Protest Vote?

First things first: I am looking for a comprehensive, well-written, credible book on contemporary Tanzanian history (post-independence and as deep into the 21st century as possible) that is preferably Not a biography, autobiography or family history. If you can point me in the direction of one I'll be grateful.

There were a couple of interesting political stories in the news today. First, our Minister for Community Development, Gender and Children has been arrested and questioned by the Prevention for Corruption Bureau on allegations of electoral corruption in the Umoja wa Wanawake (CCM women's wing) polls in Tabora. My favorite part?

"...the suspects were arrested on Tuesday at around 1:55am at a guest house known as Camise situated in Cheyo A area, 100 meters from the regional PCCB office. "

It is good to see CCM women excel in numerous areas of Tanzanian public life, including the all-important practice of corruption. I wonder what the Speaker of the House thinks? Anyways, proponents of the theory that women will make "better" leaders because of gender traits like non-violence, listening skills and the propensity to place communal welfare above individual ambitions.. stop laughing, I'm trying to make a point here... might want to study Umoja wa Wanawake Tanzania.

Dr. Wilbrod Slaa, who was asked by Chadema to run as its presidential candidate, has received heroic support from his constituency. I wish them luck. I was debating his chances of winning this morning with a civil society friend and realized that I am likely to vote conservatively in the presidential race. Much as I admire the good doctor, and suspect that he will be a fiercely focused policy-maker, what's the point? A non-CCM president would be hamstrung in the current environment where the GoP is indistinguishable from government. However my friend did suggest that if nothing else, voting for Dr. Slaa would do two important things: let the government know how many people think he's a better choice than the incumbent, and deprive the incumbent of that vote.

The first point is dubious: being a brilliant mind and a focused, committed opposition member doesn't translate to being an effective president since effectiveness requires the cooperation of your government. The second point, that of the protest vote, is reasonable though risky- look what happened in 1995 when we nearly voted in (or did vote in, depending on who you ask) one Augustine Mrema. I have yet to meet anyone who isn't relieved that things didn't pan out for him and for Tanzania...

The biggest disappointment with multi-party politics has been our lackadaisical approach to institution-building. This is hardly astrophysics: if just one party had started out in 1995 with a canny vision to be implemented over the course of a decade or two, maybe CCM would actually be facing a credible threat. Instead here we are today still under the unbroken thumb of the Establishment. Under these circumstances it is difficult to take the opposition seriously. We need independent candidates to challenge the status quo.

Le sigh. I suppose the fact that there might be an alternative presidential candidate worth considering is a tentative step along our road to competitive democracy...

The Kawe Candidate Question

Ask the blogosphere and the blogosphere shall provide. Turns out that not only is Ms. Rita Mlaki not running for the Kawe constituency, Halima Mdee is :) High five @ shurufu for the retweet.

Baptism.

It took us about two minutes to walk the wending inner streets of Mikocheni and arrive at the primary school. The room was nicely signposted, the government officials as warm and polite as one is likely to get. I got my picture taken after the nice lady told me to sit up straight and then adjusted my bra strap so it wouldn't show. Decorum. I asked the nice registration man if he was okay with me taking pictures too. He was nervous but he consented. People are kind to you when you tell them that it's your first time.

The classroom was peaceful and quiet, a civic cathedral where we all sat on the same narrow wooden pews that children would fidget on tomorrow. Someone had left a lesson on the greenboard in beautiful cursive. Kwa. Kwe. Kwi. Kwo. Kwu. It only took me ten minutes and a few questions to get inducted into the Tanzanian diocese of the Church of Electoral Democracy.

I was born in Mwanza City, Bugando Hospital, same as my four siblings. I will vote in Mikocheni, Kawe, Kinondoni- same parliamentary constituency as my three siblings and two parents*. I was handed yet another photo ID encased in hard plastic. Like so many of the best moments in life, it was wonderfully mundane.

Walking back home, the colors seemed brighter and the crows less annoying. This afternoon, I shall cook and dine with my favorite political operative and my oh-god-i-have-to-deal-with-government-hand-holder-in-chief to celebrate. While buying some brew, I asked my Duka Guy if he'd registered. He laughed and said he'd done that long ago. Everyone around me seems to have voted before, and I feel a bit silly being so terribly excited about this.

I can't wait. Have a blessed Sunday.

*That is where the similarities end. We have far too much fun twitting each other over political choices to sing from the same hymn sheet.

Chauvinism? What's that?

This article hardly needs an introduction. Click the image to enjoy a larger scan. Do not drink coffee while reading, it will scald your nose on its way out.

Know Your Em Pee Continued: Polis could be better!

So. I have heard from a couple of people who were of the opinion that the piece of research put out by Uwazi/Twaweza/Whatever incarnation of a Hivos-supported initiative it is about MP performance in Bunge is at best a partial measure of performance, at worst a vapid piece of crap. I am of the former opinion because I like the fact that Uwazi made some use of Polis data to begin the examination of MP performance. Anyone can have an opinion about politics, but opinions are far more interesting when backed by empirical data.

And here I am on Polis trying to figure out how the heck to get more information on my MP because I agree that counting the number of Bunge session interventions during an MP's term in office doesn't tell us very much about said MP's actual utility. Case in point: lots of CCM MPs capitalized on the anti-corruption drive initiated by the opposition to spew copious amounts of hot air into the House and gain instant popularity via the media, Anna Kilango style, but there is little evidence of genuine belief in the cause. And just last week, I listened to Mzee Malecela (aka Mister Anna Kilango) justify the rejection of a bill reducing the President's executive powers on the basis that after God Almighty, he should be the ultimate authority in Tanzanians' lives. Fun couple.

This raises a question though- how to come up with a relatively solid measure of MP performance that incorporates indicators of quality, effectiveness, accessibility, etc (i.e. those hard-to-measure things). I found a project in this vein by the Canadians supported by the World Bank. Because I privilege particularism over universality in the pursuit of deep knowledge of a polity, I am more interested in a Tanzanian list of indicators of MP performance. I am neutral, it can include items like direct patronage to capture MPs like Rostam Aziz who support their constituency's development partly through the use of their very deep pockets. Ideas?

And on that note- special seats. I do believe we have a minimum of 75 seats in Parliament set aside for women, appointed at the discretion of their party. Affirmative action, Bongo style. Sadly for us Tanzanians, these "representatives" don't seem to be vigorous in the pursuit of anything other than their per diems. As a feminist, it drives me crazy to see so much wasted opportunity: 75 women in the august house and we're still not having a conversation about issues like our squirelly inheritance laws, high rates of schoolgirl pregnancy accompanied by low rates of impregnator convictions (there is a strong child abuse element to this phenomenon), prostitution and pornography (fine if you're an adult, not if you are a minor), entrenched sexual harrassment...

Imagine, if you will, that these appointed MPs are free to choose any issue to make their own on a national scale- the environment, education, taxation, constitutional law, etymology, corporate governance, whatever, without the weight of a constituency to drag them down. And still, they suck. I hope that there is a special place in hell for them.

Jay Kay has said several times that he intends to find a way to make the parliament more 'gender-balanced' than it is*. I support the sentiment Jay Kay, but before you start raping the constitution to do so, maybe you should focus the party's energies on appointing better women politicians to parliament. Lets start there.

*tokenism is not a solution, no matter how many tokens you appoint. And Polis: more difficult to work than it needs to be. I am still stuck somewhere in the antechamber.