A Woman For President?

On Wednesday, think it was anyways, I was idling on the couch watching TBC1 when a news story caught my eye. A camera man with palsied hands had been allowed to film the Tanzanian delegation (Minister of Defense plus retinue) that visited Dr. Asha Rose Migiro's offices in New York. The lady in question was dropping mad heavy hints about life after the UN, which she was saying would likely happen sooner rather than later.

And now, she has quit the Deputy Directorship of the United Nations to come home. The Twitterverse is rife with speculation about What It All Means, because as we know Tanzanian international bigwigs don't just "come home." No. Tanzanian international bigwigs repatriate With Intent, usually political. The question is, what are Dr. Migiro's intentions?

If there is one thing that I love about this polity, it is the fact that we respect our social contact for avoiding President-For-Life disease. With 2015 barrelling towards us at high speed, it is definitely time to start shopping for candidates and speculating about what the future should hold according to our diverse political beliefs. Our excited gossip around Dr. Migiro's career shift is indicative of at least one thing to me: we're that country that would just vote in a woman without sweating it.

Rumors about Dr. Migiro's potential as a President have been around for as long as Jay Kay has been a Celebrident himself. CCM has some wonderful internal training and succession mechanisms that tend to offer a bevy of beauties for national delectation when it comes to polling time. Well, that's if you are in the party. Actually, scratch that: who knows how democratic CCM's internal mechanisms are. But let's just say that Dr. Migiro's name is at least one star in a constellation that comes up during pointed political discussions of the speculative kind.

Just to fantasize constructively for a minute here, I hope that Dr. Migiro does have presidential aspirations. And if she does, I hope that she packs a mean punch and that she will bring out all her heavy weapons for the presidential battle because she'll need them. Lest you think that I am in favor of her just because she's a woman: you're only partially right. Tanzanian politics is full of women, most of whom I wouldn't pee on if their wigs caught fire. Gender, when it comes to presidency, is invariably trumped by quality.

In the past six months I have managed to lose faith in a lot of politicians whom I was passionate about. Friends have cause to tease me about my hopelessly naive belief in: Chadema, CUF, Mizengo Pinda, Jakaya Kikwete, Halima Mdee, just to mention a few who have broken my stupid heart. The good thing about that is, hello! Now I am free to fall into desperate adulation with other politicians. There are MPs out there who have no idea just how much of a fangirl I am. Dr. Migiro is kind of one of them.

That she is a capable and competent woman is not exactly news, and isn't even the main reason why I would love to see a Migiro presidency come to life. Intelligent and competent Tanzanians are as common as dirt, believe it or not. I think that what I like about her most is that she projects a bad-ass can-do managerial vibe. I know that there are people who want their Presidents to be Christian, or heterosexual, or Bantu or some other flimsy criterion. I don't care a whit for that. All I want from my President and number one public employee is overwhelming amounts of intellect, political acumen, agency and stone-cold republicanism. When I look around at the potential offerings, Dr. Migiro is definitely a step above other ambitious people who have me researching emigration schemes. The fact that she's a woman? That's the chocolate-raspberry coulis on that particular cupcake.

But it's all just speculation, isn't it? Yeah.

Politics and Media: The Party That Gagged Itself

The Establishment is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to political material to blog about. CCM has shown creativity in its campaign media strategy. However it recently earned itself the distinction of being the only party in Tanzania that is hostile to dialogue. That's right: a political party that is hostile to dialogue during the campaign season of a general election year. WWNT*?

A couple of weeks ago CCM forbade its candidates from participating in political debates. This blanket ban covers presidential, parliamentary and local government candidates and includes private and public media as well as political rallies. CCM has decided to do this during the 2010 elections that mark the dawn of both the media age and democratic competition in Tanzania. Stop laughing, I couldn't make up this kind of PR disaster if I was paid to do it.

