Tanzania made its position on the Iraq war clear before it began. President Mkapa announced that the government and people of Tanzania were opposed to the war and Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye told parliament on February 14 that military supremacy might win the war on the battlefield but it would not bring peace or win hearts. Tanzania also could suffer economically if another war was imposed on Iraq.

It was difficult to hear a dissenting voice and Tanzanians appear to have been united in opposition to the war.

The East African, in an angry article under the heading ‘Humiliated, Helpless, we are all Iraqis Today’ reported the views of a news vendor in Dar es Salaam: “American heavyweight Mike Tyson slugs it out with Tanzanian featherweight Rashidi Matumla!” The article went on: ‘The unequal Anglo-American war on little Iraq is termed “War in Iraq” as if there were simply civil strife going on there, not an invasion by the world’s superpowers of a Third World poor country. There is nothing on the global news networks, BBC or CNN, to assert this fact -that the war is not being fought between equals in terms of weapons, resources and technology.

If any were in doubt about the Tanzanian view they had only to read the Swahili press which rivaled British tabloids in the extremism of its news coverage.

Typical headlines:
British army fearful of entering Basra; says it is dangerous (Mtanzania)
Bush nearly drowning; seeks more funds to destroy Iraq ­(Nipashe)
More Americans killed; the British contingent in trouble -Nipashe
Bush, Blair hammered, The British running from Basra;
The Iraqis forcing them to mark time in the desert; others confused, killing each other -An-Nuur
Iraq destroys US tanks; Saddam’s soldiers stinging like ants -Mwananchi
We have cornered the Americans; claim they control not a single city -Mwananchi
Coward Americans confused at the front line; killing women, children indiscriminately -Majira

By April 10th however, the tone had changed.
Further headlines: ‘Iraqis applaud new era of freedom’ wrote Nipashe; a Rai editorial said ‘ The imperialist aim has been achieved. Iraq is in their hands now. It would be a wise undertaking if they could rebuild Iraq politically and socially …

By April 14th Nipashe wrote ‘US forces enter Sikrit unopposed; Baghdad is calm…..’

FBI TO ESTABLISH AN ANTI-TERRORIST INSTITUTE

According to The Swahili paper Rai, in a bid to counter terrorism, the American Federal Bureau of Investigations will establish an institute for training Police investigators on how to combat terrorism. Construction of the institute, which will also cater for neighbouring countries, is to commence in July this year near Dodoma. The Capital Development Authority (CDA) was said to have allocated 127 hectares for the project. The Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police was quoted as confirming the reports.

There will be significant by-elections on May 18 for 15 seats in the Tanzanian National Assembly mostly from Pemba Island in Zanzibar (but including four mainland seats) and another 17 seats are being contested in the Zanzibar House of Representatives. All but one of the seats in Pemba were previously held by Tanzania’s main opposition party, the Civic United Front (CUF). The previous MP’s had been expelled from parliament because of a boycott they had conducted in protest against what they consider to have been rigged elections in 2000. The 17th seat became vacant when Tanzanian Vice-President Dr Shein had to give up his seat on taking up his new appointment.

The election results will not make any dent in the dominant position of the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party in Tanzania but they should provide some indication, if the elections are free and fair, as to the correctness or otherwise of CUF’s long­standing claim that it is the majority party in Zanzibar. For this reason the by-elections are being fought with great vigour by both sides.

The CCM party claimed that many people living in the main island of Zanzibar were going to Pemba to register as voters for the by­elections and accused CUF of being behind the move.

As this issue of Tanzanian Affairs went to press there was good news. Both the CCM Treasurer and the CUF Director of Planning reported a peaceful atmosphere during the voter registration exercise and the CUF Director described the behaviour of the police as commendable. But, according to Majira, registration was said to be proceeding slowly.

Also, according to the same paper ‘big shots’ from the CCM had expressed uncertainty on the outcome of the by-elections. One was quoted as saying a CCM loss in Pemba would not be a big issue. If the Party lost it would concede defeat.

