ANC HQ MOVING TO TANZANIA ?

Posted on by
Reply

According to the Independent (August 9,1989) the headquarters of the South African African National Congress (ANC) will be moved shortly from Zambia where it has been since the early 1960’s to Tanzania. The Secretary General of the ANC. Mr Alfred Nzo was said to have confirmed an earlier report in the Daily Telegraph that some thousands (believed to be about 5,000) South Africans exiled in 2ambia were moving to Dakawa in central Tanzania. According to the Telegraph the reason was that President Kaunda of Zambia felt that the presence of ANC guerrillas and officials had begun to destabilise his government especially in view of the serious state of the Zambian economy. The Independent said that the move ‘represents a final admission by South Africa’s neighbours that they cannot host the movement in the face of Pretoria’s hostility’. But an ANC spokesman in London was quoted as saying that the project to move the ANC out of Zambia had been agreed years ago and that the Headquarters would not be moving.

A HIJACKING AND SUBSEQUENT SPECULATION
Africa Analysis reported in its issue of May 26th that 1,000 ANC personnel understood to have been expelled from Angola were being transferred to what it described as a huge camp at Dakawa, on the Dodoma Road, some 70 kilometres north of Morogoro. This was reported at about the same time as the arrival in Dar es Salaam of a Russian Aeroflot airliner (on May 18th) after a mid air shoot-out with alleged hijackers. When the airliner landed at Dar es Salaam airport one South African with a bullet wound in the chest and an injured Aeroflot security official were ferried by helicopter to Muhimbili Hospital. Three other men were said to have been interrogated.

The Daily News said that the aircraft was on a scheduled flight from Luanda to Moscow when a group ‘led by a Boer’ attempted to divert the plane to Johannesburg. The aircraft had landed in Dar es Salaam only to allow two people injured in the hijack attempt to disembark. The Minister of Communications and Works after visiting the airport said that he could not at that time give the plane’s next destination.

Africa Analysis reported that there had been much speculation in Dar es Salaam about what had actually happened. The plane might have been taking ANC fighters for training in the Soviet Union. It was more likely that it was ferrying 200 ANC personnnel to Dakawa. But there were some people who thought that ANC fighters may have mutinied and others who speculated that the hijackers had been ANC dissidents being brought out of Angola under guard from an ANC prison near Luanda under the terms of the Angola peace settlement.

On June 19th African Concord stated that an ANC official had confirmed that the person who had tried to hijack the plane was a South African spy who had tried to join the ANC. Bradely Richard Stacey (27) was subsequently charged in Dar es Salaam with endangering the lives of passengers and sentenced to 15 years in prison. The Judge said he would have imposed a 20 year sentence if Stacey had not pleaded guilty.

ANC COLLEGE MAKING REMARKABLE PROGRESS
Under this heading, on August 22nd, the Daily News reported that the ANC College at Mazimbu on the outskirts of Morogoro had grown during the last ten years into not only a fully fledged secondary school for South African refugees but also a complex college including primary and nursery divisions as well as a day care centre.

TANZANIA IN THE MEDIA

Posted on by
Reply

SALIM AHMED SALIM THE NEW OAU SECRETARY GENERAL
Describing how Mr Salim Ahmed Salim (47), Tanzania’s Deputy Prime Minister and, at different times, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Defence and Prime Minister (as well as former President of the General Assembly of the United Nations) had been elected by the Organisation of African Unity as its new Secretary General WEST AFRICA magazine stated in its August 17-30 issue that this heralded the ‘dawn of a new realism’. He was considered amply qualified for the post and, being from a front-line state, would enhance his credibilty given the organisation’s present focus on Southern Africa. Despite the usually clannish nature of the Francophone states within the OAU and their apparent stranglehold on the Secretary Generalship, Mr. Salim’s qualifications and commitment were such that he was able to win on the third ballot the article said. He succeeds Mr Ide Oumarou from Niger.

The FINANCIAL TIMES reported that Mr. Salim had obtained 38 votes – more than the two thirds majority needed from among the 49 member states.

BUDGET DISPLEASES DONORS
The AFRICAN ECONOMIC DIGEST in its issue of July 3rd stated that donors have reacted coldly to Tanzania’s latest budget. Sticking points continued to be exchange rate policy and the speed of structural reforms. Donors had been hoping for a faster depreciation of the Tanzanian Shilling than the 4.8% devaluation announced in the budget. The Government was said to have consistently stated that it would restructure the export marketing boards but the likelihood of this taking place soon was being treated with some scepticism by donors according to the article. An investment code expected since mid – 1988 was apparently not now expected before late 1989.

THE GREATEST SPECTACLE ON EARTH
‘The Serengeti. Even its name resounds like a drumbeat from the heart of Africa. How can one convey the majesty of its immense plains. The light is dazzling. The smells of dust and game and grass – grass that blows, rippling, for mile after mile in the dry highland wind, with seldom a road and never a fence; only the outcropping gaunt granite kopjes and their watching lions, the thorny woodlands, the water-courses with their shady fig trees and the wandering herds of game.

Since the Serengeti became a national park nearly forty years ago, the wildebeest have multiplied until there are now one and a quarter million. Together with half a million gazelles, 200,000 zebra, 50,000 topi and 8,000 giraffe – to say nothing of 1,500 lions – they offer a last glimpse of the old, wild Africa as it was before the coming of the Europeans; and when the wildebeest embark on their seasonal migrations, stampeding across the rivers, stretched out from horizon to horizon in endless marching columns that take three days and nights to pass, they transform these vast Tanzanian plains into the greatest wildlife spectacle on earth’. (Extracts from an article by Brian Jackman in the SUNDAY TIMES of 25th June 1989).

