Tanzania's fifty year sports landmarks

TANZANIAN women go down in the country’s history as the first to bring medals in the realm of international sports.

The first Tanzania’s medal in international sports, silver, was won in 1965, during the All Africa Games in Brazaville, Congo, through Theresia Dismas when she threw the javelin 40.24 meters.

The first spot went to Nigeria’s Helen Okwara who posted 40.30 meters and thereby winning gold in the event while Angelina Anyakwa, also from Nigeria, posted 39.48 meters, to clinch to clinch a bronze medal.

Theresia Dismas’ efforts in javelin won Tanzania the 9^th spot in the Brazaville All Africa Games, hence taking the second spot in East, Central and Southern Africa after Kenya who finished second after Nigeria.

Uganda finished third in the region after finishing tenth in the Games and this was quite a feat for a country that had attained its independence barely five years back.

It was not until 1970 that the first Tanzanian man, Titus Simba, won a silver medal in boxing during the Commonwealth Games held in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Simba lost in the final of a controversial middleweight bout that many fans who had witnessed the encounter believed the Tanzanian had won.

The gold medal went to a Briton, John Conteh, who immediately after the fight tried to woo Simba to join his stable.

Conteh’s decision to seek the assistance of the Tanzanian pugilist as a sparring partner had followed his decision to turn professional after the Games.

Given the difficulty he had had in winning the bout, Conteh knew that with Simba as his sparring partner, he would be able to do well in the professional ranks.

Unfortunately, much as Simba had wanted to change his life by joining the British boxer, he could not since as a soldier in the Tanzania Peoples Defence Forces, TPDF, it was not easy during the time.

In the soccer field, although Dar es Salaam Young Africans Sports Club became the first club to be closely linked with the continental club championship, then referred to as the All Africa Club Championship.

However, it was their arch-rivals, Simba Sports Club which became the first Tanzanian club to reach the quarter and semi finals of the continental club championship.

Young Africans were in 1969 knocked out of the tournament by Ghana’s Asante Kotoko through a toss of coin having drawn 1-1 in Dar es Salaam.

A fortnight earlier, both clubs had produced the same results when they played in Kumasi, Ghana.

In 1970, Young Africans were once again drawn against their Ghanaian counterparts and results were more or less the same, draw all the way from Ghana to Dar es Salaam!

Lack of experience in international sports management finally forced the Tanzanian club out of the tournament, for instead of pressing for a replay on the following day, they left the Ghanaians off the hook, giving the continental soccer body, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) then under the leadership of an Ethiopian, Mr Tessema (and highly dominated by Egyptians) an opportunity to stage a play off in a neutral country.

After a month, it was decided that Young Africans would take on the Ghanaian club in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where cholera had just broken out!

The Tanzanian club’s effort to seek another venue failed, buttressed by the Ethiopian government’s promise that everything would be done to protect players from the two clubs from the disease.

Finally Young Africans were knocked out of the tournament when they went down by two goals to nil.

Interestingly, Asante Kotoko would go on to the quarter, semi final, final and win the continental club championship!

Three years later, in 1973, it was the turn of the Tanzanian athletes, and the stage was the All Africa Games held in Lagos, Nigeria.

These were the times when Kenyans through Kipchoge Keino, Charles Asati, Julius Sang, Naftali Temu held sway in athletic field continentally and internationally.

A young, unknown Tanzanian soldier, Filbert Bayi, from the TPDF (air force) who had until a few months back played as a goalkeeper for an air force unit was now challenging world champion Kipchoge Keino in the 1,500 metres race final.

The rest is of course history, for Filbert Bayi did not only beat Keino to become the undisputable new 1,500m Africa champion in a sensational race, but he also went on to introduce in international athletics the era of front-running in middle distance races.

Apart from Filbert Bayi, the other Tanzanian who won a medal during the Lagos games was Habib Kinyogoli.

The Tanzanian pugilist won a bronze in featherweight division, bringing the number of medals won in boxing since 1970 to two.

Titus Simba who had travelled to Lagos to compete in his favourite middleweight division was disqualified in the eleventh hour because of overweight in the division.

In 1974, Filbert Bayi repeated the feat, this time during the Commonwealth Games held in Christchurch, New Zealand where apart from Keino, he also beat other greats in the distance, namely John Walker, who had been widely tipped to win the race, and Jimmy Ryun.

What was more, Filbert Bayi did something else in the course of winning that historic race; he broke the world record in the distance by setting a new record of three minutes, 32.2 seconds which stuck for seven years!

Apparently, Filbert Bayi’s success in the event was not only noticed by sports fans the world over, but also by some world leaders such as Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Michael Manley.

The Jamaican prime minister phoned his friend, President Julius Nyerere to congratulate him on Bayi’s success!

Apart from Bayi, another Tanzanian athlete who won a medal during the Christchurch Commonwealth Games, a bronze, was Claver Kamanya who finished third in the 400m race.

Therefore Kamanya goes down in Tanzania’s athletics annals as the only Tanzanian who has to date won a medal in a short distance race, which is highly technical, in an international sporting event.

