Barua kwa Reginald Mengi (Marehemu)

Bwana Reginald Mengi,

Salamu huko kwenye maisha yako mapya.  Sina haja ya kukuuliza kama hujambo au la hasa nikizingatia na hali ya uliko kwa sasa ambako ni safari yetu sote. Kwa heshima niruhusu nikujulishe yafuatayo:

Mosi, tangu ulipoanga dunia hapo usiku wa kuamikia tarehe 2 Mei, umegeuzwa malaika. Wengi wanaimba sifa zako bila kutaja kasoro zako lau wakutendee haki. Wengi wanaogopa kusema ukweli juu yako ili wasilaumiwe au kuonekana wabaya wakati binadamu ana sifa zote ubaya na uzuri. Hakuna mwenye sifa nzuri wala mbaya pekee; wala hakuna binadamu malaika wala shetani. Hata katili wa kutisha kama vile Adolf Hitler, Augusto Pinochet, Pol Pot, Nikita Khrushchev, Nicolae Ceausescu, Samuel Kanyon Doe, Joseph Stalin na wengine wengi walikuwa na ubaya na uzuri wao. Hayo ndiyo maumbile yetu binadamu. Hivyo ninapoandika ninayoandika haimaanishi kuwa nakuchukia wala kukuzushia.

Pili, naomba ufahamu kuwa waraka wangu ni mwakilishi wa wale ambao ima kwa kutojua au vinginevyo uliwakwaza hasa waandishi na wachangiaji kwenye vyombo vyako vya habari. Mimi ni mmojawapo ambaye umeondoka na deni langu baada ya kuandikia magazeti yako ya Nipashe Jumamosi na the Guardian on Sunday kwa miaka mitatu bila malipo. Niliwasilisha madai yangu kwa wahasibu na wahariri wako bila majibu ukiachia mbali kukumbushia mara kwa mara kupitia blog hii.

Tatu, fahamu kuwa umeondoka si na deni let utu bali pia kutokutulipa hasa wale wanaotegemea malipo haya ni mateso kwa familia zetu. Hivyo, wanaokusifia, japo kwa kujua wakafanya makusudi au kutojua, wanapaswa kulijua hili ili liwe somo kwao wanaopenda kusifia watu huku wakifunika mapungufu yao.

Bwana Mengi,

Umeondoka kwenye dunia hii ya kimwili. Mojawapo ya urathi wako pamoja na kusifika kusaidia wanyonge, kuna wengine wanyonge tena waliomwaga jasho lao kukutumikia hukuwatendea haki. Wapo watakaokusamehe na wapo ambao hawatakusamehe ukiachia mbali kuwafikisha mahakamani warithi wako.

Mie naandika kama binadamu nikiwasiliana nawe kama binadamu ili kuondoa mazoea mabaya na unafiki wa kusifia waliokufa na kuwaumiza walioumizwa nao. Nataka niwe mkweli na muwazi kama alivyowahi kuwa rais John Pombe Magufuli kwenye msiba wa mtu mmoja aliyekuwa ameacha wake wengi lakini kwenye msiba akatambulishwa mmoja kiasi cha kumlazimisha rais kuondoa unafiki na kusema alimjua marehemu kama mtu mwenye wake Zaidi ya mmoja. Nawe kama Binadamu wapo uliowakwaza na wapo waliokukwaza pia. Hivyo, huu ni wakati wa kusameheana na kuombeana toba.

Hivyo, rais alitaka wake wengine na watoto wao wasidhulumiwe. Nami nataka kuwaambia wanao na watakaokurithi wasiwadhulumu waliochangia kwenye vyombo vya habari bila kulipwa haki zao na kuachwa na unyonge wao. Maana haiwezekani mtu uwe na uwezo wa kuwajengea watu majumba na hata zahanati na kutoa mikopo kama tunavyosikia mashuhuda wako ushindwe kuwalipa watu waliomwaga jasho lao wakitumikia makampuni yako kama sisi tuliochangia kwenye vyombo vya habari ambao wanawakilishwa na waraka huu.

Hivyo, sitaki niseme mengi. Nakutakia safari njema ambayo ni yetu sote japo kwa muda tofauti. Nasisitiza kusema kuwa nimejitahidi kujitenga na woga hata unafiki wa kukusifia bila kueleza upande wa pili. Huenda kwa nafasi yako kama mtu Tajiri na mkubwa kuna mengi walitenda wa chini yako kwa kuwadhulumu wanyonge na kuziba nafasi ya kukuona. Kwa ulipo sasa ungetamani haya uyajue mapema ili usiondoke na deni. 

Mwisho, wamejitokeza vizabazabina na wapenda sifa waliotunga hadithi chafu na za kunuka kuhusiana na msiba wako hata kumhusisha mkeo. Wapo watasingizia mengi. Hata hivyo, kwa mahali ulipo, wote wanazidi kujichumia dhambi na kujipalia mkaa.

Pumzika mahali pema peponi Reginald Abraham Mengi.

Air Tanzania must accurately epitomize Tanzania

            I must say it right off the bat. Looking at a fleet of Air Tanzania’s planes currently, takes me back down memory lane when our country was among competent African countries almost in everything. It takes me back to the nostalgic time under the late Mwl Julius Nyerere when Tanzania tried to decolonise and truly emancipate itself something we now evident many years thereafter. This was before it sank to futility and obscurity up until President John Magufuli burst onto the scene and quickly reclaimed it including saving Air Tanzania’s bacon among others. Tanzania currently, boasts of having its national carrier, which is like a boff currently; and has been welcomed back to the community of competent countries in the world. If anything, the Air Tanzania is among many things that’ll become a legacy of Magufuli soon after retiring.

            By and large, provided that now Tanzania deservedly and proudly has its own national carrier, the Air Tanzania, as a national property and symbol, needs to look like; and thereby represent Tanzania, at least, by carrying its four national colours, namely black, blue, yellow and green as seen on our national flag. These colours are not inadvertent in display. As a nation and people, no doubt; we chose them largely because of their significance in representing and showcasing us as we satisfactorily deem fit. For reminder, the black colour represents our colour as Africans, blue represents our water bodies, yellow represents our minerals and green represents our vegetation. This is what every Tanzanian knows after stepping into a class. This is what our nation inculcated in our minds and psyche as nation and people altogether though we somewhat take it for granted so as to pointlessly flout it. This is what I was taught in school in my formative age. I don’t know if currently it is still taught in schools as it used to be under the late Nyerere when patriotism was an in-thing nationally. 

            As a nation and people, wherever we are represented, we need to be accurately and deservedly represented either through our flag or whatever symbols that represent us without beefing about it. Understandably so, our national carrier is one of the symbols that represent our country in and out. In my humble submission methinks; this is why president Magufuli prioritized the purchase of aircraft. He knew and underscored chockablock importance a national carrier has to the country. For, whenever and wherever it flies, so, too, Tanzania flies there.  This is why many countries bear the pains of maintaining their national carriers. It is for business as well as social purposes mainly pride and easily and self-advertisement and promoting. This said, the Air Tanzania needs to quickly tweak its emblem so that it can accurately and deservedly represent our country. It needs to seriously take this. For, this is not a Jar Jar Binks’ talk brought in Ebonics or anything alike.

              In fact, when I cogently somehow look at the current Air Tanzania, I wonder if those who designed its colour had what I have in my mind as a Tanzania. For this matter, unbeknownst to them, even its emblem has some issues for having two A’s instead of one that would nicely represent the company. Why have two A’s instead of One, the first one? The bigger A with a round on it is suitable to deliver the meaning the company intends to put across instead of having two A’s which make it sound as ‘A Air Tanzania.’

            Red meat aside, I am not intending or trying to condemn, playing chicken, faulting the Air Tanzania or carrying the ball on this goof-up. My assumption is that maybe, just maybe, those who designed its insignia didn’t see what I see, especially when they design it or painted their aircraft.  Honestly, I believe that it behoves the Air Tanzania to take my advice instead of nixing it. This is because Air Tanzania apart from being ours, it must listen to our views too. For, those running the company do not have the company to themselves. Importantly, in my off-the-cuff research on other national carriers found that almost all national carriers carry the colours of their flags. This is not a coincidence. National colours have colossal significance in defining and representing the nation in question.

            In sum, as elaborated above, this piece seeks to remind the Air Tanzania of its noble role of representing our country deservedly as it meets targeted goals for the development of our country. So, what is intended is not to punch holes on the Air Tanzania but to advise it do the right thing.

God bless Tanzania 

FROM TANGANYIKA TO TANZANIA: Commemorating the unification of Tanganyika and Zanzibar.

Last Friday,  the 26th of  April, 2019, was the 55^nd anniversary of Union Day,  which is the date on which the Union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar was established, way back  in 1964. In my article of last week, I happily introduced my latest book titled “Historia ya muungano wa Tanganyika na Zanzibar”, which was published by Educational Publishers Ltd of Bukoba.    Today’s article is a continuation of that theme, but this will focus primarily on the events which followed after the establishment of the Union; namely, the ratification of the Union Agreement; and the coming into force  of that Agreement on 26^th April, 1964.The ratification of articles of Union.

Article (i) of the “Articles of Union” between Tanganyika and Zanzibar, 1964, reads as follows:  

“The  Republic of Tanganyika and the Peoples’ Republic of Zanzibar shall, upon Union Day,  be united into one sovereign Republic by the name of the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar”.  This being an international Treaty, it required ratification by the respective Legislatures of the two countries.  This was duly accomplished on Saturday, 25^th April, 1964. The provisions of the Articles of Union were conveniently reproduced both in the “Ratification Act” of the Parliament of Tanganyika,  (no. 22 of 1964), which was enacted by the Tanganyika Parliament on 25^th April,1964, and assented to by The President of Tanganyika on that same day; and in “The Union of Zanzibar and Tanganyika Law”, which was passed by the Zanzibar Revolutionary Council,  also on 25^th April, 1964, and published in the Union  Government  Official Gazette of 1^st May, 1964, as  Government Notice (GN) no. 243. 

Implementation of the ratification statute.                                                                                                          (a)  The appointment of two Union Vice-Presidents’                                                 

Section 6(2) of the Union Acts had appointed Sheikh Abeid Amani Karue as the First Vice-President of the United Republic and President of Zanzibar, hence only the Second Vice-President needed to be appointed.  This was done very quickly on the next day after Union Day, when Rashid Mfaume Kawawa, former Vice- President of Tanganyika, was appointed Second Vice-President of the United Republic.

(b)   The appointment of representatives from Zanzibar to the Union Parliament.              This was also done quickly on the day immediately following Union Day, when the first group of members of the Union parliament was appointed and took the oath of allegiance.  Their taking the oath of allegiance was done at the first meeting of the Union Parliament, which had been summoned to meet on Monday, 27^th April, 1964, the day after Union day itself.

(c)  Crafting the interim Constitution of the United Republic.                                                                                                

Article (ii) of the Articles of Union provided as follows: “During the interim period, the Constitution of the United Republic shall be the Constitution of Tanganyika so modified as to provide for-                            

(a)  Union  Matters;  (b)  a separate government and Legislature for Zanzibar;  (c )  the appointment of two  Union  Vice-Presidents;  (d) the Representation of Zanzibar in the Union Parliament;  (e)  such other matters as may be expedient or desirable to give effect to the Union and to the articles of Union ”.               

This was quickly implemented, when a document titled “The Interim Constitution of the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar” was published in the official Government Gazette on 1^st May, 1964, as Government Notice (GN) no 246.                                                         

Article 8(2) of the Acts of Union (i.e. the ratification laws) had given powers to the Union President, during the Interim period, to issue Presidential Decrees in order to make provision for the matters which were specified therein.  In exercise of these powers, the President issued the following Decrees, which were published in the same official gazette of 1^st May, 1964. These Decrees were deemed necessary in order ‘to give effect to the Union and the articles of Union’. They were the following:                 

(i) “The Transitional Provisions Decree, 1964”.  This Decree provided for the transfer of all persons who were holding office in the service of the Republic of Tanganyika, to the corresponding offices in the service of the United Republic.  By the same decree, the High Court of Tanganyika became the High Court of the United Republic; and the Public Seal of the Republic of Tanganyika became the Public Seal of the United Republic. 

(ii)  The Interim Constitution Decree, 1964”. By the provisions of this Decree, the Constitution of Tanganyika became the Constitution of the United Republic, appropriately amended in order to provide for the matters specified above.                                                                                       

(iii) “The Transitional Provision (no 2) Decree, 1964”.  By the provisions of this Decree, any reference to “Tanganyika” in all the existing laws of Tanganyika were to read as references to the United Republic. And references to ‘the government of Tanganyika, or to any matter or thing in any way connected with the said government’ were to be read as references to the Government of the United Republic. The total effect of these enactments is that the country formerly known as “Tanganyika”, together with its ‘Government of Tanganyika’, were decreed out of legal existence; or (colloquially), “out of sight and out of mind”!                                                                                                                                                                   

These Decrees were issue in order to implement the provisions of article 4 of the Interim Constitution of the United Republic, which provided for a separate Government and Legislature for Zanzibar, but no separate Government or separate Legislature for Tanganyika. In other words, Tanganyika was to be governed directly by the Union Government, and by the Union Legislature.   This provision was subsequently incorporated in the Permanent Constitution of the United Republic, 1977, and  is what is commonly referred to as the “two-Government structure”  of the Union  (Muundo wa Serikali mbili), and has been the subject of repeated challenges by certain stakeholders, in  attempts  to re- establish a separate Government for Tanganyika or Tanzania Mainland.  We will come back to that matter later.

In October, 1964, the Union Parliament enacted a law (Act no. 61 of 1964), which changed the country’s name from “The United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar” to the abbreviated name of “The United Republic of Tanzania”.

The interim period extended.                                                                                                                             Article (vii) of the Articles of Union had made provision for a “Commission to be appointed which will make proposals for a permanent Constitution of the United Republic; and to summon a Constituent Assembly composed of representatives from Tanganyika and from Zanzibar, to meet  within one year of the commencement of the Union, to adopt a permanent Constitution for the United Republic”.   However, this was NOT to be. One month before the expiry of the one-year period, in March 1965, the Union Parliament enacted a law which postponed the implementation of the said article, “until such time as shall be deemed convenient by the two Principals, namely Union President Nyerere, and Zanzibar President Karume”.  That is what explains the delay of thirteen years before the appointment of the said Commission, “to make proposals for a permanent Constitution, and the convening of a Constituent Assembly to consider those proposals and to enact such permanent Constitution”, which was eventually done in 1977.

The reasons for this delay.

It was subsequently revealed by Mwalimu Nyerere, in meetings of the National Executive Committee of his Party, (CCM); that during their talks on the unification of their two countries, President Karume had shown clear preference for a ‘one-Government’ structure.  Mwalimu Nyerere disclosed that when he asked for President Karume’s views on the structure of the Union.   President Karume had replied thus: “Maoni yangu mimi ni Muungano wa Serikali moja.  Mwalimu  wewe utakuwa  Rais,  mimi nitakuwa Makamu wako” .   He disclosed further that  it was him  (Mwalimu Nyerere)  who had initially opposed that idea, out of a genuine  fear  that a ‘One-Government’ structure at that stage would create the misleading impression that Tanganyika had ‘swallowed’  Zanzibar;  but he was hopeful that given sufficient  time, this fear would disappear, and thus make it possible to adopt the desired  ‘One-Government’ structure.                                                                                                                                          

Additional evidence is to be found in the Articles of Union themselves which, with the exception of only article (i) all the remaining articles were designed to operate only during the interim period.  Article (ii) states as follows: “During the Interim period from the commencement of the Union  until the Constituent Assembly provided for in article (vii)  shall have met and adopted a Constitution for the United Republic, (herein after referred to as the interim period)  the United Republic shall be governed in accordance with the provisions of articles (iii) to (vi ”).                                                                                     

Article (iii) is what provides for a separate Government and Legislature for Zanzibar. It must therefore presumably have been the intention of the Union founding fathers, (the signatories to the said Articles of Union) that the permanent Constitution would do away with the ‘two-government’ structure, and substitute for it a one-Government structure.  However, this objective was not achieved, as the permanent Constitution which was enacted in 1977 simply retained the two-Government structure of the Union, in its article 34.

The challenges to the two-government structure of the Union.

In a document titled “Asili ya Muungano wa Serikali Mbili” which President Nyerere himself wrote in order to explain the reasons why the Union founding fathers had opted for a two-government structure of the Union. He said the following in Kiswahili:  “Nchi mbili zinapoungana na kuwa nchi moja,  mifumo ya kawaida ya muundo  wa Serikali huwa ni miwili. Ama muundo wa Serikali moja, au Shirikisho la Serikali tatu.  Kwa mfumo wa kwanza wa Serikali moja, kila nchi iliyoingia kwenye Muungano huo itafuta Serikali yake iliyokuwapo, na nchi mpya inayozaliwa itakuwa ni nchi moja yenye Serikali moja.  Katika mfumo wa pili, wa Shirikisho, kila nchi itajivua  madaraka fulani,  na kuyakabidhi kwa Serikali ya Shirikisho, lakini itaendelea kuwa na Serikali yake ambayo itashughulikia yale mambo mengine yaliyobaki, yaani ambayo hayakukabidhiwa kwa Serikali ya Shirikisho. . . Tanganyika na Zanzibar tulipoungana na kuwa nchi moja,  tungeweza kufuata mojawapo ya mifumo hiyo ya kawaida, lakini tulishindwa kufanya hivyo kwa sababu ya udogo wa Zanzibar, na ukubwa wa Tanganyika.  Zanzibar wakati huo ilkuwa na watu laki tatu; wakati Tanganyika ilikuwa na watu million kumi na mbili. Muungano wa Serikali moja ungefanya ionekane kwamba Tanganyika imeimeza Zanzibar. . .  Kwa sababu hiyo, mimi nilipinga mfumo wa Serikali moja”.

But despite this clear and elaborate explanation, the challenges to the ‘two-Government’ structure have been expressed repeatedly, starting with that of the then Zanzibar President Aboud Jumbe in 1984, which led to his forced resignation.  This was subsequently followed by the Nyalali Commission in 1991. The challenge was attempted again by the group of 55 members of Parliament (G55) in 1993; and by the Kisanga Commission in 1998; and finally (so far) by the Warioba Commission in 2014.  All these attempts have so far failed to achieve their desired objective of re-establishing a separate Government of Tanganyika. And just as well, because the ‘two-government’ structure, which gives Zanzibar complete autonomy over their ‘internal affairs’, i.e. the non-Union matters, is what has saved us from serious problems such as those currently afflicting the Federal Republic of Cameroon in West Africa.   

All these challenges are discussed in great detail in my latest book mentioned above. They are reproduced here in summary form, for the benefit of our readers who might be unable to access the said book.

Source: Daily News and courtesy of Cde Msekwa today.

piomsekwa@gmail.com   / 0754767576.