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DP presidential candidate: maverick of Tanzania’s politics
2005-08-30 06:58:55
By Mwondoshah Mfanga
Christopher Morley was at one time quoted as saying: Read, every day something no one else is reading. Think, everyday, something no one else is thinking.
Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of the unanimity.’
Perhaps the first two sentences may not be as important in drawing an analogue between Morley and the leader of Democratic Party, Christopher Mtikila.
But both the name and the last part of the quotation exactly befits Rev Mtikila.
Mtikilla is definitely one of the few people who would find it bad to have his mind as part of the unanimity of other politicians in this country.
He is not only a man of many words, a politician of antics, whom one would always see as unpredictable and cunning in his articulation.
But, he is one of the few politicians in the opposition who knows the intrigues of politics.
He surfaced in the 1980s, first as a preacher under the liberty desk, but over the period he has been able to intermarry his conception of politics with the brand of Christianity he teaches under the Liberty desk.
He broke the ice during a debate in 1989 at Luther House in the city when he emerged with a seemingly new liberation ideology, which in a way did not look to be a new invention, but amongst many downtrodden Tanzanians, they picked some pieces out of it.
He took Tanzanian some 40 years back only to tell them that they need to be decolonised anew because they were still poor or walalahoi and were still being milked by the rich, whom he referred to as the gabacholis.
Mtikila started with the notion that he did not recognise Tanzania, and because of that he wanted Tanganyika be decolonised from the Union forged with Zanzibar in 1964 to form Tanzania.
It is not known why the pace and zeal by Mtikila’s to ’fight’ for ’the new nation’ has gone down of late.
Some political observes believe that perhaps the agenda was only an ephemeral one and had to do with the politics of the 1990s, which are no more.
But what is more surprising is that only recently Mtikila accepted the formula provided by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) and the Registrar of Political Parties that for a party to operate in the United Republic, it has to have member and leaders on either side of the Union.
Mtikila and his party has, at several instances, landed in court to defend itself either from being scrapped off the registrar or to ask the court to efface some unjust laws in the country—a sphere wich he has played a useful role.
Mtikila was instrumental in demanding, among other things, that the Tanzanian polity allow the prevalence of independent candidates in elections.
He has filled a number of cases to see that certain rights are granted, but at the same time the state and individuals have arraigned him to court several occasions and in some cases taking him to jail
It is because of this that some members of the public were worried that, probably NEC would not have endorsed him to stand for presidency last month.
The self-styled reverend turned politician then was of the view that if anything, he deserved to get most of the votes from the wananchi because he suffered in jail in the cause of defending their very cause.
Defending himself Mtikila said his being jailed for 12 months four years ago was no obstacle to for him to stand for the country’s top most job, because the offence committed was political in nature and had nothing to do with the breach of trust or discipline.
’The offence, which I was, charged and convicted of, was political in nature and had nothing to do with the breach of trust or discipline,’ he rebutted.
Mtikila, who most of the time appears to have ’ready-made’ answers when interviewed said the Union Constitution barred those who have committed crimes which are of trust and discipline in nature—like theft, robbery, etc—from contesting for presidency and legislature posts.
Mtikilla was jailed for 12 months in 1999 after he was convicted of uttering abusive words against the former Secretary - General of Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), the late Horace Kolimba.
He was again given a six-month suspended jail sentence in 2004 after the Ilala District Magistrate Angela Ngasoma found him guilty of using abusive words against the Ilala OCD, Senior Superintendent of Police, Arthur Magoti.
Under article 67 Section 2 (c) and (d) of the Constitution, any person is barred from contesting for the Union presidency or legislature if he was found guilty of an offence that has to do with the breach of trust, discipline or the leadership code.
Besides, he must have been sentenced to serve in jail for six months five years up to the period of the election.
All these drew voters worries who were of the opinion that he might not have been endorsed by the NEC.
Surprisingly the electoral body endorsed him and his running mate Soud Said Soud to contest.
Students of political science say Mtikila is a powerful political fighter and campaigner in a presidential election if given space.
This time he is taking part for the first time as the presidential flag bearer of Democratic Party.
In his presence, the electoral campaigns this year might probably make a difference.
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