TANZANIA TO DOUBLE CASHEW AND COCONUT PRODUCTION
Such is the intention behind a new World Bank IDA Credit of US$ 25.1 million recently agreed. WORLD BANK NEWS in its issue of June 29, 1989 noted that Tanzania’s production of cashews and coconuts had declined by 85% since the 1970’s as a result of inappropriate pricing, ineffective marketing policies, lack of production supplies and plant diseases. The project will establish seven cashew development centres and three coconut seed farms to grow plants and seeds for distribution. Research will be expanded and training will be provided for extension and research staff. Credit is included for farmers and t raders. Annual production is expected to double to 45,000 tons of cashews and one billion coconuts by the year 1999.

ONE CAMPAIGNER SALUTES ANOTHER
In the INDEPENDENT magazine of July 1st Glenys Kinnock, wife of Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock, paid tribute to Archbishop Trevor Huddleston who leads not only the Anti-Apartheid movement but also the Britain-Tanzania Society. ‘At 76, still sparkling with fun, still spreading vitality, still fierce for freedom, my hero, Trevor Huddleston, is very much alive’ she wrote. She went on to quote Archbishop Tutu as saying: “He is so un-English in many ways, being fond of hugging people, embracing them and in the way he laughs. He does not laugh with his teeth, he laughs with his whole body, his whole being”. Glenys Kinnock went on to write ‘Trevor Huddleston is a man of action. He has retained his fighting spirit, his resolve ….. action not words is his continual message everywhere ….. Last summer the Archbishop was one of the first to arrive early on Saturday morning at the huge Nelson Mandela Birthday Concert in Wembley and one of the last to leave late on Saturday night. As he sat in the front row of the Royal Box throughout the day thousands of young people turned away from the stage to greet him. His face glowed with smiles as he returned the waves whilst the music thundered out across the stadium and across the world. He was having a lovely time – not diminished one bit by the fact that he hardly heard a single note through the ear plugs that he had firmly fixed in place throughout much of the day. It’s about the nearest that Trevor Huddleston has ever come to compromise’.

TANZANIAN COFFEE
Writing in the SUNDAY TIMES feature ‘A Life In The Day Of’ Naomi Mitchison, the traveller, adventurer and prolific writer, described some of her tastes. She obtains muffins from Marks and Spencers and eats jam made from Japanese quinces. When in Botswana, where she is the adopted mother to the Ba Kgatla, Chief Linchwe arranges for her to get coffee from somewhere other than South Africa. When she is in Britain however “I have coffee from the Chagga Cooperative in Tanzania” she wrote.

JAPANESE AID
The JAPAN TIMES devoted a full page to Tanzania on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Union. Greetings from advertisers included contributions from Nippon Koei Co. Ltd, Toyota Tsusho Corporation and the Konoike Construction Co. Ltd. Mr. Kikuo Ikeda, Chairman of the Japan–Tanzania Association wrote about current Japanese aid schemes which include an Agricultural Storage and Transportation System Improvement Project in Iringa and feasibility studies on agriculture in the Lower Hai and Lower Rombo areas and on urban development in Dar es Salaam. He also reported that some 35,000 visitors had attended the Tanzania Exhibition in Tokyo in February 1989. (This was described in Bulletin No. 33 – Editor).

DAR SEEKS A CROW BAR
Under this rather imaginative heading, SOUTH magazine in June reported that Dar es Salaam is at war against an invasion of rapacious Indian crows. ‘They steal food, kill chickens, cause commotion in the early hours, and steal buns, tomatoes, fish and meat from street markets. Now they are said to have begun attacking people. Tanzania’s Game Department tried to eliminate them last September and killed more than 4,000. But the birds are now adept at dodging bullets. In January they attacked a man who was 15m up a palm tree trying to pull out a crows’ nest. By the time he reached the ground his feet were bleeding and swollen.

The crows were introduced to Zanzibar about a century ago from India to provide a sanitation service by eating garbage. Despite government rewards for collecting eggs and destroying nests they spread to the mainland where Dar es Salaam’s poor waste disposal system offered an inviting feast’.

DEFINITE SIGNS OF RECOVERY
‘Tanzania’, wrote AFRICAN CONCORD, on July 17th, ‘once known as the sick man of Africa, is responding to IMF medicine and a transfusion of Western aid. The country has just completed a three-year overhaul which has breathed new life into its stagnant economy, pleasing Western donors and Tanzanians alike’.
“The Economic Recovery Programme is a resounding success” said IMF Director Richard Erb during a visit in May. As one African diplomat remarked: “People can now get their essentials, from food to clothes, without queuing or resorting to the black market”.

AN UNUSUAL UVEITIS
A report in the BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL on August 5th by Dr. Yorston of Mvumi Hospital and colleagues at the Institute of Opthalmology in London described a five year survey into Uveitis (inflammation of the iris and related structures in the eye) in children at Mvumi. Of the 254 children seen with the disease half were under two years old. No consistent abnormality accounted for the uveitis but there appeared to be a geographical distribution with many cases in Iringa, Shinyanga, and Dareda but few in Mbeya and Sumbawanga. Most children recovered within six to twelve weeks. It was suggested that the disease might be a response to either parasitic, viral or spirochaetal infection in early infancy.

