HISTORY OF CHRISTMASS

The History of Christmas



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I.     When was Jesus born?

A.     Popular myth puts his birth on December 25^th in the year 1 C.E.

B.     The New Testament gives no date or year for Jesus’ birth.  The earliest gospel – St. Mark’s, written about 65 CE – begins with the baptism of an adult Jesus.  This suggests that the earliest Christians lacked interest in or knowledge of Jesus’ birthdate.

C.     The year of Jesus birth was determined by Dionysius Exiguus, a Scythian monk, “abbot of a Roman monastery.  His calculation went as follows:

a.       In the Roman, pre-Christian era, years were counted from ab urbe condita (“the founding of the City” [Rome]).  Thus 1 AUC signifies the year Rome was founded, 5 AUC signifies the 5^th year of Rome’s reign, etc.

b.     Dionysius received a tradition that the Roman emperor Augustus reigned 43 years, and was followed by the emperor Tiberius.

c.       Luke 3:1,23 indicates that when Jesus turned 30 years old, it was the 15^th year of Tiberius reign.

d.      If Jesus was 30 years old in Tiberius’ reign, then he lived 15 years under Augustus (placing Jesus birth in Augustus’ 28^th year of reign).

e.       Augustus took power in 727 AUC.  Therefore, Dionysius put Jesus birth in 754 AUC.

f.        However, Luke 1:5 places Jesus’ birth in the days of Herod, and Herod died in 750 AUC – four years before the year in which Dionysius places Jesus birth.

D.     Joseph A. Fitzmyer – Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at the Catholic University of America, member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, and former president of the Catholic Biblical Association – writing in the Catholic Church’s official commentary on the New Testament[1], writes about the date of Jesus’ birth, “Though the year [of Jesus birth is not reckoned with certainty, the birth did not occur in AD 1.  The Christian era, supposed to have its starting point in the year of Jesus birth, is based on a miscalculation introduced ca. 533 by Dionysius Exiguus.”

E.      The DePascha Computus, an anonymous document believed to have been written in North Africa around 243 CE, placed Jesus birth on March 28.  Clement, a bishop of Alexandria (d. ca. 215 CE), thought Jesus was born on November 18.  Based on historical records, Fitzmyer guesses that Jesus birth occurred on September 11, 3 BCE.

 

II.     How Did Christmas Come to Be Celebrated on December 25?

A.    Roman pagans first introduced the holiday of Saturnalia, a week long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25.  During this period, Roman courts were closed, and Roman law dictated that no one could be punished for damaging property or injuring people during the weeklong celebration.  The festival began when Roman authorities chose “an enemy of the Roman people” to represent the “Lord of Misrule.”  Each Roman community selected a victim whom they forced to indulge in food and other physical pleasures throughout the week.  At the festival’s conclusion, December 25^th, Roman authorities believed they were destroying the forces of darkness by brutally murdering this innocent man or woman.

B.    The ancient Greek writer poet and historian Lucian (in his dialogue entitled Saturnalia) describes the festival’s observance in his time.  In addition to human sacrifice, he mentions these customs: widespread intoxication; going from house to house while singing naked; rape and other sexual license; and consuming human-shaped biscuits (still produced in some English and most German bakeries during the Christmas season).

C.    In the 4^th century CE, Christianity imported the Saturnalia festival hoping to take the pagan masses in with it.  Christian leaders succeeded in converting to Christianity large numbers of pagans by promising them that they could continue to celebrate the Saturnalia as Christians.[2]

D.    The problem was that there was nothing intrinsically Christian about Saturnalia. To remedy this, these Christian leaders named Saturnalia’s concluding day, December 25^th, to be Jesus’ birthday.

E.      Christians had little success, however, refining the practices of Saturnalia.  As Stephen Nissenbaum, professor history at the University of Massachussetts, Amherst, writes, “In return for ensuring massive observance of the anniversary of the Savior’s birth by assigning it to this resonant date, the Church for its part tacitly agreed to allow the holiday to be celebrated more or less the way it had always been.”  The earliest Christmas holidays were celebrated by drinking, sexual indulgence, singing naked in the streets (a precursor of modern caroling), etc.

F.      The Reverend Increase Mather of Boston observed in 1687 that “the early Christians who  first observed the Nativity on December 25 did not do so thinking that Christ was born in that Month, but because the Heathens’ Saturnalia was at that time kept in Rome, and they were willing to have those Pagan Holidays metamorphosed into Christian ones.”[3]  Because of its known pagan origin, Christmas was banned by the Puritans and its observance was illegal in Massachusetts between 1659 and 1681.[4]  However, Christmas was and still is celebrated by most Christians.

