I had no intention of writing this article until I read a short note by Reverend Bishop Benson Kalikawe Bagonza. I was restless, and only this piece calmed my nerves.
Before being dismissed, the former District Commissioner of Longido, Marco Ng’umbi, came out in full force to admit in the public glare that the 2020 election was massively rigged and that he was involved in dirty work in the forests. It was the second revelation from top government players in less than three months, albeit for different reasons.
According to the Rev. Bagonza, the 4R’s reconciliation spirit was hijacked by political gangs and has not seen the day in our political terrain. In utter humility, Rev. Bagonza was self-effacing.
He went on to state that one of the hijackers of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s philosophy of 4Rs had admitted he was involved in election fraud in the 2020 elections.
The dismissed DC told to their face the Longido councillors that they were a product of massive election rigging and lacked the legitimacy to do their jobs.
He said he was part and parcel of that election fraud. The unrepentant he said he was fearless to state the truth, which portended his days in office were numbered. He seemed to expect retaliation. The CCM councillors did not dispute the veracity of his allegations, indicating they probably agreed with him.
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Then, the president, Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan, terminated his services immediately. As with most removals of senior public servants, reasons were not mentioned, leaving conspiracy theories room to manoeuvre. One theory is an admission of wrongdoing is a felon.
As a result, he lost his qualification to be in the government. But others are questioning that theory, asking why he was not charged under criminal law. They insist the decision to chop him off was political, not criminal.
CCM is haunted and stalked by the 2020 elections, and some of the perpetrators of heinous crimes against the peaceful people of this great nation are having sleepless nights and would like to come out and repent.
According to scripture, repentance must be public and followed by remorse. Regret signifies a resolution not to repeat past sins.
And this ex-DC is not a goner because nothing else can intimidate you when you fear God. But this is only possible in humility, repentance, and shame of past gross misconduct.
Rev. Bagonza recommended criminal retribution to atone for ex-DC’s alleged wrongdoing. I beg to differ. Scripture insists upon clemency accompanied by a reminder of “sin no more.” His revelations may be withdrawn, sneering at them as he misspoke, so we need not link them to criminal indictment.
Moreover, the ruling party regime is least likely to wash its dirty linen under public scrutiny. This is curiously agonising because CCM zealots have been caught on camera revealing the election injustices they committed in the last general election.
Even the current president is not innocent in that matter. Reminiscing in the 2020 campaigns, she mocked the integrity of elections when she exclaimed:
“Hata msipotuchagua tutaunda serikali” meaning CCM does not need anybody’s vote to govern us.
The former Minister for information, Nape Nnauye, relayed a similar message when he said that CCM would announce the election results they wanted, meaning that the electorate’s voice was irrelevant.
And the now beleaguered ex-DC is being punished for stating the gospel truth. But who wants the truth, knowing our political class is mired in living and defending a lie?
Attempts to fix our election bungle were deferred as the Parliament ratified laws that could not end official election rigging.
More significant is the ex-DC’s tone and content, which revealed that the forthcoming local government elections have been rigged in favour of CCM. In his own words, he intoned this:
“….madiwani mlipita bila ya kupingwa kwa sababu ya nguvu ya dola. Hata sasa tumemaliza kila kitu kijiji ka kijiji na kitongoji kwa kitongoji uchaguzi wa serikali za mitaa…”
There may be many interpretations, but one thing is clear: the ex-DC was confident of winning most elective posts in the local government elections, although it was unclear what they had done to be so optimistic.
Since the former DC regarded election fraud in his heart, I wonder whether he was repentant or bullish about rigging. I have to say that he was not repenting but was boasting about the massive rigging he participated in at every stage.
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Caution, however: Whatever he said is not evidence admissible before a court of law since self-incriminating evidence can be withdrawn at any time.
No prosecutor is allowed to table self-incriminating evidence that has been recanted. Moreover, one has to speculate on his motives.
I solemnly doubt he expected consequences for his actions; otherwise, he would not have been so forthcoming. He was cutting unruly CCM ward councillors to size by reminding them they owe the government the political representative positions they hold.
In other words, he reminded them that CCM, not the electorate, was the ultimate determinant of their political careers. He urged them to observe fidelity to the ruling party, which ensured their smooth sailing in the last elections.
He indicated he was fearless but against what? He was not afraid of his employer or the CCM ward councillors.
Since the real reasons why he was sacked remain undisclosed, I can only speculate that he was dismissed for revealing CCM’s poorly kept secrets about the last elections and what is transpiring to flip the imminent local government elections to the delight of the ruling party.
The Court of Appeal is slowly being rebuked by CCM top echelons. The Court overturned the High Court’s decision on the partiality of the presidential appointees, aka DEDs, in supervising our elections. The Court said there was no evidence to show that DEDs were either CCM members or biased during their stint as election supervisors.
The former minister for information has stated on record that these supervisors pick our representatives regardless of what the ballot boxes say.
Now, another CCM leader is reiterating the same. Before their unsolicited openness, President Samia bragged about it: “…even if you do not elect us, we shall form the next government.” And they did!
The real issue that the Court miserably failed to consider was what the Constitution instructs and whether the election laws had violated it.
It is not about proving the counter positive but rather where in the constitution the NEC was empowered to offload her election management constitutional mandate to aliens, such as presidential appointees in the local governments.
It is not there making the Court’s ruling upends the constitutional onus. This was achieved by framing the wrong issues to suit their erroneous narratives and findings!
Tanzania opposition has been excited by the former DC and is regurgitating the same about how flawed our elections have always been.
No wonder he was shown an exit door.