Through the Christchurch Club Games, Filbert Bayi would become the greatest athlete who had ever graced Tanzania.

Before the end of 1974, another Tanzanian team, Simba Sports Club set out to wipe out their soccer archrivals’ (Young Africans) success in continental club championship when they reached  the quarter and later, in the same year, the semifinal in the tournament.

Apart from surpassing Young Africans’ record, Simba scored another first over their rivals when they killed the Ghanaian jinx by beating Hearts of Oak, hence qualifying for the semifinal date date with Egypt’s textile team, Mehalla el Kubra.

Simba were however, later knocked out by the Egyptian club in the semifinal after failing to protect their lone goal lead scored a fortnight back through their striker, Saad Ally, in the dying minutes of the game in their first leg match played at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam.

Six years later, during the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games marred by boycotts by Western countries in protest over the then Soviet Union’s involvement in the Afghanistan war, Filbert Bayi won a silver medal, but this time in 3000m flat and his colleague, Suleiman Nyambui won a silver medal in 5,000m.

The two medals were first ever to be won by Tanzanian athletes in the Olympic Games.

Prior to the Moscow Games, United States had led the world in boycotting the Games, sent across the world, including Tanzania, former world heavyweight boxing champion, Muhammed Ali (Cassius Clay), to persuade developing countries to stay away from the Games.

Interestingly, over three decades later the same country that had persuaded the rest of the world to stay away from Moscow Olympics because of the Kremlin’s involvement in the war in Afghanistan is itself presently involved in the same war and in the same country!

Apart from the Olympic silver medal, Nyambui won a bronze medal in 5,000m during the 1978 All Africa Games and twice finished first in 1987 and 1988 in the Berlin Marathon in the then West Germany.

Before the summer Moscow Olympic Games in 1980, Tanzanians were afforded another smile, in the sporting realm, when Tanzania’s national soccer team under the tutelage of a local Germany trained coach, Joel Bendera (currently the Morogoro Regional Commissioner) qualified, for the first time in the country’s history, for the Africa Cup of Nations currently referred to as Africa Nations Cup, AFCON, in Lagos, Nigeria.

Tanzania was however, knocked out in the preliminaries after going down 1-3 to Nigeria, drawing one all against the Ivory Coast and going down 1-2 to Egypt.

To qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations, Tanzania beat Zambia by a one goal to nil before the then Zambia’s first soccer fan, President Kenneth Kaunda.

The historic goal was slotted in by Peter Tino in a match played at Zambia’s sprawling Independence Stadium in Lusaka.

Since then, Tanzania has unfortunately failed to qualify for the continental tournament due to a variety of reasons that include, among others, poor preparations for qualifiers.

Other Tanzanian sportsmen who left their mark in athletics in 1980s included Gidamas Shahanga who won a gold medal in marathon in 1978 during the Edmonton Club Games in Canada and TPDF Lieutenant Colonel, Juma Ikangaa.

Juma Ikangaa won his first gold medal in marathon in 1982 when he posted two hours, 21 minutes and 05 seconds in the event during the All Africa Games held in Cairo, Egypt.

In the same year, Ikangaa who was then a young army officer in the TPDF, won a silver medal during the Commonwealth Games held in Brisbane, Australia during which he posted two hours, 09 minutes and 30 seconds.

During his long career as a long distance athlete, Ikangaa won gold medals in marathon during the Melbourne Marathon in Australia in 1983, World Athletics Championships in Helensiki, Finnland; in 1984 during the Melbourne Marathon in Australia and the Tokyo Marathon in the same year; and in 1986 during the historic Fukuoka Marathon in Japan.

The Fakuoka Marathon was historic for Ikangaa for the simple reason that it combined with the Tokyo Marathon to make the diminutive Tanzanian army officer the most well known Tanzanian in Japan!

Ikangaa’s fame would later earn Tanzania a piece of land on which the Tanzanian embassy was built in the country where getting a piece of land for putting up anything is extremely difficult!

In 1987, Ikangaa struck another gold this time in China when he won the Beijing Marathon.

In 1988, Ikangaa finished second in the world famous New York City Marathon and in the following year, in 1989, he finished first in New York City marathon.

Twice, in 1989 and 1990, Ikangaa finished second in the Boston Marathon, in the United States.

Like his predecessor, Filbert Bayi, Ikangaa was a front runner who did not believe in sticking at the back of the pack and breaking out a few kilometers before the end of the race.

He said such tactic has served him well as long as he lasted in the athletics realm.

Juma has since retired both from the race and the army as a Colonel, a no mean achievement both professionally and as an athlete.

In the words of former Tanzania’s Ambassador to Japan, Mr Lukindo, “Ikangaa’s victory in the Fukuoka Marathon and other aces in that country had transformed him into the best known Tanzanian in Japan.”

Ambassador Lukindo said the publicity work on Tanzania in Japan made by Ikangaa was such that it had surpassed that that had been done by Tanzanian diplomats.

Regionally, Tanzanian soccer clubs, led by Simba Sports Club and Young Africans have had quite a share in terms of winning the regional club championship, officially referred to as the CECAFA Kagame Regional Club Championship, with Simba leading in winning the coveted trophy more than any Tanzanian club.

