The whole world is now waiting to say ‘goodbye’ to the year 2023 which will come to its end next Sunday, 31st December, 2023. In the ordinary Nature of things, every country will have had its most significant ‘events of the year’ which should never be forgotten, solely for the reason that they constitute its future history. In the case of Tanzania, such history-making events include the opening of the “windows of fresh air” by President Samia Suluhu Hassan; by her bold actions which she took to reshape the country’s political space and establishing a more equitable political landscape. It was on January 3rd, 2023; when President Samia formally announced the lifting the more-than-six years ban on the holding of political rallies; which had been imposed by her predecessor, John Pombe Magufuli. However, this ban had excluded the elected representatives of the people, who remained free to conduct such rallies in their respective constituencies or local council wards.
This was part of her political philosophy of the “4Rs”, namely, Reconciliation; Resilience; Reform; and Rebuilding. It was also during this year that political players from the ruling party CCM and the opposition parties convened a meeting under the coordination of the Tanzania Center for Democracy (TCD), aimed at improving the functioning of the multi-party system. And during this year’s commemoration of International Women’s Day on 8th March, 2023; President Samia made a practical demonstration of her genuine intent to achieve political reconciliation, by attending an opposition party’s rally organized by the Opposition CHADEMA’s Women’s Wing BAWACHA, thus further redefining the the country’s politics.
Furthermore, as part of the President’s efforts to reshape the political space by reforming the electoral laws; her government tabled several Bills in Parliament, aimed at introducing changes in the current electoral system, in response to relevant demands frequently voiced by the opposition parties. Kudos to President Samia, for taking these bold measures in implementation of her 4Rs philosophy. We have discussed this before, philosophy on a previous occasion in this column. But because we have referred above to her specific action of ‘lifting the ban on political rallies’; which was, obviously, a negative element in her predecessor’s management of our nation’s political affairs; it is only fair and appropriate, particularly for the benefit of the younger generation, that we should tell the story of how the late John Pombe Magufuli became President against all expectations by keen political observers, even within the ruling party itself. It is for that reason, that today’s presentation is focused on that story, which is implied in the heading of this article; to which we will now turn our attention; which is actually implied in the heading of today’s article. It is an inside story, told by an insider eyewitness.
John Magufuli’s unexpected ascension to the Presidency.
The statement that “in the unlikely event of John Magufuli becoming President” is borrowed from the familiar announcements made by cabin crew at the commencement of each and every flight. I have borrowed those words for use in my presentation today, simply because they are entirely appropriate for my story. That statement may today sound like ‘imaginary fiction’, but it actually represents the truth as will presently be revealed in the paragraphs that follow below.
The statement that “in the unlikely event of John Magufuli becoming President” is borrowed from the familiar announcements made by cabin crew at the commencement of each and every flight. I have borrowed those words for use in my presentation today, simply because they are entirely appropriate for my story. That statement may today sound like ‘imaginary fiction’, but it actually represents the truth as will presently be revealed in the paragraphs that follow below.
During the hectic process of nominating the CCM official “candidate” for the Presidential election of 2015; no one seriously expected that John Pombe Magufuli would be the successful candidate. The likelihood of his being finally selected to be the CCM candidate for the 2015 was, in reality, very remote; for such possibility was greatly diminished, not only by the unusually large number of CCM contestants who were finally registered (there were 43 applicants); but also by the fact that among these contestants, were some of those who held the highest positions in the government hierarchy than himself; including the Vice President and the Prime Minister; and a number of more senior Ministers, that is to say, those who had served in the capacity of Minister for a much longer period; including veteran Edward Lowassa; who appeared, to many observers, to be the most obvious choice. This large number of aspirants caused by CCM’s “mid-term established convention, which presumably is known, or should be known, to all CCM members, (or, if there are any of them who are ignorant of it, they should know it from reading this article). The said convention provides that the incumbent CCM President is, under normal circumstances, entitled to serve for the second and final term of the constitutional two-year terms.
Consequently, thereof, he/she is guaranteed to be nominated by the party during the mid-term elections. For that reason, no other applicant from among CCM members is expected to apply to be considered for nomination as a candidate for the relevant mid-term Presidential election. Incidentally, this convention will automatically apply to the incumbent President, Samia Suluhu Hassan, for the forthcoming 2025 Presidential election. That is to say that her nomination is fully guaranteed. Thus, any other CCM aspirant will have to wait for the 2030 Presidential election, when President Samia completes her second term. Hence for that election, electoral competition, if any, will only come from the opposition political parties.
