The Chant of Savant

Thursday 9 April 2020

MY APPOINTMENT AS PERMANENT SECRETARY, PRIME MINISTER’s OFFICE (PMO).


HabarileoWe closed our last week’s discussions at the point of the tragic death of Premier Edward Sokoine; which caused   a  major  reorganization  of  the  Government  at  the  cabinet  and  Permanent  Secretary  levels. I was directly involved in that reorganization.  On one fine morning, I was called by telephone and instructed to report to President Nyerere at 14.00 hours that afternoon. I did as I was instructed.  On arrival in his office, I found the President in a very relaxed mood.   After exchanging the usual pleasantries, he informed me that he had selected Salim Ahmed Salim for the Premiership; and immediately went on to add that he had also appointed me as Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office.   And, rather surprisingly, he also explained, at length, why he had selected me for that job! It was at the end of the President’s rather extraordinary, openhearted disclosures, when I realized that   his selection of Salim Ahmed Salim for Prime Minister, was designed to implement his succession plan   which had been frustrated by Premier So koine’s tragic death.  Now he wanted Salim to be his successor in State House.                      
And I also realized, that he wanted me to assist him in making that plan a success; by helping to make Salim Ahmed Salim a successful Prime Minister, in order to further strengthen his  capability  for  succession  to  the  Presidency. When  I  gave  my  affirmative  reply  after  he  had  finished  his  friendly  discourse, namely  that  I  was  quite ready  to  undertake  that new  assignment,  he  informed  me  that  he  was  finalizing  his  cabinet  line-up  that  afternoon;  and   would  announce  all  the  new  appointments  in  his  evening  radio  broadcast  that  same  day.  He wished me good  luck  in  my  new  assignment;  and  allowed  me  to  leave  his  office.         
Zanzibar President Aboud Jumbe’s  forced  resignation.
The events just described above, occurred at  the  beginning  of  May,  1984.  But before that, in February, 1984; another  event  of  significant  political  importance  had  also  taken  place. This was the forced resignation (read  dismissal) of    Hon. Aboud Jumbe, the  President  of  Zanzibar,  and   Union  Government  Vice President,  who  was also  the  Vice-Chairman  of  CCM,  the  Ruling  party,  from  all  those  positions.                                          
The only source of  his  troubles,  was  his  secret  attempt  to  alter  the  (sacred)  two- Government  structure  of  the  Union  between Tanganyika  and  Zanzibar.   He  was literally ‘caught  in  the action’,  of  doing  that,  with  the  assistance  of  a  Ghanaian  constitutional  lawyer  whom  he  had  privately  invited  to Zanzibar,  and assigned  the task of drafting  a  Constitution  which  purportedly  would  have  replaced  the two-government  structure  with  a  Federal  three-government  structure,  consisting  of  the State  governments  of  Tanganyika  and  of  Zanzibar;  plus a  Federal  government  of  the  United  Republic.                                                          
This matter was brought  to  light  by  Mwalimu  Nyerere  himself,   at  the regular   February  meeting  of  the  party’s  National  Executive  Committee,  which  was  held  in  Dodoma  in  January 1984,  and  which  I  attended.   It was an usually tense  meeting.  When the accusations were  first  raised,  President  Aboud  Jumbe  attempted  to  deny  having  taken  any  such  action,  but  his  defense  was of  no  value,  in  the  face  of  incriminating  documentary  evidence  that  President  Nyerere  ha  gathered. When this evidence was ‘laid  on  the  Table’;  Aboud  Jumbe  had  no  choice  but  to  admit having taken  those  steps,  but  for  what,  he  said,   he  believed  was  “the  general  good  of  the  country”.  It is upon such  admission  that  he  was  ordered  to  resign  immediately  from  all  his  government  and  party  positions;  an  order  which  he  magnanimously  obeyed,  by  announcing  his  resignation  orally  right  there  at  that  meeting;  followed  by  resignation  letters  addressed  to  the  relevant  Authorities.
The 1984   Major Constitutional Reforms.
The year 1984 is also notable for the  significant  constitutional  reforms,  which  were  introduced  in  the  country’s  Union  Constitution  of  1977;  as  well  as  in  the  Zanzibar  Constitution  of  1979.    These reforms were a direct result  of  the  work  which  had  been   done  in  order  to  implement  the  CCM  directives  which  were  contained  in  “MWONGOZO  WA  CCM  WA  1981”.  These 1981 CCM Guidelines were  the  successor  to  the  TANU  Guidelines  of  1971;  and  their  issuance was  the  next  important  political  milestone  after  the  birth  of  Chama  cha  Mapinduzi  in  1977.  This  Guidelines  document  had  been  adopted  by  the  CCM  National  Executive  Committee  meeting  in  Dar es Salaam  in  December, 1981:  “after  a  careful  consideration  and  evaluation  of  the  existing  state  of  affairs  in  the  areas  of  our  politics,  and  our  social  and  economic  development;  and  having  realized  that  it  was  necessary  to  issue  new  directives  in  order  to  spell  out  more  clearly,  the  correct  implementation  strategies  to  ensure  the eventual  achievement  of  our  development  vision”.                                                
In   relation to the reforms in the Constitution, the Guidelines had even identified the  specific areas  which  needed  reform.  It  is  commendable  that  the  process  of  implementing  this  directive,  had  commenced  almost  immediately;  for  the  National  Executive  Committee  had  quickly  appointed  a  Constitution  Review  Commission,  which  was  given  the  task  of  making  proposals  for  the  amendments  that  were  required  to  be  made  both  to  the  Union  Constitution,  and  to  the  Constitution  of  Zanzibar.   I was fortunate, and indeed delighted, to have been appointed a member of  that  Commission.   Also, on that Commission was Joseph Warioba.  The two of us were assigned the special responsibility for  closely  studying  the  provisions  of  some  other  Union,  or  Federal  Constitutions  in  the  world,  to  see  if  there  was  anything  useful  we  could  learn  from  them.   For that purpose, the two of us travelled together to  London,  United  Kingdom;  to  study  the  British (unwritten) Constitution  and  their constitutional  practice.  Thereafter Joseph went to Ottawa, Canada, to study the  Canadian  Federal  Constitution;  and  I  went  to  New  Delhi,  India,  to  study  the  Indian  Union  Constitution.                                    
Our Commission worked hard and fast, and we were  able  to  present  our  final  Report  to  the National  Executive  Committee  on  18th  October, 1982;  which,  happily,  was  accepted  with  only  minor amendments.
The basic fundamental reform   provisions.
The said amendments were made by Parliament, through its normal procedures. Our readers   may probably   wish to know the general contents of these amendments. The fundamental provisions which were introduced   for the first time in  our  country’s  Constitution,  were  the  following:-                                                                                                                     
(1) The introduction of the basic Rights Duties of the  citizen  of  Tanzania. These  included:  the  right  to  equality;  the  right  to  life;   the  right  to  personal  freedom;  the  right  to  privacy  and  personal  security;  the  right  to  freedom  of  movement;  of  expression;  of  religion;   and   of  association,  and  participation  in  public  affairs,  subject  to  the  laws  of  the  land.                           But  there  was  also  the  important  proviso,  that  “In  order  that  all  persons  may  benefit  from  the  rights  and  freedoms  specified  in  this  Constitution, every  person  has  the  duty  to  so  conduct  himself  and  his  affairs  in  a  way  that  does  not  infringe  upon  the  rights  and  freedoms  of  others,  or  of  the  public  interest”.
The basic Duties included the  duty  to  participate  in  productive  work;  the  duty  to  abide  by  the  laws  of  the  land;  the  duty  to  safeguard  public  property;  and  the  duty  to  participate  in  the  defence  of  the  nation.
(2)  Another very fundamental historic  reform  which  was  introduced  in  the  1984  Constitutional  amendments,  was  the  introduction  of  a  limitation  to  the  number  of  terms  that  the  President  of  Tanzania  may  serve.  That provision provided a maximum  of  two  five-year  terms.  The argument that  led  to  that  historic  decision was advanced  by  President  Nyerere  himself;  in the  following  words:- “ Whether we  like  it  or  not, a  change of  leadership  must  occur  at  some  point  in   time,  due  to  the  fact that  every  person  will  eventually  die.  But it would be  very  unwise  to  wait  until  death  forces  a  change  of  the  nation’s  leadership;  for  the  stark truth  is  that  however  good  or  efficient  a  particular  leader  may  be;   his  ability  to  deliver  will  diminish  progressively  in  line  with  his  advancing  age.   He will thus, eventually,  tend  to  rely  more  on  old,  and  perhaps  outdated,  methods  of  leadership;  completely  unable  to  take  into  account, or  to  respond  appropriately,  to the  changing  needs  and  circumstances  of  this  rapidly  changing  world. It would therefore be wiser, and  more  prudent,  for  a  nation  to  provide  a  permanent mechanism that  will  ensure  a  smooth  regular  change  of its  top  political  leadership.  We should not leave  it  to  the  incumbent  President  to  decide  when  he  will leave  that  office.  It is the  country’s  Constitution  which  should  make  that  decision  for  him”.                                                    
  The strengthening of ‘people’s power’ at the grassroots level.
The 1981 CCM Guidelines had also issued  directives  for  the  strengthening  of  ‘people’s  power’  at  the  grassroots  level.   In that connection, it was decided and directed,  that  there  be  established  Local  Government  Councils in  every  rural  District,  and  in  every  designated Urban  area.  Prior to that, Local Government Councils  could  only  be  established,  in  the  words  of  the  relevant  legislation,   “by  the  Minister,  after  consultation  with  the  President,  in  such  rural  District  or  Urban area  as  he  may  deem  necessary”.
The Zanzibar Constitution of 1984.
Because the party’s directives were binding upon  both  the  Union  Government  as  well  as  the  Government  of  Zanzibar,  similar  amendments  were  introduced in  respect  of  the  Constitution  of  Zanzibar, 1979.  But the Zanzibar Legislature decided, that  the  amendments  were  so  substantial  and  fundamental,  that  it  was  better  to  write  a  new  Constitution.  The result was the Zanzibar Constitution of 1984;  whose  contents  were  exactly  the  same  as  those  of  the  Union  Constitution.
The events of 1985.
            The most significant event of the year 1985, was that President Nyerere’s  succession  plan  was  again  frustrated,  and  Salim  Ahmed  Salim  did  not  become  President of  the  United  Republic; this  time  due  to  strong  opposition  from  the  all-powerful  CCM  National  Executive  Committee.
My appointment as Chairman, CDA Board of Directors.
In  1985,  the  Government  changed  the  composition  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Capital  Development  Authority (CDA),  which  had  hitherto  been   composed  of  Ministers  of  specified  Ministries,   and  replaced  them  with  Permanent  Secretaries  of  the  same  specified  Ministries;  with  me,  the  Permanent  Secretary  in  the  Prime  Minister’s  Office,  as  Chairman  of  that  reformed  Board.   But I continued being re-appointed again and again even long after  I  had  ceased  to  be  Permanent Secretary in  that  Office.
The change of the Local Government financial year.
Under our leadership, three other significant changes were introduced by the Prime Minister’s  Office  in  1985.  One was to change the Local Government (District and Urban Councils) financial year.  Whereas previously, the financial year for these Local  Authorities was  the  same  as  that  of  the  Central  Government,  namely,  from  1st  July  to  30th  June  of  the  following  calendar  year;   this  was  now  changed  to 1st  January to  31st  December  of  the  same  calendar  year.                                            
 The other was to merge the two separate Local  Authority  Associations  into  one single  Association. Whereas hitherto there had been two  separate  Associations,  one  for  the  Urban  Local  Councils (ALAT)  and  the  other  for  the  rural  Local  Councils (ARLAT);  these  were  now  merged  into  one  only  Association, (ALAT).                                                                                          
And the third was to make the 1st day of  January (new  year’s  day),  a  public  holiday  in  Tanzania  where,  in  previous  years,  it was  a  normal  working  day.
piomsekwa@gmail.com/0754767576.
(Will be continued next week).
Source: Daily News and Cde Msekwa. 

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