G.    Some of the most depraved customs of the Saturnalia carnival were intentionally revived by the Catholic Church in 1466 when Pope Paul II, for the amusement of his Roman citizens, forced Jews to race naked through the streets of the city.  An eyewitness account reports, “Before they were to run, the Jews were richly fed, so as to make the race more difficult for them and at the same time more amusing for spectators.  They ran… amid Rome’s taunting shrieks and peals of laughter, while the Holy Father stood upon a richly ornamented balcony and laughed heartily.”[5]

H.     As part of the Saturnalia carnival throughout the 18^th and 19^th centuries CE, rabbis of the ghetto in Rome were forced to wear clownish outfits and march through the city streets to the jeers of the crowd, pelted by a variety of missiles. When the Jewish community of Rome sent a petition in1836 to Pope Gregory XVI begging him to stop the annual Saturnalia abuse of the Jewish community, he responded, “It is not opportune to make any innovation.”[6]  On December 25, 1881, Christian leaders whipped the Polish masses into Antisemitic frenzies that led to riots across the country.  In Warsaw 12 Jews were brutally murdered, huge numbers maimed, and many Jewish women were raped.  Two million rubles worth of property was destroyed.

 

III.     The Origins of Christmas Customs

A.     The Origin of Christmas Tree
Just as early Christians recruited Roman pagans by associating Christmas with the Saturnalia, so too worshippers of the Asheira cult and its offshoots were recruited by the Church sanctioning “Christmas Trees”.[7]  Pagans had long worshipped trees in the forest, or brought them into their homes and decorated them, and this observance was adopted and painted with a Christian veneer by the Church.

B.     The Origin of Mistletoe
Norse mythology recounts how the god Balder was killed using a mistletoe arrow by his rival god Hoder while fighting for the female Nanna.  Druid rituals use mistletoe to poison their human sacrificial victim.[8]  The Christian custom of “kissing under the mistletoe” is a later synthesis of the sexual license of Saturnalia with the Druidic sacrificial cult.[9]

C.     The Origin of Christmas Presents
In pre-Christian Rome, the emperors compelled their most despised citizens to bring offerings and gifts during the Saturnalia (in December) and Kalends (in January).  Later, this ritual expanded to include gift-giving among the general populace.  The Catholic Church gave this custom a Christian flavor by re-rooting it in the supposed gift-giving of Saint Nicholas (see below).[10]

D.     The Origin of Santa Claus

a.       Nicholas was born in Parara, Turkey in 270 CE and later became Bishop of Myra.  He died in 345 CE on December 6^th.  He was only named a saint in the 19^th century.

b.      Nicholas was among the most senior bishops who convened the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE and created the New Testament.  The text they produced portrayed Jews as “the children of the devil”[11] who sentenced Jesus to death.

c.       In 1087, a group of sailors who idolized Nicholas moved his bones from Turkey to a sanctuary in Bari, Italy.  There Nicholas supplanted a female boon-giving deity called The Grandmother, or Pasqua Epiphania, who used to fill the children's stockings with her gifts.  The Grandmother was ousted from her shrine at Bari, which became the center of the Nicholas cult.  Members of this group gave each other gifts during a pageant they conducted annually on the anniversary of Nicholas’ death, December 6.

d.      The Nicholas cult spread north until it was adopted by German and Celtic pagans.  These groups worshipped a pantheon led by Woden –their chief god and the father of Thor, Balder, and Tiw.  Woden had a long, white beard and rode a horse through the heavens one evening each Autumn.  When Nicholas merged with Woden, he shed his Mediterranean appearance, grew a beard, mounted a flying horse, rescheduled his flight for December, and donned heavy winter clothing.

e.       In a bid for pagan adherents in Northern Europe, the Catholic Church adopted the Nicholas cult and taught that he did (and they should) distribute gifts on December 25^th instead of December 6^th.

f.        In 1809, the novelist Washington Irving (most famous his The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle) wrote a satire of Dutch culture entitled Knickerbocker History.  The satire refers several times to the white bearded, flying-horse riding Saint Nicholas using his Dutch name, Santa Claus.

g.       Dr. Clement Moore, a professor at Union Seminary, read Knickerbocker History, and in 1822 he published a poem based on the character Santa Claus: “Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.  The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in the hope that Saint Nicholas soon would be there…”  Moore innovated by portraying a Santa with eight reindeer who descended through chimneys.

h.       The Bavarian illustrator Thomas Nast almost completed the modern picture of Santa Claus.  From 1862 through 1886, based on Moore’s poem, Nast drew more than 2,200 cartoon images of Santa for Harper’s Weekly.  Before Nast, Saint Nicholas had been pictured as everything from a stern looking bishop to a gnome-like figure in a frock.  Nast also gave Santa a home at the North Pole, his workshop filled with elves, and his list of the good and bad children of the world.  All Santa was missing was his red outfit.

i.         In 1931, the Coca Cola Corporation contracted the Swedish commercial artist Haddon Sundblom to create a coke-drinking Santa.  Sundblom modeled his Santa on his friend Lou Prentice, chosen for his cheerful, chubby face.  The corporation insisted that Santa’s fur-trimmed suit be bright, Coca Cola red.  And Santa was born – a blend of Christian crusader, pagan god, and commercial idol.

