THE MEMORABLE EVENTS OF 1971. (Continued from last week).

We have already entered a new chapter of my autobiography, which relates to my second decade in the Public Service in Tanzania. We  started  with  the events of  year 1971; when  we  discussed  President  Nyerere’s  invitation  to  the  last  British  Colonial  administrators who  were still in the service of  the  country  when  our country  gained  independence  in  December  1961;  to come  back  and   see  for  themselves,  the  amount  of progress  that  the  country  had  achieved ten  years later,  under  the  independence  Government. This article will pick up from there.  It was unfortunate that last week’s article kind of ‘jumped the queue’, by discussing the 1973 and 1974 events relating to the re-location of the Government Capital to Dodoma; and those relating to the implementation of the  ‘Ujamaa Villages’ programme. This was a chronological error, which we have now corrected.

The introduction of mass militia (Mgambo) training.

After the invitations to the last Colonial administrators; the next significant event that needs to be put on record was the introduction of mass militia training for all able-bodied Tanzanians, also in 1971. This new policy was the result of the military coup, which had occurred in the neighboring Republic of Uganda, that  had  abruptly  toppled  President  Milton Obote  from power.                                                                                   

This event created such a huge negative impact on the minds of the people of Tanzania, that something had to be done quickly to reassure  the  population of its continued safety.  In the first place, there was the shock and disbelief that such a coup had taken place in a neighboring country, Uganda.  Military coups had indeed taken place before, but only in faraway countries of West Africa like Ghana and  Nigeria. This was the first time it had occurred so close to Tanzania.                                                                                                               

  But secondly, and much more frightening, were the rumors that were being spread by some ‘scare-mongers’, to the effect that a  similar coup was  soon going to take place  in  Tanzania; allegedly due to “Nyerere’s unwanted Ujamaa policies”. The scare-mongers found refuge in the fact that in 1969, The General Conference of the Uganda Peoples’ Congress (UPC), Uganda’s ruling party, had adopted a new policy document titled: “The Common Man’s Charter”.  This was to be their policy guide for building socialism in Uganda. It had many resemblances with our own 1967 “Arusha Declaration”.  President Nyerere and I had been invited to attend that conference, which we had gladly accepted, and actually attended. Thus, the scare-mongers’ false rumours appeared credible. Something had to be done urgently, to bring the situation back to normality.                             

And that is when President Nyerere sprang into action, by urgently taking two rescue measures: The immediate one was to call a huge public rally at Jangwani open grounds in Dar es Salaam; in order to give the population, the necessary reassurance. He  did exactly that,  and at the end of a lengthy speech, in which he gave all the necessary background to the coup in  Uganda, President Nyerere concluded with the following words: “I want to assure  you all, that  it is just not possible for a military coup to take place in Tanzania . . . It may be possible for one mad fellow out there in the street to shoot and kill me, but there can never be a military coup in Tanzania”.                                      

His second urgent measure was to call an extraordinary meeting of TANU’s National Executive Committee, which was held in February 1971; to deliberate over the matter of the Uganda coup, and agree on any new defense strategies for our country. The result of that meeting was the production of a new policy document titled “the TANU Guidelines, 1971”; which introduced an entirely new ‘militia’ mechanism for the country’s defense, known as “Mgambo” in Kiswahili.                                                                                          

But beyond that, The ‘1971 TANU Guidelines’ also introduced another important, new democratic practice, that of “empowering the people to make their own decision” in matters of immediate concern to them. This was intended to concretize the concept of continuous ‘political participation by all the people’.

The major events of 1972.

(i) The decentralization of the Central Government structure.

For us Tanzanians, the year 1972 was a year of national bereavement, caused by the  brutal  assassination  of  Zanzibar  President  Abeid  Amani  Karume,  who  was  at  the  same  time  First  Vice  President  of  the  United  Republic  of  Tanzania.  That murder took place at Kisiwandui, the Headquarters  of  the  Afro-Shirazi  Party.  Security investigations later revealed that this was the  work  of  an  Arab  assassin,  working alone,  as  his  personal revenge  for  the  killing  of  his  own  father  during  the  January  1964  Revolution.   Thereafter, arrangements had to be made for  the  appointment  of  a  successor  to  that  high  office.  After due consultations, Aboud Jumbe   was selected  to  succeed  the slain Karume.

 (ii) The major reforms of the country’s Administrative   structure.

Also, in 1972, President Nyerere introduced some sweeping, major reforms, which were aimed at decentralizing the administrative structure of the central Government. For that specific purpose, he had earlier contracted   an American consultancy firm, Mc Kinsey Company; to undertake the necessary study, and thereafter recommend an  appropriate format  for  the decentralization  of the Government machinery ; aimed at decentralizing some of the central Government’s  powers to the Regions  and Districts of Tanzania  Mainland. This was described in Kiswahili as “Madaraka Mikoani”.  In  due course,  the  Mc Kinsey company duly completed its assignment,  and submitted its Report to President  Nyerere;   who,  purely  for the purpose of   assisting him to  digest  that Report and its apparently  ‘far reaching’  recommendations,  appointed  a  committee  of  five  senior  Public Servants  under the Chairmanship  of  Dickson  Nkembo, the   Permanent  Secretary to the President,   to  make a  careful   study of   that   Report,  and advise  him  accordingly.  I was lucky to be one of the members of this   Presidential committee.   In the course of our examination of the Mc Kinsey Report, we observed  that  its  authors had  proposed  turning  the country’s  Regions  into  self- governing  entities, or  ‘States’;  each  with  its  own  Legislature,  and  Executive  Council.                                                                            

 We were of the unanimous view, that such a structure would be  detrimental  to the  unity   of the country, and  we accordingly  recommended  its  rejection. President Nyerere graciously accepted our recommendation.  As a result, we ended up with the ‘decentralized” system  of  Regional Administration  that  we  have  today,  and  not  the  ‘devolved’  system  that   Mc Kinsey  had recommended, which is operative, for example, in Kenya.  

The abolition of the Local  Authorities  District  Councils.

The abolition of the Local  Authorities’  ‘District  Councils’;  and  of  the  peoples’ Cooperative  Societies,  were  two  of  the  major governance  reforms  which  were  also carried  out  in  1972;  but  for  reasons  which, ten years  later, were  found  to  be  wholly  unsatisfactory,  thus  leading  to  their reversal. The decision to abolish  the  Local  Authorities’ District  Councils,  was  an  outcome  of  the  decentralization  programme  discussed  above. The argument then was that  because  of the  wide  disparity  between  the  country’s  different  districts  in  terms of  natural  resources  endowment;   to rely  on  the local District  Councils  to  bring  equal  development for  all  the  people  of  Mainland  Tanzania,  would  clearly  be  an  unrealizable  objective.  Hence, it was felt that  the  responsibility  for  development  should  be  left  to  the  Central  Government,  which  was  in  a  better  position  to  distribute  the  country’s  wealth  equitably,  according  to  need.

But the argument regarding  the  abolition  of  the  Peoples’  Cooperative  Societies  and  Unions,  was  based  on  a  totally  different  consideration,  namely,  the  prevalence  of  large scale  mismanagement; plus, even  more  serious, the widespread  plundering  and  theft  of  public  Cooperative  properties. It is these differing  reasons  that  led  to  the  abolition of  the  said  entities  at  the  time  they  were  abolished.                                                              

In this article, we will skip the events of the year 1973, which we discussed in an earlier article when we inadvertently ‘jumped the queue’.

The events of 1974.

