Slaa: Tanzania democracy has come a long way but....

Dar es Salaam. Opposition politican-turned diplomat Wilbrod Slaa says growth of democracy in Tanzania will take more years to mature, noting that it would be wrong to expect or compare local practice to those of well established democracies around the world.

Dr Slaa who contested the presidency in 2010 under Chadema and finished second after CCM’s candidate Jakaya Kikwete feels democracy will eventually mature with time.

In an interview for the democracy series running in The Citizen and Mwananchi newspapers, Dr Salaa recalled how they had to toil in 2010 to sell his candidature to the people in circumstances that could only be imaginable.

He said his then party, Chadema, was young, inexperienced and was barely known in some parts of the country besides also having to contend with lack of resources to campaign. The politician, a former MP for Karatu who at one time served as a Catholic priest, nevertheless, did not admit if this conditions were responsible for his defeat in that year’s elections. “There was a lot of irregularities and abuse of the electoral process,” he said.

Dr Slaa had no dreams of running for President and had collected forms to defend his Karatu seat which he held since 1995, before he was prevailed upon by the party to make a stab at the presidency, in an election outcome that would see his party dislodge Civic United Front (CUF) as the largest opposition party, at least on the Mainland.

“Thirty years is a very short time for entrenchment of democracy. Ruling parties in some of these well-established democracies ruled for 70 years before they were dislodged,” he said in describing the journey that Tanzania has taken so far.

Tanzania re-adopted multiparty politics in 1992 after the system was outlawed in 1965. The adoption of pluralism also came following a wind of change sweeping the globe around the time and despite the fact that a commission by Judge Francis Nyalali found that 80 per cent of Tanzanians still preferred to remain under one party rule.

According to Dr Slaa, there is no democratic system that lacks peculiar challenges. He pointed to recent elections in the US where investigations have shown that defeated President Donald Trump tried to influence the change of the vote in his favour and incited the public against his own vice president. “What is important is for us to set the tone for the practice that is good for our own circumstances.”

Dr Slaa hoped that the impending constitution review process may deliver the expectations for the type of democracy Tanzania should practice.

In the 2010 elections, he vied against Kikwete who was running for a second and final term in office, and was still the most popular politician, having won his first term in 2005 with 80.7 per cent of the vote.

Before then, Dr Slaa had undergone the suffrage that most politicians face from ‘patriarchal’ party systems. His name had been chopped of in 1995 among CCM candidates for Karatu, with his opponents being powerful people. He defected to the Chadema and won the seat against all odds.

He campaigned for the presidency in 2010 on the platform of anti-corruption in an election that seven parties fielded candidates, including that of the president. But it was a race that showed CCM, Chadema and CUF were still predominant.

The other parties were Tanzania Labour Party (TLP), NCCR-Mageuzi, African Progressive Party of Tanzania (APPT) and United Peoples Democratic Party (UPDP).

Dr Slaa emerged as “the voice for change” a platform which won him and the party many admirers. It was no surprise, therefore, that Kikwete won the presidency with only 60 per cent of the vote.

“Kikwete benefited from the youth vote after they had believed and saw him as their hope and one of their own. He was seen as experienced in tackling societal problems,” said Godbless Lema of that election outcome. Mr Lema spoke from Canada where he is on self-exile following the controversial 2020 General Election.

“There has not been any other popular presidential candidate than Kikwete as people had put a lot of hopes on him. His campaign slogan of ‘Ari Mpya, Kasi Mpya’ won him many supporters,” Lema recalls. He said after five years, Kikwete fell shot in meeting all the expectations.

“Poverty, poor conditions of living was blamed on leadership and today’s youth need change, good life and luckily they have access to information of what is happening elsewhere,” said Lema of the challenge that continues to face those in position of leadership. He said Chadema grew on the backdrop of the failures of the ruling party and became the new voice for the people. “That is why when Dr Slaa came on the scene coupled with the work that he had done in Parliament it became easy to sell his agenda,” said Lema.

There was also an element of populism, with Dr Slaa promising to cut his salary by 30 per cent should he win the presidency. He said he would ban the use of top of the range cars being used by leaders and bring about reforms in the justice system.

