DRAFT MANUSCRIPT FOR MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY (4) (Continued from last week)

The pre-independence Constitutional Conference.

As indicated in last week’s article, the next and final stage in the colonial Administration’s plans for Tanganyika’s constitutional  development,  was  the  achievement  of  the  country’s  independence.     It  was  standard  British  Government  procedure,  and  a  mandatory  requirement,  for  the  act  of  granting  independence  to  all  its  colonies and  its  other  Administered   Territories,  to  be  preceded  by  the  holding  of  a  “Constitutional  Conference” ;   presided  over  by  a  representative  of  the  British  Government,  and  attended  by  representatives  of  the  country  seeking  independence.                                                           These conferences had the twin purpose of reaching agreement on the contents of the new  country  that  was  to  be  granted  independence,  and   determining  the  actual  date  of  that  country’s  independence;  and  they  were  always  held  at  Lancaster  House  in  London.                  But something exceptional happened in the case of Tanganyika, namely that, unlike all other  countries  that  were  granted  independence,  both    before, and  after  Tanganyika;   our  conference  was  held  at  Karimjee  Hall  in  Dar  es  Salaam;  from  27^th  to  29^th  March,  1961. I had just returned from my ‘attachment training’ at the House of Commons, with good performance reports.    But   I   was involved only peripherally in the preparations   of the conference venue, Karimjee Hall;  plus  facilitating  the  attendance  of  about  four  upcountry   Members  of  Parliament  who  had  been  selected  to  form  part  of  the  Tanzania  delegation  at   that  conference.  The date of   28^th December, 1961 was agreed as the date for Tanganyika’s independence; but   this was subsequently   brought forward to   9^th December,  1961.

 Another exceptional feature of that conference, is that   its main business    was completed in only two days, with the third day being  utilized  for  the  closing  ceremony.  This was  largely  because  Mwalimu  Nyerere  did  not  want  to  waste  valuable  time  discussing  the  draft  “Tanganyika  Independence  Constitution”  which  had  been  proposed  by  the  British  Delegation,  primarily  because  of  his  strong  conviction  that  the  making  of  a  country’s  Constitution  was  the  business  solely  of  the  country  concerned,  thus  the  out-going  colonial  rulers  had  no  right to  participate  in  that  process.  So  he,  on  behalf  of  his  delegation,  proposed   only  very  few  amendments  to  the  said  draft,  the  main  one  being   the  rejection  of  the  proposed    establishment  of  an   “Upper  House  of  Parliament”,  which  was  to  be  designated  as    the   “House  of  Chiefs”;  with  the  National  Assembly  being  the  “Lower  House”.  

Prime Minister Julius Nyerere’s priorities:  trained   manpower.

We have already seen that Tanganyika achieved “internal Self Government” on 1^st May, 1961; and Mwalimu Nyerere’s title was changed to “Prime Minister”, when he also became “Head of  Government”.   In an evening broadcast to the nation after he had taken the oath of office earlier   that day, the Prime Minister disclosed his  top  priorities  in  tackling  the  challenges  ahead.  He said the following, among other things: “Our educational development is far behind that of   Ghana and  Nigeria;  and  indeed  behind   even  that  of  Kenya  and  Uganda. Therefore, we do not start with the trained manpower that we need for the rapid development  of  our  country”.                       

Thus, in  order  to   meet  that  critical  challenge  of  the   lack  of  trained  manpower;    one  of  his  earliest   decisions  he  took  as  Prime  Minister,   was  to  establish   a  University  College;  initially   to  be  located  in  a large  building   situated  along  Lumumba  Street  in  Dar  es  Salaam,   which  had   been  erected  by  TANU  to  be  used   as  its  national   Headquarters;   This  was  disclosed    by  the  Prime  Minister   himself,  at  the  opening   ceremony   of  that  building  held   on 28^th  July,  1961;  at  which  he  announced  that  the  building  was  being  rented  to  the  Government,   for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  University  College,  and  further   that  the  College  would  receive  its  first  students  before  the  end  of  that  year.                                                                             

