|
Yes, political parties should declare sources of funds
2005-10-17 08:59:12
By Guardian Reporter
WE have had occasion in this column before to discuss the false hopes huge campaign rallies may give to the candidates, especially the presidential aspirants who are now almost at the last bend on the election racecourse.
We pointed out that huge crowds which turn out at the rallies might have different reasons for attending the rallies.
However, several questions come to one’s mind. Who are these friends who would want to spend so much money for free? It is hard to accept that they are only interested in Mbowe and his party Chadema because they love him and his party’s policies. Otherwise, how will they get their money back, or what stake will they have in the running of the country if ’their man’ wins the elections?
It is not always that our party leaders visit the areas they have been touring during the campaigns, especially in the rural areas, so that some or even a bigger portion of those flocking to the meetings, may be wanting to see how a person like Mtikila, or Mbowe, or Kikwete of whom they have heard so much about looks like in flesh.
We said that it would be folly for the candidates to think that all those attending their meetings were their supporters or members of their political parties.
We warned, and we warn again, that they should not be inebriated with the mammoth attendances lest they be consumed by frustration and despair when they discover that the number of votes from a particular area does not compare with the huge crowds that attended their rallies.
For example crowds attending Kikwete’s rallies may not be interested in the good policies of Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) but the beautiful lyrics of Tanzania One Theatre (TOT) music.
Or that the huge crowd rushing to attend Mbowe’s meeting may have little or no interest at all in what the Chadema presidential candidate was saying or promising, but they wanted to see whether it was true that a helicopter really had no wheels.
And we have a precedent. We all remember how, when in the second multi-party presidential elections in 2000, Zakaria Kakobe, the bishop of Full Gospel Fellowship Church, volunteered to campaign for my friend Augustine Lyatonga Mrema as the Tanzania Labour Party (TLP) presidential candidate, many people flocked to attend Mrema’s rallies.
Kakobe’s fame was at its peak then, I think, and he boldly told Tanzanians that he thought God Almighty had pointed His finger at Mrema as His choice for the presidency (I am really surprised now that Mrema spends a lot of time picking bones with the clergy for saying Kikwete was God’s choice, instead of, perhaps, warning Kikwete on the dangers of wholesomely trusting the clergy like he did because the clergy may sometimes misread God’ messages like Kakobe did in 2000).
The crowds that Mrema was pulling to his rallies must have given him some measure of satisfaction and confidence of winning the elections, not knowing, perhaps, that those people crowding his meetings went there to have at least a glimpse of bishop Zakaria Kakobe of whom they had heard so much about his spiritual work.
Mrema received less votes than he did in the previous campaign, in1995.
Again, those who crowded Mrema campaign meeting, and those who crowd Kikwete, or Lipumba, or Mbowe campaign rallies today may not have registered themselves as voters; therefore they did not vote then, and will not vote this time because they do not qualify as voters.
Of late also, there has been some debate on the use of the helicopter by Chadema’s presidential candidate, Mr Freeman Mbowe. His critics point out that the exercise was expensive and Mbowe could have put the huge amount of money used to hire the chopper to better use for his party, that he was being extravagant and a show-off.
But Mbowe counters these allegations by saying that the country was so vast that it was not possible to cover it within the stipulated 70 days of campaigning given the state of the roads.
With the helicopter, he could address seven to eight or more rallies a day instead of two to three when using a car.
After all, he says, the money used to hire the chopper was not taxpayers’ money, but money donated by friends.
I go along with Mbowe here, I mean, that is making good use of he modern technology, it makes communication and travel easy even if by doing so one cannot appreciate the problems being encountered by the masses of people in their daily life concerning transportation.
Yes, CHADEMA may not have much funds, but instead of hiring a helicopter, the money could have been used to finance campaigns of a few more Parliamentary candidates on the party’s ticket most of whom have stopped campaigning fore lack of funds.
Indeed, lack of funds may explain the absence of Chadema’s presidential running mate from the campaign scene. We are told the running mate is hospitalised, but it seems the party has abandoned him and Mbowe seems not to want to talk about him.
Maybe we should seriously consider the suggestion that some law should be put in place that would require all political parties to declare in no uncertain terms all their financiers whether individual or corporate, like most democracies do. We wish all the parties peaceful campaigning.
|