CABINET RESHUFFLE
Two ministers changed places in a minor cabinet reshuffle on February 1. The Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Information and Political Affairs) and Publicity Secretary of the CCM Party, Mr Omar Ramadhan Mapuri became Minister of Home Affairs replacing the previous Minister Mr Mohammed Seif Khatib. The opposition parties, about whom Mapuri had been highly critical, were unhappy with his promotion to what they described as ‘such a sensitive position as Home Affairs Minister.’ The Guardian’s editorial on the subject was headed ‘Mapuri’s appointment raises many eyebrows.’

A MINOR SETBACK
In a surprise result CCM has lost a ward in local elections for Musoma Town Council to the CUF candidate by a margin of six votes. Local CCM members demanded the resignation of their district chairman and secretary blaming them for CCM’s failure to win the seat.

A UNITED OPPOSITION?
Eleven opposition political parties drew up a provisional agreement at the beginning of February to field one presidential candidate in the 2005 elections. They also agreed in principle to divide parliamentary constituencies among themselves. Augustine Mrema’s Tanzania Labour Party however refused to join the alliance because he said that Tanzanians were not yet ripe to vote for a single opposition candidate as had happened in Kenya last year.

JOHN CHEYO BOUNCES BACK
Turmoil has continued in the United Democratic Party (UDP)but in a surprise move on March 13 John Cheyo bounced back as the legitimate chairman of the Party. After eight months of conflict, Registrar of Political Parties John Tendwa, reinstated the ousted leader and declared his rival, Amani Jidulamabambasi, no longer chairman. Tendwa said that he was now satisfied that the Party’s constitution and procedures had not been followed when Cheyo was deposed. “The current leadership had forged the evidence and had cheated the Registrar, the Tanzanian community and party members”

Tendwa said that Jidulamabambasi had originally presented documentary evidence, which he had accepted, to justifY his claims that the UDP Central Committee which had met on 6 July last year had decided to dismiss Cheyo. Later, Cheyo submitted the original minutes of what actually transpired at the meeting written by the Deputy Secretary General, who was a regular minutes writer, in his own handwriting. When he was called to Tendwa’s office to identify the minutes early this year, he denied his own handwriting. In order to settle the dispute, the Registrar decided to present the original copy of the disputed handwriting to the Identification Bureau of the Criminal Investigations Department for technical verification which indicated that there had been ‘significant similar characteristics.’ With the documentary evidence presented at his office and technical results from the CID, Tendwa said his office had reviewed its former decision and reinstated Cheyo.

As this issue of TA went to press Jidulamabambasi was said to be wanting to take the Registrar to court.

A BRITISH VIEW ON THE TANZANIAN PARLIAMENT
Valerie Davey, Labour MP for Bristol West, speaking in a debate in the House of Commons on International Women’s Day compared life in the British and Tanzanian parliaments. “Looking down” (from the gallery in the National Assembly in Dodoma) she said: “I was enthralled to see a wonderful red semi-circle. People addressed the Speaker, who sat high above them -even higher than you, Madam Deputy Speaker -well above contradiction. The Mace may not have been as lavish as ours but it was carried in with as much dignity. Of the 282 members of the Tanzanian parliament 61 (21%) are women. However, only 12 of these were elected. The others hold special seats and two are presidential appointees…… An all-party woman’s group invited me to a question and answer session. They wanted to know how we in Britain planned to meet the 30% Beijing target for women on elected bodies by 2005… Tanzania will have reached this target at the 2005 election…. I could give no clear answer on how we would reach 30% in Britain, but, in the Labour Party, there will be all-women shortlists as seats become available…. I had to admit however that this would probably not result in 30% women members.”

Ms Davey paid tribute, firstly, to the British Council for what she described as its ‘incredibly good work in increasing the number of women in effective leadership positions and also, to Dr Elly Macha, the Britain-Tanzania Society-supported blind Tanzanian student who recently completed her PhD at Leeds University.

