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That Mrema’s verbal attack on Salma Kikwete…!
2005-10-21 07:32:50
By Marycelina Masha
I’ve tried my best to refrain from criticising the conduct of any candidate running for presidency because I’m of the view that each of them is doing what all politicians do when they want to be elected.
There has been numerous promises, many of which, when weighed carefully appear like mere fantasies.
I think the promises have left many of us more confused than ever before.
Perhaps we were not prepared to see what seems to be circuses rather than campaign rallies.
If miracles were to cease, for example, we would not hear this candidate who said that he would make sure no Tanzanian lives in a thatched hut if he becomes president.
Another one promised Tanzanians that they would be riding on planes instead of buses if he were to become president!
Circus aside, I would like to comment on the TLP presidential candidate Augustine Lyatonga whom I respect as an elderly person and one of the political pundits Tanzanians will live to remember.
I have no quarrel with Mzee wa Kiraracha and frankly speaking, the history of multiparty democracy in Tanzania is incomplete without mentioning Mrema’s name who really battled it out, defecting from one party to another just like a bee or butterfly jumps from flower to flower in search of nectar.
Of course if I were to be candid, I would say, to me, Mrema is more of an actor in a movie, and a good one for that matter, rather than a politician. I like movies though, and I have no problem with characters like him.
They can make you happy or angry but they are harmless as they are fictitious characters. They are not real.
Sometimes, I imagine how the country would look like, were Mrema to become president.
Maybe we would be laughing everyday as we watch his drama or perhaps we would just ignore him and forget that we had a president.
He surprised me the other day when he rode on a cart as he was heading to the National Electoral Commission to pick his nomination form.
And the drama turned even livelier or rather comic when he wore an academic gown as he returned the forms.
With a gown on, Mrema said it was proof that he was a university graduate. How ridiculous! Someone told me this was a campaign strategy which should not bother anyone.
And touching on campaign strategies, tactics or manoeuvres, political parties have been warned to market their manifestoes instead of lashing out at each other.
This aims to avoid tension and unnecessary friction among party supporters.
I was talking about Augustine Mrema’s conduct at campaign rallies but I have not really hit the nail on the head.
When Mrema arrived at a rally, he found Mrs Salma Kikwete, wife of CCM presidential candidate, Jakaya Kikwete, already addressing a rally.
He had to postpone his and proceed to another venue and later returned to Dar es Salaam where he launched an attack on Mrs Kikwete.
In his own drama style, Mrema said Mrs Salma Kikwete was not a presidential candidate therefore she had no right to address the rally.
’Yeye ni mwalimu. Aende darasani. Kwani watoto wamemkosea nini?
’ This could literary be translated to ”Mrs Kikwete is only a teacher and should go back to the classroom for she is not a presidential candidate.’
I don’t know whether any woman noticed the sarcasm contained in Mrema’s remarks.
In my view, he has gone too far and should be told to shut up if he has nothing else to talk about.
Mrema should have known by now that as a potential first lady, Mrs Kikwete was doing the right thing and was only doing what other strong women in the world did.
She is fighting alongside her husband, giving him all the support that he needs at this momentus time in his life.
This means Mrs Kikwete (and of course the wives of other presidential candidates) should be given the chance to prove that today’s women don’t just trail behind their husbands, wearing some of the most expensive dresses, shoes and holding trendy purses. They are themselves active participants in politics.
This is what Hillary Clinton did when she campaigned for her one time disgraced husband Bill Clinton former US president.
Hillary stood beside her husband even when the whole world speculated that Clinton was at the verge of losing the presidency.
By joining her husband’s campaign trail, Salma Kikwete will attract more and more women voters to CCM.
If voters have faith in Kikwete as shown whenever he addresses campaign rallies, the coming in of Mama Salma will bring even more women voters. And we should not forget women are the majority.
This is one thing that Mrema has failed to see or is pretending not to see.
When he accepted a running mate on the Isles, one Rukia Kiota, he has never shown her to the electorate.
In fact, he even found it difficult to pronounce her name when he was announcing his candidature. By the way, where is she? Lost to oblivion? Only Mrema can tell.
I hate to say that Mrema is one of the older generations who think women aren’t important except in cheering and ululating at wedding ceremonies.
When TLP women shamelessly stripped half naked at the Kisutu Magistrate’s residence because subsidies for their conference had not been released …..Mrema must have toasted to that occasion.
Why not if he thinks a woman should only go to the classroom?
I want this to stick into his mind that when Jakaya Kikwete becomes president, Mrema will be ashamed to bow before the very First Lady he is trying to suppress.
That Salma Kikwete will soon be at the helms is only a matter of days.
If I’ve campaigned for CCM, it is because I’ve just defected from the opposition.
When you see me in a CCM cap or T-shirt, it’s because I’m angry at the utterances that belittle women.
By the way, what has the opposition done for us? Carry on Mama Salma Kikwete.
Many women will be coming to you for a favour. Don’t let them down.
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