The twenty tens: they were about constitution and the individual
How do you go about writing an epitaph for a calendar year on its way out? Years are never the same even when their calendars are exactly the same, the passage of time helps put matters into proper perspective.
This ending year, 2019, shares the same calendar with at least 24 other years; past and future ones but not a single year out of all the previous years was a replica of 2019, and as for future years with the same calendar as 2019, the possibilities would have excited even Michel de Nostredame.
2019 is concluding a decade of the “twenty tens”. It was a fast-paced decade for sure packed with corruption scandals, factionalism, a political alliance, Taifa Stars re-appearing at the highest CAF stage, proliferation of mass media, regional tensions, individual creativity, changing legal landscape for the media and political parties, mega-infrastructure projects, a renewed sense of national pride, a revived national carrier, the loss of some influential names in various fields from sports and entertainment to business, to politics, to name but a few.
However, there are two things which overshadowed much of the rest in this decade and are certain to make their presence beyond the twenty tens.
It is easy to forget now, that the twenty tens in this country started on a very positive note in Zanzibar, where after decades of bitterly disputed past, which came to manifest itself in many forms including endless disputed general election outcomes, the political class enacted a new constitution in which arrangements were made to share power.
By the next general election, Zanzibar had returned to its past with politicians digging deep not to give any ground.
Amidst this constitutional change in Zanzibar, calls to change the Union constitution grew louder and after the 2010 general election, the government, half-heartedly agreed to a process to re-write the country’s constitution. From the outset that process was flawed, with politicians firmly in charge and a cast of very diverse characters forming the Constituent assembly, those who thought that perhaps the idea was not getting a new document entirely might have been right.
After millions and millions of taxpayers’ money were spent on a process that was bound to fail, a proposed constitution left the country more divided. It was a masterstroke for CCM strategists for they managed to take the wind out of the issue for a considerable time and by the 2015 general election, despite opposition parties promising a new constitution, it never really became a political hot button the way it had been before 2010.
If, in the future the constitution of a new constitution is revived, the country is not even in agreement about what to do with the process that wasted our taxes. Some would want the proposed constitution be adopted as it is. Some would prefer to put it through a referendum. Others would prefer a completely new process, with a different cast and different set of rules to use.
Way before twenty tens came knocking; the individual had arrived on our political scene to compete with political parties. The late Rev. Christopher Mtikila had challenged the government to allow independent political candidates through the courts way back. Then Augustine Mrema happened in 1995. But it was during the twenty tens when the individual was so prominent on the political scene.
Even as then-President Jakaya Kikwete spoke to CCM NEC members about the primacy of the party over the individual in May, 2015, individuals went on to cast long shadows in political parties, completely reconfiguring some while almost certainly preparing the burial of other political parties and reviving the political fortunes of others. CCM had depended on winning general elections on the political fortunes of individuals from the first multiparty general election back in 1995; however, 2015 was on a whole different scale. From John Magufuli, to Edward Lowassa to Dr Wilbrod Slaa to Prof Ibrahim Lipumba, individuals bent political parties to their political desires.
Minus CCM, individuals won decisive victories over political parties, and the political repercussions of this will be better felt in the future, as political parties increasingly become merely vessels to fulfil one’s political dreams and ambitions.
As the “twenty twenties” beckons, what was it like living in this country in the twenty tens? You’re the jury.
