You Got Played!
Mwanahamisi ‘Mishy’ Singano
I read Dr Ronald Ndesanjo’s blog post on ‘Who said the President doesn’t listen?‘ with a lot of sadness and anger. Not because he excitedly joined the praising team, praising ‘the almighty’ for ‘listening.’ But because his praises shows how much we are starved of sensible decisions to the extent that any seemingly positive move of a card can be claimed as victory, making learned brothers jump up and down with joy. I am so sad!
According to the Oxford Dictionary, “listening” is giving attention to sound or action. When listening, you are hearing what others are saying, and trying to understand what they mean. The act of listening therefore involves “complex affective, cognitive, and behavioral processes.” In this sense, affective processes include the motivation to listen to others; cognitive processes include attending to, understanding, receiving, and interpreting content and relational messages; and behavioral processes include responding to others with verbal and nonverbal feedback (Ibid.)
The claim that the president is finally listening is self-pleasing at most and illusive at very least. What we have constantly seen is someone who has been very clear in his intent and allegiance, mastering the art of ‘playing others’ to push his agenda or just for fun. And, like many who have been played before, Dr Ndesanjo, is the latest member of the clan who seems to enjoy the game as he openly share his praises.
How I wish the Dr could recite Kamwaga’s take on how the President uses ‘Confusion as a Strategy.’ Or even revisit my previous piece on ‘The Genius of my President’ before getting carried away. If you ask me, being a listener (in a conversational way), and being environmentalist and apologetic are not qualities that can be associated with his name.
While Dr Ndesanjo is overjoyed by the Namtumbo speech made on the 5th of April when the President, ‘bluntly’, as the Dr has aptly put it, informed the villagers that they will not be allowed to farm in the Selous Game Reserve in the name of conserving the environment, on the 9th of April, the same President went back to his normal rhetoric of shaming and slamming environmental agencies for making ‘things hard for investors.’ Bragging of his position as the President, he told all investors listening to him that they should start the construction of their factories as soon as they have acquired the land without waiting for Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), which, as we know, are an international compliance prerequisites. What a swift, agile contradiction!
He, Mr. President, said to the National Environmental Management Council (NEMC) ‘Liaridhi umelikuta hapo limeumbwa na Mungu unataka kupima mazingira ya namna gani?’ By this, he meant that ‘one has already found land there created by God then you want to to assess what kind of environment?’ It was another jab at EIAs.
The President tends to believe that environmentalists are blocking his industrialization agenda and the 9th April’s speech proved just that. So, going back to Dr. Ndesanjo’s claims that the President listens, does he feel victorious when farmers in Namtumbo are pushed away in the name of the environment while industrialists are given blanket rights to use and abuse our environment as they see fit? If at all he ‘listens’, as claimed, who does he listen to?
Are ‘power, class, and race’ ingredients to be listened to? I am also interested to know about the life span of his decisions and actions (i.e. consistency) for us to conclude that he final got it. Should we say he listened on the 5th of April and ‘unlistened’ on the 9th of April? I am confused!
Lastly, on Koro-show, how on earth could a decision of ‘paying Kangomba’ be a victory and a powerful indicator than ‘he listens’ and hence political scientists who have criticized him for not listening should go back to the drawing board? Or are you among those who imagined Kangomba are ‘belled brown Indian men’? No, the majority of Kangomba are ordinary Tanzanians like you and me who trying to squeeze some profits by playing a role in a value chain and, like in any business, they come in different size and shape.
The government had no any other option than paying the people who have handed over the nuts to authorities whether they are Kangomba or not. Not paying them would be ‘looting’. The so called verification exercise to identify real farmers was comical and a waste of the little resources Local Government Authorities (LGAs) had.
Koro-show problems are bigger than Kangomba. The President has been advised multiple times. And the flows on every decisions he and his team have made are widely known to the public. It is public knowledge that the mission to emerge as a hero in the Koro-show saga has backfired. His mission has proved to be impossible and farmers are paying a high price for that. Yet he continues to hold the hope and brag that he has enough money to pay the Kangomba while some of the farmers who are verified (based on their standards) are not paid yet.
A leader who listens would humbly abort the heroic mission. But, no, he choose to play it. And, lucky him, Dr Ndesanjo got played.
