WILL YOU LOVE A PAGAN?

Adeladius
Makwega – MBAGALA

That day, Mwanakwetu had done his work well. He had written an article about a workplace dispute between Mr. Mbegu, a Zaramo driver, and Mr. Oforo, a Chagga attendant, who were employees of the Office of the Regional Commissioner of Kigoma in 1964.

The dispute resulted in Mr. Oforo being charged and sentenced to three months in prison or a fine of 47 shillings, in addition to paying compensation for the damage caused by the accident he had caused.

Mr. Oforo paid the fine and also paid 600 shillings in damages. The amount was deducted from his salary at 50 shillings at the end of every month for 12 months. The Registrar of the Treasury of Tanganyika was given responsibility for overseeing these deductions.

Mwanakwetu had finished preparing the article properly. As he was entering the second stage of editing, sleep suddenly began to overcome him in the afternoon. To shake off the drowsiness, he left his work and went outside to get some fresh air.

While he was outside, two young people—a girl and a boy—happened to walk past. Their phone was playing videos of Dr. Emmanuel Nchimbi from the CCM campaigns of 2015.

The young man said:

“CCM are extremely hypocritical! They have remained silent; not even one of them is talking about Nchimbi. I mean, Dr. Nchimbi—as if he was never the Secretary-General of CCM, as if he was never the Vice President! You know, they did the same thing to Job Ndugai. They saw that people were silent, and now the same thing is happening again to Dr. Nchimbi! CCM has no shame! Do these other CCM leaders think they are safe?”

Mwanakwetu listened very carefully to these young people.

Just then, another man passed by and said:

“Ah, Mwanakwetu, I see you are out here getting some fresh air.”

I replied:

“Yes.”

The man continued on his way.

Later, I was left alone. Then I went to the washroom, washed my face, and returned to where I had been standing.

As I stood outside, the thing going around in my mind was what those young people had said about the hypocrisy of CCM members.

I asked myself:

“You struggle alongside them when things are good, but when you encounter difficulties with their senior leaders, CCM members avoid you. They stand aside as if they never knew you at all.”

These words hurt Mwanakwetu deeply.

Suddenly, his mind recalled two completely true incidents—one involving a District Commissioner and the other involving an Executive Director.

The President dismissed the District Commissioner.

A new District Commissioner arrived, reported for duty, and was handed his district. The former District Commissioner left the house where he had been living.

But then the problem became serious.

He did not even have bus fare to return home.

How would he transport his belongings?

Where would he go?

What would he do?

The man had no choice but to stay with a mistress for more than three months, hiding there while waiting for his affairs to improve so that he could return home.

The CCM members who knew about his situation simply mocked him.

“This guy is such a fool. He spent all his money on prostitutes.”

Those were the kinds of words he heard. But God is not a human being.

When his situation eventually improved, he got the money for transportation, loaded his belongings, and returned home. And during that difficult period, the greatest assistance he received came from that very mistress.

So the question remains:

If that mistress had not helped him, what would have happened to him? Who would have been willing to open their door to him? Who would have given him food?

Who would have told him, “Do not worry, you will get through this difficult period”?

And the answer to that question is known by those who were there.

That is why Jesus says in Matthew 21:31:

“Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.”

The second incident happened on May 17, 2019, in Mbozi, Songwe Region.

The President dismissed Mwanakwetu, who had previously been the Executive Director of Mbozi District Council.

The dismissal took place at State House in Dar es Salaam on May 16, 2019.

Mwanakwetu returned to Mbozi on May 17, 2019.

Given the circumstances, his relatives advised him to hand over the office immediately and not sleep in the house where he had been living, because there was an even greater danger.

One of his relatives told him:

“Brother, these people are not good. Someone could enter that house, strangle you, and then claim that you had hanged yourself because of the stress of being dismissed.”

There was no choice but to leave that very day.

At that District Council, I worked with councillors from CCM, CHADEMA, and TLP without discrimination.

In truth, the CCM councillors were my closest friends. I even visited their homes and ate their ugali.

With the CHADEMA councillors and the TLP councillor, such as Bahati Mbugi and Mwashitete and others, I mostly met them at development meetings and council sessions rather than at their homes. But whenever they had an issue that needed to be resolved, I helped them greatly.

The dismissal took place in the middle of the month.

During Easter in April 2019, my family had come to Mbozi, and I had paid school fees for several of my children, as well as for other children under my care who were studying in primary schools, secondary schools, and colleges.

The savings I had were not enough to transport my belongings and hire a truck from Mbozi to Tanga or Mbagala.

What was I going to do?

I called my father, Francis Makwega.

He connected me with a catholic priest.

That priest gave me three million shillings.

Later, when I called the heads of the Primary Education and Secondary Education departments—two women, one Sukuma and the other Nyia—they went to the bank immediately.

Each of them gave me one million shillings.

I now had five million shillings.

But there was still another problem.

My belongings were still inside the house.

The drivers of the District Council came to the house where I was living—most of them employees on short-term contracts, together with one driver who was permanently employed. They helped me pack my belongings until 10 p.m.

I was finished.

The truck arrived.

It loaded my belongings.

And I left.

But there is one thing that still hurts me to this day.

The sad thing is that not even a single CCM councillor called me.

No one called to tell me:

“Mwanakwetu, I am sorry.”

No one said:

“Do not worry, we will help you.”

No one said:

“Are you safe?”

No one even asked whether I had somewhere to go.

Instead, the CHADEMA councillors called me and encouraged me.

And it was one CHADEMA councillor who stayed with me from the moment I arrived after the dismissal.

He helped me pack my belongings.

He found a truck for me.

He helped load my belongings until I left that night.

He accompanied me in his car for a long distance.

That CHADEMA councillor was called Bahati Mbugi.

Perhaps I should not commit a sin by saying this.

Perhaps my CCM friends had sent Hon. Bahati Mbugi to help me so that they themselves would not be seen.But that was not the case.

Nevertheless, one question remained in my heart:

Why was the person I regarded as my political opponent the one who stood by me when I was in trouble, while those I called my friends remained silent?

This is a difficult question.

And sometimes the answers hurt more than the question itself.

My reader, this is what was done to Hon. Job Ndugai.And this is what is being done today to Hon. Dr. Emmanuel Nchimbi.

That is why those young people say:

CCM is extremely good at hypocrisy.

I know that many Tanzanians have their children holding various positions.

I sincerely ask you:

Pray for your children.

Pray for your relatives.

Because these things are discouraging.

Do not assume that your child is with others when, in reality, he is standing alone.

Do not assume that your child is enjoying life when, in reality, he is suffering.

Do not assume that because he wears a nice suit, travels in an air-conditioned car, and moves around with powerful people, his life is secure.

Sometimes, behind his smile are tears that you cannot see.

Sometimes, behind a title is tremendous loneliness.

Sometimes, a person who is praised today may tomorrow walk along the road while those who surrounded him yesterday cross to the other side of the road so that they do not have to meet him.

Very few people, such as Mwanakwetu, can tell these stories.

But my message to CCM members, especially those holding senior positions, is this:

Understand that society is learning many things.

Leaders should be careful.

Some people are asking:

“Where is Dr. Nchimbi?”

“Where is his younger brother?”

No one is providing answers.

And, even worse, the people talking about this matter the most are CHADEMA, while CCM members themselves remain silent.

People, what has bewitched us?

A party may have millions of members, but on the day of trouble, a person may find himself standing completely alone.

You may have titles, friends, security guards, cars, and people calling you “Honourable” every minute.

But the day you lose your position, that is when you will discover:

Who truly loved you, and who loved your position.

And that is where my question begins.

“If you do not love your fellow Catholic, will you love a follower of Muhammad? Will you love a Pagan?”