Kenya’s political eclipse: Part I

                                      

Kenya's first Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and the country's founding father Jomo Kenyatta. The divorce between Mr Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and Mzee Kenyatta was the moment at which Kenya lost it.

 By Makau Mutua Professor  at SUNY Buffalo Law School and Chair of the KHRC.

We are haemorrhaging from all orifices. What started as a trickle has turned into a river of blood. Our national bloodstream is being sucked dry.
Soon — very soon, I fear — we may become a failed state. All the indices of national health are rapidly going where all bad things go — south. Kenya has lost its once commanding position as one of the five anchor states in Africa. In East Africa, Kenya is now no more important than either Ethiopia or Tanzania, countries that were once its backyard. Kenya’s political and economic eclipse is nigh. We are rapidly sinking. The big questions are how and why.
            In this first instalment of columns on the phenomenon of national death, I interrogate the history of the architecture of Kenya’s slow-burning collapse, which has now turned into a national Armageddon. Let me stipulate that as in biblical times, prophets are no longer born. In their place, we have only ordinary mortals. 

        In political nomenclature, our mothers and fathers no longer sire visionary leaders. I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s in the political diet of the historical moment we find ourselves in. We no longer have Julius Nyereres, Nelson Mandelas, or Thomas Sankaras. The only one who remains in that vaunted league is Kenya’s Raila Odinga. The rest are but political dwarfs. We are ruled by conmen. 
        Let me peel your eyes. First, the Kenyan state was founded on quicksand. At independence, true political and economic power did not pass to Kenyans. Kenya remained a client state — a puppet — of the West. In other words, the state was not legitimised through indigenisation. A shallow façade of political independence was granted in the form of a national flag. To make matters worse, the two most important “independence” political fathers fell apart. Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga could not see eye to eye.
        Mzee Kenyatta, once a true nationalist and pan-Africanist, became a parochial and conservative Kikuyu hegemon. Mr Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, a left-leaning nationalist, refused to cave in to the Burning Spear. The latter politically destroyed the former.
        The divorce between Mr Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and Mzee Kenyatta was the moment at which Kenya lost it. This is why. Faced with a hostile international system, Mr Kenyatta and Mr Jaramogi Oginga Odinga needed to unite and create a vision for Kenya. I agree both were towering political figures, the likes of which we have rarely seen since then, but therein lay the tragedy. 
Moment of rupture 
Instead of that moment of rupture, the two political titans should have come together, made compromises, and created a template for Kenya’s political glide path. But other terrible things happened in the 1960s. Political genius Tom Mboya was assassinated to prevent him from succeeding Mzee Kenyatta. After that, Mzee Kenyatta created a draconian de facto one-party state.
        Second, rather than create a nation by forging a national consciousness, Mzee Kenyatta led in the drastic tribalisation of Kenya. Unlike Tanzania, where Mwalimu Julius Nyerere forged a nation out of some 125 ethnic groups, Kenya with just around 40 ethnic groups utterly failed to cohere as a nation. Instead, Mzee Kenyatta encouraged ethnic fiefdoms with primordial kingpins. 
        There was an opportunity to create a Kenyan prototype, but Mzee Kenyatta went in the opposite direction, giving tremendous power and influence to his Kikuyu group. He then strengthened and corralled other kingpins to become an imperial president. That’s how Kenya was permanently fragmented and balkanised into ethnic cocoons. Henceforth, Kenya’s politics has pivoted not on ideology, or philosophy, but on ethnicity. 
        Third, Kenya’s political and business elite — who are often one and the same — have since then used the state as the wellspring of their wealth. But rather than create real wealth, they ventured into predatory practices in sectors of the economy that have not created a genuine industrialised economy.
        That is why Kenya’s economy is still dependent on outsiders to process its raw materials into finished products. That is why Kenyans cannot build a road but instead rely on outsiders who fleece them. Bottom line is that our elite lack an economic and political vision for the country. Our elite are intellectually bankrupt. They think that building apartments is creating wealth. Importantly, Kenya’s elite have failed to internalise liberal theory and philosophy. 
        Finally, society has regressed and decayed morally in virtually every aspect. But I put political immorality as the most important deficit facing Kenya. Back in the day, the most respected person in society, and especially in the village, was the school teacher.
        Today, the teacher has become one of the most disregarded members of Kenya’s social fabric. Instead, the dirty thieving politician, the drug dealer, the real estate crook, the land grabber and the pilferer of government funds in the counties and national government have become Kenya’s heroes.The political prostitute is in vogue. Next Sunday, in Kenya’s Political Eclipse Part II, I look at Kenya’s republic of fear.
Makau Mutua is SUNY Distinguished Professor and Margaret W. Wong Professor at Buffalo Law School, The State University of New York. @makaumutua.

Source: Sunday Nation today.

SOME AMUSING ANECDOTES ABOUT POLIITICS AND POLITICAL AWARENESS.

A FRENCH poet and writer, Paul Valery (1871-1945), is on record as having said this: – “Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them”. In 2013, I published a book tiled Reflections on the First Decade of Multi-party Politics in Tanzania” (Nyambari Nyangwine Publishers, Dar es Salaam); in which I narrated a variety of interesting stories relating to Tanzania’s transition from the single-party, to multi-party political dispensation; which demonstrate, through actual examples, of the kind of ‘lack of political ‘awareness’, regarding the issues that are discussed therein.

        In this context, the expression “lack of political awareness” is used to mean the lack of ‘a proper understanding of the issues involved in the politics-related question that is under discussion”. In today’s presentation, I will return to, and build on, some of those stories; for the benefit of our younger generation of esteemed readers, and other stakeholders, as a “brain-teaser” for them to try and find out, whether Paul Valery’s contention quote above, is also applicable here in our home situation; namely, whether the politicians of the relevant periods discussed herein, were perhaps intentionally practicing what Pal Valery described as the “art of preventing people from taking part in affairs that properly concern them”; in other words, the art of denying people the benefit of ‘political awareness’, required in order to enable them to take part meaningfully in such affairs.
        And for that purpose, we will travel ‘down memory lane’ to the relevant periods and events; starting with one example of such ‘gleaming’ lack of ‘political awareness’, that occurred during the period of British colonial Administration in what was Tanganyika (now Tanzania Mainland, a constituent part of the United Republic of Tanzania); and which, had it not been ‘nipped in the bud’, would most probably have retarded progress in the struggle for the country’s independence.
        This is the matter of the “tripartite vote”, which was imposed by the British Colonial Administration for the country’s first Legislative Council elections of 1957/58. Here is the story: –“For the purpose of protecting their racial interests, that Administration passed Legislation which imposed the unusual requirement that “in order for his vote to be counted as valid, every voter must cast three votes, one each for a European, African, and Asian candidate”. This requirement was vehemently opposed by the majority of TANU members; who planned to boycott those elections as a sign of protest.
        But the TANU President, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, was among the small minority who disliked the idea of boycotting the elections, for the very good reason that boycotting the elections would allow their opponents to enter the Legislative Council virtually unopposed, thus giving them a freehand to adopt any legislation they wanted, including legislation which would make the struggle for independence, even more difficult.
        Apparently, the proponents of the boycott were completely unaware of this danger! Thus, it took Mwalimu Nyerere’s remarkable ingenuity, plus his extraordinary powers of persuasion, to convince his party colleagues to drop that boycott idea; and instead, agreed to participate fully in the said elections.
        Mwalimu Nyerere did this at the famous 1958 TANU annual conference, at which he decided to vacate the Chair so that, in his own words, “to enable him to argue his case from the “backbenches”, so as to avoid the temptation of using the influence of the Chair to force delegates to agree with him”. This was, indeed, one of Nyerere’s unique leadership qualities, that clearly distinguished him from many others in similar apex positions.
There is another example that provides similar demonstration of this “lack of political awareness” on the part of the persons involved. This is the mutiny by the ‘left over’ colonial army, then known as the “Kings African Rifles”; which occurred relatively soon after independence, in January 1964, at a time when the newly independent country had not yet organized its own defense forces, and was still relying on the “left over colonial “Kings African Rifles.”
        It was during the night of January 19/20, 1964 when this mutiny suddenly occurred at Colito Barracks, Dar es Salaam. Later reports showed that the mutiny was not motivated by any political ambitions, such as overthrowing President Nyerere’s government; but that their aim was to remove the commanding British Officers, to be replaced by indigenous Tanzanian Officers; plus demands for enhancing the soldiers’ salaries and improving their other conditions of service.
        The mutineers had taken control of some key government facilities, including Radio Tanzania, and the Dar es Salaam International Airport. Thus, as a routine precaution, the Security organs had whisked President Nyerere and Vice President Kawawa, away to a safe location in Kigamboni area.  It was, basically, a criminal act. Thus the offenders were arrested and tried, and after conviction, they were sent to prison for terms of two years each, except for their leader, Sergeant Hingo Ilogi, who was imprisoned for a longer period.
        However, these relatively ‘short-term’ sentences were considered to be ‘too mild’ for the offences committed and this led to public protest demonstrations in Dar es Salaam. In those circumstances; President Nyerere felt obliged to issue a formal statement, in which he said the following:- “Serikali inataka kuweka wazi kwamba inakubaliana na malalamiko hayo, na usema kwamba adhabu walizopewa wanajeshi waliofanya maasi, hazina uwiano hata kidogo na uzito wa makosa waliyoyafany, na ukubwa wa athari za vitendo vyao kwa nchi yetu. Lakini pamoja na hayo, Serikali haitafanya lolote la kujaribu kubadilisha adhabu hizo; kwani kufanya hivyo ni kuvunja misingi ya utawala wa sheria, ambao ndio msingi muhimu unaolinda uhuru na usawa wa raia wetu. Hatuwezi kuruhusu hasira zetu dhidi ya waasi hao, zitufikishe kwenye kuvunja msingi huo”.
        He was defending the cardinal principle of “the rule of law” His words also help to confirm another of the unique qualities which are attributed to Mwalimu Nyerere, namely that he was “a man of principle”.
        He was indeed, but his strict “adherence to principles” did, in some other cases, cost this country dearly, in terms of the withdrawal of financial aid by some donors in retaliation.
Those were the donors who were obviously providing such aid “with strings attached”; and included the country that was then known as ‘West Germany’, which angrily withdrew their aid money when President Nyerere rejected their unreasonable demand on him to close the East German Embassy in Zanzibar, following the Union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar in April 1964; a consequence of the “cold war” politics of that period.It also includes the British withdrawal of their aid money in 1965; as a consequence of the action taken by Tanzania of having brokenits diplomatic relations with Britain, over what was known as the “Rhodesia question”.
        This refers to the serious controversy which emanated from Southern Rhodesia’s ‘rebellion’ when that British colony (which was ruled by ruled by a minority government of White settlers), suddenly issued a “Unilateral Declaration of Independence”(UDI) in June 1965; and Britain’s failure, or refusal, to take action to quell that rebellion by its colony. In the paragraphs above, I have described the criminal act of mutiny by the Kings African Rifles, as having been due to the “lack of political awareness’.
        This perhaps needs some clarification. It is because of the methods that were used by the  Authorities in the recruitment of a replacement Army; when they deliberately confined themselves to members of the TANU Youth League (TYL) as the primary qualification for joining the new Army; plus, the appointment of a “political Commissar”, who would carry out the task of ‘grooming’ the new Army politically.
        This is what gives me the impression, that the Authorities must have been convinced that this mutiny ‘mayhem’ was caused by the lack of ‘political awareness’; a deficiency which they sought to rectify through the taking of these ‘corrective’ steps. We will now move on to our final example; which is the rejection of the multi-party proposal by 80 per cent of the people interviewed by the Nyalali commission.
        I had the good luck of being appointed member of the “Nyalali Commission” which was tasked to collect the peoples’ views on whether, or not; our country should adopt the multi-party political system. This commission was appointed by President Ali Hassan Mwinyi in March 1991, and placed under the Chairmanship of the then Tanzania’s Chief Justice, Hon. Justice Francis Nyalali.
        For the purpose of travelling around our vast country in order to collect the views of the people, we divided ourselves into smaller groups of three members each, with each group being assigned a group of neighbouring Regions, or Zone. I was nominated to lead our group, which toured the Lake Victoria Zone.  It was in the course of this tour that we encountered very clear evidence of this “lack of political awareness” among many of the people we interviewed.
        Our procedure was that one of us (usually myself as leader of the group), would make a presentation of the issues involved; after which we would invite their views and comments.
Here is a small sample of some of the comments we received from different people in different locations, which they gave as their reasons for rejecting the proposed transition to multi-party politics.
        The most often repeated reason was the ‘fear’, that multi-party politics will bring unnecessary trouble, as evidenced many of the people we interviewed, who said this:- “We hear that in countries which are operating the multi-party political system there is constant trouble, with people always picking quarrel among themselves in political arguments. We surely do not want that kind of situation to come to our peaceful country”.
        Some of the people made interesting additions to this basic reason. For example, one old man said: “If you people are so determined to make this change, I ask you to wait a little until I am dead and gone to heaven, in order to save me from this coming trouble”. While another person elsewhere, expressed his view that “under the present single-party system, we are required to pay party fees and contributions to the party.
        But under the new system of many parties that you are now proposing, as many as ten different parties will be formed, and all of them will be charging fees, and collecting contributions from us. That will be too big a financial burden for us poor people to carry. So please have pity on us! This was the ‘lack of awareness’ that existed among the people (who, understandably, were only aware of the single-party governance system, to which they had been exposed during the entire period of 30 years or so since independence).
        This also helps us to appreciate Mwalimu Nyerere’s sterling efforts, which he invested in the fight against such ignorance. Presumably, there will be those who still remember Mwalimu Nyerere’s persistent campaign for universal Adult education, during the early years following the country’s independence; and a similar campaign for political education, through the establishment of Kivukoni College, and its six zonal colleges.
He did this primarily because he abhorred the idea of governing an ‘ignorant nation’ which, he pointed out, “is easy to misgovern, for they won’t realize that they are being misgoverned”. He was, indeed, a man of principle.
piomsekwa@gmail.com / 0754767576.

Source: Daily News today

PhD za Mchongo ni Aibu na Jinai

Pamoja kuwa na PhD, kwa sasa, ni kawaida kwa waliofuata taratibu na kuzisotea, kuzipata na kufaa kuzitumia. Hata hivyo, siku za hivi karibuni–––tokana na tamaa,ujinga, ukosefu wa maadili, na usasi wa sifa, PhD zinaanza kupoteza maana. Badala ya kuwa ishara kuwa mhusika amefikia kilele kitaaluma kwenye eneo lake, zinaanza kudhalilika kama nyanja nyingine kama dini ambapo si vigumu kukuta matapeli na wezi wa kawaida wakijiita mitume, manabii na vyeo vingine vitukufu wakati ni utapeli na upumbavu wa kawaida. Hii maana yake, tunaanza kujigeuza taifa la wahalifu na vilaza kwa tunavyokubali hii jinai na uoza.

            Kutokana na kadhia hii, leo nitajadili aina za PhD. Nitaanza na daraja la kwanza ambalo mwenye PhD huitwa Daktari hata kama siyo wa hospitali. Mtunukiwa huisomea si chini ya miaka minne hadi nane–––kwa Amerika ya Kaskazini ambako kuipata si kazi kidogo. Ili kusomea na kupata shahada hii lazima mhusika awe na shahada mbili yaani ya kwanza (Bachelor) na ya pili (Master’s) japo kuna kesi chache ambapo mtu anaweza kuisomea akiwa na shahada ya kwanza kulingana na masharti ya chuo kinachoitoa.

            Aina ya pili ya PhD inayoaanza kukubaliwa ni ile ‘inayosomewa’ na wakubwa, mfano, baadhi ya mawaziri wetu ambao unashangaza wanavyoweza kujikunja kusomea shahada hii na kuendelea na mikikimikiki ya kazi za umma. Hata hivyo, tokana na nafasi zao na kukiuka kwa tamaa na ukiukaji wa maadili, uwezekano wa kutembeza fedha na kupendelewa ni mkubwa. Mfano, ni Rais wa nchi moja jirani ‘aliyepata’ PhD akiwa Naibu wa Rais aliyesifika kutumia muda mwingi akifanya kampeni. Rafiki yangu mmoja, Profesa wa sheria alisema kuwa shahada hizi ni feki na zinatolewa kisiasa sawa na PhD iliyowahi kutolewa kwa mke wa imla wa zamani wa Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe, Grace aliyopewa miezi michache baada ya kujisajili. Baada ya Mugabe kuangushwa, PhD ya Grace iligundulika ilikuwa feki. Kundi hili lina wanasiasa wengi ambao hata huwezi kuwadhania kama huyu Rais wa nchi jirani. Nchini tunao wengi tena wanaojisifu walisomea darasani wakati ukifuatilia utakuta kuna namna. Ukitaka kujua nani alihenyekea na kukidhi vigezo vya kusomea na kupata PhD halali, angalia Tasnifu yake iko wapi.

            Wengi wa vilaza hawa huzificha tasnifu zao kwa vile zinawafichua na ni aibu na feki. Wengine wanaweza kuandikiwa na wajuzi na kuwalipa fedha. Hii inanikumbusha kashfa ambayo ilipita bila kuripotiwa sana nchini. Jamaa mmoja ninayemfahamu vizuri kuwa hakuwa na hata shahada ya kwanza aliweza kuwadanganya watanzania kuwa yeye ni Daktari hadi akachaguliwa meya wa Jiji la Dar. Alipokufa, ukaandikwa wasfu wake. Hakuna hata mstari mmoja ulioonyesha alikuwa na shahada hata moja!

            Aina ya tatu ni PhD ya heshima (Honoris Causa). Hii hupewa watu maarufu kama vile marais, au watu waliotumikia mataifa yao vizuri. Mfano mzuri ni rafiki yangu na mwandishi mwenzangu Mhe. Pius Msekwa, Spika mstaafu na mwandishi nguli wa makala na vitabu. Wengine ni marais Baba wa taifa, mzee Mwinyi, Hayati Benjamin Mkapa, Jakaya Kikwete, Amani Abeid Karume na sasa Samia Suluhu Hassan. Mbali na Kikwete, wengi hawakuruhusu waitwe Madaktari kwa sababu wanajua kuwa Honoris Causa haikupi hadhi ya kujiita Daktari–––japo kwa wasiojua vizuri maana yake wanaweza kujiita au kukubali kuitwa Madaktari. Shahada hizi hutolewa na vyuo vinavyotambulika kimataifa.

            Aina ya nne ya PhD ambayo kimsingi ni uchafu ni hizi za kupewa na vyuo vya kitapeli vya mifukoni au degree au diploma mills au viwanda vya kufyatua shahada ambavyo huwatoza fedha vilaza wanaoingizwa mkenge. Hi jinai ambayo–––kama wahusika wangejua–––wasingelipa fedha yao au kukubali kuchafuliwa kupewa ujinga huu. Waulize wengi wanaokuja na tambo kuwa wamepewa PhD hizi wakwambie ni vyuo gani vimetunuku. Wakivitaja vichunguze hadhi zake. Utakuta ni vya kitapeli. Kimsingi, kinachoitwa PhD hapa ni upuuzi na utapeli. Waulize hawa wanaokuja wakijtapa wametunukiwa Udaktari, inakuwaje watoe fedha wakati Udaktari husomewa au kutunukiwa na vyuo vyenye stahaki kama heshima. Hii imenikumbusha jamaa mmoja aliyewahi kuwa Mwenyekiti wa Umoja wa Vijana kitaifa ambaye baadaye aliteuliwa kuwa balozi katika nchi moja kubwa ya Amerika ya Kusini akijiita Daktari. Baada ya kupata wa kuhonga na kumpitisha kwenye chuo kimoja mkoa jirani na Pwani, alionekana akitabasamu kwa ‘kuhitimu’ shahada hii ya uzamivu wakati miaka yote alikuwa akijiita daktari.  Kwenye kitabu changu cha Africa Reunite or Perish, uk.162 kinataja wazi watu kama Bingu wa Mutharika na mtangulizi wake Bakili Muluzi walivyotapeliwa na kupewa shahada feki za heshima.

            Mwisho, naishauri serikali na watanzania wakatae, wachukie, waiadhiri na kupambana nayo. Nasema kutokana na uzoefu wa kuisomea shahada hii. Tungeni sheria ya kumtaka kila anayepewa au kudai ana PhD aisajili serikalini baada ya kuhakikiwa kuwa ni halali. Hapa Kanada huwezi kufanya kitu kama hiki bila kuchukuliwa hatua za kisheria. Hata chuoni kama unaiosomea unakaribia kuipata, huwezi kujiita Daktari hadi ufanye mahafali na kutunukiwa rasmi. Kwa ufupi, kuna Madaktari wengi feki ambao wanapaswa kuwa gerezani.

Chanzo: Raia Mwema leo.

The populist illiberal authoritarian

From Left first row: Palestinian PM Mohammad Shtayyeh, Republic of Congo's President Denis Sassou Nguesso, Ethiopia’s PM Abiy Ahmed, Senegal's President and outgoing Chairperson of the African Union Macky Sall, Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the (AU) Commission, President of the Comoros and newly elected Chairperson of the AU Azali Assoumani, President of Rwanda Paul Kagame among other D African leaders, pose for a group photo during the 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on February 18, 2023. 

