Disasters and pitiable moments

BEFORE the public’s attention was shifted to the heavy downpours that wrought havoc in Dar es Salaam, all ears were on political events that caused devastation of their own. The heavy rains that caused floods could not have been prevented, but the political events were of man’s making thus could have easily been avoided.

The floods claimed over 30 lives, damaged property and infrastructure and were a source of a great deal of inconveniences. We prayed for rain during the dry spell and perhaps we got a bit more than we bargained for and tragedy ensued.

Businesses were forced to close and thousands were left homeless as the city became inundated with flood water. Many people were left stranded as roads became inaccessible and bridges collapsed following the devastating rains.

Of note, however, was how swiftly the government reacted. The response by the government was commendable and it may not be misplaced to state that had it not been for the quick response by the government the damage would have been far worse and possibly there would have been more deaths.

It is always very difficult to prepare for an event like the recent floods, and Dar es Salaam has not seen flooding like this for over 50 years. 

The worst hit areas are known to be prone to flooding even with the slightest rains. It is also my understanding that the areas that were most affected are squatters. People residing in those areas have time and again been asked to relocate to no avail. 

Perhaps it’s time that they revisit their position. From the devastation we have seen, remaining adamant would be choosing to die for less. With the unpredictable weather patterns these days, no one knows for sure when such heavy downpours would hit again.

President Jakaya Kikwete has also asked those living in low lands to relocate. We hope they will heed to his call and move. When one starts counting the losses of the flooding to people living in squatters, one is easily convinced that it is not worth the risk.

We cannot prevent natural disasters from happening but we but we certainly avert some of the damages and losses caused by the disasters. We gope this time the government will stand firm on its position of moving people from lowlands.

Just a matter days before the natural disaster grabbed our attention, a man made one had happened and left devastation in its trail. While trouble is still brewing in the once formidable opposition party, Civic United Front (CUF), another opposition party ended its crisis on a high note.

NCCR-Mageuzi turned the tables on one of its few members of parliament and kicked him out of the party. The two opposition parties are entangled in a power struggle amongst its leaders and NCCR-Mageuzi’s national chairman, James Mbatia, demonstrated to party cadres that he was very much in charge, the rest can go figure.

To assert his authority some had to bite the dust, so one legislator and a few other party members were axed from the party. The decision has implications beyond party politics; it will also dig deep into government coffers as well in the not so far future.

The Registrar of Political Parties, Mr John Tendwa, has been quoted as saying that the decision by NCCR-Mageuzi to expel its Member of Parliament, Mr David Kafulila, might cost the nation not less than 19bn/- needed to conduct a by-election to replace him.

Under prevailing laws, a lawmaker loses his seat if he is expelled from his party because belonging to one is among crucial conditions of being elected a member of parliament. This only gives benefit to those calling for independent candidates.

Of more interest, however, is what transpired during the party’s closed door session which culminated in the axing of Kafulila and how so badly he took it. It is said that the firebrand young legislator proved he was just a big baby after all because he wept profusely and uncontrollable while putting himself at the mercy of party members.

Most of us were of the impression that the little macho guy was a tough nut to crack owing to his reputation of making even the most seasoned politician look like a novice. And there he was on bended knees pleading for forgiveness all drowned in tears. 

And you might have thought that it would help. The NCCR-Mageuzi guys are ‘makauzu’, they are a cold lot who are heartless, stood firm and refused to pardon him. Now Kafulila can only pray that he gets an Oscar for best performance for his touching show because, as the NCCR-Mageuzi guys had put it, he was just acting. What a pitiful moment it was!

We are selfish with a passion

NOT so long ago the National Examination Council of Tanzania announced results of Primary School national examinations. More pupils are said to have passed this year than last year. That’s encouraging. But just before we got too comfortable with the good news; we had to be taken aback, true Tanzanian style.

It was also reported that several pupils were caught cheating in their exams and thus their results had to be annulled. And that some teachers lost their positions for either assisting the pupils in their cheating or having been too lax not to note cheating children.

I have tried stretching my imagination to understand how a primary school pupil could even think of cheating in exams to no avail. It just does not sink in.

These are either very smart kids who are using their gifted minds for all things bad or someone is failing in his or her role as a caretaker, guardian or parent. Either way, something is not right and quick remedy is needed.

The Standard Seven national examinations are largely viewed as the first hurdle in the process of educating our children in the country. It has significance in the sense that  it determines who goes where, or nowhere, when it comes to the next level, secondary education.

The dangers of having people starting to learn about cheating in academics at a tender age are obvious. We are about to create a society of people who would love shortcuts. Because for one, they would not be actually as qualified as their certificates would want us to believe.

And the result would be a future workforce that cannot do without shoddy deals, from those who would assume the top echelons of power to your ordinary clerk manning a desk in a government office.

Cheating in academics is a vile that has far-reaching consequences. In fact it defeats the whole purpose and process of learning. To be certified as a person of certain academic qualifications one must also be able to espouse such credentials by acts that befit a person of knowledge. 

 I doubt if a person who has been cheating to pass in school could claim to have acquired the best of knowledge of whatever it was that he or she was pursuing. We may take some things lightly and for granted but try to imagine a doctor with dubious qualifications operating on you.