The year 1974, actually turned out to be an extraordinary year, in terms the very significant administrative reforms that were initiated and successfully carried out during that single calendar year. The major reforms involved included:- 

(i) (i) The complete implementation of the ‘Ujamaa/Development Villages’ programme, which we have already discussed;                                     

  (ii) The major reforms in the provision of Primary and Secondary education, aimed at  achieving  the  cherished goal of ‘education for Self-Reliance;                                                                                                                  
(iii) The reforms in the procedure for student admission to the University of Dar es Salaam.                                                                                                          

All these reforms were the result of decisions arrived at by TANU’s National Executive Committee, at its meeting which was held in Musoma in April 1974.  Their principal purpose was to give directives on the ways to be followed in implementing the policy of ‘Education for Self-Reliance in our educational Institutions. The following were the actual decisions which were made:-                                                                                                   
  (a) That the education which is imparted in our Primary schools should not be aimed solely at preparing students for entry into Secondary Schools,  buts  should, instead,  be self-sufficient for the needs  for the majority of the students,  whose education  normally  terminates  there.                                  
(b) That similarly, Secondary education should not be aimed at preparing students for entry into tertiary education, but should equally be self-sufficient for the majority of the students whose education normally terminates there.                                                                                        

(c) (c) That Primary education in Tanzania, must be universal education, or ‘education for all’;  and not just for a  privileged few;                                    

(d) That in all our educational Institutions, efforts must be made to engage their  relevant communities in productive activities, especially in food production, so as to enable them to become self-sufficient, at least to some measurable extent.                                                                                                                  

  (e) That the format for examinations be reformed, in a way that will enable the student to be assessed both for his academic performance, and his performance in the school productive activities.

And as a follow up on its decision that primary education in Tanzania must be ‘education for all’;  the NEC further directed that “within the next three years, that is to say, by the year 1977; all the preparations  must have been completed, that will enable every boy and girl of school-going age,  to get admission into a Primary School.

Directives regarding the provision of Technical education.

That NEC meeting further directed, that a new emphasis be placed on the provision of Technical education, by introducing a new two-year technical education programme, for all those students who completed primary education, but were unable to secure admission to                                               Secondary education. It was further directed that each and every Secondary School should introduce the teaching of at least one technical subject of their choice, as a way of preparing those of their graduating students who would be unable to continue with higher education for self-reliance in their lives after Secondary School.

Directions relating to admissions to the University of Dares Salaam.

The said directives effectively terminated the previous system of ‘direct entry’ to the University, immediately after successful completion of Form Six at a Secondary School. The new rules required such candidates to undergo a two-year National Service training programme, during which their attitudes to work would be observed, and assessed by their commanders; and these assessments would be evaluated and taken into account by the University Admissions Board.  These were, no doubt, far reaching decisions which had to be implemented.

 piomsekwa@gmail.com/0754767576.

(To be continued next week).

Source: Daily News and Cde Msekwa Himself.

AMERICANS MISS THESE TIMES BEFORE BEING TRAMPED BY TRUMP

PRESIDENT NYERERE’s DECISION TO RELOCATE THE GOVERNMENT CAPITAL TO DODOMA (my autobiography Continued from last week).

We concluded last week’s article with a discussion of the major restructuring of the central Government, which was the last major governance event of the year 1972.  We will now move on to the events of 1973. The most significant and historical one was President Nyerere’s decision to relocate the Government administrative capital from Dar es Salam to Dodoma.  It has a rather long history; but I believe that all of it is worth narrating, because of its significant lessons in relation to how democratic decisions are made.                        

This  was a decision that was made by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ruling party TANU at the beginning of September, 1973; after a lengthy  process  of discussions,  at all the different   decision-making  levels of that party,  including what one may reasonably call a ‘referendum’,  which was held  at the  lowest  Party Branch levels. I was a participant in the making of that decision; simply because, even after my appointment as Vice Chancellor of the University of Dar es Salaam, Mwalimu Nyerere had decided that I should retain my membership of NEC as a co-opted member. Here is the full story: -

Joseph Nyerere’s initial attempt.

The long story actually starts in 1966, when   Hon.  Joseph Nyerere, (MP), and younger brother of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere; introduced a Private Members’ motion in the National Assembly, calling for the relocation of the seat of Government to Dodoma from Dar es Salaam. Being the Clerk of the Nationals Assembly myself, I was present in the House when that motion was being enthusiastically debated. But when the time came for the Government to express its views on this private member’s motion, the then Minister for Finance, Hon Paulo  Bomani, strongly warned the House about the high costs that would be involved in the implementation of this huge project, which had  not even  included in the First Five Year Plan which was then under implementation.  Hence, sensing that the Minister’s remarks would most likely result in his motion being defeated upon being put to the vote; Joseph Nyerere prudently chose to withdraw his motion, citing the military wisdom that “he who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day”.

The capital relocation project taken over by TANU.

It was probably by design that the processing of this matter was subsequently taken over by TANU.  But that process started rather  discreetly  when, in April 1972,  the  Mwanza  Regional TANU  Working  Committee (Kamati  ya  Utendaji   ya  Mkoa),  quietly adopted a resolution to  that effect, and made its  recommendation  to  the Party Central  Committee  in  Dar es Salaam, that this matter be taken up by that higher authority for further processing.  And that is precisely when President Nyerere’s great interest in this project became obvious and manifest. The relevant meeting of the TANU Central Committee, under his Chairmanship, received the Mwanza regional Committee recommendation very favourably, and fast forwarded to the National Executive Committee for a decision.  But the National Executive Committee apparently felt that the relocation of the Government Capital to Dodoma was such a delicate matter, that the whole party structure, including its numerous Branches, should be involved in the making of it.  So be it.                    

The party branches were given a whole year, during which each party Branch would   select its own convenient time to hold its meeting for this particular purpose.  The party records show that at the end of the day, 1,859 TANU Branches participated in this exercise; of which 842 rejected the proposal, but 1,017 branches supported the proposal.  TANU’s  National Executive  Committee  met  again  in  August, 1973, to receive these results, following which, it  issued the following  public statement: “The National  Executive  Committee  has   resolved  that the seat of Government shall be relocated  to Dodoma; and further that the  move shall  be  completed  in  ten  years .  .  .  This decision is final, and the Government was directed to take immediate steps to implement this resolution”.                                                                                                                                        

The following month, September 1973, the TANU bi-annual conference was due to take place.  This Conference, according to the party’s Constitution, “is the supreme organ of the party, and has the mandate to alter, or amend, any resolution passed by any other organ of the party below it, or to disallow the implementation of any such resolution”.  But in this case, matters were conspicuously different.  In the course of his opening speech at that Conference, Chairman Nyerere said bluntly: “I would like to take this opportunity to complete an assignment that was given to me by the National  Executive  Committee  at   its  recent  meeting here  in Dar es Salaam.  Among the issues that were discussed at that meeting, was the question whether or not  the  Government capital  should  be  relocated  to  Dodoma.  The National Executive Committee made a final decision on this matter, and asked me to  announce  it.  I will now do precisely that, and I seek the indulgence of NEC for not having done so earlier”.  That was as clear as it could possibly be:  the Conference was only being informed of a  decision  that  had  been  finally  made by the  National  Executive  Committee.

Thereafter, President Nyerere swung into action, to implement the said decision. On 6^th October 1973, by Order published in the official Gazette, President Nyerere established a new Ministerial portfolio:  The Ministry of Capital Development (MCD).  Furthermore, by another Government Notice (GN) no. 230, published on 12^th October, 1973; the President also established a Capital Development Government Agency, ‘the Capital Development Agency’ (CDA). It was estimated that the whole project cost would amount to Tsh 3 billion,  to  be spent  over  a period   ten  years.  And at the same time, the ruling party TANU was ordered to shift its headquarters immediately to Dodoma, in  order  to  show  a  good  example  for  the  Government  to  emulate.   So far, so good.                                                                

However, what followed thereafter, and for the next forty-three years, is a sad  story;  relating  to huge endeavours, but which effectively  became wasted  efforts,  which  were  so  keenly  invested  by  President  Nyerere.  and many others, into making the ‘shift-to–Dodoma’ project a success; plus  the  untold frustrations  and  disappointments  which  continued  to  torment  Mwalimu  Nyerere’s  mind,  as  a  result  of the failure  in  achieving  his  cherished  objective  and  dream.                                                                                                          

There are, of course, many primary and secondary causes for this frustrating failure. They  include:  the cruel economic world circumstances  that  suddenly,  and  unexpectedly,  occurred at the material  time;  such as the sudden  sharp  rise in  the world’s oil prices ;  the collapse of  the  East  African  Community;  the war  against  the  invading  forces  of  Iddi  Amin  of  Uganda;  and,  above  all,  the total  dependence  on  the  Government  budget  alone  to  fund  all the  required  operations.  But there was also this inevitable failure in the Government attempting to involve the private sector through what appeared to be ‘unethical  inducements’. In February 1989, the Government enacted a law titled “The Dodoma Special Investment Act” (no. 7 of 1989).         

  This law declared the whole capital development area of Dodoma as a ‘special investment area’ and made many extremely generous provisions for the remission of a number of government taxes to all and sundry investors, who would come forward to invest in that specified area.  In addition, the said law also made provision for remissions of 50% of the electricity charges; and the same for the water charges, in respect of every industry which was to be established within the specified area. But all these generous inducements failed to attract the private sector to invest in Dodoma, to the extent that had been envisaged.   As the wise saying goes: “you can take a horse to a river, but you cannot force it to drink the water”.

Enter President John Pombe Magufuli.

Come July, 2016; President John Pombe Magufuli of the fifth phase Government dramatically entered the stage, by announcing his intention, and  commitment,  to relocate  the Union Government capital to Dodoma  before the end of  his  first term  in  office, that is to say, before October, 2020.  And,  as I write this article, the entire  Government is already comfortably settled in its brand  new  offices, and  other  facilities,  in what has been  baptized ‘the Government City’  in  Dodoma, the  former Dodoma Municipality  which has in the meantime also  been elevated to ‘City’  status. There must be many different factors  which  have  facilitated  this extra-rapid achievement;  but  the following  two  are pretty  obvious:                         

 The first is of course the will, and determination, of President Magufuli himself. But, as we have just seen above, Mwalimu Nyerere himself had similar such will and determination,  but that  alone  was  not  enough. Hence the second, and perhaps the   more determinant factor, was the willing and unsolicited support of the Private sector. (which did not require any Government inducement in order to be coaxed into participation). This was evidenced by the  following  statement which was  published  in the Daily News by  the Private Sector Foundation: “The Private Sector  sees  the  Government’s  intention to shift  to  Dodoma as  a  new  business  opportunity,  because  a lot  of  new  investments will be  required  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  increasing  population”.   As God’s fortune would have it, President Magufuli’s promise  has been fulfilled;  and, consequently, Mwalimu  Nyerere’s  long term dream, has,  at long  last,   come true.   May his soul rest in eternal peace.

The other significant governance decisions of that period.

After the decision regarding  the  shift  to  Dodoma;  the other important  governance  decisions  that  were  made  during  that  five-year leadership period  of President Nyerere (1970 – 1975),  include  the  following:-  (i) The ‘Ujamaa Villages’ implementation  programme;  (ii) the abolition of Local Government Authorities;  (iii)  Major reforms in the provision of Primary  and  Secondary Education, aimed at achieving the goal of “Education for Self-Reliance”; and  (iv) Significant  reforms of the procedures for student  admission to University Education.   All of these reforms were carried out in 1974.  Thus, this became the year of great administrative changes; or maybe some of  them expensive  experiments?

The ‘Ujamaa Villages’ implementation programme.
My readers will remember President Nyerere’s Parliamentary speech of 10^th December 1962; in which he promised to ensure the resettlement of the rural population into properly organized Villages; and the dismal failure of that earlier experimental, capitalist oriented, ‘Village Settlements’. This matter was re-activated in 1974; when the political Branch of the ‘one-Party system of governance became unusually energetic, in its decision-making processes, and thus in its production of directives, to be implemented by the Executive Branch.  The first one was the directive to implement the ‘Ujamaa Villages’ establishment programme.                                                                          

 The entire Regional Administration was mobilized to concentrate on that single job, that was code-named “Operation Vijiji”; and was accomplished within the scheduled period.  My wife Anna Abdalla had just been appointed District Commissioner for  Magu  District in  Mwanza  Region;  and  she  has some chilling  stories to tell about  that particular operation;  such as this one, that  there was a family that requested to be  allowed  to decamp  not during day-time  like all the others,  but to do so at night, under cover of darkness, because they did not want to be seen moving away with their domesticated  hyena animals!).

piomsekwa@gmail.com/0754767676

To be continued next week)

Source: Daily News and Cde Msekwa.

Was It a Handshake or Heartshake?

Who will fix whom  hither in Kenya politics with all such acrobats and antics? UhuRuto seems to come to an end as it give a way to UhuRaila. As the way things go, the loser and the winner are clear. He who lives by sword will die by sword. Those who got married inconveniently, will separate inconveniently. Those who were united by the ICC are likely to be EACC if not DCI.

FARE THEE WELL BIGBOY BHEKIZIZWE SHABALALA THE FOUNDER OF LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO

Those who like Mbaqanga are aware that Lady Smith and Black Mambazo was one of the music bands that perfected this genre. It is with heavy heart to note that the founder of this mighty group Prof Bekhizizwe Bigboy Shabalala is no more. He died last month after a very brave struggle. He was years old. Requiesce in Pace  Shabalala.

MY APPOINTMENT AS TANU NATIONAL EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, AND OTHER APPOINTMENTS. (continued from last week)

The  inauguration of   the ‘ Arusha  Declaration’ (which we  covered last week),  was  the  last  significant event  during President  Nyerere’s  second term  in  office (1965 – 1970);  because  thereafter, he devoted  the remainder of that period  almost  entirely  on spreading  the ‘gospel’  of  “Ujamaa  na  kujitegemea”   through a massive  education  campaign  among the  scattered,  mostly  rural  population  of  vast  Tanzania;  in order   to  raise  their  levels  of  understanding  and awareness  of  this  new  concept;  plus  urging,   and  spearheading,  its implementation throughout  the  country.                                                                       

That was also  the time  when  I was  appointed TANU’s  National  Executive  Secretary, to take the place of  Oscar  Kambona,  the TANU  Secretary General,   who had  expressed  strong  opposition  to  the  Arusha  Declaration, and consequently  had  decided to  resign  from  that  position,  and  to  run  away  from  the  country,  to go into voluntary exile in  London, United  Kingdom.                                                                                        

More importantly, that new appointment is what became my ‘walk-in’ entry into “the corridors of power”; where, thank God, I remained comfortably settled until my eventual retirement, forty-five blessed    years later.     It is perhaps noteworthy   that, despite that new appointment, President Nyerere decided that I should retain my other appointment as Clerk of the National Assembly, which was rather unusual, and, indeed, an exceptional demonstration of President Nyerere’s faith in me.      

  Hence,  thereafter,  working  from  TANU  Headquarters  in  Lumumba  Street,  together with my boss  Mwalimu  Nyerere  (in  his  capacity  as  President  of  TANU),   we  dutifully  and seriously  got  down  to  work  on  that   major  task of spreading  and  enhancing  knowledge  and general  understanding, of the Arusha  Declaration  concept,   among  the  millions  of  Tanzanians.  For that specific purpose,   we authored,   and produced,   a variety   of educational  materials  in the  form  of booklets,  expounding  on  the various themes  of  that  subject;   which included the following:-     “Ujamaa Vijijini”;  “ Elimu  ya  Kujitegemea”;  “ Shabaha  ni  Binadamu”;   and  “Ujamaa  ni  Imani”.               

In addition, we organized numerous seminars and workshops for TANU leaders at all levels, for the same purposes and objectives.   Mwalimu  Nyerere  and  I  attended all of  the  seminars  which  were held  for  the  national-level  leaders, ( the  members of  the  Central  Committee,  and of  the  National  Executive  Committee), which  were organized  separately, and  held  at  separate  venues:  whereas  the  seminar  for  Central  Committee  members  was  held  in  Handeni  District,  that  of  the  National  Executive  Committee members  was  held  in  Sumbawanga  District.  

Given the nature of the circumstances prevailing at the material time, especially in terms of the meager   manpower resources; I think we did a splendid job.

My appointment as Vice Chancellor of The University of Dares Salaam.

This now   brings us to the year 1970, when I was appointed ‘founder-Vice Chancellor ‘of the newly established   University  Of  Dar es Salaam (UDSM).  This  University,  the  first ever  University Institution in  Tanzania,  was established on  1^st July, 1970, by Act of the  Parliament  of  the  United  Republic  of  Tanzania;  as  an outgrowth  of  the  Dar es Salaam  University  College,  which  had been  established  much  earlier in 1961, in order to meet the critical challenge of  the  lack  of  trained  manpower,  “needed for the  responsibilities  that  the  country  will shoulder  in  an  independent  Tanganyika” (Mwalimu  Nyerere).                                                                                                                                     

It happened during the National Assembly’s annual 1970/71 Budget session, and   the National Assembly had already passed the “University of Dares Salaam Act”, which had also already received the President’s Assent, and had therefore become law.                        

  In the late afternoon of that blessed day, while I was at Karimjee Hall carrying out my responsibilities as Clerk of the National Assembly, I was suddenly told   to report immediately to President Nyerere, at his Msasani private residence.  On arrival there, I was, as usual, ushered into his study room; and that is when he surprised me with the news of my appointment as Vice Chancellor of Dar es Salaam  University.  He deliberately took some time to deliver the message.  As I listened to him, he must have noticed my genuine, sincere surprise at this news, because he then   went on to make another offer, that I should go and sleep over his ‘proposal’ and give him my considered response the next morning.  ‘Proposal’, really?   (Presidents make decisions, not proposals)!   

I returned to Msasani the next morning, just to confirm my acceptance of that appointment. Subsequently, when I received the formal letter of appointment from the Public Service Department, it revealed that this was a three-year (renewable) contract.  I served in that capacity for seven years, until I was whisked away again by President Nyerere, to take up yet another appointment as Chief Executive Secretary of Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM), upon its ‘high profile’ birth in 1977.  

The unexpected challenge of the “Akivaga crisis”.

Unfortunately, I had a rather ‘bumpy’ start in my University appointment; but which was quickly smoothened by the Chancellor President Nyerere.  As I explained above, following the inauguration of the Arusha Declaration in February 1967, I had been appointed TANU’s National Executive Secretary,  (concurrently  with  that  of Clerk of the National  Assembly).  Thus, this new appointment as Vice Chancellor, found me still holding that party position. Hence, the TANU Youth League leadership was apparently extra pleased by this appointment.  Consequently, they enthusiastically organized a mammoth demonstration of their members, to escort me all the way from Lumumba Street to University Hill, on the day I went to report for  duty.  Furthermore, the following   morning, the party newspaper had as its front-page headline, the following seemingly provocative words: “TANU YAENDA MLIMANI”. (TANU goes to University Hill).             

Apparently,  these  incidents had caused enough  provocation among some elements at  the  University, including  the  Student government,  which was under  the  leadership  of  a  Kenyan  student  called  Akivaga;  who subsequently issued a  harsh  statement,  calling  upon “the removal of this Vice chancellor”, on the ground that  the  University, which consisted of  students  from  the  whole  of  East Africa,  “cannot be brought under  the  leadership of TANU, like their  Kivukoni College”. 

I considered this statement as amounting to insubordination.  So, I went to meet Student President Akivaga, who had signed the said statement, at his office, in an effort to convince him to withdraw the statement and apologize.  But he arrogantly refused.  That is when I decided to suspend him from the University for two weeks. But before taking that action, I went to Msasani to consult the University Chancellor.; who concurred with that line of action.  Student   Akivaga was accordingly served with his suspension letter, and put on the next plane to Nairobi, plus money for his onward travel to his home in Kenya.  However,  the matter  soon  evolved into a  ‘crisis’,  when the Academic Staff Association (UDASA), which  apparently felt that student Akivaga  had  been  unfairly  treated,   requested the University Council Chairman,  Amon  Nsekela, to  call an  urgent Council meeting  to  discuss the  matter, with a  view to forcing the Vice Chancellor to  reverse  his decision.                                                                            

The council meeting was indeed convened, but was abruptly   aborted, when the   Chancellor, President Nyerere, (who knew all the correct facts) intervened, by directing Chairman Amon Nsekela not to proceed with that misguided meeting.   Akivaga therefore continued to serve the punishment he deserved, plus a little more.  Because   when he returned to the University, he quickly found himself in new trouble, when a group of Tanzania Students organized a successful coup against him, which threw him and his government out of power.   

The university’s successes in the academic field.

However,  in the academic  field,  the University’s  reputation rocketed  skywards, as a result of the huge interest  that  was  taken by  academicians  But  the pace  increased  after it became a University, when  even more academicians  of world reputation,  came  to  join  our academic staff  as  short- term visiting lecturers or researchers.                                      

This closes the chapter on the 1965-70 Leadership period; which enables us to examine the events of the succeeding 1970-1975 five-year   period,

President Nyerere’s invitation to the last colonial administrators.

In an earlier article, we discussed  President Nyerere’s speech during the inauguration of the first Parliament of the Republic of Tanganyika, on 10^th December, 1962;  in which he confidently  and boisterously  announced, that under the independence Government, Tanganyika will  have  achieved  a  higher level  of development  in only ten years,   compared  with  what  the combined  German and British colonial  Administration  could  achieve  in their  seventy- five  long  years  of domination  over  Tanganyika.                                  

Thus,  come  1971, the tenth year of  independence, President  Nyerere  sent out invitations to the last colonial administrators, and other  technical  staff,  of the colonial government  who were in office at the time when our country achieved independence in December 1961, inviting them   to attend the 1971 independence  celebrations, and thereafter,  tour  the country   to see for themselves   the state of development  that Tanganyika had achieved  in only ten years since independence.                                                                            

The President’s  invitation brought  back  to  Ukerewe,   the  last British  District Commissioner of  our District,  Donald  Barton;   who,  I was later informed,  greatly   amused  his audience (at a reception event  that had been organized  to welcome him on arrival);    when he  jokingly  reminded  them of  the days when the country’s  independence was fast  approaching,  about  his  sarcastic responses, which he said  he  now regretted,  namely  that   the Ukerewe  people,   in  their  uhuru  motivated mood,  whenever  they  greeted   him  using   the  then  popular slogan of  “UHURU”,   he would  rudely  respond  with the ugly  word “UHUNI”. 

 The major reforms of the country’s Administrative   structure,

In   1972, President Nyerere introduced some sweeping, major reforms, which were aimed at decentralizing the administrative structure of the central Government.  For that  specific purpose, he had earlier contracted   an American consultancy  firm,  Mc Kinsey ;  to  undertake the necessary study, and thereafter  recommend,  an  appropriate format  for  the decentralization  of the Government machinery ; aimed at decentralizing some of the central Government’s  powers to the Regions  and Districts of Tanzania  Mainland; which was  described in Kiswahili  as “ kupeleka Madaraka  Mikoani”.           

In  due course,  the  MC  Kinsey company duly completed its assignment,  and submitted its Report to President  Nyerere;   who,  purely  for the purpose of   assisting him to  digest  that Report and its apparently  ‘far reaching’  recommendations,  appointed  a  committee  of  five  senior  Public Servants,  under the Chairmanship  of  Dickson  Nkembo, the   Permanent  Secretary to the President,   to  make a  careful   study of   that   Report,  and advise  him  accordingly.  I was one of the members of this   Presidential committee.   In the course of our examination of the Mc Kinsey Report, we observed that its authors had proposed turning the country’s Regions into self- governing entities, or States; each with its own Legislature, and  Executive  Council.  We were of the unanimous view, that such a structure would be detrimental to the cherished unity   of the country, and we accordingly recommended its rejection.                                                                

President Nyerere graciously accepted our recommendation.  As a result, we ended up with the ‘decentralized” system of Regional Administration that we have today, and NOT the ‘devolved’ system  that   Mc Kinsey  had recommended.

This now brings us to the events of the year 1973, which we will examine in next week’s article. (To be continued next week)

piomsekwa@gmail.com/ 0754767576.

Source: Daily News and Cde Msekwa Himself.

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