There is no bigger gift that CCM could have given the opposition than their silence. These days, tune into the radio or any of the major TV stations and you are likely to trip over a political debate. The beauty of the exercise is that candidates are invited to these debates, deferring the costs of having to place ads and packaged messages to promote their manifestos. An opportunity that the opposition has embraced and CCM has chosen to ignore

A couple of nights ago, My Lady of the Sly Smiles called me to tune into ITV. Veteran journalist and agent provocateur Jenerali Ulimwengu was moderating a debate between youth candidates from the opposition at the Kilimanjaro Kempinski. Some of those candidates are very seriously impressive. One or two even displayed gravitas, a nice characteristic to have as a politician. The empty CCM spot stuck out like a missing tooth in a supermodel's smile. In protest, one older gentleman in the audience captured the mike and asked the GoP in absentia a rather irate question. Heh.

There is a saying that 'tis better to remain quiet and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt. Running for office must be the exception to the rule. Even in the public-image-driven US where a number of leaders have been superbly dense (Quayle, Bush II, Palin...), ways have been found to manage the situation. The same could be done, surely, at the presidential candidate level. For all his accessibility and genuine love of people, Celebrident Kikwete does NOT do spontaneous Q&A sessions with the press around. It is one of the wonderfully bizarre contradictions of President The Fourth's character, and his administration.

Through its gag-order, CCM is deliberately giving up on the most critical media, as Jiang Alipo points out:

"TV is even more intimate than the closed meetings they have which only die hard CCM members and leaders attend. A candidate explaining his/her policies on my TV screen is more intimate; it feels more like one is talking to me in my seating room. The good thing about TV debate is that we see the communication skills of the candidates, particularly those capable to debate issues and answer questions about important issues direct from the voters."

It may be that this decision is based on CCM's belief that it will win no matter what, that the opposition poses a negligible threat, and that voters are content to elect a party that does not respect their intellect. The implicit message is that CCM don't have to work for our vote, they just assume we'll give it to them. What a brave notion. Alternatively, the gag order is an act of sheer desperation. Maybe the Party believes that it will be used to mop the floor clean if it engages with the opposition and with voters in policy debates. If that's the case, I would have to encourage the Party to gird its loins. Better prove to be a fool in public than give off the pungent odor of political cowardice.

*WWNT= What Would Nyerere Think? Ruling parties are often prone to desperately bad PR decisions, but this one surely deserves a prize. The ghost of Mwalimu is probably crying at the sight of such political incompetence.

Despot Needed, Please Enquire Inside.

So, the people have spoken via a non-scientific blog poll and they have said loud and clear that they aren't too strongly attached to their personal freedoms. 50% of respondents are in favor of a benevolent dictatorship, two people want in on Perfect Steak Quest, two of you don't care how things get done so long as they are done, and one person is actually in favor of democracy (and the sole winner of the Mikocheni Report Virtual Hug Prize).

Seriously? I guess it is a good thing we're not having a referendum about this democracy business.

Still, I think that this year's elections are already proving to be extraordinary because of the heightened focus on the primary stages, the parliamentary candidates and local government elections. We're expanding and improving our democracy even as we express our discontent with it. Typical.

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.

The stories.

Teachers, eh. How awesome can they be? I was lucky enough to meet a wonderful old professor of African politics during my undergrad, who had come to Tanganyika in the 1960s as a fresh young political scientist. He came to observe the first elections of a newly independent African state. Met Julius Nyerere and everything. Told me a couple of stories during office hours as I was struggling to understand enough to be able to pass his class. About the sixties, about Nyerere, about the sheer hope that floated this continent of ours in the halcyon days before it all went to shit. Oh, those stories. I was hooked.

I have a "friend" who came by today. Our discussion was a typical one for Bongolanders- what started as a rant about the weather, the floods and the state of our infrastructure evolved into a discussion about politics, leadership and the elections. Nothing new there, but she did share this exceedingly interesting anecdote:

Her local councillor had dropped by the neighborhood sometime before Easter to encourage voters to sign up for a rather novel program. Basically, anyone who wrote down their name and voter registration number on his sign-up sheet would get a t-shirt and other freebies 'when the time comes.' And to hear her tell it, the other folks in the gathering were only too happy to hand over their names and voters' cards in anticipation of said t-shirts and future freebies. They like their councillor, he comes by to hang out from time to time. Prince of a guy. When my "friend" politely declined to take part in this, uh, 'program', she got called a few names.