Unless one has a clandestine inclination to commit suicide, no one in their right mind would allow such a thing to happen. And that is the danger of cheating; it keeps professionalism at peril and to allow such malpractices to go on in our schools will only lead to mediocre products, at best, who cannot compete in the job market.

At worst, we will be heading for doom as a nation since we will never be able to do any good for ourselves. It is disturbing to also note that the number of cheating pupils has increased tremendously in just one year.

While last year only 124 were caught cheating and their results cancelled, this year NECTA annulled the results of 9,736. It makes you want to cry for the country. Again, imagine half the future leaders of this country being the product of such schooling.

As it is, we still have a serious problem on our plate. We have members of parliament who have already started believing that they are a special breed who deserve royal treatment. It doesn’t seem to bother most of them that in their quest to have more, they are actually milking those who already have very little to go by.

To suggest a rise of 185 per cent in MPs' sitting allowances is like a nightmare of Kafkaesque proportions. And shall the government grant the MPs wishes, then we would be living that nightmare, never ever to wake up from our horrid sleep.

From the look of things, we shall continue to be inextricably intertwined in this web of poverty. It is made evident by ridiculous demands by selfish people who should otherwise sympathize with the difficulties an average Tanzanian faces every day and by a future generation that already shows its penchant for the easy life.

If things remain the way they are, then there certainly will not be any sunshine wherever it is that we are headed. As a matter of fact, the future might be far worse than this hideous present because we don’t seem to be too willing to accept the fact that we brought ourselves to this point.

We are just too selfish and care less about the consequences of our misplaced acts and demands. Most importantly, because we are selfish at heart, we also tend to be oblivious to the harmful effects of our deeds on others.

Tales from the medieval part of the country

I once travelled to Sumbawanga in Rukwa region and it took two days and a sore back to get there. My initial impression of the place was that it would be like a huge medieval village of mud huts without any modern facilities. 

My imagination proved to be wrong but you can’t really blame me, what with all the tall tales about Sumbawanga. As a matter of fact, I was compelled to go and pray when I came back with all my essential parts, especially the private region, intact.

Sumbawanga, or rather people who hail from there, have carved a reputation for itself as the epitome of all matters voodoo. Stories, true or not, coming from the region can make the most fearless individual shudder.

It is commonplace to assume that places where witchcraft is rampant are backwards. And there is always a common trait about all witchdoctors; with all their magical powers they can never use them to make themselves rich and I can’t help but wonder why.

In many ways one is easily made to believe then that witchcraft and development are not compatible, in fact, they are a unique opposite in a way that they could never even attract one another, unlike other opposites. Witchcraft and development are simply worlds apart.

And that is why, besides being scared out of my wits, I had a very pitiable impression of the place before going there only to find out that they even sold canned malt liquor! Once there, like an embarrassed little lad, I made my peace by quietly apologizing to no one in particular and settled to the business that I was sent for.

Of late, however, I came to note that some of the most odd, weird and bizarre stories that I read in the papers come from Rukwa region. It is either this paper’s correspondent in the region has a nasty way of stumbling across bizarre incidents now and then or they just happen too often and are so rampant to miss.

Stories from the region are not only bizarre but also saddening. It only goes to show level of people’s take on things. That a man would kill his wife by hitting her repeatedly with a club after a fight over 3,000/- isn’t just a laughing matter, it is saddening.

And then these two travelling gentlemen did the weirdest of deeds. They were in another village and were given board by a person who regarded them as his best friends. Even the host’s neighbors took a liking for the gusts and believed they were the host’s relations. But that didn’t last long.

In a bizarre twist of events, the gusts, senior citizens at that, hacked their host to death, chopped him into pieces and, it gets gruesome, buried him in his own bedroom. But for what, no one knows yet because the visitors took to their heels after the fact.

And while all that was happening, the deceased’s 10 year-old son was present and watching. The little boy was the one who led people to the room where his father was buried after he was killed. Considering the remoteness of the place where the incident occurred, details remain sketchy. 

But one fact of life is that for the same reason of remoteness of the place, the little lad will probably never get psychiatric help and will be forced to live the rest of his life traumatized and only God knows what would become of him.

Again from Sumbawanga, villagers have threatened to kill teachers of a ward secondary school if they keep pestering them to stop farming in the school’s yard. Awesome! These guys down there really don’t value life.

The story goes like this. The school is located in a land that once belonged to the villagers and was used as farming land. Village authorities later decided to allocate the land for the construction of a secondary school and the villagers were promised another are for their activities. The authorities never lived up to their promise and now the teachers have to face the villagers’ wrath.

The only problem is that the school caters for the same villagers’ children. Apparently the villagers did not want to be in a fix and swiftly decided that bread is better than brain so to hell with school. They had rather sever the teachers’ heads than put up with their constant whining over non-substance issues.    

I may not know much, but I know one thing is for sure, those guys down south need serious help and soon. You just don’t go about killing people because of you have differences, that’s just so medieval! Heck, if that were to be the case we would all have been dead by now.