During recent weeks, if one is to judge by the prominence given to the subject in the Tanzanian parliament and media, corruption has come a close second to Iraq, in terms of public interest. Two people in particular have made the allegations which have stimulated the debate and have gained a great deal of publicity in the process. They are the former Head of Intelligence and present CCM MP for Makete, who is also a member of the ruling party’s National Executive Committee, Dr Hassy Kitine who has made wide-ranging allegations to the effect that many CCM and government leaders are corrupt; and, on February 18, long-term activist/politician and Chairman of the very small Democratic Party, the Rev. Christopher Ntikila who directed his attention to alleged corruption by Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye. But many others soon joined in the fray.

A HEALTHY DEBATE
The former Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission, which had produced a much praised report to President Mkapa on corruption, Judge Joseph Warioba, told journalists that he agreed with Dr Kitine that some leaders in the country were corrupt. Dr Kitine had been right in expressing his view about what was amiss in the country.

Transparency International the corruption watchdog calculated in its 2002 ‘Corruption Perception Index’ that Tanzania was the 12th most corrupt country in the world and the 7th most corrupt in Africa. The March issue of ‘Africa Today,’ in an article headed ‘In the Grip of Corruption’ noted that in Tanzania there had recently been a notable shift from the culture of silence inside Tanzania’s ruling circles and that Kitine’s allegations had triggered a ‘somewhat sizzling debate amongst the public’. The media were said to be ‘beaming a searchlight on corruption’.

In its editorial on 23rd January the Guardian stated that the remarks made by Dr Kitine had ‘shaken the entire country and the Government quite a lot.’ Otherwise, it wrote, how could the latter’s reaction be explained? The Government, through Minister of State in the President’s Office, Wilson Massilingi, had reacted quickly by saying that Kitine’s allegations should have been channeled through the Prevention of Corruption Bureau (PCB) and not made to the media. Why did the government reveal its position so quickly, the editorial asked. Why were the public not allowed to express their views first? Dr Kitine, supported later by Musoma MP Nimrod Mkono, had injected a breath of fresh air into democratic discourse in Tanzania. It was a healthy debate and a sign of maturity, the Guardian wrote.

Under the front page headline ‘MP Tired of endless corruption literature’ the Guardian (February 22) quoted the MP for Bukoba Urban as complaining, at a Workshop for 200 MP’s: “Every year we hear the same things …. I can safely predict that even next year, we will be bombarded with similar lectures on the corruption issue,” he said. Well known CCM MP Gertrude Mongela, although critical of Kitine, said that the situation would not have reached its current stage if the Government had properly implemented recommendations contained in the Warioba report on corruption. Mwananchi quoted retired High Court Judge Raymond Mwaikasu as saying that corrupt leaders were known to the PCB but it was unable to take action because it was responsible to the President’s Office, which often ‘hindered it from naming or making decisions on corrupt leaders’. He called upon the PCB to be given freedom to work independently.

KITINE’S ALLEGATIONS
The Kitine case created a sensation but soon became quagmired in allegation and counter-allegation, which led to a situation of considerable confusion. Dr Kitine had originally been in trouble over allegations that his wife had been wrongly paid fees by the Government for hospital treatment she had received in Canada in 1997/98. Dr Kitine had subsequently resigned form his position as Head of Security.

More recently Parliament’s Accounts Committee had initially declared Mrs Kitine innocent but a month later, according to the Sunday Observer (February 23) discretely changed its mind.

Mbulu MP Philip Marmo said that the government’s demand for proof about corruption was to question the obvious. Marmo suggested that there was no need to demand evidence and proof from Dr. Kitine, because what he had said was known by Tanzanian society.

MP’s were divided on the matter although many were critical of Kitine and said that he should have addressed his comments to the party leadership or to the Prevention of Corruption Bureau.

CCM Youth Wing Mobilization Secretary and Nkenge MP, Deodorun Kamala, said that if the Government was serious about the war against corruption, there was a need to change the judicial system in the country. He said that it was high time that the burden of proving innocence or guilt of those accused of corruption should placed on the accused as it was difficult to prove corruption allegations in the courts. Between the Government and normal citizens, who was in better position to quickly get evidence on corruption allegations?” Kamala asked.

