COMMENTARY: The Kikwete succession: Who is Kingunge campaigning for?

Veteran politician and CCM leader Kingunge Ngombale Mwiru must have angered many candidates vying for the presidency through the ruling party’s ticket when he said none of them have what it takes to go for the highest post in the land.

The former ruling party political ideologue, once compared to the former Soviet Union Communist party’s Suslov, was technically saying they were unqualified to run for the country’s presidency because they were all using money to get to State House—which was utterly wrong.

Getting to be the president of the United Republic of Tanzania should not be compared, in any way, with the exercise of selecting players for the national football team.

The veteran politician stressed the importance of all those seeking the highest office in the land to be people of integrity—men and women beyond reproach.

The following day, a columnist with the same paper, Leon Bahati, paid tribute to the veteran politician for his remarks the previous day.

But while Mr Bahati may be right to praise the man who is arguably the doyen of Tanzania’s politics, there is a need to delve into Mzee Ngombale Mwiru’s statement to find out exactly what he meant. 

Given the factions in the ruling party (as the country heads to the mother of all elections) and the high profile nature of some of the candidates vying for the presidency, the question to ask is this: Was Mr Mwiru’s strong statement influenced by the alleged shelling out of money by candidates or did it have more to do with political factions in the ruling party?

As a veteran politician and senior member of the ruling party since the Tanu days, Mr Mwiru is unlikely to be free of those factions.

The second point worth examining is whether there is anything new in what he did last Monday—which was to publicly dismiss all those vying for the presidency as unqualified.

But there is nothing new there. The difference between then and now is that it was carried out discreetly in the past.

Over two decades ago, former Spy Master Hassy Kitine did exactly what Mr Mwiru did last Monday. But, unlike the veteran politician, the spy master lived up to his professional calling:

He told Mwalimu Julius Nyerere at his Msasani home, instead of using the media.

Dr Kitine had just returned from Canada, where he had lived for 15 years with his family, having secured a full scholarship that enabled him to do his masters and doctorate in economics.

He then worked for a few years as a lecturer. 

On his return to Tanzania, he joined the University of Dar es Salaam as a lecturer in economics.

The year was 1995 and the race for the third phase presidency of the United Republic of Tanzania had already kicked off in earnest, with at least 11 candidates having collected forms to run for the top job on the ruling party’s ticket.

With less than 10 days left to the close of the race for the Union presidency, Dr Kitine decided to visit his former boss at Msasani—who had retired as president and later party chairman almost a decade earlier.

Mwalimu, who had broached the issue of the Union presidency, finally asked Dr Kitine: “You have already seen those vying for the presidency. What is your opinion?”

Dr Kitine came back with the response that, in his opinion, none of them qualified for the post.

When Mwalimu asked why he thought so, the spy master—who knew all the candidates like the back of his hand on account of the job he had held two decades earlier—said they all belonged to and entertained factional politics.

Dr Kitine told Mwalimu that the man qualified for the post had not yet picked the form. And when he was asked who that man was, Dr Kitine named Mr William Benjamin Mkapa—who had served in the outgoing government as the science and technology minister.

Mwalimu knew Mr Mkapa’s qualities because he had served him in the past as his speech writer, editor of the government-owned Daily and Sunday News and as foreign minister. Mwalimu instructed Dr Kitine to tell Mr Mkapa that he wanted to see him at Msasani at 4pm the following day.

Dr Kitine found Mr Mkapa the same evening at his drinking hole in the city, close to where he lived, and told him what had transpired at Msasani.

Dr Kitine was very economical with his words. Instead of telling Mr Mkapa that he had mentioned him to Mwalimu as the most qualified candidate for the job, he told him it was Mwalimu who thought Mkapa was fit for the highest post in the land.

Mr Mkapa was not happy with the job, which he described as very taxing. “Fine, but go and explain that to Mwalimu,” Dr Kitine told Mr Mkapa. The rest is history.

Mr Mkapa collected the requisite forms and, typical of Tanzania’s media, a section of the media had the following headlines the next day: Mkapa nae achukua form, which translates as Mkapa also collects the forms.

Judging from such headlines, it was clear that the local media gave Mr Mkapa no chance of becoming the third phase president of Tanzania.

And this brings us back to Mr Mwiru’s statement—and the need to find out from him who is good enough for the Union presidency if all those who expressed their wish to vie for the post do not qualify.

In short, who is the old man bidding for the post?

This question is very important and the journalists who interviewed Mr Mwiru for the Mwananchi story should have asked him. To say that those who have expressed their wish to vie for the Union presidency do not qualify is not good enough.

As Mwalimu rightly noted, the President of the United Republic of Tanzania must come either from Zanzibar or Tanzania mainland.

In ducking the all-important question, could it be that he feared being afflicted with what had later befallen Dr Kitine?

A year or so after Mr Mkapa rose to power, Dr Kitine was hounded out of politics by those who saw him as a political threat in the post-Mkapa presidential politics.

Some people, particularly those vying for the presidency, may view Mr Mwiru with hostility over his cutting comments.

But the veteran politician has injected a very important element in the minds of Tanzanians—the need to be critical in their assessment of those seeking the Union presidency.

The same thing can be said of Mr Mwiru whose comments on Mr Mkapa helped Mwalimu in getting ‘a very reluctant man’ as the third phase president of the United Republic of Tanzania.

The lesson that can be drawn from the latter is that Tanzanians should be wary of people who are ready to use everything, including money, in order to be elected for any elective post including the Union President.

On the contrary, they need to get reluctant, but very capable men of integrity for the job and this regardless of the age of such candidates.

Of the three post-Mwalimu presidents, Mr Mkapa retains an unassailable record except in mining, where there are a lot of question marks on his performance.

Mr Mkapa’s so-called reluctance to take up the presidency is further illustrated by his refusal to have his image on the country’s currency.

He remains the darling of the donor community because of the seriousness with which he approached his leadership. His tenure saw the reduction of inflation to a single digit, the strengthening of the shilling, payment of foreign debts (that earned him a reprieve) and construction of roads through local resources.

After his swearing-in ceremony at Uhuru Stadium as the third phase Union president, a scheduled meeting with the German development minister was fixed at 9am at State House in Dar es Salaam.

Five minutes to time, the newly-elected president opened the door to his sprawling office and ushered in his German guest.

The donor community was immediately abuzz with the arrival of the new guard at Magogoni who respected his appointments.

As Mwalimu put it, Ikulu is a sacred place. The million-dollar question Tanzanians need to ask themselves is this: Do they have a person who is half as good as or better than the third phase president?

The author is a veteran journalist, author and media consultant based in Dar es Salaam.