By Daniel Itai, Harare, Zimbabwe
Some of the country’s opposition political parties, MDC Alliance and LEAD, have expressed mixed reactions over the recent Tanzanian Presidential election results which were announced over the weekend.
Tanzania’s Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM)’s Presidential candidate John Pombe Magufuli, booked himself a second term in office after an outward victory of more than 80 percent against Chadema’s Tundu Lissu, who is bemoaning the issue of electoral fraud.
“President Magufuli’s Pan-Africanist ideology is the exact opposite of the whites’ expectations and likings. This therefore means that his victory under whatever circumstances will face criticism from the white apologetics which is what exactly is now happening. The Tanzanian opposition basing on foreign support from the so called international community will make a lot of noise based on imaginations and emotions to agitate their blind loyalists.
As Africans, I think we need to go back to the drawing board and see what really works in our African continent which in my own view would be the scrapping off of elections and reverting back to a monarchial type of government.
Moreover, the issue of elections in Africa is a borrowed phenomenon and in as much as we might seem interested in following this kind of politics I believe it won’t work in Africa. If Africa as a whole and Zimbabwe in particular are to succeed in their endeavors we need to define our path of choosing leaders who are 100 percent locally homegrown and independent from European influence.
FOLLOW ZimCitizenNews on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
History has demonstrated times without numbers that the white community only favours that which secures their own interests not ours. In my own assessment of the Tanzanian polls those who believe in Africa solving her own problems had every reason to reelect President Magufuli,” said leader of the LEAD political party, Linda Masarira.
However, Stephen Chuma, MDC Alliance Youth Assembly’s national spokesperson disagreed with Masarira citing that the elections were marred by a lot of irregularities.
“The recently held Tanzanian plebscite is another clear case of Africa’s window dressing democracy where authoritarian regimes hold elections just as a formality.
Elections are only held as a veneer to hoodwink the world that there is democracy. Chama Cha Mapinduzi, Tanzania’s ruling party since 1960, is part of the notorious liberation parties cast that have turned into a club of dictators albeit through abusing platforms such as the Africa Union and SADC.
It is a public secret that despite John Magufuli’s sound economic developments for Tanzania in the past five years have been achieved at the expense of the disrespect of human rights and political freedoms. Rights and political freedoms have been thrown into the pit latrine and to cover up for that Magufuli hides under the positives in economic growth and development.
Moreso, in the build up to this plebscite some opposition activists and journalists were arrested and jailed, hence when Chadema, the opposition, cries about rigging it emanates from such irregularities,” said Chuma.
@danielItai_zw