Ah. So that's how it's done.

Firstly, can I just express my admiration for beautiful simplicity of the scheme. A low-cost, effective and non-coercive method of gathering, uh, 'support' long before the big day itself. Gorgeous piece of work, that. Still, there is a part of me that wonders what my old professor would say about this if he were to come by and observe our 2010 general elections. Nothing like the sixties, I imagine. I Imagine that we'd sit down for a cup of coffee as he breaks things down for me and helps me look underneath the hood, so to speak. I imagine that this time around I might have a couple of stories to tell him too about the lived realities of Tanzanian politics. Like the one about how a "friend" of mine unwittingly taught me a sweet method for purchasing votes several months ahead of the elections...

A Fine Romance, Part Two: Now That We've Caught Him...

...we can ask ourselves: what kind of Head of State have we subjected ourselves to? In the first musing about Jay Kay's presidential persona, I spent most of the post wondering at the reasons why we voted him into power so overwhelmingly five years ago. Whatever they were, we've had a decent period of time to observe him as an individual and test the mettle of his leadership.

There are probably as many opinions about the President as there are citizens. Certainly in the course of informally surveying folks the statements range from complete dismissal through to fierce loyalty. Not that he's a polarizing figure mind you, its just that if three Tanzanians are arguing a political issue you'll get at least five opinions out of them. I myself am a sympathizer: many little boys- and a couple of little girls- imagine that they will one day be President but very few have what it takes to make it happen, ergo Jay Kay is closer to Obama than George Bush on the individual agency/intellect scale.

Since CCM is going to be launching its marketing... I mean election campaign soon enough with a detailed enumeration of their 'successes' in the past five years, I'll just focus on the broader things that I think this President and his administration have done well:

- Fired people in high places. Prime Ministers, Bank Governors, Ministers, hapless District Commissioners and the rest of the smug untouchables: that was the sound of your impunity flying out the window. There is something to be said for setting such a Deeply. Satisfying. Precedent. Hell, one day we might even find someone guilty of corruption, but let me not get ahead of myself.

- Hired some good folks: The current Prime Minister, the Chief Justice, the head of TBC, the coach of the national football team to name a few of the easily visible ones. There is a something going on here. Considering his vast powers of appointment Jay Kay seems to be aiming for good recruits rather than simply rewarding his puppets, campaign funders, political allies and other presidential hangers-on, although naturally he must do that too.

- Done his bit for democracy. Vain he might be, but Jay Kay is not driven by the egotistical Bigmanism that continues to plague African heads of state. His occasional tantrums seem to be reserved for incompetence, as he generally faces vocal opposition and criticism with equanimity. This has served to set a tone: within boundaries, one can cast aspersions all over The Establishment which we obviously take advantage of, especially in the blogosphere. Since so much of democratic discourse relies on intelligently vocal malcontents, things are slowly looking up especially for local civil society. At heart, I suspect he genuinely believes in this whole public service, will-of-the-people stuff.* So long as you don't photoshop his face into a pornographic picture.

But on the flip side...

-Jay Kay and his crew of flyboys have glamorized politics. In keeping with our image-conscious, popular media-driven age, I know. Fleets of Beemers, billboards with His Grinning Beauteousness, performance politics...where is the decorum? I can't help but feel nostalgic for the stodgier times of yore when Tanzanian politicians had to keep it simple. We are going to feel the bite when CCM reaches deeply into the pocket of government to help along its bling-blinging election campaign.

- The money problem. Jay Kay was in Mkapa's cabinet for a decade before he became President, so all those fishy deals and grand corruption cases that we are grappling with now happened when he was around. There are all kinds of implications in that. Naturally, this diminishes the credibility of his anti-corruption campaign.

