A look at the drama that shaped a turbulent year

Dar es Salaam. On November 5, 2015, Tanzania inaugurated its fifth president, setting the stage for a dramatic year from January to December.

Despite being mired in corruption scandals and facing criticism over high unemployment and poverty at the time of the General Election last year, the ruling CCM still had the better story to tell voters.

But its election campaign drew heavily on its carefully picked candidate – Dr John Magufuli, who went on to win the fiercely contested poll by a landslide.

And now, as the curtain comes down on the eventful year, we take a look at the plots and sub-plots that shaped the political drama of the past 12 months.

Corruption: The beginning of ‘war’

At the time that President Magufuli took over power, Tanzania had fast slipped down Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index. The country ranked 119th out of 175 countries.

Evidence of official corruption had been mounting over the years, raising fears that even with the abundant natural resources like oil and gas, riches would fail to translate into wider wealth.

That was not good news for a country that ranked 159th out of 187 in the human development index. Time was out for the political establishment – CCM had to change course. In the 2015 election, the ruling party had been saved by the bell.

So, it came as a little surprise that corruption became the first thing the new President decided to lay his hands on.

Fulfilling his election pledge, the President hit the ground running, and launched an unprecedented all-out war on deep-seated corruption within government.

Early in the year, everything about the first, fast-paced days of President Magufuli in office left one with a conviction that this was just the beginning of a more interesting, if not dramatic era.

His feisty move to derail the fat gravy train won him the hearts of the majority Tanzanians, but also set him on a collision course with those who had been benefitting from the system.

As the year draws to an end, many have come to agree that the motivations of the eccentric President are a rare find across the continent.

The Zanzibar political crisis

In the political hotbed of Zanzibar, rival parties were yet to find common ground following the scrapping of the General Election results over alleged rigging when the year began.

A new date for the re-run was set in March. But the Opposition refused to be dragged back to the battlefield.

It was a near-uncontested race in which President Ali Mohamed Shein was declared the winner, by 91.4 per cent of the votes on March 21.

Opposition Civic United Front (CUF) leader Seif Sharif Hamad, who opted to remain in Dar es Salaam while the elections were conducted in the Isles, complained of voting abuses.

On July 22, the CUF leader with two other party officials met with lawyers at the International Criminal Court (ICC) headquarters at The Hague. This was part of a broader plan to seek international intervention in the political stalemate.

Soon after the election, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a US aid agency, cancelled nearly $500 million of funding partly on concerns over the poll which it said was “neither inclusive nor representative”.

Many have also criticised President Magufuli for failing to use his political capital – his popularity and personal connection with the masses – to bring about a lasting solution to the Isles.

At an event in Zanzibar a few months ago, the President told the ruling party supporters that those who were hoping for a re-election in the Isles were dreaming.

He also poured cold water on any hope for a political settlement that could see the return of a government of national unity in the Isles.

The ban on political activities

Arguably the biggest plot in this year’s political drama, the ban on political activity and the storm it raised caught many offguard.

Mid way through the year, the police used tear gas to disperse a crowd rallying against President Magufuli’s government accusing it of suppressing democracy.

Ukawa, a coalition of opposition parties, had called for nationwide rallies to protest against the government’s decision to ban live televised parliamentary debates. The parties described that move, along with the suspension of seven opposition lawmakers from parliament, as undemocratic.

Chadema had also scaled up attacks against Deputy Speaker Tulia Ackson after she rejected MPs’ calls to cancel the debate on the decision to suspend over 7,800 students pursuing special teaching diploma courses at Dodoma University.

The Deputy Speaker’s decision led to opposition MPs boycotting the parliamentary budget sessions she was chairing. They accused her of hijacking their parliamentary privileges.

As pressure mounted on the President and his administration to reverse his ban on political activity, arrests of opposition politicians ensued. High profile figures who had brushes with law enforcement agencies include Chadema national chairman Freeman Mbowe, Kigoma MP and CT-Wazalendo secretary general Zitto Kabwe, former Prime Minister and Ukawa presidential flag bearer Edward Lowassa, and Chadema lawyer Tundu Lissu.

In August, Mr Lissu was dragged in the night from Singida, where he had addressed a rally to Dar es Salaam after he allegedly insulted the President during the meeting.

The ‘Day of Defiance’

The last quarter of the year also saw the nation giving a huge sigh of relief after the opposition finally decided to abandon its nationwide protests, which were code-named Ukuta – a Kiswahili acronym loosely translated, an ‘alliance against dictatorship in Tanzania’.

Tension rose during weeks and days leading to September 1, the day that Chadema had vowed to galvanise its supporters into a series of countrywide demonstrations. The police had warned that they would come out in full force to quash any demonstration.

With Chadema digging in until the very last minute when it announced the protests would not be held anymore, the whole country waited with unease as the main political actors launched spirited tirades against each other.

As the clock ticked towards the ‘Day of Defiance’, President Magufuli warned that he would crack down on troublemakers “without mercy”. In the end, however, the underpressure opposition made a surprise U-turn, changed tact and opted for diplomacy in dealing with the new administration.

The internal fights in CUF

After his resignation as chairman of the Civic United Front last year, Prof Ibrahim Lipumba made a shocking U-turn in June this year to seek re-instatement as the party’s leader. His decision set the stage for bitter wrangling that to date threatens the survival of CUF.

Prof Lipumba said his resignation was a mistake. It has since been twist and turns all the way. There were violent scenes pitting the top leaders’ supporters against each other when Prof Lipumba’s team stormed a meeting that was meant to pick his successor. The office of the Registrar of Political Parties waded into the conflict after it confirmed that it recognised the economist as the CUF chairman, and Mr Hamad as the party’s secretary general.

And in October, the fight turned to matters financial after Mr Hamad wrote to banks asking them to be on the lookout for “impostors” who may try to open an account in the name of the troubled party

Even as year draws to an end, there is still no respite in the woes afflicting CUF.