What’s at stake over #freemaxencemelo?

Dar es Salaam. The one week incarceration of Maxence Melo, the founder of JamiiForums is causing such an outrage in social media because it represents something bigger than him and his online debate forum.

For right about a decade, JamiiForums has occupied a space in our politics so unique that the best way to explain it to a non-Tanzanian would be to draw comparisons with the work of Edward Snowden, Julian Assange or Aaron Swartz, among others.

The website has been a significant force in the unfolding of several high profile corruption scandals, the most notable one being the ‘Richmond scandal’ whose documents were widely circulated in the forum.

However, I don’t fancy the description of the forum as a whistleblowing platform as recently named by few international media houses, for I find it to be somewhat reductionist. It is rather a debate platform where millions of Tanzanians find the freedom to say what they really want to say—hence the tagline “where we dare to talk openly”.

To a non-performing government filled with inefficiency and corruption, the forum is a bitter thorn in the flesh. But to a performing government that is truly concerned about the people, such a forum would be great political capital.

In light of the above, I am of the opinion that Maxence Melo’s plight is a political miscalculation by President Magufuli’s administration.

In summary, what’s at stake for Magufuli’s government is that Maxence Melo’s arrest undermines the President’s position as a man of and activist for the people, while also weakening his defense against those who see him as a “know-it-all.”

A President of the People?

Let us not forget that, likeable as he is, Magufuli got into power with the lowest share of votes of all the five presidents we have had. But as if he was keen on turning his fortunes around, the President has been off to a great start.

His approval ratings in a study released by Twaweza in September 2016 were simply astronomical—almost unreal! How can he now let others wage war against the very people that view him so positively?

In an attempt to whip the few “bad citizens” into shape, doesn’t his government end up unnecessarily offending millions of other good citizens whose support they could count on?

The popular website reports having more than 2 million unique users every month. This number is sensational, and therefore Magufuli’s administration must see to it that they are not unnecessarily converting new-found supporters back to their antagonistic ways.

An Activist President?

Since he got into power, nobody has been a bigger activist than the President himself. He does not pardon corruption and inefficiency, and has not shied away from naming and shaming those who found themselves on the wrong side of his regimented, disciplinarian ethic.

Press releases carrying Presidential appointments and dismissals signed by Mr Gerson Msigwa, State House’s Director of Communications, are now something of a public spectacle and a sign that the President is taking a more “activist approach.”

Strangely, the tone of JPM’s approach is very fitting for a forum such as Maxence Melo’s JamiiForums. However, the government’s handling of Maxence Melo casts a huge shadow of doubt over the President’s admirable brand as an activist.

An Omniscient President?

When he invited media houses to State House on November 4 this year, President Magufuli wore a big smile even when he responded to some of the toughest questions he got from journalists, often believed to be his biggest critics. He even addressed the elephant in the room—assuring journalists that he has the stomach for criticism.

This was a big win for Magufuli, even though journalists were left dissatisfied by among other things the lack of opportunity to ask supplementary questions. Still, in my opinion, the President was somewhat successful at shaking off the undesirable “omniscience” label that has for long been one of his biggest criticisms.

But if we are to follow events surrounding Mr Melo’s detention, we can say that on one hand, the President waved a white flag to the media while pointing a gun on the other. At the State House event, he romanticized his administration’s relationship with the media, even professing his love for journalists in very “loverboyish” fashion. The detention of Maxence Melo essentially undoes his great diplomatic move to pacify or befriend the media and reaffirms the perception that the President doesn’t have an ear for differing advice, nor the tolerance for criticism.

Virtue in Diplomacy

Like I wrote on the November 16 edition of this paper, the internet is a formidable force that could potentially swing the outcome of the next polls. In view of this, Magufuli’s administration could greatly benefit from employing a more diplomatic approach towards managing social media debate. Instead of using the highly controversial Cybercrimes Act (which is not a doing of his administration) to bend online platforms into shape, the owners of such platforms should also get a State House invitation.

Clearly the President wanted to convince journalists of his good intentions, presumably in a bid to win their support and to soften the tone of their criticisms towards him. The same should be done with owners of online platforms.

The goal of keeping Maxence Melo and others close should be to ensure that they, out of their own accord, are filtering out vulgarism and blatant gossip from their platforms while retaining the people’s freedom to respectfully air nonconformist opinions.

This kind of censorship isn’t strange or unique. Facebook, arguably the best and biggest social media platform on the face on the earth is currently taking measures to ensure users are protected from what is termed as “fake news”.

What Magufuli’s administration can learn from this is that this kind of regulation does not warrant one being in jail, unless the goal is to cultivate fear. Sowing fear will only reap anger, as aptly put by one of the more popular messages in the #FreeMaxenceMelo movement which originated from the inspirational Professor Issa Shivji.

At the end of the day, Magufuli and Maxence both want the same thing. I find it very troubling that instead of sharing a dinner table, one is in State House and the other could be deaded fpr jail.

The author is the Founder of iDev Tanzania, and a graduate student at the London School of Economics.