It’s quite a step from Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations to walking through the mud of rural Njombe. Yet that is what Dr Asha-Rose Migiro has done.
She left her position at the UN last year, and has recently joined the Tanzanian parliament as a Presidential appointee. This has prompted speculation that a cabinet re-shuffle may be imminent, and even that she may be lining up a run for the CCM presidential nomination. Continue reading
“Happy birthday to the Union, 47 years old” - Cartoon from Nipashe newspaper, April 2011
A referendum is coming up next year in Scotland, with a simple question proposed: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”
And in Tanzania, a referendum on constitutional reforms is also imminent. After a long public consultation process, a draft new constitution for Tanzania was published in June. It will be revised further, and then probably some more, but eventually Tanzanian citizens will decide whether or not to adopt the new constitution.
It’s a complicated debate with a lot of different issues at stake, but the biggest question has something in common with what’s going on in the UK and Scotland: what form should the relationship between Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania take?
But there’s one huge difference between the two situations: since the start of 2013, there have been at least 24 separate public opinion surveys asking voters in Scotland which way they intend to vote. Continue reading
Presidents Kikwete of Tanzania and Banda of Malawi
President Joyce Banda of Malawi is in a pickle. A corruption scandal has emerged on her watch, and she’s under pressure from all sides, quite possibly through no fault of her own. In fact, it may even be the case that she finds herself in this mess precisely because she has done something not far from the right thing.
So what happened?
A few weeks ago, an environment ministry official was found with £190,000 in the boot of his car, then the Budget Director – said to be on the verge of blowing the whistle – was shot three times outside his home. According to the Telegraph (not my usual source, but they were given an interview by Banda), 68 people have been arrested in the ensuing investigation, including the Ministers of Finance and Justice. The Minister of Justice has been charged with attempted murder of the Budget Director. The President has cleared out her cabinet, and said that about 30% of the country’s budget could have been stolen over the past decade. Thirty percent. Continue reading
See also previous posts collecting coverage from Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, and with my own thoughts on the story.
Friday 29th November
Newspaper articles:
Coverage dropping fast, though still on some front pages, if only indirectly in most cases. Many of these articles focus on a related case Zitto has lodged with the police against some of his party colleagues, which links to death threats against him and the publication of a document laden with accusations (many potentially libellous) against Zitto Kabwe, a couple of weeks before his sacking from party posts.
Mwananchi: Baregu aitahadharisha Chadema kuhusu Zitto
Nipashe: Polisi wajitosa sakata la Zitto
Daily News: Debate on Zitto demotion closed, says Chadema
HabariLeo: Mpasuko Chadema sasa kamati kuu
Tanzania Daima: Zitto azua balaa
Majira: Madai ya Zitto yachunguzwa
The most interesting of these is the reporting of Prof Baregu’s remarks in Mwananchi. Here’s a direct quote from Baregu:
“Tuhuma zinazotolewa dhidi ya Zitto na wenzake kwamba wamenunuliwa na chama fulani cha siasa zinahitaji maelezo na vielelezo vya kina ili kuwaaminisha wengi. Nasema hivi kwa sababu historia yao inadhihirisha kuwa wana uchungu na chama chao. Chama kinachoongozwa kwa demokrasia na kinachotarajiwa kushika madaraka ya kuongoza nchi, lazima kionyeshe uwezo mkubwa wa kuvumiliana, kutafakari, kusamehe, kuaminiana na kujenga umoja wenye lengo la kuelekea kusudio lake.” Continue reading
Cartoon from wavuti.com
We all saw it coming, and yet we were surprised when it came. Zitto Kabwe was sacked by his party late last week.
No longer will Zitto be Chadema’s deputy secretary, nor deputy leader of the opposition in parliament. There’s even a suggestion that he will be stripped of his party membership, with uncertain consequences for his status as an MP – Tanzania doesn’t allow independent MPs, and “crossing the floor” to join another party mid-term is unheard of.
I will come to the implications in a moment. But first, some background is essential.
Zitto has long been a difficult character, both for the government and his own party leaders. He is quite possibly the most popular political figure in the country (though no data exists to confirm this) and has been a huge asset to his party. At only 37 years old, he has an appeal to the youth vote that no other politician can match. But there have always been suspicions that his energy and drive owed more to his personal ambition (he had already indicated his intention to run for the presidency in 2015) than his party allegiance. Continue reading
This follows an earlier post with articles, etc. from Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Updated Tuesday, 2pm EAT – click here to jump to the new section
Monday 25th November
Front pages, via millardayo.com:
Newspapers:
Mwananchi: Zitto: Sitoki Chadema; Diwani amkosoa Lissu; Wazazi wamsindikiza Zitto ‘kujieleza’; Dk Kitila: Nilishiriki kuandaa, kuhariri waraka; Kigoma wapinga, Mbeya washangilia
The Citizen: Zitto fights back in effort to salvage political career Continue reading
Zitto Kabwe
UPDATED: Sunday 9.45pm EAT Click here to go direct to this update
Or here for Saturday’s links
For articles etc. from Monday (25/11) onwards, see this new post.
- – -
Zitto Kabwe, a hugely dynamic and popular young MP with the main Tanzanian opposition party, Chadema, was stripped of his official positions by party leaders in the early hours of Friday morning. He will no longer be the party’s deputy secretary, nor deputy leader of the opposition in parliament.
The reason? Party Chairman, Freeman Mbowe, explained that Zitto had been discovered to be part of a plot to overthrow the party leader and take over the position of party chair (and likely Presidential candidate), along with other related transgressions.
from Daily News
I will probably post some analysis of this major development as the story evolves further. But for the moment, here’s a collection of articles, posts, tweets, etc. on the story, which I will try to keep updated.
Friday 22nd November
The story as it broke, on Jamii Forums: Zitto na Kitila wavuliwa vyeo vyote ndani ya chama
Live coverage of the press conference held by Chadema’s Executive Committee, also on Jamii Forums: Ufafanuzi wa CHADEMA Kuhusu Maazimio ya Kamati Kuu – Novemba 2013
Continue reading
