Can we please get educated people to debate in the Constitutional Assembly ?

Tanzania is in the process of drafting a New Constitution. For the process to be successful, there are members chosen in the Constitutional Assembly, who debate in the parliament and agree what set of laws are to be incorporated in the Constitution.

The members have already been chosen long ago, the debates have started again after a hiatus of some time. There has been some "progress" in identifying the Burning Issues that need to be addressed.

Below are some statements made by some of the Members recently. 

"There is no competent court that can handle Muslim issues on marriage, divorce and Inheritance" 

"They (Tanzanians in Diaspora) insulted us  and we don't need them either" 

"Condemned same sex marriages and proposed that the new constitution should prohibit the abominable practice within the United Republic of Tanzania"

Source : http://dailynews.co.tz/index.php/local-news/35817-kadhi-court-union-citizenship-debate-rock-ca

Let us look at the statements carefully:

1 ) "There is no competent court that can handle Muslim issues on marriage, divorce and Inheritance - Except the Kadhi court"

This statement was made in the support of Introducing Kadhi court(A court that is designed for Muslims, the laws of which are based on Shariah)

Needless to say, this is beyond ridiculous. Why should Muslims be treated differently from members of other faiths ? There should be the same set of laws that apply to every citizen of this country. Introduction of Kadhi court would bring instability in the Tanzanian society. For a country to progress further, there should be no place for different set of laws for individuals of different faiths. People who wish to live under the Shariah law, should immigrate to countries where those laws are already implemented. WE DO NOT NEED AN APARTHEID SYSTEM BASED ON RELIGIOUS BELIEFS.

2) "They (Tanzanians in Diaspora) insulted us  and we don't need them either" 

This was said by someone who opposed the Dual Citizenship. His reason for rejecting it, was that those, who have left the country have "Insulted" us. 

Seriously, Mr. Member of Constitutional Assembly, Are you even aware of the current state of Globalization ? People move from one country to another for Greener pastures and in order to work in some countries, they have to become their citizens. They do not wish to renounce their identities as the Tanzanians, BUT they are left with no choice BECAUSE our constitution doesn't allow people to have Dual citizenship. Their renunciation of Tanzanian passports does not mean, they are breaking all the ties with us or INSULTING us, as you are saying. 

The truth is, we need the Tanzanians in Diaspora. They have the years of experience of living in Developed societies, they have ideas of making our societies a better place to live. Allowing them to have Tanzanian passports again, will make them more patriotic towards our country. SO STOP BRINGING YOUR NONSENSICAL ARGUMENTS IN THE CA.

3) "Condemned same sex marriages and proposed that the new constitution should prohibit the abominable practice within the United Republic of Tanzania"

Our laws already do not allow same sex marriages and I do not see that we will allow this in the future either. HOWEVER, we should have laws that do not allow discrimination on the grounds of Sexual orientation. Whatever two consenting adults of the same sex do in their private bedroom should not concern anyone but themselves. Our laws should not interfere with their private lives dictating whatever they are doing as "Wrong" and punish them for the same. The laws to criminalize Homosexuality were heavily influenced by religious beliefs. Most of the religions, also condemn sexual relations between two consenting adults, of the opposite sex before marriage, why don't we criminalize that too ? 

We need to stop these double standards and decriminalize Homosexuality.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, WE NEED PEOPLE WHO ARE EDUCATED AND CAN THINK OF THE FUTURE INSTEAD OF THOSE WANT TO LIVE IN THE PAST IN OUR CONSTITUTIONAL ASSEMBLY.

Unanswered Questions

A Few years ago a friend of mine had traveled abroad, he was participating in some conference where people from all over the world were invited. He made some new friends from various different countries, most of them had never heard of Tanzania ! Naturally they were quite curious about the country that sounded "New" to their ears and began asking my friend about how our country is politically, economically, safety wise etc. My friend being a patriot he is, said all the things we would be proud to hear about our motherland......."Oh Tanzania is a beautiful Nation, we are blessed with Natural beauty from Serengeti to Kilimanjaro to Ngorongoro to the islands of Zanzibar. We have a stable government and we could easily be the most peaceful nation in East Africa, Dare I say Africa." he chuckled, with patriotic pride shining bright in his eyes.

