Why Chadema demo shows that Tanzania has turned the corner

By Mkomwa S. Kisondoka

History of sorts was made last Wednesday when the opposition Chadema demonstrated in Dar es Salaam. Now, one may ask, how can this possibly be history?

Indeed, this question makes plenty of sense to those who are not conversant with the chequered history of Tanzania’s multiparty democracy since political pluralism was restored back in 1992.

For those who are not in the picture, the demonstration in Dar es Salaam was a significant milestone in that it marked the first time in more than 30 years that an opposition party – and a big and influential one at that – was allowed to demonstrate and air its grievances without any hindrance whatsoever. This is a huge plus for President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

It should be recalled that the run-up to the demonstration was closely monitored by the local and international media alike.  When D-day came, cameras and microphones were trained on the demonstration for obvious reasons.

It was expected that riot police, armed to the teeth, would be out in force, ready to quell the planned demonstration in the most brutal fashion.  Why? Because that is what used to happen in the past when political activities by the Opposition were criminalised in Tanzania.

But it didn’t happen this time around. Chadema leaders and party supporters demonstrated peacefully from Buguruni and Mbezi and terminated their march at the United Nations offices in Ubungo, where they handed over a list of demands, which they hoped would be forwarded to the UN secretary-general in New York.  The role of police was not to intimidate demonstrators, but to escort them and ensure their safety.

In fact, such was the confidence that things had changed for the better since President Hassan came into office on March 19, 2021 that Chadema chairman Freeman Mbowe was accompanied in the demonstration by his three children.

One would have to think pretty hard to recall when such a scenario last played out in this country.  The authorities’ kneejerk reaction in the past was to deny opposition parties permits to demonstrate, citing “intelligence”, which indicated that demonstrators planned to unleash “violence and mayhem”.

Any defiance was invariably met with brute force that saw demonstrators clobbered senseless and opposition leaders unceremoniously bundled into police vehicles and driven to the nearest police station to await sedition, incitement and illegal assembly charges and possibly spend months behind bars.

What happened last week was unthinkable only a few years ago. When President Hassan came into office about three years ago, she embarked on a path of reconciliation and restoring political liberties as articulated in the Constitution.

It should be recalled that political rallies by opposition parties were expressly banned by her predecessor in 2016 in flagrant violation of the Constitution. She lifted the ban in January 2023, more than six years after it was imposed, and has now gone a step further and allowed political parties to exercise their constitutional right to peaceful assembly and protest.

The prophets of doom who were glued to television screens and their smartphones, waiting for a violent confrontation between Chadema demonstrators and police ought to know that Tanzania is in another era where political tolerance is now the name of the game, with muscle-flexing, chest-thumping and paranoia having taken a back seat.

Chadema also deserves a pat on the back for staging a peaceful and incident-free demonstration that was in sharp contrast to past opposition protest marches that were usually synonymous with chaos and disruption.  The stone-throwing goons and idlers who were a common feature in past opposition demonstrations were nowhere to be seen this time around.

Other opposition parties that plan to hold demonstrations in the future should emulate the civility that was on display in last week’s protest march in Dar es Salaam.

While Chadema and other opposition parties are within their constitutional rights to question the proposed amendments to electoral laws, the party should be thankful that basic political rights have been restored after they were unconstitutionally and arbitrarily withdrawn over the years.

Mkomwa S. Kisondoka is a stakeholder in politics, social affairs and democracy based in Tanga