Simba Sports Club also holds a record of being the only Tanzanian club to have reached the finals of Confederation of African Football, CAF, late in 1993 when they lost at home to Ivory Coast’s Stella Abidjan in the return leg held in Dar es Salaam.

Interestingly, Tanzania’s fifty years’ independence anniversary is concluded in the same way it was opened during its first decade, by women!

Indeed, just as Theresia Dismas had become the first Tanzanian and a woman to win a medal during the All Africa Games held in Brazaville, Congo, in the say way the fifty year mark is closed by a women team.

It would be recalled that a few months ago, the Tanzania national netball team returned home with a silver medal, just as Theresia Dismas had done over 45 years ago, after losing in the final against their Ugandan counterparts during the All Africa Games held in Maputo, Mozambique!

If history is to be repeated, then the national netball team’s feat in Mozambique means that it is now the turn of Tanzanian men to win medals having been ushered in by their sisters in the same way that Theresia Dismas had done in Congo Brazaville over 40 years ago!

 By Attilio Tagalie 

Tanzania's foreign policy: Africa's independence tool and Dar's liberator

To understand and appreciate Tanzania’s foreign policy, a peep into two incidents, all involving the founding Father of the nation, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, will help in shedding light on the source and form of the country’s foreign policy.

The two incidents happened in 1957, during Ghana’s independence day celebration in Accra and in 1985 when Mwalimu Nyerere was bidding farewell to Nigeria, one of the countries that had helped Tanzania during its 1964’s army mutiny at the Colito Barracks in Dar es Salaam, presently known as Lugalo Barracks, named in honour of Chief Mkwawa’s Barracks at Kalenga in Iringa Rural District, Iringa Region.

Addressing journalists during a press conference held in Nigeria in the course of his visit to bid farewell to the Nigerian leadership midway in 1985 as he prepared to step down from Presidency after 23 years at the helm, Mwalimu was asked by one of the journalists the following question:

“Tanzania has had friends both in the East and West. Why has it (Tanzania) done so?”

Mwalimu responded in three words, sending Nigerian journalists into fits of laughter, he said; WE ARE POOR.

Indeed, a poor man does not have choice. He has to cultivate friendship with all the people, both from the east and west, hence Tanzania’s decision to pursue the policy of non-alignment.

It is also important to bear in mind that when Tanzania and some of her friends pursued the non-alignment foreign policy, it was at the height of the Cold War between the East, led by the then Soviet Union and the West led by the United States.

Since then, Tanzania has had the pleasure of not only seeking assistance from east and west, but also in criticizing both sides of the divide.

Other prominent founders of the foregoing policy included the then Yugoslavia President, Field Marshal Tito, Cuba’s President Fidel Castro and the Father of Malaysian modern economy,  Mohamed Mahathir.

Although the West has in the past heavily criticized those who chose the non-alignment policy, however, the truth still remains non-alignment policy pursuers have been able to save their nations from numerous problems.

The second incident which helped in influencing Tanzania’s foreign policy was the speech made by Ghana’s President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah at the climax of his country’s independence celebrations.

Dr Nkrumah said the independence of Ghana was meaningless as long as other countries in other parts of Africa remained in bondage.

The Ghanaian leader made the speech which would later be quoted several times by President Nyerere at the time when Kenyans were waging their liberation war (Mau Mau) against the British and apartheid held sway in South Africa, northern and southern Rhodesia which later became Zambia and Zimbabwe respectively.

Dr Nkrumah’s historic speech that has remained relevant to date implied the need on the part of other independent African states to help countries which were still languishing under racism and colonialism.

The rest is of course history, as imperialists through their lackeys and running dogs within the military clique in the Ghanaian armed forces did not allow Dr Nkrumah to remain in power, hence continue to preach freedom to the rest of the continent.

In 1966, the Ghanaian leader was overthrown by the US educated General Afrifa during his tour of Romania.

However, the toppling of Dr Nkrumah was not in vain as Tanzania took over the liberation struggle of countries still under racism and colonial yoke as one of the planks of its foreign policy.

Tanzania’s decision to implement Dr Nkruman’s statement in practice further received a shot in the arm when the Organization of African Unity, OAU, established the offices of the OAU Liberation Committee, in Dar es Salaam.

 Initially, the OAU Liberation Committee Office in Dar es Salaam was headed by Tanzania’s Ambassador Magombe as Executive Secretary.

However, later the post was filled in by Brigadier General Hashim Mbitta who has since retired from the Tanzania Peoples Defence Forces, TPDF.

Before delving deeper into Tanzania’s implementation of the liberation struggle in central and southern Africa, it it would not be out of place to  look into, albeit in passing, on one issue that Africa’s detractors have always found delight in.

This is none other than their love to bring to the fore differences that existed between Mwalimu Nyerere and Dr Nkrumah in the realm of Africa’s integration.

It is indisputable that the two men differed quite considerably on how to bring about African union.

