Why voting should be compulsory for us to enjoy fruits of democracy

Independent consultant and blogger in Dar es Salaam

I had a lovely time voting this past Wednesday, thanks for asking. Wore a whole outfit and everything: sensible shoes for the walk, a hat because this is Dar in November.

Enjoyed the banter as I looked for my name on the registration lists — it was missing. Greeted the officer who registered me last month, saw my name in the book, voted.

Consent - and lack of it - matters. “Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the “one person, one vote” principle.” — Wikipedia, retrieved 28.11.2024

Maybe you have picked up from the column that I have a bit of a crush on Tanzania. Within it beats the warm heart of the cradle of humanity. Also, it is gorgeous. Yeah, I like it here.

This country that I insist on loving is a product of our collective imagination, as fragile as my romantic portrayal of it. Tanzania comes with a government. If you ask the government, it will probably tell you that Tanzania exists solely through its own continuous and heroic efforts.

This is why nobody asks: governments are always so extra when trying to justify their size and expenditures. And their very existence.

The agreement is that we vote for who we want to represent us in the running of the country on our behalf. We have a whole Constitution and everything, outlining how we are free citizens of a nation, and our government is formed by us, from us, for our good.

The issue here is consent, yes? The government claims its legitimacy from consent, so the absence of consent should matter. And yet Tanzanian democracy is a battle-ground, voting is made more difficult with every election.

The space for peaceful civic action sometimes disappears entirely. State propaganda has been consistent in undermining voters’ autonomy since the time of Nyerere - a wonderful study in the “resentful democracy” that African patriarchs suffer.

Disempowerment, paid for by our own taxes. It works. The number of people who tell me that they are not going to vote because “it doesn’t make a difference” is depressing and getting larger every year.

In 60 years of independence, we have given up our consent for... what? Complacency? In this economy? I don’t think so. In addition to being gorgeous, Tanzania is rich and I am greedy — I want more.

Public libraries, social services for the elderly, rule of law, a relationship with the State that is symbiotic rather than parasitic. I want good healthcare and schools with free lunches and a maximum student-teacher ratio of 20:1 and so. Much. More.

Most of all, I want the freedom to choose this future through the ballot and other pacific means because the alternatives are not inviting. Here is a recommendation to stave off the demise of our democracy from the inside: voting should be compulsory.

That Wikipedia article could do with a small tyrannical edit to read “the DUTY to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible.”

Accompanied by a fine for the offense of non-voting this could, and would, fix so much. And we would all have a lovely time voting every four and five years, yes? Consent matters...

Elsie Eyakuze is an independent consultant and blogger for The Mikocheni Report.