When many African countries ganged up against the white apartheid regime, nobody thought Black South Africans, in a jiffy, would barbarously unleash Afrophobia against their own Blacks brethren they derogatorily call makwerekwere or foreigners. This poesy chides South Africans and Africans who failed to unite Africa. The Epistle ticks off all who take pride in their fake and feeble nationality, which, essentially is a colonial leftover. The message is point-blank. South Africans must confront their actual problems such as systemic and systematic injustices and inequities dogging their country wherein ‒ whites and a few elites still own almost everything ‒ in lieu of passing the buck.

Is Western failing in Africa or Africa is failing western democracy?

Many people get it faultily vis-à-vis western democracies. Western democracy’s been synonymously with western countries, which glorify and reify themselves as being successful and mature ‘democracies’ even though they’re practically not if analysed historically and compared and contrasted to realities on the ground.  

            I must say it from the outset, democracy wasn’t born in the west but everywhere. Again, what did the western countries get fittingly and African countries erroneously as far as democracy is concerned? Before answering this question, I must touch on the title of this piece. Is western democracy failing in Africa? Yes, it’s failed so badly so to speak. Why? Because it is fake, and half baked. How can there be acceptable and true democracy without justice and wealth? How can there be spot-on democracy without economic democracy that enables every human to get basic human needs? How can there be true democracy while the one in the west is different from the one in Africa? If anything, this is what sets African countries and their western counterparts apart.
                Western ‘democracies’ are ‘ideal’ because of the wealth they accumulated through robbing others by means of colonisation. They robbed others so as to become ideal democracies and those robbed became unideal democracies. This is what is missing in Africa. That is why western democracy seems to fail squarely in Africa. And its failure heralds the return of nasty dictatorships and military juntas, which are now crawling back methodically under the guise of assuaging the situation.
Those who evidenced the cheers in Guinea, Mali and recently Burkina Faso after democratically elected governments were pulled down, will agree with me that there cannot be any meaningful/successful/ideal democracy without economic muscles. 

                If poverty that’s become normalized and internalized in Africa continues unabated, many governments will be pulled down. I wonder to see civilians in the streets cheering the army after taking over as has been the case in the above countries where juntas have ceased powers not for the aim of addressing the anomalies but just robbing the same cheering people. We evidenced it in Sudan when its long time tinpot dictator, Omar Bashir’s pulled down. What did cheering-Sudanese get thereafter as the junta’s now butchering them every day? Whenever I see muttons cheering the hyaenas, I break down. These victims fail to see the patterns. Instead, they see short time euphoria either because of desperateness or ignorance. Whenever I see a young chimp celebrating the scorching of the forest, I temporarily and theoretically don’t get it. In the long run, I practically get it. I know what ignorance causes to the body harbouring or housing it.
            Many people blame the African Union and other regional bodies for failure to put a stop on the coups. How’ll they do so without any economic wherewithal? Without addressing poverty, Africa’ll remain dangerously precarious. Apart from poverty, African governments are in harm’s way because of corruption, nepotism, ineptness, bad governance and dependence. Shall they not smell the coffee and do something about them, it is about when but not if they’ll be ousted, especially currently a new crop of opportunistic young soldiers is taking over although they too have nothing to offer except to replicate the same as has been in Sudan. This said, desperate citizens who cheer them are doing so for their peril. Citizens need to know that the ploy of fighting corruption that’s become the ditty of corrupt military gives them no hope. All catfish, goatfish and hagfish, among others, have barbels.
            It is sad that human failed to learn from history. So sad that we’ve run out of road. For, if they learned from it is nothing but not to learn from it. Almost all foetid dictators from Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini to Idi Amin and Jean-Bedel Bokassa chaunted the same jingle when they took over. Again, what did they offer? Nothing but the replication of the same! Let me offer an answer from one great revolutionary, Museveni, president of Uganda.  When he ousted Tito Okelo, the head of the then military junta, said that “the problem of Africa are leaders who overstay in power.” What did he offer? He just overstayed. What have Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Daqalo in Sudan, Abdel-Fattah al Sisi in Egypt, Col. Assimi Goita in Mali and Lt. Col. Mamadou Doumbouya in Guinea offered? Just the same. What do you call doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results?
Has western democracy in Africa failed or Africa has failed it? How many governments should be brought down for Africa to smell a rat if not the coffee? 

Source: Independent (Uganda) tomorrow.

We’re passing clouds, fleetingly here

Former Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha. From the media accounts, the professor’s last moments on earth — at least in the body — he went as he lived. He didn’t blink, cower, or express sorrow and fear. Resolute to the end, he gave commands even as he took a final bow.   

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

When death strikes, it does so with finality, or so it seems. In a nanosecond, an individual who bestrode the earth like a colossus is gone. One of the most celebrated Kenyans, the indomitable Prof George Magoha, was struck down by the cruel hand of death. The grim reaper came to the vaunted professor of medicine suddenly — unexpectedly — and with cold finality. 

            But from the media accounts, the professor’s last moments on earth — at least in the body — he went as he lived. He didn’t blink, cower, or express sorrow and fear. Resolute to the end, he gave commands even as he took a final bow.  I, for one, salute him as a true general of life. That’s the only way to go after the storied life the academic giant and administrator lived.         

            It’s always a dicey game to claim with certainty which human lived the longest. That’s because probably some lived longer, but have no verified records.For now, the verified human who lived the longest is Jeanne Calment of France who lived for 122 years and 164 days.  She was born on February 21, 1875, and demised on August 4, 1997. 

                When death strikes, it does so with finality, or so it seems. In a nanosecond, an individual who bestrode the earth like a colossus is gone. In Genesis 3:19, the good book tells us that “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust, you shall return.” If that verse isn’t humbling, then I don’t know what is. That we — humans — are dust, and to that dust, we shall repose. One way of reading it is that we are nothing but speckles of the basest matter — dust. That’s a warning not to take ourselves too seriously. It’s telling that the longest-living human was a woman, not a man. In human years, 122 calendar cycles is huge, but it’s nothing in the sands of time. 

            We are passing clouds, fleetingly here. We are specks, often of dirt, on the planet. The challenge is for us not to be specks of dirt, but points of light. 

            Recently, scholars at Harvard Medical School successfully reversed the ageing process in mice. They found that the bodies of animals, including humans, can be restored to their youth through the “Benjamin Button” effect. 

Reverse old age 

In other words, the body retains a DNA copy of its youth that can be reset to totally reverse old age. The experiment was on mice, but the scientists believe it can be replicated in humans.

            You and I may want to jump for joy, but the benefits of the breakthrough may not be in our lifetime. For now, let’s prepare to die — if we are the luckiest — before we turn 122. Which means we must continue to think seriously about living and dying.

