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CCM should lead winning war against corruption
2007-05-08 09:39:16
By Hillary Joseph
Tanzania`s Aruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), is understood to be in the process of electing its leaders from the grassroots right to the national level.
The CCM national chairman was elected prematurely or in advance, if you like, following the decision by the party`s former chairman, Benjamin William Mkapa, to step down before his term ended.
The former President decided to surrender the national chairmanship of the party when his term as president ended following the general elections of 2005 when Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete was elected President of the United Republic of Tanzania.
According to the CCM constitution, Mkapa was not obliged to resign from the Party chairmanship until the next party elections, which fall this year.
But Mkapa thought, wisely too, according to the way I see it, it would be proper for the new President to hold both posts so that he could be able to ensure effective implementation of the party`s 2005 election manifesto.
Indeed, his decision was well received by Party members except, perhaps a few for personal reasons and peace-loving Tanzanians at large.
What`s more, Mkapa has made things easier for himself and for the President as well, I mean protocol wise. At CCM\'s national Executive Committee (NEC), for example, or at any of the CCM`s national party organ meeting, the protocol arrangement must have been tricky even if CCM did not want to admit it to us, when the chairman of the party and the President are two different people.
It would be embarrassing to either of them if a hypothetical situation arose whereby the chairman of the party and so inevitably chairing the meeting was forced to order President Kikwete , as a member of the committee, out of the meeting. To do so, the chairman must put on a granite face and borrow the skin of a honey Barger.
Let me say from the outset that CCM remains the only political party in the country that understands and cares for democracy.
Maybe I am wrong, maybe I see more of CCM conducting elections than other political parties.
Maybe this is because CCM elections are well publicised in the local print and electronic media as against other parties, which perhaps want to conduct their businesses clandestinely.
However, corruption during elections is one of the horrendous vices tarnishing the rather good image of Chama Cha Mapinduzi, which leads to people, clean people, asking irritating questions, to CCM about the integrity of the leaders who have been elected on a corrupt ticket.
By extension, the opposition claim, therefore, that because most of the leaders in CCM are corrupt because they were elected through corruption, local and central governments are not functioning properly.
So, they argue, war against corruption cannot be won because frontline soldiers are neck-deep in corruption.
I do not entirely subscribe to this argument, but I admit that corruption was rife during both internal party elections and the general elections in 2005 and also in the elections of yesteryears. It is comforting to note that even CCM itself acknowledged that there was rampant graft during the internal elections.
Corruption was also rampant in the internal elections of other political parties only that they did not want to admit it. Well, they did not have to, because it was an open secret.
The ruling party went farther to identify the factors fertilizing graft, one of which being the system used by the party in getting its leaders.
Identifying a problem is half solving it, they say, and so after identifying the problem and especially its cause it should be fairly easy to solve it.
So, CCM pledged to put into force some mechanism that would ensure alternative ways of electing their leaders from the grass roots in order to minimize the incidences of graft if not to eliminate it altogether.
Did they form a task force for this task, or did they not? I am not sure they did, but it seems, at least so far, that nothing has been done on this front.
But maybe because the task force or whatever they call it, is working with a target of putting the system in use for the 2010 general elections because it is in the nomination stages for party representation for the local and central governments elections that corruption is most rampant.
Did CCM say they were inviting views and, or suggestions on alternative ways of nominating candidates for elective posts which guarantees, at least to some degree, elimination o f corruption, or rather that discourages corruption? I am not sure if they did but I wish they did. If people are involved in making any decision, they tend to believe in it and they take it as theirs.
If, however, the alternative method is not in place this far, when party elections are in progress, the burden of ensuring graft plays an insignificant role and the outcome of the elections lies with the party leadership at the concerned level.
The bottleneck here is when those holding leadership posts want to stand again for the same posts or even higher posts.
The problem ensues when the aspirant does not believe in himself or herself; when he or she is not confident when one knows that one has no chance of winning and decides to use foul means of getting there.
Certainly you cannot expect such a person to fight corruption, at least not seriously. So we come back to square one.
Who is going to seriously fight the war on this horrendous vice? At this point, Chama Cha Mapinduzi should be well advised to suggest effective ways of dealing with this problem.
Yes, CCM should show the way. It has the trust and mandate of the people. It is the ruling party, and therefore, it should realise that its responsibilities are far and wide. It must lead by examples, like its founder used to do.
Other political parties should emulate it.
So, after party elections are over, its members and supporters should stand tall and proud. Neither the opposition, nor anybody else should point a finger at CCM and say: ``Look, they cannot control corruption in their own party, how do you expect them to fight the graft at national level?``
The bottom line is that corruption must go, and CCM must lead the fight by taking position on the frontline, absorbing the enemy fire.
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