CULTURE BAZAAR
Under this heading the INDEPENDENT in its June 20th issue reported on the WOMAD World Music Festival which took place ‘among the fish and chip shops and stunning sunsets of crumbling, jolly Morecambe …. The African content was threefold in type. Delicate, melodic filigree from traditional Ugandan acoustic instruments, the venerable Gambian kora maestro Amadou Jobarteh and loping electric guitar and drum dance-floor pop, ‘soukous’ -influenced but with an East African choppiness, from the Tanzanian Remmy Ongala and his orchestra Matimila who appeared to be playing everywhere the whole time’.

NO NEW TAXES FOR ZANZIBAR
Reviewing what it described as Zanzibar Minister of Finance’s cautious budget for 1989/90 the AFRICAN ECONOMIC DIGEST (May 29) wrote that the removal of subsidies, cuts in the civil service and higher revenues following trade liberalisation had allowed income and expenditure to balance in 1988/89. Recurrent expenditure was projected at Shs 2,779 million against Shs 1,74-0 million in 1988. Development spending was to increase from Shs 5,000 million to Shs 5, 398 million (4-6.9% for communications) but 92.7% of this would need to come from external funding. GDP growth in Zanzibar last year was unchanged at 1.3% compared with mainland growth of 4%. A popular announcement was that there would be no new taxes this year because of the rise in income.

THE STRANGE DOUBLE LIFE OF A SCUTTLED GERMAN WARSHIP
Truth, said the FINANCIAL TIMES on June 28th, is sometimes stranger than fiction. The former German naval steamer Graf von Goetzen on Lake Tanganyika which was scuttled by the Germans during the First World War and subsequently refloated under British rule and renamed the Liemba, continues to sail Lake Tanganyika today. Her career is ‘as swashbuckling’ as the Humphrey Bogart character in the film the ‘African Queen’ – a drinker, smuggler and all-round reprobate.

The article went on to explain that the Liemba still carries Germans – tourists – as she plies the 420 miles of blue, crystal-clear water that stretch northward from Zambia to the former Belgian colonies of Burundi and Ruanda. But the Liemba’s 4-inch gun has gone and it s place on the upper deck has been taken by less lethal contraptions – safari Landrovers bristling with dried sausages and piled high with cases of beer.

Carrying tourists and their vehicles up to gorilla country in the mountains of Rwanda, however, is only a sideline. The Liemba is, above all, ‘a floating den of smugglers who successfully manage to break every import, excise and exchange control in the region’. The lengthy article described how subsidised Zambian goods, dried fish, gold and various currencies change the ship into a ‘mobile market place and trading floor’ with profits sometimes as high as 400 per cent. As one of the smugglers said: “The Government calls it smuggling; we call it business”.

DAR ES SALAAM PORT FACILITIES MUCH IMPROVED
Describing the completion of the US$ 18.0 million port development at Dar es Salaam the AFRICAN ECONOMIC DIGEST (July 24) stated that some observers were now suggesting that it could compete with Mombasa where efficiency has deteriorated sharply. The Finnish financed project involved the conversion of three general cargo berths into a 13 hectare container terminal with ship to shore gantry cranes and several rubber tyred container carriers. Tractor and trailer units have been introduced as well as a rail-mounted gantry.

THE AIDS THREAT – 400,000 CASES

Posted on by
Reply

The first reported case of AIDS in Tanzania (from Kagera Region) was as recently as 1983. But, according to a Professor in the University of Dar es Salaam, there are now estimated to be 400,000 people infected by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which can lead to AIDS.

The male to female ratio is approximately 1:1 reflecting the dominance in Tanzania of heterosexual transmission: Distribution by age shows peak prevalence for women in the age groups 15 to 25 whereas the majority of infected males are in the age group 25 to 35.

The spread of HIV follows the major communication routes with dramatic differences in the geographical distribution. In the Kagera Region with 1.3 million inhabitants some 11.9% of the adults were HIV positive in 1987. The rate was as high as 32% in Bukoba town. The extent of the catastrophe in the town is illustrated by the fact that in the age groups 25-34, some 41% were affected and in babies below one year in age 23% were HIV positive. (An account of what was described as the ‘AIDS Horror’ at Kanyiga village, 25 miles from Bukoba, was given in Bulletin No 31).

In Moshi the average infection rate was 7% in 1987 but no positive cases were detected outside the city. The figure for Dar es Salaam was about 6%

The true prevalence and the speed of dissemination in most of the country is not known but one source estimated that the affected population is now doubling every six to eight months. According to the World Health Organisation, for every reported case, there are in the population 50-100 infected cases. According to some health experts there could be as many as one to two million people affected by the end of this year. Most of these people will be subject to emotional stress and a larger number of relatives and friends will also need assistance in dealing with the disease . “We are talking about anywhere between five and ten million people needing counselling if testing instruments were available for all” said Dr. G. P. Kilonzo, Head of the Psychiatric Unit at Muhimbili Medical Centre. He said that the emotional reaction of individuals to HIV infection and the neurological and psychiatric consequences of the disease can have a far reaching impact unless emotional support is given. Cases of suicide, stigma, anger, depression and family turmoil are issues that need to be dealt with through counselling he said.

Dr Gabriel Lwihula is worried about the orphan problem and how Tanzania will be able to cope with the orphan children and the aged whose survival must depend on support from persons dying of AIDS. A National Aids Task Force was set up in 1985 and this led the way to the National AIDS Control Programme which the government launched in mid 1988. Emphasis is being placed on bringing about behavioural change. Most people are said to now prefer what is known as ‘Zero grazing’ in reference to sticking to a single partner. Many jokingly refer to what are called ‘UWT (the Tanzanian Womens’ Organisation) marriages’. Others refer to Chinua Achebe’s novel ‘One man; one wife’.

At a seminar in Arusha in July 1989 Dr W.M. Nkya of the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre said that transmission of AIDS was complicated by the existence of ‘infected pools of people and mobile transmitters’. He explained that prostitutes and barmaids were likely to be in the infected pool while young business men, truck drivers and privileged civil servants were likely to be among the transmitters.

At the same seminar the Tanga Regional Cultural Officer, Mr V. Mkodo said that a number of men were opting for schoolgirls to ‘quench their sexual thirst ‘as they were considered to be safe from the disease. It was also suggested at the seminar that it would be a great help if the government issued a directive on circumcision of men as uncircumcised men were thought to be at greater risk.

On Peasants Day in July this year the Association of Tanzania Family Planning had what was described as a ‘field day’ when it sold 11,000 condoms to visitors to the 13th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair. Condoms, at Shs 5/- each, were said to have been selling like hot cakes as preventive measures against AIDS. (From SHIHATA, the Daily News and the book reviewed on page 31).

MISCELLANY

Posted on by
Reply

THE GENESIS OF ‘MZUNGU’
Readers of the Daily News have been responding to a question asked by another reader recently on the genesis of the Kiswahili word ‘Mzungu’. They explained that among the Wagogo people there are such terminologies as ‘Mulu-ngu’ describing God with ‘Mulu’ meaning an exceptional and ‘-Ngu’ meaning any being having power over nature. ‘Msungu’ is purely Bantoid spoken in Nigritic tone. When a white man first trod in East Africa the local people regarded him as different. They thus christened him ‘Musu-Ngu’ that is demi-god or godman’.

250 BRITONS ON TANZANIAN EXPEDITION
The Society for Environmental Exploration in London is in the midst of a year-long research project involving some 200 young British volunteer research assistants ac companied by a staff comprising scientists, logisticians, engineers, mechanics and medical personnel. The project is being organised through the Ministry of Lands, Natural Resources and Tourism and Tanzania National Parks. At the end of July 1989 the first six of a larger number of Tanzanian scientific consultants (from the University of Dar es Salaam) had also joined in the initial work together with Dr. M.A.K. Ngoile, Director of the Institute of Marine Sciences in Zanzibar. The advance party arrived in Tanzania in early July and they were followed by the first of four groups, each of which will spend some three months undertaking environmentally important tasks in Tanzania.

Eibleis Fanning of ‘Frontier’, the expeditionary arm of the Society, told the Bulletin that the aim of the project was to harness the enthusiasm of people committed to environmental protection. Participants are working at the Pande and Kiono forest reserves on plant collecting, forest mapping and bird netting; on Mafia island on sea clams and starfish, the biological control of the coconut eating rhinoceros beetle, and on permanent study plots in the mangroves of the northern coast; a group is also working at the Mikumi National Park and another at the Rufiji Delta on a mangrove sedimentation programme.

ANOTHER BIG FIRE
Four upper floors of the Ministry of Home Affairs headquarters in Dar es Salaam were gutted by fire on the night of May 19th 1989. The damaged floors had accommodated the offices of the Minister, Deputy Minister, the Inspector General of Police and several commissioners in the Police Force. This fire follows the loss by fire of the Bank of Tanzania headquarters in 1984 and offices of the Audit Corporation in 1988.

NEW AIRLINE
Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia agreed on May 5th 1989 to set up a joint airline to be known as ‘Africa Joint Services’. The airline is to operate regional and international flights. Costs will be shared equally by the three countries. Meanwhile, Swissair and Belgium’s Sabena have started joint twice-weekly flights from Brussels and Zurich to Dar es Salaam via Jeddah.

TV STATION UNDER STUDY
A special team set up to study the establishment of a television station for Tanzania mainland will soon present its final report to Government. The Party programme directs that Tanzania mainland should have television by the year 2,000.

MINISTRY TO BREED WASPS
The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development has ordered consignments of wasps from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Nigeria for the biological control of the cassava mealybug in Tanzania. The wasps will be bred and multiplied at Kibaha in the Coast Region. Some 18,000 hectares of cassava have been affected by mealybugs since the out-break in 1987.

The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Development has also explained that there is no cure for the new fungal disease of bananas (Black Sogatoka) – Daily News

CHIMPANZEE RECORDS STOLEN Two years of painstaking research work on chimpanzees in the Gombe Stream National Park may have been lost forever when thieves broke into the house of the world famous scientist Jane Goodall in Dar es Salaam at the beginning of July. They made away with 40 video cassettes. The thieves, who are believed to have reached her beach front house at Msasani by boat, also took away two outboard engines donated to the national park – Daily News.

A JOINT THEATRICAL VENTURE
The Commonwealth Institute in London is about to launch a ‘Theatre in Education’ project to be based on Tanzania and using British and Tanzanian actors. There will be half day-programmes designed for upper secondary school pupils which will be given first in London and then at schools in the West Midlands, the Isle of Wight, Bedfordshire, West Sussex and either Dundee or the Borders Region.