- That incredible travel schedule. International Community: stop sending him invitations to get honorary degrees, visit obscure Tanzanians Abroad societies, have a chat about securing more aid, toodle around factories, examine the charms of jamaican treetop tours or whatever else you have in mind. He can't resist. The man has itchy feet but it is costing us money and we need him at home. Besides, our Minister of Foreign Affairs is languishing in relative obscurity. Throw the man a real trip or three.

Sure, there's more issues to wade through but I am tired of hyperlinking and isn't this post long enough already? To summarize, IMHO Jay Kay is a pretty good fit for this moment in our political journey: a free-marketeer with a redistributive philosophy, a technophilic democrat, a canny executive and a patient, dedicated, opportunistic man of ambition who lacks the predatory instincts that make the Putins of this world so frightening. While I don't doubt that there are smarter, tougher, cannier men out there who would make 'better leaders,' all in all Jay Kay is at worst inoffensive and at best very useful, which is not a bad range within which to work with for a young African democracy.

*This is an interesting swing of the pendulum: Nyerere was a benevolent despot and intolerant of criticism (populist tendencies), Mwinyi was frankly far too phlegmatic (democratic tendencies), Mkapa was irascible and intolerant of criticism (misanthropic populist tendencies) and Kikwete really, really likes people in general and Tanzanians in particular (democratic tendencies). By this calculation, our next president will be an arrogant intellectual Christian autocrat from the Tanganyikan interior who does not suffer fools gladly... oh yay.

So, that's what Em Pees get up to.

When I was studying how to exorcise the demon Underdevelopment, I had a veteran of a classmate who (over a pint) told me that two of the most useful assets in the field of development work were a sturdy liver and some conversational skill. I suspect this applies to politics too, at least the way we practice them here. Recently some friends and I found ourselves at a local bar in the company of a real live Em Pee. So we politely allowed Mheshimiwa to buy the refreshments and we got to chatting about stuff, like what his salary breakdown is, his plans for re-election, taxation, the cost of building roads, the work ethic of civil servants, voter registration. You know, a little light conversation.

I have to confess, I really like politicians. Not as much as sociologists, or artists, but I do like them quite well. Living in Dar, the center of the known universe, it always surprises and delights me how easily accessed they are, especially if you know how and where to drink. The only other places with such high concentrations of politicos are Dodoma- our mythical capital city in the middle of the Tanganyikan wilderness- and the National Stadium on Independence Day.

I got to ask our captive Em Pee about the activities that absorb the bulk of a garden-variety parliamentarian's time. Apparently there's a lot of time spent legislatin': roughly seven months out of the year if you attend every bunge session from start to finish including the pre-bunge sessions in Dar. Which, we all know, they don't. Then, there is the 'real work': procuring development for their constituencies. He told me that an MP's job is to compete with other MPs for the scarce resources allocated by the government through determination, networking and lobbying. With some creativity, opportunism and savoir-faire an MP can also access resources that are hidden in the musty financial plans of expiring bi-lateral projects, in the pockets of companies and wealthy individuals, in NGO bank accounts and... well, you get the drift. Somewhere in there they also have to stick in their duties to their party, hang out in their constituency so that voters remember them come voting day, and make time to argue politics with new friends over a whiskey or three.

So, going back to the Uwazi report on MP performance, and the urge to find out how political sausage is made: MP contributions in Bunge does not seem to be a robust measure of their effectiveness. It would be more instructive to follow these guys around for a couple of months- there's only 300 of them. Creating a record of their activities would shed light on what they actually get up to, how they apportion their time, what they prioritize and why, etc. And then, we can have that argument with them about why the hell they are snoozing on the job when it comes to the legislatin' part of business. But at least we'd know a hell of a lot more about what flavor of politics we have going on in Tanzania.