            First, let’s appreciate the temporal nature of life. Even if one believes in an afterlife, or not, it’s incumbent upon us to live our lives on this earth. That means given the vagaries of life — fortune, status at birth, place of origin, luck, and identity — we have no choice but to make a go of the hand we are dealt.

            You may be born with a silver spoon, or you may have been abandoned at birth, but still, you must live if you have a beating heart. It means we must live a purpose-driven life. We must do everything to make sure we increase our life chances. Then we must pursue prosperity for ourselves and our fellow humans.                     First, we need to appreciate that we as humans leave three things behind if we are lucky. The first is our natural biological progeny. In other words, our children, and their posterity.               

                Second, we leave behind ideas and memories, some written, others only in the minds of those who interacted with us. But those who live behind the written word bequeath us with permanent knowledge to be tested in history. 

            Third, and finally, we leave behind monuments which include physical structures like houses or premises. Some with last for millennia, others not. So, in a sense, there’s an afterlife for the dead here on earth. That is why we must strive to do good work here on earth. 

            Finally, I end where I started. Life on earth is usually short, nasty, and brutish for most people. But even if it isn’t for us, we must walk with humility. This applies to kings and the hoi polloi alike.  Life is fleeting and no matter what we have achieved, we must remember we live in community with others, and that our injunction, as the Ubuntu philosophy tells us is: “I am because we are.” 

            No one accomplishes anything alone, outside the community, or society. One fingernail cannot kill a flea. And those who think so are damned fools. Great societies are built by individuals working in the community, one brick at a time.

Makau Mutua is SUNY Distinguished Professor and Margaret W. Wong Professor at Buffalo Law School, The State University of New York. @makaumutua.

Source: Daily Nation tomorrow.

The DRC-Rwanda conflict, coloniality and refusal of EAC to unite

UNEASY PEACE: Angola’s Lourenco (right) has previously tried to broker peace between Rwanda’s Kagame and DRC’s Tshisekedi before full army confrontation takes place. The EAC should be playing a firmer role. FILE PHOTO

COMMENT | Nkwazi Mhango | 

I was left puzzled when I heard that Kenya that failed miserably to pacify Somalia, has now sent its army to fight M23 rebels in the DRC.  A million questions have been generated by the decision.
The first question is why Kenya alone? How did Kenya reach this decision to put the boots on the ground in the DRC? What’s Kenya’s overt or covert motive? What are the terms of its assignment? Who allowed Kenya into the DRC? Is it the only possible solution left for the East Africa Community? Is this what the DRC sought to achieve in the EAC? How does it benefit from its membership despite the fact that its contribution­­­­––––if maximumly and reasonable exploited––––is bigger than all other EAC members put together? Does the EAC know this and pretend not to? How can we put sense into the EAC?
            There are clearly many more questions than answers, which indicates that the DRC conflict isn’t as easy as one can think, and neither can it be resolved militarily. The EAC needs to devise, talk, and think about how to address this protracted conflict. Again, why’s the EAC or any of its members using iniquitous methodologies to address the conflict? Methinks… It’s because of coloniality if not the greed to use intervention as pretext of fleecing and robbing the resources in the DRC that’ve always motivated all criminals, local and foreign, to start wars.
            For, if the EAC were decolonialised, it would see the conflict in any of our region or in any African so-called country–––thanks to being created by our colonisers–––as an African problem instead of a particular country’s.
        Why are Africans unable to see such a clear and simple matter? Who benefit from such self-inflicted wars? We condemn our colonisers for dividing and the partition of us and our regions that they curved into fickle and feeble states, yet we are blinding taking pride in it without underscoring the fact that we’re harming ourselves.
        When the allegations continued that Rwanda is supporting M23 and was followed by Kenya announcing that they are sending an army to deal with it, I didn’t get it. Don’t Kenya, Rwanda, and the DRC know who benefits from this warmongering? If they don’t, I’ll help them.
            Only colonial agents, namely our local elites and politicians and their masters do know who benefits.
If we’re truly decolonised, why don’t we view ourselves as Africans  instead of Congolese, Rwandans, Ugandans, and so forth. When will we decolonise our minds and open our inner eye to see such a simple and realistic means of emancipating ourselves instead of continuing being our own enemies?
            For example, how much money is Kenya going to burn in the DRC and what for? Why hasn’t Kenya learned from Somalia?  Doesn’t the EAC and Kenya know that if the EAC is united to form one country, al-Shabaab will lose the pretext of fighting? Imagine, if all EAC members could send their armies to fight either al Shabaab or the M23, what would happen?
        The money we spend on fighting and killing each other is enough to unite our ‘fake countries’ and our people.
We should stop the situation of Africans fighting each other to control the resources to vend to their masters in the West. The West produces weapons and sells to them and in the end get their resources at a throwaway price!
Why is Kenya more interested in putting boots on the ground and not uniting the region wherein such toxic ethnic divisions will die naturally?

            Why is Rwanda that is feeling threatened by Interahamwe not convince others to unite and form one meaningful and powerful country known as the United Countries of East Africa (UCEA) or the United People of East Africa (UPEA) if not the United East Africa (UEA)?If the EAC unification is to be realised, the group of nations should be able to sanction a country that goes against its rules.  And if need be, invade and neutralize such a country so that it can test its medicine.
Source: The Ugandan Independent today.

Waswahili Pangeni uzazi Ila Zaaneni

 Novemba 15, 2022 ni maalumu duniani (un.org, Nov. 15, 2022), siku ambapo binadamu walifikia idadi ya bilioni nane. Wapo walioshangangilia kuwa angalau tunaongezeka tokana na kuishi maisha marefu na hivyo, kuyashinda magonjwa. Wengi walisikitika wakisema tumekuwa wengi mno kiasi cha kutishia uhai wa dunia yaani wachoyo sisi na viumbe wengine wasio na mchango wowote katika kuharibu dunia yetu. Binafsi nina yafuatayo:

Kwanza, ni kuwaambia Waswahili wasidanganywe na ongezeko hili ambalo limechangiwa kikubwa na mataifa mawili yaani China na India. Hivyo, msishangae kuwaona hawa jamaa kila mahali hata kule Matarawe, Mfaranyaki, Matemamanga, Namasakata, Nakapanya, na Mbamba Bay wakiuza chupi na ukwaju na upuuzi mwingine kana kwamba sisi hatuwezi kufanya hivyo. Wamezaana na kuongezeka na kuamua kutafuta riziki kwa wale wanaoona kuwa kuzaa ni matatizo. Nadhani tatizo si kuzaa bali kuandaa mazingira mazuri ya kutumia akili na raslimali zilizopo vizuri badala ya kuruhusu wengine kuja kuzifaidi na kufaidisha kwao wakati sisi tukiendelea kuumia.

