OBITUARIES

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DR. ENNIFER HIGHAM (62) died of cancer on November 15. She was a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Foreign Languages at the University of Dar es Salaam from 1976 to 1984 and for the following four years served as a VS0 volunteer at the Foreign Languages Institute in Zanzibar. She was a tutor on several education courses for teachers from Tanzania. Donations in her memory may be sent to the Provincial Overseas Mission, Scottish Episcopal Church, 21 Grosvenor Crescent, Edinburgh EH12 5EE.

DR. ZEBEDAYO MPOGOLO (50) Director of Operations and Financial Services of the Capital Market and Securities Authority (CMSA) who had been in the forefront in preparations for the establishment of the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange, died on September 30.

LAWRENCE, CARDINAL RUGAMBWA died on December 8. At a Pontifical Requiem Mass in St. Joseph’s Cathedral it was said that he would be remembered for his humility and his tireless efforts to promote Christian unity.

GOSBERT RUTABANZIBWA, who died on November 21, was one of the first Africans to hold a senior post in the Tanganyika Government after independence, when he succeeded Ronald Neath as Chief of Protocol. He was a man of great ability and charm and later served as Tanzania’s High Commissioner in India and Canada and as Ambassador to the USA. He retired to his farm near Bukoba where he lived a life of simplicity. Not for him the ostentatious display of people who have used office to acquire great wealth. One of his sons, Patrick, is the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Minerals. A daughter, Hilda, is a Borough Architect in Hackney – Trevor Jaggar.

SOLOMAN OLE SAIBUL (62) former Minister for Tourism and Natural Resources died of prostate cancer on October 30. He had been earlier the first African Chief Conservator of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority. Thousands of people attended his funeral at Lemara village near Arusha.

SIR JOHN SIJMMERFIELD (76) started his career as a crown counsel. Amongst the cases he prosecuted in the 1950’s were the so-called ‘lion murders’ in Iringa and Mbeya in which the killers had been snatched as children by witch doctors who had then coached them to carry out murders while dressed in lion skins. Later, in Dar es Salaam, Summerfield successfully prosecuted Julius Nyerere for libelling a district officer. Years later they met unexpectedly in London; Nyerere greeted him like a long lost brother.

DR DAVID TAYLOR OBE FRCS who died on November 21 became well known in Tanzania (and other countries) as an eye surgeon. He first went there in 1953 as the Officer In Charge of the Berega Hospital in Morogoro Region and was from 1957 to 1970 the Medical Superintendent at the Mvumi Hospital, Dodoma. He was also involved in the development of the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in Moshi – Mary Punt.

MOHAMED VIRANI (68) has died in Dar es Salaam of kidney failure. He was a prominent businessman, a top motor rally driver and a key sponsor of the Young Africans (Yanga) Soccer Club – East African

REVIEWS

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Compiled by John Budge and Michael Wise

Readers who do not have the good fortune to live near a specialist African studies library are reminded that many items reviewed may be obtainable through the national interlibrary loan service. Please enquire at your local public library.

Pat CAPLAN, African voices, African lives: personal narratives from a Swahili village. London: Routledge, 1997. 267p., ISBN 0-415-13724- 1. No price stated.

Caplan’s book is in the form of a personal narrative and is based on thirty years of fieldwork in a village in Mafia Island. We hear the story of Mohammed’s life, both through his own words, those of his wife, Mwahadia and daughter, Subira as well as Caplan’s own observations of him over this period. His life is revealed in conversations between Caplan and Mohammed, as well as excerpts from the diary he kept for her. These document personal matters as well as village gossip and other daily events of “Minazini” village. The author sees the work as a humanistic enterprise and aims to “explore the universal human condition, and in so doing cross, or bridge the gap between oneself as ethnographer and the subject of the life history”.

The book is divided into four main sections, each with an introduction by Caplan. It is interspersed with photographs which help to give the flavour of daily life in the village. The first section focuses on Mohammed’s life history and the second contains excerpts from his diary describing marriages, divorces, quarrels, ways of making a living by farming or fishing – all concerns which had touched closely on his own life. In the third section we hear other voices as well – those of Mwahadia and Subira. We see how their lives changed from 1965-1985 and how they suffered from increasing poverty and hardship. “The Search for Knowledge” is the final section, which deals with explanation for the afflictions which affect all the characters’ lives, such as witchcraft and spirits.

Caplan is concerned to break with the anthropological tradition of focusing on difference and “otherness” and instead shows how Mohammed’s and his family’s struggle to make sense of daily events has wider relevance. She has succeeded in her aim of producing a text to interest both anthropologists and non-anthropologists. It offers a fascinating glimpse of life in Mafia, and into the lives of three people who have concerns shared by us all.
Bethan Rees Jones

Tijs GOLDSCHMIDT, Darwin’s dreampond: drama in Lake Victoria. London: MIT Press, 1996. 274p., ISBN 0 262 07178 9, £17.50.

This is really several books within one. Firstly we have an account of the fish of Lake Victoria, especially those known to scientists as cichlids (species of Haplochromis) and to local fishermen as furu. The story begins in 1985 when fishing nets came up almost empty; where were all the small fish (furu) that usually filled the nets? Recently the fishermen’s gill nets had been full of big holes due to a predatory (carnivorous) fish – the Nile Perch (lates nilotica) or sangara, known elsewhere as ‘Elephant of the water’, that can weigh more than 70 kilos. Where had this fish come from? Why was it never caught by fishermen when the author first came to Mwanza in 1981? The answers are all here – they make fascinating reading.

In the late ’70s there was a project of the Tanzanian and Dutch governments to set up a fish-processing factory near Mwanza, which would process 60 tons of furu a day into fish-meal. Could Lake Victoria provide that much fish for an indefinite period? Scientists from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands set up a team (H.E.S.T. – the Haplochromis Ecology Survey Team) to study the ecosystem of the Mwanza Gulf and to identify the species of cichlid involved. As time went by, the nature of the diet of 302 species of cichlid became evident – with more than twelve different types of food ranging from detritus (mud), snails, smaller fish, to insects. These furu show a great range of morphology, especially in their jaw structure, which is related to their diet. No need for powerful jaws for eating mud! The big question is – were all the juru derived from one single riverine ancestor?

