Tanzania: Mixed Feelings Greet Makonda’s Appointment As CCM Heavyweight

By Adonis Byemelwa

The CCM National Executive Committee has installed controversial former Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner, Paul Makonda in the sensitive post of its Ideology and Publicity Secretary.

The opposition and the majority of political analysts question the integrity of a man who went in history as non-tolerant to competitive politics while he was fully in active politics.

He replaces Sophia Mjema, now appointed advisor to President Samia Suluhu Hassan on women, children, and special groups.

A statement signed by the party’s outgoing ideology and publicity secretary said that a meeting of the powerful committee cleared by CCM national chairperson President Samia Suluhu Hassan approved the revised investment pact for improving facilities and efficiency at the port of Dar es Salaam.

The main public position Makonda has occupied so far is Dare es Salaam Regional Commissioner, under former President John Magufuli, with his leadership style putting him at loggerheads with a number of other leaders.

Wishing to climb the ladder and ease his workload, Makonda aspired for the Kigamboni Parliamentary seat in the October 2020 General Election but stingingly lost the CCM nomination race.

In seeking the Parliamentary run, he resigned as RC, with current Coast Regional Commissioner, Abubacar Kunenge replacing him.

This left the firebrand CCM cadre to nurse his wounds from the sidelines, along with several other heavyweights left out in various capacities.

The RC gained popularity during the Constitutional those tasked with preparing the ‘rival version’ to the Warioba Commission draft, the latter taken as an oracle by the opposition groups.

Makonda was soon appointed Kinondoni District Commissioner before being elevated to head the pivotal city administration as RC under Magufuli where he was noticed for his bold initiatives against all manner of adversaries.

Some remember him for seeking to oppress the opposition through accusations of involvement in drug trafficking. He also gained notoriety with the diplomatic community in his drive against LGBT tendencies in public places and social media in the commercial capital.

During the somewhat muffled COVID-19 pandemic, the RC joined the President’s faith cure for the disease, stressing that the malady had been defeated, thanks to the national prayer sessions and objecting to inoculation campaigns advocated by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Makonda was among public officials taking ostensibly light vitamin-laden juice preparations, swearing that they were effective in either preventing or healing a person from COVID-19 infection.

His campaign against LGBT tendencies while popular with the clergy and establishment sentiments locally, earned him the rare citation as persona non grata in the United States, via a press statement issued by the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on January, 31^st 2020.

He was accused of involvement in gross violation of human rights among them in the flagrant denial of the right to life and liberty as well as the security of persons.

Makonda was also implicated in the oppression of the political opposition crackdowns on freedom of expression and association and the targeting of marginalized individuals, the US statement had declared, attaching the same accusations to the RC’s wife.

On his first day in office on 26^th October, Makonda started by lashing out at sluggish ministers, whom he accused of not performing their duties diligently, warning that the party would not hesitate to take stern actions against them.

He seized the rare opportunity after being away from active politics for some years spilling jibes to the opposition parties that they were insignificant to a country being run by sting party like CCM.

“We actually do not have any opposition party in Tanzania. We merely have senders of information to the public. In case we face an electricity challenge, you will hear them telling the public about the problem and we quickly fix it. They merely complain but do nothing to solve the pending challenge. Our party will be also keen to reprimand officials who sleep on their jobs to the extent of making the opposition speak out,” said Makonda amid thundering applause.

But in a new twist, the former Arusha Member of Parliament (Chadema), Godbless Lema spoke tough about Makonda’s appointment to the noble party position, arguing that, CCM had now endorsed to assault on human rights with impunity.

According to Mr Lema, having a man who seemed nonchalant to see dead bodies spread on the ocean shores under his leadership, yet the same party entrusts a ‘killer’ with the powers of fronting its agenda to the public is a shame of the century.

Mr Lema was speaking recently at a political rally in Nkasi Constituency, Katavi Region, expounding that it was time people stopped castigating Satan in church through night-long prayers as a source of their poverty, while its source is the ruling party that keeps bringing in anarchic leaders in powers.

“You should not blame Satan as the source of poverty. Start praying against CCM. Tanzania has many tourist attractions but only receives less than one million tourists annually while Saud Arabia, whose huge percentage of its land is desert, receives over 20 million tourists. We do fail to catch up with big economies of the world over voting for weak leaders like Paul Makonda and his party,” said Lema.

He added that, for those unfamiliar with Tanzanian politics, Paul Makonda, the newly appointed Publicity Secretary of the ruling party CCM, was one of President Magufuli's closest associates and a devout follower, who clamped up the opposition and humiliated many others with fabricated cases.

A seasoned journalist, who was behind bard over his resolute kind of reporting, Erick Kabendera was quoted as saying, that Makonda was allegedly involved in almost all the crimes committed during Magufuli's presidency, including forced disappearances, assassination attempts, corruption, and attempts to illegally amend the constitution to remove the term limit.

“Makonda played a role similar to that of Paul Joseph Goebbels, who was Adolf Hitler's right-hand man during the Nazi regime in Germany. I have listened strenuously to the stories of victims and their families; evidence from their testimonies about Makonda's alleged acts of violence cannot be ignored if we are keen to restore the rule of law in Tanzania,” said Kabendera.

A political analyst based in Karatu District, Arusha Region, Emmanuel Daffi, said Makonda should not take his appointment with much jubilation, explaining that, Magufuli's nemeses like January Makamba and Abdulrahman Kinana, and Nape Nnauye, who had once traded jibes against him in social media christening former Head of State as a lunatic leader with little knowledge about active politics and diplomacy like hardly trust Makonda, who was loyal to the former despotic leadership.

He added that Makonda has been appointed to strengthen the Lake Zone Camp ahead of the 2024 civic elections, explaining that after the demise of Magufuli, who earned many accolades in Kagera, Simiyu, Mwanza, Geita, Tabora, and Shinyanga regions, Samia Suluhu Hassan is forced to change tacks in a manner of winning the lost trust.

Mr. Daffi’s sentiments corroborate with arguments fronted by a seasoned lawyer, Judith Luhasha, who notes that even the appointment of Dr. Dotto Biteko as deputy Prime Minister alongside Minister for Livestock and Fisheries, Alexander Mnyenti is aimed at consolidating CCM stronghold in the Lake Zone regions.

“You know the opposition had traversed the Lake Zone regions and made captivating public rallies, which unraveled many of CCM's weaknesses after and before the demise of former President John Magufuli. Now, if the ruling party fails to put in place vocal people who can be listened to, the General Elections campaigns might be tough. If CCM resorted to remaining with the same tacks, winning Parliamentary seats in 2025 would be harder than the easy 2020 elections, when it easily garnered many votes through rigging and heavy-handedness,” she noted.

Having Makonda as one of the heavyweights in the party had put many CCM stalwarts like Bishop Josephat Gwajima in disarray.  The controversial Bishop-cum-politician, went viral in social media disparaging the former RC’s level of education, calling on the relevant authorities to grill him against his forged academic credentials alongside many other despicable accusations.

“I ask God to set dark in Makonda’s ways. He should no longer be seen in active politics. I curse him before the heaven and earth. He is an evil man. He should never be given any other position in our party. Say amen,” said Bishop Gwajima in one of his Sunday sermons at his Glory of Christ Tanzania Church in Ubungo.  The questions are: Will Makonda bury the hatchet with his nemesis or will he remain calm to only strengthen his party? The answers shall be in the limelight during the 2024 civic elections.