RC Makonda And Drug War: The Thin Line Between Right And Wrong

When I first heard the bold announcement from RC Makonda about the latest activation of the war against drugs, I tweeted a Kudos to him. I was happy (and part of me still is) that he had decided to take out the garbage. Someone has to do it. The sheer logic of the idea was convincing. In my Tweet, however, I had cautioned about the legal implications that could follow. Without details, I sensed something was wrong. It turned out; I was on the right side of the spectrum. Not everything was cotton candy.

The way I envision it at first hearing was that RC Makonda was looking for a trail. If you want to catch the suppliers (the larger side of the problem), you can start with users, right? That is a basic appreciation of reality. As I have indicated above, it didn’t take long before I began swimming against the tide. Foremost, I  was getting confused and crazily furious with naming and shaming agenda. Right away, something started to sound and look like a rough, school-yard element of justice.

To me, that was creating vulnerability to the city and himself. An almost clear defamation lawsuit was approaching the door steps. As great as it sounded to have him put his shoulder on the wheel, his actions were likely to cause a turbulence on air. The simple notion of innocent till proven guilty escaped through City Hall windows at speed of light. In the eyes of public courts, these fellas were as guilty as sin. Smear campaign?  Yes, the drug business has made us behave like an animal in a cage, who even if the door opened, wouldn’t dare move. Nonetheless, you have to be certain that your movement wouldn’t make you fall over the ridge. A coldly perfect world.

Obviously, the RC’s agenda was far different from what I had in mind. He lives in a silent movie. Knowing his words had the power to wound, he should have taken time and caution to bring out the heavy artillery. He cared less. It was about to get worse. The drama, intended or unintended, was on. The alleged users went in for questioning. They went bare handed like good citizens. They saw no need of getting legal company. Some of them never saw the weekend. At the drop of a hat, it turned out to be not a case of mere interrogations or helping the law to catch the big fish but an actual full fledged accusation.

As the saga continued, and as the drama got creepier, my mind felt like a war zone full of explosives. I was running on eight cylinders with questions. Is it illegal to “use”? How sure was he that the people he had named (and technically shamed)  were the actual users? Finger-pointing accusations? What kind of evidence did he have to support his allegations? By naked eyes or hearsay? If they are confirmed and confessing users, do they need a jail cell or a bed at the rehabilitation center?

I was rapidly developing the maddening inability to break free. It turned out; there was no evidence. It was the beginning of the witch hunting desert storm. Search warrants that should have been technically issued before “arrests”, were issued after. An open-and-shut case(if any) got ridiculously complicated.

I know it’s illegal to possess and definitely across the board illegal to be El Chapo. The justification he aired for his actions is that he chairs the regional committee on Defence And Security. Are the individuals uses of drugs a defense and security issue? To what extent? Does it warrant the declaration that resembles a state of emergency one? Whose job is it to investigate? Isn’t Makonda overreaching? There are many questions than answers.

RC Makonda likes to use the name of God in most of his provocative acts. He tries to be humble, but with an enormous, negative ego. He carries himself like someone who constantly asks himself; why make little problems when you can create a holocaust?  Apparently, he enjoys being a spur-of-the-moment man. It was hard to see anything Godly with naming and shaming. The good book forbids unsubstantiated accusations. But that’s whole different story. I have heard too many times leaders asking the citizens to “pray for them” so that they can disregard rules of law more. Absurd.

Common sense suggests and demands that if RC Makonda had solid information on drug lords and users, he should have turned them to police and let them do the job they are trained for and paid using taxpayers money to do. That didn’t happen. He chose to run against the conventional procedures. Then, of course, the biggest untouched bombshell is why he didn’t go after any legendary drug lord? Are TID, Wema, Joan, Romey, Petitman etc. the drug kingpin of Tanzania? What did he sweep under the carpet? Whose fancy is this striking? Whose toes is he avoiding to crash? The imagination is laughable and confusing. I am sure the real drug lords must be laughing up their sleeve.

I didn’t want to dwell on my assumptions and common sense legal issues that I still retain even after all these years since last time I sat in a law school class. I contacted five learned fellows I know. They all had the questions/concerns. One; The Defence and Security Committee is more political than legal. Second; using drugs is not necessarily illegal. It’s like adultery without critical evidence. Extremely hard to prove in any court of law.

