00:00Across Africa, there is a rich tradition of protest through song and dance.
00:05Think of South African activists doing doing on the streets,
00:08or Kenyan Gen Z's vibing to Anguka Nayo.
00:12But how can a protest dance become an act of high treason?
00:16Well, now think Tanzania and the Muinui Challenge.
00:25Welcome to the flip side.
00:28Deadly violence characterized Tanzania's most recent election in late October.
00:33Anti-government protesters were met with live ammunition,
00:37a serious curfew, and an internet blackout.
00:40Even long after incumbent leader Samyassu Luhu Hassan
00:43was named the winner of the questionable presidential vote,
00:46the exact death toll from protests is still not entirely confirmed.
00:52The political atmosphere, meanwhile, had already soured in the run-up to that election.
00:57Luhu Hassan's rivals were excluded and protests were banned,
01:02prompting some people to take the opposition to the digital realm.
01:06And that's the story of how the Muinui Challenge was born.
01:09So, here's what happened.
01:20In English, what she said was,
01:23there shall be no disorder or disruptions whatsoever.
01:26Just go and cast your vote.
01:29Now, someone took that soundbite,
01:31remixed it with some catchy music,
01:33and this quickly turned up as a dance challenge.
01:36But the consequences in Tanzania was quite serious.
01:40The government arrested several people for mocking the president.
01:44Charges of high treason were leveled against many of them,
01:48which can lead to the death penalty.
01:51NIFA Cosmetics influencer Jennifer Joven stood out among them.
01:55By the time the authorities released Joven,
01:57in the aftermath of deadly election day protests,
02:00people were even scared to talk about the dance in Tanzania.
02:05But not so elsewhere.
02:08The Muinui Challenge had gone viral on African social media
02:11in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, and other parts of Africa.
02:16So, a fun dance that truly brings people together,
02:20asserting democratic values,
02:21what damage can it do when the president just brings down everyone's morale?
02:27We had a glimpse of hope.
02:29Maybe we shall have a healing or there will be a reconciliation.
02:33But if you read the faces and the eyes of the Tanzanians,
02:36you could clearly see that the hope is faded.
02:40The people have given up.
02:41And what does a ban on such free self-expression say
02:45about the real state of affairs in Tanzania?
02:48The leadership philosophy in palaces and state houses in Africa
02:53has seemed to be that government is about the people in power,
02:59their cronies and their families enriching themselves
03:01at the expense of the rest of the population.
03:04The bottom line is this.
03:06A lot of people in Tanzania seem to want to express their disappointment in the government,
03:11especially when it comes to the election results from October.
03:14Does the government really need to be afraid of a dance challenge?
03:19And can't it just let the people be?
03:21We remind the authorities of their obligation to ensure
03:24the right to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.
03:28The divisions might expand and the hostilities might also grow
03:33within the country and between the ruling party and the citizens
03:37because the number of the people who feel like they have lost hope has increased.
03:42Tanzania is facing mounting international pressure now,
03:46in addition to growing discontent within the country.
03:49The continent of Africa is sitting on a powder keg, sitting on a time bomb.
03:55And whether it's at the ballot box or TikTok,
03:58there's no dancing around the fact that power always lies with the people.
04:04And that's the flip side.
04:05And it's the rising alert.
04:07The talk.
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