Dr Azaveli Feza Lwaitama
    THINKING CRITICALLY
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The news that one of Tanzania’s distinguished diplomats is returning home after having served for five years as the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations is being used as a news spin by CCM propagandists for all its worth. She started out as a law academic and then first turned politician before landing herself the prestigious diplomat job in February 2007.

She was born Asha-Rose Mtengeti on 9 July 1956 in Songea, Ruvuma Region, in southern Tanzania of parents who hailed from Kilimanjaro Region in northern Tanzania.  Much of her primary and secondary education was received in northern Tanzania at Korogwe Primary School, Weruweru Secondary School, and, finally, at Korogwe Secondary School, where she completed her A level secondary education in 1975.

In Dr Asha-Ros Mtengeti Migiro, married to an engineering don, Prof Cleophas Migiro, the CCM propaganda spin machine has someone to present to the Tanzanian public who has many positive attributes.

In academia, she worked her way from the bottom to the top by hard work and perseverance. Her scholarly exploits can be used quite legitimately as an illustration of her being a person full of steadfastness, persistence, tenacity and having the nerve to carry on resolutely pursuing the achievement of one’s goals without yielding to the temptation to stop once one met obstacles. She took her law studies and graduated with an LLB and LLM from the University of Dar es Salaam.

She undertook her PhD studies in Germany at the University of Konstanz, which awarded her a PhD in 1992. She progressed to the level of Senior Lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam, where she also served as Head of Department, first of Constitution and Administrative Law from 1992 to 1994, and, later, of Civil and Criminal Law from 1994 to 1997.

Even when she entered politics, she started at the bottom and moved gracefully to top without ever developing attitudes of superiority.

The author remembers with pleasant surprise receiving a mobile phone SMS from her when she was already the UN Deputy Secretary General wishing my spouse and me New Year greetings. My spouse is a humble ex-primary schoolteacher who was a staunch CCM Women’s League militant at the time Dr Migiro was seeking to be nominated as a Special Seats Member of the Tanzania Parliament on a CCM women representing Universities ticket.

Dr Migiro was reputed to be someone never who forgot anyone or looked down upon anyone she came in contact with in the course of her associations with the CCM Women’s League Branch at the University of Dar es Salaam with its membership that included both the highly educated and those who only had primary education.

 The CCM spin doctors would have a field day if it decided to present Dr Migiro as a possible compromise presidential candidate in 2015.  It could also cause the opposition parties a lot of grief if it sought to have Dr Migiro as part of a dream ticket with her as women votes puller filling the slot of presidential running mate with a candidate drawn from among its Zanzibari top-notch senior politicians.

These would include former Premier Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, former Zanzibar President Dr Amani Abeid Karume, current Vice-President Mohamed Gharib Bilal and current Zanzibar President Ali Mohamed Shein.    

The media spin will argue that she is a party faithful   with a lot of party leadership experience.
She after all served as a member of the party Regional Executive Committee from 2000 to 2005 and as a member of the national Party Central Committee Secretariat for Political Affairs and International Relations from 2006 to 2007.  

CCM will also argue that she has a lot of experience in state leadership having serves as the Minister of Community Development, Gender and Children's Affairs from 2000 to 2006 as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation from 2006 to 2007.

If the CCM national party Chairman, President Jakaya Kikwete, played his cards well   the Migiro Factor may be used together with the New Constitution factor to create new dynamics in Tanzanian politics. President Kikwete may manage to work out a compromise with the opposition parties.

This may lead to having a fairly acceptable process of writing a new constitution for Tanzania that would result in the 2015 general election taking placed in the context of the introduction of a three-government structure for the Union, with a government for Zanzibar, Tanganyika and the Union.     

This may allow elements in CCM now vying for the Union presidency settling for going for the Tanganyikan presidency in competition with Chadema, arguably, the most opposition party on Mainland Tanzania.  

Dr Lwaitama is a senior lecturer, Philosophy Programme, University of Dar es Salaam

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