16/12/2017
UZALENDO=integrity and country first, service before self, excellence in all we do. Come on now; can CCM members claim this motto? NO. Can CHADEMA claim to be a party of this line? NO. Can CUF claim this motto? The answer is a BIG NO!
Watching the recent inauguration of “Uzalendo” at UDOM, I cannot help but feel sorry for myself and all intellectuals of this country because, after Nyerere, our universities have produced politicians and intellectuals without moral authority. As a nation and We, as intellectuals have lost appetite for the intellectual; We lie to ourselves the way people breath – without any effort, we do not desire in-depth and critical thinking, there is no tolerance for truth among us. We want everybody to think like us before we respect his/her thoughts! After watching the “Mwakiembe theater”, I felt pity for Mwakyembe, Kafulila and Machali and all the learned brothers. I felt pity for all of us who graduated at the university of Dar Es Salaam, the University of Dodoma, SUA, etc. I felt pity for myself! Alas!
Integrity and country first, service before self, excellence in all we do. This is what Nyerere taught us. He stood for this, he enjoyed it, he lived and was seen living it! Above all, Nyerere suffered it when necessary. Integrity first, service before self, excellence in all we do is now being replaced with; self serving postures (a la Mwakimebe, Kafulila Machali and CCM.), indignation and disgruntlement (a la Mbowe and CHADEMA) or pure detachment-- shauri yao bwana, mimi simo! Or worse, wote wapiga maneno tu, huwezi kuwabadilisha, wanafiki wakubwa! (a la Msele, Mujwahuzi, Kokeli and co). And the country is reeling.
What do you do when your country is wrong?
We are all responsible for what our country does and the direction it takes. Doing nothing is picking a side. We are never powerless under the worst circumstances. We control our own behavior. We are never isolated. We have a constituency of family and friends who watch us. That is where politics begin.
Reality is made by what we do, not what we talk about. Values that are not embodied in a behavior do not exist. Blaming others is blaming ourselves. People can change if we provide them with opportunity to do so, movements thrive by engaging all comers, not by calling people names, breaking windows, or making threats. STOP, condescending!
Whatever the risk, we cannot lose by standing for what is right, that is what allows us to be the people we want to be; integrity and country first, service before self, excellence in all we do.
Intellectuals with moral authority understand what they can demand of others and what they must inspire in them. Moral authority is earned daily by how intellectuals live and preach. Enlist people in noble purposes especially those difficult and unpopular. True loyalty is not demanded but inspired. Concerning the chronic corruption-of-thought that has bedeviled Tanzanian intellectuals, few are guilty but all of us are responsible. The age of intellectual mediocrity and complacency is over, this is time for radical commitment, for radical action. STOP, condescending!
After watching the “Uzalendo Theater a la Mwakyembe”, I felt bad. Instead of focusing on dangers that we face as a country from our smart neighbors and the smart world in globalization frenzy; Mwakyembe went on peddling CCM as what Tanzania should be. CCM is the core of our corruption. The root course of the rot in us! The merchants who sold our minerals in daylight robbery style. Yes, they are among us. Their weaknesses are a reflection of our own! Is CHADEMA, CUF and co blameless? NO! They opportunistically exploit CCM’s weaknesses to foster their agenda which is just to wrestle power from CCM no matter how divided we drift. Their motto is; me and my party first, country be damned! Integrity and country first, service before self, excellence in all we do is none of their agenda. That is why they did not fight to come to this inauguration at UDOM to make their voices heard and expose CCM and Mwakyembes to their chicanery.
Now, brothers and sisters at UDOM. Can I call upon you, academics and everyone to engage in Politics? Time is not on our side. Let me confess that I dumped my CCM membership card in 1986 and I have remained party less since. I made a big mistake. I was carried away by too much condescending! Too much self righteousness, weakness of “shauri yao bwana, mimi simo! Or worse, wote wapiga maneno tu, huwezi kuwabadilisha (Msele, Mujwahuzi, Kokeli and co). It has not helped. This is not a position for an intellectual like you to be proud of if you look at the direction Tanzania is taking. I was wrong and I am still at wrong if (despite my old age) I do not grab a card. I call upon all of us; to stop watching and commenting and blaming. Maranya, Mlwafu, Paulo, Baradyana, Kokeli, Mujwahuzi, and co. STOP, condescending! In this period when these Mwakyembe’s and Mbowes, Kafulilas and Lipumbas are bent to kill our patriotisms by replacing UTANZANIA with U-CCM and UCHADEMA and U-CAF; DO NOT walk away! GRAB a membership card from CCM or CHADEMA or CUF or CCT.
Get engaged in Tanzanian politics. Politics practiced well is the noblest of all professions. No other arena requires as much wisdom, tenacity, foresight and empathy. STOP, condescending! No other field places such stress on conversation and persuasions! STOP, condescending! You are the guys. I do not see other people being able to get into the this field particularly now that the situation seems to be chronically bad. STOP, condescending! Get in there, through exudes; dissimulate as per the Leninist method, by forming fraternity among you true believers of Utanzania wa kweli. Work and watch for opportunity to take the reins of these parties. Use them to steer Tanzania to the direction of TRUE UZALENDO, integrity and country first, service before self, excellence in all we do.
Exodus is eternal. It is a marching towards spiritual emancipation, one that demands fierce self reflection. Opening our eyes and looking within. Are we satisfied with the life we are leaving? We have real issue with civil discourse in Tanzania, with set of common vision and a noble national agenda, with civics in this country. Vociferous resistance to national damage must continue unabated. Tanzanian tragedies that can be tackled together through honest political debates and engagements concerning education, human rights, religions, nationalism, security, competitions, agriculture, Tanzanian mining etc is a nexus of political direction in this country. Our Exodus. Its appraisal and courageous action are not a one event thing. At the top the response is pitch perfect. But the political debate should not be left defined at the top. National renascence must be bigger than excitement, it must be about political realignment, it must be built upon solid-rock principals, and not hung on slender hope of momentary change. Come on WASOMI wana UDOM!
Some may find this descriptor hash, but I find no appellation too coarse to express my outrage over our character and condescending attitude. I say again: People can change if we provide them with opportunity to do so, movements thrive by engaging all comers, not by calling people names, breaking windows, or making threats. Time to go.
Prof. Msele