While Dr Nkrumah was in favour of immediate and total African union, Mwalimu preferred step by step integration (gradual) much as both men were agreed on one thing, African union.

Different outlook over Africa union between Mwalimu and Dr Nkrumah was, to some extent, a result of differences between themselves which could be attributed to many things that include, among others, differences in political background and experiences between the two statesmen.

Mwalimu admitted over Dr Nkrumah’s political experience in his live broadcast address from Zanzibar on February 5^th 1977 during the climax of the merger between two political parties, the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) which had brought independence to Tanganyika and the Afro Shirazi Party which had spearheaded Zanzibar’s revolution on January 12^th 1964.

Mwalimu had this to say: “Circumcision is not painful if it is carried out on a person during one’s childhood.”

However, he said, circumcision was a different ball game if it was carried out during one’s adulthood.

Mwalimu compared the Union (and the only living union one in the continent) between Tanganyika and Zanzibar to circumcision carried out during childhood.

He said the union between the two countries that came into being on April 26^th  1964 was possible and had lasted that long because Zanzibar came on board less than three months after its revolution.

Mwalimu’s argument was that it would not have been possible for the two countries to forge the union many months after the revolution after Zanzibar leaders had got used to the trappings of leadership.

He said when Dr Nkrumah called for African Union immediately, the Ghanaian leader was better informed than them on the challenges that awaited African countries, and in particular, trappings that accompanied such positions that include, among others, motor outriders, inspection of guard of honours, high salaries and other fringe benefits, and above all, power which always ended up corrupting its holder!

Mwalimu’s Zanzibar speech was an admission, on his part, that Dr Nkruman said what he said in relation to African Union because he was more experienced than him.

Therefore, Mwalimu’s differences with Dr. Nkrumah would only make sense had he not appreciated and learnt from the Ghanaian leader!

Having bought the Ghanaian leader’s argument on the need for independent African countries to help, militarily if possible, those still languishing under racist, colonial yoke; Mwalimu prepared his country for the struggle of other countries.

In fact nothing helped to shape Mwalimu’s vision towards the liberation struggle than Dr Nkrumah’s overthrow and his country’s own army mutiny in 1964.

He realized that unless the country’s armed forces were transformed into peoples’ liberation army, Tanzania would get nowhere in its effort to help those still under racism and colonial bondage.

This then saw the emergence of what in Mwalimu’s own words, ‘the formation of small, but scientific liberation army’.

Instead of sending Tanzanians abroad for officer training course at Sandhurst in Britain, Tanzania came up with its own military staff college, tailored to meet Tanzania and Africa’s needs.

Politically, efforts were made to forge a cohesive nation that would readily help the army in its liberation role.

That is why military forays into Tanzania by Portuguese forces from Mozambique and bombings of the Salander Bridge in Dar es Salaam, jet fighter bombardment of Mtwara and other parts in southern Tanzania and finally, the killing, through a parcel bomb, of the Frelimo (Mozambique’s liberation party) failed to shake off Tanzanians.

In fact, if anything, such attacks against Tanzania helped in strengthening Tanzanians’ resolve to help their government in lending support to liberation movements such as frelimo, ZANU-PF (Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front)in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), SWAPO in Namibia and the MPLA in Angola.

This explains why, during the time, it was easy to hear Tanzanians contributing money and materials for liberation struggle in southern Africa.

In order to help members of liberation movements in southern Africa carry out their armed struggle into the den of their enemies, Tanzania established training camps at Mgagao, in Iringa for South Africans and Farm 17 in Nachingwea, southern Tanzania for Frelimo fighters.

In some instances, Tanzanians fought side by side with members of liberation movements and by May 1994, the southern Africa was free from colonial and racial bondage, after the birth of democratic and majority ruled South Africa.

During the same period, it would be recalled how the West tried to arm twist Tanzania and Zambia into getting involved in road project rather than a more reliable form of transportation through the construction of a railroad from Dar es Salaam to Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia.

The two African countries wanted to have an alternative transport route for Zambia in order to empower the central African country in implementing sanctions against rebel Southern Rhodesia.

And because Zambia relied on the Durban route both for its imports and exports, especially of its major foreign exchange earner, copper which is extremely heavy, it could only implement sanctions against Zimbabwe if it had an alternative route to the sea.

Therefore when the West insisted on being ready to help in the construction of a road, both Tanzania and Zambia turned to the Chinese government, hence the construction of the Uhuru railway (the Tanzania Zambia Railway) at a cost of 2bn US dollars.

Construction of the railway line started in 1970 and was completed in 1976, marking the biggest Chinese financed project in Africa.

In the northern part of the country, Tanzania managed to get rid of Uganda’s dictator Idi Amin who had in October 1978, invaded Kagera Salient killing many innocent Tanzanians.

The eight months bush war which ended in May 1979 to date remains the only successful war carried by an independent country against another independent country but under the yoke of a repressive regime.

In the words of a an American Reuters’ Correspondent and author of the War in Uganda, Mr Tony Avirgan, Tanzania won the war against a better equipped Ugandan army because it had succeeded in transforming the fighting into a peoples’ war.