Pili, niwaonye. Waswahili mko wachache sana duniani japo mna ardhi kubwa kuliko wote. Hivyo, mnahitaji kuzaana na kuzalishana sana tu vinginevyo mtakuwa kila ambacho wamombo huita extinct creatures. Hapa Kanada, tokana na kupungua kwa idadi ya watu, serikali inatumia fedha nyingi kuingiza wageni ili wazae na kuendeleza nchi. Pia, wanapofika wanalazimika kufuata mila za hapa hata kama hawazitaki. Pia, wanaonekana si bora kama wenyeji wao tofauti na kwetu ambapo wageni huonekana wa maana kuliko sisi hata kutulazimisha kufuata mila zao bila kuwalazimisha Hapa wana fedha. Sisi tukifikia hapa tutatumia nini kuvutia wengine? Na tunavyobaguliwa, hata tukiwakaribisha, watatutawala kama inavyooanza kuonekana. Rejea mfano wa wenzetu toka India ambao wamekaa miaka kwetu lakini wamegoma kuchanganyikana nasi.

Tatu, japo Mwenyewe aliyewaumba ambaye hakuna amjuaye bali kumsingizia aliwapendelea ingawa mnabaguliwa na kuchukiwa karibu na kila rangi duniani kwenye mfumo huu wa kibaguzi na kitwahuti. Kwani aliwapa ardhi kubwa na raslimali nyingi ambavyo wengi wanaitamani hata kutamani mtoweke wachukue wao. Nyinyi ni sawa na wengine hata kama hamjiamini, kujithamini, na kuthaminiana.

Nne, mna upendo wa mshumaa wa kukaribisha wageni kwenu wakati mnakataliwa kwao. Rejea Waswahili wanavyobaguliwa hata kuuawa huko Asia na Mashariki ya Kati kwa sababu ya asili au rangi ya ngozi yao. Mfano, hawa wachina waliojaa Tanzania, waliwabagua Waafrika wakati wa Ukovi wakati gonjwa lilianzia kwao. Huko India, na Mashariki ya Kati hali inajulikana. Rejea hata mnavyobaguliwa nchini na barani mwenu. Imefikia mahali hata Waswahili wanajiita waarabu huko Sudan.

Tano, hebu tufanye hesabu kidogo japo wengi hawazipendi. Kwa sasa, bara la Asia lina watu wapatao 4,734,852,393 kwa mujibu wa takwimu zilizotolewa hivi karibuni za Wordometer. Bara hili lina ukubwa wa kilometa za mraba 44,579,000.  Linganisha na Afrika yenye ukubwa wa kilometa za mraba 30,370,000 na idadi ya watu wapatao 1,416,625,724. Waswahili hawafikii hata nusu yao. China peke yake ina watu wapatao 1,452,462,600 ambao ni wengi kuliko Waswahili. Kwanini wasivamie Afrika kutafuta riziki na kufanikiwa tokana na ujinga wa Waswahili? Hivyo, wanaoshangaa utitiri wa wachina Afrika wajue ukweli huu. Watashindwaje kutuvamia wakati China yenyewe ina ukubwa wa kilometa za mraba 9,596,961. Hii maana yake ni nini? Waafrika wakizaa kama wachina, wanapaswa kuwa si chini ya watu bilioni nne na nusu angalau.

Sita, mfano mwingine wa karibu na nyumbani ni Nigeria ambayo ni ndogo kwa eneo kwa takriban kilometa za mraba 23,534 kuliko Tanzania lakini ina watu wapatao 206,139,589. Kenya ambayo haifikii hata nusu ya Tanzania ina watu wapatao 53,771,296. Uganda ina 45,741,007. Kenya na Uganda zikiwekwa pamoja–––jumlisha Burundi na Rwanda–––bado Tanzania inazizidi kwa eneo la ardhi hata raslimali. Linganisha na Tanzania ambayo ni kubwa kuliko hawa majirani zake yenye idadi ya watu wapatao 59,734,218. Je kama hao hapo juu wasio na ardhi wala raslimali wanazidi kuongezana, nyie mnaacha ili waje wachukue nchi yenu? Inakuwaje Nigeria yenye watu wengi kuliko nchi tatu hapo juu inaendelea kuzaa nanyi mbane ili iweje? Tanzania ikilinganishwa na Nigeria, inapaswa kuwa na watu wasiopungua 210,000,000. Ikilinganishwa na Kenya na Uganda, inapaswa kuwa na watu wasiopungua 150,000,000.

Saba, sasa nini kifanyike? Zaaneni na kupanga mipango ya kuwaendeleza watu wenu badala ya kuruhusu wageni waje kuwaibia, kuwabagua na hata kuwahujumu. Nchi ya India inaingiza fedha nyingi toka nje toka kwa raia wake walioko nje. Pia, inaingiza fedha nyingi tokana raia wengine wa kihindi waliopelekwa nje na ima wakoloni au dhiki ambao hutumia kila mbinu kutengeneza fedha na kutuma kwa ndugu zao hata wengine kuhamia kule ingawa wengi hurejea walikotoka baada ya kugundua ugumu wa maisha ulioko kule.

Mwisho, Watanzania na Waafrika hawana sababu yoyote ya msingi ya kujinyima kuzaa. Wakifanya hivyo, watakwisha kwa vile dunia nzima inawachukia, kuwabagua na kutamani raslimali zao. Cha mno, unganisheni nchi zenu muwe na taifa lenye nguvu badala ya kuogopana na kutegana kama ilivyo. Kwa ukubwa wa bara la Afrika, kama lingekuwa limeungana, hakuna nchi hata moja inayopaswa kuaminishwa kuwa kuzaa au kuongezeka kwa idadi ya watu ni tatizo.

Chanzo: Raia Mwema kesho.

Muziki wa Mwisho wa Wiki

 

Where did Museveni’s COVID-19 vaccines go?

File pic: Covid 19 vaccine

THREE years ago, Ugandan strongman Yoweri Amos Kaguta Museveni told the world that his country would roll out its homemade COVID-19 vaccine.
        Such braggadocios caught me offguard. Museveni’ is quoted saying: ‘‘We are working on our vaccine. Actually, our vaccine will be better than all those because it will cover all variants” (Daily Monitor, June 20, 2021). What a daring statement shall it be real and truthful! Congratulations, shall you make good on your promise.
                First, I thought it was an April Fool’s Day prank. Again, how could it be when it was in the middle of June when the man gassed? Thus, it wasn’t a lie? Was it a political fustian? Who knows? Again, considering the one who broke the “good news”, I would think deeply, twice. Since when has Museveni become a stand-up comedian who can natter anything without underscoring the price to be paid for that? Everything has a beginning. Who knows?
            After checking and counterchecking with my people on the ground, I concluded that the news was real. Now, what’s the big and real deal? The first answer revolves around pandemic politics. Call it COVID-19 politics wherein rich and Western countries have monopolised everything from amassing the stuff to just hurriedly and solely certifying the vaccine even without following habitual scientific procedures. Jokes aside, the West and the East (China and Russia) have invented their new world order vis-a-vis drug certification.
            Up until now, we don’t know which vaccine is fit for curing or preventing COVID-19. Is this the leeway Museveni and “Uganda” have taken advantage of knowing that, even if things go aslant, they will say they are enjoying their freedom of certifying what they think is good for their people they can cheat or use as guinea pigs?
            Remember Madagascar and its concoction that is no longer heard of. Where is President Andry Rajoelina in the defence of his “invention“? Let us query even more. Remember the presidents who became fake inventors of treatments? As of recent, former US contentious president Donald Trump tried what Museveni is trying. He propounded a COVID-19-thwarting theory saying antiseptics can be used to thwart the virus. He is quoted saying: “So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous — whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light, then I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning?” Hogwash. Science is not politics. Science latches on facts not on fibs.
        Actually, Museveni is not the first and not the last to come up with such assertions. In 1987, Andre Zirimwabagabo Lurhuma, in conjunction with an Egyptian counterpart, Daniel Zagury Shawfiq, hoodwinked the then Zairean illiterate tinpot dictator Joseph-Desire Mobutu and his Egyptian counterpart, Hosni Mubarak that they had discovered an HIV/Aids cure. To make their bosses blissful, they named their fiction MM1 or Mobutu-Mubarak1
          Thanks to the despondency of the world, mainly Africa — that many quacks effortlessly take for a ride, at the time, initially listened to these scientific shams. This was not the end of the story of such hanky-panky-cum-hoo-ha.
           The last buffoon in power to try a hand on the “breakthrough” of discovering HIV/Aids miracle cure was the former Gambian clown Yahya Jammeh whose education, up until now, has never been made public. Instead of allowing doctors to get away with the credit of the craziness-cum-con, this powerful laughing stock took it upon himself by administering his dangerous concoction of herbs hinged on spiritual healing techniques to vulnerable poor HIV/Aids patients in his country who later died because of megalomaniac tendency entrenched in undreamed-of tomfoolery. Now that we know the equivocation of allegations of cure discovery, we need to warn Museveni to brace himself for the challenges that come with such a stance. How seriously close is Uganda to discovering a COVID-19 vaccine? If Museveni finds out that the aha moment was a sham, he still can recant his statement and move on.
            In summation, I must warn Museveni and the like to be wary of the disgrace that comes with the failure to make good on his promise. It is sad that those who once stood where he stands vis-à-vis the discoveries of cure are all dead. Had they been alive, I would have asked him to consult with them to see what they suffered thereof. Again, being an African politician, Museveni has undivided right to say whatever he deems fit despite what.
            Trump’s gullibility reminds us of what transpired in Kenya in the 1990s when former President Daniel arap Moi astounded the world by announcing that Kenya had discovered Kemron as a cure for HIV/Aids after doctors Davy Koech and Arthur Obel assured him that the cure was real while it was fake. It seems surprise is the ambit of autocrats. 

            Will Uganda become the first African country to beat others by discovering a true COVID-19 cure? I can’t truly tell. What I can tell is: This thing is hard to actualise and substantiate amid the COVID-19 or vaccine politics wherein the colossi of the world seek to get credit and make dosh out of their hastened inventions of cures.
Source:NewsDay Zimbabwe today.

Kutaifisha Mifugo ni Ukoloni Serikali Itafute Suluhu

Taarifa kuwa ng’ombe 3,083 zilitaifishwa na serikali hivi karibuni baada ya kukutwa kwenye mbuga ya Wanyama ya Tarangire, siyo habari nzuri si kwa wafugaji, wahanga, wananchi, serikali wala taifa kwa ujumla. Kweli bado tunanyang’anya mifugo kwa kuingia eti kwenye mbuga au hifadhi kwenye karne ya 21! Tunamkomoa nani zaidi ya uchumi wetu hasa ikizingatiwa kuwa hawa Wanyama wanaopigwa mnada huuzwa kwa bei ya kutupwa na mara nyingi kununuliwa na makundi ya wafanyabiashara wanaoshirikiana na waendesha minada? Je hii ni haki kwa wafugaji wetu walioko karibu na mbuga na hifadhi ambazo zimetokea kuwa tishio kwao na mifugo yao?
            Je nini kifanyike? Ingawa wahusika walikaririwa wakisema kuwa kupiga watuhumiwa faini hakuzuii wao kuendelea kuingiza mifugo yao kwenye maeneo husika, kwanini wasiongeze viwango vya faini au kutafuta njia mbadala na mujarabu itakayohakikisha suluhu inapatikana badala kufilisiana na kuumizana?  

        Naishauri serikali kuwatafutia wafugaji wake maeneo ya malisho hasa ikizingatiwa kuwa kinachoitwa mbuga au hifadhi ni ardhi ambayo, kabla ya kuundwa Tanzania ilikuwa ikitumiwa na wafugaji bila kikwazo chochote. Kimsingi, ni ardhi yao waliyonyang’anywa. 

