CCM: Maigizo yametosha!

 ”Huyu Nape (Nnauye) mimi simwelewi. Anaonekana kutofautiana na Mkama (Wilson). Kauli zao zinaonekana kupingana.” Yalikuwa maneno yangu kwa rafiki yangu ambaye alianzisha mjadala wa CCM kujivua gamba. Rafiki yangu wala hakuhangaika kujifikirisha. Huku akiangalia pembeni akaniambia: “Mwache tu naye (Nape) ale nchi kidogo.” Ndiyo.

Tumekuwa tukisikia mengi tangu CCM walipoanza harakati zao za kujivua gamba. Kitu kimoja kiko wazi — ndani ya Chama cha Mapinduzi hakuna anayeweza kumfunga paka kengele. CCM ya leo si ile CCM ya miaka ile. Ndani ya CCM ya leo watu wanaoneana aibu. Hakuna hata mmoja wao (NEC-CCM) anayeweza kumnyooshea kidole mwenzake na kumwambia: “wewe ndiye fisadi. Wewe ndiye unakivuruga chama chetu. Wewe waweza kukaa pembeni ili chama chetu kipone.” Hakuna mwenye ujasiri huo. Tulichosikia ni hiki: “Mafisadi waondoke wenyewe ndani ya siku 90.” Thubutu!! Hata ningekuwa mimi — niondokeje?

Nitaondokaje wakati magari mnayotumia niliwanunulia mimi? Nitaondokaje wakati majukwaa mnayohubiria ni mimi nimeyajenga? Nitaondokaje wakati ofisi zenu za wilaya na mikoa ni pesa “yangu” ilizijenga? Nitaondokaje?? Swali ambalo bado najiuliza ni hili: Je, mafisadi ndani ya CCM ni akina nani? Mbona viongozi wakuu wa chama hawatupatii majina ya watu wanaotakiwa kuondoka? Ebo! Tupeni majina ya hao mafisadi sisi wananchi ili nyie mkishindwa sisi tuwashughulikie. Igeni mfano wa Mwalimu (Julius Kambarage Nyerere).

Mwalimu Nyerere alikuwaga na ujasiri wa kuwataja wana-CCM wenzake walioonekana kukivuruga chama. Mwulizeni mzee John Samweli Malecela atawaambia kilichomkuta kule Chimwaga. Mwulizeni mzee Mwinyi (Ali Hassan) atawapa stori za Mwalimu. Mwulizeni JK (Mrisho) atawaambia kilichomkuta alipotaka kuchukua fomu za kugombea urais wakati wa Mwalimu. Mbona leo ndani ya CCM hakuna mtu anayethubutu kuwakabili wakorofi kwa ujasiri?

Acheni maigizo! Tumechoka.

CCM: is it cuticle shedding or carapace removal?

“Gamba” is a Swahili word that could mean “a shell”, “an old skin”,  ”a cuticle”, and even “a carapace”. In February this year, when the Tanzania ruling party’s chairman and our President, hon Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete was addressing his party members he was quoted saying: “CCM needs liberate itself from the “gamba”.

In recent days CCM has been unanimously alleged by Tanzanians as a party that embraces embezzlement, graft and corruption. The allegations were brought up due to the fact that some of the members in the party’s central and executive committees were not “clean”. The “big shots” or “vigogo” as they are famously known here in Tanzania were involved in state fund embezzlement scandals and their image to the public was/is indeed tarnished.

So when Kikwete called upon his party members to consider de-shelling their party and freeing it from the “gamba”, he was implying to clean the CCM house. So last week the party congregated in Dodoma for this one purpose — the “gamba” removal. The results of the meeting has, however, been received with mixed reactions. The strategy, it seems, was to replace some of the old faces with younger ones. This doesn’t necessarily clean the house, does it? If the aim was to remove the corrupt and put in place the “clean”; why is it then we see we see something different? Why do we see the young replace the old instead? Does young mean clean and old mean dirty?

Tanzania is not a “No Country for Old Men”. Tanzanians are not tired of the old people in the ruling system. We are tired of people who have privatized the “cake of the nation”. We are tired of people who use the “national cake” to feed their own bellies, their families and immediate friends leaving the vast majority starving. We are tire of the corrupt fellas — old and young.

By the way, not everyone alleged of corruption and embezzlement of public funds is now out of the CCM’s cockpit. Some great embezzlers are still in the “control seat”.

