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