 

IV.     The Christmas Challenge

·        Christmas has always been a holiday celebrated carelessly.  For millennia, pagans, Christians, and even Jews have been swept away in the season’s festivities, and very few people ever pause to consider the celebration’s intrinsic meaning, history, or origins.

·       Christmas celebrates the birth of the Christian god who came to rescue mankind from the “curse of the Torah.”  It is a 24-hour declaration that Judaism is no longer valid.

·        Christmas is a lie.  There is no Christian church with a tradition that Jesus was really born on December 25^th.

·        December 25 is a day on which Jews have been shamed, tortured, and murdered.

·        Many of the most popular Christmas customs – including Christmas trees, mistletoe, Christmas presents, and Santa Claus – are modern incarnations of the most depraved pagan rituals ever practiced on earth.

Many who are excitedly preparing for their Christmas celebrations would prefer not knowing about the holiday’s real significance.  If they do know the history, they often object that their celebration has nothing to do with the holiday’s monstrous history and meaning.  “We are just having fun.”

Imagine that between 1933-45, the Nazi regime celebrated Adolf Hitler’s birthday – April 20 – as a holiday.  Imagine that they named the day, “Hitlerday,” and observed the day with feasting, drunkenness, gift-giving, and various pagan practices.  Imagine that on that day, Jews were historically subject to perverse tortures and abuse, and that this continued for centuries.

Now, imagine that your great-great-great-grandchildren were about to celebrate Hitlerday.  April 20^th arrived. They had long forgotten about Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen.  They had never heard of gas chambers or death marches.  They had purchased champagne and caviar, and were about to begin the party, when someone reminded them of the day’s real history and their ancestors’ agony.  Imagine that they initially objected, “We aren’t celebrating the Holocaust; we’re just having a little Hitlerday party.”  If you could travel forward in time and meet them; if you could say a few words to them, what would you advise them to do on Hitlerday?

On December 25, 1941, Julius Streicher, one of the most vicious of Hitler’s assistants, celebrated Christmas by penning the following editorial in his rabidly Antisemitic newspaper, Der Stuermer:

If one really wants to put an end to the continued prospering of this curse from heaven that is the Jewish blood, there is only one way to do it: to eradicate this people, this Satan’s son, root and branch.

It was an appropriate thought for the day.  This Christmas, how will we celebrate?

AUTHOR: LAWRENCE KELEMEN

Source: http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/Christmas_TheRealStory.htm

Mbeya Isiwe Uchochoro wa Makandarasi Uchwara

Nimesikitishwa sana kuona makandarasi uchwara kufanya Mbeya kuwa uchochoro wao. Kwani tayari kuna mgogoro usio rasmi wa ujenzi wa soko la Mwanjelwa ambao umesimama kutokana kukosekana pesa wakati huohuo soko lina nyufa kabla halijakamilika. Katika gazeti la Rai la Jumapili tar 23 Nov 2013, Makala yenye kichwa CCM REJEENI KWENYE MISINGI YENU mwandishi ameandika madudu mengi juu ya ujenzi wa soko la Mwanjelwa. Likiwa sakata hilo halijaisha ndio kwanza kamera yangu ikanasa ubovu mwingine katika ujenzi wa taa za barabarani. Ngao zilizojengwa kuzuia taa za barabarani ni mbovu na tayari zimeharibika bila hata ya kugongwa. Nashindwa kuelewa kama nguzo hizo zimejengwa na mkandarasi wa aina gani kwani tayari kumekuwepo kutoaminiwa kwa makandarasi wazawa.

Hebu shuhudia mojawapo ya picha ya ngao zilizovunjika kama zilivyonaswa na kamera yetu kati ya eneo la Ilomba na Sae

 Hii ngao imebaki peke yake baada ya taa ya barabarani kung'oka.

 Hii ilitengenezwa kingali na mashimo

 Hii inakarabatiwa baada ya kuvunjika

 Hii imepinda

 Imepasuka hovyo kabisa

 

 Hii imekarabatiwa pembeni ya iliyovunjika, sina hakika kama vipimo vimezingatiwa hasa umbali kutoka nguzo ya taa

Israel yakasirishwa na mkataba wa nuklia wa Iran

Waziri wa mambo ya nje wa Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif na mwenzake wa Marekani Johh Kerry mjini Geneva November 24, 2013

ukubwa wa habari

ilipohaririwa mwisho 25.11.2013 00:19

Maafisa wa Israel wamesthumu vikali mkataba  wa nuklia na Iran uliofikiwa mapema Jumapili mjini Geneva. Wanasema mkataba huo kamwe huzuii Iran kuendelea na juhudi zake za kutengeneza silaha za nuklia.

Waziri Mkuu wa Israel Benjamin Netanyahu alishtumu vikali mkataba wa nuklia wa Iran mara tu ulipotangazwa akisema “ huu sio mkataba wa kihistoria, ni kosa la kihistoria.”
Netanyahu alisema dunia inakabiliwa na hatari zaidi kutokana na kile alichoita utawala hatari zaidi duniani  ambao umepiga  hatua kubwa  katika azma yake ya kupata  silaha hatari duniani.

