By ELSIE EYAKUZE

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There is a reason why documentaries are not a popular format. I was browsing the Internet at about 3am, having insomnia again when this absolute beauty showed up: A snippet of a documentary about the infamous Cambridge Analytica.

First of all, can we just give these people a prize for branding? It’s such an authoritative name, I would totally trust a company with that as their cover.

Like Sea Organisation, which probably makes you think of people trying to save dolphins or something. Hint: that’s not what they do at all.

There is a clip available online that is part of a documentary exposing some of Cambridge Analytica’s activities in what they call “behaviour change” and what you and I would consider election social engineering.

While they have been linked with Trump and Brexit, the truly fascinating portion of that clip explains how they made not voting “cool” for one party of Trinidad, guaranteeing a win for the other party—their clients.

Cambridge Analytica built a whole movement around not having a movement and called it “Do So,” exploiting cultural and youth factors.

The brilliance must be respected, and here is the kicker. I have been spending way too much time pondering on what to do for the coming general election. At an individual level but also using available platforms.

As a non-partisan, do I keep supporting the movement to vote, especially among our youth majority? Or is it more strategic to oppose the elections and thereby hope to join a movement to render them invalid by having too few people show up for the elections to count? Do So! It’s cool not to vote.

Trinidad. Cambridge Analytica. Wait just a minute there, Mama Elephant! I think this is called an epiphany.

As broken as our democracies are, it is precisely this belief in the “powerlessness” and “disinterest” of youth that is actually working against us.

Disinterest is sneaky that way; every time I think the forces of cynicism have been defeated there are always several people to tell me: What does it matter anyways? Who is Tanzania on the global stage? Which party do you support, nobody can just be patriotic. And by the way, marinate in a little bit of fear, that’s always helped to clear the head.

I imagine that there are going to be more than enough campaigns come our local and general elections, and here is something I never thought I would say: Don’t be cool. Don’t follow anyone cool, but if you must, walk beside and not behind them.

If you are going to be cool in the original sense of the term—cold-blooded and calculated—then maybe be cool enough to listen to everyone and every argument and sift that through the strainers of your logic.

Whatever you do, don’t get participated: Participate. So long as you are sure that the choice you have made is genuinely yours, then vote because even voting nope on everyone on the ballot sends a message. It’s going to be easier sleeping past 3am these coming months, I think.

Erick Kabendera, whom I hold in high esteem, wrote a great article elucidating some of the internal party issues faced by CCM. This week I have spent anxious hours awaiting news of his whereabouts and joining the many other online – and now offline – voices asking for his freedom and his freedom to do his job.

Yes, democracy remains an ideal. Yes, we’re having challenges. Yes, it is worth actually fighting for because the alternatives have shown themselves to be beyond bearing.

Elsie Eyakuze is a consultant and blogger for The Mikocheni Report. E-mail: [email protected]