Tanzania’s impressive peace record needs preservation

By Simbarashe Msasanuri

“Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time,” is a common saying coined by Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th President of the United States. And, the statement seems to rightly apply to Tanzania’s situation where the founding fathers fought hard to create a peaceful environment the country is enjoying today.

Their efforts continue to bear fruit even today as the country is popular for being a haven of peace. Despite being surrounded by war ravaged countries, Tanzania is like an oasis in the desert as the forces of unity within the country are too strong to be influenced by instabilities that once rocked their neighbours such as Rwanda, Burundi, DRC and of late Kenya.

It is against this background that the country continues to be a role model when it comes to peace, not only in the region but also in the world. The recently published 2013 Global Peace Index GPI saw Tanzania maintaining its 55^th position and ranking above all the other East African countries.

The Index produced by an Australia-based Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP) placed the country in that position after scoring 1.89 against the 1.85 points acquired last year.

Kenya got 2.48 points and was slotted in the 136^th position; while Uganda came 106^th with 2.18 points. Rwanda and Burundi were slotted in the 135^th and 144^th positions after getting 2.44 and 2.53 points respectively.

Despite leading the pack in the EAC, Tanzania came 6^th in Sub Sahara Africa as Mauritius topped the group, followed by Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Lesotho.

The prevailing peace and the good track record have seen this country being a darling of many. It might have come as a surprise to others why the world’s economic power houses scramble to be associated with this seemingly poor but rich nation.

Eyebrows were raised why the Chinese President Xi Jinping chose Tanzania as part of his maiden African tour. And, as if that was not enough, the world’s most powerful president, Barrack Obama, will be in this country in a matter of days. The choice of this country over the land of his ancestors, Kenya, baffled many, who thought Kenya should have been one of the countries on his itinerary.

Tanzania is not only peaceful but is endowed with natural resources. Besides boasting of carrying the roof of Africa (Mt Kilimanjaro) the country has a lot of tourist attractions such as the Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro crater and Zanzibar’s historic town just but to mention a few.

The country is rich in minerals and other resources, not to mention the recently discovered oil and gas in Mtwara and Lindi. These newly found resources are poised to lift the country to dizzy heights as they have the potential to turn around the fortunes, not only of the country but also of the people as a whole.

Though Tanzania is proud of its track record, recent incidents are a danger to the much touted peace. The Mtwara skirmishes that saw people of the area running battles with the police, destroying property and infrastructure put a dent on the good reputation of the country.

Though calm and normalcy quickly returned to the area sooner than the confusion had started, more still needs to be done to make sure that the ugly scenes do not repeat themselves. The responsible authorities should make sure that all the people’s concerns are addressed to the fullest and strategies are put in place to curb history from repeating itself.

As if that was not enough and hardily two months after the Mtwara saga, Arusha was burning. A bomb exploded resulting in loss of lives and several people being injured during a Chadema campaign rally. This saw peace being disturbed and people taking it to the streets. But, to show that Tanzanians are not war like and that they are a peace loving people, the skirmishes died a natural death. Normalcy returned to the city within days and business is as usual.

This, however, is not a guarantee that our hard earned peace will be preserved for ever. The two ugly scenes in Mtwara and Arusha are enough to sound warning bells that our peace is under siege. These separate incidences have the potential to become spark plugs to problems that will see our peace being bridged.

The Global Peace Index rating and the visit by the two most powerful presidents in the world is not a coincidence. The developments are also not due to sheer luck or fate but can be attributed to the potential the country has due to its peaceful environment that is conducive for development.

It is common sense that a peaceful environment is conducive for development, while the opposite is true.

This therefore, means that there is need for us to safeguard the hard earned peace. Though President Johnson said peace is a journey of a thousand miles that must be taken one step at a time, it is important to note that it doesn’t take ages to destroy it.  

Warning shots have been fired already and it is high time we wake up from slumber and preserve the prevailing peace in the country. The preservation of peace is not a preserve of the government alone but it is every citizen’s duty. Everyone, should therefore, play his or her part to make sure that the scourge of instability haunting other countries including some of our neighbours does not affect us.