The Tanzanian government last week spent a whopping 50m/- to publicize Chadema opposition party and its chairman, Mr Freeman Mbowe!
According to the government’s own statement/admission, part of the money was spent in hiring a plane from the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF) which transported Mr Mbowe from Dar es Salaam to Arusha.
The ‘arrest Mbowe operation’ was carried out by the police who were apparently implementing a directive in the form of warrant of arrest against the Chadema chief issued by the Arusha based resident magistrate’s court.
What is however, interesting is that after spending such big amount of heard earned taxpayers’ money in carrying out the arrest, it took the very court that had issued the warrant of arrest in the first place less than one hour to release Mr Mbowe!
Some of the questions worth asking the government include the following: was the Mbowe exercise necessary? Was the expenditure of 50m/- in the exercise justifiable?
It is indisputable that the Chadema chairman broke the law when he failed to meet his bail conditions that had required him to report in court on the scheduled date.
Secondly, his arrest was quite in order, but the style and expenses incurred in the course of fulfilling the arrest has unfortunately placed the government in the dock!
Yes, it now faces the challenge of justifying its use of 50m/- in taxpayers’ hard earned money or else it may be accused of using the arrest as a ruse for eating public funds!
What is worse is that through the Mbowe project, the government ended up giving the opposition party a free publicity!
Indeed, Mr Mbowe spent two days in the cooler but at the end of the day, the man walked out of the court as hero of sort, covering up his illegal conduct and all because somebody in the government misdirected the government!
Without spending a single cent, the opposition party last week found its public image being boosted by the government!
And as if that was not bad enough, somebody responsible for operations in the police force started off with a statement that sought to distance the police force from the Mbowe debacle, but ended up bungling the whole thing!
A critical analysis of the conduct by the police and the government on the Mbowe project clearly indicates one thing, tactlessness and communication problems on the part of the two institutions.
It is important for the government to realize that whatever move against the opposition, and Chadema in particular, that is likely to be deemed ‘hostile’ by the general public, automatically plays in their favour.
And this is precisely what happened when the Chadema chairman was arrested, transported to Arusha and finally released.
And the man seized the golden opportunity with both hands, explaining to inquisitive journalists all minute details that attended his arrest.
Given, a layman would easily become prey of CHADEMA’s ploy to gain popularity but, Jamani, is the government thus asleep? I mean, Aren’t there people out there (government think tanks) who can smell a rat and stay alert not to easily fall victim again and again and again at own expenses?
By Attilio Tagalile
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