There have always been numerous arguments over the timing of dictator Amin’s invasion of Tanzania.

Despite military skirmishes between the two sides in the course of Amin’s eight year rule in Uganda, the Ugandan leader had faced no threat from Tanzania.

And if that is so, why did he order the invasion of a country that presented no military threat to his country?

Is it possible that Amin’s decision to invade Tanzania was engineered by a foreign country or power?

Interestingly, just when Amin’s troops invaded the Kagera Salient, a TPDF brigade strength that was to be sent to Namibia to help Swapo in their liberation struggle was about to complete its training in Ruvuma Region.

And by the time the invasion of the Kagera Salient was complete, the Brigade under Brigadier General Barton Lupembe was the most war prepared in the entire TPDF.

According to Tony Avirgan, the Brigade which would in April 1979, but this time under the spear wielding Colonel Benjamin Msuya (now retired Major General), captured Uganda’s capital city, Kampala in April 1979, did not lose a single soldier in the whole military campaign, hence reflecting its high preparedness.

As chairman of the frontline states in liberation struggle, Tanzania played a major role in hastening the liberation of Zimbabwe which was made difficult by massive support rendered by the West led by the United States and Britain.

For instance when the OAU called on the British government to punish Southern Rhodesia’s rebel leader, (Prime Minister), Ian Smith for his decision to declare unilateral independence (UDI) against Britain, the latter refused!

Although it had been agreed between and among OAU member states to cease diplomatic relations with Britain if she refused to take action against rebel Smith, at the end of the day only two countries, Tanzania and Zambia acted, breaking diplomatic relations with Britain!

Economically, through the foregoing decision, Tanzania suffered a lot as Britain was the leading contributor to the country’s aid.

This was the second time Tanzania had elected to lose foreign aid through its decision to stand on the side of the oppressed majority in Zimbabwe.

The first time was in 1965 when West Germany was forced out by Tanzania over Zanzibar’s decision to allow the opening of a diplomatic Consul of East Germany in Zanzibar.

The West Germany government asked Mwalimu to bring pressure to bear on the Zanzibar leader, Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume to close the East Germany Consul, but Mwalimu refused, arguing-rightly that much as Zanzibar was part of the Union, however, it was a sovereign state.

At this point, the West Germany government which was assisting Tanzania in building its paratroopers within the TPDF, health and other sectors threatened to stop all aid with the exception of health assistance, and this for humanitarian reasons.

But to the surprise of Germans, Mwalimu told them to pack up all their assistance and leave!

In a nutshell, the West Germany incident reflected, and continues to, Tanzania’s foreign policy independence that includes, among others, the ability to say No to anyone under the sun regardless who that person is!

The foregoing stance was repeated recently by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr Bernard Membe when he told the local media that Tanzania was ready to forgo all British government’s assistance if the condition was to recognize gay rights.

Following the Tanzania government’s position, the British government quickly barked off!

Support to the liberation struggle in the continent aside, Tanzania has also played a major role as peace maker in central African countries of Burundi and Rwanda.

In fact, had the Rwandan leadership of General Juvenal Habyarimana hastened implementation of the peace accord that had for years been forged by Tanzania, the 1994 genocide that saw the slaughtering of over one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus would not have happened!

With the end of the liberation struggle in southern Africa, partly finalized by the second phase government of President Ali Hassan Mwinyi; the foreign policy of the third phase administration of President Benjamin Mkapa was characterized by peace missions and conflict resolutions.

It started with Tanzania’s full participation in Burundi’s peace mission under the tutelage of Mwalimu Nyerere as chairman of the peace process.

Regionally, Tanzania joined the rest of former EAC members- Kenya and Uganda in discussions aimed at reviving the East African Community, EAC, which had collapsed on February 6^th 1977.

And on November 31^st 1999, the EAC was re-established. It did not take long, before the EAC membership was boosted following the incorporation of Rwanda and Burundi, hence bringing the new EAC membership to five.

A SHIFT IN FOREIGN POLICY

However, Tanzania’s foreign policy received a major boost in the first years of the fourth phase administration of President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete when it was transformed to include economic goals.

The move was partly due to domestic shift of the country’s economic development which can be traced as far back as the second phase administration that saw the introduction of market economic policies coupled with liberalization.

Tanzania’s envoys abroad were recalled home and taken through the importance of focusing on the country’s economic interests in their day to day operations in their respective missions abroad.

The objective of the foregoing policy, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation is, among others, to project, promote and protect Tanzania’s political, economic, social and economic interests through active and sustainable economic diplomacy.

·          To ensure that Tanzania’s relations with other nations and international institutions are also driven consonance with its economic interests

·          To build a self-sustaining economy, preservation of national peace and security as well as support regional and international endeavor for the creation of better and peaceful world.

·          To accelerate the political and social economic integration for the region and create necessary conditions which shall enable Tanzania to participate effectively in regional and international negotiations.

To the Tanzanian envoys, the message was simple: Gone were the days when they were expected to confine themselves to issues revolving around diplomatic niceties and other inexplicable concerns!

From now on, the name of the game was the country’s economic wellbeing.

 They were now expected to compliment the country’s economic endeavor at home in bringing bona fide investors.

In a nutshell, Tanzania’s embassies abroad were now supposed to serve as centers through which would-be investors could get responses on their inquiries on whatever they wanted to have or do in Tanzania.

Conversely, the Tanzanian government or any of the country’s economic institution for that matter, expected to get reliable information, as far as economic issues are concerned, from Tanzania’s embassies.

 

  By Attilio Tagalile

Of Lowasa's defence and CCM disciplinary committee

After the ruling party’s (Chama cha Mapinduzi) National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting two weeks ago, heated debate on who won between former Prime Minister, Edward Lowasa and the anti-corruption crusaders led by party chairman, President Jakaya Kikwete.

For the first group in the divide, there is no dispute that Lowasa not only emerged victorious, but has shamed the other side.

But whether his victory is enough in recouping his lost political glory which could, by extension, later help him-if he so desired to vie for the 2015 presidential election under his party’s ticket, time will tell.

According to the first group, one thing is now crystal clear; the murkiness that had initially surrounded what has come to be referred to as the Richmond power generation scandal has at last been rendered somewhat clearer!

One, that there is nothing that Lowasa knew, as far as the Richmond scamdal is concerned, that his boss, the president, did not know.

 And secondly, that Lowasa had wanted to finish off Richmond, before it could turn into a scandal, in the same way he had done with City Water.

But in his (Lowasa’s) own words (going by print media reports), the president restrained him, arguing that he had been advised on the best way of handling the issue by his team of permanent secretaries.

Although Lowasa could not take his story on the planned ‘killing of Richmond’ further, it was not however, difficult to decipher the point he was driving to which is: ‘had you allowed me to go ahead with my knife, Richmond would not have reached where it reached’.

The latter statement marked Lowasa’s first political cleansing, and no one helped him in completing the exercise more than his own boss’ decision not to utter a word on the point.

Lowasa’s second score revolved around Kikwete administration’s decision not to take any administrative or legal action against technocrats whose conduct on Richmond had forced him to take political responsibility by stepping down from the premiership.

Lowasa buttressed his second score when he said even the parliamentary probe committee had censored him not for being responsible for Richmond, but rather for his failure to keep close watch over the technocrats who had brought in Richmond.

Again, there was no response from the president and Lowasa’s statement was once again issued with a clean certificate of health.

Lowasa was however, not done!

He reminded the party chairman about the 2003 incident in which the proverbial knives had been drawn out against him.

“Had it not been for President Mkapa’s wisdom, you would not have been sitting on that chair today,” Lowasa told the party chairman.

Again there was no response from the party chairman, once again giving Lowasa’s assertion a mark of credibility.

It was not difficult to decipher what Lowasa wanted to make out of the statement, that while Mkapa helped him, he did not save him from Richmond!

Lowasa’s careful choice of incidents and the mastery wording with which he delivered his self-initiated defence during the NEC meeting was subtly made in order to bring about maximum effect in his defence.

But for reasons best known to him, Lowasa did not venture into the nature of the 2003 incident that had been brought up against the party chairman, then minister for foreign affairs and international cooperation by Mr Paul Sozigwa.

If Lowasa could have the audacity of reminding the party chairman of the 2003 incident that had almost killed his dream of becoming the president of the United Republic of Tanzania, what would stop him, should he be forced into a corner, to go public on the said incident?

The manner with which he had narrated the 2003 incident was such it was intended to warn the party chairman of how far he was capable of taking him to task should the party publicity secretary, Nape Nnauye and the deputy secretary general, John Chiligati continue with their ‘mud-smearing’ campaigns against him.

 In a nutshell, Lowasa’s entire argument before the NEC meeting boiled down to one thing-through his resignation from premiership, he had already served his punishment.

Then the former Prime Minister, Frederick Sumaye took the floor, seeking his party’s intervention in case it transpired that allegations made by Mr Nnauye and Mr Chiligati against the so called corrupt elements within the party were false.

Mr Sumaye however, said that in case such allegations were proved, then punitive actions should be taken by the party immediately against the culprits.

What is however, unfortunate is that four days after the end of the NEC meeting, it transpired that what some of the mainstream newspapers had reported in relation to what Sumaye had said was twisted by a team of corrupted journalists!

Sumaye’s earlier version carried by a section of selected newspapers gave readers the impression that he had supported Lowasa!

The involvement of Tanzanian journalists in dirty politics is not new and was first ushered in the run-up for the 2005 general elections when a group of journalists at the Mwananchi Communications Limited used photo-shop program to play around with pictures of retired Tanzanian diplomat.

The objective behind their game was to ensure that he fails in his attempt to seek the highest office on the land, and the best way of getting the diplomat out of the race was linking him up with the assassination of the founder of the Zanzibar nation, Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume!

But instead of dealing with such journalists appropriately, some of them were later rewarded for their shameless conduct, but that is another story requiring another day.

Meanwhile the way the ruling party had carried out its public campaign against mafisadi, few would have expected the issue to have ended the way it did, namely in an anti-climax.

