Respect head of state but servile attitude to power has to stop
Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan speaks at the end of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi's national congress in Dodoma on December 8, 2022 . PHOTO | THE CITIZEN
Independent consultant and blogger in Dar es Salaam
Welp. Since we are agreed that the glow of the Independence era has died a natural death, let’s talk about growing up. A polity is only demonstrating maturity and self-awareness when artists are allowed to examine and satirise the founding fathers and the current leaders.
And when citizens and scholars alike are free to muse in public about the ideals and ideologies of society. The perpetual examination of leadership structures and the individuals in power must be bound by accountability, otherwise bad things happen. And then they happen again. And again. And again.
Which is what is going on in Tanzania. We are stuck in a groove, and I am not keen on us occupying this repetitive cycle for too long. Specifically, we are devotees of the Big Man school of thinking. Just because Tanzanian presidents are expected, perhaps even required, not to turn into bloodthirsty monsters, this doesn’t protect us from all of the ravages of the cult of personality.
We idolise our heads of state, and I think it is time we refused such a servile attitude to power. How are we going to develop, truly develop, if we are stuck embracing paternalism?
When it comes to founding fathers or mothers, I can tolerate some excessive regard. Societies require an origin myth, that myth is often imbued with a sacred element. African leaders from the Independence era have benefitted from this. We still speak of many of them with reverence, and I believe there are efforts to get Julius Kambarage Nyerere sainted. But after that, and after time has passed, this tendency becomes a liability.
Sacredness should end with the First Ones.
The concept of the separation of Church and State goes far beyond the obvious — it should be used to resist this urge we have of making our leaders infallible. The business of governance is a human business, it has no place for gods. When we lionise our presidents, we relinquish our ability to criticise them, yet they need it to stay grounded. We relinquish our ability to gently set them aside when we need to protect the polity from human frailty.
And yet, it is just a job done by a fellow human. And we have to help this person to help us because power corrupts.
Besides. Isn’t any nation greater than its leader, always and in perpetuity? Why should Tanzania be any different? To survive and thrive, we must get in the habit of demanding a fair and egalitarian way of doing things. Do African leaders like this? Not at all. The competition between their corruptions and the wants of the many is fierce. We see this played out in our daily lives in the distribution of power rationing, or medical attention, etc.
At its worst we see it in the distribution of violence: Who gets conscripted to go to war, who is allowed to speak truth to power and to society. Who is a free citizen and who is an unfree citizen.
I am too pacific to advocate revolution, I do not have the stomach for bloodshed. I am left with the belief in the power of freedom — especially freedom of thought and expression — to deliver on my hopes. A polity is only demonstrating maturity and self-awareness when artists are allowed to examine and satirise the founding fathers and the current leaders. And when citizens and scholars alike are free to muse in public about the ideals and ideologies of society.
