In Search of an Islamic Party Part Four

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In Search of an Islamic Party

Part Four

On the morning of 9th March, 1995  before President Mwinyi was to leave for state visit to Copenhagen Prof. Malima went to the State House and handed over his resignation.[1] The president was puzzled and became defensive. The president shocked, told Prof. Malima that probably they had both failed to communicate very well and that may be Prof. Malima should reconsider his resignation. Prof. Malima insisted that when the president got back he would have packed and left. Over breakfast the president pleaded with him not to do anything which might have drastic consequences. But what President Mwinyi was pleading for was for his own security. He knew long time ago that he had no muscle to face the Christian Lobby on his own without Prof. Malima behind him. Prof. Malima knew that the President was worried about the reaction of Muslims towards his resignation. President Mwinyi knew his government did not have the capacity to handle the anger of Muslims. That would have put him in a difficult situation in deed more serious than when he failed to protect Muslims in the pork riots and its aftermath. At that time Muslim-Christian hostility was fever pitch.  Mwinyi now found himself vulnerable from both sides. He was unpopular with the powerful Christian Lobby who were sending signals to him as to what he would have to face after his retirement while at the same time he had lost the support of Muslims. But to understand this we have to learn of the Muslim attempts for change through political means. Muslims were now treating Prof. Malima as their leader, someone who had the guts to stand against Christian establishment in the government. Upon his return Mwinyi was silent on Prof. Malima’s letter of resignation.

Three days letter after his return, on Sunday 19 March, 1995 following a cabinet meeting President Mwinyi summoned him and flatly refused to accept Prof. Malima’s resignation. Mwinyi told him that the Muslim community would not forgive him for allowing him to resign because of pressure from Christians. President Mwinyi had Malecela and Msuya in mind. At the same time the president was guarding himself from the wrath of Muslims. Suddenly an amicable co-operation was booming towards the two President Mwinyi was now increasingly bending over to backwards to Malecela and Msuya. Prof. Malima obliged and waited. While Mwinyi for his survival wanted Prof. Malima in the government, the Christian Lobby wanted him out of their way. The Christian Lobby came up with a fool proof plot to finish Prof. Malima once and for all. The Christian lobby finally decided that something must be done to stop Prof. Malima’s seeming invincibility. A strategy was laid out and it was to require major help from everyone who could take part actively including those who were apparently Prof. Malima allies. These were to be made to sway to the enemy camp. A fellow Muslim[1] was recruited by the Christian lobby to lead a campaign to raise panic in the donor community due to failure to reach targeted revenue collections which was to be blamed solely on Prof. Malima. Internal subversion on Prof. Malima was overwhelming. Prof. Malima’s subordinates in the Treasury turned against him and joined the crusade against him.[2] 

Prof. Malima's Letter of Resignation

The plan to finish Prof. Malima would arrive in the form of what came to be known as which Family Mirror reported “tax aversion scandal” which it alleged that “Prof. Malima personally benefited from dubious transactions leading to the loss of billions of shillings in government revenue.”[3] The government moved to probe into the “scandal.” Mohamed Aboud, Auditor Exchequer and Auditor General compiled what came to be known as “Presidential Probe Report” which implicated Prof. Malima in tax exemptions. This report was submitted to the Minister of Finance Kikwete. President Mwinyi called Prof. Malima and informed him that Kikwete and Aboud had presented to him a report which was extremely damaging to him. Prof. Malima was presented with a copy.[4] He informed President Mwinyi that the report was full of lies and he was ready to provide the truth to all the allegations levelled against him in detail. On 8 June, 1994, Kikwete called a press conference and attacked Prof. Malima for poor administrative policies and for contravening tax exemptions. The press was in frenzy believing that now it had Prof. Malima where it wanted him.

Prof. Malima was fully aware of the kind of game which was being played between the President, Kikwete and the press. He knew all the three parties were dancing to the tune of the Christian Lobby. He too, had his own plan. On 5 June, Prof. Malima had drafted his resignation letter and in the afternoon of 8 June, after Kikwete’s press conference, he redrafted his resignation and wrote his Press statement. The following morning President Mwinyi called and told him that it was time he resigned. Prof. Malima reminded the president that he had wanted to resign since March, and had stopped him. President Mwinyi told him that Kikwete’s stand and the press was too much for him to bear. He told Prof. Malima that he knew in his heart of hearts that all that was said about him were lies but the pressure upon him was unbearable. Prof. Malima had enough of the president. He handed him his letter of resignation and copy of the Press statement. President Mwinyi refused his letter of resignation and would only accept it minus the Press statement. President Mwinyi was shocked by what he found in Prof. Malima’s statement to the press. Prof. Malima was opening a new front. If that information becomes public he would have to form a probe committee to investigate the facts.

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[1] President Mwinyi consulted Cleopa Msuya and John Malecela on Prof. Malima’s letter of resignation and the two told the President not to allow Prof. Malima to resign because that would anger Muslims. Malecela being the First Vice-President was sure he would succeed President Mwinyi and since he had the ambition to become the next president he knew somewhere in his race to the top post, he would need the support of Muslims. Msuya had his eye on the premiership and he too because of that ambition did not want Prof. Malima to resign for the same reason. On the other hand Mwinyi was convinced that Malecela would succeed him and for that matter his safety after he retired would be solely in the hands of Malecela and Msuya and for that reason he had to be nice to them so that they look at him with a kind heart when he was out of power.

[2] Prof. Malima while Minister of Finance was accused of favouring Muslims in his appointments when he recommended Dr. Idris Rashid for the post of Governor of the Central Bank despite of Dr. Idris’s qualifications as a bank director and Ph D holder in economics. Never had the bank had a governor as qualified as Dr. Idris.

[3] It was reported in the press including government (Daily News) and party (Uhuru) dailies that Prof. incorrectly advised president Mwinyi to pay USD 12 million as compensation to one H.P. Steyn for property acquired by the government in 1992. The truth of the matter is that the property was acquired as per Acquisition and Transfer of Management Act. No. 20 of 1980. Section 11 which provides compensation. Interesting is the fact that five members in the Christian Lobby had by dubious means appropriated 2000 hectares of Steyn’s farm (Laigwan Ranch). The decision by the government to pay compensation and return part of the land to Steyn threatened the interest of those members.

[4] Between July and September 1994 tax exemptions amounted to shs billion 19.36 were passed. IPC passed exemptions amounting to shs billion 11.61 equivalent of 60% of all tax exemptions given. Tax exemptions for raw material for industries were shs. 3.3 billion equivalent to 17.1% while exemptions for Registered Dealers Certificate (RDC) was 3.04 billion equivalent to 15.7% but this was in actual fact not tax exemption but deferred tax. See Bahari, “Taarifa Maalum,” Juni 14-18, 1995.