Indeed, many people who read stories related to the NEC meeting in most of the mainstream papers after the party deliberations did not expect President Kikwete to say what he is quoted by the print media to have said, that ‘let us leave out the magamba business and instead work on strengthening the party’!

But while the first group considered Lowasa a victory, the second does not.

In fact, to the contrary, they consider the last NEC meeting as having marked the beginning of the end for the former prime minister, especially after it was decided to take his case and that of others back to the party’s disciplinary committee.

To appreciate their arguments, it is important to take stock of issues raised by Lowasa, especially on the Richmond power generation scandal.

Although some people may consider Lowasa a victor, as far as the Richmond question is concerned, they argue that the president’s knowledge on the issue does not necessarily mean that he was involved.

As a team player, they say the president turned down Lowasa’s one-man-show in preference for a suggestion-cum-advice presented to him by his team of permanent secretary.

What is more, as a president, what was required of him was to have the big picture on Richmond as opposed to its details which was Lowasa’s docket with his team of technocrats.

Indeed, if one had expected the president to know the nitty-gritty of Richmond, then what would have been the point of having a prime minister (the head of government business) in the first place?

Some people have faulted the president’s no response stance during Lowasa’s defence.

However, the second group (in defence of the president) say as party chairman and chair of the NEC meeting, it would have been demeaning for him to engage in a ping-pong game with Lowasa!

Unlike the NEC meeting, at the party’s disciplinary body, evidence would have to be produced in order to get down to the role of each side in the dispute.

For instance, Lowasa’s resignation has to date been said both by the parliamentary probe committee and himself (during the NEC meeting) that he stepped down in order to take political responsibility.

The implication of the foregoing statement is that the technocrats rather than Lowasa were directly involved in the scandal.

However, at the disciplinary committee hearing things would be different!

Each side’s role in the Richmond scandal would have to be laid bare before disciplinary action are taken!

For instance, the technocrats would be required, if they want to save their skins, to produce evidence, in the form of memos, phone messages, letters and what have you, that directly link their action (in case they exist) with the former prime minister.

Reading the parliamentary probe committee’s report between the lines, it appears that much as those behind it were committed at exposing the rote in the Richmond scandal, they may have also wanted to protect Lowasa.

For instance, the government’s decision to leave the technocrats most of whom had already reached retiring age, scot free speaks volume their possible non-involvement in the Richmond scandal!

Indeed, if you want to protect someone from further punishment, surely you will not punish people who have nothing to do with the scandal.

Therefore had Lowasa remained silent, after his resignation, in the same way the second phase President, Ali Hassan Mwinyi, had done in 1976 (when he along with Augustine Mrema, Peter Siyovelwa and others had resigned after the Mwanza prison incident), the situation would not have reached where it has.

In conclusion, Lowasa’s decision to remind the public, during the NEC meeting that his present fate was not different from Kikwete’s 2003 Paul Sozigwa incident, could, at the end of the day, turn out to be his major undoing.

By saying what he said on the 2003 incident, the former prime minister forgot that he was not dealing with his friend, but rather the President of United Republic of Tanzania.

By Attilio Tagalile 

China shows developing countries how to do it

A team of 24 academicians, former ambassadors and senior journalists from 15 African countries that included Tanzania were recently invited by one of the leading Chinese universities, Zhejiang Normal University for a three week tour of the second economy in the world.

The visit from October 26^th to November 16^th this year was spiced by 20 lectures over China’s socio-economic development delivered by top-flight Chinese academicians from different universities in the country.

The beauty of the China’s tour was that the lectures were organized and delivered in such a way that whatever tour members of the African group went through tallied with what they had learnt in their respective lectures.

Listening to their lectures and judging, from their body language, it was quite clearly the Chinese professors were genuinely out to share their problems and successes with the express purpose of helping us in helping our own countries back having learnt what we had seen in their country.

What was very interesting about this tour was the linkage the university (which specializes in training graduate teachers for schools and colleges) was playing between our group and their Chinese government in order to enhance their country’s socio-economic development.

This is an area that Tanzanian educational institutions, and universities in particular, ought to be playing to the Tanzanian government-serve not only as a bridge between the government and the outside world, but also as a laboratory of ideas for the country’s socio-economic development.

For slightly over three weeks members of the African group which fell under the framework of what came to be known as the African-Chinese Think Tank visited the poorest and the most developed parts of the country.

And one of the main objectives of the hosts was to show members of the African group how they had reached where they were in less than fifty years!

Secondly, they wanted to show the African group that much as China was presently the second economy in the world after the United States of America, it was still a developing country.

Yet for some of us who had already been to some of the most developed nations in the world, what we witnessed on the ground in terms of the country’s socio-economic development was nothing but breathtaking!

According to Chinese professors who lectured us, if all goes as planned, China should be able to catch up with developed countries like US by the year 2020.

However, looking at what they have already achieved and what they were presently involved in, it would not take that long for them to catch up with developed nations!

For unlike developing countries like Tanzania, the Chinese work extremely hard and day and night.

 Going through the countryside, the entire country can be compared to a construction site!