One last thing that I got: the constituency splitting issue is a mess. Between the government's "commitment" to increase the number of women legislators, the concern that MPs shouldn't have to serve constituencies of over 300,000 people and the Parliament that the Chinese built for us which can only accommodate a couple more snoozing bodies, there are 40+ applications for constituency split and six slots available. May the best lobbyists win. Bottoms up!

Whisperings...

Shhhhhh...I really shouldn't do this because at this point, it is all just rumor and hearsay masquerading as journalism... but Mwananchi wrote an article today suggesting that James Mbatia, Chairman of NCCR-Mageuzi, might be gunning for the Hon. Rita Mlaki's constituency...It might be a good year to live in Kawe, after all :)

A Fine Romance, Part One: Lusting after His Hotness

If I had a thousand shillings for every man I have come across who has expressed a desire to run for elective office, I could afford a music system for my car by now. Come to think of it, maybe I should charge a thousand shillings to listen to guys tell me about their political aspirations. No charge at all for the women who confess to a desire for office: hell, I'll pay to hear about it!

Okay, now that I have gotten my feminist dig in, lets get to the crux: what motivates people to enter into formal politics? With each individual, how much of that political drive is based in vanity, a need to please, the craving for adulation, a true belief in public service, ambition, a desire for power, a quest for riches, idealism, a realistic understanding of individual agency? In brief: why the hell are they getting into the snake-oil business?

One thing that disappoints me about political commentary and discourse in my fair land is the fact that we ignore the complexities of the individuals playing the political game. It is limiting, since politicians, like regular humans, have been known to respond to more stimuli than bribes/and or a fixation with Nyerere-ist philosophy.

Case in point: those of us in the chattering probably know more about Barack Obama's daddy issues than we do about what makes Jay Kay twitch. We have a blind spot with our President. Where are the competing biographies on the 'Father of the Nation'- and I don't mean the polite official drivel about how great a dude he was. Where is the personality-mining on Mkapa, on Mwinyi? This is our contemporary history. If we don't respect it, we don't respect ourselves.

I love to observe incumbents struggle with the gap between their belief in how much power they have to change society, and the reality that social change is a hairy and fiendishly difficult beast to grapple- even for a head of state. Change for bad is easy. Change for good? Ha! Watching a leader struggle with complex problems (like genuine poverty alleviation) has got to be one of the best ways to judge a leader.

In 2005, Jay Kay blew in on an 80% victory magic carpet propelled by his charisma. Never mind that there was no viable alternative offered by the opposition: Kikwete literally seduced the Tanzanian electorate. For the first year or so of his presidency, the press- utterly infatuated- wrote about him with the devotion of a star-struck teenager in the throes of her first love. Critical faculties country-wide were shut down as we found that we could not adore him enough.

In spite of this ridiculous fervor, it was a pragmatic decision. Here was a guy who has spent his whole life working for The Establishment- and I don't mean in the shallow, self-serving way that currently passes for 'nationalism.' He radiates that tough-love, old-school, Tanzania-first kind of populism that we've been thirsting for after Mwinyi (too accommodating) and Mkapa (too aloof). He smartly manipulated us by appealing to our nostalgic hankering for a Nyerere-style Big Papa. So we flocked into his loving arms. Who else was gonna give us the man-of-the-people, hip, good times vibe that this 'young' candidate was promising? Charisma will get you everywhere.

But, this is politics. It was irresponsible of us to try and cannonize* him, hoping that he might have the god-like powers to banish the monsters in the closet: poverty, social differences, crime, corruption, the pain of daily human life. Just as it is irresponsible of us now to lash out at him for not being God: no chickens in every hand-basket, no total overhaul of a deeply corrupt system (which is only reflecting a social ill), no miraculous railroads all over the countryside... And so, the disenchantment that is borne out of unrealistic expectations- particularly visible in the fickle press- is as fierce and retributive as the anger of a jilted lover. I believe we can do better.

*Some folks are trying to get Nyerere sainted in the Catholic church. Really? I may be lapsed, but even I don't have the balls to cynically mingle the sacred and the profane in this manner.