This prompted a reaction from Attorney General Andrew Chenge, who said that the legal system that governed civil disobedience in the country was based on the Commonwealth system that put the burden of proof on the prosecution side, as opposed to the continental system followed by many European countries, that put the burden of proof on the accused.

Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Harith Bakari Mwapachu, said corruption cases would continue to be resolved through the current system as the government had no plans to establish a specific organ to deal with such cases.

MTIKILA’S ALLEGATIONS FORCEFULLY REBUTTED
Meanwhile, the Rev. Mtikila went further and listed properties he alleged were owned by Prime Minister Sumaye or his wife or his allies. The list included houses in Morogoro, Arusha and Dar es Salaam, farms in the Coast, Dodoma Morogoro and Arusha regions, factories and an aeroplane.

Within days several leaders and others made statements contradicting the allegations. Home Affairs Minister Mapuri made it clear that the CCM party would not discuss corruption allegations against the Prime Minister because they lacked credible evidence.

However, on 10th April the Dar es Salaam ‘Family Mirror’ reported that the PCB had taken up the allegations against the Prime Minister to determine whether he had misused public office to amass wealth. PCB Director-General Anatory Kamazima was quoted as saying that the PCB was collecting evidence on Sumaye’s registered properties.

The Home Affairs Minister was quoted in several newspapers as saying that CCM would debate and investigate allegations facing the Prime Minister if it received the allegations from official and credible sources. He said that so far only ‘blah blah’ had been heard and no evidence of corruption had been provided. He said that the Prime Minister, like any other leader, had a right to own property including farms.

As this issue of TA went to press the Sunday Observer quoted the Prime Minister as saying that he was not corrupt and was considering the possibility of suing those making the allegations.

PRESIDENT MKAPA ENTERS THE DEBATE
President Mkapa entered the debate several times. He was quoted in Mtanzania in January as saying that corrupt practices were rampant in the construction industry and that efforts to fight it had proved futile. He urged engineers to rescue their profession by side lining those who condoned corrupt practices.

As this issue of TA went to press Majira reported that President Mkapa had acknowledged receipt of an anonymous letter listing corrupt ministers, deputy ministers, directors and companies that had solicited favours from public officials in exchange for bribes. The President said that Tanzanians were not bold enough to name the corrupt in their midst and that many were jealous when they saw colleagues with new cars and houses.

A DOWNWARD TREND
However, on February 9 the Sunday Observer had written as follows: ‘The marauding scourge of corruption devastating the economies of poor countries had shown a downward trend in Tanzania since last year when government started implementing its ‘Anti-corruption Strategy and Action Plan.’ Closing a one-day conference on ‘Good Governance’ in Dar es Salaam Chief Secretary, Marten Lumbanga, said it was not true that the scourge was increasing. The corruption index in Tanzania had fallen from 81 points to 71, compared with the rising trend (above 70) in some neighbouring countries. “These are not my figures” he said “They are published by ‘Transparency International’ He said the fall in the corruption index showed that the anti-corruption programme was becoming effective. “We are certainly not complacent about this initial success. In fact we are energised to continue fighting the scourge tooth and nail” he said.

(The Financial Times (March 25) reported that a draft corruption Bill is now being prepared for presentation to the British Parliament under which business people who use backhanders to help contracts progress in foreign countries could face up to seven years in jail. Ever since the time of President Nyerere, Tanzania has been pressing Britain to make this end of the corruption cycle a crime -Editor}.

STOP PRESS. The verdict was given on April 18 in the long standing corruption case against former leaders of the Ministry of Public Works. Minister Nalaila Kiula, the Roads Director and a Chief Engineer have been found not guilty. The Principal Secretary at the time has been sent to jail for three years. According to Dar Leo the Government may appeal against the three not guilty verdicts and the Principal Secretary will definitely appeal against his sentence.