CCM’s standard nomination process.
The party’s current ‘nomination process’ for its Presidential candidate, was formulated at the time of the country’s entry into multi-party politics. It starts at the ‘Central Committee” of the party, whose task is to produce a short list of five suitable applicants, whom it recommends to the “National Executive Committee” of the party. The National Executive Committee then votes to select three candidates among those five, for submission to the ‘National Electoral Conference’ of the party, which in turn votes to select one applicant among the recommended three. The winner of this vote then becomes the official CCM candidate for the relevant Presidential election. In the case of voting at the mid-term elections, the voting function takes the form of a ‘YES’ or ‘NO’ vote since, according to the established convention, there will be only one applicant, namely the incumbent President.
CCM’s standard nomination process.
The party’s current ‘nomination process’ for its Presidential candidate, was formulated at the time of the country’s entry into multi-party politics. It starts at the ‘Central Committee” of the party, whose task is to produce a short list of five suitable applicants, whom it recommends to the “National Executive Committee” of the party. The National Executive Committee then votes to select three candidates among those five, for submission to the ‘National Electoral Conference’ of the party, which in turn votes to select one applicant among the recommended three. The winner of this vote then becomes the official CCM candidate for the relevant Presidential election. In the case of voting at the mid-term elections, the voting function takes the form of a ‘YES’ or ‘NO’ vote since, according to the established convention, there will be only one applicant, namely the incumbent President.
The 2015 nomination process.
2015 was the end of the second term for President Jakaya Kikwete; which accounts for the unusually large number of applicants. The nomination process was duly undertaken, as described above. But when the five names recommended by the Central Committee were made public, many of the stakeholders were totally surprised to see that all the big names mentioned above, namely Vice President Gharib Bilal, Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda, and the senior Ministers, had all been dropped, including that of Edward Lowasa. But John Magufuli’s name was there, and so was that of Bernard Membe who was deemed to be a better candidate than John Magufuli. The absence of Edward Lowassa name from that short list caused considerable commotion at the National Executive Committee meeting. It seemed that the whole meeting had been mobilized to campaign for him; for, upon Chairman Jakaya Kikwete’s entry into the meeting chamber, the entire gathering of NEC members started singing “Tuna imani na Lowasa, Oyaa, oyaa, oyaa”. And during the meeting itself, some members expressed very strong objections to the omission of Edward Lowasa name from that short list. These were signs of trouble brewing up. This incidence provides testimony of CCM’s inherent strength to withstand such temporary internal tremors; for, despite the commotion, after much discussion and patient explanations from Chairman Jakaya Kikwete, supplemented by the former retired Chair persons Ali Hassan Mwinyi, and Benjami Mkapa; voting was eventually carried out in relative calm, and the three applicants who emerged successful, included John Pombe Magufuli, who, again unexpectedly, beat Bernard Membe, who had been rated as a better candidate.
2015 was the end of the second term for President Jakaya Kikwete; which accounts for the unusually large number of applicants. The nomination process was duly undertaken, as described above. But when the five names recommended by the Central Committee were made public, many of the stakeholders were totally surprised to see that all the big names mentioned above, namely Vice President Gharib Bilal, Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda, and the senior Ministers, had all been dropped, including that of Edward Lowasa. But John Magufuli’s name was there, and so was that of Bernard Membe who was deemed to be a better candidate than John Magufuli. The absence of Edward Lowassa name from that short list caused considerable commotion at the National Executive Committee meeting. It seemed that the whole meeting had been mobilized to campaign for him; for, upon Chairman Jakaya Kikwete’s entry into the meeting chamber, the entire gathering of NEC members started singing “Tuna imani na Lowasa, Oyaa, oyaa, oyaa”. And during the meeting itself, some members expressed very strong objections to the omission of Edward Lowasa name from that short list. These were signs of trouble brewing up. This incidence provides testimony of CCM’s inherent strength to withstand such temporary internal tremors; for, despite the commotion, after much discussion and patient explanations from Chairman Jakaya Kikwete, supplemented by the former retired Chair persons Ali Hassan Mwinyi, and Benjami Mkapa; voting was eventually carried out in relative calm, and the three applicants who emerged successful, included John Pombe Magufuli, who, again unexpectedly, beat Bernard Membe, who had been rated as a better candidate.
