Many of our readers will, I believe, readily remember one of the glittering highlights of the year 2019 that has just ended, which was the grand inauguration, on 12th November 2019, of former President Benjamin Mkapa’s ‘Biography’, or the written account of his own life and experiences as President of the United Republic of Tanzania (1995 to 2005), titled “My Life, My Purpose: A Former President Remembers”. But in my case I particularly remember President Magufuli’s powerful speech which he delivered at that event, specifically calling upon all national leaders, both current and retired (like myself), to emulate former President Mkapa’s initiative by writing their own ‘autobiographies’.
Now, there are two ways of writing the story of a person’s life. He can either write it himself, in which case it will be known as his “autography” ; or it can be written by somebody else, in which case it will be known as his “biography”. In the light of some of the speeches delivered at the said event, it would appear that former President Mkapa’s new book is really not an ‘autobiography ‘ (written by himself). It is, instead, a “Biography” (written by somebody else). This is so because of the disclosure that the task of writing that book “was supervised and coordinated by Uongozi Institute, and that this task took four years to complete, at a high cost of Tshs 230 million”. I am fully persuaded, and desirous, of writing my own autobiography, in positive response to President Magufuli’s call; but these hidden factors, namely the lack of professional manpower and financial support, such as was availed to former President Mkapa by Uongozi Institute, I initially felt severely constrained to undertake the said task on my own. But I received an inspiration from a friend, who suggested that this task could still be undertaken piecemeal , through my regular weekly articles in this column which, when eventually put together, could constitute the contents of my autography, or the story of my life written by myself. I quickly accepted his suggestion; and, consequently, today’s article provides the first of what will, inevitably, be a long series of such articles, relating to my proposed autobiography.
The beginning of the story of my life.
Reliable records preserved at the Catholic Church establishment at Kagunguli Parish, Ukerewe District; show that I was born on Saturday, 9th June, 1935, and was baptized only three days later on Tuesday, 9th June, 1935. I was the second born in a family of four children of our parents: Laurenti Chipanda and Philotea Bwizula, both residents of Bugombe village; who were then working as ordinary peasant farmers producing food crops, mainly cassava and millet, plus cotton as a cash crop. I am currently a pensioner, earning the decent, statutory pension, of a retired Speaker of the Parliament of Tanzania. I also have two retirement homes: one in Ukerewe (my birth place); and the other in Dar es Salaam (where I lived for most of my working life in the Public Service).
My main preoccupation in retirement , is the writing of books, plus weekly articles, which are published in the Government owned DAILY NEWS every Thursday. These will eventually also be published in book form, to join the list of several other books that I have already published. These include: my first book to enter the market, which was titled “Towards Party Supremacy”, published by Eastern Africa Publications, Dar es Salaam. This was followed by the “Education Policy Formation Before and After the Arusha Declaration”, published by Black Star Agencies, Dar es Salaam in 1979. My next book on the market was “ Essays on the transition to multi-partysm in Tanzania” , published by Dar es Salaam University Press in 1995. Then came the “Reflections on the First Multi-Party Parliament (1995 – 2000); also published by Dar es Salaam University Press in 2000. This was followed by “Reflections on the First Decade of Multi-Party Politics in Tanzania, published by Plus International Limited, Dar es Salaam in 2006, and subsequently by Nyambari Nyangwine Publishers, Dar es Salaam. The next one wa “Uongozi na Utawala wa Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere, published by Nyambari Nyangine Publishers, Dar es Salam in 2012. The next one was “The Story of the Tanzania Parliament”, also published by Nyambari Nyangwine Publishers, Dar es Salaam, in 2012. That is the year when I retired from my last public service position as Vice-Chairman of Chama cha Mapinduzi for Tanzania Mainland; and started writing my weekly articles for publication in the DAILY NEWS.
My early years: the long journey through education.
When I attained the age of five years in 1940, my father sent me to a kindergarten school operated by the missionaries at Kagunguli Parish, in preparation for my entry to the four-year primary school education (standard One to Four) at the same venue, which I commenced in 1943, and completed in 1946; after which there was a competitive examination, which was the qualifying test for entry into the Missionary operated Secondary School (Standards Five to Ten), located at Nyegezi, in Mwanza District; after which there was yet another competitive “Territorial Standard Ten Examination” administered by the Government of Tanganyika; which was the qualifying test for entry into the higher level Secondary education (Standards Eleven and Twelve); after which there was the even more competitive “Cambridge School leaving Examination”, administered by the British colonial Authorities; which was the qualifying test for entry to University-level education. By the grace of God, I passed all these examinations at each level, and with the highest grades, that easily qualified me for advancement to the next higher level of learning; and eventually graduated from Makerere College, (the University College of East Africa affiliated to London University), with Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Degree in History, in March 1960.
Some memorable events during that period.