Mr. Turan Ali, Performing Arts Officer at the Commonwealth Institute and Mr Ghonche Materego, Head of the Theatre Arts Department of the National Arts Council in Tanzania and Adviser to the Project told the Bulletin that the play will look at the notion of independence and economic relationships in the post-colonial period.
There will be a performance for the public on October 26th 1989. Tickets (£2.50) are obtainable at the Education Centre of the Institute.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED? – MWALIMU

Posted on by
Reply

“What has happened to the nation of the Arusha Declaration – the only country in the world with such a clearly defined policy of socialism and sef-reliance” asked Mwalimu Julius Nyerere speaking to the nation on Peasants’ Day, July 7th 1989. What curse had befallen the nation which had declared self – reliance as the basis for its development he asked.

He said Tanzania had a unique gift in that declaration but lamented the way people have gone astray in carrying out the declared policies. “In fact” he said “it appears as if we have abandoned our declaration. Even to clean sewage systems or fill in ponds which are breeding places for mosquitoes we wait for foreign donors”.

The Party Chairman underscored the need to revive the self-help spirit and undertake projects like building classrooms and teachers houses. “The children” he said pointing to the pupils who had performed a mass display “are sitting on the floor in the classroom but we sit back and wait for donors – some of whom are near thieves – to help us”. Mwalimu noted that the budget for education had declined to 4% which he said was too little to do anything substantial. “But” he added “we have plenty of soil from which we can make bricks for classrooms”.

Earlier Mwalimu expressed disgust at thefts of big sums of money from cooperative unions. He said the government mistakenly dissolved the unions but “we did not re-establish them for conmen and thieves who applauded their return so that they could make quick money” – Daily News

OBITUARIES

Posted on by
Reply

SIR JOHN FLETCHER-COOKE died in May 1989 at the age of 77. Mr. C.I. Meek writes about him as follows:

In Tanganyika John Fletcher-Cooke was successively Minister for Constitutional Affairs, Chief Secretary and Deputy Governor between the years 1956 and 1961. Holding these offices he was obviously deeply involved in the kaleidoscopic political changes of the last colonial years and equally clearly he had his full share of controversy whenever nationalist views clashed with those of the Government as they frequently did in those hectic days. John had a taste of this within weeks of coming to Tanganyika, when he found himself in New York to put the Tanganyika Government’s case to the UN Trusteeship Council while the views of TANU were put by its President, Julius K. Nyerere. But there were many much harsher exchanges later on when the two men fiercely sparred across the floor of the then Legislative Council, John as Chief Secretary leading the Government majority and Julius Nyerere speaking for the opposition. Yet for all the real issues and sharp words between them, there was no personal animus, and each, in the closing days of the old Legislative Council, paid generous tribute to the other.

Likewise, there was a considerable song and dance raised about the creation of the post of Deputy Governor (which Sir John filled) but it was the post and not the man that was the issue. TANU suspected that the creation of the post was a device to interpose someone between the Governor and the Prime Minister, while, for different reasons, Sir John himself found it the least fulfilling of the high offices he filled with such great credit.

John Fletcher-Cooke was intellectually distinguished and his clarity of thought was as apparent when he wrote a despatch as it was when he made a speech. He had extraordinary pertinacity, which could sometimes be vexatious to those with different views, but which was a blessing beyond price to anyone against whom he spotted injustice or unfairness directed, He was a loyal friend, a perfect host, he had much wit, and was always a man of courage.

He was not a ‘Tanganyikan’, as those who spent their service there felt themselves to be, for he had been variously posted to the Colonial Office, to the UN Trusteeship Council, to Malaya, Palestine, Cyprus. He was a prisoner of the Japanese during the 1939-45 war and anyone who has read his book ‘The Emperor’s Guest’ must be astonished at the magnanimity and tolerance with which he wrote of that experience. It exposed him, like many others, to brutalities which hastened his end and yet he could write of it without a trace of bitterness.

Tanzanians should remember Sir John with some gratitude, He was far more politically attuned than most colonial administrators, he found himself frequently pressed into attitudes of conflict with TANU, and thereby became, in difficult times, an admirable lightning conductor. Lightning conductors avert damage, and he made a worthy partner of the great Governor, Sir Richard Turnbull, under whom he served.

(Sir John is survived by his third wife, a son of his first marriage and a son and daughter of the second – Editor). Mr CHARLES (KIM) MEEK CMG entered service in Tanganyika in 1941. In 1959 he was Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Chief Secretary (Mr John Fletcher-Cooke) and from 1960 to 1962 he served as Principal Secretary to the then Prime Minister (Mr Julius K Nyerere) and as Secretary to the Cabinet.

Mr. SAIDI KAMTAMWA, affectionately known as ‘Saidi Tanu’, was a relatively unknown person but the tribute to him in the Sunday News after his death in March 1989 filled a whole page of the newspaper. He was the first Tanu driver and drove the then Tanu President, Mwalimu Nyerere, all over the country (more than 100,000 miles he estimated) in the days when Mwalimu was fighting for Tanzania’s independence. During his final years he was a private businessman in Dar es Salaam. The Second World War saw Mr. Kamtamwa in the army. He served in Madagascar, Ireland, Ceylon and Burma. He started his official duties with Tanu on March 27th 1956, driving a second hand Landrover.