        Ajabu, aliyewanyang’anya ardhi ya malisho yao sasa anaanza kuwanyang’anya hata mifugo yao na kuongeza uhasama na umaskini.
        Hawa wahanga wana akili na maarifa ya namna ya kutunza hata kuharibu wanyama.                 Kwanini hatuwaangalii hivi? Mtu aliyekwishapoteza vyanzo vyake vya mapato na maisha ana hasara gani akihujumu hawa wanyama wasio tena na akili ya kuweza kutoa ushahidi dhidi yao? Kuendeleza mbinu hatarishi za kunyang’anyana mifugo kunaweza kujenga mazingira hatarishi ambapo watakaolipia ni wanyama hawa hawa mnaotaka kuwalinda. Lindeni wanyama na wafugaji kwa pamoja kwa kuweka utaratibu mzuri wa kugawana raslimali hii.
        Mbali na kuwadhulumu, unapotaifisha mifugo ya mtu na kuipiga mnada, unamtia umaskini yeye, familia yake, jamii yake hata eneo atokako. Kwani, unamnyima uwezo wa kujikimu na kuchangia kwenye uchumi wa taifa. Pia, ifahamike, kwa wafugaji, Wanyama si utajiri tu kwao bali ni alama yao ya heshima katika baadhi ya jamii. Hivyo, mfugaji anapofilisiwa Wanyama wake anaathirika kiuchumi na kijamii. Kutaifisha Wanyama wa mfugaji hakuna tofauti na kumuua yeye na jamii yake. Maana, ndiyo kazi anayojua. Ni sawa na kumtoa Samaki majini ukategemea aendelee kuishi.
        Kama serikali imeweza kuwatafutia Wanyama makazi, inashindwaje kuwatafutia wananchi wake maeneo ya kufugia na kulisha mifugo yao? Wanyama hawawezi kuwa bora zaidi ya watu na mifugo yao. Inakuwaje wenye ng’ombe wakamatwe na kuwekwa ndani? Je hilo ndilo jibu au kufanya watu waichukie serikali yao tokana na maamuzi na sheria za kikoloni na za kizamani?                 Kumbukeni, Ni hawa hawa waliowapigia au ambao watawapigia kura. Mbona Wanyama wanapoingia kwenye makazi ya watu kudhuriwa na waathirika wala serikali kutiwa ndani? Mbona madereva wanapovunja sheria za barabarani hupigwa faini bila kutaifisha magari yao au kwa vile wenye magari wengi ni matajiri na wakubwa kama wakoloni walivyotunga sheria hizi makusudi kujilinda?
        Ushahidi unaonyesha kuwa Wanyama wamekuwa wakiingia kwenye maeneo ya wananchi. Lenani Seyani, mmoja wa wafugaji anasema “sisi na hifadhi sio maadui, kipindi hiki wanyamapori wameanza kuja kwa wingi maeneo yetu ya makazi huku Terati na kwingineko na tumekuwa hatuwadhuru licha ya kuja na magonjwa” (Mwananchi, Desemba 27, 2022).
         Hawa ni watanzania walioamua kufanya kazi ya ufugaji. Kutaifisha ng’ombe zao, licha ya kuionyesha serikali kama mnyanyasaji, haiisaidii, serikali, wananchi wala Tanzania. Nini maana ya kupigania na kupata uhuru sasa? Nadhani serikali yetu ilirithi ima sheria au mawazo ya kikoloni.                 Kimsingi, kuwapatia wafugaji malisho ni jukumu la serikali hasa ikizingatiwa kuwa serikali iliwakuta hao wafugaji wakiishi vizuri tu na Wanyama kwa maelfu kama siyo mamilioni ya miaka. Hapa kinachopaswa kufanywa, ni kuelimishana na kutafatuta suluhu pamoja badala ya serikali kujifanya ina haki kuliko wafugaji wakati serikali na nchi ni mali ya watanzania popote walipo.
        Kama ambavyo serikali iliondoa ujinga wa kuzuia watu wa mipakani kuuza mazao nje ya nchi, iondoe haya makatazo ya kuingiza Wanyama kwenye mbuga. Kwa mfano Wamasai, huwa hawali nyamamwitu. Hivyo, wapewe mafunzo na vibali juu ya namna ya kuchangia mbuga na hifadhi bila kuleta madhara kama ilivyokuwa kwa miaka milioni nyingi iliyopita kabla ya kuja hizi serikali na mataifa yaliyotengenezwa na mkoloni mwaka 1884.                 Nashauri watenge maeneo ya hifadhi na mbuga lau nusu ambapo wananchi wataruhusiwa kuingiza mifugo yao na kulisha huku wakipewa jukumu la kuhakikisha Wanyama hawadhuriwi. Huu ni mfumo unaotumika kuondoa migogoro baina ya binadamu na Wanyama uliokwishafanyika sehemu nyingi duniani. 

        Mfano, jamii zinazosifika kwa kuwinda na kuua Wanyama zinapowezeshwa kiuchumi na kielimu juu ya faida za Wanyama na kuona matunda yake, hugeuka kuwa walinzi wazuri wa Wanyama kwa vile wana faida kwao na nchi zao. Na wafugaji kadhalika. Wakielimshwa na kupewa jukumu la kusimamia Wanyama, watawalinda kama ilivyokuwa hapo awali kabla ya kuingia ukoloni.

Chanzo: Raia Mwema Kesho.

The Story of Forgotten Father of Zanzibar

 

History (the past) isn’t “nonsense upon stilts”; it’s the key to progress

By Njundu Drammeh

“Dear, dear Jackass! Don’t you understand that the past is the present; that without what was, nothing is? That, of the infinite dead, the living are but unimportant bits?” W.E B. Du Bois.To quite a people, history is bunk. Or rather that it’s remembrance, at least in the present, is an exercise in futility or playing the dead ostrich. And even for others, the historical sins of injustice and exploitation committed by the forebears, fathers in particular, cannot and should not be attached to, or be visited on, the descendants, their children. Everyone should carry their own cross or be accountable for their acts of commission or omissions.

            We cannot minimalise history, the past, and its links to or impact on the present and future of a community, society, country or people as a collective. It bears on the neck of the present like an albatross. None can move forward, to the future or make the present meaningful, unless it is able to fully understand the history of its understand and stand ready to face it and call out loudly those who are responsible for that history.
            We cannot understand Africa’s predicaments, its descension to a decayed Garden of Eden, without tackling head on its inglorious past and the irreparable damages that slavery, colonialism and neocolonialism has done and continues to do on its growth, reverberating from the Horns of Africa to the Cape of Good Hope to the Smiling Coast of Africa. If you don’t, then certainly you must be living in cloud cuckoo land, or have decided to anaestized yourself from the realities of your own political, legal, social and economic conditions. Look at your economies and see how they are tied to the apron strings of the Bretton Woods institutions, created in 1944 when most of Africa was under colonial yoke, to further the financial interests of the colonialists. True today as it was when they established. Take a closer look also at the grand edifices they bequeathed to us, ornaments we romantically call “systems and structures” and see what ends they truly serve.

            Certainly Walter Rodney is right that Europe underdeveloped Africa. Read his book “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa” and you would understand the nakedness of this truth. Conversely, Nkwazi N. Mhango had also asserted fearlessly that Africa in deed developed Europe (read his book “How Africa Developed Europe: Deconstructing the HIS-STORY of Africa, Excavating Untold Truth and What Ought to be Done and Known”). Just a little understanding of African history or political-economy would show one that Europe and the USA were developed on the sweat, blood, tears, bodies and resources of Africa. The machinations through slavery, colonialism and imperialism attest to that fact. So to understand Africa’s poverty, one has to appreciate the devastating consequences of colonialism and imperialism.
There is no mutual exclusivity when it’s about wrong or horrendous events of history. The wrongs of the past can be loudly condemned as those of the present. In fact, it could be possible that the terrible wrongs of the present are being repeated because the wrong doers and the sufferers have no knowledge of the past. Gambia didn’t create the TRRC just to have the historical records of the Jammeh regime. It is mainly to learn from the tragic history or past and ensure the “never again” mantra is embedded in the psyche of the people.
            Granted that after 60 years of independence, Africa or her countries have little or no excuse to blame colonialism or slavery for her woes, tribulations and troubles. Granted also that we are beset by bad leadership. Check our economies and development architecture and see who controls them and the foundations on which they stand. Check our leaders and see who hoist them on the people, through their proxies and machinations. Whose invisible hands were in the murders of Lumumba, Nkrumah, Nasser, Sankara, Steve Biko, and all our independence leaders? 

