This is big shame not only to our nation, but also to our dignity

BY EDITOR

7th September 2013

Editorial Cartoon.

On Thursday, our Parliament was turned into a boxing ground on a truly chaotic situation; everyone could literally choose any word to describe the shameful act that took place in our National Assembly.

The shameful act that involved physical fights between opposition lawmakers and the Sergeant-at-arms was the first to happen in this country since we achieved independence in 1961. When the Sergeant-at-arms was overpowered, police intervened, making it even more chaotic.

The entire chaos was televised live and was watched not only inside Tanzania but also outside our borders. In journalism, we are taught that one of the definitions of news is when a man bites a dog, meaning what makes news is an extraordinary or bizarre event. 
Since what happened in our sacred august House was an unusual event, the international media including the mighty Cable News Network, and British Broadcasting Corporation beamed those shameful images across the world.

To put things into perspective, Tanzania as a nation was humiliated by what happened in our Parliament.

The Parliament’s security officers known as Sergeant-at-arms also behaved as if they were facing criminals, while in reality, they were dealing with lawmakers. In reaction, the opposition MPs often feeling bulldozed by the Speaker and deputy speaker, behaved in a defensive way that was also not acceptable by any standards.

We strongly believe that the biggest obstacles facing our Parliament are leadership and partisanships. We say leadership because most of the time, for instance, deputy Speaker Job Ndugai applies brute force and dictatorship under the shield of the Speaker’s chair.

In so doing, he is also muzzled by partisanship politics, trying to balance between public interest and his ruling party’s interests.

Since it has been difficult for our lawmakers to draw the demarcation line between political party and public interests, the deputy speaker has behaved in very questionable manners when presiding over Parliamentary proceedings.

What was needed yesterday, for instance, was simply some grain of wisdom, but that wasn’t available – unfortunately; instead, we were served, as a whole nation of civilized people, with brutality and dictatorship.

Wisdom, we are taught, is the ability to apply knowledge. There are two types of wisdom: man-made and supernatural. Every human being has knowledge, but to apply it, wisdom is needed. That’s also what distinguishes human beings from animals.

For instance, what if the deputy speaker had just allowed the leader of opposition in Parliament, Freeman Mbowe, to say what he wanted to say. Or, what if Mbowe would have voluntarily decided to obey the deputy speaker’s order?

But when wisdom becomes scarce among men and women who are chosen to lead, the result is what transpired on Thursday in our Parliament.

As Confucius once put it, “By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.”
What our leaders do not understand is that democracy is not necessarily what we are taught.

Sometimes, democracy is to agree to disagree -- but peacefully. Sometimes, democracy is about sacrificing some of our rights to defend public or national interests.

What happened on Thursday exposed the poor quality of those we elected to be our leaders; it exposed their dark side -- which we didn’t know apparently; above all, it revealed their lack of wisdom.

While we are humiliated as nation by Thursday’s events, we should also be glad that as time goes on, we fully understand the ability, credibility, and integrity of those we have elected to represent us in the Parliament.
 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN