As March 17 came and went again in Dar es Salaam, I wondered idly if it was time for us to consider having a Presidents Day. A celebration of the fact that, somehow, in spite of ourselves, Tanzania — with the inclusion of Zanzibar — has had the pleasure of several heads of state during its young years as a nation-state.
It hasn’t been easy, or straightforward. As a rule, we don’t talk about that.
Upon the news of the passing of President Ali Hassan Mwinyi, a picture made the rounds on social media lamenting the fact that only one person in it was still living — President Jakaya Kikwete. I think the point was that this was a lamentable state to be in.
First of all, this left out Zanzibar, as usual, which has a couple of retired former presidents living quiet, retired lives. Second, I wish fellow Africans the pleasure of successive heads of state with little visible turmoil in between regimes. Drama isn’t actually something to aspire to.
In the event, this March, I listened to retired Chief Defence Forces General Venance Mabeyo recount what transpired for him as John Pombe Magufuli ailed and died in 2021.
A rare, intimate look behind the scenes in a state that holds so much of its processes secret. It was an education in what can and cannot be said out loud, in diplomacy and narrative-setting. It was also a reminder of the old adage: “Talk softly and carry a big stick.” The Tanzanian armed forces can be annoyingly discreet, they are easily overlooked when we talk about politics.
I listened to his carefully managed and edited interview while savouring the fact that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces at present is a woman. I had completely forgotten about the gender thing until I caught some stray talk about how there has to be a gender appropriate term for President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
Really? Why? Kiswahili doesn’t seem overly concerned with gendering offices all that much. Ministers, officers, presidents, et cetera, use a term that has no gender, even if the word was clearly borrowed from Arabic. Why start now, just because the armed forces are involved?
General Mabeyo addressed this with some visible amusement. Certainly, we have a long way to go in terms of gender equity in our society. That said, one has to be wilfully, even childishly obtuse to ignore the presence of women in all aspects of public life in Tanzania.
They have been there from the resistance against the colonials to the independence movements to the first Cabinet under Mwalimu to the present president. It is a natural progression to see a woman at the helm, and no, it hasn’t been easy either. As a rule, we don’t talk about that. Yet.
But it does give some meat to my proposal that we go ahead and give ourselves a Presidents Day, don’t you think?
Not so much to celebrate the individuals, since we would have to discuss merit, but to celebrate our collective project of nation-statehood and having made it this far with a bit of grace and subtlety. We are setting precedents, and those are powerful things. If there was a way for Mo Ibrahim to award a country for several successful successions, that would be useful, and welcome.
