By JENERALI ULIMWENGU

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Do you know any way to get the non-religious guys to start paying attention to the “Word of God” when all other tricks have failed to make them take the Road to Damascus and to see the light?

I know one: Get someone in a position of authority to block all avenues of protest, of open dialogue and contestation; let that someone put barriers in the path of political organisations so they no longer can organise their activities as they wish; let that someone bring the parliament under his wing and give it orders to execute, as if it were an arm of the Executive; let him get into the habit of ordering the judges and magistrates to do his bidding instead of consulting the constitution, laws and regulations, so much so that those who go to the courts to seek justice meet only with members of the Executive in robes; let there be a tame and timid press that gets into the habit of censoring itself before it is censored, bludgeoned and banned by executive orders.

I can assure you, this is the fastest way of making religious folks out of agnostics, doubters, unbelievers and atheists, because I have seen it work in Tanzania.

President John Pombe Magufuli has managed to pretty much silence all those who would normally challenge his arbitrary decisions.

That parliament has been neutered, opposition parties are on trial before the courts and in remand prisons for the flimsiest of reasons, and the press – already anaemic and toothless, anyway — is all but dead and buried.

Whispers

The senior citizens who have served this country over the years after Independence are so cowed that they dare not utter a word, not of protest but of counsel, for fear of having some skeletons of theirs dragged out of already half-open cupboards.

Still, in private they whisper their apprehensions at what Tanzania is fast becoming, and these whispers are for your ears only.

The only constituency that seems capable of raising its voice publicly against this terrible state of affairs – I use my words advisedly – is the clergy and I suspect this is because it is hard for those who love to grandstand as the allies of God to attack His very envoys among us. So, the clerics kind of get away with it.

This means that those who love Tanzania and who are averse to seeing it slide farther down the slippery path of despotism and intolerance have found a new ally in the Church, even if they are not church-goers.

The period leading up to Easter has been another occasion for this to manifest itself. On the Ides of March — March 15, the date on which Julius Caesar was assassinated — the Lutheran Church issued a pastoral letter in which, even as they congratulated the authorities on some of their achievements, they excoriated the authorities “for suppressing civic liberties; promoting a climate of fear caused by abductions, torture, disappearances of individuals, armed attacks on political leaders, political assassinations, intimidation, fabricated court cases, wrongful use of security forces against civilians and the constriction of the space in which the people can express themselves.”

Further, the Easter letter pointed at “the diminution of the powers of Parliament, the Judiciary and the electoral commission, including the weakening of local authorities; the absence of an atmosphere of freedom to elect and be elected, with most elections marred by violence, chicanery and intimidation.

Perhaps one of the most important charges was one that pointed to the rising levels of hate among the people, “which can easily become the source of vengeful acts, despair and low participation by the people in elective processes which affect their lives.”

The bishops warned that in a situation where the government shirks its responsibility to safeguard the lives of its citizens, evil elements will slip into the gaps and take matters into their own hands purporting to act on behalf of the government.

“Innocent blood spells doom for this generation and the coming generation. Till now, we have witnessed bloodshed which will judge us all, and all the authorities. God will judge us Tanzanians as He judged Cain, (saying), ‘The voice of the blood of your brother cries to me from under the earth.’”

Taken with the Roman Catholic letter released at the beginning of Lent, this is another powerful indictment of our rulers.

Jenerali Ulimwengu is chairman of the board of the Raia Mwema newspaper and an advocate of the High Court in Dar es Salaam. E-mail: [email protected]