Behind President Kikwete`s smiling face...

As President Jakaya Kikwete continues to count the remaining days before the 2010 general elections, one question that still lingers among Tanzanians, especially his closest allies is; did they know him well when they overwhelmingly supported him in 2005? Some of his close allies who strongly supported him in 2005, believed that� ``the soft spoken politician`` was going to be a conduit for their planned dubious deals, but the unfolding events are proving them wrong. After delivering his much-awaited speech this week, President Kikwete managed again to prove that ``he is a master of the game`` who plays his cards carefully to maintain his popularity and leadership as well. However, to his critics especially the opposition camp, nothing has really impressed them, citing the move to negotiate with EPA suspects as unjustifiable. Professor Ibrahim Lipumba, Dr Wilbrod Slaa and Zitto Kabwe, have strongly questioned the grace period extended to EPA looters who pocketed a total of Shs.133billion in 2005/6. Although to his critics he might not fare well, Mr Kikwete this week proved that, ``he is a man who knows how to play his cards especially when confronted with a tough situation``. He was facing a series of threats for a countrywide workers ``strike that could have paralysed the economy as well as his government. In the political arena, the debate on Zanzibar`s statehood was posing a real threat to one of the oldest unions in Africa. Not only that but there was also the EPA scandal that has rocked his government during the past few months, plus other key economic issues facing the country. Knowing what he was facing, Mr Kikwete this week tried to play his political cards carefully to maintain his popularity and leadership ahead of 2010. ``Take the mining issue, Richmond deal plus EPA scam and you realise that Mr Kikwete chooses his words and actions to deal with critical situations,`` a senior official from the ruling party, CCM, told The Guardian on Sunday. Beyond his smiling face lies another image of somebody who is ready to take tough actions even if in so doing, he is sacrificing some of his closest buddies who played an instrumental role in facilitating his victory in the presidential race in 2005, or angering the party on whose ticket he sought the highest office in the land. By speaking openly about the External Payments Arrears scandal that cost the country a staggering Shs. 133billion, Mr Kikwete played another crucial card in his life as a politician and the head of state. Knowing that Thursday was another crucial day to his political life since he became president, Mr Kikwete assured the nation that all culprits who swindled the EPA billions would face the court of law after October 31st deadline. Will they be allowed to walk freely simply because they have managed to return the looted billions or is this another trap set by Mr Kikwete to gather credible evidence that could be used to nail all suspects before the court of law. Mr Kikwete followed the path of the former Zambian President, the Late Levy Mwanawasa, when he declared that `his government has confiscated about Shs.90 billion looted by 13 companies that used fake or fabricated documents to justify the dubious deal. And, the looted billions will then be used to fund economic activities, including agriculture, which is the source of livelihood for about 80 per cent of the total 38 million plus population. Just a few years ago, Zambia used the money recovered from corrupt deals to fund the crucial health and education sectors, raising the popularity of the late Mwanawasa a notch higher amongst his compatriots. During his three years in office, Mr Kikwete has taken some critical decisions that have even shocked his own political allies as well as the ruling party. A few months ago, some culprits tried to block the EPA`s investigation by claiming that the looted billions were used to finance the political activities during the 2005 general election. But little did they know that the actual budget for the ruling party during the 2005 campaign didn`t exceed Shs. 25billion. Therefore by claiming that the looted billions were used to fund the political activities, the suspects were fighting a lost battle. Following this situation, Mr Kikwete took tough decisions that angered even some of his close allies, after authorising the investigation on the EPA accounts. After three months, Ernst and Young, an international auditing firm, submitted a report that revealed how the culprits looted EPA billions during the third phase regime. Mr Kikwete fired the former BOT governor Daudi Ballali, sending an alarming message to those who swindled the EPA billions. The game didn`t end there. Mr Kikwete, knowing that the public was eagerly waiting to see how he will handle the EPA scandal, ordered criminal investigations to be conducted, under Attorney General Johnson Mwanyika. Finally he briefed the nation on what the committee has unearthed so far, promising to recover all looted billions. Early this year , Mr Kikwete took another critical decision in what he described as `a political storm`, when he okayed the resignation of former premier and his close ally, Edward Lowassa, after the latter was named in a report submitted to Parliament by a select committee that probed the Richmond scandal. It wasn`t easy for Mr Kikwete to `sacrifice` a man who has been his closest ally during the past two decades, but to defend the nation`s interests, the former premier was given the greenlight to quit. In October last year, the same man took another decision that shocked his party and close allies, when he decided to form a presidential mining review committee in order to thoroughly investigate the all contracts sealed by the government as well as the sector in general. ``This was a shocking move to most of us within the party as well as the government�it happened at the moment when we thought that by suspending the Mr Zitto and defending mining sector, we were right�but he proved us wrong,`` one cabinet minister told The Guardian on Sunday this week. In that committee, he also picked the opposition MPs, including Mr Zitto Zuberi Kabwe, who was suspended mid last year by parliament simply because he had tried to question the legality of the Buzwagi mining deal. Whether measures by his success or any other means, it is quite clear that behind the smiling face of Mr Kikwete, lies hidden colour. It is for this reason that Mr Kikwete, a soldier- turned-politician, has managed to nail some of his political allies to defend his leadership.
SOURCE: Guardian