The story
of my life
after graduation.
The
year 1959/60 was
my final academic
year at Makerere
college, which was
scheduled to end
in March 1960,
when we would sit for
our final examinations. But back home
in
Tanganyika, that was
also the year
when the constitutional progress
to independence gained
greater momentum. It
is during this
year that the
first ever general
elections to
be held in
Tanganyika were
held; in ten large Constituencies which
had been established
for that
purpose. According
the Administrator of
those elections, “the
elections could not be
held simultaneously throughout
the country, because
it was too great
an administrative
undertaking”. Thus, the
said elections were
held in two
separate phases; in
October 1958, and in
February 1959.
The
ten Constituents were
listed as follows:- 1,
Dar es Salam;
2. Eastern Province;
3. Lake Province South
East; 4. Lake
Province West; 5.
Southern Highlands Province;
6. Southern Province; 7.
Western Province; 8. Tanga
Province; 9. Northern
Province; 10. Central Province.
They were designated
as “multi-member constituencies” , with
each constituency required
to elect three
members: one
African, one European,
and one Asian.
Several political parties
actively participated in the said
general elections; but TANU,
and the TANU
supported candidates of all the
three racial groups,
were the only winners.
Thereafter, constitutional
progress to independence
proceeded at a very rapid
pace. The Colonial
Administration made arrangements
for another general election
to be held
in September 1960;
and the number
of Constituencies was
increased to Seventy-one.
When
the elections were
held, TANU, again,
easily won all
the seats. (except
the Mbulu constituency
seat, which was
won by a TANU
independent candidate,
one Herman Sarwatt; who
had stood as
an independent candidate
against TANU’s unpopular, officially sponsored
candidate). A
manifest demonstration of a properly
functioning Parliamentary democracy.
The
unusual
advance offer
of a Government
job.
It
was under such
exciting political conditons,
that I entered
my final academic
year at Makerere
College where, just
before the end
of that year,
something unexpected, and
rather unusual, happened
to me. That was
the ‘advance offer’ to me, of
a senior Civil
Service job,
and from
the Head of
the Tanganyika Government himself !
What happened was that
the Chief Secretary
of the Tanganyika
Government, Mr. John Fletcher Cooke;
had requested our
Principal of Makerere
College, Mr. Bernard de
Bunsen, to recommend
to him one
final year student
from Tanganyika, who
could be considered
for the senior
job of Clerk
of the Tanganyika National
Assembly.
As the Principal himself told me when he called me to his office to deliver the news: “He (the Principal), and the said Chief Secretary, had been college mates in their country England , and they therefore knew each other quite well. And further that the Chief Secretary had just called from Dar es Salaam, to ask him to recommend one suitable Tanganyika student, who was in his final year, who could be considered for training for the sensitive post of Clerk of the National Assembly. The Chief Secretary had told him that in view of the fast approaching Tanganyika’s independence, this was a sensitive position which needed to be Africanized as quickly as possible, mainly for the reason that there was a pending general election (scheduled for 1960), which would, no doubt, be won by a large majority of African members. It will therefore be embarrassing for these members to be serviced by a non-African Administrator in the National Assembly. Hence the urgency to Africanize that post. And that the Chief Secretary had emphasized the need to recommend the right candidate”.
As the Principal himself told me when he called me to his office to deliver the news: “He (the Principal), and the said Chief Secretary, had been college mates in their country England , and they therefore knew each other quite well. And further that the Chief Secretary had just called from Dar es Salaam, to ask him to recommend one suitable Tanganyika student, who was in his final year, who could be considered for training for the sensitive post of Clerk of the National Assembly. The Chief Secretary had told him that in view of the fast approaching Tanganyika’s independence, this was a sensitive position which needed to be Africanized as quickly as possible, mainly for the reason that there was a pending general election (scheduled for 1960), which would, no doubt, be won by a large majority of African members. It will therefore be embarrassing for these members to be serviced by a non-African Administrator in the National Assembly. Hence the urgency to Africanize that post. And that the Chief Secretary had emphasized the need to recommend the right candidate”.
Thereafter
the amiable Principal
disclosed that he
had recommended me, “because I
was the only candidate who
fits the bill”,
and continued thus: “ I
have several good
reasons for picking
you. One, you are
in your final
year, which is
what the Chief
Secretary wanted. Two, I sought
and obtained reports, that you have
already acquired some experience
in the field
of Administration, from
having worked on
a temporary basis
in our College
Administration. Three,
I have also asked for academic
reports
from your professors,
and have been assured that
you are most
likely going to pass
your final examinations,
which is a
necessary condition. And
four, in your role as
Secretary General of
the Students’ Organization,
you must have
acquired some useful
leadership skills, which
will enable you
to work comfortably
with the political
leaders in your
Legislature”. He paused,
and
asked for my
response. I quickly
said that, given
the opportunity, I was ready
and willing to
serve in that
capacity. He nodded,
and told
me that the
Chief Secretary himself
wanted to interview
me in Dar
es Salaam as soon
as possible, and that he had sent
a Government ‘ travel warrant’ for
my travel there
and back to
the College, to
complete the remainder
of my course.
Wow. I was thrilled, and literary overwhelmed by this unexpected, but most welcome good news. I left his office, and started preparing for the journey to Dar es Salaam for the interview. Upon its conclusion, the Chief Secretary was apparently fully satisfied by my performance; because he told me to report for work immediately after completing the examinations, in order to start what he described as “training on the job”. But he made it clear that my formal employment would depend entirely on my passing the final examinations. The final examinations were eventually done and completed in March, 1960; and, as instructed, I went directly to Dar es Salaam, to report for work. Starting my Public Service career.
Wow. I was thrilled, and literary overwhelmed by this unexpected, but most welcome good news. I left his office, and started preparing for the journey to Dar es Salaam for the interview. Upon its conclusion, the Chief Secretary was apparently fully satisfied by my performance; because he told me to report for work immediately after completing the examinations, in order to start what he described as “training on the job”. But he made it clear that my formal employment would depend entirely on my passing the final examinations. The final examinations were eventually done and completed in March, 1960; and, as instructed, I went directly to Dar es Salaam, to report for work. Starting my Public Service career.
I
duly reported for duty at the
Speaker’s office on 14th
April, 1960;
and that was
the beginning of
what turned out
to be a fairly long, and varied,
distinguished Public Service
career, which covered a
total period of
just over fifty
years; during which
I was given
the rare opportunity
to serve my country
in a variety
of top leadership
positions at the
national level, in the varied fields
of Public Administration, Academics,
Politics, and Parliament.
When I
joined, the Speaker’s
Office was a very
small establishment, comprising
only four ‘permanent and
pensionable’ staff members,
and one
Messenger. The permanent
staff members were: 1.
The Clerk of
the National Assembly; 2.
His Personal Secretary;
3. The Clerk Assistant;
and 4. The
general office Clerk.
I was taken
on as temporary
“Clerk-Assistant (Training Grade)”,
pending receipt
of the examination
results. The
Speakership was just
a respectable, non-paid,
honorary position; and
the Speaker actually
had no office
in the Speaker’s
Office. Unfortunately, my
mother also died
during that same
moth.
But
I must have
started pretty well
in my new
job; because, on 20th May, 1960, the Chief
Secretary himself made
the following encouraging
comments, in his
speech inside the House,
while adjourning that
day’s sitting of
the Legislative Council:
“This also gives
me the opportunity
of extending a welcome
to the latest recruit
to the Legislative
Council of Tanganyika.
I am referring
to Mr. Pius Msekwa, who
has now come
to play his
part in our
deliberations, and whose
voice I personally
find extremely attractive
when he reads
out the Bills (Applause).
I wish him
the best of
good fortune as
Clerk of the
House in training;
and I hope
that one of
these days, I
will come back and
see him presiding
at the Table
here” (Applause).
The September
1960 general elections.
On
the political front,
the first major
political event which
I witnessed, was
the holding of the
crucial (pre-independence) 1960
general elections for
Members of Parliament,
which the Government
Chief Secretary had
referred to, in
his communication with
the Makerere College.
This was this
election that was
going to determine
whether, or not,
TANU would win
a sufficient number
of parliamentary seats,
for it to
qualify for the right to
form the first
independence Government of
Tanganyika. Hence, for
TANU, and especially
for its leader
Mwalimu Nyerere, it was a
“do or die”
business undertaking; despite
the fact that the party’s huge
success in the previous 1958/9
elections had instilled
a
huge boost to its members’
morale and self-confidence.