Secondly, there is frequent reference to Darwin and his theory of natural selection, and speciation, to aspects of camouflage, and selection pressure, to reproduction strategies, extinction … all part of the discussion of how species originate and change, not just in fish, but in birds, insects, and mammals. Throughout the book (originally written in Dutch and beautifully translated by Sherry Mm-Macdonald), there is an interesting use of words and language: the wanderers (Swahili mzungu), a kiss on the hand (from a female chimp), the battlefield (the lake, between Lates and furu), the savior (Sw. sangara), the Nile Perch, which has enriched some fishermen and traders), masabethi (aluminium dishes) … and so on.

Thirdly, there is an in-depth description of DNA and its variation, and its application to the identification of fish species and their origins. Fourthly, there are plenty of comments on social conditions, and life among the local residents; plus a six page glossary, 168 references, and a very complete index. What more could one want?
Brian J. Harris

Julie JARMAN, WAMMA: empowerment in practice, by Julie Jarman and Catherine Johnson. London: WATERAID (27-29 Albert Embankment, SE1 7UB), 1997. 20p.

WATERAID have produced an attractive 20 page booklet about their water development programme in four districts of the Dodoma Region between 1991 and 1996. WAMMA derives its acronym from the partnership between WATERAID and the Ministries of Maji (Water), Maendeleo ya Jamii (Community Development) and Afia (Health), but a key feature is the full involvement of the local community from the outset. Villagers have to establish a water fund, open a bank account and make a one-off contribution before implementation starts. They must also gather any local materials required, such as rocks, sand and gravel. The village Water Committee sets the price for water and encourages participation in a hygiene education programme.

The report suggests six preconditions for a successful programme of the WAMMA type: the right policy climate (a national water policy); the willingness of government to make suitable fieldworkers available; the continuous backing and support of a senior official (e.g. the Regional Development Director); readiness of the donor (in this case WATERAID) to sustain the partnership over a long period and at an adequate level; high priority for village-level participation at all stages; and above all, patience, flexibility and being prepared NOT to push for quick results.
John Sankey

Omar R. MAPURI, Zanzibar, the 1964 revolution achievements und prospects. Dar es Salaam: TEMA (P.O. Box 63 115, DSM), 1996. 120p No price stated.

This book represents a disturbing, even tragic sign of the times. Mr. Mapuri is a minister in the CCM government of Zanzibar, and his book is a call for the intensification of racial politics.

The author starts by identifying the ‘Arabs’ as oppressors who were overthrown by the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution. Now, he says, they have edged back into positions of power. It is a situation where ‘Zanzibari Africans’ – (not all Zanzibaris) must unite. But unite against what or whom? The answer is powerfully implicit throughout the book.

Mr. Mapuri bends over backwards to see everything in purely racial terms. For example, the Union of Zanzibar and Tanganyika, which was engineered by the United States, happened according to him simply as the logical conclusion of the close relationship between African Associations in Zanzibar and Tanganyika – and to say anything else is somehow anti-African. The suggestion that the Umma Party, which had African, Arab and Asian members, had any role to play in the 1964 revolution is seen as an attempt to belittle Africans – since it detracts from what the author regards as purely African ‘achievement’.

What makes all this particularly strange, of course, is the fact that most Zanzibaris are not pure Arab or even pure African but a mixture of many different groups. Even stranger to anyone who has been to Zanzibar in recent years is Mr. Rampuri’s assertion that the last 33 years have been a continuation of the Glorious Revolution which brought justice and prosperity to the people.

One of the aims of the books seems to be to glorify the Afro-Shirazi Party, ASP (which was a key player in the 1964 revolution) and through it the CCM Zanzibar, which is seen as its successor with the same interests and support base. With this in mind the author praises the ‘Committee of Fourteen’, who were considered by many to have been responsible, in the period after the revolution, for the deaths of hundreds of innocent Zanzibaris. These included well-known progressive leaders of the ASP itself, including Abdala Kassim Hanga, Abdul Aziz Twala and Saleh Saadala.

The Civic United Front (CUF) is attacked as a representative of Arab interests, and a successor in this and other ways, of the Zanzibar National Party (ZNP) of 1964. It is also regarded by the author as the villain of the 1995 election. In a Kafkaesque scenario, it is declared that CUF rigged the elections, intimidated voters and manipulated the (African) people of Pemba to turn against the Africans of Unguja. He sees the international and national observers as stooges of the CUF – did they not, after all, complain that it was the CCM which had been engaged in rigging; that they were biased in favour of the CUF because the Arabs always had western support!

What then is the solution to Zanzibar’s problems? What does the author have to say to the youth for whom he declares he has written this book? The answer seems to be out and out confrontation – he urges ‘Zanzibari Africans’ and particularly the youth to save the gains of the Great Revolution.

Reading this book will bring for many of us a sense of deja vu and disappointment. Less than two years ago, in April 1996, the late Abdulrahman Babu predicted just such a polarisation and suggested a solution. In his last pamphlet Wanted: a Third Force In Zanzibar politics, written soon after the 1995 elections he wrote:
the ruling party has ‘won’ the election but not the country The country is at a standstill waiting for a political solution …’ The balance of political power has hardly altered since the 1950s struggle for independence which led to the 1964 Revolution. The political rivalry that has followed the advent of the multi-party electoral process has exacerbated rather than healed the great political divisions of the pre-independence era. And the political leadership cannot … find a way out of this deadlock.

What then is the way forward? In Babu’s view (which has been proved right), a government of national unity is not possible because the conflict now is primarily between leaders with past grudges, and not between parties. He advocated the creation of an independent Third Force in Zanzibar politics, whose task would be to alert the country to the reality of the current state of affairs. If this did not happen soon, he declared, there was a very real danger of fragmentation in Zanzibari society. Unfortunately, if Rampuri’s book is any indicator, the leaders are pushing Zanzibar towards just such a fragmentation.
Amrit Wilson

Thomas SPEAR, Mountain Farmers: moral economies of land & agricultural development in Arusha & Meru. Dar es Salaam: Mkuki na Nyota; Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press; Oxford: James Currey, 1997. X, 262p., ISRN 0-85255-737-X, £14.9533.