Bw. Netanyahu aliongeza kuwa Israel ina wajibu wa kujilinda kutokana na vitisho vyovyote vile na akaapa kuwa hatakubalia Iran kutengeneza silaha za nuklia.
Iran pamoja na nchi sita sita zenye nguvu duniani zilitangaza kufikiwa mkataba huo wa muda  Jumapili alfajiri baada ya siku nne za majadiliano mazito.

Mkataba huo unailazimu Iran kukubalia wakaguzi wa kimataifa wa silaha za nuklia kukagua viwanda vyake vya nuklia kwa maelewano kuwa ikiwa itatii masharti yote yaliyowekwa,haitawekewa vikwazo vya kiuchumi kwa miezi sita.

Lakini Israel na baadhi ya serikali za Magharibi zinasema zitafanya maamuzi zenyewe juu ya kutumia majeshi kushambulia viwanda vyovyote vile vya nuklia nchini Iran endapo zitagundua  kuwa vipo. 

Chanzo; voaswahili.com

Taarifa ya Dk. Kitila Mkumbo kwa Umma kuhusu Kuvuliwa nafasi za mamlaka ndani ya CHADEMA

     Katika kikao cha Kamati Kuu ya CHADEMA kilichofanyika tarehe 20-22  Novemba 2013, pamoja na mambo mengine, kulijadiliwa waraka wa siri unaojulikana kama Mkakati wa Mabadiliko 2013. Waraka huu ulilenga kujenga hoja ya kufanya mabadiliko ya uongozi na kuanisha mikakati ya ushindi kwa mgombea mlengwa katika uchaguzi mkuu ndani ya CHADEMA. Nilikiri kuwa nilikuwa naufahamu waraka huu, na kwamba nilishiriki kuuandaa na kuuhariri, na kwamba mimi ni mmoja wa wanachama wanaoamini kwamba kuna haja ya kubadilisha uongozi wa juu wa chama katika uchaguzi ujao ndani ya chama.

2.      Katika mjadala, maudhui ya waraka huu yalionekana kwa wajumbe kwamba yalikuwa na mapungufu na yalikiuka misingi na kanuni zilizoanishwa katika Katiba ya Chama. Kwa kuwa katika chama cha siasa hoja za watu wengi ndizo hupewa uzito, na kwa kuwa dhamira na nia yangu ndani ya chama hiki imekuwa ni kusukuma mabadiliko ambayo watanzania wanayatazamia nje ya mfumo wa sasa wa utawala, nilikiri makosa yangu na kuwaomba msamaha wajumbe wa Kamati Kuu na viongozi wakuu wa chama, na kueleza kwamba nilikuwa tayari kujiuzulu na kubaki kuwa mwanachama wa kawaida. Wajumbe walikataa kukubali ombi langu la kujizulu bali walipitisha azimio la kunivua mimi na Mhe. Zitto Zuberi Kabwe nafasi zetu za uongozi. Nilipokea kwa unyenyekevu adhabu ya kuvuliwa nafasi zote za mamlaka nilizokuwa nazo ndani ya chama hiki na kueleza kuwa nitaendelea kutoa mchango wangu kama mwanachama wa kawaida hadi hapo chama kitakapoona ninafaa kukitumikia katika nafasi yeyote.

3.      Kufuatia mkutano wa waandishi wa habari siku ya Ijumaa tarehe 22 Novemba 2013 ambapo, pamoja na mambo mengine, ilielezwa na viongozi wa CHADEMA kwamba mimi na wenzangu (Samson Mwigamba na Zitto Kabwe) tumehujumu chama na tumefanya uhaini kwa kuandaa mkakati wa ushindi kwa mgombea tunayemtaka, ningependa nieleza mambo yafuatayo:

a.       Siamini hata kidogo kwamba kugombea nafasi yeyote iliyo wazi ndani ya chama cha siasa ni uhaini na hujuma. Msingi namba moja wa CHADEMA ni demokrasia na hakuna namna ya kudhihirisha mapenzi kwa demokrasia zaidi ya kuruhusu ushindani katika nafasi za uongozi na hasa uongozi wa  juu kabisa. Hiki kinachoitwa uhaini ni wasiwasi wa siasa za ushindani katika chama chetu.  