The number of constituents had been increased from the previous ten, to seventy-one. At the Speaker’s Office, we were therefore busy expanding the seating capacity of the Legislative Council meeting chamber, Karimjee Hall, in order to create enough space for the increased number of the incoming Legislators.
The number of constituents had been increased from the previous ten, to seventy-one. At the Speaker’s Office, we were therefore busy expanding the seating capacity of the Legislative Council meeting chamber, Karimjee Hall, in order to create enough space for the increased number of the incoming Legislators.
As we
have already seen
above, when the
elections were eventually
held, and the
results announced, TANU
had secured victory
in seventy of
the seventy-one constituencies , its
candidates having been
elected unopposed in fifty-eight
of those constituencies. Mwalimu
Nyerere was thus
invited by the Governor to
form a new Government,
which was constitutionally designated as
“Responsible Government”, headed
by Nyerere himself
as Chief Minister.
But the Cabinet
of Ministers was
to be under
the Chairmanship of
the Governor.
However, after that, constitutional development continued at an even more rapid pace, such that on 1st May, 1961, the “Responsible Government” was re-designated “ Internal Self-Government”, and Mwalimu Nyerere’s title was re-designated as “Prime Minister”, who also became the Chairman of the cabinet of Ministers, replacing the Governor.
However, after that, constitutional development continued at an even more rapid pace, such that on 1st May, 1961, the “Responsible Government” was re-designated “ Internal Self-Government”, and Mwalimu Nyerere’s title was re-designated as “Prime Minister”, who also became the Chairman of the cabinet of Ministers, replacing the Governor.
At the
same time, the
Legislative Council was re-designated,
and became the
“National Assembly”, or “Parliament”; the
two words being
used interchangeably. The final stage
in the country’s
constitutional development process,
was, of course, the
granting of independence
to Tanganyika, on 9th December, 1961. But we
will return
to that historic
event some
time later.
With regard
to myself, the awaited
examination results came
out in June
1960, which showed
that I had
passed in the
“first class” category;
I was immediately appointed
substantive “ Clerk-Assistant of
the National Assembly;
and thus joined
the “permanent and
pensionable” category of
staff in the
Tanganyika Civil Service.
I was assigned the particular task of processing the Legislative Bills which were being brought by the Government to the Legislative Council for enactment into laws, most of which were designed to provide the requisite legal regime for Tanganyika’s independence; but they did not include the Bill for the fundamental Tanganyika’s Independence Constitution, for which, a separate procedure had been made, for its enactment in London, by the British Parliament.
In the meantime, because of the critical shortage of trained Tanganyika Africans who could effectively replace those non-African personnel in the Public Service who, for a variety of personal reasons, might want to leave the country upon the attainment of independence, Prime Minister Julius Nyerere issued a formal circular letter, dated 1st May, 1961, and signed by him personally ; which he addressed to each of the expatriate staff individually, urging those who were prepared to remain in the Public Service of Tanganyika after independence, to do so.
I was assigned the particular task of processing the Legislative Bills which were being brought by the Government to the Legislative Council for enactment into laws, most of which were designed to provide the requisite legal regime for Tanganyika’s independence; but they did not include the Bill for the fundamental Tanganyika’s Independence Constitution, for which, a separate procedure had been made, for its enactment in London, by the British Parliament.
In the meantime, because of the critical shortage of trained Tanganyika Africans who could effectively replace those non-African personnel in the Public Service who, for a variety of personal reasons, might want to leave the country upon the attainment of independence, Prime Minister Julius Nyerere issued a formal circular letter, dated 1st May, 1961, and signed by him personally ; which he addressed to each of the expatriate staff individually, urging those who were prepared to remain in the Public Service of Tanganyika after independence, to do so.
In the light
of this open
invitation from the
Prime Minister himself;
Geoffrey Hucks,
the Clerk of
the National Assembly,
became one of
the expatriate Administrative officers
who willingly opted
to remain in
the Service of
Tanganyika after independence;
and he continued
to serve until
9th December, 1962; when Tanganyika became
a Republic. But
that ‘transition period’ was usefully utilized
by sending me out
for a
three-month practical
training attachment, at
the British Parliament,
the House of
Commons at Westminster
in London.
Will be
continued next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment