In houses of prayer as at most other spots, and from markets to deserted streets, yesterday’s October 25 became another name for Dar es Salaam and, by extension, the rest of Tanzania.
As the normally bustling port city ran under the spell of eerie calm, one word – PEACE – seemed to have assumed a physical imperative. This was chiefly because one could only feel police force by its palpable absence from the streets.
For the record, these reporters never saw a single police officer during their leisurely morning strolls in the often busy Afrika Sana neighbourhoods along Shekilango Road and all the way to the Guardian Limited offices in the Mikocheni Light Industrial Area, as well as in many other parts of the city.
Without pun, the people of the city – at least those along Shekilango Road – had rendered the men and women under Inspector General of Police Ernest Mangu virtually ‘jobless’. This was mainly because the rest of the ‘folk’ had taken to voting centres with a resolve to show politicians that it was their turn to talk – ‘kuchinja’ (slaughter), the buzzword for putting all political slogans to rest.
An hour before, gospel choir Praise Team had invited worshippers at the ELCT (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania), Sinza Parish, in singing the National Anthem, “Mungu Ibariki Afrika…Tanzania” (God Bless Africa… Tanzania).
For good measure, the congregation gave the crowning lyrics on “sons and daughters” of this country three rounds, thus: “Grant eternal Freedom and Unity…To its sons and daughters…God Bless Tanzania and its People.
Chorus: Bless Tanzania, Bless Tanzania, Bless the children of Tanzania.
Bless Tanzania, Bless Tanzania, Bless us, the children of Tanzania.”
For the first time, Church and State briefly mellowed into one as the ‘men and women of God’ at Sinza transported followers back into history – 110 years ago to Enoch Sontonga’s popular hymn, Nkosi Sikeleli’ Afrika (1905), and to the misty 16th century when German monk Dr Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 –February 18, 1546) founded the Lutheran Church.
Zoom back to Sinza: As Tanzania’s National Anthem floated across the hall against the backdrop of the national flag, both these unifying symbols provided the icing to what could possibly go down as a record brief sermon – on the need for peace and justice – two among key tenets that informed Dr Martin Luther’s ways.
Underlining the Church’s position of non-partisan allegiances, the ELCT presiding pastor at Sinza implored believers to ‘vote and go home’ immediately after, while also exhorting them to shun incitement or resort to violence, both of which he declared patently ‘sinful’.
Elsewhere, ELCT’s Bishop Dr Alex Gehaz Malasusa beseeched presidential hopefuls to desist from fomenting ‘hatred’ even in the face of defeat. This echoed sentiments made on numerous previous occasions by all manner of other religious leaders, the media, civil society organisations and other members of society.
Most of the faithful interviewed by this paper on the sidelines of the Sinza mass said it was uncalled-for to belabour the presiding pastor’s fine sentiments. In any case, some quipped, Tanzanians were for all practical purposes already living under the gathering shadows of a new administration, courtesy the people’s choice.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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