            “He who controls the past, controls the future. He who controls the present, controls the past" George Orwell. Look at the power behind the scenes and you cannot miss the long arms of the “Master” doing the manipulations. Granted again that some Africans connived with the European slavers to sell their own brethren. In fact, Africans were also engaged in the slave trade. But PLO had its own snitches. It was a ANC supposed member who betrayed Nelson Mandela which led to his arrest and eventual imprisonment for about 27 years. That some members betrayed the PLO or ANC do not take away the brutality and dehumanisation of Apartheid or the Israeli occupation of Palestine. That some Africans took part in the slave trade does not take away the horrendous and barbaric nature of the Atlantic Slave Trade. That African leaders are inept and responsible for the retrogression that Africa is, does not take away the still lingering effects of colonialism.

History is not bunk; it’s the lead to our understanding of the present and future. And those who don’t know their history are bound to repeat its pitfalls.
Source: The standard (Gambia) Jan 15, 2023.

Kenya won’t be a theocracy

From left: First Lady Rachel Ruto, President William Ruto, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and his wife Dorcas Rigathi pray at the Moi International Sports Center Kasarani in Nairobi on September 13, 2022, during the inauguration ceremony.

By Makau MutuaProfessor at SUNY Buffalo Law School and Chair of the KHRC.

Let me state the bottom line upfront – Kenya isn’t, and won’t be a theocracy. For those who don’t know, or have forgotten what they learnt in school, a theocracy is a system of government in which priests and mullahs – clerics – rule in the name of a god. Think of the Holy Roman Empire or the Islamic Republic of Iran and you get the picture. A theocracy is a state governed by religious tyranny.

        I write this column to remind the UDA regime that a wolf in any clothing – even if it’s sheep’s wool – is still a wolf. That’s because a theocracy can be established either in law (de jure) or in fact (de facto). We will accept neither in Kenya. Why am I alarmed? Because recently I have seen troubling signs of creeping religious state fundamentalism and extremism in Kenya.

        Senior UDA officials who superintend the state speak as though they wear cassocks and are infested with spiritual powers. Recently, UDA’s William Ruto said that he had received a divine revelation about some state policy. At first, I thought he was joking. But I watched the clip again and discovered he was dead serious.

Hijab controversy

UDA’s Aden Duale followed suit when he said the hijab was non-negotiable as a dress for Muslim girls and women. He spoke as a minister in the government. When leaders in their secular roles start talking about biblical or Koranic guidance, then we’ve entered dangerous territory.

        But Mr Duale went further. He explicitly said that those who opposed to the hijab would be expelled from Kenya. My mouth was agape. Did Mr Duale mean that Kenyans who opposed the hijab would be denationalised, stripped of their Kenyan citizenship?

        I am still waiting for his clarification. I don’t know who appointed Mr Duale the Grand Mufti. Then there’s UDA’s Rigathi Gachagua. The man is now purporting to be the political and religious supremo of Mount Kenya. Recently, I saw a bizarre picture of him – hands raised like a penitent with two others – facing Mount Kenya. He wanted us to believe that he was in prayer. He brought cameras along to capture the hugely auspicious moment. 

            Then of course Mr Rigathi’s boss – Mr Ruto – has turned the State House grounds into open-air churches where he conducts Christian “crusades”. Mr Ruto knows what he’s doing. Religious performance – or wearing Christianity on his sleeves – has served his political career well. 

Weeping in church

There are videos of him weeping in Church, or with hands raised and cupped in prayer, eyes closed. These performances are obviously meant to fuse his political power with religious authority. In my view that blurs the line between Church and state and runs afoul of the secular 2010 Constitution on which all state authority is founded. Nowhere does the Constitution grant any religious authority to any state official, or state office, the use of “god” notwithstanding. 

            The Constitution already gives massive secular powers to the state and its many factotums. The state, or any of its officials, don’t need to claim non-existent spiritual, or godly powers. Nothing good in history ever came out of any political leader claiming to be anointed by God.

        On that road lies damnation and ruin. That’s why in Europe divine kings were replaced by secular leaders anchored on liberalism. The basic argument is that religion isn’t based on logic but on faith. But the state and the experiment of democracy is a wholly rational pursuit whose central germ is the scientific method, not illusory metaphysics. The state is about the here and now, not the afterlife, or some belief in providence. 

        This is where I need to call out some senior religious leaders in Kenya. Some have been openly doing partisan politics to the extent of “endorsing” the UDA regime. Many have been receiving loot whose provenance is questionable. The clerics must know the money they receive is ill-gotten and the proceeds of crime.

        How, then, can they turn the House of God into a brothel for politicians with shady characters? How can they as the shepherds of the flock hold the state to account? Where, I ask, have they taken their conscience and hidden it? And why must they be allowed to use the name of God for nefarious political purposes? That’s why they’ve lost their moral voice.

            Finally, let me say that the Constitution is clear about the superiority of the freedoms of conscience, belief, and religion. None of these is placed above the other in the hierarchy of rights in our constitutional design. One can choose to be an adherent of a religion, or not. No faith is above the other. No belief, or conscience, is superior or inferior. None. 

            The people who are pejoratively referred to as atheists aren’t “children of a lesser god.” Our constitution doesn’t have “small” or “big” people. That’s why no official in the state should assume “godly” powers. There will never be a theocracy in Kenya.

Makau Mutua is SUNY Distinguished Professor and Margaret W. Wong Professor at Buffalo Law School, The State University of New York. @makaumutua.

“THIS IS THE YEAR OF POLITICAL REFORM, IT IS THE YEAR OF DEMOCRACY”.

The  above  quoted  words  were  pronounced  by ACT-WAZALENDO  national  leader   Zito  Kabwe,   in  his  positive  response  to  President  Samia  Suluhu  Hassan’s  decision  to  lift  the  ban  on  political  rallies;  and   to  resume  the   the  stalled   ‘constitution  review’  process;  plus  her  promise  to  have  various  obnoxious  laws  reviewed.   That  will  be   the  subject  of  today’s  presentation.  But   before   we  get  there,  we   wish  first  to  give  due  recognition  to  the  special  political  significance  of  this   particular  day,  12th  January,  2023,  which   is  Zanzibar’s   ‘Mapinduzi  Day’;   that   marks  the  59th  anniversary  of  that   glorious  Revolution   which  overthrew  Sultan  Jamshid  Abdulla’s  Arab  minority  government.                                                     

             We   thus   joyfully   join   our  Zanzibar  brethren   in  celebrating  this  great  day  in  the  political  history  of  Zanzibar.    And,   indeed,   “all  men  and  women    of  good  will”   will  similarly   be  joining   the  President  and  the  people  of  Zanzibar  in  celebrating  this  auspicious  occasion.
        For  the  benefit  of  our  younger  generation,  it  may  be  helpful  to  briefly   narrate  the  story  behind   this  revolution,  especially  the  reason  why  it  happened.   The  relevant  background  is  that  the  Zanzibar  State   had   an  unfortunate  long  history,  of  conflict  laden,  plus post-election  violence;  starting  right   from  the  first  general  election   which  was  held  there  in  July  1957; in  which  the  Arab  Zanzibar  Nationalist  Party   lost  dismally.                                                                                                        The  annual  report  of  the  colonial  Provincial  Administration  for  the  year  1958,   states  that  “the  year  (1957)  was  notable  for  the  extent  to  which  ‘hate  politics’  infested  almost  every  sector  of  life  in  Zanzibar.   Traders,   cultivators,  labourers,   fishermen,  and  even  housewives,  were  all  affected. Funerals   and   religious  functions  were  boycotted  by  rival  political  groups.   Women  even  pawned  their  clothes  in  order  to raise  funds  for  the  Bus  fare  to  political  meetings! Such  were   the  immediate  results  of  the first  common  roll  elections  for  these  formerly  peaceful  Islands”.  
        Thereafter,   every subsequent  general elections was  similarly   marred  by   endless  conflicts  and  violence,   caused  principally  by   the  colonial  Administration’s  unfair  practice  of  gerrymandering  the  constituency  boundaries  in  favour  of  the  Arab  political  parties.   This  was  particularly  apparent  in  the  pre-independence  general  election  of  July,  1963.    It   is  on  record  that  Sir  George  Mooring,  the  last  official   “British  Resident”  in  Zanzibar,  as  well  as  Mwalimu  Julius  Nyerere,  the  President  of  Tanganyika;   both  warned  the  British  government  against  granting  independence  in  such  controversial  circumstances;  but  this  warning  was  ignored;  and  the  British   just  went  ahead  and  granted  the  instruments  of  Independence  to  Sultan  Jamshid  Abdulla,  at  midnight  on  9/10th    December,  1963.                                                                                          

        As   far  as  the  Afro-Shirazi  Party  was  concerned,  this  was  the  “last  straw  that  broke  the  camel’s  back”;   and   active  secret  preparations  for  the  overthrow  of  the  Sultan’s  government,  commenced  soon  thereafter.  
In  the  matter  of   political  reform.
 “Political   leaders  hail  political  rebuilding”;  so  said  the  Daily  News  of  Wednesday,  January  4th,  2023  on  its  front  page,   and  continued  thus :  “political  leaders  have  welcomed  President  Dr.  Samia’s  decision  to  lift  the  ban  on  political  rallies,  saying  that  the  move  is  crucial  in  building  democracy  for  sustainable  development.  They   also  hailed   President  Samia’s  commitment  to  revive  the  constitutional  review  process,  as  well  as  amending   various  laws”.                                                        

        This  will  be  our  main  topic  for  discussion  in  this  presentation;   but  we  will  focus  primarily  on  the  specific  matter  of  reviving  the  stalled  constitutional  review  process.
President   Samia  said  the  following,  in   her   powerful   speech  delivered  on  that  occasion:- “We  have  been  brainstorming  on  this  matter  for  a  long  time  now.  Some   stakeholders  have  proposed  that    we  should  start  with  the  Warioba  draft;  while  others  are  of  the  view  that  since   the  Warioba   draft   was  crafted  eight  years  ago,  many   things  have  changed  in  the  meantime;  which  makes  it  necessary  to  look  at the  current  situation  and  proceed  from  there.                                     

            Hence,   the  crucial   question  that  seeks to  be answered  is  this : What  then,  should  be  our  starting  point?  A country’s  constitution  is  commonly  defined  as  “the  basic,  or  fundamental  law  of  the  country, which  lays  down  its  Executive,  Legislative,  and  Judicial  Institutions;  and  describes   the  functions  of  each  of  these institutions,  as  well  their  powers  and  relations  between  them; It   provides  for  the  distribution  of  powers  among  them,  and  the  relations between  them.
        It  is  my  contention  that  the  current  (1977)  constitution  of  the  United  Republic,  fits  exactly into this  definition;  for  it  makes   appropriate  provision  for  the  establishment  of  these  institutions  of  State  governance;  plus providing  for  other  essential  matters,  specifically,  the  fundamental  principles  and  objectives  of  State  policy;    the  basic  rights  and  duties  of  the  country’s  citizens;  the  provisions  for  State  financing;  and    for  the  establishment  of  the  country’s  Armed  Forces.     
        But  apart  from  that,   there  are  the  established  “constitutional   principles”,  which  have  guided  all  our  past  constitution-making  processes,  starting  with  the  Tanganyika  Republican  constitution  of  1962  onwards.    Basically,   these   are  the  principles  of  democracy;  and  of  the  ethics  and  integrity  for  the   people’s   chosen  leaders.   Thus:-                       

*the   constitution  must  recognize  the  fundamental  equality  of  all  human  beings,  and  the  right  of  every  individual  to  dignity  and  respect.                                                                                Consequently,   the  constitution  must  ensure  that:-                             * there  shall  be  maximum  political  freedom  for all  the citizens,  within  the  confines  of  the  law;  * there  shall  be  maximum  possible  participation  by  the  citizens  in  their  own  government,  and  ultimate control  by   them.                                                             *there shall  be  complete  freedom  for  the  citizens  to choose  their  representatives  on  all  the   Legislative  Organs.                        *the   fundamental  rights   and  duties  of  every  citizen;  as  well  as  the  principles  of  good  governance, especially  the  rule  of  law,  are  duly  observed.
            It  was  intended  that  all  of  these  principles  will  be  duly  incorporated  in  our  current  constitution,  but,  alas,  other  considerations  led  the  constitution  makers  to  make  some  obvious   mistakes,  for  example   by  failing  to  allow  the  participation  of  ‘private  candidates’   in  all  our  elections;  by  including  a  provision  which   stipulated  that  “in  order  to  qualify  for  election,  a  candidate  must  belong  to  a  registered  political  party,  and  his/her  candidature  must  be  sponsored  by  such  political  party”.                                                                       