The deaths were also announced, in April 1989 of Mr. JAMES KIRKMAN, a pioneer of archaeological studies on the East African coast and, in May, of Sir DARRELL BATES who served in Tanganyika both before and after the Second World War.

PARLIAMENTARY MATTERS

Posted on by
Reply

The National Assembly has had two sessions since the last issue of the Bulletin. The first, in Dodoma, ran from April 18th to 25th and dealt with three Bills. One established a Planning Commission, the second redefined the words ‘Peoples Militia’ to recognise officially the activities of traditional defence groups such as ‘Sungusungu’ or ‘Wasalama’ and the third provided for corporal punishment for armed robbery, attempted robbery and assault with intent to steal. One MP said that bandits should be hanged. This session also approved the 1988/89 – 1992/93 Development Plan. The Plan emphasises communications and transport (23.8% of all resources), agriculture (18.5%) and industries and Works (19.4%). 49.5% of the resources were expected to come from outside the country.

With Members of Parliament flexing their muscles one year ahead of elections the Government came under heavy fire during the Budget Session in Dar es Salaam. As Minister after Minister stood up to deal with the complaints the refrain was the same. There are no funds. In its efforts to ease this problem the Assembly itself joined in the cost cutting exercise. It suspended several of its rules in a move to save time and cut-down on expenses. The Assembly met for six days instead of five every week, the length of speeches was cut down to 25 minutes instead of 35, the debate on the budget itself was limited to five days and the total period for examining all ministerial estimates was limited to 30 days. It was hoped to complete the budget session by August 5th 1989. The session actually ended on August 9th.

INFORMATION
As usual the debate elicited a vast amount of information on almost every aspect of national life. The following, extracted from the Daily News, represents a small part of this information which was given in response to 740 questions from members:

– crime is on the increase; a rise of 1.7% since last year; total crimes reported – 260,809;

– Tanzania spends 40% of its research funds on agriculture, 25% on industry and 10% on public health;

– 142 people died in 995 accidents involving 1,134 buses last year;

– 7,030 animals (9 species) and 962,624 birds (15 species) were exported between 1982 and 1988 which earned the country US$ 2.42 million; there is a quota for every animal or bird caught so as to avoid the danger of extinction;

– Tanzania’s budget for public health is equivalent to She 8/- per person per annum;

– Tanzania has recently deposited in Britain £1.80 million from the sale of gold by the country’s 29 licensed gold dealers;

– despite an increase in production of 6,200 tonnes to a total of 49,200 tonnes Tanzania’s coffee brought in only US$ 106.00 million last year compared with US$ 145.62 million in 1980;

– Dar es Salaam Region had the highest per capita income (Shs 4,235/-) in the country in 1987; Rukwa had the lowest – Shs 598/-;

– the Government has set aside Shs 240 million in this years budget to support self-help projects;

– during the last three years the Government has imported 9,026 vehicles; this year 4,498 will be imported;

– the price of regular grade petrol went up on July 11th this year from 61/- to 92/-;

– there are 207,534 workers in the private sector;

– 30% of all hospital patients last year were suffering from malaria;

– cooperative unions lost She 531.3 million since 1984 when they were re-introduced; most of this was ‘imaginary entries’ and theft of property;

– production of cotton in the 1989/90 season will be 100,000 bales less than last year (total expected – 350,000 bales); heavy rains have had an adverse effect;

– Tanzania Breweries will produce 6,200,000 bottles of beer this year; 90% Safari and 10% Pilsner;

– 76 foreigners were granted Tanzanian citizenship last year;

– the price to the farmers of fertiliser is heavily subsidised; a bag of urea is worth Shs 1,238/-; the farmer buys it for Shs 496/-;

– a total of 72,000 Mozambican refugees have fled to Tanzania since the outbreak of war with the MNR rebels;

– in 1985/86 Tanzania employed 557 expatriates; this number was reduced to 401 in 1987/88;

– the Government has been losing millions of shillings through fraud and salary double payments; initial investigations have shown that over 20,000 people have been receiving two salaries and many receiving government salaries are not even civil servants;

– there are 106 prisons in the country with a capacity of 21,128; but there are some 39,522 prisoners and detainees in these congested facilities;

THE DEBATES
The Government responded to the need expressed by Parliamentarians for cost cutting in a number of ways:

– transfer of civil servants has been suspended save in exceptional circumstances;
– local duty trips by government officers have been reduced to 60 days annually instead of 84;
– written permission will be needed in future for all air travel;
– university graduates will no longer be guaranteed employment in the civil service except in the case of specialists such as doctors, accountants, engineers and teachers; the government employed 99 of the graduates from last years output of 552;
– 310 Air Tanzania workers are being laid off and six domestic and foreign offices are being closed;
– embassies in the Sudan and Guinea have been closed; the government will no longer pay school fees to diplomats for the education abroad of their children;
– seminars held by parastatals and government departments will in future need the approval of the appropriate permanent secretary; only important seminars will be authorised; organisers must pick the cheapest venue and restrict the duration;
– the number of vehicles used in motorcades for visiting national leaders will be reduced:

The debates covered many subjects and some ministers had a tough time in getting their estimates accepted. In particular, the House had to work overtime and there had to be a vote (26 members voted against) before the Ministry of Communications and Works obtained approval for its estimates. Complaints were many but members were particularly concerned about the Kigamboni ferry problem. The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Development had a difficult time over his proposal to import sisal decoticators.

