Independent consultant and blogger in Dar es Salaam
When the numbers of citizens who registered to vote was revealed, The Chanzo did a very nice article that alerted us all — with evidence — to the improbability of said numbers being correct.
Was this unexpected? Not at all, frankly I would have been nervous if shenanigans on the part of the state did not show up bright and early in our electoral process.
But, did the government expect us to figure it out so fast and make a big deal out of it? Also no. I get this vibe like our government thinks we are a dim-witted bunch.
In their defence, this is a thing that people in leadership have been doing forever because when humans form groups, the collective IQ goes down.
My secondary school history teacher encapsulated it in her pithy saying that “The Masses Are Asses,” to our juvenile delight.
Though this was said in the context of understanding some of what Karl Marx had to say, “the masses are asses” is a non-discriminatory sentiment.
Philosophers of democracy have taken it from the ancient Greeks through to the slave owners who designed the American system. It is true that without good design, democracy lends itself to the worst aspects of populism, but I am in agreement with Winston Churchill who said that we don’t have anything better at the moment.
Democracy might be the only group project that has my enthusiastic— and fully unpaid— participation. Sometimes I wonder if this is because my government makes it so “adventurous” to be a voter.
Tanzania’s statecraft is nuanced and if you read it superficially you might well conclude that the will of the people is in the control of the people. It is not.
Maybe the masses are asses, but the elites are cruel and selfish. How fair that each grouping comes with a fatal flaw built in, yes? Democracy is where the negotiation between the needs of the many and the power of the few happens.
I think we should appreciate how far humanity has come from caving each other’s skulls in with clubs to the ballot box as the locus of conflict.
This is why I am not surprised at my government’s shenanigans— there has been a lot of time for our elites to grow in cruelty and greed.
I am, however, disappointed in my government’s underestimation of our intellect in its endeavours to guarantee the continuation of the single-party state. Confronting citizens with the names of their deceased on the voter registers lacks ustaarabu.
It may seem precious of me to care about manners, but manners are the tangible manifestation of the ethics that help us prevent brutality.
When the government violates our social contract so crassly, I fear that it encourages us to degenerate as well. Reactions that would have been unfortunate before become normalised: cynicism, detachment, the corruption of the Tanzanian dream.
And yet...
In the face of all of this, I am as happy as ever to encourage people to register and then vote! And I will tell you why next week, as soon as I make sure that none of my ancestors are revenants in this year’s elections.
Elsie Eyakuze is an independent consultant and blogger for The Mikocheni Report; E-mail: [email protected]
