In last week’s article, I used the heading “Lamenting the forgotten political significance of of Saba Saba Day”, in order to express my personal feelings of sadness and disappointment, regarding what I consider to be a ‘mishandling’ of the issue of commemorating that important date in the political history of our country. The word ‘mishandle’ means “to deal badly with a problem, or situation”. It could also be referred to as “mismanagement” of a thing, or situation. Thus, In last week’s presentation, I was lamenting the unfortunate failure by the relevant authorities, and in this case CCM, to maintain the history of respect and glory for ‘Saba Saba Day’, which is the birth date of the political party (TANU) that brought independence to Tanganyika (now Tanzania Mainland). And I explained therein that this ‘lamentation’ was driven entirely by my personal love for history, and, in particular, for the political history of our country. The word “History” means “the study of important past events, particularly those relating to the political, social, and political development of a country, or nation”. And I submitted that Saba Saba Day, which, by extension, is the commencement date of the glorious struggle for our country’s independence, is a crucial past event, which richly deserves to be given appropriate prominence in its commemoration.
The similar mishandling of other important issues.
Today’s article is designed to be a continuation of my ‘lamentations’, regarding the unfortunate mishandling of two other, equally important, political issues. These are: (i) the issue of the style and manner of commemorating the annual death anniversaries of the late President, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, the father of our nation. And (ii) the issue of the independent candidate in our elections.
Mwalimu Nyerere’s commemorative events.
At the national level, the regular commemorative event is the closing ceremony of the annual country wide “Mwenge wa UHURU” torch race. Admittedly, the UHURU torch race carries significant importance in the country’s political history relating to Mwalimu Nyerere’s leadership. It should be common knowledge, that the ‘ UHURU torch race’ originates from the famous statement that was made by Mwalimu Nyerere in the Tanganyika Legislative Council, on 22nd October, 1959, in the following immortal words: “We, the people of Tanganyika, would like to light a candle and put it on top of mount Kilimanjaro, which would shine beyond our borders giving hope where there was despair, love where there was hate, and dignity where before there was only humiliation . . . We cannot, unlike other countries, send rockets to the moon, but we can send rockets of love and hope to all our fellow men, wherever they may be”. It is readily appreciated, that those inspiring words of wisdom fully justifies the action of closing the UHURU torch race on this day, which is Nyerere’s “remembrance Day”.
It is also highly appreciated, that the Catholic Church has always celebrated special Holy Masses, on this day, in commemoration of Mwalimu Nyerere’s life and death.
However, in my humble opinion, the great glamour which accompanies the closing event of the UHURU torch race, has normally tended to outshine these religious ceremonies. In that connection, it was a most welcome gesture when, on October 14th,, 2018; the late President John Pombe Magufuli decided to highlight the importance of these religious ceremonies, by choosing to attend the Holly Mass which was held at St. Peter’s Church in Dar es Sanaam, and thereby absenting himself from the UHURU torch closing event. And he used that occasion to re-affirm his Government’s commitment “to sustain the ‘Nyerere spirit’ by continuing to protect and to build on the firm foundations which were laid by the late Mwalimu Nyerere.
A fervent plea for a better method of commemorating his death.
Surely, there must be other, and more appropriate ways and methods of commemorating Mwalimu Nyerere’s death anniversary. One such method was recently used by the Benjamin William Mkapa Foundation (BMF), when it organized a symposium that was held on 14th July, 2021, to commemorate the first anniversary of the late President Benjamin Mkapa’s death. The symposium was also attended by President Samia Suluhu Hassan; plus the former Presidents of the United Republic, the President of Zanzibar, and other high – level dignitaries; including members of the Diplomatic corps and many of our development partners. The theme of the symposium was “Celebrating President Mkapa’s Life, and Living his Legacy”.
I wish to submit that this is precisely the kind of commemoration that the late President Nyerere richly deserves. The said Mkapa symposium’s ‘concept note’ made the pertinent observation that “President Benjamin Mkapa was a visionary leader, a devoted public servant, and with outstanding accomplishments; who served his country honourably during his time in office, and after retirement”. All of that is, of course, absolutely correct and true.
But Mwalimu Nyerere also did that, and very much more. For example, he bravely volunteered to resign from a lucrative teaching job at St. Francis College Pugu in 1955, and ventured into the (uninsured) risky business of politics; when he was forced to make that choice by the colonial Administration; in order to go and lead the struggle for the country’s independence. He subsequently ruled the country for a good twenty five years until 1985, when he again voluntarily stepped down, saying: “I cannot possibly achieve in the next five or ten years, or whatever period is left of my lifetime, what I could not achieve in all these years that I have ruled Tanzania”.
