According to Chadema officials, Operation Sangara was the party’s initiative to wage a crusade against grand corruption and legalized looting of the country’s resources, both financial and material, by the ruling clique. Dr Slaa was especially incensed by the elected leaders’ propensity to personal aggrandisement in the midst of grinding poverty among their electorate.
He gave the example of a proposed salary raise for lawmakers, from Sh 1.8 million to Sh 3 million, with a package totalling Sh 12 million per month effective July 2009 (it indeed came to pass). He argued that the government had its development priorities lopsided, as it was clear that those in power did not pay a hoot about their wretched constituents’ misery.
Operation Sangara was shortly after followed by the Movement for Change (M4C), whose focus was mobilizing the people to clamour for drastic change in the country’s governance. My article ended thus: “Next year’s (2010) general elections might turn out to be a litmus test for Operation Sangara. So far Chadema’s message that the electorate is being shortchanged on electoral pledges by the ruling party, especially on combating graft, is gradually being grasped.
“This is seen in the inroads the party is making in formerly CCM strongholds. The electorate is surely sending a message, and the message is: We are watching.”
Five years down the road it is evident that the message for change has indeed sunk deep into the people’s hearts, both in urban and rural areas. The clamour for change has also been galvanized by the formation of Umoja wa Katiba ya Wananchi (Ukawa), a coalition of four political parties which champion a new constitution which takes on board the people’s views as embodied in the Constitutional Review Commission’s (CRC) draft constitution.
Five years down the road it is evident that the message for change has indeed sunk deep into the people’s hearts, both in urban and rural areas. The clamour for change has also been galvanized by the formation of Umoja wa Katiba ya Wananchi (Ukawa), a coalition of four political parties which champion a new constitution which takes on board the people’s views as embodied in the Constitutional Review Commission’s (CRC) draft constitution.
Ukawa maintains that the Proposed Constitution makes a serious departure from the cardinal principles embodied in CRC’s draft constitution. It was endorsed mainly by CCM members after their Ukawa colleagues had walked out in protest at the apparent sidelining of their views by the Constituent Assembly.
Be as it may, since the election campaigns kicked off in August, the change agenda has been the main thrust of the two main camps’ presidential candidates, CCM’s Dr John Magufuli and Chadema’s (representing the Ukawa coalition) Edward Lowassa. While it was to be expected that the Ukawa flag bearer would harp on change, change and change (this is in Chadema’s manifesto) , the CCM candidate has put fresh breath in his campaigns by stressing drastic change in his administration should he elected.
Indeed, some of Dr Magufuli’s electoral pledges have raised many a brow for not being at all contained in his party’s election manifesto! Take, for instance, his constant promise to establish a special court for public funds embezzlers and those who indulge in corruption so they can be tried and jailed ‘expeditiously.’
His litany of promises has been akin to those to be expected from an opposition candidate, not from a candidate of the ruling party and someone who has been in the cabinet for two whole decades! Which prompted an analyst from a respected weekly to comment recently that the most likely camp to come up with meaningful change was Ukawa because they could be held to account if they deviated from their manifesto.
Although true that assertion might be, Dr Magufuli’s countless electoral promises for drastic change should he be elected president cannot simply be dismissed out of hand as a lot of hot air. The man, in fulfilling his ministerial duties, has distinguished himself as someone whose word counts. Indeed, he has carved himself a niche in his ministerial career as a hands-on manager who closely monitors his portfolio’s duties.
Perhaps it is to be hoped that, having traversed so many corners of the country, he has come to realize – most probably to his shock – how distant his party has been vis-à-vis the vast masses’ aspiration for change in the way they are governed, and hence resolved to swim with the tide – the tide for change.
This is borne out in CCM’s posters and adverts for its presidential candidate: ‘Chagua Magufuli, mabadiliko ya kweli; Kura yangu ni ya mabadiliko ya kweli, Kura yangu ni Magufuli,’ etc.
He recently courted Chadema’s ire when he claimed at a campaign rally that M4C, a legally registered trade mark, stood for Magufuli for Change! He has also been going around the country asking his audiences to entrust him with the responsibility to bring about change in the country.
CCM’s harping on the change agenda when in fact it doesn’t feature in its election manifesto goes to show how close this year’s election between the two main rival camps. It is no lame claim to say that the election is too close to call. No party can confidently claim, all things being equal, that it will sweep the stakes.
CCM, owing to its financial muscle and hence an immense electoral war chest, has gone to great lengths to ensure its candidate is exposed to the maximum in all the media – both print and electronic. It has contracted the majority of film and music artistes to perform at its campaign rallies during the entire campaign period right from day one. The media and performing artists have hugely benefited from the election windfall from the two competing horses in the race, CCM and Ukawa – but especially from CCM.
Assuming that Dr Magufuli is tomorrow elected as Tanzania’s president, it would be foolhardy for him to backtrack on such serious electoral pledges for the reason that they are not part of his party’s manifesto. An honourable man stands by his word, and there is no reason to believe that Dr Magufuli is not an honourable man. If he does so, with the current people’s clamour for change, he would most probably have kissed his second term bye bye because the people, contrary to popular belief, have long memories. They are watching all the time!
So, as Tanzanians troop to polling stations tomorrow to elect a president, it is satisfying to note that, whether Ukawa or CCM sits in the driving seat, there will be a new dawn for the country – a dawn for change.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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