Africa-Press – Tanzania. DEAR fellow Tanzanians, let us have a family meeting with no shouting, no name-calling, just good old common sense served with a dash of humour.
We are in election mood, or just call it season. It is that special time when politicians become poets, manifestos flood our timelines and suddenly, everyone becomes an expert on everything from agriculture to aerospace.
It is exciting. It is energetic. But let us not let it become explosive. Elections come and go, like rainy seasons and WhatsApp forwards from all sorts of our youth.
But Tanzania? Tanzania stays. It is the soil that holds us, the sky that shelters us and the flag that waves for all of us, regardless of our political leanings. This is a love letter to the media, influencers, keyboard warriors and digital philosophers: your words are powerful.
They can light a fire or build a bridge. Choose wisely. Sensationalism may earn you clicks today, but can cost us peace tomorrow. You don’t need a bloodstained headline to be relevant.
Try accuracy. Try empathy. Heck, try silence if you must, but don’t try chaos. And to our beloved youth-yes, you with ten tabs open, one of which is probably TikTok and listen closely. You are the future, but you are also the present.
Social media has given you a megaphone. Use it to amplify peace, not panic. Memes are funny until someone takes them seriously and turns them into mobs. Hashtags are harmless until they divide villages. This is not about silencing opinions. It is about seasoning them with wisdom.
Engage, yes. Challenge, yes. Debate, absolutely. But let us not confuse political opposition with personal enmity. A difference in opinion does not mean a difference in patriotism. After all, we all rise and fall with Tanzania. If it burns, we all roast. To our media houses that is print, radio, digital-this is your Oscar season.
Show us that journalism can be both bold and balanced. Condemn hatred and never give room to unpatriotic discourses. Spotlight peace-builders like you spotlight scandal.
After all, the story of a calm election should trend too. Let us also call out political leaders who thrive on division. Leadership is not about who shouts loudest or who throws the best insults. It is about who brings people together, even in disagreement. Vote for that. Campaign for that.
And if your candidate loses, cry in the bathroom, not on someone else’s windshield. This election, let us not just vote with our fingers. Let us vote with our hearts, our heads and our hashtags. Let us prove that Tanzanians can disagree with dignity, campaign with courtesy and elect without erasing each other.
Because when the ballots are counted, when the banners come down and when the hashtags fade, it is still Tanzania. One country. One people. One peace worth protecting.
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