Thoughts on Nyerere for young intellectuals

To the young intellectuals and village intellectuals like me. First of all let me openly declare my full allegiance to Mwalimu JKN, because he was in many ways a student of Hon Marcus Mosiah Garvey, another Afrikan philosopher who has been abused by many anti Africanist documentalists! Judging others is very tricky, especially when you know them through others. It becomes even more serious when these others are leaders who lead through others using modern day philosophies like representative democracy and not like our ‘under the neem tree’ free democracy!

It becomes even worse when some of these extended leaders have not been blessed with the intellectual capacity to at least question and try to understand the visionary leader who seems to be many years ahead of them. Because then they would try to translate the vision into workable strategies and tactics, and develop programmes which will make people became agents of their own development and empowerment.

What Marcus Garvey did and those before him or after him – the Nkrumahs and Nyereres as the first generation of leaders after independence – was outstanding. There were no internets or cellphones, fast boats or aeroplanes, very few professors or literary scholars! But yet we got inspired and believed in tomorrow.

What saddens me is that, instead of improving on the philosophies they were developing so that we can also develop our own development models in tune with who we are or want to be, we find it easy to be copycats of other people’s inventions and experiments. We don’t know about who we are and worse we don’t even know the nature of those who enslaved and colonised us! If we knew where they come from, may be we would have a little of race pride and confidence.

I know it is always tempting to blame someone or this abstract thing called the government or religion, customs and traditions. If we want to make a worthwhile contribution, let’s not make blanket statements without an analysis of the context and the environment that our leaders and those around them were living in. Some of you will know because Kanyama Chiume wrote an article when Mwalimu died saying that at the height of the treason trial which involved Kambona, Kamaliza, Titi and others, some officials from the CID went to his house and told him that his life was on danger, because Nyerere is very angry with all the Wanyasas, and he has signed an order for their arrest and imprisonment. So you better run away while you and your other colleagues have the time.

Instead of running away, he decided to call Mwalimu and make an appointment – which he got. He told Mwalimu point blank that you don’t have to send people to arrest me, here I am – you can kill me if you want! Mwalimu was shocked and called those from the CID, wanting to know who did that. But the most interesting part was when Mwalimu said ‘Am tired of this, every good hardworking person is against me and is for Kambona. Who is for Nyerere?’

Chiume concluded that he was lucky he decided to challenge Mwalimu and had a chance to see him; but how many fell victims to the malicious crew which was all out to destroy other people’s lives in the name of Mwalimu? My assumption is may be even this treason case was just a hoax to separate Mwalimu from his friends – the double dealers will tell both friends that the other is planning to kill you, and will make sure you never meet eye to eye like in a soap opera!

Bibi Titi also told me the same story that some people arranged for her transport to go into hiding, because Mwalimu was jealous and purging all those who struggled with him for independence. So she pressured to leave immediately. Her humble conclusion later on was that Mwalimu was misled! My own father Austin Shaba, then a cabinet Minister, was also approached by an agent who told him that Mwalimu had declared war on all the Wanyasas and that he as Minister for Housing and Local government had taken bribes from the Germans during the housing operation in Mwananyamala, Magomeni, Kinondoni and elsewhere. So better run away before the law catches up with him. They told him Kambona and others are now safe outside the country.

Later on he told me he did not see any reason why he should run away, because he was not guilty. Besides he had a big family – two wives and many children and dependants – how could he abandon them? So he decided to remain in the country and wait for any consequence. The most he had to do was to step down as a minister because he was not a citizen! And he mused, if he had run away, then the invisible enemies would have told Mwalimu, ‘You see, Shaba is a traitor like the others. If he was not guilty why did he run away?’

Agents like those in the 60s and 70s are still at play at different levels, and they are more vicious now than ever before. We have to remain focused and correct the wrongs by doing the right things. The truth must be told in the right context, and who knows, we might unearth the culprits that made Ujamaa na Kujitegemea fail, and for what reasons.

I believe Ujamaa na Kujitegemea as our political and economic philosophy is still valid. The problem was and still depends from which and whose perspective you are looking at it. You can’t say Christianity and Islam are bad just because of what Christian George Bush and Muslim bin Laden have done to humankind today. Most critical for me is Afrika/Tanzania before the likes of Mwalimu – how has that impacted on us today? We have to force ourselves to know the truth about our past in order to move beyond now, who is our real enemy, this colourless, raceles, faceless creature who is making us degrade ourselves rather than exposing it/him/her?

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Marie M Shaba is a daughter of the Afrikan Revolution.
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