.
         It  is  stated in the Arusha Declaration document itself, that “Socialism cannot just establish itself.    It  can only be established, and maintained, by people who have complete faith in the efficacy of this system”.  In   our  case,  it  can be asserted that the party was attempting to build socialism where there were no committed socialist,  a  state  of  affairs  which was  aggravated   by the  presence  of  other  negative,  ‘self-injury’  factors,  including :- 
(i)   The  mismanagement  of  ‘Operation  Vijiji’.                                                                     
         The  mismanagement of  the  “Operation  Vijiji”  exercise  in  1973/74  created   massive,  negative anti-Ujamaa  attitudes among the people, particularly among the majority rural population.  The  that  these  mismanagement   actions   were  committed   by  the  inept, reckless administration officials  of  the  party  and  its  government,  who literally used ‘brutal force’  by   forcing people to relocate  to what were designated as “Ujamaa villages”, during the relevant ‘operation’ in 1973/74;  whereby  large numbers of village people were  literally  ‘rounded’  up at their established homes,  and  herded off,  together with their belongings, to  distant bare sites,  which were supposed  to be their new residential areas;  and  were  just abandoned and left  to fend for themselves, their previous homes having been  destroyed  as a strategy  to prevent them from returning there.  
Such brutality, necessarily created  massive  ill feelings, plus  utter  frustration,  and collective anger, among the affected  people;  who  therefore  decided  that  ‘if this was the Ujamaa they were being told about, they would have none of it!                                             (ii) The failure of the Ujamaa industrial sector to deliver. 
         The other factor which contributed to the loss of faith in the efficacy of the Ujamaa ideology;  was the miserable failure of the much touted Ujamaa industrial sector; which, unfortunately, failed to produce enough goods and services to satisfy the needs of the people. This resulted in extreme shortages of all the essential items required for people’s daily consumption, to the extent that  in the early 1980s, people had to join long, endless waiting  lines, in order to be able to purchase any item whatsoever, from  the few designated  shops which were  allowed  to  keep  and  sell  these essential  items.  Fortunately  however,  the  ‘Ujamaa  failure’   caused  no  harm  to  CCM,  because  CCM  is   a  “mass  party”   which  is  not,  basically,  anchored  on  adherence  to  ideology. 
 A  manifestation   of  CCM’s  inherent  strength.
        The fact  that  CCM  has been able to overcome all these nagging  problems, and   still  continued to win  the  subsequent general elections  so handsomely, is a clear manifestation of its solid  inherent strength;  and  this,  is  the   inveterate  strong  CCM   which,  on  30th  April,  2021,  was  placed  under  the  stewardship  of  the  new   Chairperson,  President  Samia  Suluhu  Hassan. With  this  background  information  in  mind,  we  can  now  return  to  the  question:- what  changes,  if  any,  should  we  reasonably  expect  from  the  new  leader? (will  continue  next  week)
piomsekwa@gmail.com  /  0754767576. 
Source: Daily News and Cde Msekwa today 
 


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