And after voluntarily stepping down from the country’s leadership , he became deeply involved in the running of the newly formed “South – South Commission” as its founder Chairman, with is head office in Geneva. And furthermore, until the time of his death, Mwalimu Nyerere was presiding over the crucial peace talks for the relief of the then war torn Burundi.
Mwalimu Nyerere was an outstanding intellectual; and his thoughts and ideas regarding a ‘just society’ that is based on human equality, and dignity; were the foundation of his philosophy of “Socialism and Self- reliance”; which made his speeches and writings on this philosophy to gain prominence in the studies on socio-economic development, in many parts of Africa. He surely deserves a more appropriate method of commemorating his death.
The issue of the private candidate in our elections
This matter is the second issue which is the subject of my ‘lamentation’. This matter has been ‘mishandled’, or ‘mismanaged’, in the sense that its implementation has been unfairly neglected, or ignored.
In his little book titled: “Our Leadership and the Destiny of Tanzania” Zimbabwe Publishing House, Harare, 1995); Mwalimu Nyerere wrote the following -: “ I am not denying that the right of every citizen to stand in an election, was effectively denied under my leadership during the one-party political system. But I argued then, and I continue to do so even now, that the manner in which we operated that system, with two candidates being submitted to free choice of the voters in their respective constituencies, that was the most democratic, and the most appropriate system, in the circumstances of that time. But by moving to the multi-party system, a move which I fully supported, we were effectively saying that the circumstances had vastly changed; hence this restriction on the exercise of one of the peoples’ basic rights (i.e. the individual’s right to stand as a candidate in elections), could be lifted without endangering the unity of our people, or the peace of our country; provided that appropriate steps are taken to ensure that all the political parties, and all the candidates, are barred from using race, tribe, or religion, as the basis of their appeals to the electorate for votes”.
This restriction on the right of the individual citizens of Tanzania to stand as candidates in elections, is provided for in articles 39 (1) (c ) (for election to the Presidency) ; and 67 (1) (b) (for election to Parliament), of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, 1977; and Similar restrictions are imposed on candidates seeking election to Local government Urban and District Authorities, by the Local government electoral laws.
Because I was a ‘lead participant’ in the making of the 1977 Constitution of the United Republic; I should perhaps accept a share of the blame for the inclusion therein of these provisions; But , it should be appreciated that the matter of constitution making is governed by certain established conventions; which include the following:- (i) the political forces that are at work at the time when the Constitution is being made; (ii) the ‘commonsense’ consideration of practical convenience at the material time; and (iii) the relevant precedents that are available at that material time, from which the Constitution makers could draw guidance.
Hence we, the ‘Committee of twenty” people who were entrusted with the patriotic task of making this Constitution, could not, in our God given wisdom, fail to respond to the influence of “the political forces that were at work” at the material time. By adopting the “one-party” political system of governance, our nation had, in effect, determined that the ruling party shall be the ultimate authority in our country. And, in this particular case, the party had ordained that private candidates shall not be allowed to participate in all elections. Roma locuta, causa finita.
However, as was argued by Mwalimu Nyerere, upon resolving to adopt the multi-party political system, we were actually accepting a very fundamental political change; which should have reversed this unfortunate constitutional breach of a peoples’ fundamental right
It is my submission that this constitutional ‘deficiency’ clearly requires remedy. And that remedy can be achieved by simply making appropriate amendments to the Constitution, without waiting for the enactment of a new Constitution. As I have already submitted above, the matter of ‘Constitution making’ is governed by certain established conventions ; and in the matter of enacting a new Constitution, the convention is that a new Constitution is normally enacted only upon the occurrence of certain specified political events of a fundamental nature; such as:- (i) a change of sovereignty; as was the case when the Tanganyika Republican Constitution was enacted to replace British sovereignty over independent Tanganyika, that had been incorporated in the ‘Tanganyika Independence Constitution’ which was titled “the Tanganyika Independence Order -in-Council, which was enacted by the British Parliament in London, and only published in the Tanganyika official Gazette on 1/12/1961 as GN 415 . (ii) the occurrence of a merger of sovereignty; as was the case upon the establishment of the Union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar; (iii) when the previous Constitution has been abrogated, usually as a result of a military coup; and (iv) where there is need to abandon a totally unacceptable Constitution, as was the case when the apartheid Constitution of South Africa was abandoned.
