Paul Makonda, against the advice of his CCM superiors in the 2020 general elections, is still rocking the CCM boat in the Arusha constituency by attempting to unseat CCM Arusha Urban MP Mrisho Gambo. This is unprecedented for a CCM Regional Commissioner to weaponize his pole position to undermine his fellow CCM. As a result of the conflict of interest, Makonda is not interested in the development of the Arusha region anymore. Still, he is determined to oust Gambo for his selfish ends. This is how the morbid script unfolds: dwindling further amore CCM political fortunes in Arusha. The CCM infighting is a Christmas gift to Chadema, so I want to blur it out aloud.
When President Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan appointed Makonda to be the Arusha Regional Commissioner, few expected he was taking him there to be a disruptive force. After Makonda was sworn in office, President Samia said she was taking Makonda to Arusha for a special operation, but many thought it was to strengthen CCM against the Chadema stronghold. Now, we are not even sure whether that “kazi maalumu” or special operation was to polarize and mutilate in a shredder the CCM Arusha Urban constituency in order for her lackey Makonda to leapfrog everybody there and win the CCM nomination in order to sail through to the Augusta House in October.
It is within his right to Makonda if he wants to be Arusha Urban MP, but parlaying the office of the R.C. as the disruptor of the whole region doesn’t augur well with Samia’s now vanquished 4Rs. Past R.Cs conducted themselves with decorum and waited till the electioneering season before plunging themselves into the vagaries of the elections. Makonda’s political ambitions are impatient, polarizing and destructive. He is now deliberately turning some Arusha councillors against Gambo. These few councillors have been laying an infertile ground to support Makonda’s parliamentary bid against Gambo as if the duos are the only candidates who will be in the race!
Makonda is unleashing a “zero-sum game ” to disqualify Gambo and advance his own parochial political fortunes. He has been misusing his position as an R.C. and even sabotaging Gambo’s statutory onus as an MP. Makonda has been a regular attendee of councillors’ meetings with only one goal: to undermine the MP, Gambo. Makonda’s beef is that he perceived Gambo was building up his popularity, as he should, before elections by unsealing massive official graft in public meetings.
Makonda says Gambo is humiliating the Arusha Council by washing its dirty linen in public. He continued arguing that Gambo was now making the whole Arusha municipality look corrupt in the public eye. He ordered the Arusha District Commissioner to stop attending meetings which Gambo is part of! This is now the Makonda warlike approach to government affairs where enmity, not cooperation, rears its ugly hydra! With Makonda as Arusha R.C., no meaningful work will be achieved until the election is over. He will keep badmouthing the Arusha Urban MP, Mrisho Gambo as if by trolling Gambo, he will be whetting up his own political credentials to be the Arusha Urban MP! It doesn’t work like that.
Former president Magufuli, in his considered wisdom, knew Makonda’s abrasive demeanour made him unsuitable for a parliamentary slot. Unlike an R.C., whose appointment is the president’s prerogative, an MP is all about the electorate. The electorate finds humble leadership most attractive, and Makonda’s swashbuckling posturing puts off most voters. History is replete with examples of the Arusha constituency being a tougher nut to crack—an antithesis of carpetbaggers like Makonda.
The question most Arusha voters often ask is why outsiders care to represent them. Don’t we have our own qualified residents whom we know and trust to represent us? Why do Dar-es-Salaamites like Makonda, whom fellow Dar-es-Salaamites rejected in Kigamboni, suddenly see the Arusha Urban constituency as a launchpad for a glamorous national political career?
The Makonda parliamentary stab frustrates many Arusha Urban voters because it shows disrespect to them. It is as if Arusha doesn’t have qualified candidates to be considered for the post. When the central government brings carpetbaggers for the sole purpose of stealing a job from locals, the electorate feels alienated, disrespected and undervalued. Makonda, despite his misguided efforts to tarnish Gambo’s public image, is unwittingly endearing him to the electorate. The more Gambo is being portrayed as an anti-establishment candidate the more voters regard him as their trusted general who can fight for them. It is quite counterproductive and preposterous to fight internal battles that benefit Chadema more than the detriment of CCM. Makonda should have known better that godliness with contentment is a great gain. He should be content with being an R.C., and leave others to sort out the Arusha Urban parliamentary slot to themselves.
Voters see Gambo as an astute politician whom CCM opposes because he fights on their behalf. Makonda is perceived as an imposition from the top. To be more specific, it is President Samia’s project being executed at the expense of the development of the Arusha Urban constituency. Genuine representative democracy is part and parcel of development, but when the president brandishes the presidential gavel to cherry-pick friends to represent the electorate, that democracy is inherently bastardised. It loses its whole meaning.
Makonda’s wrath is Gambo doing his job of fighting against entrenched corruption. Gambo says there were unscrupulous people who wanted to gazump a plot that was earmarked for a school. The mafioso cabal had asked for almost double the value of the plot, and thanks to his timely intervention, he was able to save over Tshs 255 million. Makonda is aghast it had to be his fictitious political rival, Gambo, who is now getting all the credit for stopping massive procurement corruption. Makonda was supposed to congratulate Gambo, but he was vividly incensed. Makonda now peeks his parliamentary ambition in tatters when his immediate political rival, Gambo, is gaining momentum with the electorate.
Makonda is now turning the screws against Gambo through the Arusha Municipal Council, and he has already earned a couple of sympathizers. Councillors’ main duty is to foresee development in their orbit, but the Arusha Municipal Council has now been converted into a political duelling arena. When Makonda is there, the main topic is Gambo and nothing else. Some unscrupulous Councillors have joined the anti-Gambo crusade, bifurcating the Arusha Municipal Council in the middle. Was this why President Samia appointed Makonda to be the Arusha Regional Commissioner? Who knows, or Makonda is a blue-eyed boy who is clueless about why he was appointed in the first place.
Gambo was right when he said that councillors have each one vote and cannot influence the outcome of his parliamentary election. He was also spot on when he said Makonda would be better off focusing on his core duties and waiting until the time for the campaign began, then could appropriately declare his candidature if he would still be interested in running. However, Gambo let his anger get the better of him when he trolled Makonda’s questionable level of education. He shouldn’t have gone that far. He should stick to being the statesman in the boil room. Makonda stands no chance in Arusha, just like in Kigamboni when he was floored in the first round that is what awaits him in Arusha.
As Batilda Burhani Salha found out in 2010, the Arusha Urban constituency snubs establishment candidates. Didn’t Godbless Lema trounce her despite the establishment backing her candidature?
Makonda may need fresh air somewhere other than Arusha because he is too polarizing and is not doing his job beyond undermining CCM’s chances in the October elections. If CCM still keeps Makonda in Arusha, expect Chadema to cakewalk in Parliament. Whoever between Gambo and Makonda wins the CCM parliamentary nomination will not be supported by all CCM members. The final result will be that some CCM members will campaign for Chadema and vote for them, inflicting a vendetta against their disrespect.
There is a Zanzibar axiomatic wisdom which reproofs backstabbers of Makonda ilk, and this is what is said; “Mhini na Mhiniwa ndiya yao huwa moya hakuna anayepata”. Makonda may prevail to unseat the incumbent MP Gambo, but that will definitely pave the way for another highly qualified Arusha Urbanite to sail through to Parliament, leaving the former wandering whether president Magufuli had accursed him with a voodoo when he had presaged in 2020 that Makonda’s foibles weren’t fit for parliamentary consumption.
Read more analysis by Rutashubanyuma Nestory