Kilimanjaro, Ngorongoro, Serengeti and Zanzibar. The first thing that comes
to someone's mind while describing TANZANIA

His statement would have been perfect to describe our nation some years ago and half of it still applies as the God given Natural beauty still lies there within our territory HOWEVER he or any Tanzanian would now feel embarrassed to say the last part of the statement to someone who is not familiar with our country. 

Peaceful country ?? 

Do the following images look peaceful to anyone ???

Arusha church bombing on 05/05/2013

Chadema rally bombing on 15/06/2013

and the recent Vama restaurant bombing on 07/07/2014 

All the above took place in Arusha

There are other bombings that took place in Arusha too but these are the ones that are still fresh in my memory. Not to forget the following: 

Church Priest / Pastor Murders in Zanzibar 2013

Twin Bombings in Zanzibar Feb 2014

Two British teenagers who were subjected to an Acid attack last year in Zanzibar



Not Forgetting the other bombings that took place in Zanzibar

Looking at all these objectively, It doesn't make Tanzania look like a peaceful country, does it ??  I don't think so.... On top of this all, NO PERPETRATOR HAS BEEN ARRESTED SO FAR ON ANY OF THE MENTIONED ATTACKS. There were some people held for questioning but nothing concrete.

My blood boils down thinking about how the terrorists are roaming free in the country, planning their next attack, conducting the actual attack and going back roaming on the streets of Arusha / Zanzibar / Dar continuing this atrocious cycle. 

The funny thing is the Director of Criminal Investigations, Mr. Isaya Mngulu had spoken to the Daily News paper where he had assured Tanzanians of their safety despite the escalating terrorism incidents in Kenya. Read the article here

 http://dailynews.co.tz/index.php/local-news/33461-police-allay-terror-attack-fears

Director of Criminal Investigations, Mr. Isaya Mngulu

It is Ironic that the article was published on 08/07/2014 a day after the restaurant bombing in Arusha. In his statement Mr. Mngulu asks people to report to the local government about any suspicious people / activity but there is no mention on the progress or success of apprehending the culprits of the previous attacks.

You have some serious questions to answer Mr. Director of Criminal Investigations. When are they going to be caught ? When will their group be stopped from creating any further carnage ? If there was an actual investigation going on to find them, they would have been caught by now. A blogger from Arusha had exposed a religious school based in Arusha of having links to Al-Shabab by doing a bit of research over the Internet. I wonder if any action was taken by the authorities to actually go and investigate on this?  as everything was already done by the blogger Acerbic Arushan. All they had to do was only check on it physically and arrest the scums.

Read the article here  http://acerbicarushan103.blogspot.com/2013/05/exclusive-arusha-muslim-school-has.html?zx=972c7d28bce94ea4 . 

When will the peace (that we were very proud of talking about) be back ?  WHEN ??????????.........................................Oh I know, whenever Mr. Obama comes to Tanzania

President Obama dancing after arriving in Dar es Salaam. He could not hide his excitement after seeing the security beefed upon his arrival

Yes, that's right, Tanzania or should I say Dar es Salaam, became very peaceful when the President of the United States landed here, there were no thieves on any of the streets and no fears of getting bombed, which makes me wonder why can't we have the same standard of safety and security everyday ? Why do we only get such assurance when Obama comes over ? 

Ignoring the Minor details

 Last month there were rumours circulating that our beloved president JK, is going to bring in Usher Raymond and Trey Songz to TZ next month (this month) for entertaining the Dar audience and discussing / collaborating with the local Tanzanian artistes.

Trey Songz and Usher
Image Source: http://swahiliworldplanet.blogspot.com

There was a lot of hype about this and some of the Tanzanian blogs (which are mostly about fashion and celebrity worship) went crazy, singing praises for JK and giving him kudos for supporting the local artistes. 

