STRAIGHT TALK : When double standards reared their ugly head
What you need to know:
- There has also been appeals to President Magufuli to drop the besieged RC because of the accusations against him, some of which touch on the core values of morality.
Dar es Salamites have witnessed a dramatic week. It’s been seven days full of action. Tanzanians have been treated to mind-boggling drama featuring the embattled Dar es salaam’s Regional Commissioner Paul Makonda, who still faces mounting public pressure to step aside.
There has also been appeals to President Magufuli to drop the besieged RC because of the accusations against him, some of which touch on the core values of morality.
Makonda was, at the beginning of this drama, accused of forging academic papers, from as way back as primary school to university level. Those who accuse him claim to have substantial evidence to prove their allegations. Not only that; his accusers have also claimed that the RC illegally changed his name.
Makonda, who raised to fame in the past few years, has seen himself speedily climbing the promotion ladder. In two years, he was district and regional commissioner. Arguably, he is currently the most famous person in Tanzania.
Last week, while he was still battling allegations of faking academic qualifications and illegal change of name, he was involved in what seemed to many the last straw that broke the camel’s back. But the camel’s back was not broken, and if anything, it became stronger.
Makonda was involved in incident least expected of a leader in a democratic country where the values of freedom of press are upheld, and where the safety and security of media personnel is paramount. He breached this high canon, sadly against people who built and promoted his career.
He was accused of storming a radio station to demand that a video clip with damning yet unsubstantiated allegations against a fellow citizen be unreservedly aired, something that was rejected by the radio management because it was not yet balanced. There was no voice from the accused in the video clip. Makonda went there with gun-trotting security personnel, and this was not taken kindly by the public.
The public demanded an apology, and called for his resignation and in a dramatic 48 hours following the incident, the then-Minister for Information, Mr Nape Nnauye, formed a team to investigate the matter. The RC refused to appear before the investigating team and preferred not to clear his name against accusations.
Before the team’s report was made public, President Magufuli, who all along has been in support of Makonda, sacked Minister Nnauye, a decision that did not go down well with the media fraternity.
Many still cannot comprehend. Just a week ago, President Magufuli publicly revoked a controversial decision made by the then Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Harisson Mwakyembe, who had attempted to stop marriages between couples without birth certificates. Many thought the serious President Magufuli would act against Dr Mwakyembe.
But a few hours after Mr Nape’s team submitted its report on Makonda, the State House announced the minister’s sacking. Many have described it as punishment for exposing Makonda, who sadly is now a huge liability to the Presidency, if the mood in both traditional and social media is anything to go by.
While we respect the President’s powers to appoint and sack, we feel at this particular time, he has faced the biggest test of his sincerity in the fight against public service indiscipline yet. The question is why is the President prepared to go all the way to defend Makonda?