| Lyomo:::The 'Best Face Forward:'like Lincoln, like Tanzania | Send to a friend |
| Saturday, 21 January 2012 19:06 |
|
By Karl Lyimo Craggy-faced Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was the 16th US president (1861 to 1865). He was assassinated by a jobless third-rate actor. Lincoln was to become among popular/favourite and famous presidents down History. Before becoming president, Lincoln practised law, indulging in the cut-and-thrust of courtroom verbal exchanges involving Judges and other 'learned friends' on the other side of the Argument! In one such event, an exasperated opposing lawyer accused Lincoln of being 'double-faced.' “If I'd two faces, would I be wearing this one?” a cool Abe Lincoln responded — much to the delight of those in court, including the stern-faced Judge who tried to secretively chuckle into the sleeve of his magisterial robes! I'm not going to say political and other leaders in Tanzania are double-faced... No; perhaps I should rephrase that... I'm about to say that Tanzania as a country is 'double-faced!' For starters, Tanzania has the 'face' of a phenomenally ‘rich’ country in terms of natural resources, comparative advantages and other positives. This is an unquestionable fact! It's other face is that of an abjectly poor population of 46million; a formidable morass of hapless citizenry amidst whom wallow a paltry few individuals who're indecently rich, immensely powerful, inordinately influential and otherwise overly privileged. That's Tanzania for you (and me) fifty years after the country went through the motions of bidding farewell to foreign rule, assuming all the requisite powers and appurtenances for socio-econo-political development spearheaded by homegrown leaders. In the event, not much progress in the way of meaningful and sustainable development's been seen on the ground. Why? Blame the Leaderships, past and present, I say... The underlying reason why Tanzanians are abjectly poor is because of unmitigated grand corruption that's systematically and systemically permeated the higher echelons of society over the years. Call it u-Fisadi: malignant cancerous corruption. This hydra-headed monster has cut successor leaderships at the knees, reducing them to the kind of impotency that's eroded the moral higher ground upon which they need to stand if they're to righteously bang heads, rap knuckles, slap wrists and generally cower malfeasants and misfeasants into perforce taking the straight and narrow path to clean living and good governance. We in Tanzania are yet to see that kind of leadership in this year and age. The founding president (1962-85) and founder of Tanzanian nationalism, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere may've scratched the surface of good governance. But, he made the ultimate mistake of unilaterally selecting his successors at the Presidency, and singlehandedly shoehorning them into Office. The first time he erred was when he put the even-tempered Ally Hassan Mwinyi into Office in 1985. 'Presidents have no business taking advice from their womenfolk — or commercialising State House,' Mwalimu said in regretful hindsight several years later. However, Nyerere went on to compound his mistake ten years later, shoehorning into the Presidency his choice of what he believed was 'Mister Clean' in 1995! If, by doing this, Mwalimu thought it'd correct or cancel his earlier mistake, then he'd forgotten that two wrongs do not a right make! Another wrongful action isn't a morally or lawfully appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action! In the event, Mwalimu (1922-99) had to live the painful experience of seeing his pet project, the Arusha Declaration on Socialism & Self-reliance, trashed in 1992 — during the reign of his first choice as successor. He also helplessly watched from the sidelines as his second presidential choice, Benjamin Mkapa (1995-2005), wantonly 'privatised' parastatals that'd been painstakingly established under the Arusha Declaration in efforts to put the economy in the hands of ordinary Tanzanians! The Moral: people and institutions must put their best face forward to progress... Cheers! This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
Latest News
Most Read
Gallery
- Businesses plead with govt to reduce huge tax burden
- Facebook shares in further decline
- Investing in non-financial services for business growth
- Potential high in banking despite mounting rivalry
- Tanzania trade with emerging markets ‘significant’
- Cement maker to build Sh264bn kiln in bid to cut costs