Note: Reptiles which wear a carapace are called tortoises. If we take away that hard, scaly covering; tortoises don’t change and become a different species. Tortoises will always be tortoises — with or without a carapace. Period.

je ni wakati wa kujivua gamba? Hali ni tete NEC-CCM

Habari zimekuwa zikitokea kule Dodoma katika kambi ya Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) kwamba hali iliyopo chamani humo — ni tete. Wenye chama i.e. kamati kuu aka NEC wamekuwa na vikao kwa siku kadhaa sasa.

Masuala ambayo yamekuwa yakizungumziwa ni pamoja na: 1) hali ya uongozi ndani ya CCM 2) muswada wa katiba mpya 3) umaarufu unaozidi kukithiri wa CHADEMA na jinsi kuukabili 4) wanachama na uanachama wa baadhi ya wana-CCM ambao wamekuwa chanzo cha kushuka umaarufu wa CCM 5) nidhamu ndani ya UVCCM.

Kuna tetesi kwamba ile ‘top layer’ ya CCM imejiuzulu, akiwemo katibu mkuu wa chama hicho, Yusufu Makamba na msaidizi wake — John Chiligati. Kama hali ndo hiyo, basi hiyo hali si tete tu bali pia ni hatua nzuri katika mbio zetu za kudai uhuru — wa kiuchumi, kisiasa na kijamii.

Hiyo Nakala ya Mswada wa Katiba Mpya inapatika(je) wapi?

Jana kulikuwa na Kongamano la Katiba kwenye Ukumbi wa Nkrumah, UDSM. Na, nilivyosoma katika magazeti ya leo, isipokuwa yale ya Chama na Serikali, ni kwamba wadau wengi walionyeshwa kukerwa na mswada utakaopelekwa bungeni mwezi huu ili mchakato wa kuunda katiba mpya uanze. Habari zilizopo zinaonyesha kwamba mswada huo una mapungufu mengi ambayo yanahitaji kurekebishwa kabla ya mswada wenyewe kujadiliwa na hatimaye kuwa sheria.

Na kwa sababu chama-tawala kina idadi kubwa ya wabunge endapo huo mswada utapelekwa hivyo hivyo: Mheshimiwa Cheyo (UDP), Lyatonga Augustine Mrema (TLP), Kafulira (NCCR), wabunge wote wa CUF na wale wa CCM wataupitisha hivyo hivyo na hatimaye itakuwa sheria. Baada ya muda mfupi tutakuja kugundua kwamba tulichotengeneza haikuwa katiba mpya bali tuliiwekea viraka ile ile ya zamani.

Wananchi tungependa kupata nakala ya huo mswada ili nasi tuisome tusipelekwe hivi hivi kiubabe. Nchi ya Tanzania ni yetu sote na si ya watu wachache ambao wako kwenye ngazi za utawala.

Habari ya jana 1: Profesa Safari ajiunga na CHADEMA

Nilipozisikia habari za mtu ninayempenda na kumheshimu kama mwanataaluma na mwanafalsafa mzuri kati ya wanazuoni wa Tanzania, Prof. Safari kwamba amejiunga na kambi ya Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) akitokea Chama cha Wananchi (CUF) sikushangaa sana.

Kwanza, CUF kwa siku za karibuni wamekosa ile kasi yao na ‘upinzani’ wa kweli. Matamshi ambayo amekuwa akiyatoa mwenyekiti wa CUF, Profesa Ibarahim Lipumba, yamekuwa yakionyesha dhahiri kwamba CUF ile tuliyoijua imebadilika na sasa imekuwa kama ‘CCM (b)’. Siwezi kuwalaumu sana CUF kwa mabadiliko hayo, nafikiri walikosea pale ambapo walishindwa kubashiri madhara ya muafaka kati yao na Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) kwa upande wa Zanzibar. Wakajikuta kwenye mtego ambao na kuingia na sasa wanalipa gharama. Kwa hiyo kwa mtu yeyote ndani ya CUF ambaye angependa kushindana na siasa za CCM hana jinsi bali kutafuta uwanja mwingine.