This was subsequently followed, in rapid succession, by other similar events.  For on the next day, July 29^th, 1961; the Prime Minister opened   Kivukoni College, another  educational  Institution  designed  to  train  the  leaders   of  the  new,  soon  to  be,  independent  Tanganyika.  And on   1^st August, the Prime Minister opened the Police College; for the training of commissioned  police  officers.  “These events” he said in his speech   at that ceremony, “are indicative, but no more  than  indicative,  of  Government’s  relentless  efforts   to  educate  our  people  for  the  responsibilities  they  must  shoulder  in  an  independent  Tanganyika.  The Government is   fully determined to continue with this work, in spite of obvious  difficulties  . . . .”

UHURU   Day, 9^th December, 1961.

Tanganyika  eventually   became  free from  colonial  domination,  fully  united  behind  TANU,  and  democratic  in  its  government,  and  its  way  of  life;  thus ending   a  grand  total  of  seventy-five  long  years  of  colonial  domination:  33  years  by  the  Germans (1885  to  1918);  and  42  years  by  the  British (1919 to 1961). TANU had mobilized the people to organize their own celebration events wherever they lived, and, indeed, there was  fisting  and  merry making  throughout  the  country,  right  down  to  the  lowest  community  social  levels.                                    

At  the  national  level,  I  was  invited  to  all  the  major  celebration  functions,   staring  with   military  tattoo  at  the  newly  built   open  air  National  Stadium   on  the  evening  of  8^th  December,  1961,  followed,  at  precisely  midnight,  by  the  lowering  (for  the  last  time),  of  the  British  Flag,  the  Union  Jack;   followed  by  the  ceremonial  raising  of  Tanganyika’s  new  Flag.   On the morning of   independence day itself, 9^th December, 1961, and at the same venue; there was held  the  formal  function   of  handing  over  the “Instruments  of  Independence”   by the  Duke  of  Edinburg,  to  Prime  Minister  Julius  Nyerere.   And, in the evening, there was the   glittering “independence State Ball”; a ‘black tie’   function   held   at  the  Diamond  Jubilee  Hall,  in Upanga.                           

But the most relevant function for me personally, was the “State Opening of Parliament” by the Duke of Edinburgh on the morning  of  10^th  December,  1961,  at  Karimjee  Hall;   for  which  we,  at  the  Speaker’s  Office,  had  meticulously  rehearsed,  again  and  again.                             

That was the final Uhuru celebrations event, after which, Prime Minister Nyerere went off to New York, to deliver an independence address to  the  United  Nations  General  Assembly  on  14^th  December,  1961.  It should be remembered, that until 8^th December 1961, Tanganyika had been   a ‘Trust Territory’, only administered by the British.  This was   a factor which, according to Mwalimu Nyerere himself, “helped us to achieve independence in the way in  which  we  achieved  it”;  i. e,  much  earlier  than  had  been  generally  anticipated.

Mwalimu Nyerere’s resignation as Prime Minister, January 1962.

The Prime Minister’s resignation, which was announced on 22^nd January, 1962 (a mere three weeks after independence), naturally caused a  huge  amount  of  sensation,  both  within  and  outside  Tanganyika;  and  was  also  widely  misunderstood.  In his book titled “Two Africa Statesmen:  Kaunda of Zambia and Nyerere of Tanzania” (Martin  Secker  &  Warburg,  London);   the  author  assesses  that  unusual   event  in  the  following  words:“It  is  virtually  unknown  for  a  politician  to  surrender  his  office  voluntarily.  It is certainly unique for a man to lead his country into independence, and then, almost immediately,  retire  from  the  leading  position.  Inevitably therefore, speculation over the cause for   his   unprecedented    action, spread like wild fire throughout the country, and  far  beyond.   Naturally, it was widely assumed that he had been driven out of office by  his  critics  in  the  Party,  and  the  Trade  Unions;  who  had  openly  opposed  him,  especially  on  his  tolerant  racial  policy,  during  the  months  preceding  independence”.

 I  was,  initially,  among  those  who  were  greatly  puzzled  by  that  action,  but  we  were  all  quickly  reassured  by  his  own  statement  which  he  issued  on  that  same  day,  confirming  that  his  resignation  was  a  wholly   voluntary  action  on  his  part,  after  a  long  debate   with  his  colleagues;  and  that  he  had  himself  selected  the  team  that  would   run  the  Government,  while  he  concentrates  on  re-organizing  the  Party,  TANU,  in  his  capacity  as  its  President.        It was, in fact, soon   thereafter, that he started   making plans for the new “homemade” country’s new   Constitution. 

The   making of Tanganyika’s ‘home made’ Constitution.

The  process  of  making  Tanganyika’s  own  ‘home  made’  Constitution  to  replace  the  British  imposed  Independence  Constitution,  officially   kicked  off  as  early  as    15^th  February,  1962;  when   the  National  Assembly  passed  a  resolution,  asking  the  Government  “ to    make  all  the  necessary  preparations   in  order  to  facilitate   the   transformation  of  Tanganyika,  as  soon  as  may  be  practicable,   into  a  Republic  within  the Commonwealth”.                                                Thus,  all   the  relevant  State  Organs,   including  the  Electoral  machinery,  and   the  National  Assembly;   started  gearing  up  for  implementing    that   fundamental  change;  namely, making  preparations  for  the  election  of  the  President  of  the  Republic,  and  for  the  new  laws  which  would  make  provision  for  the  country’s  new  Republican  status,  including,  of  course,   the  Republican  Constitution   itself.

My British boss Geoffrey   Hucks, the Clerk of the National Assembly was a good man, who was   always willing and ready to give  me  intensive,  practical  ‘training on  the  job’. I had, by then, been appointed substantive ‘Clerk-Assistant”.  Hence he let me do most of his assignments, but under his close   superintendence, These   included   the task   of  organizing  the  Presidential  election,  a  wholly  political  event.   In those days, the administration of national elections was the responsibility of the Speaker’s Office, with the  Speaker  as  Chairman  of  the  Electoral  Commission,  and  the  Clerk  of  the  National  Assembly  as  the  Director  of  Elections.   I was, of course, keen, determined, and anxious, to show that “Yes, I can”.   And, thank God, it all went very well:   the   Tanganyika   Republican Constitution was eventually enacted by the National  Assembly  (which  had  first  been  converted  into   the  “Constituent  Assembly),  on  23^rd  November,  1962. This was closely followed by the holding of the Presidential election towards the end of that same  month;   which   involved   two  candidates:  Julius    Nyerere,  the  TANU  candidate;  and   Zuberi  Mtemvu,   a  candidate  sponsored  by  the  African  National  Congress  (ANC).                      

It was a relatively small electorate of   just about one and   a half   million registered voters. Mwalimu Nyerere received   98.1% of all the valid I, 149, 254 votes   cast; leaving   Zuberi Mtemvu with only 21,276 votes.   He took the oath of office on 9^th December, 1962, as the first and only one President  of  the  short-lived  Republic  of  Tanganyika.   ‘Short-lived’ because within a mere two and a quarter years, on 26^th April, 1964; the country  called  ‘Tanganyika’   was  merged  with  Zanzibar,  to  become   the  United  Republic   of  Tanzania;   a  historic   event  of  major  political  significance. But   that   will be discussed later.   

This   instalment (no 4 in the series), conveniently closes what will be the First Chapter of  my  proposed    autobiography.  But I have realized, that I jumped into this First Chapter, without   first presenting the  customary  Introduction,  which  is  normal  in  the   book  writing  process.  I  have  thus  decided  to  rectify  that  omission,  by  presenting  the  missing  Introduction   at  the  beginning  of  next  week’s   instalment;  before  moving  on  to  Chapter  Two;   which  will  attractively begin  with  the  newly  elected  President  Nyerere  of  the  Republic  of  Tanganyika  being  in  full  command,  like   the  proverbial   “New   Sheriff   in  Town”.

Will be   continued next week.

piomsekwa@gmail.com /0754767576.