Makonda’s anti-drug war produces outcomes which will haunt him

As of recent nothing has dominated online discussions like the controversy surrounding Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner Paul Makonda which has centred on his academic certificates.

His response has shown; once again that he lacks insight of the possible dangers awaiting him in days to come.

As was the case with when he launched his self-declared war on illicit drugs where he prioritised physical security, the serious challenges which followed him were not physical. They were the kind which increased physical security measures are useless to prevent as his detractors targeted his wealth which they allege was ill-gotten and his character as well.

There is little doubt that the current controversy has its roots in the war on illicit drugs Makonda declared. However, like in his response to perceived physical dangers, this time as well his response to this ongoing storm is informative of how, once again he has failed to see the real issue at hand. To him, and possibly his detractors fanning the flames of this controversy the target is his position as a regional commissioner.

His response has alternated between silence, prayers and sermons, and an angry reply to a reporter who called him to get his response on the matter. Much of what he has done or said has done nothing to dispel the rumors.

To his critics all they see in his efforts are smoke and mirrors. To them, if those Makonda accused had to deal with his accusations of their various roles they might have or otherwise in the illicit drugs trade, he too, should do the same by squarely addressing this controversy once and for all. He has tirelessly insisted that what is at stake is his position. That might be true in the short term but the really danger is in the long term. What is at stake here is far more serious; it is his political legitimacy. Ancient civilisations came up with different explanations in trying to understand the changes in one’s fortune. This capricious nature of fortune twisting and turning for the better or worse was said to be beyond human’s control; it was fate upon which the gods and goddesses played with human lives at will. This was explained through the capricious wheel of fortune.

As a people we are terribly myopic. We do not remember a lot of things with the passage of time which is why there are those, including Makonda himself who say that this too shall pass. Unfortunately to him, there are those with terribly long memories amongst us; political opponents.

Edward Lowassa’s response to the Richmond scandal is instructive of this. The former prime minister when confronted in the National Assembly to tell his side of the story as opposed to Mwakyembe’s Commission had presented, he chose to only point out how he felt treated unfairly and that all his political enemies wished for was his seat as prime minister; a wish he granted.

His political enemies had succeeded to bring him down but the real problem lay ahead.

Lowassa harboured political ambitions; he wanted the presidency. As soon as he declared that he will be running to replace then-outgoing president Jakaya Kikwete, his political enemies were up in arms again to dent his political legitimacy by working painfully hard to remind short-sighted voters of his link to a political scandal near a decade old.

Makonda is a young, rising ambitious politician. It is very possible that he might survive the current storm with the current strategies he has opted to use in dealing with the ongoing controversy. What awaits him down the road, should he fail to quell these rumors decisively is the same thing Lowassa has had to endure since he resigned as prime minister. Unlike Lowassa whose role and its extent in the Richmond scandal is debatable, Makonda is the only person who can save himself from the current controversy and whatever political ambitions he harbours for the future.

Anything short of proving his detractors wrong, will put him in a terrible bind, a Catch-22 situation. His self-declared war on illicit drugs has unleashed some forces which have produced outcomes which will haunt him, tying him down like an anchor around his neck long after the debate and conversations online have shifted elsewhere to another trending story of the time.

That would be a real victory to his detractors.