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By Karl Lyimo :
THE world as we’ve come to know it has never been short of ‘wise
sayings,’ past and present. Many of them have held water down the
years and centuries; others haven’t – with some of the latter becoming
hollow at best, or turning sour at worst. That’s been the case from
hallowed Biblical times to today… This latter, at least in the context
of Tanzanian social, economic and political daily life.
Take, for starters, the saying by US President George W Bush fil
(2001-2009) that the world’s Terrorist Mastermind Numero Uno, Ousama
ben Laden, ‘could run; but he couldn’t hide!’ This was after the
fellow (Ousama) had allegedly organised the Mother of All Global
Terrorist Attacks in the US that saw to the slaughter of 3,000
otherwise ‘innocent’ humans on American soil on Sept. 11, 2001.
Bush was, of course wrong… Ousama wasn’t running anywhere. The man
was hiding somewhere in the caves of the Bora Tora mountains in
Afghanistan, scheming and plotting more terrorist acts while President
Bundu (ki-Swahili for ‘Bush’) was ostensibly paying any price to hoist
Ousama up the nearest petard, dead or alive! That never happened – and
Bush should have revised his dictum to ‘Ousama can hide; he won’t
run!’
Back, far back in History, the Good Lord and Greatest Teacher two
millennia ago directed ten lepers to the nearest Torah-thumping
preacher to have their affliction healed. Hours later, only one of the
ten returned to thank the Lord for His mercy. [Luke 17:11-19].
On His way to Jerusalem, the Number One Activist in Christendom told
the ten lepers who approached Him for succour: “go and show yourselves
to the priests.’ As they went, we are told, “they were made clean.
Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back,
praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet
and thanked him… Then Jesus asked: weren’t ten made clean? The other
nine: where’re they? Did none of them see it fit to return and give
praise to God – except this foreigner (a Samaritan)?”
There-from, self-styled philosophers derived the saying ‘Tenda Wema,
Nenda Zako!’ Roughly, this means don’t hang around hankering for
gratitude for doing someone a favour. This interpretation is, of
course, wrong! If the Greatest Teacher expressed surprise that the
other nine lepers, all natives of the land, didn’t see it prudent to
return and pay homage to Him, then who are we, mortal sinners, to
counsel otherwise?
One more Biblical example… Shaitwan, the Devil, sought to separate Job
from his Creator… [The Book of Job, Chapter 1, King James’ Version].
In the event, Job – perhaps the wealthiest man in the Land of Uz then
– lost all his material wealth, friends, relatives and offspring to
mysterious disasters, compliments of Shaitwan in efforts to alienate
him (Job) from his God. he failed {small ‘h’ please for the Devil!}
To climax it all, “Job arose, rent his mantle, shaved his head, fell
down upon the ground, worshipped God – and said, ‘naked came I out of
my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and
the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all
this, Job sinned not; nor charged God foolishly.”[Job: 20-22].
The point here’s that some Christians today have twisted that scenario
into something unbefitting. When Job talked of the ‘Lord giving and
taking away,’ he was referring to material wealth, children and such
other worldly ‘possessions,’ NOT his life! It is, therefore, incorrect
for the bereaved of today to write off their departed relatives,
friends, etc, as a life given and taken away by God! No Sir (and
Madam!).
Oh, let’s get back down to earth – and to Tanzania, starting with the
president of the 8th and 9th Republican Governments, Benjamin Mkapa
(1995-2005)…
In one of his jaunts in the Kisarawe District, President Mkapa came
across a shack of a ‘restaurant’ bearing the legend ‘Mtaji wa Maskini
ni Nguvu Zake Mwenyewe.’ Roughly put in Her Britannic Majesty’s lingo,
this means a poor man’s capital is his labour…
Mkapa was so carried away with this ‘wisdom’ that he adopted it as an
Mkapaism. Reportedly, he also gave Tsh500,000 to the owner of the
hovel, ostensibly in appreciation of what was initially considered
gilt-edged wisdom!
In the event, it was to prove disastrous…. It didn’t take long
before armed robbers adopted the saying for their occupational chant
as they went about their chosen career – much to the chagrin of their
victims and Tanzanians at large!
But, again: if a poor man’s capital is his labour, why did the man
find it appropriate to give the ‘poor’ fellow a wad of cash – the
true, dyed-in-the-wool capitalist’s primary capital? Why? Shouldn’t he
have given his rustic mentor body-building pills instead? I ask you!
In my view, that ‘Mtaji wa Maskini’ saying turned sour the moment it
received presidential assent – what with some Tanzanians turning their
‘labour force’ into bad investment…
Never mind the other ‘wise sayings’ of the era – including the one
about ‘Zama za Uwazi na Ukweli,’ also brazenly touted by
then-President Mkapa. It’s an open book for all to read that the Mkapa
Regime was one of the most secretive this side of the Limpopo – and
for all the wrong reasons!
How much, for instance, do Tanzanians know about the secretive
privatisation deals and mining deals and special investment deals and
public procurement deals and Government Quarters sales deals and all
those underhand, under-the-counter deals during his ten-year era – and
whose adverse effects will continue to impact the nation’s
socio-economic daily life for generations to come?
The President Jakaya Kikwete regime (2005–) is itself not free from
‘wise sayings’ that started to ring hollow in a trice. On the campaign
trail to the 2005 elections, Candidate Kikwete incessantly talked of
bringing about ‘Maisha Bora kwa Kila m-Tanzania,’ a better life for
every Tanzanian. This, the man pledged, would be accomplished ‘kwa
Kasi Mpya, Ari Mpya na Nguvu Mpya. (New Zeal, New Vigour, and New
Speed).
Five years down the line, that hadn’t worked. In the event, Kikwete
recharged that with ‘increased zeal, vigour and speed: Kasi Zaidi, Ari
Zaidi na Nguvu Zaidi!’ New grog in old, cracked bottles? I ask you!
Kikwete’s also famous for his ‘Mbayuwayu-Kong’ota’
(swallow-woodpecker) adventure when addressing the nation regarding a
workers strike by TUCTA that was proposed for May 1, 2010. In the
tale, the president cautioned Tanzanians against rushing things – and
should, instead, opt to err on the side of caution…
If that prescription is taken literally, this’ll get the nation bogged
down in endless quagmires of indecision…
Oh, there are scores of such pearls-turned-fools gold down History…
[israellyimo@yahoo.com].