Monday 29 July 2013

Politicians censured at peace, security forum



Posted  Monday, July 29  2013 at  08:24
In Summary
There was wide consensus that most politicians were self-centred and solely interested in enriching themselves instead of serving the people


Dar es Salaam. Participants in a debate on “Peace and Security in Tanzania for the Next 50 Years” yesterday blamed politicians for the disharmony and chaos that the country is gradually sinking into.
Speaking during the debate organised by University of Dar es Salaam Academic Staff Assembly (Udasa) in collaboration with Independent Television (ITV) and Radio One, they said most of the politicians were selfish.
Mr Muganga Godfrey, one of the participants, said most of the politicians were self-centred and consequently, they were not serving people since, he argued, they join politics to enrich themselves.
“That is why we have professors who are eager to quit teaching and go into politics where they know that there is a juicy cake to eat,” he said.
Mr Godfrey said when people feel they are neglected by their leaders, particularly politicians, they decide to riot in the streets, breaching peace.
Another participant who identified himself as Jeremiah Jabir,  said peace and tranquillity were on the brink of vanishing because people, especially the youth, are angry with politicians who were not fulfilling promises they made during election campaigns.
He said: “When citizens realise  they have been cheated they start rioting on the streets, thus breaching the peace that we have been singing about all these years.”
Mr Gayo David, a student at the UDSM trashed the old notion that defined Tanzania as “an island of peace” saying there was no peace in Tanzania anymore.
“How can there be peace while the gap between the few haves and the majority have-nots is widening by the day?” queried the student.
David said while a few lived in paradise, the majority of Tanzanians were wallowing in the abyss of abject poverty, asking: “How can there be peace in such situation?”
Mr Yasin Manoro said Tanzanians were now becoming frustrated after learning that most of their compatriots who are rich acquired their wealth through dubious means, including graft.
Prof Bernadetta Kilian of the University of Dar es Salaam accused Parliament of failing to address issues that were likely to result in the breach of peace.

She said: “Our MPs, instead of addressing pertinent issues like how best to nurture the prevailing peace, they are busy tarnishing names of rival political parties.”
Prof Kilian observed that the country’s institutions under the founding President Julius Nyerere that nurtured and cherished peace were either weak or no longer there.
She noted that what authorities were doing was to deal with conflicts instead of addressing the source of the conflicts, citing the recent bombing of a church and a political rally in Arusha.
Prof Kilian said instead of addressing people’s problems, Tanzania’s politicians were busy looking for the next president.
“Reports by the Controller and Auditor General reveal the extent of corruption in the country,  but nobody is taken to account,” she said.
Prof Gaudence Mpangala, a senior political science lecturer at the UDSM said what signified that Tanzania is no longer a haven of peace was the existence of a system whereby the ruling party was ‘state party’ (chama-dola) and thus enjoying favours from the security organs.
“This creates an unfair political climate that could trigger chaos in the country,” Prof Mpangala warned.
He was worried that though the Draft Constitution has clauses meant to remove the notion of ‘state party’, there were efforts by CCM stalwarts to remove such clauses from the Draft.
A law expert at the UDSM, Mr Onesmo Kyeuke, expressed concern over what he described as authorities’ and security organs’ misconduct.
Source: The Citizen