Membe's complex political legacy

Arusha. He may have been frequenting Arusha on a regular basis during his long tenure as a Foreign Affairs minister some years ago.

This was not surprising for a cabinet minister holding the docket, with Arusha being the seat of various regional and continental bodies.

Suddenly, specifically in late 2015, Mr Bernard Membe, who drew his last breath yesterday, was to become a rare species in the diplomatic city.

However, he was to re-emerge on April 27th this year, not at an institution associated with regional diplomacy or international relations.

He was invited to the Institute of Accountancy Arusha (IAA) to give a lecture on peace and security challenges in Africa.

The 30-year-old training institution recently introduced a military science course centred on peace and security matters.

Students on military strategies, the academic staff, and other listeners were amazed by the way he articulated security challenges.

At an institution largely dealing with accounts and audit statistics, such a lecture might not fit the larger audience.

But it had to be. The entire eastern African region, from Mozambique to eastern DR Congo, the two Sudans, Ethiopia, and Somalia, is currently under siege from insurgencies.

He spoke on ways to bring an end to the violent clashes through disarmament, demobilisation, reintegration, resettlement, and repatriation, known in diplomatic circles as DDRRR.

His re-emergence followed years in which the outspoken politician had nearly gone into obscurity after the end of the fourth-phase regime.

Mr Membe’s tenure in government service and later politics saw him serving in the intelligence service, a diplomatic mission, and later as an MP and a minister.

But to the general public, he came into the limelight sometime after the year 2000, when he was elected an MP for Mtama in the Lindi region.

At one time, he brought a debate in Parliament to its knees on suspected misuse, embezzlement or theft of funds at one of the country’s diplomatic missions abroad.

He told the House emphatically that the time has come for public officials to directly point a finger at inept public officials instead of being shy.

It was after his appointment as Foreign Affairs minister by then President Jakaya Kikwete that Mr Membe’s political impact came full circle on the country’s political landscape.

But he was not spared from different forms of drama that caught him on the way—a sufficient sign that politics is indeed an unsafe terrain.

Only a few years later, as a minister, he was derogatively mentioned in both the mainstream and formal media as among those being prepared to succeed President Kikwete.

For some time, he hesitated to respond to the claims, focusing his efforts on shaping the foreign policy of Mr Kikwete during a period that saw lots of investment inflows.

But when he finally came out to defend himself against attacks that he was not fit as a presidential candidate, it was like a cheetah unlocking its claws in readiness to attack.

He said at an event well covered by the media that he knew all those behind the dirty campaign against him and their networks and was ready to engage them if need be.

Although he made such remarks while still serving as a member of the cabinet, Mr Membe had often boasted that he had his own network that was well-informed.

It was clear, though, that the late Membe enjoyed some intimacy with retired President Kikwete. He had full trust in the fourth-phase president.

It was during that term that a Tanzanian leader made a record of countless official visits to many countries around the globe, maybe except South America.

This was the period (2005-2015) that Tanzania hosted many global leaders, such as the former US presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama in 2008 and 2013, respectively.

Few could imagine that it was during those days that Tanzania hosted some of the most high-profile conferences, thanks to the country’s diplomacy.

Many of those that pulled in a large number of delegates took place in Arusha and were organised by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and other global organisations.

Tanzania is not on record as having hosted the annual African Union (AU) Heads of State Summits on its soil, despite being active in the continental organisation.

However, it was sometime during the 4th phase administration (2005-2015) of President Kikwete’s government that the country took over the chairmanship of the continental organisation.

The other time Tanzania chaired the AU (then known as OAU) was during 1984-85 under former President Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.

Although the late Membe passed on without landing on the highest post on the land (the presidency), he has not been very far from the seat of power.

Twice, he vied for the presidency: first under the ruling CCM in 2015, in which he lost in the elimination stage in the race won by the late President John Pombe Magufuli.

By the time 2020 set in, he had lost favour with the ruling party and had vied for the presidency under the ACT-Wazalendo party. The opposition party lost heavily.

But Mr Membe is on record for having served longest as the Foreign Affairs minister after the country’s two former presidents, Jakaya Kikwete and Benjamin Mkapa.

Mr Kikwete, or simply JK, held the docket for 10 consecutive years (1995-2005) while the late Mkapa was Foreign Affairs minister for a record time 1977-1980 and 1984 to 1990.

His long tour of duty at the Foreign ministry saw him join a ‘club’ of star diplomats of yore who served as Foreign Affairs ministers since independence but who did not land in the top office.

There were the likes of Oscar Kambona, John Malecela, Ibrahim Kaduma, Salim Ahmed Salim, Joseph Rwegasira, Dr Asha-Rose Migiro and Dr Augustine Mahiga.

How Mr Membe lost the presidential race in 2015 is a matter that has been subject to debate. He was said to have the backing of the incumbent, but his name was eliminated at the last minute.

There is no contention that his (Mr Membe’s) political troubles began after the 2015 poll won by Dr Magufuli, according to his friends.

Although not much has been made public, the late spy turned-minister may not have seen eye to eye with the fifth-phase President who was sworn in November 2015.

He implored Dr Magufuli only days after the latter took office to reconsider his drive to cut down on foreign travel, which he considered unnecessary for the country.

The fallen minister insisted that Tanzania and its economy in particular could not survive without engaging with the rest of the world.

Mr Membe could not be appointed to any position in the public service thereafter during the first five years of the fifth-phase government.

He told a local weekly newspaper in 2021 that he was nominated for the post of secretary general of the Commonwealth in late 2015, but the government could not endorse his candidature.

For the entire 2016 period, he effectively remained out of the government, leading to a lot of speculation, especially after a leak of a clip in which he and other CCM stalwarts allegedly criticised the Magufuli government.

After a lot of humiliation from the CCM party following his expulsion, Mr Membe came out with what appeared to be a revenge mission for 2020.

He crossed over to the opposition party ACT-Wazalendo and was soon picked as a presidential candidate for the 2020 general election. After launching his presidential election campaign around August 2020, he was soon to disappear from the radar and once again travel outside the country.

When he turned up at a political rally only days before the voting day, he rubbished claims that he had pulled out after feeling the heat of the presidential race.

Instead, he assured the rally that he was still in the race, reminding the latter that in a football match, what mattered was the last 90 minutes of the game.

Incidentally, he came in third in the presidential race, which pulled in 15 candidates.

He garnered only 81,000 votes against 12.5 million for the late Magufuli, followed by 1.9 million for Tundu Lissu (Chadema).

News of his death yesterday shocked those who knew him, one of them being Mr Assah Mwambene, a communication officer with the Arusha International Conference Centre (AICC).

“He was very humane, with exceptional behaviour. He was also considerate when somebody was in trouble and needed assistance,” he told The Citizen.

Mr Mwambene said he worked with the late Membe when he was the Foreign Affairs minister while he (Mwambene) headed the communication department at the ministry.

He said he remembered the former minister for the way he handled a dispute over Lake Nyasa between Tanzania and Malawi between 2012 and 2013.

“He ensured a team of experts from both countries and from overseas were assembled to seek evidence if Malawi had any territorial jurisdiction over the entire lake,” he said.

Mr Mwambene said that although Mr Membe has been reinstated as a CCM member after the 2019 humiliation, he is not sure if he is planning any political comeback.

“What I know is that he was busy writing books on issues of diplomacy, peace, and security. He had also been offered a job as a visiting lecturer (on the same) at the Institute of Accountancy Arusha (IAA).”