Ileje
JF-Expert Member
- Dec 20, 2011
- 9,524
- 13,682
Prof. Shivji amejaribu kuelezea utawala wa Magufuli kwa kifupi:
GRIEF AND RELIEF
On March 27, 2021, the fifth
president of Tanzania John
Joseph Pombe Magufuli,
aged 61, died a few months after
beginning his second term in office.
It was a ‘dramatic’ exit for a person
who had almost single-handedly
(some would say heavy-handedly)
ruled the country for the preceding
five years. The reaction of the Tanzanian populace was as dramatic,
if not extreme. Large sections of
down-trodden (‘wanyonge’ in Swahili) people in urban and semi-urban
areas were struck with disbelief and
grief. Among them were motor-bike
taxi drivers (‘bodaboda’), street
hawkers (‘machinga’), women food
vendors (‘mama Ntilie’) and small
entrepreneurs (‘wajasiriamali’). At
the other end of the spectrum were
sections of civil society elites, leaders and members of opposition parties, and a section of non-partisan
intelligentsia who heaved a sigh
of relief. Barring a few insensitive
opposition political figures in exile, most in the middle-class group
did not openly express or exhibit
their relief, as African culture dictates, until after the 21-day mourning period had passed. In between
the extremes were large sections of
politicians and senior functionaries
in the state and the ruling party who
continued singing the praises of the
leader while privately keeping track
of the direction of the wind before
casting their choice.
Increasingly the division between
Maguphiles and Maguphobes is
surfacing, particularly among parliamentarians. We may be witnessing a beginning of realignment of
forces. Popular perception tends to
be cynical, justifiably so, for none
of the emerging factions resonates
with their interests and daily lives.
Street wisdom has it that with the
change of wind, opportunist politicians are positioning themselves to
be on the right side (‘wanajiweka
sawa’ as the street Swahili goes) of
the new president.
.........
Populist rhetoric varies from country to country but invariably it feeds
on heightening racial, religious and
gender differences and exploits
popular prejudices. The Magufuli
phenomenon was not a deus ex
machina. To understand it we must
locate it in the history and politics
of the country and come up with a
correct characterisation. I characterise the Magufuli phenomenon as
messianic Bonapartism. Before we
dwell further on this, let me say a
couple of things about Bonapartism
as a political phenomenon.
Bonapartism:
When classes are weak or have
been disarmed ideologically and
organisationally over a generation,
politics suffer from Bonapartist effects. Bonapartism can take different forms depending on the concrete situation. Quickly, we may
identify the two most relevant to us
– militarist and messianic. Tanzania
has been saved of the former for
reasons which will become clear in
the course of this essay. In the late
president we witnessed the latter.
Bonapartism is characterised by the
unexpected rise of an individual
who stands above classes and social
struggles. Indeed he even appears
to rise above the state. The famous
phrase attributed to Louis XIV
‘l’etat, c’est moi’, ‘I’m the state’
sums it all. Bonapartism has arisen
in historical situations where the
struggling classes have either exhausted themselves and there is an
apparent vacuum in the body politic or the rein of the previous ruler
has been so laissez faire that ‘law
and order’ has broken down. The
Bonaparte legitimises his crassly
high-handed actions to return the
country to order and to rein in fighting factions in which everyone is
for themselves and the devil takes
the hindmost. Liberal institutions
of ‘bourgeois’ democracy such as
parliament and judiciary are either
set aside (a fascist option) or emaciated of their content (neo-fascist
authoritarianism). They exist in
name only, but go through the rituals of elections, law-making and
‘judicial decision’ making, which
means little in practice.
GRIEF AND RELIEF
On March 27, 2021, the fifth
president of Tanzania John
Joseph Pombe Magufuli,
aged 61, died a few months after
beginning his second term in office.
It was a ‘dramatic’ exit for a person
who had almost single-handedly
(some would say heavy-handedly)
ruled the country for the preceding
five years. The reaction of the Tanzanian populace was as dramatic,
if not extreme. Large sections of
down-trodden (‘wanyonge’ in Swahili) people in urban and semi-urban
areas were struck with disbelief and
grief. Among them were motor-bike
taxi drivers (‘bodaboda’), street
hawkers (‘machinga’), women food
vendors (‘mama Ntilie’) and small
entrepreneurs (‘wajasiriamali’). At
the other end of the spectrum were
sections of civil society elites, leaders and members of opposition parties, and a section of non-partisan
intelligentsia who heaved a sigh
of relief. Barring a few insensitive
opposition political figures in exile, most in the middle-class group
did not openly express or exhibit
their relief, as African culture dictates, until after the 21-day mourning period had passed. In between
the extremes were large sections of
politicians and senior functionaries
in the state and the ruling party who
continued singing the praises of the
leader while privately keeping track
of the direction of the wind before
casting their choice.
Increasingly the division between
Maguphiles and Maguphobes is
surfacing, particularly among parliamentarians. We may be witnessing a beginning of realignment of
forces. Popular perception tends to
be cynical, justifiably so, for none
of the emerging factions resonates
with their interests and daily lives.
Street wisdom has it that with the
change of wind, opportunist politicians are positioning themselves to
be on the right side (‘wanajiweka
sawa’ as the street Swahili goes) of
the new president.
.........
Populist rhetoric varies from country to country but invariably it feeds
on heightening racial, religious and
gender differences and exploits
popular prejudices. The Magufuli
phenomenon was not a deus ex
machina. To understand it we must
locate it in the history and politics
of the country and come up with a
correct characterisation. I characterise the Magufuli phenomenon as
messianic Bonapartism. Before we
dwell further on this, let me say a
couple of things about Bonapartism
as a political phenomenon.
Bonapartism:
When classes are weak or have
been disarmed ideologically and
organisationally over a generation,
politics suffer from Bonapartist effects. Bonapartism can take different forms depending on the concrete situation. Quickly, we may
identify the two most relevant to us
– militarist and messianic. Tanzania
has been saved of the former for
reasons which will become clear in
the course of this essay. In the late
president we witnessed the latter.
Bonapartism is characterised by the
unexpected rise of an individual
who stands above classes and social
struggles. Indeed he even appears
to rise above the state. The famous
phrase attributed to Louis XIV
‘l’etat, c’est moi’, ‘I’m the state’
sums it all. Bonapartism has arisen
in historical situations where the
struggling classes have either exhausted themselves and there is an
apparent vacuum in the body politic or the rein of the previous ruler
has been so laissez faire that ‘law
and order’ has broken down. The
Bonaparte legitimises his crassly
high-handed actions to return the
country to order and to rein in fighting factions in which everyone is
for themselves and the devil takes
the hindmost. Liberal institutions
of ‘bourgeois’ democracy such as
parliament and judiciary are either
set aside (a fascist option) or emaciated of their content (neo-fascist
authoritarianism). They exist in
name only, but go through the rituals of elections, law-making and
‘judicial decision’ making, which
means little in practice.