You hardly drive for five kilometers without coming across a forest of cranes, busy at work either helping to lift up a cast of gigantic piece of a flyover or working on a skyscraper.

In cities like Hangzho with eight million people, one hardly comes across groups of young men whiling away their time in groups in the way one sees say in Dar es Salaam!

Youths are very busy, either in schools and colleges or at work in farms and factories.

Because of their heavy involvement in industrial production, it is no wonder that their country has been Christened the world’s factory.

Most of the cities we stayed in during the tour, we hardly spent seven minutes in traffic despite the fact that their populations were over eight million with cars in hundreds of thousands!

For the doubting Thomas out there, consider the following:

China is the third vehicle manufacturer in the world and the second vehicle buyer in the world!

What is more, most of the world’s top range vehicles that include, among others, Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Porche, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Hyndai etc, are assembled in China and the bulk of it is bought and used locally.

But how has China managed to be the third top vehicle manufacturer and assembler in the world?

It is very simple; the secret lies in its educational program.

For unlike Tanzania which has lately focused in construction of universities, with degrees taking centre stage, china has for the last fifty years concentrated in the training of technicians.

Presently China has technicians literally in each and every field from electrical to mechanical and from laboratory to masonry.

And the result of such well-thought educational policy has been the production of top-flight technicians that has made it possible for China to be the home of most of the world’s top range vehicles and machineries.

It is for this reason that China describes itself as the home of high quality, but lowly paid technicians which make production and assembling of vehicles cheap.

China’s agricultural development policy which has made it possible for the country to feed its 1.4 billion population also contributes towards cutting down the cost of industrial products, hence turning it into the darling of leading industrial manufacturing companies in the West.

For although Chinese technicians’ salaries and other fringe benefits are low compared to the West, but cheap food and other necessities of life make their lives easy.

One thing that countries like Tanzania can learn from China is to take a hard look at their educational systems.

They need to put more emphasis in technical education through VETA (vocational educational and training authority), SIDO (Small Industrial Development Organization) outlets and technical colleges with the thrust being production of technicians.

Export of vehicles forms part of products that China exports making her the second leading exporter of products in the world after United States.

Previously, the spot was being held by the Federal Republic of Germany. 

Interestingly, despite having millions of vehicles in their cities, one hardly comes across traffic jams in the way Tanzanians experience in Dar es Salaam for the simple reason that Chinese cities are are not only well planned in terms of infrastructure, but they also have different forms of infrastructure for sorting out different problems!

For instance, given its large size (China is more than a country, a sub-continent) which is nine million square kilometers (one tenth of Tanzania’s 960,000 square kilometers), China has given priority on railroad, followed by roads and others.

Presently the country has 86,000 kilometers of railroad and 65,000 kilometers of road. However, more railroads and roads are presently under construction with the priority being given to the construction of railroad for bullet trains with over 400 kilometers speed per hour!

The Tanzanian government has in the last few months been talking about building flyover in Dar es Salaam as part of its effort to deal with increased traffic jams in which over one billion shilling is wasted everyday in terms of man-hours.

If the government is indeed committed in doing what it says it wants to, then the best thing to do would be to get the Chinese government’s assistance in the project and the traffic jam nightmare which is increasingly threatening to get out of control would be a thing of the past.

That has to be done as soon as possible for as they say, it is always important to strike the iron when it is still hot.

Interestingly, the Chinese are very moderate when they talk about their achievements.

They all insist that they have numerous socio-economic challenges which they have to work on in order to reach the economic stage reached by developed nations like the US and others the world over.

In fact, it is this moderation that one hardly comes across chest-beating which they actual deserve having knocked out of the second position a country that had for years occupied their nation, namely Japan.

Perhaps to get a sense of the foregoing, consider what Tanzanians would have told the world if their economic development would have surpassed that of countries like Germany and Britain which had occupied Tanganyika as colonizers and protectors respectively!

That is exactly what the Chinese have done, their country’s economic might has surpassed that of their former occupier.

One of China’s major cities members of the African group visited during the tour was Shanghai, a city that is lately challenging New York for space as the world’s leading cities.

According to former Tanzania’s Ambassador to China, Mr Charles Asilia Sanga, when he visited Shanghai in 1986, it was just one of China’s cities.

“There was literally nothing to write home about the city in terms of construction of its buildings,” he told the author.

Ambassador Sanga who has also served as a diplomat in New York said Shanghai had changed quite considerably.

The Tanzanian diplomat who was elected chairman of the African group during the tour said one of the main reasons behind China’s success in its socio-economic development lay in their style of solving whatever problem or advice they were given both by their own people and foreigners.

“If you tell a Chinese government official that his country has a problem in a given area, the message would not only be sent immediately to his or her boss, but would also be immediately worked on,” said the former personal assistant and speech writer to the founder of the Tanzanian nation, Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere.

As rightly noted by Mr Sanga, the Chinese were literally very demanding, during our tour, when it came to soliciting advice.

This is another area that Tanzanians can learn from the Chinese, seek out problems and immediately solve them instead of embarking on procrastination.

By Attilio Tagalile