This study traces the history of the Meru and Arusha peoples during the closing decades of the nineteenth century and the fist half of the twentieth; the period when they found themselves, and their economic and social systems in conflict with incomers, whose interests were varied, and by and large became focused upon making use, in various ways, of their productive lands. The limited extent of these lands, and population increase led to strong resistance against incoming governments, settlers and religious bodies.

The Meru and Arusha peoples endured more than a customary share of tribulation during the period under consideration. Their traumas have included epidemic diseases, civil war, drought and famine. All these posed severe threats to the established social order, and more or less coincided with the arrival of Christian missionaries, who were killed in accordance with customary practise directed at individuals seen as introducing undesirable witchcraft, and undermining social order. The establishment of foreign rule, first by the Germans and later the British, bore especially heavily on the area under consideration in this book, by reason of the attractions of the lands for European farmers.

This situation was recognised, and criticised by administrators from the early years of British administration after the first World War. The two tribes were relatively small units when the German Government entered their lives … secure from molestation by other tribes. They occupied land almost unexampled by its fertility … Immense plains were at the disposal of their cattle and there was an abundance of agricultural land available for further expansion. These fair prospects were quickly brought to nought by the German Government. An extensive system of land alienation to non-natives was inaugurated and proceeded in the most reckless manner. Two large mission stations … and two small farms were alienated in the heart of the native area and a belt of farms was carried right around the mountain.. .and entailed the expropriation of many.. . when British officers took over the district they found the Arusha and Meru cramped within an area which was barely adequate for their immediate needs and practically incapable of extension to meet future requirements In every quarter, normal tribal expansion … had been hopelessly compromised.

The author’s prolonged investigation of source materials, ranging from verbal information to archives in Tanzania, Europe and North America, traces the attempts of the peoples concerned and their British administrators on the spot, to check the continued degradation of their society by incomers. This culminated, for the purpose of the book, in the internationally renowned Meru Land case, whose disputants went to the United Nations Trusteeship Council.

It is a record, not only of dispute about possession, but also about the actual use of land and resources by the people concerned, who rapidly, and fairly successfully adapted their methods in order to continue to produce and survive economically within a reduced allocation of land. Professor Spear has provided a highly readable, balanced and most informative history of a segment of Tanzanian society in the earlier twentieth century.

MW

TUKI English-Swahili dictionary. Kamusi ya Kiingereza-Kiswahili. Dar es Salaam: Mkuki na Nyota for Institute of Kiswahili Research, University of Dar es Salaam, 1996. xx, 883p. ISBN 9976 911 29 7. Distributed in the U.K. by African Books Collective, 27 Park End Street, Oxford OX1 IIIU. Price £60; US$108.

The TUKI English-Swahili dictionary is the culmination of fourteen years’ work by the Institute of Kiswahili Research at the University of Dar es Salaam. Given the difficult conditions under which the TUKI staff worked (at which the Foreword only hints) and the quality of the final product, this dictionary is a remarkable achievement. There is no doubting the need for a new English-Swahili dictionary; the English language has outgrown Johnson’s dictionary of 1939, and none of the more recent dictionaries provides such comprehensive coverage. This one contains over 50,000 entries, including many new words and meanings, along with lexicographic information such as word class, alternative spellings, status (whether formal, slang, vulgar, etc.) and collocations. The most significant drawback, given the erratic nature of English spelling, is the lack of a pronunciation guide. This omission is attributed to technical reasons.

The dictionary begins with a series of diagrams explaining the various types of information included in a dictionary entry, followed by instructions (in English only) on how to use the dictionary. Both these sections are clear and informative, but should perhaps be given in Swahili also. The quality of entries is high; words and their derivatives arc easy to find, and the translations and accompanying information are generally accurate. Many colloquial and figurative expressions arc also included, as are a number of illustrative examples.

The work is not without its problems, of course. A significant problem is a lack of consistency within and between entries. Information about the status of a word or its regional variations appears sometimes before and sometimes after the word, which occasionally causes confusion. Such information can also be inconsistent between entries. Thus, the entry for bell includes the following illustrative example: (colloq) ring a – kumbusha. Under ring, the same expression is treated as a ‘run on’ (a sub-headword, in bold type) but without the information that this is a colloquial usage. – a bell leta kumbukumbu kwa mbali. Some inconsistency is also found in the regional information; although the dictionary indicates usage specific to Britain, America, Australia/New Zealand and Scotland, at times British usage is used as a default. For example, the entry for mad does not indicate that ‘angry’ is the most common American usage of this word; similarly, although the sub-heading of sidewalk gets the label (US) the sub-heading pavement is unmarked, and neither of these entries is cross-referenced to the other. There are also a few mistakes, but these arc rare.

Aside from these minor problems, I found this authoritative dictionary informative and easy to use. It will, I am sure, soon become established as a standard reference work. Steve Nicolle

Articles in Journals

Thadeus SUNSERI, Famine and wild pigs: gender struggles and the outbreak of the Majimaji war in Uzaramo Journal of African History, 38, 1997, p.235-259

Catherin BAROIN, Religious conflict in 1990-93 among the Rwa: secession in a Lutheran diocese in Northern Tanzania. African affairs: the journal of the Royal African Society, 95 (381) Oct 1996, p.529-554

There may not appear to be much connection between wild pigs and banana beer, but these apparently irrelevant details sparked off two rebellions, harking back directly and indirectly to the period of German rule in Tanganyika at the beginning of the century. These two admirable and interesting studies show how religious beliefs and practices become linked to radical social change and how authoritarian obstinacy can tear societies apart.

Sunseri, maintaining that the prevailing conception of the Majimaji war needs to be re-examined, acknowledges that a good deal of historical research was directed to this end at the University of Dar es Salaam in the 1970s.

