Politicians have to watch their tongues.

BY EDITOR

27th June 2015

Editorial Cartoon.

Election times are here again. This is the moment when politicians are being heard making promises, some of which sound like someone trying to build castles in the air.

 

It is the moment when voters are being fooled with completely unimplementable promises just like a child seated beside a kitchen waiting  for food while in real sense what is being cooked in the kitchen is not food but stones. 

 

And, indeed, it is the time when some presidential candidates will be making statements that suggests that Dar es Salaam City will be turned into another New-York in a span of five years.  Yes, it is time for making promises.

 

While political statements of that sort may not be deemed harmful per se some politicians have started making utterances that, by all standards, suggest that all may not be well after the polls.

 

A good example can be drawn from utterances made on Monday in Sengerema District, Geita Region by CCM Secretary for Ideology and Publicity Nape Nnauye in which he stated that CCM   shall win the October elections even if it means by committing foul that would skip the eyes of the referee.Nnauye reminded Sengerema residents of the 1986 football incident whereby the football legend Diego Maradona from Argentine scored a goal with his hand against England in a World Cup match in Mexico. 

 

Very unfortunately the referee of the game  Ali Bin Nasser from Tunisia and one of his assistants Bogdan Dotchev from Bulgaria could not notice the foul committed by Maradona as he  put Argentine in front with a goal that the whole football world until today  calls the ‘Hand of God’. 

 

Putting things into perceptive Tanzania holds elections every after five years and the National Electoral Commission (NEC) that oversees these elections is what Nnauye brands it as the referee.

 

So what Nnauye implies is that CCM are ready to ensure they win the elections by hooks and crooks be it presidential or parliamentary even if it means by rigging, as long as NEC does not notice it.

 

This statement deserves thorough scrutiny and if possible we should demand explanation from Nnauye himself.  We should demand explanation from Nnauye simply because for a nation that brags to uphold democratic values, we do not expect to hear such kind of statements from political party officials.

 

In 2010 an editor from the government owned newspaper wrote in an editorial, clearly ruling out the possibility of one of the opposition presidential candidates winning the election. 

 

By publishing such an editorial the editor thought that the ruling party and government officials would congratulate him for the good job. Anyway, no one knows what happened to him later but we believe the piece sent a chilling cold up the spine of the international community and the public, especially those who cherish democracy.

 

Tanzania is a nation whose presidents and Members of Parliament get mandate through the ballot box. So, what Nnauye tries to tell the public is that come rain come sun CCM must win even if the results will be in favour of another political party.

 

We don’t want to believe that what Nnauye said in Sengerema reflects CCM’s stand. Nnauye ought to weigh his statements before making them public. He should also understand that the consequences of such statements would not spare him as it is like cutting a branch of a tree on which he is seated.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN