On
Monday of this week, 9th December,
2019; Tanzanians across
the country duly
celebrated the 58th anniversary
of former Tanganyika’s
independence (now Tanzania Mainland). For
the past two
weeks, this column
has been concentrating
on giving some
nuggets of useful
information, that could
form part of
the contents of
the highly desired
biography of Mwalimu
Julius Nyerere; I was thus persuaded,
for this auspicious occasion, to
write a similar
piece on Mwalimu
Nyerere’s efforts in
his struggle for
our country’s Uhuru. Hence,
today’s article just presents
one
additional instalment, in
my series on Mwalimu
Nyerere’s possible biography
tome. This one is
specifically focused
on Mwalimu Nyerere’s ingenious
strategies, which he
used in fast-tracking
the achievement of
Tanzania mainland’s Uhuru. In
that connection, there
is one major
event which deserves
to be mentioned;
namely, Mwalimu Nyerere’s
astute handling
of the pre-independence Constitutional Conference,
as a strategy
for achieving
his primary
purpose of getting independence
BEFORE the
end of the
year 1961.
The pre-independence Constitutional Conferences.
It
was standard British
Government practice and
procedure, but amounting
to a mandatory
requirement, for the act of granting
of independence to all
its
colonies (and its
other colonial entities
known as ‘British
Administered Territories)’; to be
preceded by the
holding of formal
constitutional conferences, attended
by representatives of the British
Government, and those
of the country
seeking independence. These conferences had the
twin purposes of: (a) reaching
agreement on the
contents of the
new Constitution of
the country that
was to be
granted independence; and
(b) determining the
date of that
country’s independence.
Something
exceptional happened.
That routine was also
applied to Tanganyika.
But in our case, something
quite unusual happened.
For all the other
countries concerned, the
venue of these
constitutional conference was,
invariably, Lancaster House
in London. For example,
Ghana and Nigeria,
which were granted
independence before Tanganyika
in 1957 and
1960 respectively, had their constitutional conferences held
at Lancaster House,
London. And so were those
that received their
independence after Tanganyika,
such as the
neighbouring Easter
African countries of
Kenya (1963); Zanzibar (1963);
and Uganda (1964); whose
constitutional conferences were also
held at Lancaster House,
London.
But Tanganyika became the proverbial “exception to the Rule”, because, unlike those others, our constitutional conference was held at the famous Karimjee Hal in Dar es Salaam, from 27th to 29th March, 1961. Indeed, this was a very unusual exception which, in my humble opinion, can only be attributed to Mwalimu Nyerere’s iconic influence. It thus richly deserves a place in his anticipated biography which, not only ought to be written, but must actually be written.
But Tanganyika became the proverbial “exception to the Rule”, because, unlike those others, our constitutional conference was held at the famous Karimjee Hal in Dar es Salaam, from 27th to 29th March, 1961. Indeed, this was a very unusual exception which, in my humble opinion, can only be attributed to Mwalimu Nyerere’s iconic influence. It thus richly deserves a place in his anticipated biography which, not only ought to be written, but must actually be written.
We
have already referred
above, to the
twin purposes of these
conferences. An additional
practice was for
the British delegation
to bring their
own draft Constitution, which
would be submitted
for consideration at
the relevant conference.
These were standard
drafts, which invariably
placed the new
country into what
was known, in
constitutional parlance, as
“Dominion” status; whereby
the British Queen continued to
be the Head
of State of
the new country,
represented at the
local level by
a Governor-General appointed
by her Majesty.
Apparently
Mwalimu Julius Nyerere,
who was renowned
as ‘a man
of principle’; was
of the settled
view that the
British had no
right whatsoever, to
have any say
in the formulation
of an independent country’s
basic law, namely
its Constitution; and
that this was
the exclusive right
of the people
of the concerned
country themselves, acting alone, to determine
the kind of
Constitution under which
they will be governed.
Thus, armed
with that philosophical conviction,
Mwalimu Nyerere duly
attended the Tanganyika
Constitutional conference, at
the head of
a small delegation
of TANU leaders,
fully determined
to waste no
time arguing on
the Tanganyika Independence
draft Constitution which
was brought by
the British delegation.
And
that is when the
unexpected happened. For, if you
discount the unavoidable
formalities of the
opening ceremony on the first
day of the conference on 27th March;
and those of
the closing ceremony
on 29th march,
1961; the really
serious business was
conducted, and completed,
in the record
time of only one
day, 28th March,
1961.
This
was made possible
simply because, after
the date of
independence had been agreed, to
his and his
TANU delegation’s complete satisfaction; Mwalimu
Nyerere felt that
the primary objective
of that conference
had been achieved,
and its mission
accomplished. Matters
relating to the
Constitution could wait,
to be settled
later by the
in-coming “Government of
the people, elected
by the people ,
and fully answerable
to them”.
Mwalimu Nyerere’s
main concern was
only reaching agreement on the
date of Tanganyika’s
independence, because he had solemnly promised
the people of Tanganyika, that
TANU would fight
to ensure that
independence is achieved
before the
end of the
year 1961. Consequently,
he was
morally bound to
have that promise
fulfilled. And , by
the grace of
God, it was indeed
fulfilled. The said
constitutional conference unanimously
agreed that Tanganyika
would become independent
on 28th December,
1961. But
soon thereafter, and
rather suddenly, something
else happened. Fancy
gossip started circulating
among the British
officials then working
for the Tanganyika
Government, that Her
Majesty the Queen had
rejected that date,
as being inconvenient for
the Royal family,
and therefore unsuitable
as Tanganyika’s date
of independence! And
the reason for
that ? It was
narrated, with considerable
excitement, that ‘Her Majesty
had decided to
send her own
husband, Prince Phillip, the Duke of
Edinburgh, to represent
her at the
Independence celebrations in
Dar es Salaam,
and to present
the relevant “Instruments of
Independence” to Tanganyika’s
Prime Minister, Mwalimu
Julius Nyerere. And
further that 28th December
would be inconvenient
for the Royal
family, because it
meant that the
Queen’s husband would be away from
Buckingham Palace (travelling
to and from
Dar es Salaam,
plus staying there
for a couple of
days attending
those celebrations), which would keep
him away for the
greater part
of the festive
week relating to Christmas
and New Year
festivals. This so the
gossip went, was
completely unacceptable to the Royal
family’.
But,
as it later
turned out, this
gossip was, in
fact, representing the undisclosed
truth. For the
date of Tanganyika’s
independence was indeed
changed to 9th December,
1961 (instead of the originally
agreed date of 28th December, 1961); and also yes,
it was the Queen’s
husband who turned
up to grace
Tanganyika’s independence celebrations , on 9th December,
1961.
It is
pretty obvious that
Mwalimu Nyerere had no influence whatsoever
over the alleged
Royal family
concerns; because the
news that 9th of
December, 1961 was going to be the new date for Tanganyika’s
independence, was first
announced in the
British Parliament, the
House of Commons, by
the then British
Government Secretary for
the colonies, Ian
MacLeod; and
only conveyed to
the Tanganyika general
public the next
day, through the
mass media.
Except that, the
bringing down of
that event to
such an earlier
date, must have
taken into consideration, Mwalimu’s
determination to have
independence achieved before the
end of the
year 1961. Thus,
for him, the
earlier the colonialists
left, the better.
The quick
disposal of the unacceptable Independence
Constitution.
We
have already referred
above, to Mwalimu
Nyerere’s firm conviction,
that the an
independent country’s Constitution
should not be the subject of
negotiations with the
out-going colonial Administration, as
it was a
matter solely for the
people of the
country concerned themselves, to determine
the kind of
Constitution that would
govern them.
We also
referred to his
strategy of refusing to
waste valuable time
discussing the
British-initiated draft of
Tanganyika’s independence Constitution, during
the constitutional conference.
But, although Mwalimu Nyerere and his TANU delegation had meekly accepted the British draft which was presented there; that was only Mwalimu Nyerere’s ingenious strategy for fast-tracking the achievement of independence (Kubali yaishe). For, he did not mince words when, subsequently, he expressed his true feelings about that (imposed) document, in the following scathing words:- “It was, essentially, an alien document which, in the eyes of the people of Tanganyika, appeared to be the embodiment of colonial, or neo-colonial, paternalism”.
But, although Mwalimu Nyerere and his TANU delegation had meekly accepted the British draft which was presented there; that was only Mwalimu Nyerere’s ingenious strategy for fast-tracking the achievement of independence (Kubali yaishe). For, he did not mince words when, subsequently, he expressed his true feelings about that (imposed) document, in the following scathing words:- “It was, essentially, an alien document which, in the eyes of the people of Tanganyika, appeared to be the embodiment of colonial, or neo-colonial, paternalism”.
This was
due to the
fact that the
said Constitution had, actually,
retained the British
Queen as the
Head of State
of an independent
Tanganyika, who was to be
was represented here in
the country, by her appointed
Governor- General. The executive
power of the new
State was to
be exercised by
the Governor- General,
who was empowered
to appoint the
Prime Minister , and all
the Ministers. He was
also the Chairman
of the cabinet.
The appointed Prime
Minister would, indeed, become
the ‘Head of
Government’; but many
ordinary people, could
not notice the narrow
distinction between the
powers of the
‘Head of State’ (the
Governor-General) and those
of the Prime
Minister; just because
the Governor-General continued
to live and
operate from State
House, surrounded by
all the visible
symbols of State
power; while the
Prime Minister had
to live privately
elsewhere in Town, and to operate in
far less dignified
surroundings. This basic
principle, i.e, the
need for a
governance system which
is clearly understood
by the people,
is what made
Mwalimu Nyerere unwilling
to negotiate the
contents of the
newe independent Tanganyika’s
Constitution with the
British Administration, who
might not readily understand, or even appreciate,
the need for
a Constitution which
is radically different
from their standard
model Constitution that
separates the ‘Head
of State’ from
the Head from
the ‘Head of
Government’; which
they routinely imposed on
all their former
Administered Territories.
Thus,
true to his
word, within a
mere one month
after the country’s
independence, Mwalimu Nyerere
formally initiated
the process of
giving the country
a brand new, ‘home made’
Constitution that would
make sense to
the people; whose
end result was
the Republican Constitution of 1962,
which took effect
on 9th December,
1962, the first
anniversary of the
country’s independence anniversary.
The
enactment of the
Republican Constitution was the
culmination of a
lengthy process, involving
close consultation with the people,
premised on what
was called a ‘Government White
Paper’, (The issuance
of “Government White
Papers” was a typical, inherited
British practice).
‘Government White Paper’
simply means ‘ a
document published by the Government,
giving detailed explanations
regarding an important
policy matter, that
is to be
subsequently submitted
to Parliament for
legislative purposes’.
The White
Paper in this
case, contained detailed
proposals for the
proposed new Republican
Constitution, which would
be based on the two basic principles;
namely :- “(i) That as
far as possible,
the Instruments of
Government must be
such that they
can be easily
understood by the
people concerned; and (ii) That
the Executive should
have the necessary
powers to carry
out the functions
of a modern
State, specifically, the
achievement of rapid
economic development, and
the provision of
the essential social
services”.
The White Paper further
elaborated, that
“an economically underdeveloped country
faces particularly difficult
tasks in holding
the new nation
together, plus eradicating
widespread poverty, ignorance,
and disease. Hence,
the difficulty of
these tasks requires
that the Executive should
be given extra
powers”.
The enactment
of the Republican
Constitution was, undoubtedly,
one of Mwalimu
Nyerere’s ‘happiest moments’.
piomsekwa@gmail,com /0754767576.
Source: Daily News and Cde Msekwa himself.
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