BEES AND POWER CUTS
Members of Parliament suffered from some non-political problems during the second session. On June 16th swarms of bees invaded Karimjee Hall but, in no time, workers from the Bee Section of the Ministry of Lands, Natural Resources and Tourism and the Fire Brigade removed them. On June 28th the session had to be adjourned and the Speaker escorted out of the building by torchlight when the lights went out!

At the end of the session Prime Minister Warioba praised members for their probity during the session. “I have been reading letters in the newspapers which have commended MP’s for their scrutiny of government operations. This testifies to the rule of democracy in our affairs ” he said.

FRIENDS OF THE MAKONDE

Posted on by
Reply

(In Bulletin No 33 we published a review of an exhibition of Makonde sculpture then showing at the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford. We asked Eirlis Park if she could find out something about how the collection was built up. She has sent us the following – Editor)

When I first arrived in Arusha in 1957, my husband Peter had already been there for five months and so knew exactly where to go to buy material and get the curtains made. Downtown we were warmly welcomed by the Malde family, Mr. Malde senior, Moti Malde and his younger brother. All were very helpful but our buying was often interrupted for introductions to other visitors to the shop who, to my surprise, were not buying but going over to the other side of the shop, to Moti, where there was a square glass case of cameras. Discussion there was on the subject of photography and at the end of our transaction we too drifted across. An unofficial meeting of the Arusha Photographic Society was taking place, In 1957 Moti opened his own purpose designed photographic shop near to the Safari Hotel. To those who know him, Moti Malde and photography are permanently intertwined.

He admits that, originally, the Makonde were a challenge photographically; there were still older women who wore lip plugs – but slowly he began to appreciate the nature of the people themselves – gentle, not aggressive and, as he says, “not against the laws of nature”. Their masks, used in ceremonies, were carved from wood and no killing of birds or animals was involved in decoration. Moti is a Jain and something in the Makonde character appealed to his beliefs. Jains reject the caste system, they believe in non-violence and are against any form of animal sacrifice.

Moti and Kanchen were married in the mid-fifties and it was from this period that serious collecting began. They did, at one time, do some trading in Kamba carving but they decided that the Makonde carvings would be bought and kept for their own personal pleasure, Moti is very methodical – keeping a dossier of where, when and why he purchased each of his gramophone records, for example, and of course, all his photographic material was also well documented – so it was quite natural to record the details of each carving and to make notes after the carver had explained his design.

Between the years 1954 and 1964 very few people wanted the larger Makonde carvings; everyone wanted small pieces which were easily transportable, but the bigger sculptures appealed to the Maldes. They were fascinated by the way the work was developed from the varying shapes of the timber and by how the carver expressed himself and his ideas, often with laughter. Kanchen however, told her husband that she felt that the market value of the carvings was too low and that it was unfair to pay so little for this handwork. So they used to take down from Arusha, baby food, medicines, children’s books, pencils, dried milk etc. and share these with the carvers’ families. Friendships grew up between them, strengthened by each visit.

However, by the early sixties, it became obvious to the Maldes that more and more of the young Makonde carvers were carving to meet the market demand and fewer were following the old traditional ways. They were carving more, but smaller pieces – which meant that they were able to increase their income. So the Maldes stopped collecting in 1968.

Knowing how much her husband loved his carvings, Kanchen began packing them in 1970 to send them to England. Some years later the Maldes followed, finally settling in Bedford. Now, he says he has more time to expand his notes and his one aim is to make the work of Makonde carvers known worldwide. Ask him which is his favourite piece and he will say about 150 are “his very very favourites, but everyone reminds us of a place, a person, a hamlet – very personal memories – their value is the joy of keeping the Makonde within us alive, and we want their art to be recognised in the whole world”.

REVIEWS

Posted on by
Reply

THE LIGHTNING BIRD
On March 17th 1989 Channel 4 produced an extraordinary film in its ‘ Survival’ series about lions in the Serengeti (Bulletin No 33). In the same series and shown on June 24th was another film about Tanzanian wild-life. This was made with the cooperation of the National Parks and the Ngorongoro Conservation Authority. It is the work of Joan and Ann Root and its title is ‘The Legend of the Lightning Bird’. As Andrew Sachs started his commentary we saw what we have learnt to expect from wild-life films of Africa South of the Sahara Kilimanjaro, elephants in the forest, lions on the savannah, herds of wildebeest and fantastic, glorious birds.

Who is the King of the Birds? Is it the huge ostrich, the powerful eagle, the handsome superb starling or the regal crested crane?

Legend says it is none of these. It is the hammerhead or hammerkopf. He is related to herons and storks, stands a foot high, is uniform brown with a tuft of feathers at the back of his head and looks like a kindly dunpy pteradactyl. The hammerheads spend most of their lives fishing. This they do effectively but without display. When they are excited they jump on each others backs, flap their wings and squawk.
According to legend these dowdy avian monarchs receive homage from subjects who bring contributions to the palatial nest, help build it and even guard it. The hammerheads are also credited with magical power over rain and floods. None of this is true. They cannot swim and have no special weather sense.

