By Dr.Gwandumi Benjamin,
THERE is a familiar rhythm to Europe’s tone whenever it speaks about Africa. Every few months, a letter or declaration appears, polished in language, elegant in structure, but patronizing in spirit.
The latest example came on 10 October 2025, when six Members of the European Parliament namely Barry Andrews, Robert Biedrón, Udo Bullmann, Michael Gahler, Erik Marquardt, and David McAllister, issued a joint letter “expressing profound concern” over what they termed systematic abductions, repression of political opponents, and the trial of CHADEMA Chairman Tundu Lissu.
They went further to demand that Tanzanian authorities urgently determine the whereabouts of former Ambassador Humphrey Polepole, who they claim disappeared on 6 October, and to immediately release Mr. Lissu.
The letter urged an end to what they described as persecution of opposition members and activists, warning that continued “repression” could affect bilateral cooperation with the European Union.
It was, in tone and content, the kind of statement Africa has heard many times before: wrapped in the vocabulary of rights and democracy, but heavy with the scent of moral superiority.
The subtext was unmistakable, that Tanzania cannot be trusted to manage its internal affairs without foreign oversight.
This is where the problem lies. Tanzania, like any sovereign democracy, has functioning legal and judicial systems.
Its courts, prosecutors, and law enforcement agencies operate within a constitutional framework, accountable to the law and the people they serve.
Ongoing cases, whether involving politicians, diplomats, or activists are matters for Tanzanian institutions, not European tribunals.
To imply otherwise is to deny the very independence that Europe claims to defend.
Let’s be honest: Europe’s concern often feels less like solidarity and more like supervision. It assumes that democracy is a European invention, a template that others must imitate to earn legitimacy.
But democracy, in its true form, is not a photocopy; it is an evolving conversation between a people and their history.
Tanzania’s democracy was not imported. It grew out of our own struggle for self-rule, grounded in ujamaa, in community consensus, and in our lived experience of freedom and restraint.
Mwalimu Julius Nyerere warned long ago that independence would mean little if Africans merely exchanged colonial governors for foreign advisers.
His words remain prophetic. For even now, the tone of some Western institutions suggests that Africa still requires instruction on how to be free.
This is not to say Tanzania is above criticism- no democracy is but the right to critique, reform, and correct belongs first to Tanzanians.
When European countries enforce their laws firmly, they call it “protecting order.” When African nations do the same, it is called “repression.”
This double standard is not justice; it is hypocrisy dressed as virtue.
The European Parliament’s letter condemns the “politically motivated” trial of Tundu Lissu, yet fails to acknowledge that Tanzania’s judiciary remains independent, operating within constitutional limits, not under executive whim.
It calls for immediate releases, as though verdicts and procedures can be dictated from Brussels. It demands “inclusive multiparty dialogue,” as if Tanzania has not already embarked on that process under President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s 4R Philosophy -- Reconciliation, Resilience, Reforms, and Rebuilding.
Such selective memory reveals what psychologists might call the “saviour syndrome” the belief that Europe must save Africa from itself.
It is a convenient illusion, soothing for those who fear losing global moral dominance. But Africa no longer needs rescuing; it needs respect.
Tanzania’s democracy may not conform to foreign templates, but it is alive and accountable to its own citizens.
It debates, it evolves, and it self-corrects just as all democracies do.
If Europe truly believes in democracy, it must also believe in the diversity of how it is practiced.
When six European politicians presume to lecture Tanzania, they do not strengthen democracy; they weaken mutual respect. True partnership demands equality, not hierarchy — dialogue, not dictates.
Tanzania’s democracy may move at its own pace, but it moves with purpose, guided by its people, not by permission.
Africa is no longer a classroom and Europe is no longer the headmaster.
The days of moral lectures must end. Tanzania knows how to govern itself. What it asks for is not validation, but respect the simple recognition that sovereignty, too, is a democratic value.
Mwalimu Nyerere’s words echo still: “No one has the right to tell other people how to organize their society.” That is not defiance; it is dignity. And that dignity remains the soul of Tanzania’s democracy.