Systemic misogyny and the African politician: Dar RC Chalamila’s case

The continued presence of Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner Mr Chalamila in his post will remain an affront to the women of Dar and the country, and an exploitable weakness for his political party.

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Tanzanian politicians are good speakers. We did ourselves a huge favour in adopting Kiswahili as the national language, though I only learned recently that Bibi Titi Mohammed was a major factor in this decision because erasing women from history is so real.

Apparently, her command of English was poor so she pushed for Kiswahili to be adopted because it had a wider reach, the idea caught on, and here we are today. Kiswahili is an orator’s dream, as African languages tend to be.

Public servants as well as politicians must master their command of the language as an aspect of the job. We the people of Bongoland have sharp ears and even sharper tongues when it comes to our public figures.

If you’re boring, you lose us. If you come across as dim-witted, you lose us. If you talk too long, you lose us. You say something resoundingly dumb? You’ve got our attention forever, and also: you lose us.

So last week, during a speech in the city, Regional Commissioner Albert Chalamila responded to a woman who had some complaints about the lack of supplies for safe childbirth when women go to the hospital: “Then go outside, get in a bajaj, go home and tell your husband to go get knives and scissors so he can help you deliver the baby.”

It is much fouler in Kiswahili, trust me. And he went on.

I understand. He was put on the spot, opened his mouth and his true opinion of women fell out. He said what he said in front of a crowd and cameras, in a digital age where the record will live on forever.

He reminded Dar why we barely tolerate him, why Kariakoo literally told him to step aside and fetch the relevant minister the last time they had to pitch a fit to negotiate with the government. We do not forget.

I am glad that Mr Chalamila said what he said. Tanzania has a current of deep misogyny running through it that we feminists keep trying to alert the public to.

Detractors posit that we want to install a matriarchy, we are just advocating for basic human rights—like the right to live through childbirth because it is safe to deliver in a public hospital. Literally fighting for our lives, against the Chalamilas of this world.

Under the previous regime, such misogyny was practically government policy and it sucked. Things have changed, but Mr Chalamila hasn’t.

Like most Bongolanders, I like my public servants like I like my air-conditioners: working efficiently in the background to make my life more bearable with minimal intrusion or noise.

And there has been a big push recently from Up Top to make citizen-government interactions more pleasant and service-oriented in public offices.

Embedded in there is an effort to evolve the mindsets of the civil service and politicians about the citizenry. They need to be reminded that we are not their vassals, we are their clients and voters. One day, they might even figure out: that we are their employers.

Mr Chalamila’s continued presence in his job will remain an affront to the women of Dar and the country, and an exploitable weak point to his political party.

I am pretty sure we’re stuck with him, though. In light of this, I offer some small advice to my Regional Commissioner and all his fellow government misogynists: do yourselves a favour in this election year. Make it like an air-conditioning unit and be cool.