Independent candidates and other excitingly murky political developments

Some days, it all comes together beautifully. I have been procrastinating about doing some research on MP performance in Bunge when I stumbled across this article. Apparently Twaweza has been there and done that. When I get my hands on the actual report, I plan to mine for information about the female MPs and the young MPs because I am sure there is something exciting going on there.

Another process I have been keeping half an eye on is the Independent Candidate issue and today's main story in the Daily News was wonderful in that regard. As the story goes, our constitution makes allowances for independent candidates to stand for election...which was conveniently irrelevant until we actually went multi-party in 1992. I remember my mother describing her voting experience during those days- apparently there would only be the CCM candidate on the ballot. What an embarrassment of choices. Do you vote yea? Do you vote nea? I can't believe anyone bothered getting out of bed to do this.

Anyways, recently the Reverend Christopher Mtikila- a politician after my own heart who specializes in activism using the court room as his battleground- petitioned the government to allow private candidates in 2005. The High Court saw nothing unconstitutional in his petition, and in May of 2006 'gave the AG between the date of delivery of the judgement and the next general elections to put in place a legislative mechanism that would allow private candidates to participate in elections alongside those representing political parties.' The government, naturally, appealed.

February 2010: the government has just remembered it hasn't taken care of the independent candidate problem and there are only ten months and maybe four Bunge sessions left to push through antagonistic legislation. So the Deputy Attorney General shows up in front of seven justices of the High Court to fix the matter by claiming that the government's appeal against the High Court's decision is 'a stay of execution upon the decision sought to be appealed against'. Mr. Masaju was met with this gem:

"We wish to refresh the memories of the learned Deputy Attorney General and his team that an appeal does not operate as an automatic stay [...] as it is at the moment and onward to the General Elections in October is what the High Court has decided, that is, independent candidates are allowed."

Apparently not all our public servants are comatose at the wheel, and I intend to savor this moment in our political development because some other issues are defying my comprehension: the legalities of the proposed coalition government in Zanzibar. Does anyone out there have a clue to spare? I can't tell what my fellow citizens are thinking or intending, exactly, over there on the island and I have a horrible suspicion that they don't know either. Also, Freeman Mbowe's newspaper has been saying some strange things about it and it is giving me a headache.

Know your Em-Pee!

There is a general election coming up and if I can get my act together, I might just get to vote for the first time in my life. I am excited- for the past two elections the establishment has told overseas Tanzanians that it doesn't have enough money to help meet their democratic right to vote. The same government that orders fleets of Toyota Land Cruisers as often as I get a haircut. Whatever. I have been casting around for a party to support at the ballot (this is not going well) and I am keeping an ear out for news that independent candidates will be allowed (this is not going well either)>.

As part of my preparation, I skimmed the intertubes for news of my MP. A little late in the game, but like many I find that my legislator is of no discernible use to me outside of election years. Also, I live in Kawe which is full of disinterested middle class folks- too busy running businesses, "paying" taxes and creating employment, too suspicious of politicians, too few of us anyways. Since 'rich' constituencies are practically self-running, I can keep my opinion of Ms. Mlaki to myself. For the upcoming elections, it is going to be tough hitting the right note: a) support a female or feminist candidate without strengthening the CCM stranglehold, b) don't sell the vote for a bag of rice or t-shirt or pair of khanga either, but negotiate for a park/public school library/regular road maintenance, c) back an intelligent, committed and outspoken leader who shows up to Bunge sessions and reads Bills before they get discussed. We're all entitled to dream.

Every five years the constitutional landscape seems to change, I guess in keeping with the population growth and urbanization trends. Dar es Salaam is about to become an even bigger political presence in Bunge> than it already is, which is fine considering we are roughly 10% of the population. I can't wait to see what the political parties are going to cough up for Kawe in particular and greater Dar es Salaam in general. What's your voting plan*?

*Yeah, and good luck to the diaspora. Your government might just let you vote, but I wouldn't hold my breath... too many VXs to buy for the campaign trail this year.