b.      Sijawahi na sitarajii kushiriki vitendo vyovyote vya kuhujumu chama changu cha CHADEMA na harakati za mabadiliko hapa nchini. Chama hiki kiliniamini katika nafasi nyingi nyeti sana na kama mie ningekuwa mhujumu nilikuwa na fursa nzuri za kufanya uhujumu huo. Nimeshiriki kuandaa ilani ya chama ya 2010-2015, kuratibu kampeni za mwaka 2010 nikiwa makamu mwenyekiti wa kampeni chini ya Profesa Baregu na nilishiriki kutengeneza na kusimamia utaratibu mzuri wa kupata wabunge wa viti maalumu katika chama chetu. Zote hizi ni nafasi nyeti mno ambazo kamwe huwezi kumkabidhi mtu ambaye ni ‘mhaini’ na ‘mhujumu’.  Nilishiriki katika shughuli za chama kwa kiwango ambacho nilijisababishia matatizo makubwa katika familia yangu na kazini, lakini sijawahi kutetereka na sijaterereka. Nilifanya yote haya kwa mapenzi yangu ya dhati na imani yangu kwa CHADEMA kwamba ndicho chama kinachostahili kuongoza harakati za mabadiliko hapa nchini kwa sasa.

c.       Nasikitika kwamba nimesababisha usumbufu kwa viongozi wangu wa CHADEMA kutokana na dhamira yangu ya kutaka mabadiliko ya uongozi ndani ya chama chetu kwa njia halali za kidemokrasia. Nilifanya hivi kwa imani niliyo nayo kwa misingi ambayo CHADEMA inasimamia, ikiwemo demokrasia, na imani yangu kwamba chama hiki kinahitaji kufanya mabadiliko makubwa katika uongozi wa juu wa chama, ikiwa ni maandalizi muhimu kuelekea uchaguzi mkuu wa mwaka 2015. Nasisitiza tena kwamba siamini hata kidogo kwamba matamanio ya mabadiliko ya uongozi ndani ya chama, na kuandaa mikakati ya kufikia matamanio hayo kwa njia za kidemokrasia ni uhaini.

d.      Tunaweza kujifunza kutokana na historia. Siasa za ushindani ndani ya vyama katika nchi hii sio kitu kigeni. Enzi za TAA na kabla TANU haijazaliwa wanachama walikuwa wanagawana nafasi za uongozi mezani. Lakini mwaka TANU ilipozaliwa (mwaka 1954) kulikuwa na uchaguzi mkali sana kwa nafasi ya uenyekiti. Mwalimu Nyerere alimshinda Mzee Skyes kwa kura chache sana. Rais Obama wa Marekani alianza mkakati wa kushinda uteuzi wa kugombea nafasi ya urais kupitia chama chake cha Democrat mapema kabisa mwaka 2006 kupitia waraka maalumu wa siri

ulioainisha mikakati yake. Waraka huu uliandaliwa na watu wanne tu bila yeye mwenyewe kujua. Waandaji wa mkakati huu walikuja kumshirikisha  baadaye mwaka 2007 na kumshawishi yeye ajitokeze kugombea dhidi ya Hillary Clinton aliyekuwa anachukuliwa kama mrithi halali wa kiti cha urais. Yaliyobaki ni historia. Hivi ndivyo ambavyo siasa za ushindani ndani ya vyama hatimaye huzaa wagombea na viongozi imara katika nchi.

e.       Zitto Zuberi Kabwe hajafukuzwa kwa sababu ya waraka huu kwa sababu yeye hakuhusika kwa namna yeyote kuandaa, ingawa alikuwa ni mlengwa mkuu. Yeye amefukuzwa kwa sababu ambazo yeye atazieleza na ambazo viongozi wa CHADEMA hawakuzieleza katika mkutano na waandishi wa habari.

f.       Napenda ijulikane kwamba sikuomba kujiuzulu kwa sababu ya kuogopa aibu ya kufukuzwa. Niliomba kujiuzulu kwa sababu nilitambua kwamba wenzangu katika Kamati Kuu walikuwa hawana imani nami tena, na ni uungwana kujiuzulu mkifika mahala hamuaminiani. Nilitambua vilevile kwamba, kwa mujibu wa Katiba yetu, Kamati Kuu ilikuwa haina uwezo wa kunivua nafasi yangu moja kwa moja. Kwa mujibu wa Katiba ya CHADEMA, Sura ya Sita, Ibara ya 6.3.6 (b), inasomeka hivi “Kiongozi aliyeteuliwa na vikao vya uongozi ataweza kusimamishwa au kuachishwa uongozi na kikao kilichomteua”. Mimi nilichaguliwa na Baraza Kuu na ni kikao hiki pekee chenye uwezo wa kunivua nafasi niliyokuwa nayo.  Ninaamini wajumbe wa Kamati Kuu walipitiwa katika hili kwa sababu siamini kwamba hawajui takwa hili la kikatiba ukizingatia kwamba ndani yake kuna wajumbe waliobobea kabisa katika tasnia ya sheria.

4.      Hiki kilichotokea ndani ya chama sio kitu kibaya. Vyama vingi imara hupitia katika migogoro na misukosuko kama hii na zaidi. Naamini tutavuka na tutakuwa imara zaidi. Muhimu ni kwamba ni lazima tuaminiane. Katika kuaminiana sio lazima tufanane kimawazo na kimtazamo kwa sababu hili ni jambo lisilowezekana kibinadamu na zaidi katika siasa

5.       Ninapohitimisha, ninawasihi wanachama wa CHADEMA na wapenzi wa mabadiliko popote walipo wapiganie kwa dhati MISINGI mama ya CHADEMA ikiwemo demokrasia ndani ya chama. Hakuna namna ambavyo chama chochote kinaweza kushawishi umma kwamba kitapigania demokrasia katika nchi wakati kinayahainisha mapambano ya kidemokrasia ndani ya chama chenyewe.

 

Kukataa siasa za ushindani ndani ya chama ni kuhujumu demokrasia na ni usaliti kw misingi mama ya chama ambayo ni uhuru wa kweli na mabadiliko  ya kweli. Hisia za usaliti na umamluki zilitumika enzi za ukomunisti katika kunyamazisha wapinzani ndani ya vyama vya siasa na katika nchi. Zilikuwa ni njia haramu zilizozoeleka ambazo hatimaye zilizaa udikteta wa kutisha katika mataifa ya kikomunisti. Tusikubali utamaduni wa kuhisiana usaliti na umamluki ukaota mizizi katika chama chetu na katika nchi kwa sababu utaua demokrasia na mfumo wa vyama vingi utakuwa hauna maana tena.

6.      Nitafuata taratibu zote za chama kama zilivyoelekezwa na Kamati Kuu na kwa mujibu wa katiba yetu, na nitashiriki kikamilifu katika kutuliza hali ya kisiasa ndani ya chama ili kuhakikisha kwamba tunabaki imara, na CHADEMA inaendelea kuwa tumaini la watanzania.

Mungu ibariki Tanzania.

Dkt. Kitila Mkumbo

Dar es Salaam

Taarifa ya Zitto Hii hapa

  TAARIFA YA ZITTO ZUBERI KABWE (MB) KUHUSU KUVULIWA NAFASI ZAUONGOZI NDANI YA CHAMA CHANGU CHA CHADEMA
1. Utangulizi

i. Katika kikao chake cha siku mbili kilichofanyika tarehe 20 - 22 Novemba 2013, Kamati Kuu ya CHADEMA, pamoja na mambo mengine, iliazimia kunivua nafasi zangu zote za uongozi ndani ya chama. Kwa mujibu wa taarifa ya chama iliyotolewa katika mkutano na waandishi wa habari siku ya Ijumaa tarehe 22 Novemba 2013, ilielezwa kwamba sababu za kuvuliwa uongozi mimi na Dk Kitila Mkumbo ni uhaini na hujuma kwa chama kutokana na waraka unaojulikana kama mkakati wa uchaguzi 2013. Ukweli ni kwamba waraka uliotajwa si sababu ya mimi kuvuliwa nafasi zangu za uongozi kama ilivyojadiliwa katika Kikao cha Kamati Kuu . Sababu za kufukuzwa kwangu kama zilizojadiliwa katika kikao cha Kamati Kuu ni tuhuma lukuki ambazo si mara yangu ya kwanza kuzisikia zikijadiliwa ndani na nje ya vikao vya chama. Hitimisho la tuhuma hizi ni kwamba mimi nimekuwa nikikisaliti chama kwa kutumika na CCM na Usalama wa Taifa. Nitazianisha tuhuma hizi na kuzijibu kama ambavyo nimekuwa nikizijibu katika vikao mbalimbali vyama.

ii. Ninatambua kwamba chama changu kinapita katika wakati mgumu sana sasa hivi. Nataka nitamke mapema sana kwamba mimi Zitto Zuberi Kabwe sitokuwa chanzo cha CHADEMA kuvunjika. Hiki ndicho chama kilichonilea na kunifikisha hivi nilivyo. Ningependa chama hiki mtoto wangu atakapokuwa mtu mzima na atakapoamua kujiunga na siasa aingie CHADEMA. Bado nina imani kubwa na chama changu na ninaamini ndicho kinachostahili kuendesha nchi jana, leo na kesho.

2. Kuhusu tuhuma mbalimbali zinazo elekezwa kwangu

Zipo tuhuma nyingi ambazo zimekuwa zikirudiwarudiwa katika vikao vya chama na nje ya vikao na baadhi ya viongozi wenzangu. Tuhuma hizi zinalenga kuonyesha kwamba mimi ni mbinafsi na kwamba ninapokea rushwa ili kukihujumu chama changu. Nitazianisha tuhuma kwa kifupi na kuzijibu kama ambavyo nimekuwa nikizijibu katika vikao mbalimbali vya chama.i) Tuhuma kwamba sikushiriki kumpigia kampeni mgombea wetu wa urais katika uchaguzi wa mwaka 2010. Ningependa kueleza yafuatayo kuhusu jambo hili:

● Mimi nilikuwa mgombea wa ubunge katika Jimbo la Kaskazini huko Kigoma.

● Pamoja na kuwa mgombea wa ubunge, nilifanya kampeni katika majimbo mengine 16 katika mikoa mbalimbali, ikiwemo Dar es Salaam, Mtwara, Pwani, Shinyanga, Mara na Rukwa. Hakuna kiongozi yeyote wa juu aliyefanya kampeni katika majimbo mengi kama mimi, ukiacha mgombea urais.

● Kote nilipopita nilimpigia kampeni wagombea wetu wa udiwani, ubunge na Rais.

● Katika Mkoa wa Kigoma nilizunguka na mgombea urais katika kata zote za Kigoma Kaskazini na majimbo yote manane ya Mkoa wa Kigoma.ii) Tuhuma kwamba katika Mkoa wa Kigoma nilishindwa kuwapigia kampeni wagombea wetu kiasi kwamba peke yangu ndiye niliyeshinda katika uchaguzi huo. Ukweli ni kwamba niliwapigia sana kampeni wagombea wetu, na hivyo ndivyo wapiga kura wa Kigoma walivyoamua.iii) Tuhuma kwamba nilishiriki kuwashawishi wagombea wetu katika baadhi ya majimbo kujitoa katika uchaguzi wa mwaka 2010 ili kuwapisha wagombea wa CCM wapite bila kupingwa kwa njia ya rushwa. Majimbo yanayotajwa ni pamoja na Sumbawanga, Musoma Vijijini na Singida Mjini. Kama nilivyokwisha kueleza katika vikao mbalimbali vya chama jambo hili si la kweli na hakuna popote ambapo watoa tuhuma hizi wamewahi kutoa ushahidi kwamba nilifanya jambo hili. Nipo tayari kwa uchunguzi ndani ya chama na watoa tuhuma waje na ushahidi bayana wa jambo hili. Si afya kwa chama kuendelea kurudiarudia tuhuma hizi kila mara tangu mwaka 2010 bila uchunguzi wowote kufanyika na jambo hili lifikie mwisho.iv) Tuhuma kwamba nimekuwa sishiriki katika operesheni mbalimbali za chama: Ukweli ni kwamba nimeshiriki sana katika operesheni mbalimbali za chama ndani na nje ya nchi. Kwa mfano, mwaka 2011 tulikuwa na operesheni kubwa katika mikoa ya Kanda ya Nyanda za Juu Kusini na nilikwenda katika mikoa yote tuliyotembelea. Mwaka 2012  baada ya hoja ya mkonge bungeni nilifanya ziara Mkoa wa Tanga. Mwaka 2012 kulikuwa na operesheni kubwa moja katika mikoa ya kusini ya Mtwara na Lindi. Operesheni hii sikushiriki kwa sababu nilikuwa nchini Marekani kufungua matawi kwa mwaliko wa Watanzania wanaoishi huko.v)

 Tuhuma kwamba nimekidhalilisha chama kwa tamko la PAC kwamba Hesabu za Vyama hazijakaguliwa na Mdhibiti na Mkaguzi Mkuu wa Hesabu za Serikali (CAG): Katika jambo hili ninatuhumiwa kwamba mimi kama Naibu Katibu nilipaswa kuwasiliana kwanza na viongozi wa chama 'kuwatonya' ili wajiandae. Kwamba kutokuwatonya kumekidhalilisha chama na kukiweka kundi moja na CCM na nastahili kuadhibiwa vikali kwa kuwa katika taarifa yangu nilikuwa na nia mbaya na chama chetu. Maelezo yangu niliyoyatoa na ambayo ningependa kuyakariri hapa kuhusu jambo hili ni kama ifuatavyo:

● Utawala bora hautaki mimi kutumia nafasi yangu ya uenyekiti wa PAC kulinda chama changu na kuonea vyama vingine. Kufanya hivyo ni kuendeleza tabia zile zile ambazo tunazipinga na ambazo tunapigania kuzibadilisha

● Napenda kusisitiza kwamba hakuna chama ambacho kimewahi kukaguliwa na Mdhibiti na Mkaguzi Mkuu wa Serikali (CAG). Natambua kwamba mahesabu ya chama changu yamekuwa yakikaguliwa na wakaguzi wa nje kwa utaratibu tuliojiwekea. Lakini matakwa ya kisheria ni kwamba mahesabu ya vyama vya siasa hayajakaguliwa na CAG, na hili ni kosa la kisheria, bila kujali kosa hili ni la nani.

vi) Tuhuma kwamba mimi ni mnafiki katika kukataa kwangu kuchukua Posho za Vikao

Mtakumbuka kwamba mimi nilikataa kuchukua posho tangu mwaka 2011 kama ishara ya kuonyesha kwa vitendo msimamo wa chama chetu wa kupinga posho za kukaa na matumizi mengine yasiyofaa katika fedha za umma kama ilivyoanishwa kwenye Ilani yetu ya mwaka 2010-2015. Mtakumbuka kwamba hivi karibuni Mheshimiwa Lema amenishutumu kwamba kukataa kwangu kuchukua posho ni unafiki kwa sababu ninapokea posho kubwa zaidi katika mashirika ya umma ambapo mimi ni mwenyekiti wa kamati husika. Ninapenda kueleza yafuatayo kuhusu jambo hili:

● Sipokei posho yeyote ya vikao (sitting allowance) ndani na nje ya Bunge tangu mwaka 2011. Hii ni pamoja na vikao vyote katika Kamati za Bunge ninavyohudhuria. Mtu yeyote mwenye ushahidi vinginevyo auweke hadharani

.● Swala la kukataa posho (sitting allowance) ni swala la kiilani katika chama chetu, na kwangu ni swala la kimisingi zaidi. Katika Wilaya yangu vifo vya kina mama wajawazito ni 1900 kati ya wanawake 100,000 wenye ujauzito. Vifo hivi vinatokana na ukosefu wa huduma kwa sababu ya bajeti finyu. Ndiyo maana nilifurahi sana kwa chama chetu kuliweka swala la kupunguza matumizi ya Serikali katika Ilani, na kuondoa posho za wabunge, ambao tayari wanapokea mishahara mikubwa, kungesaidia sana kupatikana fedha ambazo zingeokoa vifo vingi vya kina mama.

● Jambo hili si suala la ugomvi baina yangu na Mheshimiwa Lema. Ni suala la msingi katika chama chetu.3 Usambazaji wa Ripoti ya Siri kuhusu Zitto Kabwe. Hivi karibuni kulisambazwa waraka unaoitwa ripoti ya siri kuhusu mimi ukibeba lundo la tuhuma kwamba nimehongwa fedha nyingi ili kukihujumu chama changu. Waraka huu ulidaiwa kuwa umechomolewa kutoka makao makuu ya CHADEMA. Jambo hili pia lilijadiliwa katika kikao cha juzi kwa kifupi, na majibu ya viongozi wa chama ilikuwa ni kwamba waraka huu haukuandaliwa wala kusambazwa na makao makuu. Katika mchango wangu nililalamikia mambo matatu yafuatayo:i. Kwamba baadhi ya waliokuwa wanasambaza waraka ule walikuwa ni viongozi wa chama chetu. Bahati mbaya hadi leo hakuna hata mmoja ambaye amekwishachukuliwa hatua za kinidhamu. Ninaamini kwamba kuna siku watu hao watachukuliwa hatua kwa mujibu wa taratibu za chama chetu.ii. Kwa kuwa chama kimekana rasmi kuhusika na waraka huu, nitaendelea na taratibu za kisheria ili kuhakikisha kwamba wote waliohusika kutengeneza hekaya ile wanachukuliwa hatua stahiki za kisheria.

4. Hitimisho

a) Ninatambua kwamba kuna watu walitegemea leo ningejibu mapigo na ningewazodoa watu kwa majina kama ilivyo kawaida katika siasa za Tanzania. Natambua pia kwamba, kama ilivyo kawaida wakati wa migogoro katika vyama vya siasa hapa Tanzania, kuna watu walitegemea leo ningetangaza 'maamuzi magumu'. Natambua kwamba wapo ambao wangependa kupata nafasi ya kuendelea kutumia suala hili katika harakati zao za kudhoofisha mapambano ya demokrasia na uthabiti wa siasa za ushindani nchini mwetu

Napenda wanachama wa CHADEMA na wapenda demokrasia na siasa safi wote nchini

 watambue kwamba mimi bado ni mwanachama mwaminifu wa chama hiki na nitakuwa wa mwisho kutoka kwenye chama hiki kwa hiari yangu. Nitafuata taratibu zote ndani ya chama katika kuhitimisha jambo hili.b) Naomba wanachama waelewe kwamba mimi kama binadamu ninaumia ninapopigwa. Tuhuma ninazorushiwa ni kubwa na zinanikwaza. Tuache siasa za uzushi ili tujenge chama chetu na nchi yetu, ili hatimaye tuwakomboe Watanzania wenye matarajio na imani kubwa kwa chama chetu.

c) Kama mwanasiasa kijana niliyekaa katika siasa kwa muda sasa yapo mengi mazuri nimeyafanya. Lakini kuna maeneo nilipojikwaa na yapo makosa niliyofanya kisiasa katika maisha yangu ya siasa.

d) Kinachoendelea ndani ya chama chetu ni mapambano ya kukuza demokrasia. Ni mapambano baina ya wapenda demokrasia dhidi ya wahafidhina, waumini wa uwajibikaji dhidi ya wabadhirifu na wapenda siasa safi dhidi ya watukuzao siasa majitaka. Hii ni changamoto kubwa ndani ya chama chetu inayohitaji uongozi shupavu kuikabili. Nitasimama daima upande wa demokrasia. Kama alivyopata kunena mmoja ya wanasiasa maarufu, 'kiwango cha juu kabisa cha uzalendo katika nchi ni kukubali kutofautiana kimawazo', na ninatamani huu ndio uwe utamaduni wa chama chetu.

Kabwe Zuberi Zitto, Mb

Dar es Salaam.24 Novemba, 2013

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