In a nutshell (and this must be a big nut), what RC Makonda is doing or trying to do is plausible. That’s the right side of the equilibrium. Drugs are a big problem. Everywhere and for centuries. The welfare of a society depends on able people to work, learn, lead and thrive. Drugs benefits the few while destroying many. Drug addicts can’t function like normal people. The addiction also leads to petty crimes to satisfy the need. Hope becomes a constant deprivation with drug use and abuse.

On the wrong side, however, Tanzania is a country of laws. We can not be a state that bends the rules just for the sake of seemingly to be right or concerned. The first common sense step would be to change the existing laws. If not, let it be clearer that no one is above the law. The law is the law. Procedures apply to everyone. Period. Sloppiness is not a form of intuitive freedom to act carelessly. There is a clear and present danger of disregarding the laws for popularity or political gains. We can’t and shouldn’t entertain such attempts. If we do, I am convinced that we will hit the rock bottom quicker than falling objects.

On the other hand, let’s dare to think critically. What are the reasons for many youths getting into using drugs? The drugs business thrives on the availability of customers. Why are millions of our youth making poor choices and decide to use drugs? Shouldn’t RC Makonda create a task force first to find reasons? Do these latest actions deter anyone from using drugs?

According to Drug-Free World, a nonprofit public benefit corporation that empowers youth and adults with factual information about drugs so they can make informed decisions and live drug-free, the top 10 reasons why people (especially young people) use drugs are;

To fit in
To escape or relax
To relieve boredom
To seem grown up
To rebel
To experiment
Under the above reasons, it’s easy to see why drugs use will just keep on rising in a city like Dar-es-salaam. The unemployment rate is skyrocketing. Boredom is a killer by itself. How many youth centers do we have in Dar-es-salaam? How about active hang-outs like libraries? Dar-es-salaam with a population of almost 7 million people has technically 1 Library (Tanganyika Library).Do we depend on “vijiwe” to teach our youth about strategies to Say No to drugs?

Are we doing our youth justice? Are our solutions just to lock them up or parade them in front of media cameras? Then what? Guess what; almost all of them will still run back to drugs as their source of relaxation. Public humiliation could be a perfect reason to use drugs, risk overdose in order to “forget everything”. We will blame them? There is a societal burden of blame that we can’t escape by appearing to be in command.

Mind you; all these are happening while Dar-es-salaam schools are among the least performing in a country. Shouldn’t that be a concern to RC? Failed students with no hope for the future will likely be next drug-users. Boredom will push them. Joblessness is just as dangerous as drugs or even more. Isn’t about time we move the needle to prevention rather than crackdown? Isn’t it very expensive to lock people up than to give them safer spaces and environment? Or are we trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear?

Another point to remember, the war on drugs is ultimately unwinnable. The supposedly strongest nation on earth, US, has so far failed. The US has been in the war against drugs since 1971. Tanzania isn’t going to win easily. The developed world with multi-billion resources and heavy budgets have failed. They are now embracing new approaches. Ironically, Canadian Federal Government yesterday approved four safer and supervised injections sites in the city of Montreal. Even though comparing Canada and Tanzania is unfair, that is just an example of how the tactics of winning this battle have changed or are changing. With our resources (almost Zero according to MP Halima Mdee), we must think and act smarter.

The best way to win this (or any) war is to avoid it. Avoid it by making sure the least amount of people uses drugs. Cut the sequence of customers. Create programs. Focus on job creation. Prosecuting or punishing victims is a wrong approach. It would be easier to win a dog-sled race with a team of Chihuahuas than to win a war against drugs in this way.

In conclusion, I stand to be corrected. However, I am of the opinion that if for years our leaders have been telling us that they “have the names” of kingpins, obviously those names were not Wema Sepetu, TID, Joan, Petitman and the rest. If we think every we are the hammer and every problem is the nail (something, I categorically disagree with)  let’s get serious.

Go after the real kingpins. Otherwise, this too will pass just like many before. It will be another much ado about nothing. Our youth will keep using. National Manpower will keep evading our shores. We will keep talking and yapping. They say we all have headaches, those of us who have heads. I believe we all have heads. This is our political and social problem. We must be daring but innovative.

copied and pasted
ByJeff Msangi