Pili, na hii ni kama ushauri kwa uongozi wa CHADEMA. Inawezekana (mimi sina uhakika) aliye-injinia ‘muafaka’ kati ya CCM na CUF ni huyo huyo mliyepokea jana. Kwa hiyo muwe macho nyie CHADEMA isije ikawa ujio wa Safari umeandaliwa makusudi ili kupunguza makali yenu. Msiwe na haraka ya kumpa uongozi hadi hapo mtakapohakikisha kwamba huyo mtu hana ajenda ya siri. Ni tahadhari tu wala sina ‘bifu’ yoyote na profesa.

Neno kutoka kwa rafiki: CUF na CCM ni ndoa. Ndoa bila unyumba yafa

Rafiki yangu kwenye facebook alinitumia  meseji hii (by accident):

Pia kumbuka kaka kuwa anayofanya Lipumba ni dalili ya aliyechoka na yuko sokoni kunadi bidhaa mbovu inayotia ukakasi masikio ya wateja.
Cuf kwa kuwananga CHADEMA wakati walishajigamba kuwa wao ni wapinzani inajionyesha wazi kuwa sasa CUF ni CCM B na hakuna shaka juu ya hilo.

Wapenzi wa CUF wakae na kutambua kuwa wao ni sehemu ya CCM kwa kutekeleza sera na mikakati. Maalimu kule Zanzibar anatekeleza ilani ya CCM na Lipumba huku bara anashambulia chama kikuu cha upinzani kama inavyofanya CCM.

Lipumba anasumbuliwa na mchoko wa kisiasa ambao umesha ongeza kasi ya kukidhoofisha chama hicho kwa huku bara. CUF iliyowahi kujitambulisha kama chama ngangari leo hii kimegeuka chama mdebwedo na mlenda kwa kukubali kutumiwa na CCM na wao kujikuta wameingia mtegoni na sasa wao kama wanandoa wanahami unyumba wao usitetereke.

CHADEMA ndio ninao amini kuwa ni wapinzani wa kweli na watetezi waliobeba matumaini ya watanzania.

Mchakato wa Uundaji wa Katiba Mpya waanza kutia Shaka

Kama yaliyoandikwa na gazeti la Tanzania Daima la tarehe 31 Machi 2011 ni (madai) ya kweli, basi serikali imeamua kuligeuza mtaji suala zima la uundaji wa katiba mpya. Na kwa kuwa Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) kina idadi kubwa ya wabunge ambao hawawezi kuthubutu kuukataa mswada ulioletwa na serikali ya chama chao, basi kelele zote za katiba mpya zitatupwa kwenye kapu la historia kama “uthubutu”! Inasikitisha.

Kama ningekuwa Kiongozi wa “Chama”/Serikali

Hivi karibuni nchi yetu imeshuhudia sarakasi za kisiasa zinazozihusisha pande mbili. Upande mmoja ni Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) au serikali na kwa upande mwingine ni Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA).

Kwa yule (yeyote) ambaye amekuwa mfuatiliaji wa siasa za Tanzania tangu ulipoingia mfumo wa siasa za vyama vingi hapa nchini atakubaliana na mimi kwamba kwa sasa mazingira ya kisiasa ya nchi yetu yamebadilika sana. Mwaka 1995, 2000, 2005 na 2010 tulishuhudia chaguzi ambazo zilivihusisha vyama vingi. Ukilinganisha na chaguzi zote za nyuma, ule wa 2010 umekuwa ni uchaguzi ulioibua mambo mengi.

Kuna watu ambao hawakuridhishwa kabisa na namna ambavyo Tume ya Uchaguzi ya Tanzania ilisimamia uchaguzi huo. Kuna ambao wanasema hadi leo kwamba asilimia ya wananchi iliyojitokeza na hatimaye kumchagua Rais ilikuwa ndogo kiasi ambacho kinatia doa (mashaka) ushindi wake. Na kwa mara ya kwanza nchini Tanzania tuliona Rais aliye madarakani akishinda kwa asilimia isiyozidi 70. Yote hayo ni ya kweli. Lakini pia tumeona kitu kingine cha tofauti – hali ya siasa baada ya uchaguzi!

Katika miaka mingine yote tulizoea kuona vyama vya upinzani “vikipotea” mara tu baada ya uchaguzi. Hali hii ilikifanya chama kinachokuwa madarakani na serikali yake vikifanya kazi kwa “ku-relax” – kwa raha zake. Vyama vya upinzani vilikuwa vikitoweka katika ulingo wa siasa na kuibuka tena miaka minne baadae. Hii iliwafanya hata wale waliokuwa madarakani kufikia hatua ya kuviita vyama vingine eti “vya msimu” – seasonal political parties. Hali hii imebadilika kabisa na sasa walio madarakani hawajui wafanye nini kuikabili.