But where no such fundamental political change has taken place, the normal procedure and practice , is to just amend the existing Constitution, in order to accommodate the new requirements; which is what was done when we adopted the multi-party political system in 1992; and we have made a number of other important amendments thereafter.
My plea is that such action should now be taken.
piomsekwa@gmail.com / 0754767576.
The similar mishandling of other important issues.
Today’s article is designed to be a continuation of my ‘lamentations’, regarding the unfortunate mishandling of two other, equally important, political issues. These are: (i) the issue of the style and manner of commemorating the annual death anniversaries of the late President, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, the father of our nation. And (ii) the issue of the independent candidate in our elections.
Mwalimu Nyerere’s commemorative events.
At the national level, the regular commemorative event is the closing ceremony of the annual country wide “Mwenge wa UHURU” torch race. Admittedly, the UHURU torch race carries significant importance in the country’s political history relating to Mwalimu Nyerere’s leadership. It should be common knowledge, that the ‘ UHURU torch race’ originates from the famous statement that was made by Mwalimu Nyerere in the Tanganyika Legislative Council, on 22nd October, 1959, in the following immortal words: “We, the people of Tanganyika, would like to light a candle and put it on top of mount Kilimanjaro, which would shine beyond our borders giving hope where there was despair, love where there was hate, and dignity where before there was only humiliation . . . We cannot, unlike other countries, send rockets to the moon, but we can send rockets of love and hope to all our fellow men, wherever they may be”. It is readily appreciated, that those inspiring words of wisdom fully justifies the action of closing the UHURU torch race on this day, which is Nyerere’s “remembrance Day”.
It is also highly appreciated, that the Catholic Church has always celebrated special Holy Masses, on this day, in commemoration of Mwalimu Nyerere’s life and death.
However, in my humble opinion, the great glamour which accompanies the closing event of the UHURU torch race, has normally tended to outshine these religious ceremonies. In that connection, it was a most welcome gesture when, on October 14th,, 2018; the late President John Pombe Magufuli decided to highlight the importance of these religious ceremonies, by choosing to attend the Holly Mass which was held at St. Peter’s Church in Dar es Sanaam, and thereby absenting himself from the UHURU torch closing event. And he used that occasion to re-affirm his Government’s commitment “to sustain the ‘Nyerere spirit’ by continuing to protect and to build on the firm foundations which were laid by the late Mwalimu Nyerere.
A fervent plea for a better method of commemorating his death.
Surely, there must be other, and more appropriate ways and methods of commemorating Mwalimu Nyerere’s death anniversary. One such method was recently used by the Benjamin William Mkapa Foundation (BMF), when it organized a symposium that was held on 14th July, 2021, to commemorate the first anniversary of the late President Benjamin Mkapa’s death. The symposium was also attended by President Samia Suluhu Hassan; plus the former Presidents of the United Republic, the President of Zanzibar, and other high – level dignitaries; including members of the Diplomatic corps and many of our development partners. The theme of the symposium was “Celebrating President Mkapa’s Life, and Living his Legacy”.
I wish to submit that this is precisely the kind of commemoration that the late President Nyerere richly deserves. The said Mkapa symposium’s ‘concept note’ made the pertinent observation that “President Benjamin Mkapa was a visionary leader, a devoted public servant, and with outstanding accomplishments; who served his country honourably during his time in office, and after retirement”. All of that is, of course, absolutely correct and true.
But Mwalimu Nyerere also did that, and very much more. For example, he bravely volunteered to resign from a lucrative teaching job at St. Francis College Pugu in 1955, and ventured into the (uninsured) risky business of politics; when he was forced to make that choice by the colonial Administration; in order to go and lead the struggle for the country’s independence. He subsequently ruled the country for a good twenty five years until 1985, when he again voluntarily stepped down, saying: “I cannot possibly achieve in the next five or ten years, or whatever period is left of my lifetime, what I could not achieve in all these years that I have ruled Tanzania”.
And after voluntarily stepping down from the country’s leadership , he became deeply involved in the running of the newly formed “South – South Commission” as its founder Chairman, with is head office in Geneva. And furthermore, until the time of his death, Mwalimu Nyerere was presiding over the crucial peace talks for the relief of the then war torn Burundi.
