Marando's accusations are so serious, the public deserves to know if they're true

We shall have heard all manner of statements by the time this electoral season is over and the reapers have reaped and the weepers have wept.

It seems no one involved in the campaign can resist the itch to complain about something or the other.

The recent catalogue of complaints has included such items as a leading opposition party blaming the ruling party for bribing its would-be candidates to entice them not to run.

Then we heard that one of the two opposition parties had sought a court order disqualifying the ruling party’s candidate because according to the complaint, the candidate, Jakaya Kikwete, had breached campaign regulations by making promises that could be construed as bribery.

Then there was the ruling party itself complaining that another opposition party had used insulting language against its leaders during a public rally.

Further, the government party complained that the opposition party’s allegation that high placed individuals in government had stolen money from the central bank amounted to contempt of court.

The state broadcaster, TBS, actually blacked out its live coverage of the event, saying abusive language had been used.

These are only those statements, accusations and counteraccusations that attracted national headlines and set tongues wagging, although, as is to be expected, many more, and perhaps more juicy pieces will be hidden in the polemical undergrowth spread across the country.

We are bound to dismiss a lot of these complaints as a manifestation of that collective madness that seems to grip all our countries at election time, but I personally think that they offer another opportunity to interrogate a couple of things alluded to.

For starters, the opposition party that complained about the ruling party “corrupting” its candidates, simply misses the point.

In a political culture in which all sorts of charlatans and shysters have found fertile soil to plough, it would be unrealistic to expect any level of fidelity on the part of these time-servers who have spent the better part of the past two decades party-crawling, much as drunks pub-crawl.

If one stopped to examine their individual cases, one might even find that only the other day they left the ruling party to join the opposition party that they are now leaving. Fair is fair, no?

As for the alleged use of abusive language against certain individuals, what we can be sure of is that a member of the opposition named names he wished to shame as the ones who had engaged in the said scam.

Though such an allegation must be uncomfortable for anyone who is its target, it cannot be termed abusive or insulting, unless one moves to court to prove that it’s untrue, in which case it becomes defamatory.

The man who made those accusations, to wit Advocate Mabere Nyaucho Marando, has dared anyone who thinks he/she has been defamed to proceed to court.

Let me now come to the charge of contempt of court. In a normal situation, it’s a charge that only a court of law should make, since it is the injured party, not some third party such as a political party.

To be fair, Chief Justice Agostino Ramadhani has cautioned politicians against discussing in public cases that are still before the courts of law and insisted on the strict observance of the sub judice principle, which seeks to avoid media discussions preempting court decisions. Fair.

But maybe the public needs a little more enlightenment, especially in view of the seriousness of the accusations by Marando and the public interest at stake.

For instance, if the individuals named by Marando are not among those before a court of law, does mentioning them constitute a sub judice infraction?

Also, what guarantees does the public have that sub judice will not be deployed to defeat the ends of justice by keeping a case eternally in the law courts without determination, knowing full well that the media will be stopped from discussing it?
Jenerali Ulimwengu, chairman of the board of the Raia Mwema newspaper, is a political commentator and civil society activist based in Dar es Salaam. jenerali@gmail.com