Impunity is the death of accountability. Or it is the lack of accountability that gives birth to impunity, always and everywhere. Or they egg each other on. I do what I like because I can. 

But whatever the case, the more impunity there is, the more the victims of those who act with impunity suffer—in all spheres, from the political to the domestic, from the community to the national and international.

I always remember the Swahili proverb, dua la kuku halimpati mwewe. The hen can jump, shout, and turn the air blue with their insults, but the hawk sails off into the blue, carrying the chick in his claws and looking forward to the feast. 

Insults don’t poison the food. Insults don’t turn the butter rancid. For those with impunity, it is just background noise, maybe even music to their ears, to cover up the screams of those who suffer from their impunity. In fact, I don’t even know why the impunity bearers get so concerned about insults when people insult and then carry on their way.

Let us start at the community level. My wife was running a workshop on sexual and reproductive health in a certain district in southern Tanzania. One young man boasted that he would never masturbate because he could have sex with any girl he wanted. 

Rape

When my wife asked what if she refused, he answered, even more boastingly, that he would rape her. Just like that and many of the participants, including a young woman carrying a baby on her back, maybe from being raped herself, laughed. 

READ MORE: Arrest Made in the Case of Repeated Rape of Deaf-Mute Teen

What a man! Rape had become so commonplace in their community that it was casual, but I am sure the girl who was raped did not think it was funny at all. The teleza crisis in Kigoma was another example. 

Tens of women were raped, but it was not taken seriously for a long time. Even when exposed, all the authorities were concerned about was their reputation and the reputation of Tanzania. Hence, the teleza-ists continued with impunity for a long time. I am aware that many women were scarred for life, physically and psychologically and at least one committed suicide. 

Rape is a crime, but somehow people seem to be more concerned about protecting the perpetrator than demanding justice for the victim. Or they leave it to God to act on their behalf, duh!

However, in another district where I worked in the Lake Zone, there was one school in which 36 students had become pregnant. 36 girls!! And no action had been taken. 

However, when this was presented back to the community as part of the uraghbishi programme, the community agreed that if any girl was raped or made pregnant, the matter would not be settled at home but would be taken to court, which, fortunately, was near enough to make this resolution possible. 

READ MORE: Tanzania Must Undertake Legal Reforms to Safeguard Women’s Reproductive Rights

They implemented that resolution, and the number of pregnancies the next year dropped from 36 to two. Simple equation: add accountability, subtract impunity, and you get justice. The perpetrators were not afraid of paying two goats as a fine to the girl’s parents—not the girl herself!– but they were afraid of being stood up in court for all to see.

Law enforcement

The same must apply to even those responsible for enforcing the law. If I can arrest someone in strange circumstances and hold that person incommunicado for 29 days contrary to the law, if I can torture someone, if I can refuse a legitimate court order with impunity, then it is obvious that such impunity not only causes immense suffering to the victim – hopefully not death – and his relatives and friends who don’t know what is happening. 

It also encourages them to act with even more impunity and encourages others to do the same, thereby causing untold suffering to many more. Thus, it also encourages extrajudicial activities. If they can do it, why can’t we? Gradually, whatever remained of the rule of law crumbles to sand and is washed away by the river of impunity.

This is seen so clearly internationally. The ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing in Palestine have shown what happens when impunity rules over accountability. So many international instruments have made rulings about the genocide and the apartheid state that the Zionists have created. 

Still, it has not had one ounce of effectiveness on the actions of Israel and its imperialist supporters, who have closed their ears and eyes to the suffering of the Palestinian people for years, especially now. 

READ MORE: Israel-Palestine Conflict: It’s Not Just the Text, But Context Also Matters

It is now nearly a year that they have continued to act with impunity and even boast of their impunity by posting apparent war crimes themselves. And they know they can do it because their prominent supporters have done the same repeatedly. 

It has become clear that the whole international order is toothless, so we expect much more of the same. Dua la kuku hata likiwa kuku wa nje. So, until the kuku takes action against the mwewe, preferably the entire coop of kukus, the mwewe will carry on laughing to his nest, the bank or wherever.

Richard Mabala is an educator, poet, and author. He is available at rmabala@yahoo.com or on X as @MabalaMakengeza. These are the writer’s own opinions, and they do not necessarily represent the viewpoint of The Chanzo. Do you want to publish in this space? Contact our editors at editor@thechanzo.com for further inquiries.