Dar RC stays, Nape out and we’re very unhappy

It has been a week of fast moving developments and headlines (again) largely focused on the same person as it has been the case for some time now. It is like we are transfixed on this one individual and even when headlines seem to move on to another trending matter, it doesn’t stay so for long.

After news emerged of the sitting Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner (who the media has slapped with a blackout) going with armed police officers at the Clouds Group Media studios, there were expectations that his luck had run out and that he will be sacked by President John Magufuli.

That was not to be the case, as the President made it clear the next day that the RC isn’t going anywhere and that he should not be troubled with “online comments” because he is the appointing authority.

What President Magufuli said provided an insight into how he arrives at his decisions. He said no one can tell him how to do his job, and saw those calling for the RC to be sacked as “interfering” his authority.

In democracies, the people have a right to voice their concerns as to how they are governed. It is possible to understand him given the fact that some of who have come to be the leading faces of the “anti-sitting Dar RC” drive have used obscenities to drive their point home, and some are known to switch sides at their convenience. Sacking the man now would appear to play into their hands. At least this is the logic so far.

To be fair to President Magufuli his comments regarding the Dar RC while launching the project of constructing flyovers at Ubungo in Dar in no way touched on the issue of the RC taking with him armed police officers to Clouds Media Group studios.

That said, however, it is important to consider some of the decisions the president has made in the past. Former Interior minister Charles Kitwanga lost that job for what the media said was him going to the august House in Dodoma drunk and improperly respond to a question from a member of parliament.

It is unclear whether the former minister had been tested for alcohol level before he was sacked. Former Shinyanga Regional Commissioner Anne Kilango Malecela was sacked with less than a month in office after the President said that her region falsified statistics regarding the actual number of ghost workers.

Early in the anti-drugs campaign launched by the Dar RC, Nape Nnauye voiced his concerns over the strategy the former had opted to use. After the RC with armed police officers raided Clouds Media Group studios he set up a team to investigate the matter promising that he will take the report to his bosses. A day after he had received the report, he was sacked from cabinet with the official statement not even mentioning his name.

Again there was no explanation given as to why he was sacked leaving many to speculate. On his way out he told reporters that there is a price to pay when one defends the rights of people, while urging continued support for President Magufuli.

For now the stories about the Dar RC are like spinning tops, where no one knows where they will lead up to.

In between these two developments, a report by Sustainable Development Solutions Network-a UN affiliated institution about the levels of World’s Happiness was released and it made for a very depressing read. Tanzania was among the bottom ten countries. Even when compared with the rest of countries in Africa, the score remains shockingly very poor.

The authors of the report base their index on the GDP per person, healthy life expectancy, social support during times of difficulty, freedom to make their life’s choices, and a sense of how corrupt their society is.

On Africa specifically they argued that the causes of unhappiness in sub-Saharan Africa are rooted in failed promises by independence leaders to deliver on the expectations of their people.

While much can be said about the criteria used, and exactly how did we end up at the bottom of the pile, in the company of countries like South Sudan, or Burundi, what is not debatable is this: if a Tanzanian is asked to say why she is proud of her country answers will be filled with mountains, wildlife, and lakes, as such in a country where the majority of its population are the millennial generation; characterized with restlessness and financial insecurity, if given option they can easily abandon this ship for another one.

No wonder we are fascinated by trends as they come and go; whiling away time as we try to find anything to keep things going. This too has failed to make us happy like most of the headlines this week.

Mr Mwakibete is a socio-political commentator and analyst based in Dar es Salaam.