Mkapa Disarms a Terrorist
- Category: Peering Eye
- Date 05-12-2004
- 309 views
Like you and many other people, I do concede that Ben is a brilliant chap. I sympathise with those sons of women who have ever dared him to a political contest. Little wonder that he has severally shown them the dust, including those members of his own Revolutionary Party (Chama Cha Mapinduzi CCM), who would have preferred themselves, not him, for the Presidency of the United Republic of Tanzania. This realisation came with Ndugu Mkapa’s recent surprise prediction of possible succession to the State House later in 2005.
It has been suggested that to be a President of a peaceful developing nation, an individual should have extraordinary endowments both in body and mind. One should have at least a sixth sense and a third leg – I don’t mean a walking stick or that part of the body that would exclude women from running for President – one should really be a gifted person, a pace ahead of others, so that you manage issues as though you are God himself. You do not perform like an ordinary mortal, or you will quickly lose power.
Such a person will certainly be able to detect any possibilities of sabotage against his reign, treacherous manoeuvres and terrorist activities. In some countries, opposing the President is tantamount to terrorism or treason, and political opponents will vanish, languish in jails or end up in exile if they are so lucky. Aren’t there such cases in East and Southern Africa already?
So, Mkapa and the terrorist. Peering Eye had previously expressed a degree of selfish interest in knowing who the successor to the throne of this nation might be. Sensing the prevailing general sense of indifference among the possible challengers to the highest office in the land, we promised a surprise announcement as a solution to a looming crisis. We have since trotted the entire countryside, holding consultations and making concrete arrangement to fill Mkapa’s gap when he retires less than a year from now.
I told you that he has either more than the five senses or a firmly knitted intelligence system, and thus he has been watching all our activities from the ceiling of our meeting room. He has launched a pre-emptive attack such as all terrorists, in Iraq or Afghanistan, have suffered in recent years. The man has come out kicking and fighting with all his might, arguing that the successor will be chosen on the basis of Mkapa’s already impeccable record.
Unfortunately, we had not foreseen that the achievements of the last regime could play a defining role in the forthcoming elections, so our team and plans have nicely been scuttled. We had already selected a candidate, who is obviously unbeatable and I am sure that is the reason the President would not wait till we could publish the name – it would have been toady in this column, by the way! Bwana Mkapa’s pronouncements totally threw us off-balance, to the drawing board again, to study the new developments carefully.
What we can only announce now is that Mkapa’s successor will be a lady, and a Tanzanian national. So women out there; prepare for your turn, and we are confident that you will not turn down this unexpected privilege; thus counting on your block vote strengthens us that our choice is unbeatable.
Yet the suspicion about Bwana Mkapa’s intentions has largely disarmed this master planner. It seems he has all the activities of our master planner on a wide screen in his living room, in which case we are apparently doing and easing his job. Our candidate would have to run as an independent, but we suspect that Mkapa might still name her as his party’s anointed successor, considering that she has all along been known to be a CCM member. We are waiting to see these indicators: she might be called to State House soon for consultations; she might be advised to spare her energy and money with promises to appoint her the next Prime Minister; she might be told to stand at her own risk; and etcetera. All this is good if she still remembers us the architects of her fortune. Trouble is if the State House gives her the money and deploys her against us, to disorganise the opposition!
By Venansio Ahabwe
Source: Peering Eye, Sunday Citizen