           This   constitutional   provision   has   generated considerable  debate  and  criticism   among  stakeholders,   who  rightly feel  that    this   is  a  beach  of  the people’s  fundamental  right  “to  freely  participate  in  their  own  government”. I   have   myself contributed  to  the  weak   defense  of  this  provision,  by  relying wholly  on  the  doctrine  which  presents  the  role  of   elections as   that  of  “building  majorities  of  relatively  like-minded  persons  in  the  Legislature,  in order  to  facilitate  the  decision-making  processes  therein.  Mea  culpa.
        However,  as  the  Holy  Bible  says  in  Ecclesiastes,  3; 1-8:   “to  everything  there  is  a  season;  and  a    time  for  every  purpose  under  the  heaven”.  At   the  time  when  we  were  tasked  to  prepare  proposals  for  the  current  1977  constitution,   our  country  was  operating  under  the  “One-party  constitution  political  dispensation.   We   were  thus   obliged  to  take  into  account  the  needs  and   requirements  of  that   time.             

            But all   that   notwithstanding,  I  feel   must   personally   confess, and  beg  for  forgiveness,  for  my  complicity  in  this   constitutional   ‘malpractice’.  For  I  was  the  Secretary  to  the  20-man  commission,  which  was  tasked  by  CCM,  to prepare  the   proposals  for  this  constitution.  And   In  that  capacity,  I  was  the  initiator  of  the  recommendations   for   all   the  proposals,  which  were  then  submitted  to  the  said  commission  for  consideration  and  approval. I  can  therefore  disclose  the  principal  reason   which  accounts  for  this  apparent  constitutional   ‘malpractice’.

            In   that connection,   I  will  refer  to  the  clear  warning   that   is  embedded   in  President   powerful  speech,  namely  that  “the  desired   constitution  must  be  Tanzania’s  mother  law,  something  suitable  for  all  Tanzanians;  and  not  a  political  party’s  constitution”.                                                                                    There   is  no  denying   the  fact  that  some  of  the  contents  of  the  current  constitution,  were   indeed  dictated  by  CCM,  the  ruling  party;   and  specifically,  the  provision  regarding   the  ‘two-government’   structure  of  the  Union.    And   I  have  humbly  admitted  that  fact   in Chapter Seven  of   my  book  titled  “Historia  ya  Muungano  wa  Tanganyika  na  Zanzibar” (Tanzania  Educational  Publishers   Ltd,  Bukoba,  2019).  In   that  Chapter,  I   have  explained,   in   great  detail,  how  this  policy  was determined   through   a  party  referendum which  was  held  in 1993;  just   before  the  transition  to  the  multi-party  parliament  in  1995.                                                                                               
            The   referendum   had  been   necessitated  by  the  adoption  by  the  one-party   Parliament,  of  a  resolution  demanding  the  establishment  of  a  separate  government  for  Tanzania  Mainland,  which  would  have  resulted   in  a  three-government  structure  of  the  Union.  That   resolution  was,  in   effect,   a  rebellion  against  the  said  party  policy.                                                           

                The  results of  the  said  referendum  were  that  61%  of  the  entire  CCM  membership  had  voted  in  favour  of  retaining  the  two-government  structure  of  the  Union.   These    referendum  results  imposed   an  obligation  on  members  of  that    Parliament  “to  go  back  to  the  drawing  board”  and  rescind  their   previous  resolution;  which  they  quickly  did.    
        Regarding  the  matter  of  private  candidates  in  elections.
This other   matter of  denying  the  right  to  independent  candidates  to  participate  in  elections,  is  also  a  carryover  from  the  policies  of  the  ruling  party,  that  was inadvertently  imported  into  the  country’s  constitution.  In  this  case  also,   there  is  no  valid  reason  for  denying  the  argument  (which  has  been  advanced  by  many  concerned  stakeholders),  that  this  provision  is  a  breach  of  the  ‘freedom  of  association’  which  is  guaranteed  to  every  citizen  by  the  constitution  of  the  United  Republic.  

         And,  similarly,   as  has  also   been argued  by  the  concerned    stakeholders,   there  is  no  cogent  reason  for  denying  the  electors  their  right  to  vote  “for  a  person  of  integrity   whom  they  know  well,  in  preference  to  voting   for  a  party  candidate   simply  on  the  basis  of  a  party   programme  that  is  skillfully   promoted  in  a   party  election   campaign”. Now,  the   crucial  question:   how   then,   should  we  proceed  from  here?  In  my   humble,  considered    opinion,  we  should  “throw  the  bucket  where  we  are”.                             

             The   expression   “throw  your  bucket  where you  are”   is  derived  from  the   story  of  a  cargo  ship,  which   reportedly   had  been  stranded  for  many  days   somewhere  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean;   but  the  captain  did  not  know  exactly  where  they  were.   So,  he   sent  a  desperate  signal  to  the  ship  owners,   requesting  an  urgent   supply  of  drinking  water  for  the  crew.   The   reply   came swiftly:   “throw  your  bucket  where  you  are”. What   this  meant  was  that   the  stranded   ship  was  actually  in  the  precise  location  where  the  Amazon   river  enters  the  Ocean;  so  they  were  actually   in  the  middle  of  fresh  water  from  that  river.   
This   analogy  seems  to  me  to  be  relevant,  and   applicable,  to  the  situation  in  which   we  currently  are,  regarding   the  matter  or  matter  of  resuming  our  constitutional  review  process.                        It  is  my  humble  submission,  that  we   should   ‘throw  the bucket  where  we   currently  are”; by  taking  stock  of  all  the  past  endeavours  in  this  connection,  and  adding  thereto  any   new  ideas  that  may  seem  appropriate   in  the  present  circumstances.                                                              

        Furthermore,    considering   the   fact   that   there  are  those  established   ‘constitutional  principles’  (mentioned  above)  that  are  applicable  to  every   democratic   constitution;   it  is  presumed  that  these  will  need  no  revision.   And   since   these   principles   are  already  incorporated  in  the  current  constitution  (disregarding the  failings  and  the  malpractices  mentioned  above);   the  current  situation    seems  to  be    the  most  appropriate   starting  point   for  the  resumption  of  our  constitutional  review  process.  We  should  first   rectify  the  past   malpractices,  and  then   proceed  to  identify  and  incorporate   any  new  ideas. 
piomsekwa@gmail.com /0754767576.

Source: Cde Msekwa