The votes results by the National Electoral Conference gave overwhelming victory to John Pombe Magufuli; who thus became the official CCM candidate for the 2015 Presidential election. The issue of him being the “unlikely person to become President” had been determined. For, he now had his way cleared for ascendancy to the Presidency, only waiting for confirmation at the general election.
And in view of his being a CCM candidate, he was assured of the massive support of millions of CCM members and its supporters countrywide. He collected 58% of all the valid votes cast, a handsome victory over Edward Lowasa, who had defected to the Opposition CHADEMA party in search of their nomination, which he had secured, but at a price. Thus, because of the frustration arising out of his failure to achieve his objective of becoming President on a CHADEMA ticket, he soon abandoned that opposition party, and returned to his base in the ruling party CCM. He had joined CHADEMA only as a political tourist. He had to ‘return home’ at the end of his tour there.
The nomination process includes the choice of a ‘running mate’; which is actually a constitutional requirement. Hence, that was the next task to be undertaken by candidate John Pombe Magufuli, in order to complete that process. He had, apparently, revealed his intention of selecting Samia Suluhu Hassan as his running mate, to outgoing President Kikwete, who had warmly supported that idea.But Kikwete thought it wise, that they should together consult the CCM Council (Baraza) of former apex party leaders, (the former CCM Chairpersons and the Vice Chairpersons), who included myself.
I was the Secretary of this Baraza. Hence, I was asked to convene a Baraza meeting, “for consultations with the Presidential candidate”. The matter to be considered at that consultative meeting, was the ‘choice of the running mate’; and we were asked only this question: “Wazee, do you think that the country is ready to be governed by a female Vice President? We were told that there were two candidates under consideration, namely Samia Suluhu Hassan, and Dr. Hussein Mwinyi. A female Vice President? There was divided opinion on that question.
Some (the traditionalist ultra-conservatives among us) preferred a male candidate, but at the end, the decision maker himself quietly went away to make his own decision; and, indeed very wisely, he decided to appoint Samia Suluhu Hassan. This was a wise decision because it gave a needed boost to CCM’s election campaign, which was effectively conducted by the ‘Umoja wa Wanawake wa Tanzania’, the powerful Women Wing of the ruling party CCM. And, as already stated above, Magufuli secured a handsome victory of 58% of all the valid votes cast. The misconceived “unlikely event” had been overtaken by the realty of the events which actually happened. He was now the democratically elected President of the United Republic of Tanzania.
President Magufuli’s performance in office.
Immediately after taking the solemn Presidential ‘Oath of Office’; President Magufuli literally “hit the ground running”. His chosen slogan of “Hapa kazi tu”; and its active implementation, says it all.
But we referred above to his unfortunate action of prohibiting the holding of political rallies by political parties. He must have had his own good reasons for taking that action, but it certainly was in very bad taste politically; for which he was roundly criticized. And this story cannot exonerate him from such blames.
piomsekwa@gmail.com /0754767576.
Some (the traditionalist ultra-conservatives among us) preferred a male candidate, but at the end, the decision maker himself quietly went away to make his own decision; and, indeed very wisely, he decided to appoint Samia Suluhu Hassan. This was a wise decision because it gave a needed boost to CCM’s election campaign, which was effectively conducted by the ‘Umoja wa Wanawake wa Tanzania’, the powerful Women Wing of the ruling party CCM. And, as already stated above, Magufuli secured a handsome victory of 58% of all the valid votes cast. The misconceived “unlikely event” had been overtaken by the realty of the events which actually happened. He was now the democratically elected President of the United Republic of Tanzania.
President Magufuli’s performance in office.
Immediately after taking the solemn Presidential ‘Oath of Office’; President Magufuli literally “hit the ground running”. His chosen slogan of “Hapa kazi tu”; and its active implementation, says it all.
But we referred above to his unfortunate action of prohibiting the holding of political rallies by political parties. He must have had his own good reasons for taking that action, but it certainly was in very bad taste politically; for which he was roundly criticized. And this story cannot exonerate him from such blames.
piomsekwa@gmail.com /0754767576.
Source: Cde Pius Msekwa.
No comments:
Post a Comment