The Weekly Sneak: What Does A Nationalist Wear

It has been a bit heavy weather lately and I thought it would be nice to take a break from the sky-is-falling sensation that the news has been giving me lately. So I tackled one of my favorite subjects, one that simply does not get enough attention: political fashion. Coming to The East African in a couple of days:

"Word in the backrooms of the various tailor emporiums of the city is that the real jackpot for design houses is to be able to reinterpret this basic costuming for big CCM meetings, campaigns, and spouses of prominent politicians. Anyone paying attention to the visual reporting on these events and people will have picked up on it. Given the restricted palette of green, gold and black and the requirement that whatever happens a tie cannot be part of the outfit, it is amazing what designers have been able to come up with. Especially considering the color green can be quite difficult for African complexions. More impressive still is the skill of the tailors involved: the socialist suit is very unkind to pot-bellies. Yet as waistlines have expanded one administration after the other, political dandies have managed to keep looking sleek rather than sausage-like in uniform."

The NEC Meeting: A Fighting Chance Not The Chance To Fight.

Every so often I actually write a complimentary article about the government or the Grand Old Party and the February NEC Meeting provided such an occasion. I submitted a piece to The East African for a planned "special" on the event and... nothing. Nothing the week after than either. Oh well. So this is incredibly not fresh news, but since the piece is written I thought I might as well share it here:

"CCM has finally held its highly-anticipated National Executive Committee (NEC) Meeting this month. Although we are not all card-carrying members of the Grand Old Party, there is hardly a Tanzanian living today who does not have a stake in how it conducts itself. The big CCM meetings offer a glimpse into the general mood of the party, and the implications for politics in the country. Watching the flows of power across the various levels of the organization does provide a good insight into what the future might hold.

It has to be said that outside of the more colorful encounters between the state and reformers of all stripes, the Kikwete administration has been consistent in its pursuit of its own vision of a better governance system whether or not we agree with it. And while it has been struggling under the weight of kleptocracy, somehow CCM 2012 is a more open and democratic organization than CCM 2005. It seems that the internal shift of power from one generation to the next, and the shift in attitude that this entails, might be a relatively smooth one and it might even take the party back to its glory days when members felt true ownership.

“The way in which the ruling party has remained legitimately in power by pragmatically adapting to the demands of the time has allowed successive regimes to pursue relatively continuous development objectives throughout a transitional period.”

Generally speaking, the meeting outcomes that CCM announced give hope. Barring incumbent MPs from being members of NEC is an excellent move, especially in light of the overwhelming greed that CCM MPs have displayed. In principle, the less power resides in the hands of CCM MPs the better off we are as a society- at least with this particular intake. Also commendable is the Party's decision to amend its 1977 Constitution, hopefully to bring it into the 21^st Century. The decision to select NEC members from Districts is a good way to devolve power away from the center further down towards the grassroots, and arguably gives some measure of control of the party back to its natural constituents: its foot-soldiers and faithful voters.

Finally, the decision to create an advisory council of elders is also welcome. We have hit ten years without Mwalimu's wry wit to guide us, and his legacy has yet to be adapted for a contemporary votership. It has been hard of late to pinpoint where the intellectual and ideological centers of the Party reside. If the GoP has the benefit of the experience of leaders who have made it to retirement age, they should certainly use it. Continuity is important. Besides which, it creates an excellent counterbalance and resource for the incoming generation of leaders who are only just starting to earn their stripes.

CCM's ongoing challenge is to continue to manage the competing political groups that contest its autonomy, ranging from aid donors whose good governance agenda has specific political ramifications to competition from opposition parties, civil society's role as the poor's advocate and watchdog, the welfare and employment of the poor in urban and rural localities, the unquiet union with Zanzibar, the emergence or regional politics, and the effects of increasing inequality- though it must be said that the current administration has contributed significantly to the growth of the gap between kleptocrats and ordinary civilians.

“In order to succeed in growing its economy and redistributing the benefits of such growth, its greatest economic asset remains its overall political stability. So far there is every indication that the ruling party is cognizant of the importance of the continuity provided by the stable political system of which it has been the main architect”

It is worth repeating here that the current President has remained staunch in his avoidance of straight autocracy. With a Party chairman willing to exercise a bit of authority in order to retain as much of the spirit of 'public good' as he can manage, CCM has proved itself to be the chameleonic, learning organization that is smart enough to follow the winds of change. And as long as it is willing to flex and adapt to the times, however small the adjustments may be, then Tanzania retains a fighting chance, which is entirely different from the chance to fight. There is something to be said for that, and it is a lesson that I hope opposition parties are paying attention to."

It's a mix of old and new as I blended some predictive Poli-Sci writings from about six years ago with commentary on the current behaviors of the GoP. CCM has managed for 40 years to adapt in a pragmatic way to contemporary demands... and I see it doing that for a good long time to come. And yes, I do think that's a good thing. But I still refuse to get that party card :)

Three Weeks in October

So I just spent three extremely intensive weeks co-facilitating a course on social media for social change. Yup, helping do-gooding meddlers improve their communications strategies so that they can reach your mind, your heart and your wallet through the internet as well as traditional media. Empowerment, behavior change and social justice driven by the interwebs- you're excited, neh?

Of course- and I should have known this- turning a passion into work was wonderful. It also meant that I burned off my fun faculties and have had to take a media fast for the week. I think yesterday was the first day I comfortably got online and bushwhacked my way through the gmail inbox (only 40 unread emails, down from 400!). I like to keep a clean inbox, it calms me down. But back to the issue at hand: facilitating the adoption of social media for professional usage.

The best thing about this is how wide open the field is. Total playtime: there are formulae and best practices, but because this is social media they have to be customized and localized. There is a strong element of selection, design and creativity in social media that can only be 'learned' through use and individual strategy. That was the point of the course actually: to help the participants become social media stewards* for their organizations and then draft up as comprehensive a strategy as they could using free socmed platforms to enhance their work. That part went better than expected, but several of the participants raised a very relevant question that is still bothering me. What's the point when hardly anyone has access to the internet in the first place? We're talking developing SSA countries here, hardly connected to themselves let alone the internet.

This chart was supposed to contain all forms of media that we could think of. I knew we'd hit the jackpot when people threw in talking drums next to iPhones. Media is indivisible from its technology.

Made me toss and turn, that. Inappropriate technology? Was this course just jumping on yet another NGO world trend (socmed is SO HOT right now)? It's not like Tweeting will guarantee safe childbirth, or better pastoralist-agriculturalist relations. However, isn't that a bit like asking television to solve world hunger? A little perspective here: social media are just a communications tool like any other, enhanced by the fact that "target audiences" are not passive consumers of your grand ideas, they are active partners in a conversation and potential allies in action.

Here's the thing though: social media is riding in nicely on the wave of technology. Due to technology leapfrogging and our increasing prosperity in the next five to ten years there's going to be a lot more 3G phones, WiFi spots and assorted accoutrements in the hands of Africans than the poverty-obsessed would like to admit. It is politic, I think, to start creating the foundations for this form of literacy and world citizenship now lest we create a class of left-behinds out of a questionable desire to be 'relevant'. Local realities are always in flux, and when an NGO worker starts talking 'relevance' it too often means that someone is about to be heavily patronized. I don't happen to see any problem with discussing equitable access to technology as well as clean water, and reasonable food prices. Simultaneously.

So yes indeed: what's the point of being a social media pusher in SSA when there's Al Shabaab and drought and run-away petroleum prices to contend with? Ask me again in ten years, hey. But I'll give you a hint: Nokia gets it. Google's found a clue. M-Pesa, Ushahidi, the list grows on. Social media is a wonderfully capacious bandwagon, it's probably not a bad idea to get as many people on there as possible. Yes, even Africans.

A New World Order: Occupy Yourself First.

Lots of high profile people have kicked the bucket this year, haven't they? It's like the globes social polarities are in flux. Ghaddafi's death, thinking about Libya and governance and the challenges facing African countries in the coming decade or so has got me all twisted up in political theory again. Don't laugh, but I have been wandering around Wikipedia's political portal in a kind of shopping spree. Picking an ideology has been even harder than choosing a political party* : libertarian socialism, or anarcho-communism? Does egalitarianism make my behind look fat? Does Civil Rights come in summer colors? How does one combine the absolute freedom of choice of the individual with social justice and the welfare and functioning of the collective? Quandary.

There is only one thing I am sure of, and that is that African citizens need to go active and keep claiming their rogue governments. Coming to an East African near you:

"There is no Peer Review Mechanism, Treaty or African Leadership Prize that can address this level of social organization, let alone influence it. Those schemes, perhaps they are effective but from the bottom looking up they reek of technocratic impersonality, removed from the sugar and salt of daily life. Tanzania, for example, is hardly new to the idea of peaceful presidential transitions: we're on our fourth administration and counting down towards the fifth when we may or may not flirt with changing parties. But even in this relatively stable environment it, is clear that there is deep crisis of faith brewing. We are looking for someone or something to believe in, and clearly the Big Man model is severely compromized in an age of increasing transparency, affluence and access."

One good read I have enjoyed on the Ghaddafi story is this sideways glance from Charles Onyango-Obbo talking about how the revolution will be Tweeted. Watching journalism cope with new media has been absolutely riveting. Heh.

And then, there is the Occupy movement. We have a local activist trying to get it off the ground in Dar es Salaam- as of last Friday I believe. The resounding silence has been... instructive. I threw a comment up on there, let's see if the blogsite is dead or alive. To readers who have been saying the revolution is necessary and just around the corner etc... what do you make of this? After all, Occupy is a global movement now. Can it work in Bongo? I'd say we need to Occupy ourselves long before it makes sense to Occupy anything else, but I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Three Opinions From Outside of This Box

There's a nice little culture of informed dissent fomenting in the online TZ intellectual life these days. Here are three recent independent pieces that provided some solid critiques and alternative perspectives:

Jason Lakin of the International Budget Partnership takes exception to the "political will" explanation for what really creates political change: at least as applied to politicians. While I don't think all politicians are devoid of the capacity to serve the greater good, I think he's right to call out civil society on our willful blindness to the mechanics of political change in favor of fuzzy ideals and easy catch-phrases:

Consider recent events in India: Anna Hazare, public crusader, ended his hunger strike a couple of weeks ago after persuading parliamentarians to strengthen an anti-corruption Bill. For 12 days, Hazare did not eat. Large numbers of Indian citizens took to the streets to support his cause. And then, parliament capitulated. Did parliamentarians suddenly discover their missing “political will”? They did not. They discovered instead the will of Indian voters.

Omar Ilyas takes exception to Chadema's recent political activities and the unholy mess they are trying to create in our political culture. It has to be said, I concur with him and have been waiting for exactly this kind of focused critique of Chadema's strategy. I want to like this party (although they are Conservative) and I am trying to respect the handful of keen minds that they have put in parliament. My MP is in league with this band of agitators. I think many of us are having to pull away because their actions are long past indefensible and heading towards threatening. If this party wants to reclaim its quality support, Omar's first paragraph pretty much says it all. This is about defending a political culture that has taken us decades to perfect: (apologies: its too pretty to translate into English and I am too lazy this morning. Please for to ask the Google Translate):

"Matukio ya hivi karibuni ambayo yamefanikiwa kupata nafasi ya juu katika vyombo vya habari kuhusiana na Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) yamenijengea mtazamo kuwa ili CHADEMA kushinda katika safari ndefu iliyonayo kama mtawala mbadala kinapaswa kushindwa sasa."

Hafiz Juma of the TEDxDar team- and Chairman of the Dar es Salaam Beard Afficionado Club- responds to M.G. Vassanji's recent article on what's going on with Tanzania. Just to give you a little taster, because there's a lot more where this comes from and you might need the dictionary in your Dashboard:

"There is a glossing over of historical context to the point of obtuse condescension as well as a misleading representation of everyday realities and governance processes demonstrated through confounding contradictions that periodically appear in the prose. This is not intended to be an admonition but rather a critical examination (albeit a meek one) of what I feel to be a skewed perspective."

The Weekly Sneak: Reverend Mtikila Sues Again

Opps: sorry folks, I had to repost this after taking off the link to Christopher Mtikila's Wikipedia page. I lazily didn't read before linking and so did not realize it was hostile.

True confession: when I was a sapling, my secret ambition was to work for the government when I grew up. I still experience twinges of envy when I come across civil servants, and have to force myself not to question them to death about what work is like. The good ones never really tell you anything anyways- you have to pry stuff out of them with a crowbar and a bottle of whiskey.

And while I love politicians the way Premier League fans love their star footballers, I have a whole other level of awe that I reserve for good career public servants. It has been more than a little frustrating watching how the past couple of generations of civil servants have succeeded at killing the 'profession' in Tanzania. Of course it isn't all of them, but must such an overwhelming majority of civil display contemptible behavior? We the people are exhausted and apathetic thanks to their shenanigans. I place the blame squarely on the shoulders of one Mzee Ruksa, who softly led us into the land of laissez-faire. Lovely man, but really.

From time to time, I have to forcibly resuscitate my belief in the whole national project thing. The good Reverend Mtikila is unfailingly helpful in this regard. I love that the good Reverend keeps our Judiciary exercised by making a persistent nuisance of himself. He is at it again, this time suing them for trying to sell off their own offices. Not all great public servants are paid by the state :) Coming this week to an East African near you:

"Dar es Salaam recently lost the wonderful Nyumba ya Sanaa which had the ill fortune of being placed next to... a historic, flashily refurbished hotel currently incarnated as the Movenpick. There is a pattern here- obviously unique old buildings shouldn't be placed anywhere near hotels as they seem to attract a strange kind of predation. What makes the Forodhani Hotel case particularly distasteful is that the Kilimanjaro is proposing to put in a parking lot. Of all things, the judiciary is willing to give up this historic space in favor of a parking lot? This is exactly the kind of decision that exasperates citizens. If the highest legal authority in the land is not nuanced enough to understand the ramifications of such a decision, who knows what else they get horribly wrong?"

The Passions of Old Soldiers

So with the fall of Ghaddafi, my interest in the peculiarities of African despots has been reignited. One of the duties of an accomplished African despot is to develop a quirk that is so...so... well, that it leaves observers speechless. It is hard to outdo the ones who have gone before, between Mobutu and Bokassa the standard has been set extremely high. But this is a vast continent with many countries and there are plenty of interesting behaviors to be observed. Obvious things like gold fixtures in the palace bathrooms are de rigueur and cannot win you points- one must aim for originality where possible.

Not all artistic yearnings must be vulgar either: I just found out today by eavesdropping on some folks' Twitter conversation that Museveni apparently sings to his cattle*. And that he does so slightly ineptly. The thing about despots is that you have to resist the urge to humanize them because then you start rolling down the slippery slope of empathy... but this is a rather appealing hobby to have. Not to mention stylish: it takes a certain cultural refinement to embrace difficult and dying old artforms. Sigh.

Ghaddafi, on the other hand. What a disappointment. It's like we've seen this movie before: the tasteless palace, the defiant son, the delusions of grandeur, the parting of company with reality. For a guy who has literally pitched his tent everywhere to the delight of people who appreciate small acts of defiance, I was expecting something really rather interesting. But not this interesting. Ghaddafi's crush on Condoleeza Rice was... is... wow. And here I thought the Jheri Curl was the worst of it.

A man's image cannot survive certain revelations about his character.

*Cattle singing is a gorgeous old practice with a whole history behind it and I have always wanted to know more. Anyone know of resources out there?

"Watch This Space"

I wanted to write a post on the democratic phenomenon happening on Twitter and the segue into a musing on social media and politics. There is a group of tech-savvy politicians on Twitter who regularly engage in very candid conversation with civilian tweeps on a variety of topics... but then Rakesh got there first, and says it better :) Especially the part about technology serving people and not the other way around. This an obvious point, and I am always amazed by how it can get lost in the noise of techlove around social media.

I would probably raise one or two other issues, such as the fact that the political dialogue in question is an actual dialogue: ie. not too much PR/managed prepackaged messaging going on here. This fosters an environment of fragile trust in which any question can be asked and any topic raised within the limits of propriety. It makes for a special relationship with leaders and provides an excellent platform for extremely vigorous discussion. I would seriously encourage other TZ politicians to explore that method of connecting with their peeps.

Between us: it is the worst time- politically speaking- to say anything nice about Jay Kay. I just watched a fellow blogger get slaughtered on Jamii Forums and Michuzi for doing exactly that. And Lord knows I give the man grief on a regular basis. But I do it only because Jay Kay has encouraged, through his personal style of presidency, an unprecedented level of free expression. Is it a perfect situation? Not by a long shot. Will it survive his presidency? Who knows? Whatever failures of leadership he might suffer from, Jay Kay isn't a fake populist. The man genuinely appears to have some love for all 45+ million of his unpredictable, occasionally bad-tempered people. It is inexplicable, but admirable. As admirable as his taste in ankle boots.

Anywho, there might be an article lurking in there somewhere. ePolitics. Watch This Space ;)

The Weekly Sneak: African Social Intelligence

The UK riots, eh? Who could have predicted that? Well, most social scientists, actually. Here's a great post that gives a brief breakdown of the circumstances leading up to the explosion we just saw. I imagine this is just the beginning- like Columbine spawned a series of copycat crimes, this youth-anger-slash-and-burn method of social protest might just gain legitimacy as a form of "revolution." Look what happened after the Arab spring: a global obsession with reproducing the phenomenon.

Well (expletive deleted) that. While I am all for cultural exchange, I am decidedly a cultural relativist, and in many ways a total Afrocentric conservative. And this ka-"youth culture" that is emanating from the American mediatainment industrial complex has created a global fetishization of youth that I often find completely abhorrent. Women's magazines horrify me with their sexualized emaciated prepubescent children passing as supermodels, hip hop terrifies me with its vastly unchecked misogyny, violence and consumerism... anorexia, bulimia, self-hatred, botox, cutting, rioting, plastic surgery, preserved Hollywood celebrities who pervert our notions of what a forty- or fifty- year old looks like in real life... young Tanzanian women with perfectly beautiful pear shapes worrying about whether they are skinny enough or not...

Some aspects of what passes for "modernity" can just go straight to hell as far as I am concerned.

Too long it has been desirable (expected, frankly), for Africans to look Westward and Northward and take our cues from there. We have internalized this message, unfortunately. I can see it in the Facebook updates of people demanding that we bring violent means of conflict resolution to Tanzania to change our internal relations of power. That this is said with no irony whatsoever (violence in the service of... peace? in Tanzania of all places?) makes me wonder how self-aware we are as Tanzanian youth. Also, just how much world history we understand...

Anyways, I do think we've got something precious that apparently the UK could use more of. I call it Utu, although it goes a little bit beyond that. So this week, I took the UK riots as a jumping-off point to say to my peers: yeah, we got problems. But let's step away from all the cultural and political copycatting and handle our business like some well-raised, intelligent, self-aware Tanzanians. If we don't, we'll only end up in the same tight spots when its our turn to be called Elder. And won't that be a bitch to explain? The UK riots are the horrible lesson we don't have to live through to learn.

"Which leads me to the notion of respect for elders. This one is a double-edged sword: anyone who has spent five minutes watching Bunge TV will know that age does not automatically confer good sense, wisdom or even good manners. Sometimes drastic measures are needed to discipline our elders when they misbehave, since the worst of them believe complacently that age will protect them indefinitely from critical scrutiny. However, even as angry youth we cannot afford to ignore the ways in which our society provides for inter-generational conversation and mutual support in the things that matter. Those who have walked before us do know one or two lessons about life that are worth learning, wisdom does have its place in life."

Besides, we have a legacy to respect here. Mwalimu was barely in his thirties when he took command of a new country and foxed his way through the Cold War to protect a fledgeling country from predation. Most of his cadres were hardly old enough to shave. I can bet you that the previous generation didn't earn us the international reputation we enjoy by being hot-headed dingbats. Yeah, youth is cool, but maybe we can learn a thing or two from the old revolutionaries. They actually earned their stripes.

Oh, yeah. So this is for the EA. Which is owned by the Aga Khan, a mzee poa if there ever was one (and he started out pretty young). I expect to be thoroughly caned for my conservatism this time around :)

Weekly Sneak: Customize Your State

Every so often I have this recurring discussion: is Tanzania really a democracy or is she not? Reason being, we've had the same party in power since independence in spite of nearly two decades of multi-party rule. I get the premise- a change in party is a good measure of the robustness of a democracy, or its maturity. While I agree that this is not something that will happen in Tanzania anytime soon, that one measure* is no reason to go pretending we don't live in a democracy. It just needs a bit of tweaking. Anyways, this argument never fails to make me indignant. So of course I rushed back to my keyboard and pounded out another take on a familiar theme: polities are quite individualistic entities. You can't prescribe universal measures of democracy or change without looking at the reality of the political structure in question... and in Tanzania, we have a rather unique set of circumstances:

"This is a measure of how good we have it- we think that we can afford our complacency. Tanzanians know that we don’t have to take to the streets in order to effect change. We can and regularly do talk ourselves into it, however incremental it is. Multiparty politics have done us a world of good in the past decade: the political competition in Bunge is starting to weed out the weak, Zanzibar is coming along quietly as an experiment in power-sharing. We need not fear that Jay Kay will do anything ridiculous to try to stay in power indefinitely, like pretending not to know how old he really is. We can afford to anticipate a change in administration, and we can afford to let complaint be our main method of political action. But we shouldn’t end there."

I do find that the positive political articles are not particularly popular on the blog or in print- readers love a good rant, I guess we all have the taste for blood. And the macro-level stuff really tends to make eyes glaze over :) Well, sometimes I feel optimistic and it will be interesting to see if this one sinks or swims in next week's East African.

*Seriously, folks: we're not Europe. We're not America. Deal with it. And the quest for a political party that is not embarrassing to belong to goes on...

The King's Diary: Allowances Rock.

Dear Me:

With great bemusement do I follow the debate about allowances in Parliament. So much ado about nothing!

Widespread reliance on allowances is a cornerstone of the TKP’s rule. The ability to hand out allowances at will creates loyalty. Lower cadres are motivated to follow their bosses in the expectation of being ‘rewarded’ with the opportunity to attend a lucrative workshop. Bosses, in turn, are loyal to their superiors for fear of losing attractive benefits associated with foreign trips and positions on the boards of parastatals or high level working groups. Allowances thus create obedience and allow dissent to be easily spotted and punished.

The downside of the TKPs reliance on allowances is that a culture has emerged where work evolves around creating opportunities for yet another workshop, training or trip. Delivering services has become of secondary concern. Loyalty clearly comes at a price. A price the TKP is happy to pay by the way.

The culture of allowances is so widespread that these days even university students demand allowances to ‘sit’ for lectures. The benefits are so lucrative that civil society –those who constantly moan and groan about the TKP, remain silent on this issue. They prefer to benefit from its spoils rather than to address it.

The power of allowances in forging loyalty to the TKP is well illustrated by the inability of opposition MPs to make any real progress on the issue. They make a lot of noise, certainly, but that is about it. This is what makes the current debate so amusing. Only one extravert youngster has dared to state publicly that he prefers not receive the allowances due to him since he is already paid! No other person has joined him. No MP, no journalist and no NGO employee!

Another great thing about allowances is that most expenses are covered by our foreign friends: the donors. In their mistaken belief that services are not delivered because our civil servants lack ‘capacity’ they organize a never-ending stream of workshops and training events. And in their zeal to show ‘results’ they pay civil servants to attend, so that their events are well visited. In this way service delivery continuous to be undermined creating even more need for ‘capacity building’. I love it. It allows the TKP stays in power while spending huge amounts of other people’s money.

Sneak Preview, Again

I kind of had fun with the article preview last time, and My Lady of the Anticipating Smiles said she enjoyed it. So here is another sneak preview. Coming next weekend to an East African near you, some more budget talk and a little nostalgia:

"Ten years ago this would have been impossible to imagine: few of us under the previous regimes had a clue about what these parliamentarians of ours did with themselves. They were like exotic birds who migrated to roost in a mythical capital far, far away from Dar called Dodoma several times a year, where they would coo at each other in a language we weren’t likely to understand. The national budget was an even more obscure undertaking than Bunge, and something that we were happy to leave to the ones in charge. After all they supposedly knew exactly what they were doing. That must have been such a fantastic time to be a politician. Sure, you were likely poor but then you commanded respect."

Ah. Those single-party days must have been like some kind of golden past for the old cadres, eh? People bowing and scraping and "Mheshimiwa"-ring you to death everywhere you went. Nothing like these days when uncouth youth say silly things about you on the intertubes and nip at your heels in the newspapers. Damn those liberal democrats!

This Writing Life: How Bloggers Can Cheat

Hello! Sorry about the silence, total inspiration collapse in the past few days. I have a sneak preview for you, as a peace offering. Well, it is only kind of a sneak preview since I reheated some leftovers for The East African in an effort not to blow my deadline. Barely squeaked through. But since I did cross-post between the two platforms, here's a bit of what's coming for budget week:

"Every year during the pre-budget frenzy, the conversation is usually being held far above the civilian’s head. Civil society watchdogs want the government to do this or that particular thing, the donors suspect that something fishy is going on but are prevented by the rules of international relations from saying so directly, and the government is busy performing a very delicate and graceful balancing act to keep everybody happy- especially itself. The Tanzania Revenue Authority is the only institution that cares quite directly about the taxpayer, and that is the one institution that nobody wants anywhere near them."

The idea originally was to do a riff on the famous "death and taxes" statement and then somehow stuff other subjects into the article- donors and their role in our governance structures, what does it mean when civilians are treated as recipients and not really seen as healthy contributors to the national project, civil society's watchdogging, individual agency, and the fact that nobody willingly pays public officials- especially when you know that your government is corrupt...

But, you know, it's only 800 words. I had to get a grip on reality.

Truth be told, I find blogging much easier that columning. Blogging is relaxed, like throwing on a favorite pair of jeans and a crisp white t-shirt. Writing a column, on the other hand, is like constantly panicking about your business formal attire. This week, I caved in and reworked an old blogpost idea for the column, which I suppose is like wearing the white t-shirt under your jacket and pairing sneakers with your pinstripes. I'm sure it'll happen again, when the deadline is breathing down my neck. So that explains the title of the post: this is how a blogger can get away with feeding her column reheated leftovers.

Technically speaking, it is not exactly a cheat. People do it all the time- recycle the same content across various outlets. It has it's uses, but in principle I'm not a fan since I am obsessed by the idea of Original Content. One of the writers whom I admire tremendously offers OC across a mind-boggling number of platforms. And if I ever grow up, I want to be just like that.

Morning Constitutional

I was trying to squeeze the last drops of sleep out of my Saturday morning when The World's Best Housekeeper switched on the radio. And just like that I was up and out of bed: someone was discussing the constitution! To be precise, ITV and Radio One were broadcasting the second discussion on the proposed Bill to review the constitution that's going to appear in Bunge Anytime Now. They are holding these debates at the University of Dar es Salaam, and Nkrumah Hall was overflowing with young men and the odd young woman. The front rows held all the usual suspects: a row of professors, lawyerly types, opposition politicians and other famous talking heads.

Happy days. It's easy to focus on what's not functioning in a system, makes for better copy most of the time, but the truth is that part of this blog's work is to document (haphazardly) the democratic evolution of this one African polity. We're doing alright, yeah. I don't think my parent's generation was personally invested in the constitution in their day- these were not matters that plebs discussed when there was Nyerere to tell us how to think and what to do and when to do it. My generation does not have that luxury, nor do we want it.

Which is why I had to roll out of bed- we're breaking new ground here. No Bananas and Oranges, no oversimplification, no donor-interests in the driver's seat. Just straight up talking about how we want the country to be run- that's the stuff of democracy. And it's happening at the hill. That's a quiet achievement worth celebrating.

No, we're not likely to pull a South Africa. If the constitution does get amended, I expect we'll have a lot of hair-pulling and name-calling left to do. As it is the Commission that is tasked with doing this review is working under dodgy circumstances, as Presidential commissions are wont to do- no transparency. The opposition parties are doing their fire and brimstone thing, obviously hoping that someone will give them a fight so that they can look like political martyrs. CCM- conspicuously, and wisely, absent. Quality of discussion: variable.

But all of these are expected hiccups on the road to a new and improved constitution. At least if we do this one thing and pass the Bill, the door will be opened up and we'll do more as time and public opinion dictates. My favorite part: this older gentleman stood up and pointed out that public servants have forgotten themselves and gone feral. How is it that we have allowed our public sector to run off unhinged and start dictating to We The People how things must be done? A complete perversion of the governance relationship if there ever was one. We are a democracy, after all and this babu had reminded us of a crucial truth.

Too often we forget that the government is here to serve us, and not vice versa.

I only have the one worry when it comes to this constitutional review thing: freedom of expression. Watching the discussion, it is obvious that the moderator is trying to control the crowd so that nothing too offensive gets said. On the one hand, this is fine: courtesy by all means. On the other hand, the moderator is stifling contributors. It's a fine balance and I don't know if he's getting it right. I'm watching a young man having a Live TV meltdown over his problems: cost of living, hard life, corruption. Very vigorous, but totally offpoint. Not to mention hysterical.

Ah well. At least we're talking, neh?

The King's Diary: Agriculture, First.

Dear Me

Almost two years ago the Agriculture Matters Initiative was launched. It has worked wonders. The Kingdom imported hundreds of tractors and sold them at throw-away prices to those we owe for their support during the elections. We’re inviting plenty of large scale investors to buy big tracts of land (at a reasonable commission of course) and have introduced a fertilizer voucher scheme that generates very smooth pays offs to my people.

The Agriculture Matters Initiative has also helped keep the inquisitive donors at bay. As the Kingdom’s homegrown plan to address poverty, their rhetoric of country ownership leaves the foreigners little choice but to embrace the initiative. Even the smarter foreign sponsors who smell a rat (after all which country asks the business sector to develop its poverty reduction strategy?) prefer to ignore the initiative’s inconsistencies in the interest of good relations.

Now that our self-promoting scheme is bearing ‘results’ and paying my supporters handsomely, complaints crop up. The other day an academic argued that the credit window of the Agriculture Matters Bank is not pro-poor because it only allows loans of at least Kingdom Shillings 100 million, a massive amount. Well, of course, the amount is massive. These loans are meant for my supporters; not for peasants! It was a great move to state that small cultivators should organize themselves into groups to qualify for the loans. They’ll never manage to do that.

While I will deal with the academic who raised the loan issue, the fact that people start to express concern demonstrates the need to be careful. I should avoid that the Agriculture Matters Initiative creates dissent amongst my most loyal power base: smallholder farmers. It seems that the Initiative creates fear of being displaced from agriculture, their livelihood, because of losing their land to land grabbing large-scale investors.

The remarks by the former Secretary General of the United World, who leads another large scale agriculture initiative, were helpful. He stated that “responsible large scale farming systems can play an important role in directly supporting small farmers through technical advice, transfer of new technology and support and access to markets”. Maybe I can tell my supporters to change tack a bit and make sure that in addition to enriching themselves, also peasants benefit. And possibly I can hear more from the former Secretary General when he visits the Kingdom: he really seems to understand our situation.

23 March 2011

* A quick apology: this post is terribly late as I have been lax in my blogging lately. As punishment The King has given me a manual lawn mower and ordered me to clear up the Ikulu grounds. I guess it's better than the dungeons.

Fresh Catch From the Webtrawler

I need to close some tabs on the browser again, so let me get this post done. And if you sent in a link, thank you. You know who you are. Anyways, here's the most recent catch of interest from the Intertubes:

From the world of development: I love that sometimes when you have a tiny idea and you can't quite articulate it... someone out there is more likely than not to have done a bit of thinking and writing on it that elucidates. Anyways, I have long ribbed economists for hogging more than their fair share of the development discourse and made the argument that we need more social scientists. Here is an excellent example of social science work with real ramifications. And here is a very nice piece about politics and development. This here is a more general discussion of interdisciplinary and culturally appropriate approaches to development.

In other news, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie had this to say about Nigerian politics and the lead up to their upcoming elections. I like her writing and I wish the article had been a bit longer.

From the wild and whacky world of social media: how has Twitter changed our political behavior? I would say that this article overstates things a bit, but it's got nice graphs. Speaking of pretty pictures: here is an effort from the Uwezo/Twaweza complex that certainly gives food for thought. It's a great site for playing around with info, but remember to keep an eye out as they do herd you towards some very obvious conclusions...

Another group of people seeking to influence your mind are... you guessed it! The US military is on a Facebook page near you! Lol. I love the way the science fiction of my youth and the realities of my adult life seem to be coming together nicely. Truth? Fiction? Can you tell anymore? Am I even alive? Maybe I'm a web-app. But do I dream of electric sheep?... I could do this all day :) And so the week starts...

The King's Diary: Political Conundrums.

Dear Me

For almost seven years I have tirelessly worked to deliver a better life to my subjects. But I seem to have failed. Problems I faced when I came to power such as electricity rationing, delays at the port, traffic congestion, a malfunctioning railroad, backward agriculture and an untrained and unskilled population remain unresolved. Other things are getting worse: food prices are skyrocketing, the Treasury is out of cash and one of the donors has walked out on us calling the Kingdom “an unreliable partner”. More may follow. Meanwhile TKP officials continue to line their pockets without delivering anything, the opposition is getting more vocal and citizens are getting restless. This is an explosive situation! As leader I need to find a solution and restore the TKPs legitimacy.

I came across an interesting book by Richard Hofstadter that seems to speak to our precarious situation. It discusses party history in the Great Imperialist Nation. Like us, the Great Nation struggled with its opposition, and like the TKP, the incumbent party was set to destroy the opposition by all means. They even succeeded, but when they did the remaining party fell into disarray. During the Era of Good Feeling (1816-1824) the party ruled virtually unchallenged and fell into several factions that failed to work together. Without external pressure toward solidarity, internal disintegration was unchecked.

How much this resembles our situation. The TKPs power is virtually unchallenged. Could it be that because there is no incentive to compromise and accommodate one another, TKP big wigs fall out in different factions and interest groups and fail to collaborate?

If correct then going after the opposition will not result in triumph but in chaos. Should we stop fighting the opposition and allow them space to compete? Should we allow them to demonstrate and to highlight TKP weaknesses? It could drive TKP members to greater solidarity. Should we allow them to win constituencies of non-performing MPs? It will certainly prune the TKP of its weak members and entice others to work harder. Hmmm.... interesting thought. Could it really help restore the TKP’s glory? I need to think this over.

14 March 2011

The King's Diary: Education and Tracking the Opposition

Dear Me,

Inspired by the Arab protests, the opposition keeps calling for change. Do they realize who they are challenging? I cannot allow anyone to threaten my position. Already I instructed my ministers to denounce the opposition whenever possible. I also told the police to keep a close eye on them and to harass them whenever they can.

I am sure the opposition has heard me, but I am not sure whether they have listened. If they do not come to their senses, I fear I will have to resort to violence to calm them down. Meanwhile I'll keep beating the instability drum by publicly stating that the opposition threatens peace in the Kingdom. If I cannot scare the opposition into submission, I should still be able to make my subjects believe that only the TKP can guarantee stability! We simply have to remain in power.

While it is necessary to protect my position, by treating the opposition harshly we might be putting wind in their sails. Citizens always tend to sympathize with the underdog. And as long as deep dissatisfaction continues to run through my Kingdom, the opposition is likely to prey upon it.

Take education for instance. Parents no longer accept the argument that the TKP brought them schools. They expect their kids to learn. On this count statistics presented to me in confidence are worrisome: 23% of teachers are not in school on any given day and when in school, teachers spend half their time outside the classroom. As a consequence children are only taught 2 hours and 04 minutes a day! Instead of the 5 hours. It’s a miracle some still manage to pass their exams.

Meanwhile the Ministry of Education pays all teacher salaries in full and on time. Of course they do, I insist on it to ensure a large loyal TKP cadre across the Kingdom. I wonder though whether time has come to demand more from the teachers than loyalty alone. Maybe I can talk to the Teacher Union and convince them to tell their members to teach as well. In addition, I could demand headmasters to closely track teacher performance. And I could order 10 household leaders to monitor headmasters and inform the TKP about it. Hmmmm.... I like it. It strengthens our control, won’t cost a penny and might defuse the popular unrest a bit.

07 March 2011

Still Perfecting Regime Change Half a Century into Post-Colonialism

Watching what's going on in Libya, with Muammar Qaddafi slaughtering his own citizens, and the aftermaths of elections in Uganda and Cote d'Ivoire amongst other places, it is hard to believe that so many Africans are having to fight for their liberty... again. The irony is that the worst offenders on the continent seem to be former "liberators" of their countries. Kagame, Uncle Bob, Qaddafi, Museveni. Even in countries where elections are held, it seems that handing over power is a difficult thing to do.

What does this mean for Tanzania? I tend to look to South Africa rather than our neighboring countries* in order to try and imagine a potential political trajectory. Although the question has been kicked around here and there, I really can't imagine the North African/Middle East revolts reproducing themselves here. We're too differently organized, and there isn't a Grand Unified Cause yet to bring Tanzanians together across the country in solidarity to overturn a system as deeply entrenched as the CCM political structure. Besides, our Presidents don't make particularly good targets seeing as they respect their term limits, which means the goalposts are moving every ten years or so. Which means you have to target the whole party. Which is damn hard to do.

South Africa (specifically the ANC) has made some interesting choices in it's recent political life. The post-Madiba Presidents have come with incredible liabilities attached: Mbeki mishandled the HIV/AIDS issue with surprising incompetence, and then there's Jacob Zuma who has, with the help of his protege Malema, made a joke of the Party. Corruption, failure to deliver services as promised to the poor majority, a visible income gap growing between the BEE class and regular folks who have no access to kickbacks. Sound just like home :) Since the ANC, like CCM, is not the personal fiefdom of one crazed old freedom fighter but is rather made up of several groupings of ambitious power-brokers, no one is going to get a chance at leading the country until The Establishment is well and truly ready to give in.

We've proved by the ballot that we are quite comfortable continuing with a CCM government, no matter what the more vigorous malcontents might say in the press. I guess most of us are quite pragmatic that way: better the devil you know. Judging by the way our opposition is behaving on the mainland- Zanzibar is exempted as a GNU- we're obviously not ready for a party change here. And if you think we are, I ask you to consider this: if the formal opposition in Parliament has been unapologetically hogged by one opposition party with no remorse for alienating its natural allies, what will they get up to when they have access to all the public monies and the power that comes with government?

I don't doubt that there will come a day when even the idea of a CCM government will be untenable, and a viable alternative will present itself. It's even possible that we'll change parties without any loss of life or property in this idyllic future. In the meantime, there's a lot of groundwork to be done by the citizenry, and not the political class, to foster an environment where Tanzanians feel personally invested in and capable of contributing to the country. I believe the term is active citizenship? I live in hope.

BTW, despots are usually easy to spot: they tend to cultivate colorful, bizarre habits. Qaddafi's Jheri Curl hair products have obviously pickled his brain due to long use. Never, ever, ever tolerate a leader who looks like an escapee from the Koffi Olomide School of Manly Beauty. Or one with a fly whisk/animal print hat/ white handkerchief/vegetarian with a predilection for twins/dandy tendencies/fondness for the White Hunter look...

*I think we have a few more political similarities with SA than we do with our fellow EAC countries, actually. Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda apparently don't really do peaceful regime change, and Kenya seems to be looking for it's internal coherence with both hands and a flashlight. While I wish them the best and reluctantly agree that the EAC might have some economic utility, as a Tanzanian I want no part of the political federation scheduled for 2013...

The King's Diary: That Disappointment in Egypt...

Dear Me,

Some Great Arab Leaders were forced to flee their countries. What losers! To be ousted by youngsters with a desire for change but no real sense of purpose. Chaos will come from this. Not that it matters. New leaders will emerge and once they have established themselves, things will revert back to normal. Personally I am a bit concerned, though, as I would hate to have to give up my job.

Many of the elements that ignited the mass movement in the Arab Nations are present in my Kingdom today. The TKP just celebrated 50 years in power and while the TKP brought stability, people remain poor and repressed. And like in the Arab Nations, the Kingdom’s population is young, unemployed and unhappy about its lack of prospects.

But I have two things going for me:

1. The youth are badly educated
2. The youth are not connected to the internet all phone numbers have been registered: no anonymity in my Kingdom!

This will buy me some time. But sooner or later internet will become accessible to all. It might be wise to explore possibilities for censoring while I can. I learned that effective web filtering technology exists. Let’s test it out on porn and other filth on the internet under the guise of stopping moral decay. If it works satisfactorily, we can expand its reach to other areas.

Finally, my dangerous friend just expanded his power base by becoming the chair of the military oversight committee in parliament. If he really gets the support of the military he is well placed to become my successor. I better keep a close eye on him: he is great when loyal and a formidable adversary when not.

February 17, 2011