Tanzania: Crooked Candidates Bleed Workers Dry

With an election set for October 25, Tanzania is in the throes of electing its fifth president. The naked corruption of national politics shows how quickly the bosses can steal back whatever crumbs they’ve thrown at the working class. The working class of Tanzania could meet all of its needs—if it weren’t for capitalism.  
Since Tanzania’s multi-party system was established in 1992, the ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM, or “Party of the Revolution”), has stood openly for capitalism. The CCM descends from the incorrect line of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), whose platform called for “ujamaa,” or “African socialism.” For all these years, workers voted the CCM in, believing that their leadership would benefit the masses. But throughout the government, politicians have enriched themselves at the expense of the working class.
For decades, leaders from opposition parties appealed to the masses by exposing the corruption of CCM. Events leading up to this year’s election, however, show clearly that electoral politics and allying with the bosses is a lose-lose scenario for workers.
 Opposition Parties Are Still Capitalist PartiesFour opposition parties (Chadema, Civic United Front, NCCR-Mageuzi and National League for Democracy) have agreed to get behind one candidate in the hope of defeating CCM. This united front chose former Tanzanian Prime Minister Edward Ngoyai Lowassa as their candidate. In 2008, Lowassa was forced to resign from his position due to the “Richmond Scandal.” During his time as
prime minister, he contracted with a fake company to provide electricity to Tanzania at the outrageous price of $72,380 per day!  After convincing Parliament to bless the deal, Lowassa became an extremely wealthy man from the kickbacks. Meanwhile, the vast majority of households and schools lack electricity to this day.  
Other “honorable” politicians (the title placed before the name of Tanzanian government officials as a mark of “ethical and credible behavior”), including current President Jakaya Kikwete, were also implicated in the scandal. All of these capitalist servants have contributed mightily to the misery of the masses who earn less than one dollar a day.
Last July, even though Lowassa’s crimes against the working class had been exposed for all to see, the new coalition of four opposition parties (UKAWA) chose him to run against the ruling party. Then CCM declared John Magafuli, the party’s former minister for public works, as their choice. He, too, has committed crimes against the working class. He privatized the nation’s public housing and sold buildings to his friends at low prices, even giving one to his fiancée as a gift! Within days of CCM’s announcement, Lowassa switched over to the opposition coalition and bought or coerced his way to become its candidate. The bosses’ elections are a farce!
PLP: Revolution in Actions and Words
Workers have long been seeking a true revolutionary movement. They have been sharply posing questions like: “What is revolution?” “Why revolution?” “Are the opposition parties capable of fighting for revolution?” “Can corrupt leaders grow to be wise, change sides, and fight for the working class?”
Chadema, one of the opposition parties, has captured the interest of Tanzania’s youth, who are angry and disaffected by government corruption, poor education and lack of jobs. But with Lowassa running for the opposition, many youth and workers are coming to understand that the electoral system cannot lead to meaningful change.
The only way for workers in Tanzania, and worldwide, to move in a revolutionary direction is to reject the idea that “leadership” comes from anywhere but themselves. The working class must reject the entire capitalist system, as well as its election circuses, and join the Progressive Labor Party to fight for communist revolution. The working class, not the capitalist politicians or other ruling-class stooges, will lead the way to create communal ownership of the world’s resources and production. PLP fights for a communist world, where the working class collectively rules to abolish sexism, racism, borders, inequalities, and all forms of exploitation and classes worldwide.
Dear brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers of the world! It is quite true that corruption, sexism, racism and class divisions are the products of the capitalist ruling system. The only way to end this state of affairs is to build a mass international PLP and make a world communist revolution.
     Let the working masses join hands together to build a fair and classless world through communist revolution!