He capitalized on scandals such as EPA and Kagoda that were then a matter of big concern for the ruling party. It was interesting campaign time, with the Tanzania Citizens Information Bureau poll indicating that Dr Slaa would have beaten Kikwete by 45 per cent to 41 per cent of the vote if the elections were held between September and October of 2010.

Some 43 per cent of 19.7 million registered voters turned up to vote. Dr Slaa got 26 per cent of the vote while Lipumba had eight per cent. Dr Slaa recalls that it was only the second time for Chadema to have a candidate for presidency.

“It was a new experience for us and the public had not been used to a high profile candidate other than from CCM who were well known. For us, we were required to go to every village and corner of Tanzania to introduce ourselves and it was not an easy task within the 70 days. We had no financial muscle so much so that my posters did not even reach half of the country. You will go to a place and no one knew who you were, meaning the first duty was to introduce ourselves, let along deliver the campaign message to win them over,” he recalls, adding that he attained a fit of 450 meetings during the campaigns.

He said during the announcement of the results, they were receiving different. Election irregularities are teething problems that continue to dog the system, he avers. He says that despite the outcome, Chadema decided to work with the government for it was important for the country. “We prioritized national interest above that of the party.“

In Zanzibar, the 2010 elections ended with the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU) between CCM and CUF. Dr Ali Mohamed Shein was declared winner after garnering 50.1 per cent of the vote.

It was also in 2010 that Tanzania enacted a law on hospitality in order to contain voter bribery. The Election Expenses Act was aimed at regulating, and controlling use of funds and curb illegal practices and hence Tanzania become one of the countries in Africa to have such kind of legislation. In their campaigns, Dr Slaa made corruption his centarl theme.

Kikwete rooted for peace and continuity, creation of stable economy, creating more jobs, and empowerment of the less privileged. Other pledges were, the construction of roads, health infrastructures, education services and access to basic needs such as water and food.

President Kikwete also talked about the need to maintain the country’s peace, economic prosperity and improving the agriculture of which 80 percent of the population depend on.

Following the introduction of new regulations to control party finances, the presence of a code of conduct for political parties and the overall calm campaign environment, contributed to the conduct of peaceful elections.

Moreover, in some parts of the country, President Kikwete had a tough time addressing his supporters, media reports indicated that for instance in Tunduma, while addressing a rally people indicated that they would vote for him but not vote for his CCM candidate as MPs.

As a first-time opposition candidate, Dr Slaa whose candidature was said to be a political gamble that is paying off, as there was a widespread expectation of satisfactory results for the opposition though last-minute electoral reforms, instigated rumours of rigging and fear of violence.

Around 43 per cent of the 19.7 million registered voters turned out at the polls though analysts questioned the number saying never on earth Tanzania could have such voters.

The final results showed some progress for the opposition parties but still CCM took 186 of the 239 seats at stake, down from 206 recorded in 2005. Chadema increased its share from five to 23 and the CUF took 24 seats, up from 19 and the remaining seats went to other parties.

In the presidential election, President Kikwete (CCM) was re-elected for a second and final term with 61 per cent of the votes, a drop; compared with 80 percent in 2005. Dr Slaa garnered at least 26 percent of vote casted, while Prof Ibrahim Lipumba, was the second runner-up with 8 percent of the vote.

Such an outcome was a big win for the opposition as for the first time since the reintroduction of multipartism, the opposition had made significant gains in vote and parliament seats.

While several cabinet ministers lost to Chadema candidates, Mr Salum Bar’wani (CUF) became the first albino to be elected to the Tanzanian Parliament. And the following month (November), the newly elected Parliament held its first session whereby Ms Anne Makinda (CCM) was elected as its new Speaker, becoming the first woman to assume the post.

In Zanzibar, the October elections proceeded after a power-sharing agreement that was reached between the ruling CCM party and the opposition CUF. Dr Ali Mohamed Shein was elected as President of Zanzibar with 50.1 percent of the vote.

Additinal reporting by By Dickson Ng’hily