After cancelling Uhuru Day fete, Suluhu retreats to solitary confinement in Dar

Tanzania's President Suluhu Samia Hassan. [AFP]

Only weeks after Mama Suluhu Samia Hassan was overwhelmingly endorsed for a second term, by 98 per cent of the voters, she has postponed her nation’s Independence Day celebrations slotted for December 9.

Some cynics say it’s because most Tanzanians concede there is nothing to celebrate, including Suluhu’s electoral victory, which I find strange because it was expected that she would make up for the small ceremony held in a military facility in Mwanza, soon after her re-election.

There are different accounts for the cancellation, which I don’t believe, including that the security of the nation remains fluid. The polls violence was attributed to foreign nationals who polluted Tanzanians’ otherwise “innocent” minds.

I’d assume even the officers who gunned down protesters were also foreigners as proper Tanzanians wouldn’t do such things. I don’t know what to make of that claim since Tz’s borders aren’t porous as to allow foreigners to stream in and out.

Here’s the thing: Suluhu ran an election campaign against herself—because all her opponents are in prison or exile—garnering 98 per cent of the vote, yet still feels anxious about her safety and that of Tz citizens.

It seems to me like roles have been swapped and Suluhu has retreated into a prison of her own, isolated internationally and locally, by securing the very seat she hoped would affirm her place in the world.

Meanwhile, the jailed opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, has become Tz’s moral compass. He represents not just the conscience of his country, but its hope as well. This world, my brother.