City fathers where are you?

When it rains in Dar es Salaam, roads turn into rivers. The poor drainage system in the city makes it difficult for motorists and pedestrians to move from one place to another. The city fathers continue sitting on their laurels while the problem continues unabated. This is also blamed for traffic jams that occur every time rains fall. For how long will wananchi continue to suffer? ??????

Doing it the conventional way. . . Bongoblast interviews HelpAge International (Tanzania)Programme Officer Flavian Bifandimu (left)

Tarime disturbances: A lethal, ticking political time bomb in need of defusion

Tanzania is known for being a peaceful country in the sense that while other countries continue being devastated and their towns reduced to heaps of rubble due to civil wars, no political rivalry has ever turned nasty. But, with the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi facing a litmus test in form of it's fiercest opposition so far, a lot of care has to be taken to preserve our peace.

Yes, the winds of change that swept across the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi's top echelon, early this year, seems to have been the dim light showing at the end of a long and dark tunnel, bringing with it hope that sanity will at last be restored in the party that is said to have lost touch with the people who voted them into power.

The recent incident in Tarime, where a member of parliament was humiliated when his motorcade was attacked by stones damaging several vehicles, seems to be the much needed evidence to show how the party is fast losing its grip. The MP, Nyambari Nyang'wine and the district council chairman, Amos Sagara, had their bodyguards seriously injured. The leaders had visited the area with the aim of consoling families of five people who had been killed by the police after they invaded the North Mara Goldmine.

The two leaders' crime seems to have been their regalia. The group of people who had blocked the road ordered them to remove their party uniforms. But, they did not have the chance to argue their way out as stones started raining, forcing them to seek refuge in their cars before fleeing.

This shows the extent the situation has deteriorated to. Tarime has been, for eons, notorious for clan clashes and cattle rustling. And, for the past week or so, the area has been hitting newspaper headlines for the wrong reasons again. It all started when, in utter stupidity and misdirected arrogance, more than 1000 villagers invaded the gold mine with the aim of taking away pieces of rock containing gold. Their misguided efforts were thwarted by the police and mine security guards who beat them up and ended up killing five people.

This led to the stoning of the MP and other officials before another drama unfolded once again when the relatives refused to bury their dead. As I have mentioned before, there is need to preserve our peace here.

The villagers knew that they were embarking on a mission impossible and they are now blaming the police for killing their fellow villagers while they think that what they did was right. First of all, it is common knowledge that a gold mine, all over the world, is a high security area and is closely guarded as it risks being attacked by bandits and thieves.

Under such circumstances, the villagers had turned thieves as they had invaded private property and had no right to take those gold stones. Yes, we know that we are being exploited by large mining companies as they benefit while villagers surrounding the area are wallowing in poverty, but invading the mine was an ill advised step. For sure, they can't blame the police for killing people who wanted to steal, in large numbers.

We are a law abiding country and these citizens should have followed the rule of law. There was no justification what so ever. If they have complains, they should channel them through the relevant channels. We are sick and tired of wananchi taking the law into their own hands. The fact that they invaded the mine in their thousands does not make it right. It does not make them different from two or three bandits who invade a mine because their aim is the same.

The problem, with us wananchi is that we don't mind being used. Now there are plans to sue the government over the disturbances. It is a shame that the government is the one to blame every time things go wrong. The problem with us is that we don't mind getting used as political tools to spearhead certain political agendas.

What is happening in Tarime, is tantamount to a man who invades his neighbour's house and tries to take away the wife by force and when the neighbour, in bid to protect his interests, beats the lights out of him, he quickly runs to the police and sues the guy for assault. This is the irony of the whole saga.

The other problem I think should have been nipped in the bud a long time is the issue of wananchi taking the law into their own hands. We have seen this happening in many circumstances in different places. Thieves know for sure that they risk losing their lives if they are caught because wananchi don't hesitate to slaughter them and even burn them alive as part of mob justice.

Even if these mines are stealing from us, it's no justification to take the law into our own hands and invade them. Tanzania is a democratic country and we recently elected the leaders we want into various positions, so there is no need for us to make the government our enemy, instead we are our own enemy as we failed to vote the people we wanted into the positions.

I remember stressing this point in this column just before the elections that the ball was in our court and it was up to us to elect the leaders we want. Now that we stayed at home, while others were voting, then we now resort to beating up the leaders other people chose. I repeat again, there is no justification what so ever for the events in Tarime.

Yes, life is fast becoming difficult by day in this country and our currency continue to plummet against major currencies, with prices of basic commodities, fuel and other goods skyrocketing, but is it a problem solely affecting Tanzania? In Uganda, Kenya and Burundi just but to mention a few the crisis is being felt. The whole region is facing the same problem and no one should blame the government alone for this crisis. Everyone should shoulder the blame and map the way forward.

We are a peaceful country and in order for us to maintain this peace, laws of the land should be respected. Political parties should not capitalise on the situation and convince wananchi that they are the solution to their problems as this is far fetched.

