It is now over six months since when I was given a great honor to become the party leader of ACT Wazalendo, as the baton was passed over to me by and from one of the brilliant leader our country and arguably continent has ever produced – Zitto Kabwe.

As soon as we, I and my leadership team, were crowned our leadership titles, we thus made the 2024 local elections and the 2025 general elections our top priority. The same priority was seconded by the party. It is in the course of our journey towards achieving resounding victory in the upcoming local elections, that our party initiated a nationwide political tour and engagement campaign.

This campaign had in it four main objectives: holding political rallies and engaging the public; attracting and registering ten million party members; holding internal party meetings; and, setting the ground and preparing the members to contest for the upcoming local elections.’

Ambitious as the campaign was, the party has been able to attend to all of the 214 constituencies in the Tanzania mainland. This nationwide operation had been undertaken in four teams, of which the same were under the leadership of myself, Dorothy Semu – the Party Leader, Isihaka Mchinjita – the Vice Chairperson, Ado Shaibu – the Secretary General and Zitto Kabwe – the former party leader.

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This particular undertaking, being one of the party’s biggest operations, has definitely offered nothing short of insightful and enriching experience. This has altogether provoked my mind to offer a bit of reflection, which has been long overdue but altogether necessary.

Democracy in Tanzania

In the field, engaging with the public, we sensed and faced serious public criticism on the scope and character of democracy preached and advocated by politicians and political parties. The people, questioned what entails to democracy as the people remain sidelined; as the government and its respective bodies unjustly patronizes the needs, wants, demands and interests of the public?

Narrowly and naively, we often envision and define democracy along the sole lines of elections. As soon as the ballots are closed and the elections are announced, the discussions on democracy are diluted and upheld until the next elections. 

This cheap proclamation of democracy has been particularly amplified and wrongly championed upon the re-birth of multiparty politics in 1992; as of effect, this thus means that we have about four years of no intensive and extensive democratic engagement. Beyond political party meetings and party rallies, democracy is significantly silenced.

The realities and democracy in question in our campaign, we have encountered all kinds of cries and lamentations from the public. The extent of land evictions is alarming; the victims of poor social services are undefined; the neglect of people’s voice is real; the infrastructures are a serious concern; the claims of corruption amongst the government officials are voluminous.

Almost everything, if not everything, is in shambles. How is it democratic for thousands of people to be displaced, from their ancestral land under the banner of reservation without any sort of consultation, engagement and compensation where due? Is it democratic for the small scale fishermen and women to be taxed or levied their boats and nets and so as to be levied their produces? 

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Is it democratic for the farmers to be forced and intimidated to sell through the warehousing payment system known as stakabadhi ghalani and yet the government remains to be entirely unaccountable to the loss of their produce or the delayed payment? The list of issues and questions is endless.

Redefining Democracy

Even though the talk of the new constitution has been somehow silenced with the looming elections, I thus wish to reiterate that, the findings of our party’s mission calls for the issue of democracy to be redefined and most importantly, such definition ought to be institutionalized through the constitution, laws and policies.

We ought to reimagine and redefine democracy to a more comprehensive manner and scope, which would have the people at the center of managing and overseeing their natural resources; which would ensure that all the people entitled to social protection schemes like TASAF benefit the actual targets rather than party cadres; which would ensure the small scale producers are provided with friendly environment to enable them to excel and prosper.

It is on this particular note that our party advocates for actual, practical and thorough inclusive democracy, which genuinely places the people at the center of decision and development. We advocate for the redefining and reimagining of democracy in government related projects and undertakings. 

We stress that actual democracy needs the people to be at the center of managing the markets and the warehouses; at the center of reservation of land and in approving and overseeing national and local programmes and projects.

READ MORE: 2024 Civic Polls: A Chance to Restore Tanzania’s Democracy?

It is such kind of actual people centered democracy that promises for assured, effective and efficient development. Once democracy places people at the center, there is an assured and definite promise to make a significant leap towards realizing the elements of transparency and accountability, of which are substantial towards achieving sustainable development.

As we walk towards local and general elections, I issue a clarion call and urge the public to choose leaders which would inspire the process of rethinking democracy. Unless we reimagine and redefine democracy we are certainly destined to lag in the development process, if not that we are doomed!

Dorothy Semu is the Party Leader of ACT Wazalendo, a political party in Tanzania, who can be reached via dorothysemu@gmail.com. These are the writer’s own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of The Chanzo. Want to publish in this space? Contact our editors at editor@thechanzo.com for further inquiries.