By ELSIE EYAKUZE

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The premise is that laughter, comedy – especially professional comedy – is an important measure of the socio-political health of a society.

For those of you who need statistical comforts, there is the Human Happiness Index published by the United Nations. But if you are just a regular civilian with an interest in fun, casual ways to investigate political climates, humour lends itself handily as a tool.

By the way, humour is also a measure of intelligence. The keener it is, the subtler the joke.

One of the reasons I know this is because it was an early casualty of our decreasing political space and freedoms from the middle of the Fourth Administration’s second term. Notice I am going by administrations and not individual heads of state, and there is a reason for the distinction. I’ll get to it.

After Kikwete had secured his second term in office, everything changed. Comedy shows that had enjoyed great success in previous years making fun of politicians and elites had their fangs effectively removed. The state broadcaster went tame just as they were gaining traction as a useful social investment rather than a party mouthpiece.

But we still had jokes, freedom of speech didn’t feel that restricted, sure, the NGOs were making noise about some impeding media laws but aren’t they always making noise anyway?

We were blissfully, complacently happy and unaware of these legislative forays, the ever-so-gentle first strokes of a boa constrictor wrapping itself around you. You’re not worried because, after all, they are slow-moving creatures and so are legislatures and you can always outrun or outwit them…

So here we are and now it is no laughing matter. Jokes about politics and politicians have become dangerous unless maybe the head of state is making them. Cue forced “chuckles.”

Which is a shame, because Kiswahili is intrinsically funny, a sly and happy language. So we had a natural advantage for the Human Happiness Index and we blew it, for the false security of yet another Magical Autocrat.

There is no such thing.

This is where the sleight of hand happens. Dodoma, Bujumbura, Brasilia: These men are not magical on an individual basis. They are the product of societies that are massively patriarchal and corrupt, and thus value some of the worst traits a human being can have.

Mobutu, Trump: they don’t happen to countries by mistake. It is systemic and ties in nicely to our mistaken dreams of development.

When we choose such broken systems we should acknowledge that safety and prosperity is not going to be realised for the majority of us because someone is making bank off our misery. This is a self-defeating strategy and time will prove it so.

When the books are checked in another few years we will be able to admit that the Fifth Administration was just as corrupted and perhaps even worse than the previous ones.

Most damning of all is that we have allowed the men and women to exploit our political naiveté and take away our right to laugh publicly. It is serious as a heart attack.

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