The general election is finally over and has left, in its wake, mixed feelings.
On one hand, it has undoubtedly left scores of candidates who had vied for various elective posts either licking their wounds or locked in frenzy celebrations.
There are numerous lessons to be learnt from this election, arguably the most hard fought since the re-introduction of multiparty politics in July, 1992.
Once again, the organizers of the elections, the National Electoral Commission, NEC, failed to avoid criticisms over their handling of the elections from casting of the ballot by the electorate to the counting and announcement of winners and losers.
One area they owe the general public an explanation is why so many people failed to turn up to cast their ballots after the Commission had told Tanzanians, and confidently at that, that 19 million people had registered as voters!
It would be recalled that at least one opposition party disputed the foregoing figure, arguing that it was on the higher side.
But the Commission stuck to its guns, maintaining that, that was the correct figure for a nation that had over 40 million people.
The other problem the Commission will have to deal with, sooner than later, is why names of many voters were absent from the voters’ register despite the victims having their voter’s cards.
Side by side with the foregoing, the Commission ought to explain why they gave only one week to the electorate to verify the presence or otherwise of their names in the voter’s register.
Finally, the Commission will have to deal with two problems: one, why it elected to have presidential votes dealt with separately.
And secondly, the Commission owes the public an explanation why results for most voting centres took more than two days to announce.
It is important that the Commission deals with the last problem honestly because it does not make sense to tell the public that the results were delayed because of the employment of computer technology!
Indeed, computer technology is not supposed to delay things.
On the contrary, employment of computer technology is supposed to make things more efficient, in terms of accuracy and delivery with speed being very critical.
It is unfortunate that the Commission’s decision to deal with presidential votes separately instead of allowing their announcement along with votes for parliamentary candidates has now given fodders to those who believe that the ruling party has always been engaged in vote stealing.
The point is, it was absolutely not necessary for the Commission to do what it has done for the simple reason that President Jakaya Kikwete’s victory, going by the already available parliamentary results, was a foregone conclusion.
According to figures released by the NEC on those who have already captured parliamentary seats, the ruling party has bagged in 78 percent of the seats.
It does not require one to be a mathematician or statistician to know that those who elected CCM Mps also elected their party chairman, President Jakaya Kikwete.
In fact, the same thing can be conversely said about those who elected candidates for parliamentary seats fielded by opposition parties.
Therefore there was no need for the NEC to do what it did in relation to presidential votes.
On the other hand, both CCM and opposition parties will have to sit down and seriously review their performances with the express purpose of working out strategies for what is set to be the mother of all elections, the 2015 general election.
But if what transpired in the just ended election is anything to go by then those who would be graced with the opportunity of being around in the 2015 general election are likely to bear witness to historic developments.
However, whatever people say about the just ended general election, one thing is certain, general elections in this country will never be the same again!
Going by the voting pattern and who got what, Chadema has overtaken the Civic United Front, CUF, on the Mainland, as the second most powerful party in the country after the ruling party.
Chadema has grown from a five parliamentary seats holder into a national party, spreading its newly captured members of parliament and councillors almost throughout the country.
And if the ruling party does not put its acts together, then it may sooner than later follow, to the political grave, their Kenyan counterpart, the Kenya African National Union, KANU!
With 23 parliamentary seats under their belt, which is 9 percent of the 239 members of parliament, Chadema is already a force to reckon with.
With President Jakaya Kikwete on the saddle, his administration’s most daunting task remains that of implementing hundreds of promises he made during his election campaigns.
And since this is going to be President Kikwete’s last term in office, he has no alternative but to deliver if he is to help his party win, comfortably, the 2015 general election.
In fact, delivery on promises made by President Kikwete remains the only alternative that will save the ruling party, come the 2015 elections, because other areas are fraught with problems.
For instance, the ruling party is yet to get a widely accepted presidential candidate for the forthcoming general election.
What is more, even if they get him or her now, he or she will have only five years of preparation which is inadequate if one considers that President Kikwete prepared himself for his first term for not less than ten years.
Besides, there are a number of factors that will have to be settled before getting the ruling party’s presidential candidate.
The factors include, among others, the Zanzibar factor after the Mainland will have held the Union Presidency for two decades.
It is for this reason that delivery of promises made during the just ended election campaigns remain critical, a trump card for the ruling party if you like.
However, given the numerous promises made and the fact that five years may not be adequate in fulfilling all the promises, it would be advisable for the ruling party to be selective in implementing its promises.
Instead of trying to fulfill all the promises, it would be advisable to prioritize its implementation activity by taking on project that would yield massive benefit for the nation.
For instance, a random survey on what led to the ruling party’s losses in Shinyanga, Mwanza and Kigoma shows that the absence of a reliable railroad is a factor.
Therefore this is an opportunity to come up with not less than four lines of standard rail road (similar to that of the Tazara) from Dar es Salaam to Kigoma and Mwanza.
If the Chinese using 1970s technology built the 1,800 railroad from Dar es Salaam to Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia in five years (from 1970 to early 1976), with latest technology they should be able to complete the four railroads in less than five years.
The beauty of having four lines is that there will be passenger/goods train services almost on daily basis.
Apart from the central line, the government should also look into the possibility of establishing rail network from Mtwara to connect both Zambia and Malawi, Mbeya to Rukwa Region and from Tanga to Musoma.
The foregoing railroads network will apart from solving internal transport problems, also stimulate the country’s economy and solve employment problem through the absorption of millions of jobless youths through rail construction.
Other benefits to be derived from the multitrillion shillings railroads project will be the decongestion of the Dar es Salaam port and the provision, in the process, of a reliable gateway for landlocked countries such as Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Malawi and to some extent, the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC.
The other area Kikwete’s administration should now focus on is in the mining industry.
Much as it has somewhat done something about the present mining policy, it can still revisit the policy by coming up with a completely different policy that will take care, for instance, of the remaining 96 percent of gold deposits.
The point is, since existing mining development is reported to be covering only four percent of gold deposits, then the present mining policy should serve only the four percent.
Coming up with another set of mining policy to cover the remaining 96 percent of gold deposits and other important minerals that include, uranium, will help in resolving problems in the present mining policy which leave a lot to be desired.
The other project that Kikwete’s administration should seriously look into working on is the Stiegler’s Gorge hydro power project.
The importance of developing this power project lies in the fact that apart from boosting the existing national grid, it could also be used in powering trains, hence bringing about transport revolution in the country.
Indeed, with the minimum speed of 200km per hour (going by Europe’s Inter-Cities), such train-powered trains will be taking less than seven hours from Dar es Salaam to Kigoma and Mwanza respectively.
Again, once the government decides, the construction of the hydro electric power project will hardly take more than four years!
If the government decides to bring in the Chinese for construction of the fore-mentioned railroads, then it can tackle the problem of financing by emulating Joseph Kabila’s government.
In the DRC, over 2,500 railroads are being constructed by the Chinese and the financing problem has been solved through the use the country’s mineral resources.
Tanzania can do the same thing, use of some of its mineral deposits in financing railroads and hydro power project.
Indeed, if we can give our mineral resources to the West at a song why not do the same thing in order to liberate our nation from transport problems and endless power blues?
By Attilio Tagalile
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