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interesting article on Nyerere *LINK*

Mwalimu J.K. Nyerere is Kicking Himself in His Grave!
by Navaya ole Ndaskoi

Paper presented to the Peace Group Seminar,
Arusha, November 14, 2004

I prepared this paper as a memorial of Julius Nyerere the first President of the Republic of Tanzania. It should have been published on 14 October. It was inevitable to delay it to November 14, after all the saying goes ‘better late than never.’ Another event, the kind you do not mix with Nyerere Memorial, took place in October 2004. It was performed by no other than the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania - in broad daylight.

Fidel Castro came to power through a Revolution in 1959. He nationalised everything including his immediate family farm. He had, or so it is said, the interest of people in mind. Castro is not alone in this regard. Given his asthmatic health the doctor advised Ernesto Che Guevara, the Revolutionary icon, to move into a luxurious house situated out of town when his recovery required. Che, reportedly, dismissed the advice on the ground that there are better uses to which the house could be put.

The modest Mwalimu, which means teacher, Nyerere used his arguments and intellectualism to organise Tanganyika and it gain independence in 1961. On 26 1964 Tanganyika was ‘united’ with Zanzibar to form today’s Tanzania. Nobody would have thought that the British would have left in peace without being molested. In nearby Kenya British predators were ironed out, read Mau Mau War.

In February 1965 Mwalimu Julius Nyerere went to China on the state visit. Then, a few weeks later, on April 26, 1965 he addressed Tanzanians on frugality. He said:

I learned one very important thing. China is a huge country, with a population of more than six hundred million people. And the Chinese Government is one of those which is making money and technicians available to Tanzania to help us with our addressed the nation in the Development Plan. But they are able to do this only because they are a frugal people; they husband their resources very carefully indeed, and only spend money on things which are absolutely essential. This is true both of individuals and of the Government. There are hardly any private cars in China; people go to work by bus or on bicycles. The Government officials too, use cars only when it is really necessary for their job-and then the cars are small and cheap ones.

Mwalimu, the giant who rose from little unknown Tanzania to global politics, was also extremely selfless and fast to learn and listen. In some of his speeches he said that ‘in a truly democratic state the power of the people is supreme.’ Sometimes when Nyerere was the President, students of the University of Dar es Salaam demonstrated demanding reduction of MPs salaries. Mwalimu Julius Nyerere saw the point. He courageously reduced his own salary as a prime example. Of course, MPs followed him on the same.

Precisely that was how the giant built the present day Tanzania. He received nothing from German and then British colonial cheats who looted the country clean. Nyerere brought University of Dar es Salaam into being. He built various industries. It is hard to locate a single University or industry built in Tanzania since he left office in 1985.

Principles and Development

It must be remembered too that Mwalimu Nyerere was also supporting Armed Liberation Struggle in Southern Africa. Otherwise the likes of Nelson Mandela, Sam Nujoma, Robert Mugabe and others would have been eaten up by Boers, British and Americans. Mwalimu Nyerere reached a point were he had to explain to the press and a few extremely dedicated patriots, why Tanzania is so concerned with principles. He wrote a short paper titled, Principles and Development, published in 1966 in which he said this:

The boycott of South African goods and the threat to leave the Commonwealth if South Africa remains a member has cost Tanzania a certain amount of annual income from the remittances of workers who used to go to that country under previous Government contracts or who made their way to South Africa. The boycott has also meant the loss of certain markets for our exports, and has necessitated the importation of certain goods from more expensive sources. The total amount of income loss is difficult to estimated and will be partly offset by the value of the goods which Tanzania workers have produced at home now that they no longer go to this racially dominated country. The amount of trade with south Africa was, in any case, never very great, and until the boycott received official backing in 1961, showed an annual adverse trade balance for Tanzania...

It must be accepted, however, that as South Africa is the most advanced industrial nation in Africa, and as transport costs from that country to Tanzania are less than those of other industrial nations, co-operation with South Africa could have brought considerable economic development that we have made sacrifices by our policy towards South Africa. Had the situation arisen where Tanganyika had to refuse to join the Commonwealth however the economic loss would have been very great, involving loss of trade preferences and a reduction on the chances of receiving British and possibly Canadian development loans and grants...Fortunately this situation did not arise since South Africa was excluded from the Commonwealth.

Nyerere refused categorically to see the English Queen, Elizabeth. Reason? British support of Africa's rabid dictators, Ian Smith & Co in Zimbabweans. This is illustrated in the book by J.K. Nyerere, Crusade for Liberation. Tanzania’s action in adhering to the O.A.U. decision on Zimbabwe has meant that the £7.5 million interest-free loan which had been agreed between the two Governments but not actually signed, was frozen. The money was therefore not available to pay for development work within the first two years of the 5-year Plan. So Tanzania broke diplomatic relations with Britain. Nyerere wrote:

We have quarreled with the British Government on a number if issues e.g., when we refused to associate ourselves with the Commonwealth communiqué on Rhodesia in June, 1965; when we refused to support proposed Commonwealth Peace Mission to Vietnam on the grounds that it was neither practical nor genuine; and when we received a Chinese offer to help with the building of the railway to Zambia while still discussing the possibility of British and American help on the same project. The British failed to understand our desire to compare the advantages of different offers before turning any of them down.

Almost at the same time Tanzania, which by then was a hardly 5-years old country, differed too with Big Brother, the United States of America. Nyerere explains again:

We have twice quarreled with United States of America Government, once when we believed it to be involved in a plot against us, and. again when two of its officials misbehaved and were asked to leave Tanzania [immediately]. Both matters have since been cleared up by agreement and in neither case was any existing aid agreement affected. But the disagreements certainly induced an unco-operative coldness between us, thus suspending and then greatly slowing down further aid discussion.

Little Tanzania under Mwalimu Nyerere quarrelled with the then West Germany. Why? East Germany wanted Tanzania to give diplomatic recognition to her, and West Germany wanted Tanzania to ignore the existence of the German Democratic Republic and pretend there is no such administration over the eastern part of Germany. As a result of Tanzanians decision West Germany withdrew some types of aid and announced that other aid was under threat if Tanzania did not change her policies. Tanzania refused to do this and told the West Germans to withdraw all their federal Government aid!

That was one of the most difficult times in the contemporary history of Africa. On 16 October 1997 Nyerere addressed the South African Parliament in Cape Town. He reminded the parliamentarians: 'When we were struggling here, South Africa still under apartheid, and you being a destabiliser of your neighbours instead of working together with them to develop our continent, of course that was a different thing. It was a terrible thing. Here was a powerful South Africa, and this power was a curse to us. It was not a blessing for us. We wished it away, because it was not a blessing at all. It destroyed Angola with a combination of apartheid; it was a menace to Mozambique and a menace to its neighbours...When we had the Cold War, boy, I tell you, we couldn't breathe.'

Saints and Presidents

Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, it is said, told his wife to keep herself out, far away from politics. One can look in vain without a single point in his life where anybody accused Nyerere of corruption. His children studied in Tanzania. I do not like to be misunderstood. Nyerere had his own weakness. But he is the giant of the 20th century! If President Mkapa died today, I do not think I would feel anything let alone write.

Nyerere was a living Saint. I am just making a comparison. He was quick to accept criticism and laugh at his mistakes. He had one rare characteristic that must be remembered by mankind. No Government official would remain in office when the public raised an accusing finger at him. Nyerere would smuggle him out through the back door or force him to resign to prevent him from soiling his Government. Ali Hassan Mwinyi had a very little political post and did something that angered President Nyerere. It was ‘too little.’ I do not even remember what the scandal was all about. Nyerere forced him to resign? Perhaps Mwinyi repented and pledged never to sin again. Apparently Nyerere forgave him completely. In fact he left him as the President of Tanzania in 1985.

One Obanda commented on press release by Mwalimu Nyerere: 'Nyerere will go down in history as a man who worked so hard to build a nation and then voluntarily handed it over to a bunch of self-seeking, ideologically bankrupt nincompoops. He then watched quietly for 15 years as these people demolished every work he had done...When retiring, Nyerere personally went around Tanzania campaigning for Mwinyi, introducing him to bewildered peasants as "Raisi wangu". Since they trusted him, they went along with it...Mwinyi and the bunch who took over immediately started to unravel Nyerere's work. Nairobi was their London. They envied their counterpart political thieves in Nairobi. Mansions I have not seen in any Western city (maybe in California etc) shot up in the beach area of Dar es Salaam. Corruption was the order of the day. Government workers stopped working as each became a little entrepreneur.' Obanda concluded his comments:

To end, I must add that my respect for Mwalimu will never wane mainly because of his convictions and actions. He never used office for selfish reasons and he tried what was humanly possible to liberate and empower the masses. He is thus a source of inspiration. Above all, he proved that it is possible to forge a nation whereby the vicissitudes of ethnic affiliation are banished from social and public life. He created and promoted a powerful African lingua-franca, [ki]Swahili.

Nyerere was always an example. He taught others by examples. But the poor Mwalimu was watering dead rocks! Thieves stated looting the country left-centre and right! Donors left. Nyerere was provoked to justifiable anger. He addressed the press conference at Kilimanjaro Hotel Dar es Salaam on March 14, 1995. He accused, according to AFP, the Government of President Mwinyi of corruption and violating the constitution. Nyerere told journalists, ‘Corruption in Tanzania has no bounds. Every country I visit they talk about corruption in Tanzania. Tanzania is stinking with corruption.'

In an apparent reference to President Mwinyi himself, Nyerere told the journalists that Tanzanians needed a leader who will defend and promote the national constitution. 'It can't be a person that gets advice from his wife, and tomorrow we see some decision has been made. You can't have such a guy. You won't know what his wife will advise him,' Nyerere said amid applause from more than 100 journalists attending the gathering. His boldness speaks volumes. He made sure that Tanzanians got rid Mwinyi.

Looking on the way he has built the country Mwalimu wanted perhaps to leave it in the hands of responsible persons. In 1995 Mwalimu Julius Nyerere turned to his own student, Benjamin William Mkapa. Nyerere, unfortunately, landed on a huge burden.

The Government of Mkapa formed the Commission of Inquiry Into Corruption in Tanzania sometimes in 1996. It was chaired by Justice Joseph Sinde Warioba. The Commission accused senior Government officials including President Ali Hassan Mwinyi himself. But then the Commission recommendations were rubbished. Mwinyi and his gang have never been made to face the full force of law.

In no time the wife of the President, Mrs Anna Mkapa, established an NGO or rather a begging bowl. At least the press accesses her for suffering from kleptomania; an uncontrollable desire to steal. In English Laws these are just allegations. However President Mkapa has never convincingly denied them. The vividly angry President, according to Adam Lusekelo The EastAfrican Correspondent, says this:

…You people are only jealous of people who have made it. If someone turns in his motorbike and buys a car, you say he is corrupt. If someone builds a house through hard work, you say he is corrupt...If someone is corrupt, then tell us about it and you are going to see. But you must have proof. Even the press- you must have both sides of the story. I was a journalist. I know. You don't just accuse people for corruption without proof!

Way back in 1996 Nyerere told Stanley Meisler, 'There can only be one missionary in this country, and I am the missionary. But I can not tell them how to carry out my ideas. If I put in examples...the Ministry of Education will follow those and do nothing else.'

During the days of Mwalimu Nyerere Tanzania hosted freedom fighters. Now Americans dogs are all over the country. They are building an FBI(?) college in Tanzania, according to Professor Issa Shivji of the University of Dar es Salaam. American military bases are almost all over the continent. All this surely makes Mwalimu kick himself in his grave.

A Cosy Conspiracy

The western Governments and all sorts of 'donors' are forcing dangerous policies down the throat of poor Tanzanians. Consider the following example. Despite opposition in Tanzania the Government planned to buy unnecessary presidential jet (it has one aircraft less than 10 years old to fly the President) costing £15 million. Where will the Government borrow the money from is surely anybody’s guess. The aircraft, Gulfstream G550 No.5H-ONE was manufactured by Gulfstream Aerospace of USA.

Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye, a political leper of no clear academic background, in a wasteful inauguration ceremony of the said jet was quoted as saying: ‘This is a working tool, like a motor-vehicle and such other machines. It is not a luxurious property as some people believe.’ Hardly the last word came out of him before he was shot down in nearly unprintable language by no other than Transport and Communications Minister, Mark Mwandosya, who boasted that ‘This is a unique aircraft, modern and the first of its kind across Africa South of Sahara. I urge Tanzanians to be proud of it.’

It is exceedingly unlikely that anybody who is not refusing to think will comply with his denigration! In a bitter comment Mr Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat Deputy International Development Spokesman, United Kingdom, spoke his mind. Perhaps on behalf of Tanzanians Lamb refused to listen to Mwandosya, 'I am extremely concerned about this...purchase. Coming so soon after £28 million being wasted on a military air traffic control system, this rubs salt into the wound for the people of Tanzania.'

The air traffic control system Mr Lamb is referring to is the one forced on the shoulders of Tanzanians by the Labour Party British Government led by Tony Blair. It gave a license to British Aerospace Systems to sell Tanzania a radar system costing £28 million. The money was borrowed from Barclays Bank, of United Kingdom. The World Bank condemned the radar system ‘as outdated technology.' The deal split the Cabinet, with Tony Blair, Patricia Hewitt, the trade secretary supporting the order.

Blair backed the deal to safeguard 280 British jobs at the Isle of Wight. In contrast the presidential jet, the radar system, and a host of unnoticed others will put millions of already ‘highly indebted poor’ Tanzanians deeper into the sea of debt. This is a problem in its extreme form. Crudely one of the chief engineers of corruption and poverty in Tanzania, Tony Blair, almost at the same time is ‘setting up a Commission for Africa to take a fresh look at the challenges facing the continent,’ according to New African.

Today we have in Tanzania the notorious club made up of the World Bank, IMF, DfID, USAID, CIDA, DANIDA, FINNIDA(?), SIDA, EU and the UN family (UNDP, UNICEF, FAO, UNEP, UNESCO and all). All eating on the same table with the Public Enemy. All spreading poverty. As said above almost all 'donors' left Tanzania by 1994 because of Government sponsored corruption and lawlessness.

Government sponsored corruption is still with us, perhaps, in a more pronounced way. It follows that all 'donors' are ought to have fled northward by now. But all are still spreading poverty. All are aiding free-spending tyrants. All are in the conspiracy robbing us of our humanity! However, all this have an end. In one of his speeches Mwalimu Nyerere argued against oppression of the weak by the strong saying that:

When only the law of the jungle reigns, the struggle for existence must naturally end up with the survival of the fittest. This may be all right for the beasts; as a method of contact between human beings it is intolerable...if I am humiliated merely for existing, then I have no alternative but to fight, with whatever weapons are available [including stones, knives and Weapons of Mass Destruction].

Arise, Julius Nyerere! Some of us will always do all in our power to ensure that your spirit will live longer. In this century we need neither spears nor guns. Baby Bush has a lot of B52s and countless assault missiles. But he is learning some hard lessons in Iraq.

Fear NOT

We simply need to appeal, appeal honestly to the people of the world, to help us prevent Tanzania from sinking in the troubled waters of western supported thieves. If you are American or British organise a strike in your country until the radar system and jet are returned to the UK Aerospace Systems and USA Aerospace Systems respectively. If your country is giving 'aid' to Tanzania demand that your money, taxes you pay, should not be send to a corrupt country. The Government is corrupt and your money keep it arrogant.

I am told Norway is a rich country. Norway is 'aiding' Tanzania. But the King of Norway has no personal jet. He and all people at his palace travel by public planes, trains and buses! This is true to all other Scandinavian countries. So why should Tanzania, a 'highly indebted poor country,' buy expensive jets at the expense of the poor majority?

Demand diplomatic sanctions against Tanzania. The Government of Zimbabwe has economic sanction while it is not more corrupt than that of the United Republic of Tanzania. You can also write to Nelson Mandela Foundation. Ask Mandela, the voice of the oppressed amongst us, to urge the Tanzanian Government to stop abusing resources.

If you have a newsletter, newspaper, magazine, journal, radio, TV or website publish this article; but please do not censor it. I do not underestimate the power of the mass media in shaping public opinion but censorship is definitely evil.

If you are a lawyer, graduate of the University of Dar es Salaam worth his or her salt, please help us drag Frederick Sumaye and Mark Mwandosya to court as soon as possible for they are demolishing the country built by Mwalimu Nyerere.

Fear NOT. The saying goes, ‘A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.’
Navaya ole Ndaskoi is the citizen of the United Republic of Tanzania


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