Lowassa: Son of office attendant turned fighter

Monduli. On February 7, 2008, close to midday the nation stood still. People thronged TV screens and radio posts as parliamentary coverage was broadcast live.

Edward Lowassa, then Prime Minister had just announced, in a short speech that he had resigned from his post. This was after a Parliamentary Select Committee had tabled a report on the Richmond scandal that had seriously implicated him.

The committee chaired by Dr Harrisson Mwakyembe, who is legislator for Kyela Constituency on a CCM ticket and current minister for East African Cooperation, said Mr Lowassa, knowing that the tendering process was flawed and having information about the lack of credibility of the Richmond Development Company, gave the go ahead to awarding the power purchase agreement contract to the US-based firm.

The public reaction to Mr Lowassa’s resignation was divided. Some argued that he had resigned because he felt guilty. Others said his resignation stemmed from his character of making informed decisions. While others argued that he was a man who made decisions out of anger or emotion and did not think through them.

For his detractors, the resignation was the end of his well-known presidential ambitions. Expectations were that he would never shake off the “corrupt” tag despite the lack of evidence to prove that he, actually, benefited from the deal.

His involvement in the Richmond scandal added to claims that the Father of the Nation Mwalimu Julius Nyerere had rejected Mr Lowassa in the 1995 vetting process on grounds that he had acquired riches in a short period through dubious means and against party ethics as a senior cadre and civil servant.

All these served to cement the corrupt image of Mr Lowassa that his opponents thought were nailed by the Richmond scandal.

As it turned out Mr Lowassa came back using all means in his power to revive his political ambitions. Thus he drummed up support countrywide.

Some critics say the countrywide support Mr Lowassa is enjoying is fake claiming that it is being financed by either himself or his rich supporters. That most people in “Team Lowassa” or “Friends of Lowassa” groups are bribed.

Lowassa has publicly admitted that he has rich friends, who finance most of his campaigns. And he has said he is not ashamed of associating himself with rich people. He does not take pride on poverty. But he has denied that the popular support that he gets is fake or staged.

People close to him, who spoke with The Citizen say they are not surprised by Lowassa’s bouncing back. The man is a natural leader, they claim. And he is a serious minded fighter who always gets what he wants. That explains the zeal he’s showing in pursuing his dream.

His leadership style is abrasive. He will pursue what he knows is right or beneficial despite opposition from anyone, including those close to him, people close to him say.

When he was in school he was eager to learn and prodded his seniors with constant questions. “He had an inquisitive mind,” says Reuben Ole Kuney, a close friend of Lowassa and one of the first students from Monduli District to earn a university degree.

Whenever Ole Kuney went back to Monduli for holidays, Mr Lowassa always begged him to teach him various subjects, which he obliged because he saw the thirst for knowledge in the boy’s eyes.

Lowassa’s curiosity and his eagerness to learn was unusual. He had to graze his father’s cattle, which was reason enough for him to lose interest in his studies. But that was not the case.

A family friend, Mzee John Kimati Ngao, whose farm was near Lowassa’s home says he had helped the boy financially several times to help him continue with studies.

“Because of lack of funds Lowassa’s studies risked being cut. So I had to support him financially,” said Mr Ngao.

That was in 1964 when he was studying at a Monduli Middle School.

Mzee Ngao, who still lives in Monduli and owns a bar, says he continued supporting Lowassa all through secondary school from Arusha Secondary School to Milambo High School in Tabora.

“I was a friend of his father, but I helped Edward without his father’s knowledge. He was such a brilliant student and I thought it would be such a loss if he did not continue with his studies,” Mzee Ngao told The Citizen.

Mr Lowassa’s father was an office assistant and an errand boy at a local colonial office. Like many families in Monduli District he also had a herd of cattle which was tended by Edward and his siblings.

Elibariki Kelele, is a schoolmate of Mr Lowassa at Monduli Middle School now known as Moringe Secondary School.Though he was two classes ahead he remembers Lowassa because he stood out. He was a leader of the school brass band, he dressed smartly and he liked to speak English as often as he had an opportunity, something that endeared him to the American Peace Corps volunteers who taught at the school. “He was very popular at school and he was very hard working. And pupils liked him,” Mr Kelele says.

Retired district commissioner and former MP for Monduli Lapilali ole Molloiment, is a political foe of Lowassa. He knows Lowassa since their school days. They fought bitter political battles but says he has learnt to understand Lowassa and admire his fighting spirit.

“Mr Lowassa has his strengths and weaknesses. But one of the things that has led to clashes between Lowassa and other people is Lowassa’s unwavering stance and reluctance to change course once he makes a decision.”