{UAH} Pojim/WBK: BANKELELE:: English language reporters will struggle to cover - Bankelele | Daily Nation
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BANKELELE: English language reporters will struggle to cover - Bankelele
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The last time I was in Tanzania was in February 2008, to witness the commissioning of a bed net manufacturing factory, whose products I'm happy to say are still sold in Nairobi supermarkets.
This was a few weeks after the disputed Kenya election and the violence thereafter. We made the trip to Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge in a van with reporters from Kenyan newspapers and television and had chats about the election.
When we got to Ngurdoto, we found Tanzanians were also keen on the Kenya election discussion, followed keenly on the hotel bar TV and had lots of questions.
In a few days' time, this Sunday, Tanzania will go to the elections and over 20 million citizens will vote to elect a new president to replace outgoing President Jakaya Kikwete, who has served two terms, as well as members of parliament
A Wikipedia summary of the election notes that:
The country's dominant ruling party, the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) selected Works Minister John Magufuli as its presidential nominee; instead of the front-runner former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa. After failing to secure the ruling party's nomination, Lowassa defected to an opposition party that once labelled him as "one of the most corrupt figures in Tanzanian society." This year's election is the most competitive and unpredictable in the nation's history.
Mr Kikwete was in Kenya a few weeks ago where he got to address a joint session of Kenya's Parliament. He said a lot of nice things about Kenya-Tanzania trade and business links and opportunities, but you have to wonder if he's in the lame-duck phase of his presidency when he can do and say things that are overly inconsequential.
But he also had some kind remarks about his role as a neighbour and mediator in resolving the maddening stalemate among Kenya's leaders after the 2008 election.
Kenya has a lot of costly experience with elections over the last decade. There have been five national votes here in the last twelve years, including referendums, but the question is which Kenyan presidential election will Tanzania's resemble?
Will it be 2002, where a hastily cobbled opposition coalition ended a decades-long ruling party's grip on power?
Will it be 2007, where two very optimistic sides with massive crowds meet at the polls, or will it be like 2013, where the courts will have to decide the presidential election?
I hope it will be like 2002 or 2013, but not 2007. Lowassa himself has cited the 2002 Kenya election as something Tanzania should emulate to grow economically by replacing the incumbent ruling party.
There are a couple of media stations covering the election every night, with stories from Tanzania in the news, usually with clips of the massive crowds that the two main candidates, Magufuli and Lowassa, are drawing.
There's also a single channel on DStv 291 (StarTimes of Tanzania) and also another one from Uganda (285) that I started watching during the digital TV blackout in Kenya, and which are still enjoyable to watch.
Why there are less than five African news channels on DStv and over 15 Chinese-language ones is a story for another day.
But part of the difficulty in following the election is the prevalence of Swahili over English. National discussions, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and broadcasts are all in Swahili.
When I was in Arusha, I was hard-pressed to find a single English language newspaper, while there were over a dozen Swahili ones.
I do follow a few people in Tanzania who tweet in English and Swahili but the main debates, with nuances, undertones and satire, are in Swahili. The challenge is for us Kenyans to embrace and use Swahili more!
Best wishes to the voters in Tanzania
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