One of the greatest truths in both physics and politics is this: power never disappears—it merely changes form. Just as energy can neither be created nor destroyed, political power, too, is a conserved force that shifts, mutates, and re-emerges. Tanzania’s recent history is a masterclass in this invisible law. Under the late President John Magufuli, the country witnessed a deliberate compression of democratic energy. Opposition rallies were banned, media voices silenced, and civil liberties choked under an increasingly authoritarian grip. The 2020 general elections—tainted by accusations of fraud and intimidation—did not destroy dissent; they simply converted it into dormant potential energy, locked within the state’s total control. What appeared as political dominance was, in essence, the gathering of immense pressure beneath the surface of the republic.

When Magufuli passed away in 2021 and Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan took over, that compressed energy found a new expression. For a moment, Tanzania seemed to exhale. Political dialogue resumed, exiled opposition leaders like Tundu Lissu returned, and the media regained a measure of freedom. Yet this was not the dismantling of power but its phase shift—a transformation from brute coercion to soft diplomacy. The ruling party, CCM, maintained its institutional grip, only trading kinetic repression for the subtler currency of legitimacy and international goodwill. Tanzania’s newfound openness was real, but it was carefully managed; the core quantum of control remained untouched. The machinery of power, having changed its form, retained its full magnitude, calibrated now for persuasion instead of fear.

By 2023, the cycle completed itself. The language of reform gave way once more to the mechanics of control. Opposition figures were again entangled in legal webs, critics silenced through procedural precision, and the state’s energy of dominance reappeared cloaked in legality. The lesson is universal: no political power is ever destroyed—it only transforms. What matters is not whether power exists, but how it is expressed, shared, and held accountable. Citizens must therefore act as the catalysts of transformation, ensuring that this energy—inevitable, immense, and perpetual—remains a force for justice rather than repression. The equation, always, must balance.