The Germans, attempting to regiment Tanzanian peasants, succeeded only in destroying the historic structure of rural society – the delicate balance between the distinctive practices of men and women essential to social cohesion, health and the well-being of the soil and the environment. They forbade bush-burning, hunting, the felling of forest trees and forced men to work on communal cotton farms and railway construction. Men, robbed of their traditional tasks, were forced to leave their homes for long periods with the result that women had to assume their roles, ushering in vital “shifts in gendered spheres of power”. The 1905 revolt, Sunseri claims, was not so much a fight for independence as a ‘symptom of household struggles’ to overcome these problems. Headmen lost authority and when severe famine struck women practised ritual pagan remedies by using dawa (medicine) based on maji (water) to protect crops, and appealed to agricultural deities.

Sunseri claims that these rituals were appropriated by nationalist historians and ‘transformed into a proto-nationalist ideology of resistance’ which became established as the Majimaji tradition. In fact, he says, it was a subtle protest against the assault by the colonial power on the peasant economy and their ‘loss of environmental control’. The wild pigs became a symbol of the policy, exacerbated by the increasing number of Moslems with their aversion to eating pig flesh. Women became hunters – the protectors of the fields.

Whereas Sunseri shows how authoritarianism directly created social problems, Catherine Baroin demonstrates how social conditions drove a religious organisation into an ideological corner. Ever since Tanganyika fell under German domination in 1886, as a result of an agreement between Germany and Britain, the supreme cultural and social influence in the Kilimanjaro region has remained that of the Lutheran Church, which controls nearly all the infrastructure of social life, owning churches, fields, coffee plantations, schools and hospitals, and drawing upon external aid that enables it to finance development programmes.

The Rwa, who occupy the slopes of Mount Meru, are Bantu-speaking farmers, numbering about 150,000, working the rich volcanic soil of the rain-soaked mountain, which is favourable to intensive farming, mainly of coffee and bananas. The Kilimanjaro Chaga outnumber the Rwa nine times over and are “reputed for their business sense and on average more cosmopolitan, more educated and richer”.

Baroin claims that the ‘inferiority complex’ of the Rwa was one cause of conflict, although a large majority are practising Lutherans who read, write and speak Swahili. The 18 patriarchal clans are modelled on the Masai system, divided into ‘generations’, but they accused the Chaga (Northern) branch of the church of discriminating against them, especially in the financing of health and education.

The issue was exacerbated by the uncompromising attitude of many of the clergy and even the Bishop, who blamed the main instigator of the rebellion, Jackson Kaaya, describing him as “an agitator thirsty for power”. Aged over 70, he gained notoriety during the Meru Land Case, when the Rwa eventually took their case to the United Nations, in defiance of Britain, and their action was a prelude to founding the Tanganyika African National Union. A sore point with the church was the Rwan habit of indulging in long drinking sessions of banana beer, while other conflicts arose from their practice of polygamy and the generation system.

When the situation became tense the government strove to maintain order, eventually calling in the army. The rebels tried to take over church institutions in their area, the leaders were imprisoned, and after further serious rioting the Rwa eventually sought a compromise, as a result of which the hegemony of the church was ended. It is noted that bitterness still persists, especially between the Meru Educational and Social Development organisation (MESODET) and the church. As coffee producers the Rwa rely mainly on coffee sales for development funds, and the control of coffee co-operatives is a key issue. In Rwan consciousness, economics and politics are inextricably linked.
JB

Publications Noted

Hector BLACKHURST, East and Northeast Africa bibliography.. Lanham, Md.; London: Scarecrow Press, 1996. xiv, 299p. (Scarecrow area bibliographies; no.7) ISBN 0-8108-3090-6, US$62.50.

Compiled by the founder editor of the well known and much regarded Africa bibliography, this is a handy and very immediately usable gathering of references to books about the area published from 1960 to date. That alone is a form of recommendation, because of the greater likelihood of being able to find items in libraries, and even still in print and available for purchase.

Very precise subject headings allow immediate access to, or indication of non-existence of the user’s chosen approach Thus, more general items in our selected area of interest can be traced under Tanzania – Handicrafts; – Health and Medicine; – History and so on. Quite specifically, Chaga; Dar es Salaam; Olduvai Gorge; Zinza, etc. This is one of the most usable bibliographies I have come across for some time. Not exhaustive, but highly recommended for the sensible selection of entries included.

Erik 0. GILBERT, The Zanzibar dho [dhow?] trade: an informal economy of the East African coast, 1860-1963. Ph.D. thesis, Boston University, 1997. Obtainable from University Microfilms International, PO Box 1346, Ann Arbor, M1 48106-1346, U.S.A. quoting order number 9713661.

Abacleti K. KASHULIZA, Determinants of bank credit access for smallholder farmers in Tanzania: a discriminant anlysis appreciation, by Anacleti K Kashiliza and Jonathan G. Kydd. Savings and development, no.3, 1996, p.285-304

Nasor MALIK, Extension of Kiswahili during the German colonial administration in continental Tanzania (former Tanganyika), 1885-1917

Originally published in Swahili forum III, Sept., 1996, p. 155- 160, this article of approximately 2,000 words has been revised by the author, and a copy of the typescript can be seen by contacting the editor of Tanzanian affairs.

Fenella MUKANGARA, Women and gender studies in Tanzania: an annotated bibliography(1982-94). Dar es Salaam: The University Press, 1995. 245p., ISBN 967 6602 782. Distributed in the U.K. by African Books Collective, 27 Park End Street, Oxford OX1 IHU, Pricc 514.95, US$27.

Roger PFISTER, Bibliography of Swiss doctoral dissertations on sub-Saharan Africa, 1897-1996 Bern SWISS Society of African Studies,( P 0 Box 8212, CH- 3001 Bern), 1997 76p No price stated

A useful list, which draws upon diverse sources to present a comprehensive and well indexed list of Swiss dissertations on African topics. The high degree of interest in Tanzania over the period is shown by the proportion which concentrate on the country (almost ten percent out of some 400). The bibliography includes helpful advice on how to obtain copies of dissertations listed.

PLUNDERING Africa’s past; edited by Peter R. Schmidt & Roderick J. Mclntosh. Oxford: James Currey Publishers, 1996. 296p., ISBN 0 85255 738 8, 514.95.

Described by the publisher as being a frank indictment of African contributions to the problem, and discussion of specific steps that could halt the disappearance of Africa’s art. In addition to several overview chapters looking at aspects of art theft continent-wide, there are two chapters devoted to aspects of the destruction and looting of archaeological sites in Tanzania, another on Kenya, and one on the East African coast.

Detlef H. SCHMIDT, Measuring participation: its use as a managerial tool for district health planners based on a case study in Tanzania, by Detlef H Schmidt and Susan B Refkin International Journal of health planning and management, 11, 1996, p.245-358

E.H. SILAYO, Cadastral surveying practice In Tanzania. Dar es Salaam: The University Press, 1997. 163p.

A discourse on why cadastral surveying “is much more than merely solving boundary disputes between neighbours”.

The reviews editors thank contributors for their reviews, especially those that come unsolicited and often draw attention to publications that might have been overlooked. Anyone offering a review should please contact Michael Wise.

LETTERS

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EARLY DAR ES SALAAM
I am in the process of conducting PhD research Into the social history of
Dar es Salaam in the colonial and post-colonial periods and am keen to contact people who lived and/or worked in the city between 1920 and 1980. I am especially interested in the administration and policing in the town, urban growth and attempts to control it; the housing sector, the development of an urban economy and workforce, and the growth of crime and petty crime, particularly activities which might be described as ‘informal sector’ ones such as illegal street trading, the manufacture and sale of alcohol, prostitution, and begging. Anyone who feels they could be of assistance please contact me on XXXX
Andrew Burton, London

THE GRUNDYS OF PANGANI
In about 1963 visits to Pangani were made special by meeting the Grundys, to enjoy their hospitality in the remarkable house they were building and to see boat building, spinning of coconut fibre, metal work and furniture making in the workshop. Major Grundy was the first registered citizen of Tanganyika and he meant to stay. Unfortunately, the business was a victim of blanket nationalisation and the Grundys left. However, when the Britain- Tanzania Study Tour visited Pangani in August 1997 several people told us of the debt the town still owes to them. Major Grundy is remembered with great affection and respect. The Independence memorial is acknowledged as his work. The workshop has been extended and is in reasonable condition although the business seems to be at a standstill. It would be good if ‘Tanzanian Affairs’ could carry a tribute to the Grundys. To that end, I am asking anyone who has information about their lives before or after Pangani to send it to me. Peter Yeo Loughborough

THE GIANT TORTOISES OF ZANZIBAR
Further to your earlier news Item (TA No 57) about the giant tortoises (Geochelone gigantea) of Zanzibar, my wife and I were there in August 1997 and can now give you an update. We found that only seven adults now remain on Changuu island but they are under close surveillance and 16 new young ones have been successfully hatched. On Zanzibar itself a holding facility has been established for tortoises moved from Changuu in 1996 and other tortoises that have been seized after they were stolen from the island.

The translocation of confiscated tortoises could result in the introduction of diseases and parasites not previously present on Changuu. One of the purposes of our visit therefore was to draw up a health monitoring programme. Fortunately, professional veterinary assistance is available there from various sources but funds are needed to save the tortoises and to keep them free of disease. Those wishing to help are invited to send cheques made payable to the ‘Changuu Tortoise Account XXXX and sent to Barclays Bank, P0 Box 8, 13 Library Place, St Heller, Jersey John E Cooper, Wiltshire

CCM TO WIN NEXT TIME TOO?

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Following a serious rift with Tanzania’s only significant opposition party, the National Convention for Construction and Reform (NCCR-Mageuzi), many political observers believe that, unless there can be a reconciliation or the emergence of some new leader, the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, even after 36 years in power (including the period of its predecessor TANU) is destined to come out on top again in the next general election in the year 2000. But not necessarily. Three years is a long time in politics!

BACKGROUND
TA has been told that the ‘intellectual wing’ of the NCCR led by the lawyer who founded the party, Mr Mabere Marando, became convinced some time ago that the chairman of the party, the charismatic and energetic former Deputy Prime Minister, Augustine Mrema, was not the right person to represent the party in the next presidential elections. His dominating personality, unpredictability and relative lack of education were held against him. Marando (who had been the founder of the party and its first chairman) had given way to Mrema and agreed to him taking over the chairmanship of the party in 1995 and it was Mrema who had rejuvenated the party and presented a serious challenge to the CCM in the last elections. During the last year Marando and his supporters are believed to have tried to persuade Mrema to resign or to undertake further studies overseas but Mrema was said to have refused. Joe Dotto writing in the ‘Business Times’ described Mrema as ‘a hot potato which cannot be spewed out because it is sweet nor swallowed because it is hot!’ The Marando wing of the party are reported to have lobbied other prominent former CCM leaders in the hope that they might join CCM and offer a challenge to Mrema but without success.

THE TANGA MEETING
Thus, when the NCCR party gathered for a week of meetings in Tanga on May 8, tensions were high and the Mabere wing of the party, which includes almost all its 19 MP’s, decided to try and remove Mrema (who has the support of the mass of members of the party and almost all regional chairmen), from the chairmanship of the party. The various meetings which took place during the week in Tanga were acrimonious and punctuated by physical confrontation, name calling and even tears. When the lights went out temporarily during the meeting, there was some panic and a few people were injured as they tried to escape from the room.

Party Chairman Mrema delivered a long speech accusing Marando of accepting a bribe from the CCM to get rid of him. Marando, in reply, accused Mrema of embezzlement of party funds, failure to follow party guidelines and leading the party ‘like a dancing troupe’. The main conflict at the meeting was between the 30-member Central Committee which largely supported Marando, and wanted to remove Mrema from office and the much larger Executive Committee which supported Mrema.

The Marando faction then attempted to gain ascendancy by bringing in the law. Mrema was relying on his wide popularity. Marando appealed to the High Court to bar Mrema from acting as chairman and from access to the party building and from party funds. He suggested that Mrema should form his own party. But on May 16 the High Court dismissed Marando’s application because it had been improperly drawn. The constitution of the party apparently makes it almost impossible to remove leaders.

Meanwhile, Mrema’s supporters had seized the party HQ at Manzese in Dar es Salaam and made sure that the Marando faction were kept out. Marando later found other quarters in Gerezani, Dar es Salaam and took the original NCCR Secretariat staff with him. Mrema dismissed Marando and chose Mr Prince Bagenda, as the new party Secretary General and also appointed a new list of party officials and a new secretariat. Bagenda was the leader of a group of the NCCR which had broken away, three years ago, from Marando’s original NCCR before Mrema joined. With the arrival of Mrema as chairman, Bagenda rejoined the party but was not given a prominent position.

MEDIATION ATTEMPTS
On May 28 and 21 Registrar of Political Parties George Liundi tried hard, during lengthy meetings, to bring the two factions together but failed. He said that he could not deregister a party which had internal conflicts but the law said he could do so if a party was split. The Mrema faction’s new Executive Director, Dr Ndembwela Ngunangwa has told TA about the efforts of Bishop Elinaza Sendoro of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania to mediate between the two faction leaders but he too failed.

REACTION AROUND THE COUNTRY
NCCR members are bitterly disappointed by the behaviour of their leaders whom many accuse of being interested in power and money rather than the good of the country; “If Mrema can’t manage his own party, how can he run the country?” is a common refrain.

But although Mrema’s popularity with the masses has been dented it has not disappeared; people continue to admire him for his vigorous attacks on corruption when he was Minister of Home Affairs in a previous government. An increasing number of his more politically aware supporters are, however, expressing the view that he is not the best person to face CCM in the presidential elections in the year 2000. The Daily News (July 29) quoted Mrema as saying, at one of the many rallies he has been addressing since the party split, that he was ready to go to jail in a case in which he is accused of uttering false documents implicating senior government and CCM officials of bribery; “In Africa” he said “prison graduates sometimes become presidents”. Referring to the Marando faction: “These people want to get rid of me. They are not obedient to me – their top boss. How can I continue working with them? I want people who are ready to obey my orders in the Central Committee…. I am the very final NCCR-Mageuzi commander” he said at one meeting, amid laughter from the audience. On July 21 Mrema surprised a large rally of his supporters in his Temeke constituency by saying that he was not the automatic choice of the party for the next presidential election; if the party found someone more suitable he would travel all over the country in support of that person.

Many observers fear that what has happened has severely damaged democracy in Tanzania as the NCCR is the only viable opposition at present. But Professor Mwesiga Baregu of the University of Dar es Salaam, writing in the Dar es Salaam Guardian (July 1) said that he would have been surprised if such conflicts as those seen in the NCCR had not occurred. ‘In a period of transition towards true democracy, conflict within a political party is not the source of death’ he wrote ‘but the source of growth, transformation and renewal’. UDP chairman and deputy leader of the opposition in Parliament, John Cheyo, who is well-known for his pragmatic approach, advised NCCR leaders to take one month of leave ‘to cool off’.

The Registrar of Political Parties has withheld a $101,269 government subsidy to the NCCR party pending clarification of the situation.

A further indication of the damage the party has done to itself came when it had to select a candidate to fight a by-election in Makete. The Election Registrar refused to issue two sets of nomination papers to one party and so, on August 25, the CCM candidate Dr Harry Kitine, was declared elected as the MP unopposed!

Political observers are looking around to see if anyone else might be eligible to lead Tanzania into the new millennium apart from President Mkapa, who is now the undoubted favourite. One person who was believed to have considered the possibility of taking part in the last presidential election and who is taking an increasingly prominent public role is Mr Reginald Mengi – Tanzania’s self-made wealthy businessman and media mogul. He owns English and Swahili newspapers and the ITV station. These outlets have been giving increasing amounts of space to his activities in recent weeks, in particular to his new role as Chairman of the National Environment Management Council, but he continues to say that he is not interested in entering the political arena.

OTHER PARTIES

The NCCR is not the only opposition party having difficulties. The Rev. Christopher Mtikila, at one time a very popular opposition leader, whose Democratic Party the government refuses to recognise, saw his opportunity on March 31. He suddenly joined the CHADEMA party and got himself selected as its candidate in a by-election at Ludewa (following the death of Horace Kolimba – TA No 57). Ludewa is Mtikila’s own area and he appeared to have a good chance of winning. But the result of the May 25 by-election was as follows:

Prof. Chrispin Haule Che Mponda CCM 20,111
Rev. Christopher Mtikila CHADEMA 8,386
Barnabas Kidulile NCCR 1,271

According to the Dar es Salaam Guardian, Mtikila later insulted CHADEMA leaders and he has since been expelled from the party. Meanwhile the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) expelled seven of its leaders on April 4 because the group wished to recognise Dr Salmin Amour as President of Zanzibar. And the UDP party lost its Vice-Chairman, Ambassador Christopher Ngaiza following disagreements between him and party Chairman John Cheyo.

On August 25 there was, at last, some good news for the opposition. The High Court nullified the 1995 parliamentary election result for the Muleba constituency in Karagwe Region and CCM MP Wilson Masinlingi lost his seat. The person opposing him at that time was Mr Prince Bagenda who has been in the forefront of the troubles in the NCCR party (see above). The by-election in this constituency is likely to be hard fought if the NCCR can agree on its candidate.

EXTRAORDINARY SAGA IN ZANZIBAR

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Exemplifying the political distinctiveness of Zanzibar and the intensity of the tension between the two parties there – the ruling CCM and opposition Civic United Front (CUF) – which hold respectively 26 and 24 elected seats in the Zanzibar House of Representatives – was a bizarre incident which has been featured in banner headlines in the Tanzanian media.

Mr Salum Mbarouk (29) MP for Mkunazini announced on August 1 that he was resigning from parliament. He won the seat in the 1995 elections with 2,730 votes compared with 1,113 for the CCM candidate. On August 2 he appeared on television to explain why; it was because the political conflict was exacerbating ethnic tensions and his belief that the boycott of the Isles’ House of Assembly by CUF had gone on long enough, he said.

The Dar es Salaam Guardian then reported, on August 6, a lengthy story from Mr Mbarouk about how he had been taken, in mid-July, to a government house on the West coast of Zanzibar and had been offered by senior government officials (whom he named) substantial salary and allowances, a post as special adviser to President Amour and a chance to stand in the inevitable by-election as the CCM candidate if he would give up his parliamentary seat. When he refused he said that he had been forced at gunpoint to announce his resignation in front of a TV camera and forced also, with a threat that otherwise he would be thrown into the Indian Ocean, to sign a resignation letter addressed to the Speaker of the House. He said that he had been ferried to Dar es Salaam on July 26, returned to Zanzibar and again to Dar es Salaam where he had been concealed in the Agip Motel, Room 307. On August 4 he said that he had managed to escape to Magomeni where he spent the night in the Mosque; on August 5 he took refuge in the Swedish embassy accompanied by CUF officials.

CCM sources ridiculed this story and claimed that, having resigned voluntarily, he then had to take measures to protect himself from angry CUF supporters. It was the CUF which had kidnapped him.

Meanwhile, on August 7, the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) announced a timetable for a by-election in the Mkunazini seat even though the Union Government, which is usually reluctant to interfere in Zanzibar’s internal affairs, had promised, only two days before, to carry out a thorough investigation of the whole matter. According to the Daily News, the government spokesman was responding in parliament in Dodoma to a motion from Deputy Opposition Leader John Cheyo MP and leader of the UDP party, calling for the arrest of those responsible for the alleged kidnapping.

On August 11 Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye told the National Assembly that Mbarouk was in the hands of CUF leaders and that they would be held responsible for any harm that came to him. He said that Mbarouk had presented a typed letter of resignation on July 15; he had been asked to present it again in his own handwriting and had done so indicating that his resignation would take effect from August 1. To add to the mystery the Guardian reported that the signatures on the two letters might be different.

On August 9 the Daily News reported that the CUF would file an application in the Zanzibar High Court seeking to stop the Mkunazini byelection as Mr Mbarouk was still the MP for the constituency. On August 15 the Daily News reported that three top CUF leaders including Mr Mbarouk had been summoned to the office of the criminal investigations department.

Clearly, one side or the other is not telling the truth. Political analysts can see a clear motive for the CUF to be bringing the case into the public eye and particularly to international attention and for not wanting to lose one of its MP’s. In the case of the CCM the motivation for kidnapping is difficult to understand, but CCM’s determination to retain control in Zanzibar is apparent. The unaccustomed speed of the Zanzibar Electoral Commission in announcing the date of the by-election, gave grounds for some observers to have their suspicions about the ruling party’s intentions.

In a rapidly moving situation, as this issue of TA went to press, the police were said to be looking for Mr Mbarouk.

POLITICAL DEADLOCK CONTINUES

The political deadlock in the Isles continues as the CUF still refuses to accept the last election results and is boycotting the House of Assembly in the Isles (though not the Union National Assembly in Dodoma).

Many in Zanzibar must have had high hopes when it was announced that an international conference on democracy would be held in Zanzibar in July and that the UNDP had been involved in preliminary planning with Speaker of the National Assembly Pius Msekwa. But the UNDP subsequently withdrew.

Among those who spoke at the conference, which was chaired by Judge Joseph Warioba and attended by President Chissano of Mozambique, was Zimbabwe-based journalist David Martin who said that the original cause of the divisions in Zanzibar had been the internal election which had immediately preceded Zanzibar’s independence in 1963. At that time the party then representing African interests had won a clear majority of the popular vote but that parties largely representing Arab interests, ‘with British collusion’ won most of the constituencies and formed the government. The situation then had been like it was now he said but the result had been the violent revolution of January 12,1964.

Martin said that he did not want to be drawn into a debate about the rights or wrongs of the 1995 elections in Zanzibar (which precipitated the present deadlock) and went on to attack the attitude of Western diplomats in Dar es Salaam (two High Commissioners were said to be leaving shortly – he hoped their successors would be more open minded) and the former colonial power in particular, for its ‘intemperate negativism’ in refusing to deal with Zanzibar President Salmin Amour and for giving the CUF the impression that it still had the support of the West in its refusal to reach a compromise with the government.

SURPRISES FOR BTS MEMBERS

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A dozen Britain-Tanzania Society members visiting the Parliament in Dodoma on August 14, during Tony Janes’s annual study tour of Tanzania, were taken by surprise when, during a very friendly welcome address by House Speaker Pius Msekwa, Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye strolled in and joined the party for a lengthy chat. The society’s Tanzanian Chapter Chairman, Paul Rupia MP, who arranged the visit with Margaret Mwaja, a friend of BTS Treasurer Betty Wells, had himself been surprised earlier, when each member of the group sitting in the visitors gallery, had been introduced individually to the assembled MP’s by Deputy Speaker Philip Marmo. This was most unusual said Mr Rupia. The day before, while visiting Mvumi Hospital, BTS members had had a further surprise when they bumped into Foreign Minister Jakaya Kikwete, who recognised members he had met last year at a meeting of the Society in London.

THE IMRAN KOMBE CASE

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Five police officers charged with the murder of former Director of Intelligence Lt. Gen. Imran Khan (TA No 57) pleaded not guilty in court on May 29. The Prosecutor said that on June 30 1996 the Dar es Salaam Regional Police Commissioner had ordered two police officers armed with Chinese-type pistols (three more joined them, armed with a machine gun, in Moshi) to look, in the Moshi and Arusha regions, for a vehicle stolen in Dar. They spotted a Nissan Patrol vehicle with registration number TZD 8592 similar to the one stolen and began to fire at it. Nineteen bullets were fired of which five killed the Lt. General. The case continues.

THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION

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According to newspaper reports the Board of Directors of the Sugar Development Corporation (SUDECO) suspended in May seven senior officials following the loss of Shs 2.7 billion worth of sugar. Three officials in the Finance Department of the Mtibwa (Morogoro) sugar factory have been sacked far ‘failure to prevent embezzlement of funds by subordinates’. The Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education has announced that 179 civil servants had been sacked and 53 suspended for receiving bribes between January and May. The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs has stated that two magistrates have been dismissed and 40 others suspended in connection with corruption allegations.

The Minister for Communications and Transport was reported in the Daily News at the beginning of May as having suspended the Director General of the Directorate of Civil Aviation for alleged indiscipline and insubordination.

BUSINESS NEWS

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Exchange rates (Mid-August): £1 = TShs 1,010 to 1,090
$1 = TShs 580 to 638

Tanzania’s Markets and Securities Authority has approved provisional licenses for five brokers/dealers (Tanzania Securities, Exim Securities and Investments, Rasimali, Solomon and Orbit Securities) to trade on the country’s STOCK EXCHANGE which is scheduled to be launched in Dar es Salaam in October. Meanwhile, Tanzania Oxygen, a leading manufacturer of industrial and medical gases became in April the first company to launch its prospectus; it will sell 30 million shares to the public – Business in Africa and East African.

Following the recent $1.7 billion debt relief agreement at the Paris Club in February (TA No 57) Tanzania has now reached AGREEMENT WITH FOUR OF ITS 12 MAJOR CREDITORS (France, Germany, Norway and Austria) and has assured donors that it will service its external debt promptly and ensure that it remains credit worthy. It hopes for further debt relief at the Paris Club next year – East &can.

TWO NEW BANKS opened for business in mid-August – the indigenous Akiba Commercial Bank with 207 indigenous shareholders and Rabobank of the Netherlands as its partner, and Exim Bank (Tanzania) catering primarily for corporate clientele with 80% Tanzania local shareholding – East African.

The government has reduced CORPORATE TAX from 35% to 30% as a ‘compensatory measure to mitigate revenue obligations while giving relief to taxpayers’ – Business Tunes.

The NATIONAL BANK OF COMMERCE has collected some Shs 1.13 billion from 28 debtors under its loan recovery drive during the past few months – Sunday News.

Tanzania has completed the installation of sophisticated new CARGO AND PASSENGER X-RAY SCREENING EQUIPMENT at the Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro airports in response to concerns expressed by airlines flying into the country – East African.

Some 2000 peasant families living along the proposed Songo Songo Gas Pipeline will receive Shs 2 billion in COMPENSATION for damage to their land and for resettlement – Daily News

“ENGINEERS, of whom there are now more than 5,000 in Tanzania, are being under-utilised as there are now more than the country can afford” said Dr. Strato Mosha, Director of Inter-Consult Ltd (he is also Vice Chairman of the Tanzanian Chapter of the Britain-Tanzania Society) at a recent seminar. He went on to say that the ratio engineers:technicians:artisans was 1:3:9 which indicated the critical shortage of technicians and artisans. Engineers had to work without technical support and might actually have to do work best left to technicians. However, engineers constituted only about 0.5% of the total waged employees compared to 4-6% in developed countries – Financial Times.

The POPULATION of Dar es Salaam has reached 4.5 million. Regional Commissioner Brig. Gen. Hassan Ngwilizi said that this population growth was a serious threat to the wellbeing of city residents – Daily News.

Speaking at a dinner in honour of visiting Chinese Premier Li Peng on May 13 President Mkapa defined TANZANIA’S ECONOMIC POLICY as the ‘development of a market economy with internal characteristics’. Tanzania wanted to learn from Chinese experience. “Economic and social justice, respect and dignity must never be sacrificed at the altar of unguided capitalism” he said.

The Dar es Salaam firm A C Gomez has bought and started rehabilitating the KUNDUCHI BEACH HOTEL – Daily News.

The Minister of Finance announced on August 14 that the government had suspended issuing LOAN GUARANTEES to public enterprises in a move to control the country’s debt burden. Cabinet approval would be needed by ministries and parastatals before any further debt could be incurred – Daily News.

NEW AID for Tanzania: Shs 30 billion from the EU for rehabilitation of areas affected by refugees and Shs 1.6 billion for education; Shs 17 billion from the Netherlands for rural development and other projects and Shs 7 billion for dredging Dar es Salaam port; Shs 16.7 billion from Japan for three bridges on the Mtawara-Mingoya road and for power supplies; Shs 15 billion from the UN Population Fund; Shs 3.2 billion from Switzerland for two development funds and a further Shs 15 million to fight a cholera epidemic in Dar es Salaam which has claimed scores of lives; $7.8 million immediately for balance of payments support and probably a further $23.4 million later in the year from Sweden; $24 million from Denmark for the development of Tanzania’s private sector; a $1 5.7 million loan from China to revamp the TANZAM railway and for other projects.

Tanzania’s new 3 16-page TELEPHONE DIRECTORY, the first since 1992 was issued (free to those with telephones) at the beginning of May. Some 92,760 telephone lines are now connected in Tanzania – Business Times.

The debt ridden Dar es Salaam University Press and University Bookshop have been merged and are being privatised as BUP (1996) Ltd. – East African.

There has been a sharp down-turn in PASSENGER AND CARGO BUSINESS ON THE DAR ES SALAAM – ZANZIBAR SEA ROUTE following the harmonisation of import tariffs between the mainland and the Isles; this has made it no longer profitable to buy goods in Zanzibar and sell them on the mainland. But one company, Azam Marine, has invested $4 million in two new speed boats which travel at 30 knots and have a capacity of 180 people each. The company is banking its hopes on the novelty and newness of the boats and the growing tourist boom in Zanzibar. Some of the other boats on the route are old and have been known to stall sometimes midway between the two points – East African.

TANZANIA’S 1997/98 BUDGET (June 19) emphasised promotion of the private sector and investment, especially in mining, but there was little of help to the agricultural sector and duty on fertiliser was increased. In the interests of greater simplicity, the present customs duty bands have been reduced from seven to four and sales tax bands from six to four. Minister of Finance Daniel Yona announced targets of 5% growth (4.2% in the present year) and 10% inflation. He said that he would raise revenue of Shs 695,000 million (17.1% of GDP) and spend Shs 666,842 million; indebtedness to local banks would be reduced by Shs 59,695 million. Features of the budget included reduced taxes and duties on some beer (much heavier taxes on European beers) and soft drinks but a new 25% tax on bottled water. The cost of transport has been increased; there is a 30% excise duty on four-wheel drive vehicles. The hotel levy, withholding tax on business insurance claims, excess profits tax on single trade transactions, sales export tax and stamp duty on mineral exports have been abolished. Civil servants will get a modest pay rise.

Zanzibar Finance mister Amina Salum Ali said that implementation of the 1996/97 budget in the Isles had been impaired by a severe shortfall in revenue caused largely by the boycott by many donors following the last elections. But the government had taken effective action to build up and consolidate the economy while at the same time widening the economic base in order to make it more equitable. Revenue from tourism had increased substantially.