By Makau Mutua       Professor at SUNY Buffalo Law School and Chair of the KHRC.

A new breed of an African politician is on the ascendance. The name of this politician is the Populist Illiberal Authoritarian. This political animal speaks the language of democracy, human rights, a socially progressive market economy, and the rule of law with a silver tongue but means none of it.

        In fact, the populist illiberal authoritarian is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. His, or her, toothy grin is a mouth of disguised fangs. This genre of a politician isn’t exactly new in Africa, but a repackaged Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, the late Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea. Will the Populist Illiberal Authoritarian – a menace – become the new normal in Africa?

        First, a short history lesson. We all remember the wave of frenzied democratisation in Africa starting the late 1980s. Military regimes and civilian dictatorships collapsed at such a dizzying speed that we couldn’t keep count. Long-serving strongmen fell overnight.

 C

old-war godfathers

Abandoned by their cold-war godfathers, or unable to resist the people’s demand for open societies, many African potentates were forced from power by human rights activists, the political opposition, a resurgent press, and in some cases, gutsy clerics.

        A new dawn had arrived in Africa as winds of change swept the continent. We started talking about an African renaissance. A continent long despised, a sleeping giant, was poised to rise. Unfortunately, it was a head fake. Africa’s hopes were dashed on another stillbirth. I’ve written before about Africa’s four historical traumas — the trauma of enslavement, the trauma of colonisation, the trauma of the cold war, and the trauma of globalisation.

        Each of these traumas have left behind a deeply scarred continent whose people are easy prey for enemies within and without. As a result, Africans have developed a cynical and fatalistic philosophy about life. If a bad thing happens — even if it was preventable — the African will say, “It’s God’s wish.” It’s difficult not to conclude that Africans think God is a cruel being. But the psychosis of the traumas of exploitation is so deep that many Africans have resigned to a terrible fate.

        African leaders, drawn from a ruthless elite, toy with the people as though they were putty. And that’s how international capital and big powers of the East and the West like it — so that they can despoil and exploit Africa’s resources without resistance from the victims.

Handmaidens of the West

African ruling elites are only too eager to oblige as handmaidens of the West, or East. I have never seen, or met, a single significant leader or thinker from any geopolitical global power who has any depth of respect for an African leader, or its people.

        Yes, they will parrot the usual platitudes about sovereign equality, partners in so-called development, and common humanity, but they mean none of it. They despise Africa.

        I have often thought bullies exist only because cowards dot the landscape. No one will ever free you unless you free yourself. True freedom is self-made, not given on a silver platter. That’s why as Africans we must look inwards and ask ourselves wherefore is our intestinal fortitude to resist, fight, and overthrow our enemies, both within and without? Why do we easily cave to our tormentors?

        I have a theory — our tormentors know how to use their illicit wealth, false narratives about African culture and humility, and religion to bamboozle and internally colonise us. The emergent Populist Illiberal Authoritarian knows how to push all these buttons. Listen to Mr Museveni because he’s a textbook purveyor of fatalism.

        Let me take you to Algeria in 1990-91 and demonstrate Africa’s crises of leadership. That year, a party known as Islamic Salvation Front, or FIS by its French acronym, won local and national elections against the incumbent secular government.

Female voter

But rather than bend to the will of the people and the democratic wave in Africa, the government cancelled the elections and jailed the leaders of FIS. I remember one particular statement by the FIS as their victory was apparent.

        On polling day, a FIS member approached a female voter who was ecstatic about voting. Without batting an eyelid, the FIS cadre told her she should vote for FIS — for the last time. He meant that under FIS women would be disenfranchised.

        FIS had used the open ballot to come within a whisker of capturing power, but intended to abolish those freedoms it had benefitted from to kill democracy once it came to power. That was an early manifestation of the Populist Illiberal Authoritarian, a first draft of a malignant political animal. Today, the Populist Illiberal Politician is very sophisticated.

        He denies he’s authoritarian and illiberal. He’s mastered the language of reform and anti-corruption. Meanwhile, he pursues the most pernicious forms of corruption, looting public coffers, putting criminal cartels in power, letting criminals go scot-free, and seeking dining partners in the White House and 10 Downing Street. Will Africa survive this hypocrite?

   Makau Mutua is SUNY Distinguished Professor and Margaret W. Wong Professor at Buffalo Law School, The State University of New York. @makaumutua.

Source: Sunday Nation tomorrow.

A peep at the seemingly ‘withering away’ of the Ujamaa concept

The word ‘seemingly’ means “in a way that appears to be true, but may in fact not be” And that is the sense in which it is used in the context of this presentation. We do not hear much about Ujamaa these days; has Ujamaa withered away?   In this presentation, we will argue that what appears to be true (that Ujamaa has withered away), is in fact not entirely true! As that famous guru of English literature, William Shakespeare said in Macbeth: – “Appearances can be   deceptive”.The “Ujamaa” concept, or philosophy, was introduced as Tanzania’s   official social and economic development policy by the “Arusha Declaration on Socialism and Self-Reliance”, which was promulgated on 5th February, 1967. It was the brainchild of   Tanzania’s founder President, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere; who   was first elected President of Tanganyika under the Tanganyika Republican Constitution of 1962, and took office on 9th December, 1962. This social and economic development strategy was   announced by   President Julius Nyerere in his inaugural ‘Address to Parliament’ on 10th December.  1962; wherein he   outlined the priorities in his agenda for the country’s development, and in which he placed the greatest emphasis on rural development, through the creation of properly organized village   settlements. 

        He  referred  to  the  disadvantages  resulting  from   the  then  scattered  homesteads  of  the  people  living  in  the  rural  areas,  and  made  the  point  that  this was  a  serious  hindrance  to  the  provision  of  modern  development  infrastructure;  and  in  particular,  the  construction  of  electricity  lines,  and  the  laying  of  water  pipes,  because  of  the long  distances  which  would  have  to  be  covered  in  order  to  reach  each  of  these  scattered  homesteads;  and  further  that  it  would  similarly  be  difficult  for  the  children  to  reach  their  Village   school,  wherever  it  might  be  built. 

        He therefore announced the government’s intention to create properly organized “village settlements”, in which people will live together   in close proximity; and  therefore  make  it  easier  to  provide  them  with  these  modern  tools  for  comfortable  living Unfortunately, however, the initial steps that were taken by the government constituted what may be described as   a “false start “A special “Village Settlement Agency (VSA) was set  up;   and  in  the  course  of  three  years,   eight  such  Settlements  had  been  established.  But this programme was later terminated, because it was found to be very expensive in the use of capital, including social overheads, and touched relatively few people.

Subsequently, with the advent of the Arusha Declaration of 1967, these organized villages were re-designated “Ujamaa villages”; which were given this definition: – “An Ujamaa village, is a voluntary association of people, who decide of their own free will,to live together and work together, for their  common good”.
The   seemingly ‘withering away’ of the Ujamaa concept
“Appearances can be deceptive” The notion that the Ujamaa concept    has “withered away”, is a case in point. Admittedly, the word ‘Ujamaa’ is currently out of fashion, and is rarely heard; which has led to the false perception that the “Ujamaa concept has “withered away”, or that it is “dead and gone forever”! This is a wrong perception, which needs   to be corrected by CCM cadres.
            This  ‘ misconception  problem’   actually  started  appearing  soon  after  the  meeting  of  CCM’s  National  Executive  Committee  which  was  held  in  Zanzibar  in  February  1991,   which  resolved  to  introduce  a  totally   new  approach  to  the  implementation  of  the  Ujamaa   economic  agenda,  titled  “Mwelekeo  wa  Sera  za  CCM  za  Uchumi  katika  Miaka  ya  Tisini” ,  which  was  seen  as  a  complete  departure  from  the  direction  prescribed  in  the  Arusha  Declaration;  with  some  detractors  even  claiming ´ that   the  “Ujamaa  concept   “was  buried  in  Zanzibar”.
        This   misconstrued   point of view has persisted in the minds of many people, and is what I have chosen to describe as the seemingly “withering away of the Ujamaa   concept”.
            It is ‘misconstrued’   in the sense that because it fails to take into account the whole, wide meaning, of the Ujamaa concept; which Mwalimu Nyerere helpfully explained in his book “Freedom and Socialism” as follows: – “Ujamaa is “first and most central of  all, the  purpose of  all social  activity. Thus, all service to ‘man’ in furtherance of his human development is, in fact, the purpose  of  society   itself”. And he further that “Ujamaa is an attitude of mind, which is needed to ensure that the people care for each other’s welfare” What is it then, that created this misconstrued view point?
The bungled implementation of the villagisation exercise
As we have seen above, an ujamaa village was intended to be a “voluntary association of people who decide of  their own  free  will,   to  live  together “This  aspect  of  “people  deciding  of  their own  free  will”  was  sadly  missing  in  implementing  the  ‘Ujamaa  villagisation’  exercise  which  was  carried  out  countrywide,  in  1973/74. In  a  substantial  number  of cases,  some  of  the  officials   who  had  been  assigned  to  undertake  this  delicate  task,   just   resorted  to  the  unnecessary   use  of  brutal  force,  and  even  committed  the  crime  of  arson;  plus  some   other  inhuman  actions,  purportedly   in  order to  force  people   to  move  out  to  their new  (unprepared)   places  of  residence  and  stay  there;  in   what  was  officially described  as  “Ujamaa  villages”.
                Naturally and understandably, such brutal actions created justified ‘collective anger’ among the affected population, and, consequently, created a collective   dislike and immense hatred; which scandalized   the whole   Ujamaa   concept, and thus rendered it undesirable. It is my humble submission that this is what largely accounts for the seemingly ‘withering away’ of the Ujamaa concept. Indeed, it came as surprise when the results of the 1975 Presidential election showed that he had won more than 90% of the total of the total ‘YES’ votes; in the then prevailing circumstances of ‘collective anger’, it could have been worse. I show that the Tanzanian voters were able to make a clear distinction between the innocent policy maker at the top level President Nyerere; and the brutal implementing officials at the bottom level.
            That was in respect of the implementation of Ujamaa in the rural Ares. But there was also the aspect of implementing Ujamaa in the Urban areas; and this focused mainly on attempts to create “Ujamaa    industries”, through the nationalization of  the  few  ‘capitalist’  industries   that  had  been  established  at  the  material time. Primarily due to the lack of managerial skills and relevant experience on the part of the new managers who were recruited from the Public Service, the nationalized industries failed to produce enough goods to satisfy the needs of the population;  which  resulted  annoying  scarcities  that  made  life  pretty  difficult  for  the   consumers.
Seen by critics as “disastrous s”Ujamaa  economic  policies
Mwalimu Nyerere has been condemned by his critics, for what they referred   to as his “disastrous” economic policies.  One such critic was Kenyan Professor Ali Mazrui; who, in his published article titled “Nyerere and I”, commented as follows: – “Nyerere’s policies of Ujamaa amounted to a case of heroic failure. They were heroic because Tanzania was one of the few African countries which attempted to find its own route to development, instead of borrowing the ideologies of the West.  But it was a failure because this experiment did not deliver the goods of development”
            Indeed, the economic   problems described in the above paragraphs, easily confirm that the Ujamaa economic experiment had failed to deliver “the goods of development”.And that  is  precisely  why  the   February  1991   Zanzibar  meeting  of  the  CCM  National  Executive  Committee already  referred  to  above,   resolved  to  introduce  a  different  approach,  by  crafting  a  new  policy  titled  “Mwelekeo  wa  Sera  za  Uchumi  za  CCM  katika  Miaka  ya  Tisini”;  which   introduced  a  totally  new   direction  for  the   implementing   CCM’s  economic  policies;  which  was  basically  different  from  that  which  was  prescribed  in  the  Arusha  Declaration. But It created such sensation among the public, with detractors saying that “Ujamaa was killed in Zanzibar”.
            The political situation was so bad, and serious, that the Party Chairman, President Ali Hassan Mwinyi, felt obliged to make a “clarification” on the matter, which took the form of  a  lengthy  document  titled  “Twende  na  wakati”   in  which  both   the  contents,  and  the  reasons,  for  that  resolution  were presented.  This   document   was introduced to the public at a specially convened meeting of CCM Elders, held at Diamond Jubilee, Dar es Salaam, in March 1991.
        However,  whereas  it  is  true  that   the  problems  described  above   scandalized,  and  bungled,  the  economic  aspect  of  Ujamaa);    but  the  social  aspects   of   the   Ujamaa  concept,  namely  that  Ujamaa  is  a  way  of  life;   this  actually  survived,  is  still  alive,  and  is  being   practiced  (perhaps  unconsciously),  among  the  people  in  their   everyday  lives.
            For  example,  in  many   places  throughout  Tanzania,  both  in  urban  areas  where  people  live  close together  in  street  neighbor’s,   as  well  as  in  rural  areas,  where  people  also  live  close  together  in  village  neighbor hoods,  it  has  become  common  practice   for  them  to  form  voluntary  associations   for  the  purpose  of  helping  each  other  in  times  of   great    difficulties,  such  as  when  death  occurs within   their  neighborhood.
        Here in Ukerewe, such neighborhoods   groups are called ‘Luguyo’; and they are to be found in every village, throughout the District These are, in fact, Ujamaa groups, and they are (perhaps unconsciously), implementing the Ujamaa concept.
          And  even  the  government  Authorities,  whose   responsibility  it   is  to  offer  services  to  the  people   “in  furtherance  of  their  human  development”,  when  they  go  to  such  great  lengths,     (as  the  sixth  phase  government of  President  Samia  Suluhu  Hassan  is   currently  doing)to  ensure  that  education,  and  health  services,   and  other  essential  social  amenities,    are made   available  to  all  the  people;    the  government  is,  in  fact  (perhaps  unconsciously),  implementing  the  Ujamaa  concept.

            This distinction between the failure of the economic aspect, and the success of its social aspect, should be clearly explained to the public. In order to enable them to appreciate this crucial   difference.
With regard to its social aspects, it should be remembered that “Ujamaa is a way of life; and that “Ujamaa   is an attitude of mind, which is needed to ensure that the people care for each other’s welfare”. And lest we forget, it should also be remembered that an Ujamaa group: “is   a voluntary association of people who live close together, who decide, of their own free will, to work together for tier common good”.                                                                                                Thus, the appearance that Ujamaa “has withered away “is actually deceptive; and the CCM cadres    are strongly advised to devote themselves to the task of correcting this false notion; especially for the benefit of our younger generation.
Article 5 of the CCM constitution (Malengo  na  Madhumuni  ya  CCM)   shows  a   list  of  provisions  which  must  be  implemented  by  the   party,  of  which  sub-article  5 (3)  directs  the  party’s  members  and  leaders:  Kuhimiza  ujenzi  wa  Ujamaa  na  kujitegemea”.
        Because it is a constitutional requirement, party members have a binding obligation to implement this   directive. But, presumably because of the mistaken belief that the Ujamaa concept has “withered away”; this is, unfortunately, either not being done, or is not being done at the level of devotion and enthusiasm that it actually deserves.This may be due to the lack of this kind of background information, which we have endeavoured to provide in this presentation.
piomsekwa@gmail.com  /   0754767576

Source: Daily News today

Chuo cha Nyerere Kisitelekezwe

Mheshimiwa Rais, Nakusalimia kwa jina la JMT. Je una tarifa kuwa Chuo cha Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere University of Agriculture and Technology (MJKNUAT), Butiama, alipozaliwa, kukulia na kuzikwa Baba wa Taifa, Hayati Mwalimu Julius Nyerere hakijawahi kupokea wanafunzi wala kutumika kwa miaka 13 tangu kuanzishwa? Je hii kama si aibu, dharau na kutojali kama Jamii na Taifa ni nini Mheshimiwa Rais japo hizi lawama si zako? Kwa mema yote aliyotenda Gwiji huyu, hii ni haki? Je mwenzako Mama Maria na familia yake wanaumia kiasi gani? Naomba uhoji yafuatayo:
Mosi, ilikuwaje wahusika wakaanzisha Chuo na kupoteza fedha na fursa za Umma bila sababu zozote za msingi kama hakihitajiki? Nini sababu za msingi zinazoingia kichwani kufanya hivi? Kama zipo, ni vizuri watanzania wenye baba yao na fedha zao wajulishwe haraka. Kama kuna hujuma au uzembe, ijulikane na wahusika washughulikiwe.
Pili, je nini mantiki ya kukipa Chuo hiki kukiita Mwalimu Nyerere kama tutazingatia hadhi, umuhimu wake kwa Taifa hata Afrika kwa ujumla halafu kikatelekezwa?
Mheshimiwa Rais, una habari, kwa wenye bongo zinazochemka, Jina la Mwalimu Nyerere ni kitega uchumi kikubwa kinachoweza kuingizia Taifa si sifa tu bali hata fedha?
Tatu, je ilikuwaje wahusika wakajenga Chuo hiki mahali alipozaliwa na kupumzishwa mpendwa wetu Baba wa Taifa wakati wakijua fika wasingekihudumia wala kukitumia? Ni matusi na uchuro kiasi gani kwa familia na Watu wake mbali na watanzania kwa ujumla? Mwalimu Nyerere si raia wa kawaida. Ni alama ya na mwanzilishi na Baba wa Taifa letu. Hivyo, tunapomdhalilisha, tunajidhalilisha wenyewe kama Taifa. Dunia inatucheka na kutuzodoa. Je hivi ndivyo tunavyomuenzi kwa kumdhalilisha ili tupate nini na kwa faida ya nani?
Baada ya kupata taarifa mbaya ya kutelekezwa kwa MJKNUAT, nilimuuliza mwanaye Madaraka Nyerere. Alinijibu kwa masikitiko kuwa hahusiki na Chuo husika. Nilishangaa sana. Sikupenda kumuuliza tena ili kuepuka kumuingiza kwenye siasa, kwani, si mwanasiasa.
Baada ya kutafakari kwa kina, niliamua kuandika waraka huu ili lau wahusika wajue baadhi yetu tunavyojisikia. Wakati nikiwaza hili na lile, nilikumbuka Chuo kingine kama hiki nchini Kenya cha Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) chenye hadhi ya kimataifa na kinachotunzwa kweli kweli kutokana na kujengwa kumuenzi mwanzilishi wa Taifa la Kenya mbali na kubeba jina lake. Je sisi tunashindwa nini? Je tunahitaji kwenda kwa majirani kujifunza namna ya kuwaenzi waasisi wetu? Wakati nikiwaza haya, nilishangaa hata mantiki ya Tanzania Visiwani kutokuwa na Chuo kinachomuenzi Hayati Shehe Abedi Karume mwanzilishi wa sehemu hii ya Muungano aliyekuwa nguvu na nyenzo kubwa ya Muungano tunaojivunia na kuuonea fahari.
Japo Mwalimu hakuwa Mtu wa kulalamikalalamika na kulialia, naamini huko aliko analalamika na kulia japo hatumsikii. Nani hatakufa ajisahau hivi? Inakuwaje tunapata fedha za mambo mengine hata yasiyo muhimu ikilinganishwa na elimu tukashindwa kuhudumia na kutumia Chuo kama hiki? Je hatuna wanafunzi wa kutosha au ni uzembe na kuona mbali? Inakuwaje Taifa linalojinadi kuwa kilimo ndiyo uti wake wa mgongo linaachia na kufuja fursa kama hii adimu? Nashangaa hata Taasisi ya Nelson Mandela (Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology, NM-AIST) ilivyoweza kujengwa Tanzania wakati Chuo kamili cha Mwalimu Nyerere kikiendelea kuoza bila kutumika wala kuwanufaisha watu wake. Je tatizo ni kupenda na kuenzi vya wenzetu tukiviponda na kuvitelekeza vyetu? Kama tumeshindwa, kwanini tusiitishe michango lau toka kwa wapenzi wa Mwalimu watusaidie namna ya kuendesha na kunufaika na Chuo hiki pamoja na jina kubwa na muhimu kilichobeba? Inakuwaje leo tunaona wenzetu wakiwaenzi tena watu ambao hawakutusaidia kupigania uhuru kama vile mitume na watakatifu tusio nao uhusiano wala tusiowamilki wakati tukishindwa kuenzi wale wanaotuhusu zaidi? Je hapa tatizo ni nin na ni la nani?
Kabla ya kumaliza, naomba nikushauri na serikali yko inayodaiwa kuwa sikivu ili msikie na kumtendea na kututendea haki Mwalimu Nyerere na watanzania aliowapigania, kuwatumikia na kuwapenda sana.
Mosi, serikali ikubali kuwa ni jukumu lake kuhakikisha Chuo hiki kinaanza kufanya kazi mara moja si kwa heshima tu ya Mwalimu bali kwa faida ya watanzania wenye kuhitaji elimu.
Pili, ieleze inakuwaje Vyuo vingine, tena visivyo na hadhi kama ya MJKNUAT, vipate fedha za kuviendesha lakini si Chuo hiki.
Tatu, kama serikali haina nia––––japo uwezo inao–––iwatangazie watanzania ili wajitokeze wanaoweza kutafuta watu na mashirika ya kuendesha Chuo hiki.
Nne, serikali iwatake radhi watanzania na familia ya Mwalimu kwa kuwaangusha kiasi hiki.
Mwisho, baada ya kufanya yote hayo juu, itungwe sheria kulinda Chuo hiki, itamke wazi hadhi yake na priveleges zake kama alama ya Taifa ili hata tawala zitakazokuja baada yetu zibebe jukumu la kuilinda historia hii ya Taifa. Taifa lisilo na mashujaa wake ni Taifa la watu woga na wa hovyo. Taifa linalofuja tunu na turathi zake halina maana wala sababu ya kujiita Taifa. Nimalizie kwa kukuomba uingilie kati tena haraka iwezekanavyo. Shukrani na kwa heri. Mungu Ibariki Tanzania. 

Chanzo: Raia Mwema kesho.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, CHAMA CHA MAPINDUZI.

Tanzania’s   ruling  party,  Chama  cha  Mapinduzi (CCM),  celebrated  its  46th  birthday  last  Sunday,  05/02/2023.  It   therefore  deserves  to   be  accorded  the  traditional  “happy  birthday  to  you”  accolade The  birth  of  Chama  cha  Mapinduzi  in  1977,  as  a result  of  the  merger  between  the  Tanganyika  African  National  Union (TANU)  and  the  Zanzibar  Afro-Shirazi  Party (ASP)  was  a  major  event   of  great  political  importance.                                                                     The  younger  generation  may  presumably  be  interested  to  know  exactly  how  this  was  achieved.    Here  is  the authentic  story.    It   all  started  at  a  joint  TANU/ASP  ‘Electoral  Conference’  of  1975,  which  was  held  on  22nd  September,  1975.    The   Conference   had  been  convened  for  the  purpose  of  nominating  the   Presidential  candidate  for  the  1975  Presidential  election.                                                                                        
This  was  during  the  period  of  the  “One-party  State’  political  dispensation,  but  general  elections  were   nevertheless  held  regularly,  at  the  end  of  every  five-year  period;  in  order  to  give  the  electors  the  opportunity  to  change  any  of  their  elected   Central,  or  Local government  leaders,  if  they  so  wished.   That  was  how  the  “One-party  electoral   Democracy”  worked.  
The   1975  Electoral  Conference  dully  nominated   Mwalimu  Julius  Nyerere  to  be   that   candidate.   This  joint   nomination  process  was  instituted  in  1965,  when   the  first   Presidential  election  was  held  after  the  establishment  of  the  Union  between  Tanganyika  in  April  1964.                Fortunately,  the   structures  of  the  two  parties  at  the  national  level  were  completely   identical,  consisting  of   an  apex  organ  designated  as  “the  Party National   Congress”.     Thus  it  was  decided  that   for  the  purpose  of  nominating  the  Presidential  candidate,  the  two  congresses would  sit  in  a  joint  session , designated  as  the  “Electoral  Conference”;  to  undertake  this  nomination  task.   This was  because  the  Presidential  election  was  to  be  held  in  both  parts  of  the  Union,  and  each  side  had  its  own  political  party.   It  was  therefore  necessary  to   devise  a  system  whereby  the  two  parties  could  sit  together  to  make  this  nomination.                                                                              
What  happened   at  the  1975  Electoral  conference  was  that   Nyerere  used   his   traditional  “acceptance  speech”  to  make   this   proposal,   that  the  two  parties  should  seriously  consider  forming   a  merger  between  them,  in  the  following  words:-                                                                                                                                                                                     “Our  country  is  constitutionally  a  One-party  State;  but  in  reality,  we  have  two  parties.  I  believe  that  this  is  a  constitutional  anomaly,  to  which  we  should  give  serious  consideration.            I  am  convinced  that   we  will  greatly  strengthen  the  unity  of  our  people,  and  give  ourselves  greater capacity  for  carrying  our  revolution  forward,  if  we  now  agree  to  merge  our  two  parties,  in  order  to  form  one  strong  revolutionary  party,  which  will  lead  one  revolutionary  nation”. 
The   proposal  was  very   well  received  by  the  conference,   which  thus   allowed  the  process  for  the  proposed  merger   to  commence  pretty  soon  thereafter.  The  first  step  was  for  each  party to  make  internal   consultations  with  its  individual  members  at  the  Branch  level.       By   June  1976,  this   consultation   process  had  been  completed;  with  positive  results  from  both  sides.   
Thereafter,   the  two  parties  agreed  to  hold  joint   meetings  of  their  National  Executive  Committees  for  the  purpose  of  making  crucial  decisions  regarding  the  remaining  stages  of  te  merger  process.   The  first  such  meeting  was  held  on 2nd  October,  1976;   which  appointed  a           commission  of  20  persons,  10  from  each  of  the  two  parties.  The following  persons  were  appointed:-                                                                                                                                                                   
From  TANU:   Lawi  Sijaona;  Peter  Kisumo; Ngombale  Mwiru;  Peter  Siyovelwa; Pius  Msekwa;  Jackson  Kaaya;  Basheikh  Mikidadi;  Beatrice  Mhango;  Nicodemus  Banduka;  and  Daudi  Mwakawago.                                                                                                                                                                    From   ASP:  Sheikh  Thabit  Kmbo;  Hassan  Nassor  Moyo;  Abdallah  Natepe;  Seif  Bakari;  Hamisi  Hemed;  Rajab  Heri;  Ali  Mzee;  Asia  Amour;  Juma  Salum;  and  Hamdan  Muhidin.  
 And  at  its  first  meeting,  the  commission  elected  Sheikh  Thabit  Kombo  (from  ASP)  to  be  the  Commission  Chairman;   and  Pius  Msekwa (from TANU)  to  be    the  Commission  Secretary.  
The   commission   had  been  given  one  moth  within  which  to  complete  its  assignment  and  be  ready  to  report  to  the  next  meeting  of  the  joint  National  Executive  Committees;  which  was  scheduled   for    November ,1976.   We  worked   full  time  on  this  project,  and  were  able  to    meet  the   prescribed   deadline.                                                                                                                                     Our  specific  assignment  was  “to  prepare  recommendations  for  the  new  party’s  constitution”.  Now,  ‘Constitutions  and constitution-making’  are   my  academic  area  of  close  interest   Thus,  as   the  Secretary  to  the  commission in,   I  invested  a  lot  of  energy,  plus  personal  knowledge,   in  this  assignment;   by  preparing   the  drafts   of each  of   the  Chapters  of  the  proposed   constitution,  for  discussion  by  the  commission.        
To  our  great  relief  and  satisfaction,    all  the  Commissions’  recommendations  were  accepted  by  the  said joint  meeting.    Thereafter,  the  rest  was   just ‘ full  speed  ahead’  to  the  agreed ‘date  of  birth’  of  the  new  party,  the   5th  day  of  February,  1977.                                                                                                                                                                                    
The   Holy  Bible’s  Old  Testament  says:   “To  everything  there  is  a  season,  and  a time  for  every  purpose  under  the  Heaven”.    This  date  of  5th  February,  was  chosen  for  good  reasons:   it  was  the  20th  anniversary  of  the  Afro-shirazi  Party,  and  the  10th  anniversary  of  the  Arusha  Declaration.                                                                                                                                                                            The  commission  must  have  done  a  splendid   job,  which  satisfied  our   two  party  principals;  because  we  were  immediately  assigned  the  similar   task  of  preparing  recommendations  for  the  “permanent”  State  Constitution, of   1977;  a  task   which  we   carried  out with  similar  dispatch  and  diligence;  so  that  our  recommendations  were  ready  for  submission  and  approval  by  the  relevant   party  organs,  and  later processed  through  the   normal  Legislative  process,  to  enable  this  “permanent’  constitution  to  be  enacted  in  April,  1977.
Regarding   CCM’s   46th  birthday  anniversary.  
We   can  now  return  to  the  matter  of   CCM’s  46th  birthday  celebrations  of   last  Sunday,  which were  marked  principally  by  the  holding  of  symposiums,  intended  to  benefit  the  younger  generation    of  CCM  leaders   and   their  members  at  Ward  level;  by enhancing  their  awareness  and  understanding  of  ‘where  we  came  from,  where  we  are  now,  and  the  prospects for  the  future’
But  the  Sunday   celebrations  were  only  the  climax  of   week-long  activities,  consisting  of   certain designated  functions  at  Ward  level,   throughout  the  United  Republic:  Tanzania  Mainland,  as  well  as   Zanzibar.                                     
In  the  Ward  in  which  I  reside,   known  as   “Kata  ya  Nkiliza”    in  Ukerewe  District;   the  inauguration  function  was  held  at   the   Nkilizya  Secondary  School;,  which  is   situated  in  close  proximity  to  my  residence.   Among  other  activities,  the  function  also  included  the  holding  of  a  symposium,  at  which  Papers  were  presented  for  discussion  by  the  assembled  cadres   from   every  party   Branch   in  our  ward.                                                                                                                                    
I   had  been  invited  by  the  District  CCM  Political  Committee  to  be  one  of  the  Paper  presenters  at  this  symposium.    Thus,   being  mindful  of  the  fact  that   CCM’s    new   47th  year   had  arrived  not  so  long  after  the  party’s   2022   general  elections   which  had  brought  into  leadership,    a   large  number  of   new  leaders  who  had  been  elected  to  their  respective  positions  for  their  first  time  ever;    I  had crafted  my  Paper  in  a  way  that  would  help  these   new   cadres   to  get  an  early  exposure  to  the   ‘nitty-gritty’  of   our  party   leadership’s   duties  and  responsibilities.                                     
The  veteran  Chinese  leader  Mao  Tse  Tung  is  on  record  as  having said  the  following:-                       “Once  the  political  line  is  determined,  cadres  are  a  decisive  factor.  Therefore, it is  our  fighting  task    to  train  large  numbers  of   new   cadres  in  a  planned  way”.                                                                 In  our situation,  the  “party  line”  is   already  determined,  and  is  clearly  manifested   in  the  party’s   constitution.   Hence,  our  imperative  task  now  is  the  train,  and  re-train,  our  party  cadres,  in  order  to  prepare  them   adequately  for  carrying  out  their  respective  duties  and  responsibilities. 
 I  am  also  reminded  of  some  ‘nuggets  of  wisdom’  from  Mwalimu  Nyerere;  who  referred  to  the  same  imperative  in  his  little  story  of  the  ‘millipede  mother’ (mama  jongoo);  which,  translated  from  its  Kiswahili  original  version,   reads  as  follows:-   “The  newly  born  millipede  asked  her  mother:  ‘mother,  with  such  numerous  legs,  when  I  start  walking,  which  leg  should  I  put  forward  first’?    Mama  jongoo   replied:  you  just  begin  moving  forward,  the  legs  will  take   care  of  themselves ”.                                                                                                                                                                                            From   this   mini-story,  Mwalimu  Nyerere  hammered  in   his  lesson  that:  “whenever   we  elect  our  party  leaders,  we  should  not   leave  them  alone  to   ‘take  care  of  themselves’,  in  search  for  the  best  ways  in  which  to  carry  out  their  new  responsibilities.  We   have  an  obligation  to  arrange   some  appropriate  training  for  them”  he  said.                                                                                                            And,  indeed,  before  the  re-introduction  of  the  multi-party  political  dispensation,  that  was,  in  fact,  the  sole  responsibility  of  the  then  party’s  Kivukoni  College;  namely:  to  train,  and   re-train,  our  party  cadres.   Unfortunately  however,  following  the  re-introduction  of  multi-party  politics,  we  seem  to  have  abandoned  this  critical  task  of  training  our  cadres.                                                                                     
Thus  my   considered  advice,  and  fervent  plea,  to  the  national   party  Administration  is :  please  make  suitable  arrangements  for  the  resumption  of  such  organized  and   systematic   training   for  our  party  cadres.   
The   establishment  and  inauguration,  on  23rd  February   2022;   of  the  “Mwalimu   Nyerere  School  of  Leadership”  at  Kibaha,  was  a  confirmation  of  this  need  for  the  training  of  cadres.  
 It  is  a  truism,  that   being  knowledgeable  about  a  given  matter,  is  a  vital  qualification  for   ‘delivery  performance’  by  the  actors  on  the  relevant  ‘stage’.   This  is   because  “political  management”  primarily  involves  the  management  of  peoples’  Affairs;   and  considering  the   large  variety   of   personal  interests,  propensities,   and  idiosyncrasies,   among  ordinary  people;  a  proper  management  of  their  affairs  is  complicated  enough   to  require  some  expert  knowledge and  skills,  which  can  only  be  obtained  through   some  specialized  training.   This  is  what  explains  why  many,  if  not  all,   of  the  early  leaders  of  TANU  and  its  government,  were  routinely  sent  to  Kivukoni  College  (and  its  six zonal  colleges)  for  training  (and  retraining)  in  leadership  skills.
On  implementing  the  party’s  ideology.
There  is   one  important   matter  which  seems  to  have  been  forgotten,  or  is   currently   not  being given  sufficient  emphasis;  and  that  is  the  matter  of   implementing  the  ‘party’s  ideology’,  or,  in  the  words  of  the  party  constitution,  “IMANI  YA  CHAMA”.
As  I  said  above,  our  party  line”  is  already  determined,  and  is  clearly  manifested  in  the  First  Part   of  the  Party  constitution;  listed   therein  as:    1.  IMANI  YA  CHAMA;  and  2.  MALENGO  NA  MADHUMUNI  YA  CHAMA.                                                                                                                                                         The  principal  aim   and  objective  of  my  presentation  at  the  symposium  referred  to  above,   was  to   focus  primarily  on  drawing  attention  to  this  particular  matter,  which   seems  to  have  been  overlooked;  namely,   the  ‘lack  of  attention’  that  should  be  paid   to  the  practical  implementation  of  the  set  of  principles,   which    together  constitute  our    party’s  ideology.   “Ideology”  is   the  foundation  upon  which   rests   the  CCM  members’  basic  faith  in  the  party,   and  consequently sustains  their  adherence  to   it.  
It   is   indeed  appreciated,  that  our  cadres  have   been  paying  great  attention  to   the  task  of   supervising  the  implementation  of  the  party’s  “Election  Manifesto”;   as  manifested   by   the  way  they  tirelessly  spend  a  lot  of  time  inspecting  the  progress  of  implementation   by  the  government,   of  all  the  projects  that  are  listed  in  the  said  Manifesto.                                                  
However,   it   is  clearly  noticeable,  that  similar  enthusiasm  is  sadly  lacking  with  regard  to   supervising  the  implementation   of  the  set  of  ideological  principles  listed  in article  5  of  the the  party’s  constitution.   Some  people  mistakenly  believe  the  “Ujamaa  na  kujitegemea”   is  the  only   CCM  ideology.  Wrong,  that  is  only  part  of  it !                                                                                                                                                                          My  advice   is   simply   that    this   ‘deficit’  should  be  remedied,  through  resuming   well-  structured   cadre   training   programmes. 
piomsekwa@gmail.com    /   0754767576.  
The  birth  of  Chama  cha  Mapinduzi  in  1977,  as  a result  of  the  merger  between  the  Tanganyika  African  National  Union (TANU)  and  the  Zanzibar  Afro-Shirazi  Party (ASP)  was  a  major  event   of  great  political  importance.                                                                                                                                          The  younger  generation  may  presumably  be  interested  to  know  exactly  how  this  was  achieved.    Here  is  the authentic  story.    It   all  started  at  a  joint  TANU/ASP  ‘Electoral  Conference’  of  1975,  which  was  held  on  22nd  September,  1975.    The   Conference   had  been  convened  for  the  purpose  of  nominating  the   Presidential  candidate  for  the  1975  Presidential  election.                                                                                        
This  was  during  the  period  of  the  “One-party  State’  political  dispensation,  but  general  elections  were   nevertheless  held  regularly,  at  the  end  of  every  five-year  period;  in  order  to  give  the  electors  the  opportunity  to  change  any  of  their  elected   Central,  or  Local government  leaders,  if  they  so  wished.   That  was  how  the  “One-party  electoral   Democracy”  worked.  
The   1975  Electoral  Conference  dully  nominated   Mwalimu  Julius  Nyerere  to  be   that   candidate.   This  joint   nomination  process  was  instituted  in  1965,  when   the  first   Presidential  election  was  held  after  the  establishment  of  the  Union  between  Tanganyika  in  April  1964.                Fortunately,  the   structures  of  the  two  parties  at  the  national  level  were  completely   identical,  consisting  of   an  apex  organ  designated  as  “the  Party National   Congress”.     Thus  it  was  decided  that   for  the  purpose  of  nominating  the  Presidential  candidate,  the  two  congresses would  sit  in  a  joint  session , designated  as  the  “Electoral  Conference”;  to  undertake  this  nomination  task.   This was  because  the  Presidential  election  was  to  be  held  in  both  parts  of  the  Union,  and  each  side  had  its  own  political  party.   It  was  therefore  necessary  to   devise  a  system  whereby  the  two  parties  could  sit  together  to  make  this  nomination.                                                                              
What  happened   at  the  1975  Electoral  conference  was  that   Nyerere  used   his   traditional  “acceptance  speech”  to  make   this   proposal,   that  the  two  parties  should  seriously  consider  forming   a  merger  between  them,  in  the  following  words:-                                                                                                                                                                                     “Our  country  is  constitutionally  a  One-party  State;  but  in  reality,  we  have  two  parties.  I  believe  that  this  is  a  constitutional  anomaly,  to  which  we  should  give  serious  consideration.            I  am  convinced  that   we  will  greatly  strengthen  the  unity  of  our  people,  and  give  ourselves  greater capacity  for  carrying  our  revolution  forward,  if  we  now  agree  to  merge  our  two  parties,  in  order  to  form  one  strong  revolutionary  party,  which  will  lead  one  revolutionary  nation”. 
The   proposal  was  very   well  received  by  the  conference,   which  thus   allowed  the  process  for  the  proposed  merger   to  commence  pretty  soon  thereafter.  The  first  step  was  for  each  party to  make  internal   consultations  with  its  individual  members  at  the  Branch  level.       By   June  1976,  this   consultation   process  had  been  completed;  with  positive  results  from  both  sides.   
Thereafter,   the  two  parties  agreed  to  hold  joint   meetings  of  their  National  Executive  Committees  for  the  purpose  of  making  crucial  decisions  regarding  the  remaining  stages  of  te  merger  process.   The  first  such  meeting  was  held  on 2nd  October,  1976;   which  appointed  a           commission  of  20  persons,  10  from  each  of  the  two  parties.  The following  persons  were  appointed:-                                                                                                                                                                   
From  TANU:   Lawi  Sijaona;  Peter  Kisumo; Ngombale  Mwiru;  Peter  Siyovelwa; Pius  Msekwa;  Jackson  Kaaya;  Basheikh  Mikidadi;  Beatrice  Mhango;  Nicodemus  Banduka;  and  Daudi  Mwakawago.                                                                                                                                                                    From   ASP:  Sheikh  Thabit  Kmbo;  Hassan  Nassor  Moyo;  Abdallah  Natepe;  Seif  Bakari;  Hamisi  Hemed;  Rajab  Heri;  Ali  Mzee;  Asia  Amour;  Juma  Salum;  and  Hamdan  Muhidin.  
 And  at  its  first  meeting,  the  commission  elected  Sheikh  Thabit  Kombo  (from  ASP)  to  be  the  Commission  Chairman;   and  Pius  Msekwa (from TANU)  to  be    the  Commission  Secretary.  
The   commission   had  been  given  one  moth  within  which  to  complete  its  assignment  and  be  ready  to  report  to  the  next  meeting  of  the  joint  National  Executive  Committees;  which  was  scheduled   for    November ,1976.   We  worked   full  time  on  this  project,  and  were  able  to    meet  the   prescribed   deadline.                                                                                                                                     Our  specific  assignment  was  “to  prepare  recommendations  for  the  new  party’s  constitution”.  Now,  ‘Constitutions  and constitution-making’  are   my  academic  area  of  close  interest   Thus,  as   the  Secretary  to  the  commission in,   I  invested  a  lot  of  energy,  plus  personal  knowledge,   in  this  assignment;   by  preparing   the  drafts   of each  of   the  Chapters  of  the  proposed   constitution,  for  discussion  by  the  commission.        
To  our  great  relief  and  satisfaction,    all  the  Commissions’  recommendations  were  accepted  by  the  said joint  meeting.    Thereafter,  the  rest  was   just ‘ full  speed  ahead’  to  the  agreed ‘date  of  birth’  of  the  new  party,  the   5th  day  of  February,  1977.                                                                                                                                                                                    
The   Holy  Bible’s  Old  Testament  says:   “To  everything  there  is  a  season,  and  a time  for  every  purpose  under  the  Heaven”.    This  date  of  5th  February,  was  chosen  for  good  reasons:   it  was  the  20th  anniversary  of  the  Afro-shirazi  Party,  and  the  10th  anniversary  of  the  Arusha  Declaration.                                                                                                                                                                            The  commission  must  have  done  a  splendid   job,  which  satisfied  our   two  party  principals;  because  we  were  immediately  assigned  the  similar   task  of  preparing  recommendations  for  the  “permanent”  State  Constitution, of   1977;  a  task   which  we   carried  out with  similar  dispatch  and  diligence;  so  that  our  recommendations  were  ready  for  submission  and  approval  by  the  relevant   party  organs,  and  later processed  through  the   normal  Legislative  process,  to  enable  this  “permanent’  constitution  to  be  enacted  in  April,  1977.
Regarding   CCM’s   46th  birthday  anniversary.  
We   can  now  return  to  the  matter  of   CCM’s  46th  birthday  celebrations  of   last  Sunday,  which were  marked  principally  by  the  holding  of  symposiums,  intended  to  benefit  the  younger  generation    of  CCM  leaders   and   their  members  at  Ward  level;  by enhancing  their  awareness  and  understanding  of  ‘where  we  came  from,  where  we  are  now,  and  the  prospects for  the  future’
But  the  Sunday   celebrations  were  only  the  climax  of   week-long  activities,  consisting  of   certain designated  functions  at  Ward  level,   throughout  the  United  Republic:  Tanzania  Mainland,  as  well  as   Zanzibar.                                     
In  the  Ward  in  which  I  reside,   known  as   “Kata  ya  Nkiliza”    in  Ukerewe  District;   the  inauguration  function  was  held  at   the   Nkilizya  Secondary  School;,  which  is   situated  in  close  proximity  to  my  residence.   Among  other  activities,  the  function  also  included  the  holding  of  a  symposium,  at  which  Papers  were  presented  for  discussion  by  the  assembled  cadres   from   every  party   Branch   in  our  ward.                                                                                                                                    
I   had  been  invited  by  the  District  CCM  Political  Committee  to  be  one  of  the  Paper  presenters  at  this  symposium.    Thus,   being  mindful  of  the  fact  that   CCM’s    new   47th  year   had  arrived  not  so  long  after  the  party’s   2022   general  elections   which  had  brought  into  leadership,    a   large  number  of   new  leaders  who  had  been  elected  to  their  respective  positions  for  their  first  time  ever;    I  had crafted  my  Paper  in  a  way  that  would  help  these   new   cadres   to  get  an  early  exposure  to  the   ‘nitty-gritty’  of   our  party   leadership’s   duties  and  responsibilities.                                     
The  veteran  Chinese  leader  Mao  Tse  Tung  is  on  record  as  having said  the  following:-                       “Once  the  political  line  is  determined,  cadres  are  a  decisive  factor.  Therefore, it is  our  fighting  task    to  train  large  numbers  of   new   cadres  in  a  planned  way”.                                                                 In  our situation,  the  “party  line”  is   already  determined,  and  is  clearly  manifested   in  the  party’s   constitution.   Hence,  our  imperative  task  now  is  the  train,  and  re-train,  our  party  cadres,  in  order  to  prepare  them   adequately  for  carrying  out  their  respective  duties  and  responsibilities. 
 I  am  also  reminded  of  some  ‘nuggets  of  wisdom’  from  Mwalimu  Nyerere;  who  referred  to  the  same  imperative  in  his  little  story  of  the  ‘millipede  mother’ (mama  jongoo);  which,  translated  from  its  Kiswahili  original  version,   reads  as  follows:-   “The  newly  born  millipede  asked  her  mother:  ‘mother,  with  such  numerous  legs,  when  I  start  walking,  which  leg  should  I  put  forward  first’?    Mama  jongoo   replied:  you  just  begin  moving  forward,  the  legs  will  take   care  of  themselves ”.                                                                                                                                                                                            From   this   mini-story,  Mwalimu  Nyerere  hammered  in   his  lesson  that:  “whenever   we  elect  our  party  leaders,  we  should  not   leave  them  alone  to   ‘take  care  of  themselves’,  in  search  for  the  best  ways  in  which  to  carry  out  their  new  responsibilities.  We   have  an  obligation  to  arrange   some  appropriate  training  for  them”  he  said.                                                                                                            And,  indeed,  before  the  re-introduction  of  the  multi-party  political  dispensation,  that  was,  in  fact,  the  sole  responsibility  of  the  then  party’s  Kivukoni  College;  namely:  to  train,  and   re-train,  our  party  cadres.   Unfortunately  however,  following  the  re-introduction  of  multi-party  politics,  we  seem  to  have  abandoned  this  critical  task  of  training  our  cadres.                                                                                     
Thus  my   considered  advice,  and  fervent  plea,  to  the  national   party  Administration  is :  please  make  suitable  arrangements  for  the  resumption  of  such  organized  and   systematic   training   for  our  party  cadres.   
The   establishment  and  inauguration,  on  23rd  February   2022;   of  the  “Mwalimu   Nyerere  School  of  Leadership”  at  Kibaha,  was  a  confirmation  of  this  need  for  the  training  of  cadres.  
 It  is  a  truism,  that   being  knowledgeable  about  a  given  matter,  is  a  vital  qualification  for   ‘delivery  performance’  by  the  actors  on  the  relevant  ‘stage’.   This  is   because  “political  management”  primarily  involves  the  management  of  peoples’  Affairs;   and  considering  the   large  variety   of   personal  interests,  propensities,   and  idiosyncrasies,   among  ordinary  people;  a  proper  management  of  their  affairs  is  complicated  enough   to  require  some  expert  knowledge and  skills,  which  can  only  be  obtained  through   some  specialized  training.   This  is  what  explains  why  many,  if  not  all,   of  the  early  leaders  of  TANU  and  its  government,  were  routinely  sent  to  Kivukoni  College  (and  its  six zonal  colleges)  for  training  (and  retraining)  in  leadership  skills.
On  implementing  the  party’s  ideology.
There  is   one  important   matter  which  seems  to  have  been  forgotten,  or  is   currently   not  being given  sufficient  emphasis;  and  that  is  the  matter  of   implementing  the  ‘party’s  ideology’,  or,  in  the  words  of  the  party  constitution,  “IMANI  YA  CHAMA”.
As  I  said  above,  our  party  line”  is  already  determined,  and  is  clearly  manifested  in  the  First  Part   of  the  Party  constitution;  listed   therein  as:    1.  IMANI  YA  CHAMA;  and  2.  MALENGO  NA  MADHUMUNI  YA  CHAMA.                                                                                                                                                         The  principal  aim   and  objective  of  my  presentation  at  the  symposium  referred  to  above,   was  to   focus  primarily  on  drawing  attention  to  this  particular  matter,  which   seems  to  have  been  overlooked;  namely,   the  ‘lack  of  attention’  that  should  be  paid   to  the  practical  implementation  of  the  set  of  principles,   which    together  constitute  our    party’s  ideology.   “Ideology”  is   the  foundation  upon  which   rests   the  CCM  members’  basic  faith  in  the  party,   and  consequently sustains  their  adherence  to   it.  
It   is   indeed  appreciated,  that  our  cadres  have   been  paying  great  attention  to   the  task  of   supervising  the  implementation  of  the  party’s  “Election  Manifesto”;   as  manifested   by   the  way  they  tirelessly  spend  a  lot  of  time  inspecting  the  progress  of  implementation   by  the  government,   of  all  the  projects  that  are  listed  in  the  said  Manifesto.                                                  
However,   it   is  clearly  noticeable,  that  similar  enthusiasm  is  sadly  lacking  with  regard  to   supervising  the  implementation   of  the  set  of  ideological  principles  listed  in article  5  of  the the  party’s  constitution.   Some  people  mistakenly  believe  the  “Ujamaa  na  kujitegemea”   is  the  only   CCM  ideology.  Wrong,  that  is  only  part  of  it !                                                                                                                                                                          My  advice   is   simply   that    this   ‘deficit’  should  be  remedied,  through  resuming   well-  structured   cadre   training   programmes. 
piomsekwa@gmail.com    /   0754767576.  
The  birth  of  Chama  cha  Mapinduzi  in  1977,  as  a result  of  the  merger  between  the  Tanganyika  African  National  Union (TANU)  and  the  Zanzibar  Afro-Shirazi  Party (ASP)  was  a  major  event   of  great  political  importance.                                                                                                                                          The  younger  generation  may  presumably  be  interested  to  know  exactly  how  this  was  achieved.    Here  is  the authentic  story.    It   all  started  at  a  joint  TANU/ASP  ‘Electoral  Conference’  of  1975,  which  was  held  on  22nd  September,  1975.    The   Conference   had  been  convened  for  the  purpose  of  nominating  the   Presidential  candidate  for  the  1975  Presidential  election.                                                                                        

This  was  during  the  period  of  the  “One-party  State’  political  dispensation,  but  general  elections  were   nevertheless  held  regularly,  at  the  end  of  every  five-year  period;  in  order  to  give  the  electors  the  opportunity  to  change  any  of  their  elected   Central,  or  Local government  leaders,  if  they  so  wished.   That  was  how  the  “One-party  electoral   Democracy”  worked.  
The   1975  Electoral  Conference  dully  nominated   Mwalimu  Julius  Nyerere  to  be   that   candidate.   This  joint   nomination  process  was  instituted  in  1965,  when   the  first   Presidential  election  was  held  after  the  establishment  of  the  Union  between  Tanganyika  in  April  1964.                Fortunately,  the   structures  of  the  two  parties  at  the  national  level  were  completely   identical,  consisting  of   an  apex  organ  designated  as  “the  Party National   Congress”.     Thus  it  was  decided  that   for  the  purpose  of  nominating  the  Presidential  candidate,  the  two  congresses would  sit  in  a  joint  session , designated  as  the  “Electoral  Conference”;  to  undertake  this  nomination  task.   This was  because  the  Presidential  election  was  to  be  held  in  both  parts  of  the  Union,  and  each  side  had  its  own  political  party.   It  was  therefore  necessary  to   devise  a  system  whereby  the  two  parties  could  sit  together  to  make  this  nomination.                                                                              
What  happened   at  the  1975  Electoral  conference  was  that   Nyerere  used   his   traditional  “acceptance  speech”  to  make   this   proposal,   that  the  two  parties  should  seriously  consider  forming   a  merger  between  them,  in  the  following  words:-                                                                                                                                                                                     “Our  country  is  constitutionally  a  One-party  State;  but  in  reality,  we  have  two  parties.  I  believe  that  this  is  a  constitutional  anomaly,  to  which  we  should  give  serious  consideration.            I  am  convinced  that   we  will  greatly  strengthen  the  unity  of  our  people,  and  give  ourselves  greater capacity  for  carrying  our  revolution  forward,  if  we  now  agree  to  merge  our  two  parties,  in  order  to  form  one  strong  revolutionary  party,  which  will  lead  one  revolutionary  nation”. 
The   proposal  was  very   well  received  by  the  conference,   which  thus   allowed  the  process  for  the  proposed  merger   to  commence  pretty  soon  thereafter.  The  first  step  was  for  each  party to  make  internal   consultations  with  its  individual  members  at  the  Branch  level.       By   June  1976,  this   consultation   process  had  been  completed;  with  positive  results  from  both  sides.   
Thereafter,   the  two  parties  agreed  to  hold  joint   meetings  of  their  National  Executive  Committees  for  the  purpose  of  making  crucial  decisions  regarding  the  remaining  stages  of  te  merger  process.   The  first  such  meeting  was  held  on 2nd  October,  1976;   which  appointed  a           commission  of  20  persons,  10  from  each  of  the  two  parties.  The following  persons  were  appointed:-                                                                                                                                                                   
From  TANU:   Lawi  Sijaona;  Peter  Kisumo; Ngombale  Mwiru;  Peter  Siyovelwa; Pius  Msekwa;  Jackson  Kaaya;  Basheikh  Mikidadi;  Beatrice  Mhango;  Nicodemus  Banduka;  and  Daudi  Mwakawago.                                                                                                                                                                    From   ASP:  Sheikh  Thabit  Kmbo;  Hassan  Nassor  Moyo;  Abdallah  Natepe;  Seif  Bakari;  Hamisi  Hemed;  Rajab  Heri;  Ali  Mzee;  Asia  Amour;  Juma  Salum;  and  Hamdan  Muhidin.  
 And  at  its  first  meeting,  the  commission  elected  Sheikh  Thabit  Kombo  (from  ASP)  to  be  the  Commission  Chairman;   and  Pius  Msekwa (from TANU)  to  be    the  Commission  Secretary.  
The   commission   had  been  given  one  moth  within  which  to  complete  its  assignment  and  be  ready  to  report  to  the  next  meeting  of  the  joint  National  Executive  Committees;  which  was  scheduled   for    November ,1976.   We  worked   full  time  on  this  project,  and  were  able  to    meet  the   prescribed   deadline.                                                                                                                                     Our  specific  assignment  was  “to  prepare  recommendations  for  the  new  party’s  constitution”.  Now,  ‘Constitutions  and constitution-making’  are   my  academic  area  of  close  interest   Thus,  as   the  Secretary  to  the  commission in,   I  invested  a  lot  of  energy,  plus  personal  knowledge,   in  this  assignment;   by  preparing   the  drafts   of each  of   the  Chapters  of  the  proposed   constitution,  for  discussion  by  the  commission.        
To  our  great  relief  and  satisfaction,    all  the  Commissions’  recommendations  were  accepted  by  the  said joint  meeting.    Thereafter,  the  rest  was   just ‘ full  speed  ahead’  to  the  agreed ‘date  of  birth’  of  the  new  party,  the   5th  day  of  February,  1977.                                                                                                                                                                                    
The   Holy  Bible’s  Old  Testament  says:   “To  everything  there  is  a  season,  and  a time  for  every  purpose  under  the  Heaven”.    This  date  of  5th  February,  was  chosen  for  good  reasons:   it  was  the  20th  anniversary  of  the  Afro-shirazi  Party,  and  the  10th  anniversary  of  the  Arusha  Declaration.                                                                                                                                                                            The  commission  must  have  done  a  splendid   job,  which  satisfied  our   two  party  principals;  because  we  were  immediately  assigned  the  similar   task  of  preparing  recommendations  for  the  “permanent”  State  Constitution, of   1977;  a  task   which  we   carried  out with  similar  dispatch  and  diligence;  so  that  our  recommendations  were  ready  for  submission  and  approval  by  the  relevant   party  organs,  and  later processed  through  the   normal  Legislative  process,  to  enable  this  “permanent’  constitution  to  be  enacted  in  April,  1977.
Regarding   CCM’s   46th  birthday  anniversary.  
We   can  now  return  to  the  matter  of   CCM’s  46th  birthday  celebrations  of   last  Sunday,  which were  marked  principally  by  the  holding  of  symposiums,  intended  to  benefit  the  younger  generation    of  CCM  leaders   and   their  members  at  Ward  level;  by enhancing  their  awareness  and  understanding  of  ‘where  we  came  from,  where  we  are  now,  and  the  prospects for  the  future’
But  the  Sunday   celebrations  were  only  the  climax  of   week-long  activities,  consisting  of   certain designated  functions  at  Ward  level,   throughout  the  United  Republic:  Tanzania  Mainland,  as  well  as   Zanzibar.                                     
In  the  Ward  in  which  I  reside,   known  as   “Kata  ya  Nkiliza”    in  Ukerewe  District;   the  inauguration  function  was  held  at   the   Nkilizya  Secondary  School;,  which  is   situated  in  close  proximity  to  my  residence.   Among  other  activities,  the  function  also  included  the  holding  of  a  symposium,  at  which  Papers  were  presented  for  discussion  by  the  assembled  cadres   from   every  party   Branch   in  our  ward.                                                                                                                                    
I   had  been  invited  by  the  District  CCM  Political  Committee  to  be  one  of  the  Paper  presenters  at  this  symposium.    Thus,   being  mindful  of  the  fact  that   CCM’s    new   47th  year   had  arrived  not  so  long  after  the  party’s   2022   general  elections   which  had  brought  into  leadership,    a   large  number  of   new  leaders  who  had  been  elected  to  their  respective  positions  for  their  first  time  ever;    I  had crafted  my  Paper  in  a  way  that  would  help  these   new   cadres   to  get  an  early  exposure  to  the   ‘nitty-gritty’  of   our  party   leadership’s   duties  and  responsibilities.                                     
The  veteran  Chinese  leader  Mao  Tse  Tung  is  on  record  as  having said  the  following:-                       “Once  the  political  line  is  determined,  cadres  are  a  decisive  factor.  Therefore, it is  our  fighting  task    to  train  large  numbers  of   new   cadres  in  a  planned  way”.                                                                 In  our situation,  the  “party  line”  is   already  determined,  and  is  clearly  manifested   in  the  party’s   constitution.   Hence,  our  imperative  task  now  is  the  train,  and  re-train,  our  party  cadres,  in  order  to  prepare  them   adequately  for  carrying  out  their  respective  duties  and  responsibilities. 
 I  am  also  reminded  of  some  ‘nuggets  of  wisdom’  from  Mwalimu  Nyerere;  who  referred  to  the  same  imperative  in  his  little  story  of  the  ‘millipede  mother’ (mama  jongoo);  which,  translated  from  its  Kiswahili  original  version,   reads  as  follows:-   “The  newly  born  millipede  asked  her  mother:  ‘mother,  with  such  numerous  legs,  when  I  start  walking,  which  leg  should  I  put  forward  first’?    Mama  jongoo   replied:  you  just  begin  moving  forward,  the  legs  will  take   care  of  themselves ”.                                                                                                                                                                                            From   this   mini-story,  Mwalimu  Nyerere  hammered  in   his  lesson  that:  “whenever   we  elect  our  party  leaders,  we  should  not   leave  them  alone  to   ‘take  care  of  themselves’,  in  search  for  the  best  ways  in  which  to  carry  out  their  new  responsibilities.  We   have  an  obligation  to  arrange   some  appropriate  training  for  them”  he  said.                                                                                                            And,  indeed,  before  the  re-introduction  of  the  multi-party  political  dispensation,  that  was,  in  fact,  the  sole  responsibility  of  the  then  party’s  Kivukoni  College;  namely:  to  train,  and   re-train,  our  party  cadres.   Unfortunately  however,  following  the  re-introduction  of  multi-party  politics,  we  seem  to  have  abandoned  this  critical  task  of  training  our  cadres.                                                                                     
Thus  my   considered  advice,  and  fervent  plea,  to  the  national   party  Administration  is :  please  make  suitable  arrangements  for  the  resumption  of  such  organized  and   systematic   training   for  our  party  cadres.   
The   establishment  and  inauguration,  on  23rd  February   2022;   of  the  “Mwalimu   Nyerere  School  of  Leadership”  at  Kibaha,  was  a  confirmation  of  this  need  for  the  training  of  cadres.  
 It  is  a  truism,  that   being  knowledgeable  about  a  given  matter,  is  a  vital  qualification  for   ‘delivery  performance’  by  the  actors  on  the  relevant  ‘stage’.   This  is   because  “political  management”  primarily  involves  the  management  of  peoples’  Affairs;   and  considering  the   large  variety   of   personal  interests,  propensities,   and  idiosyncrasies,   among  ordinary  people;  a  proper  management  of  their  affairs  is  complicated  enough   to  require  some  expert  knowledge and  skills,  which  can  only  be  obtained  through   some  specialized  training.   This  is  what  explains  why  many,  if  not  all,   of  the  early  leaders  of  TANU  and  its  government,  were  routinely  sent  to  Kivukoni  College  (and  its  six zonal  colleges)  for  training  (and  retraining)  in  leadership  skills.
On  implementing  the  party’s  ideology.
There  is   one  important   matter  which  seems  to  have  been  forgotten,  or  is   currently   not  being given  sufficient  emphasis;  and  that  is  the  matter  of   implementing  the  ‘party’s  ideology’,  or,  in  the  words  of  the  party  constitution,  “IMANI  YA  CHAMA”.
As  I  said  above,  our  party  line”  is  already  determined,  and  is  clearly  manifested  in  the  First  Part   of  the  Party  constitution;  listed   therein  as:    1.  IMANI  YA  CHAMA;  and  2.  MALENGO  NA  MADHUMUNI  YA  CHAMA.                                                                                                                                                         The  principal  aim   and  objective  of  my  presentation  at  the  symposium  referred  to  above,   was  to   focus  primarily  on  drawing  attention  to  this  particular  matter,  which   seems  to  have  been  overlooked;  namely,   the  ‘lack  of  attention’  that  should  be  paid   to  the  practical  implementation  of  the  set  of  principles,   which    together  constitute  our    party’s  ideology.   “Ideology”  is   the  foundation  upon  which   rests   the  CCM  members’  basic  faith  in  the  party,   and  consequently sustains  their  adherence  to   it.  
It   is   indeed  appreciated,  that  our  cadres  have   been  paying  great  attention  to   the  task  of   supervising  the  implementation  of  the  party’s  “Election  Manifesto”;   as  manifested   by   the  way  they  tirelessly  spend  a  lot  of  time  inspecting  the  progress  of  implementation   by  the  government,   of  all  the  projects  that  are  listed  in  the  said  Manifesto.                                                  
However,   it   is  clearly  noticeable,  that  similar  enthusiasm  is  sadly  lacking  with  regard  to   supervising  the  implementation   of  the  set  of  ideological  principles  listed  in article  5  of  the the  party’s  constitution.   Some  people  mistakenly  believe  the  “Ujamaa  na  kujitegemea”   is  the  only   CCM  ideology.  Wrong,  that  is  only  part  of  it !                                                                                                                                                                          My  advice   is   simply   that    this   ‘deficit’  should  be  remedied,  through  resuming   well-  structured   cadre   training   programmes. 
piomsekwa@gmail.com    /   0754767576.  
Source: Cde Pius Msekwa yesterday.