Characteristics of a dictator, and they fit very well with dikteta uchwara Magufuli.
Common characteristics of world dictators
It was hard to tell whether Hugo Chavez rigged the Venezuela recall vote in his favor. But Coyote Blog’s "How to spot a dictator" post has a point. Click here.
For the record, a dictator guarantees none of the following:
Freedom of speech.
Freedom of the press.
Free opposition political parties.
Independent courts.
Free and regular elections.
Degrees of repression. Some dictators see themselves as a transition to democracy, but, in general, few eventually subject themselves to a free and fair election.
Some dictators allow limited freedom of expression, as long the expression -- written or spoken -- doesn’t directly challenge the dictator’s rule.
The restrictions vary. In some dictatorships, the people can call for free elections or criticize the dictator. In the more repressive tyrannies, such speech could be punished by imprisonment or worse. Under the most severe oppression, a society may appear calm, but only because the punishment for dissent is swift, harsh and certain.
Totalitarianism. Totalitarian dictatorships, the most repressive of regimes, strictly enforce the absence of freedom, and relentlessly apply the power of the press, the courts, the bureaucracy, the army and the police against individual liberties. Totalitarian means total dictatorial control.
Most totalitarian police states have some form of neighborhood block watches, requiring residents to inform on neighbors who exhibit any democratic tendencies. Secret police also watch for anti-dictatorship activity. Religions often are not permitted to operate without a government license; dictators fear that worshipers might plot against them during private religious activities. In totalitarian theocracies, one religion is central to the dictatorship, which relentlessly tells the people that oppression is God's will.
In totalitarian societies, gross abuses of human rights are common. Totalitarian dictatorships also tend to justify their abuses by claiming the total repression serves a higher cause, like material equality or superficial stability. Totalitarian dictators regularly educate both children and adults that freedom is a scary thing, or they redefine "freedom" as equality or stability. The arguments for totalitarian control become an "ideology," a system of principles that average citizens are never permitted to question.
No named successor. One oddly common trait among dictatorships: The dictator almost never has a named successor. Most democracies have something like a vice president, to take over if the president dies. Dictators don't want their opponents to know who would succeed them. The uncertainty discourages the opposition from assassinating the dictator. To the would-be assassin, the successor could be worse, or the chaos of choosing a successor too dangerous.
In dictatorships, the ruling political party either restricts the activities of opposition political parties or outlaws opposition parties altogether. (Each "party" simply is a group of people who agree on and organize around a collection of political ideas.) Dictatorships also allow the courts little or no independence; judges are expected to issue rulings based on what the dictator wants, even if the dictator's wishes contradict the truth or the law.
The same lack of openness and accountability makes dictatorships much more prone to mass murders of outcasts, political opponents and even people simply suspected of opposing the government. With no free elections, no strong opposition parties, no free press and no independent courts to challenge them, dictators can order mass death at their whim.
Link to famine. Some political scientists argue that the lack of openness and accountability of dictatorships also is a major cause of mass famine. Democracies occasionally experience hunger and malnutrition, but democracies seldom experience the kind of famine that lets hundreds of thousands or even millions die of starvation. A government that faces a free press and free elections is much more likely to produce quick action to avoid famine.
A dictatorship is more inclined to cover up famine and look the other way.
Hopeless oppression. The most common characteristic of a dictatorship: Hopelessness in the people -- no hope of a free election to change leaders, no hope of fairness in court, no hope of a life lived with the freedom to speak your mind or challenge a bad idea.
Yote haya niliyoweka rangi yanafanyika ndani ya hii serikali dhalimu ya dikteta uchwara ambayo sasa inashabihiana sana na iliyokuwa Serikali ya makaburu kule South Africa.
