Tanganyika Law Society leaves much to be desired

Book titled Church and Politics in East Africa, by the late Bishop Henry Okullo, a famous Kenyan man of the cloth, quotes former President Mwai Kibaki during the dark days of the monolithic KANU: “A modern church is expected to be outspoken because other groups must be cautious. We must have at least some organisation, which speaks out for the rights of man regardless of what happens tomorrow.”

I couldn’t agree more with the late Hon. Kibaki on this. The church is the last point of refuge anywhere in the world. Indeed any religious organisation for that matter.

Looking at Tanzania, such were the brutal years under the late Magufuli that the church cannot escape moral questions.

More often than not, religious leaders were happy to allow God to be quoted on their pulpits at a time when their flock were living like walking zombies.

Things reached a point where the mere arrival for instance of a new plane from Canada was turned into a high-profile religious ceremony for propaganda purposes. One of the prominent church leaders, Zachary Kakobe, was even recorded acting like a CCM cheerleader inside a plane. None of his brethren uttered a word to reprimand him.

That is what Tanzania had unimaginably become. Religious leaders were at the beck and call of an individual. I extraordinarily found myself praying to God to change their fearful ways.

And I even put forward the idea to a few Tanzanians that we emulate Nyerere who warned the colonialists that if they didn’t grant us our independence wish, they would appeal the case to the Almighty!

This background information is vitally important after listening to President’s Samia’s jibe of the Tanganyika Law Society under then-opposition lawmaker Tundu Lissu, who was followed by ex-lady president, Fatma Karume.

Samia was speaking at the annual conference of the East Africa Law Society (EALS). Her speech was devoid of the Magufuli reign of terror that was an awful stain on the East African Community that is supposed to promote principles of democratic governance.

Actually, the Magufuli state urgently needed to have been given ample space on the EALS agenda, given how the legal profession was ranked as enemy number one. In order for this though to have taken its place, our own ‘learned friends’ should have taken the strong lead.

A consequence of not doing so one can say was the impression portrayed of Karume as that of a professional activist or even a nihilist. On this score, I’m ready to give Karume the full benefit of the doubt.

The reason for saying so is backed up by the fact that Karume actually presented substantial proposals to Samia’s task force on democracy. Only a handful will know this yet it is information available to anyone interested to know and is something Samia should have taken cognisance of rather than cast aspersions on.

In fact, Karume totally outclassed what the TLS as a collective body had to say to the task force. It speaks volumes that an individual has more to say than a whole organisation representing thousands of advocates.

Writing as a non-advocate, I feel proud that in the face of faith groups abdicating their critical role in society, the TLS -which ordinarily was to tread cautiously as Kibaki had noted -stepped up to the plate under the public-spirited lady.

The Magufuli regime found itself in an impossible situation such that Karume was purposely denied an opportunity to speak at Law Day. A government on the run it was!

Now, it is not that I’m unaware of the voices within the TLS who say that it is more of an advisory body. I dare say though that those who advocate such thinking after all that we suffered as a nation, are simply acting as surrogates for notorious presidents.

As it were before Magufuli arrived on the scene, what record stands as an attestation to our maturity whereby cases of constructive ideas by Tanzanians were taken on board? Nothing doing I’m afraid!

Everything of substance has been systematically cast aside by the government. My own father, a former AG, is a classic case of someone whose goodwill was limitless in so far as he would write and write openly on the way forward for Tanzania. In his final years on the planet though he was up to his neck at how our national leadership was so intransigent.

How much more surely can one say on the need for independent candidates?

As we are now approaching Law Day 2023, I dare the TLS in their absolute infatuation for inviting annually the head of state to their gathering, to put forth concrete proposals that will have a purchase on the general public that day. In my estimation, it is now about time we think of establishing a commission of enquiry to look into all the human rights violations of the Magufuli years that shamefully bore the hallmarks of fascism.

Only this Monday, an editorial in The Citizen newspaper said it all: “These individuals held powerful positions when the government’s detractors, both real and imagined, were swiftly thrown into jail on trumped-up money laundering charges, and forced to buy their freedom several years later by parting with huge sums of money through dubious plea bargaining.”

We were effectively dealing with kangaroo courts that we only used to hear about in other jurisdictions. They were before our own very eyes.

The direct question I pose to the reading public with all this in mind is, if the TLS didn’t exist then would it need to be invented today?