The Tarime disturbances are undoubtedly politically motivated and some political parties are jumping at every opportunity available to enhance their popularity. In fact it is a planned and staged event that should not be allowed to continue. As a country, we have peace and reputation to maintain, and with the current economic hardships, it is easy for such events to, not only recur but also spread like veld fire to other parts of the country. God help and bless us.

bongoblast@thisday.co.tz
0657651300

Of going to school becoming a nightmare and students paying the price of education

Bongoblast

MANY students and pupils will sigh a sign of relief as many schools are closing for holidays. They will have a chance to take a break from hectic schedules that are usually worsened by transport woes they endure on a daily basis.

Their relationship with kondas is not mutual. It's more like a cat and mouse relationship. The nightmare this children go through all for attaining a better education for a better life is uncalled for.

It remains a fact that most of them, especially those who use public transport to and from school, report late for school almost on a daily basis as they are denied access to these speeding coffins. The only sin these students commit, that drives these kondas to shun them is that they pay 150/- while other passengers pay 300/-.

The other problem is that when they finally get to school, in most cases they will be tired because they would have used a lot of energy in pushing and shoving their way into daladalas. These students have no choice but to bulldoze their way into the buses, failure to which they will not make it to school or will be too late to attend lessons.

In fact, going to school has fast become a nightmare and the trend seems to be escalating unabated as they are left at the mercy of touts and bus conductors who treat them as if they were second class citizens.

Dear reader you need to visit the new Posta Bus station in the city centre from around 3pm during school days to witness what I am talking about. The situation is unbearable to say the least as kondas and school children will be wrestling each other.

Boarding buses during this time is a nightmare for many people as there will be a lot of pushing and shoving at daladala doors, where students will be fighting to get into the buses while kondas and touts on the other hand will be pushing them away at the same time trying to smuggle their cash cows into the buses without students sneaking in.

It’s a shame as one will be forgiven to mistake the struggles at the doors to wrestling matches. A lot of students have their uniforms torn while others will come out of the hullabaloo with their white shirts or blouses dirty or having lost one or two buttons.

This other day, I saw the driver of one commuter bus parking the bus before disembarking to help the konda prevent 'wanafunzi' from getting into the bus. Dear reader, you need to witness this for you to come to terms with what I am saying. But, I am sure that if you are not a visitor to this country then you should be aware of what I am talking about.

I have never stopped wondering why the touts and conductors hate uniformed students that much! One wonders whether these guys are agitated by a mere sight of a uniform because it reminds them of what they failed to achieve or what? Or is it mere jealousy because if these kids pass then they will be what these guys have failed to be or is it a mere business consciousness where the touts and kondas consider carrying wanafunzi as running a loss as they pay 150/- to their destinations?

I often witnessed a lot of heated debates on daladalas as some parents register their disapproval over the inhumane treatment school children are exposed to. What pains most is that these debates and concerns quickly vanish into thin air and each and everyone turns to his or her problems without a solution being found. In fact, such debates are now more used to while up time during 'foleni' than genuine concerns in need of urgent attention.

The problem of students being ill-treated by bus crews is not new to us and has been with us for sometime, but it seems as if the pleas to address this problem are falling on deaf ears.

What surprises me is that some parents, when they see school children being ill-treated, they sit and do nothing. I know some don't care because the children in question are not theirs or their relatives; but how will you feel if it is done to your own child? How will it be like if you are to continuously buy uniforms replacing those that are continuously torn during the fiasco with touts?

Don't get me wrong, there are other conductors and touts I have seen who are different from others. These respect school children and they carry them on their buses without any hustles. I am not in a position to give examples or provide some of the names of these good kondas but I promise that next time I will. I just wished if all the kondas were like that then we were not going to have students reporting late for school.

Schools are just closing and very soon will be opening and students have a long way to go before the year ends so the government, responsible authorities and every stakeholder should come up with a permanent solution to this social misnomer. They should devise methods of curbing this problem. I have read many letters and stories in various newspapers on the problem but to my surprise the responsible authorities have remained mum on this problem. Are they waiting for all students to boycott school so that they can act? Are they waiting for a student to be pushed out of a moving daladala and die before they act?

Let everyone sitting on this issue be reminded that going to school should be enjoyable and students must be motivated to wake up everyday, bath and go to school. When going to school becomes a nightmare then there is a problem.

School authorities should not also watch and zip their mouths as if everything is okay while their students get to school late everyday. They should chip in even by providing transport to their students, a move some schools adopted. This goes a long way in helping these students get to school on time.

As wananchi, we have a more important role to play. Let’s reprimand all the kondas and touts who abuse children. It is because of this that many school girls have fallen in love with kondas, drivers or touts so that they get easy access to transport. This is a shame. Our daughters are being ravaged by these touts only because someone is sitting on what he or she is supposed to and paid for.

The time to address the problem is now so that our children do not end up hating going to school or if girls don't end up being impregnated by these merciless touts. What type of future leaders are we raising? Let’s make Bongoland a better place. God bless you.

bongoblast@thisday.co.tz/ 0657651300

ENDS