Tanzania has the reputation of being the peaceful sub-Saharan African country – people here prize getting along and avoiding conflict – or so we were told. The national elections on October 29th were supposed to be peaceful. We heard that the incumbent was all but assured to win even though she is a woman (women can be “unstable”). She became President without being elected initially, due to being the VP when the President died – she has served for over four years now. And she was all but assured to win because there was no one running against her – one of them was in jail and the other was disqualified. In anticipation of the elections, schools were closed a week before the election and people were encouraged to stay home and be peaceful.
We left Tanzania on October 24th and flew to Nairobi. If we wanted to do that now on October 31st, we couldn’t. Tanzania Airports are closed, Internet across the country is crippled and it isn’t safe to be where there are protests. The road to the airport is blocked.
From what I have read, the young people (Gen-Z) are protesting the lack of jobs and lack of good infrastructure. The population in many of these African countries is booming right now – lots of young adults who need work and expect certain services. Madagascar recently overthrew their President due to these items. And the other trend is that the people in power, rid themselves of their competition when elections roll around. Voting is a pillar of democracy and it is being undermined severely.
It’s hard not to draw parallels on what is happening in the U.S.A. now – talk of changing the filibuster to have a lower vote count needed to pass legislation instead of working on the legislation in a bi-partisan way. The Supreme Court’s decisions taking into account political agendas. Undermining the voting system to be able to manipulate the outcome. What happened to checks and balances, fair voting and peaceful transfer of power?
Anyway, I am so disappointed that the wonderful people of Tanzania that we met in our 5 weeks there, are being so severely impacted by their election process. They deserve the peace that they are proud of and strive to uphold in their country.