Bashiru may be unequal to the best but better than the wicked

Dr Bashiru Ally’s appointment as the new chief secretary stunned most of us sending the country in some law and civics lessons, freely offered on many online forums. That appointment fuelled torrents of theories on these forums as to what it entails with a wide range of possibilities offered but most converging on the same conclusion; the succession race in 2025.

The good news is that the circus does not stay in one place for long; it is constantly on the move.

Our focus will be on his time as CCM’s secretary general whose appointment was met with scepticism because he was never a politician and to some within CCM he was “from the opposition”.

In short, he did not belong within the ruling party, let alone be at the apex of power within it. At the time of his appointment back in 2018, he was to oversee a party that was in dire financial challenges with a terrible bookkeeping record. He had to lead the anti-corruption drive from within.

A party constantly on the lookout for saboteurs from within and an image tarnished from many decades of mismanagement of the state, endless shouting matches with opposition parties and the struggle for the moral high ground.

Political parties in this country go to great lengths to guard their financial details. Most of their members are clueless about their party’s finances with the glimpses of the reality emerging from many places but not the whole thing.

CCM’s chairman John Magufuli had said many times that CCM’s properties were held by some of its scrupulous members and Dr Bashiru led the efforts to improve CCM’s bookkeeping. It is difficult to judge his record on the matter. The report he compiled as the leader of the task force was never made public but some of these properties like buildings and a television station are now firmly controlled by CCM.

The anti-corruption drive, especially on intra-party election processes is a mixed baggage for sure, partly made so by a complex legal structure which leaves many loopholes for corruption thrive as there is too much reliance placed on political parties to police themselves on such matters.

While CCM managed to pick new faces out of its primary processes which were a refreshing experience, the allegations of corruption were rampant during the whole process.

It is still an uphill task rooting out a culture which has thrived for decades to the point where few dare to win by any other means. He did not re-establish the philosophical underpinnings which made it possible to keep corruption at bay in the one-party era.

CCM’s mind-bending electoral success during the 2020 general election and prevention of defections despite high profile party primaries political casualties means he was able to keep party affairs within the party.

At the time of his appointment, there were many leakages from within. His time did not diminish the factional battles for the control of the future of the party as some matters spilled out in the open like the scathing indictment of two of his predecessors on party’s leadership.

He was in constant wars with alleged party saboteurs while increasing the process of welcoming back those who had left CCM for the opposition or new members from the opposition. This is open to debate and whether it will be a good thing in the long run.

Unlike him, who is a bonafide Nyerereist, many of those he received in the party know very little about CCM, its culture or care for its continued survival and political relevance.

Unlike many of his predecessors, he did not shy away from intellectual debates and became good at taking swipes at opposition parties without naming any names. His nearly three years as CCM’s secretary general did not compromise him as a simple, humble academic many knew.

Where time will place him among former CCM secretary generals is too soon to say, but to paraphrase an ancient Roman philosopher, Dr Bashiru might not be equal to the best but certainly he outperformed some of his predecessors of the multiparty era who grew up within CCM’s structures.

The humble man was better than the wicked.