AfricaPress-Tanzania: TO those aspiring to be elected or nominated in 2020 general elections as Councillors and Members of Parliament and at the helm of the State, Tanzanians want one thing from you-transparency.
To quote Rodney Davis, an American Republican politician: “If you’re guided by a spirit of transparency, it forces you to operate with a spirit of ethics. Success comes from simplifying complex issues, address problems head on, be truthful and transparent. If you open yourself up to scrutiny, it forces you to a higher standard. I believe you should deliver on your promise. Promise responsibly.”
This is important especially for political parties, which are now seeing mass movement of people rushing to take forms to be endorsed to take part in the October elections.
Tanzanians want serious leaders who would bring change right from the grassroots and see into it that community projects like having permanent water, health issues and education are addressed.
This is not an arena for one to mint extra coin from taxpayers’ money, but should be considered a holy place, where only those who feel the pinch of the nation should gather.
As President has repeatedly said, transparency should be the deciding factor right from the grassroots to avoid people who would want to exploit voters with allegations that they have been sent by him, the Vice-President or Prime Minister as the right candidates.
As Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) Secretary for Publicity and Ideology, Mr Humphrey Polepole, has said, the party would conduct fair and transparent elections, but must vet and only field people, who are allergic to corruption.
Stressing on opinion polls to be made through a voting process by organs at all levels, he said the level of transparency witnessed during the nomination process of Zanzibar’s CCM Presidential flag bearer Dr Hussein Ali Mwinyi last Friday in Dodoma will be replicated in the voting process for candidates seeking nomination to vie for parliamentary and councillorship seats.
During the nomination of Zanzibar flag bearer Dr Mwinyi and endorsement of CCM’s presidential candidate incumbent President John Magufuli, the meetings were beamed live by local radio and television channels. “The CCM chairman has set new standards by encouraging transparency to all members of the press; this is a new tradition which will also be applied in the voting process of CCM candidates at all levels,” he said.
“In the past, members of the Central Committee and National Executive Committee used to lock themselves in a room to discuss, vote, and later present results but this time the situation has been different as each process was done openly,” Mr Polepole said.