This is what it looked like

I am all for supporting Local artistes and promoting them abroad and there is nothing more I love than jamming to Diamond Platnumz tunes while drinking beers in a bar HOWEVER there is a small hole in the story that needs to be filled up.

Let's analyze the story, "JK IS GOING TO BRING USHER AND TREY SONGZ TO TZ FOR ENTERTAINING AND DISCUSSING / COLLABORATING WITH THE LOCAL TANZANIAN ARTISTES"  Did you see it ???.................... Nope ?  I would't blame you, as the part I am talking about is missing and that is WHO IS P-A-YING FOR THEM TO COME OVER ???????????????? 

Celebrities don't go anywhere if they are not being paid unless they are donating their time for charity, which from our story above doesn't seem like it. They are clearly being called to PERFORM and TALK to our local artistes. 

These superstars are multi-millionaires (in USD that is) and obviously won't be charging  Tshs 5 - 10 million (which could be the cost of their daily expenses)

The net worth of Usher and Trey Songz according to Celebritynetworth.com

So who is footing the bill ? JK from his personal account ? or the Government ? I certainly hope it is not the later. If it is then is the money well spent ? How are the TZ citizens going to benefit  ? There are so many development projects that are stalled in our country due to lack of funds, should't the money be spent there instead ?

A quick search on Google can give you an idea 

Will the person responsible for paying please stand up and clarify ??

Welcome to the land of potholes

The first thing anyone who has used the roads of Dar-es-Salaam would have noticed is....... any guesses ?  If you guessed how pleasant and smooth the roads are then you, my friend, are in need of a serious reality check. 

I really love my country and my city but Dar-es-Salaam, the richest commercial city of Tanzania, has one of the worst pothole infested roads one can use for conveyance. One can be assured of getting a bumpy ride while going to and fro the city center (town or Mjini as we call it), Kariakoo, Kijitonyoma, Mbezi and the list is endless !

This road in the middle of the CBD area, the shining building on the left is Holiday Inn Hotel. Imagine the Impression this would create to the tourists / business persons from abroad staying in that hotel.
(Image source: http://www.getaway.co.za)

 The funny thing is, the local city council / government / Angels or whoever is responsible for the road maintenance (I shall refer to them as LM - Short for Lazy Maafisadis) are hardly seen taking any action against this mess......at least I haven't seen them working on it because if they were then this post would not have been necessary.

Unless their aim is to turn Dar's potholes into tourist attractions by making them feel like they are driving on the bumpy roads of a National Park then I do not see any reason for the LMs to sit idle and get his / her salary every month.

This is what the LMs are dreaming about during their office hours. To have a side job as a tour guide after the potholes are declared as tourist attractions

WAKE UP ! WAKE UP ! WAKE UP ! and do your freaking JOB, LMs. You are not just causing nuisance to Dar residents and visitors but also causing damage the road users' vehicles. Just few days ago, I saw an old lady's car stuck in the pothole for half an hour and the poor thing was being honked at by the cars behind her. By the time she managed to get out(with the help of some Good Samaritans), her car already had some visible scratches and dents. Now who will be responsible for the damages and the wastage of the Bibi's precious time ??? if you guessed the LM's then you are 100% correct ! 

We Tanzanians are used to settle for less which always comes to bite us in our asses ! 

We have had enough of this bullshit, I SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH !!!!  

Introduction and stuff

Hey All, welcome to my blog.

For ages, I have been looking for a way to express my anger and frustration at the current state and happenings in our country, TANZANIA !

The beautiful TZ flag, the colors that brings pride to all Tanzanians

I consider myself to be an introvert as I don't like to interact much with people especially those who need a lot of explaining to do.There are things that I want talk or complain about but there is no place where I could express myself, where my voice could be heard by someone. That's where this blog comes in. 

In days to come, I am going to write down all the things that I want to talk about. I can feel the excitement building up in me. Do feel free to leave your comments.

See you soon !