One particular event that directly and effectively affected my life at that early stage, was the death of my father Laurenti, which occured in Musoma Government Hospital, where he had been taken for treatment. This happened in early January 1948, just as the Christmas and New Year School holidays were coming to an end. I had, by then, completed Standard Seven at Nyegezi Secondary School, and was anxiously waiting for my sick father to come back, for him to give me the school fees for the School year that had just started, in which I would enter Standard Six. Then on one cruel day, my uncle, who had travelled to Musoma Hospital on hearing that his brother’s health had deteriorated, returned to our house with the bad news of my father’s death. We were thus suddenly grief-stricken, and entered the stipulated traditional period of mourning. The loss of one’s parent is always grievously disconcerting. But for me personally, I had also lost the sole benefactor, who was paying for my education fees and other expenses. It was a moment of despondency and despair. I actually gave up hope of returning to School, and came to the conclusion that the death of my father had also meant the end of my educational career. However, unbelievably, and indeed most fortuitously, God’s miracle unexpectedly occurred very quickly thereafter, in the form of an unsolicited, anonymous benefactor, who suddenly emerged on the scene in the most unusual circumstances, as detailed here below.
The appearance of an unsolicited benefactor.
By some miraculous coincidence, it so happened that when our family was still mourning the death of my departed father, an Indian Merchant who was operating a business in Ukerewe, whose name was Walji Ratanji Rughani, ( he was one of about three hundred or so Indians of mainly of Gujerati descent, then living and working in Ukerewe, as traders). This Mr. Walji one day decided, entirely on his own volition, to visit the Catholic Missionary Parish Priest of Kagunguli Parish, a French Canadian whose name was Father Vachon. Mr. Walji had gone there, surprisingly enough, in order to make an offer of scholarships which he said he was willing and ready, to grant to some deserving students of Ukerewe. He reportedly told the Parish Priest that “Because he had earned his considerable wealth in Ukerewe, it was his wish and desire, to express his gratitude to the people of Ukerewe, who were his primary customers and had, through their continued dedicated support, enabled him to acquire the wealth that he had accumulated”. He went on to tell the Parish Priest that to start with, he was going to offer a total of ten scholarships to the students of Kagunguli School, but would start immediately by offering two scholarships, for a boy and a girl. He asked the Parish Priest to select the two candidates, and give them letters of introduction, which they should personally bring to him at his shop.
Mr. Waljis’ visit to the Parish Priest, turned out to be my magical “lucky charm”. Fortunately, the Priest was personally aware of my plight. (I had been a good ‘altar boy’ prior to my transfer to Nyegezi Secondary School, so he knew me personally). He therefore immediately sent for me , to deliver the news that I had been selected as the first recipient of Mr. Walji’s scholarships. He also gave me the requisite introductory letter, which I delivered to Mr. Walji first thing in the morning of the next day.
And that is how I found myself in the caring hands of this public spirited benefactor, who actually paid for all my educational requirements, all the way until my graduation at Makerere University College. That is what literally saved my education career, which otherwise would have ended at Standard Five. In view of my father’s death that had just occurred, this was a most appropriate, and indeed most welcome, condolence gift.
Another event, equally pleasant and welcome, also occurred in the course of my studies at Nyegezi Secondary School. This was when I was unexpectedly declared the sole winner of a School Award, designated as “Tuzo ya Tabia Njema”. We were subsequently informed that the procedure for this Award was for each of our Teachers, working alone and without consulting any other person, to make a candid assessment of each of the students he was teaching in class, on the basis of certain specified benchmarks, relating to outstanding academic performance, plus the general conduct and behaviour of the student being assessed. In terms of academic performance, I had apparently been placed on top of all the students in the whole School, for proficiency in the English language; apart from scooping excellent marks in all the other areas that were being assessed. News of this award highly impressed my benefactor Mr. Walji, who made a special trip to the School, in order to hear it live from the Headmaster. And as for myself, this Award spurred me to even greater efforts, enabling me to emerged top of our class in the final Government Territorial Standard Ten Examinations.
However, to Mr. Walji’s great disappointment, none of the other recipients of his scholarships ever made it to the apex of the educational pyramid, like myself; just because of the very tough competition, through examinations, which a student had to pass with distinction in order to qualify for the very few places that were available at each stage of the educational ladder.
And that is how I found myself in the caring hands of this public spirited benefactor, who actually paid for all my educational requirements, all the way until my graduation at Makerere University College. That is what literally saved my education career, which otherwise would have ended at Standard Five. In view of my father’s death that had just occurred, this was a most appropriate, and indeed most welcome, condolence gift.
Another event, equally pleasant and welcome, also occurred in the course of my studies at Nyegezi Secondary School. This was when I was unexpectedly declared the sole winner of a School Award, designated as “Tuzo ya Tabia Njema”. We were subsequently informed that the procedure for this Award was for each of our Teachers, working alone and without consulting any other person, to make a candid assessment of each of the students he was teaching in class, on the basis of certain specified benchmarks, relating to outstanding academic performance, plus the general conduct and behaviour of the student being assessed. In terms of academic performance, I had apparently been placed on top of all the students in the whole School, for proficiency in the English language; apart from scooping excellent marks in all the other areas that were being assessed. News of this award highly impressed my benefactor Mr. Walji, who made a special trip to the School, in order to hear it live from the Headmaster. And as for myself, this Award spurred me to even greater efforts, enabling me to emerged top of our class in the final Government Territorial Standard Ten Examinations.
However, to Mr. Walji’s great disappointment, none of the other recipients of his scholarships ever made it to the apex of the educational pyramid, like myself; just because of the very tough competition, through examinations, which a student had to pass with distinction in order to qualify for the very few places that were available at each stage of the educational ladder.
To be continued next week.
piomsekwa @gmail.com / 0754767576.
Source: Daily News and Cde Msekwa Himself.
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