Visitors to the big nest come for their own purposes. A silver bird takes what she needs to build her own nest; an Egyptian goose tries to take over the penthouse until thrown out by the owners; she then finds a disused nest downstream. A grey kestrel is small enough to use the old nursery but finds her way barred by a family of acacia rats and a large African owl nest on the summit, ostensibly on guard.
The hammerheads, far from being feudal lords, act more like the local housing aid centre because they re-use an old nest. At the beginning of the rainy season they start to build in the fork of a tree overlooking a river. For nearly three months they each make journeys totalling about three hundred miles to build a nest four feet high and weighing two hundred pounds. It is so strongly woven that it can bear the weight of a man jumping on it. The entrance is sensibly kept away from the tree trunk and the roof is decorated with feathers, shed snake skins, little bones and porcupine quills. This nest even had a wildebeest tail.

Most of the film was concerned with the building of this nest and the mating of the hammerhead, kestrel and goose families. I particularly enjoyed the emergence from the nest of the two-day-old goslings who plopped in the water below one after the other like children going down a chute. One gosling had unfortunately fallen out a day earlier and had had a Disneyesque adventure with hippos and a crocodile. He found a diminutive island for the night and miraculously met up with his family again the next day.

There seems to be no scientific explanation for the hammmerhead’s extravagant use of energy. We are told the species is the only member of its family. I wonder if there were others now extinct who decided to build Hiltons and died in the attempt.

Anyway, Good Luck to the eccentric loveable bird. Long may he reign! Congratulations too to all concerned with the production of this delightful, tantalising film. Shirin Spencer

TANZANIA: COUNTRY STUDY AND NORWEGIAN AID REVIEW. Kjell J. Havnevik and
Others. Centre for Development Studies. University of Bergen. 1988.

There was a time when it seemed as though almost everyone wanted to write a book about Tanzania. The early years after independence are well documented in several comprehensive studies. Nowadays, this is no longer true. As far as the Bulletin has been able to determine there are no recent comprehensive studies covering all sectors of Tanzania’s economy other than those provided from time to time by the World Bank. It is for this reason that this Norwegian book is so useful. It is useful primarily for those wishing to up-date their knowledge (references and statistics go up to 1988) and those who do not know Tanzania and do not have the time or the opportunity to study the innumerable short papers available in the better libraries. It is concise (the whole country is covered in 193 pages), clear and, as they say nowadays, ‘reader friendly’; it does not appear to be over afflicted, as so many papers on Tanzania are, by ideological bias. It contains a useful up to date bibliography but, surprisingly, no index. It has particularly strong sections on women (for example, the effect of villagisation on them) and reveals much cause for alarm in its section on AIDS.

The second part of the book critically analyses Norwegian aid programmes. Although the authors state that Norwegian aid does not differ from that of other countries (Norway comes second only to Sweden in the ‘league table’) those interested in sea fisheries, coastal transport (in both cases associated companies went bankrupt!) sawmilling, hydropower and the maintenance of rural roads can learn much from this book.

One interesting item (Page 13) states that after the First World War the idea was considered of giving Norway the task of ruling Tanganyika Territory – DRB.

(We are indebted to Mr. Karl Aartun for sending us a copy of this book – Editor).

A NEW HIGH COMMISSIONER IN LONDON AND A NEW HIGH COMMISSIONER IN DAR

Posted on by
Reply

Tanzania has a new High Commissioner in London. He is Mr John S. Malecela (55) originally from Dodoma region and previously the holder of a range of very senior positions in government. He was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1972 to 1975, Minister for Agriculture (1975-80), Minister for Minerals (1980-82) and Minister for Communications/Transport/Works (1982-85). At earlier stages in his career he was Ambassador to the United Nations in New York and Ambassador in Ethiopia. In 1985 he was a member of the ‘Commonwealth Group of Eminent Persons’ dealing with the problem of South Africa. The months of June and July 1989 witnessed a flurry of farewell parties in London and Dar es Salaam as incumbent High Commissioners departed and the arrival of the new High Commissioners was awaited.

The principal event in London, attended by some 150 persons, was a farewell to Mr and Mrs Nyakyi organised by a committee under the chairmanship of Ms Fatma Abdullah which included representatives of several Tanzanian organisations in Britain: the Tanzania Association (Chairman, Mr. Richard Mpopo), Tanzania Womens Association, Tanzania Business Group, Tanzania Sisal Marketing Association (TASMA), Tanzania Students Association, Tanzania Diamond Sorting Office (TANSORT), and the High Commission.

Mr. Uhi Mwambulukutu, Deputy High Commissioner, referred at the gathering to Mr. Nyakyi’s workaholic habits. “He stays in the office from morning to next day” he said. “I don’t know how Mrs. Nyakyi reacts!”.

Mr Mpopo, speaking on behalf of several of the sponsoring groups said that Tanzanians in Britain had been very happy to be under Mr. Nyakyi’s guidance for the last eight years. The eight years had seemed to pass very quickly; there had been no friction and many happy moments.

Meanwhile, in Dar es Salaam, Mr. Colin Imray was saying goodbye to old friends. His next posting is as High Commissioner in Bangladesh. And then, in Britain we read the:

Court Circular
BUCKINGHAM PALACE
June 30, 1989
Mr. John T. Masefield was received in audience by the Queen upon his appointment as British High Commissioner to the United Republic of Tanzania. Mrs Masefield had the honour of being received by Her Majesty. Mr. Masefield (50) has served in Malaysia, Poland, Switzerland and Pakistan.