Mwalimu Nyerere was an outstanding intellectual; and his thoughts and ideas regarding a ‘just society’ that is based on human equality, and dignity; were the foundation of his philosophy of “Socialism and Self- reliance”; which made his speeches and writings on this philosophy to gain prominence in the studies on socio-economic development, in many parts of Africa. He surely deserves a more appropriate method of commemorating his death.
The issue of the private candidate in our elections
This matter is the second issue which is the subject of my ‘lamentation’. This matter has been ‘mishandled’, or ‘mismanaged’, in the sense that its implementation has been unfairly neglected, or ignored.
In his little book titled: “Our Leadership and the Destiny of Tanzania” Zimbabwe Publishing House, Harare, 1995); Mwalimu Nyerere wrote the following -: “ I am not denying that the right of every citizen to stand in an election, was effectively denied under my leadership during the one-party political system. But I argued then, and I continue to do so even now, that the manner in which we operated that system, with two candidates being submitted to free choice of the voters in their respective constituencies, that was the most democratic, and the most appropriate system, in the circumstances of that time. But by moving to the multi-party system, a move which I fully supported, we were effectively saying that the circumstances had vastly changed; hence this restriction on the exercise of one of the peoples’ basic rights (i.e. the individual’s right to stand as a candidate in elections), could be lifted without endangering the unity of our people, or the peace of our country; provided that appropriate steps are taken to ensure that all the political parties, and all the candidates, are barred from using race, tribe, or religion, as the basis of their appeals to the electorate for votes”.
This restriction on the right of the individual citizens of Tanzania to stand as candidates in elections, is provided for in articles 39 (1) (c ) (for election to the Presidency) ; and 67 (1) (b) (for election to Parliament), of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, 1977; and Similar restrictions are imposed on candidates seeking election to Local government Urban and District Authorities, by the Local government electoral laws.
Because I was a ‘lead participant’ in the making of the 1977 Constitution of the United Republic; I should perhaps accept a share of the blame for the inclusion therein of these provisions; But , it should be appreciated that the matter of constitution making is governed by certain established conventions; which include the following:- (i) the political forces that are at work at the time when the Constitution is being made; (ii) the ‘commonsense’ consideration of practical convenience at the material time; and (iii) the relevant precedents that are available at that material time, from which the Constitution makers could draw guidance.
Hence we, the ‘Committee of twenty” people who were entrusted with the patriotic task of making this Constitution, could not, in our God given wisdom, fail to respond to the influence of “the political forces that were at work” at the material time. By adopting the “one-party” political system of governance, our nation had, in effect, determined that the ruling party shall be the ultimate authority in our country. And, in this particular case, the party had ordained that private candidates shall not be allowed to participate in all elections. Roma locuta, causa finita.
However, as was argued by Mwalimu Nyerere, upon resolving to adopt the multi-party political system, we were actually accepting a very fundamental political change; which should have reversed this unfortunate constitutional breach of a peoples’ fundamental right
It is my submission that this constitutional ‘deficiency’ clearly requires remedy. And that remedy can be achieved by simply making appropriate amendments to the Constitution, without waiting for the enactment of a new Constitution. As I have already submitted above, the matter of ‘Constitution making’ is governed by certain established conventions ; and in the matter of enacting a new Constitution, the convention is that a new Constitution is normally enacted only upon the occurrence of certain specified political events of a fundamental nature; such as:- (i) a change of sovereignty; as was the case when the Tanganyika Republican Constitution was enacted to replace British sovereignty over independent Tanganyika, that had been incorporated in the ‘Tanganyika Independence Constitution’ which was titled “the Tanganyika Independence Order -in-Council, which was enacted by the British Parliament in London, and only published in the Tanganyika official Gazette on 1/12/1961 as GN 415 . (ii) the occurrence of a merger of sovereignty; as was the case upon the establishment of the Union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar; (iii) when the previous Constitution has been abrogated, usually as a result of a military coup; and (iv) where there is need to abandon a totally unacceptable Constitution, as was the case when the apartheid Constitution of South Africa was abandoned.
But where no such fundamental political change has taken place, the normal procedure and practice , is to just amend the existing Constitution, in order to accommodate the new requirements; which is what was done when we adopted the multi-party political system in 1992; and we have made a number of other important amendments thereafter.
My plea is that such action should now be taken.
piomsekwa@gmail.com / 0754767576.
Source: Daily News
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