CHADEMA mara tu baada ya uchaguzi hawakulala. Walijipanga kimkakati kwenda nchi nzima wakiwaelimisha wananchi juu ya matatizo yao na umuhimu wa kuwawajibisha viongozi wao. CHADEMA wanapita huko na huko wakiwaambia wananchi mapungufu na madhaifu ya serikali yao. Lengo la CHADEMA, na kwa hakika lengo la chama chochote cha upinzani duniani, ni kutafuta udhaifu wa chama na serikali inayotawala na kutumia udhaifu huo kuingia madarakani. CHADEMA wakikakaa na kusubiri uchaguzi mwingine hawataweza kuifikisha elimu ya kisiasa kwa wananchi, wananchi hawatafunguka macho na utawala utaendelea kuwa wa CCM. Hilo halina ubishi na hilo ndiyo hofu kuu waliyonayo CCM na serikali yake.

Wanachotakiwa kufanya CCM/Serikali:

Ili kukabiliana na wimbi hili la mapinduzi/mabadiliko linalotembea nchi nzima kwa sasa, serikali haitakiwi kufanya makosa wanayofanya sasa hivi. Kosa la kwanza ambalo serikali inafanya ni KUFANYA SIASA (kama CHADEMA) kuliko KUFANYA MAENDELEO. Huu ni mwanzo wa kupoteza vibaya. Badala ya kuingia kwenye ulingo wa siasa, serikali inatakiwa ijikite kwenye shughuli za maendeleo zenye kuonekana. Fanya juhudi nzito ya KUZALISHA UMEME WA KUTOSHA na uusambaze huo umeme kwa wananchi kwa bei nafuu. Zibane mamlaka za maji na uhakikishe wananchi wanakuwa na VYANZO VYA UHAKIKA VYA MAJI SAFI NA SALAMA – mjini na vijijini. Kaza program ya UJENZI WA MABARABARA (RELI) nchi nzima kwa kasi ya kutisha. Weka vizuri vitengo vya mipango-miji kwa kuanzisha MAKAZI BORA na kupunguza FOLENI katika barabara za mijini. Fukuza kutoka kwenye chama na ndani ya serikali WATENDAJI WAZEMBE NA WALA-RUSHWA. Acha Kiswahili cha “tuache tu mahakama na vyombo vyetu vya sheria viwashughulikie.” – lini? Kwa mkakati wa namna hii CHADEMA haitawanyima usingizi. Hamtatumia mabilioni ya shilingi kujinadi wakati wa kampeini. Hiyo ndiyo akili.

CHADEMA

It is election year in Tanzania and you can easily tell the hotness of the political milieu here in the country. Last night the largest opposition party in the country, CHADEMA, picked their candidate for the forthcoming general elections. This blog would like to take this opportunity to congratulate CHADEMA for their choice of a candidate. Unlike other parties’ candidates, Dr Wilbroad Slaa (pictured) will indeed pose a hurdle to the ruling party, CCM. He is a good leader and we can’t wait to see how he handles his new challenge.

SINOVET polls: A danger to Democracy in Tanzania?

There is a research organization that has emerged very recently in Tanzania. They call themselves an independent research entity. They go by the name SINOVET. They have been releasing their controversial research results every now and then. Their area of research is: 1) Tanzanian political environment and 2) Tanzanian socio-economic status. They normally call press conferences to announce their findings.

When you listen to them you wonder if this is not the government efforts to suppress the opposition parties and stifle the civil societies in Tanzania. Every time they reveal their results they will tell the public how strong the ruling party is compared to other parties. “Our poll indicates that 80 percent of the respondents voted for the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) as their favorite political party.” And again, “the likelihood that the incumbent president will win the next election is 78 percent.” What kind of research is this?

After they make public announcement of their ‘research’, the state house will also convene a meeting with the press and tell them how impressed by the SINOVET results it is. Yesterday I heard the state house aide say, “this (SINOVET results) shows you how strong and acceptable the ruling party is and how effective it has been in solving people’s problems.” At that point, I switched off my TV!

This all is done a few months before we enter national general elections. It makes you wonder if SINOVET is anything other than the ruling party’s propaganda arm. Africa!