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Electronic Publications from the University of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania

INSTITUTE OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

UNIVERSITY OF DAR ES SALAAM

RESEARCH REPORT ON RESEARCH PROJECT TITLED

"PEACE, CONFLICTS, AND DEMOCRATIZATION

PROCESS IN THE GRE AT LAKES REGION:

THE EXPERIENCE OF TANZANIA

BY

PROFESSOR GAUDENS P. MPANGALA.

INSTITUTE OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

UNIVERSITY OF DAR ES SALAAM

1999


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RESEARCH REPORT ON "PEACE, CONFLICTS AND

DEMOCRATIZATION PROCESS IN THE GREAT

LAKES REGION: THE EXPERIENCE OF TANZANIA"

1. Background to the Research Project

This is a joint research projec t b etween Flemish Universities in Belg ium a nd the

University of Dar es Sa laa m in Tanzania. It is one of va rious resea rch, projec ts based in

d ifferent faculties and institutes of the University. Within the Institute of Deve lopment

Stud ies this p rojec t is a sister projec t to another projec t on structura l ad justment and

poverty inTanzania. While the latte r projec t is coo rd inated b y Prof Ib rahim Shao who is

a lso the Direc tor of the Institute, the p rojec t on p ea ce, conflic ts and d em oc ratiza tion is

coo rd inated by Prof. Gaudens P. Mpanga la , the writer of this rep ort.

Ma nage ment of the p rojec t is such that the p rojec t is d ivided into tw o p arts. One

part c onstitutes resea rch in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. It is this part w hich is co-

ordinated and m anage d by Prof. Mp anga la . The sec ond part co nstitutes resea rch in the

Democ ratic Rep ublic of C ongo (DRC), Rwa nda and Burundi. This pa rt is coord inated and

managed by Prof. Filip Reynjens of the University o f Antwerp, Belg ium.

The p rojec t has been p lanned in such awa y that it is to b e c a rried out in three

phases: 1998/99, 1999/2000, and 2000/ 2001. Within the context of the first p a rt, the three

phases are to enta il resea rch p roc esses in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda respec tively Thus

the resea rch p roc ess in Tanzania during the 1998/ 99 phase ha s a lrea dy be en c om pleted ,

henc e the p rod uc tion of this rep ort. At the end o f the three p hases a joint rep ort for the


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whole Grea t Lakes Reg ion will be p rod uc ed and d iscussed in a workshop . Eventua lly it is

expec ted that a book will be pub lished .

This p rojec t is a continuation a nd even c onsolida tion of p revious projec ts on the

Reg ion. Prof. Filip Reynt jens has been c a rrying out resea rch in the DRC, Rwanda and

Burund i for many yea rs, and he has pub lished boo ks and articles in journa ls. Prof.

Mp angala has been c arrying out resea rch on the history of e thnic relations in Tanzania , a

projec t tha t was part of CODESRIA resea rch network on e thnic conflicts in Africa . After

tha t he ca rried out a study on e thnic conflic ts in the Great Lakes Reg ion, a study which

has culminated into the w riting of a book manusc rip t which is in the proc ess of b eing

published.

The c urrent projec t is very timely because in ad d ition to updating p revious stud ies,

this stud y is being undertaken a t a time when politica l conflic ts, wa rs, proc esses of

dem oc ratiza tion and reg iona l as we ll as internat iona l efforts to b ring p ea c e to the reg ion

are taking p lace c onc urrently. Proc esses of pea ce-making a re expec ted to p ut to a n

end the sta te o f co nflic ts and w ars, while p roc esses of d em oc ra tiza tion a re expec ted to

ma ke peace a nd soc io-economic development mo re susta inab le. It is therefore

expec ted tha t the results of this resea rch p rojec t w ill make som e contribution towa rds the

rea liza tion of those ob jec tives.

2. Resea rch Methodology

The resea rc h proc ess wa s guided by a c om prehe nsive resea rch p rop osa l. The

propo sa l had defined the resea rch projec t top ic , it had sta ted the bac kground to the


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projec t, it outlined major resea rch issues, and it de fined ob jec tives of the stud y. The

propo sal had a lso indica ted data collec tion tec hniques, pha ses of the resea rc h

prog ramm e and success ind ica tors.

Three ma in types of m ethodology we re used in c a rrying out the resea rch p roc ess:

use of sec ond ary sources, wo rk in a rchives, interviews and use of structured questionna ire.

Use o f sec ondary sources involved going through pub lished materials suc h as boo ks,

journals and period ic a ls. In going through the p ub lished ma teria ls d ifferent a rea s/ had to

be identified . One a rea conc erned Tanzania 's background history which inc luded

pre-colonial, colonial and post-indep end enc e history. The sec ond a rea constituted

lite ra ture on Tanzania's ideo logica l aspec ts. Tha t m a inly inc luded Mw a limu Julius Nyerere's

pub lica tions on African democ racy, African soc ia lism, freedom and unity and freedom

and developm ent. The third a rea c onstituted litera ture on democ ratization which

inc luded the Nya la li Rep ort and othe r books a rising out o f resea rch on a nd mo nitoring o f

elec tions and on the dem oc ra tiza tion process in general.

Work in archives was mainly done in the Na tiona l Archives of Tanzania (NAT). Here

various files and doc uments we re examined . Those included doc ume nts on c olonial

po lic ies which c ontributed to the em ergence, grow th and c onsolidation of ethnicity,

rac ia lism and relig ionism; records on strugg les for nationa l indep end enc e; a nd rec ords on

the p ost-indep endence pe riod .

Interview s and struc tured questionna ires we re carried out to d ifferent ca teg ories of

peo p le and sec tions of the soc iety. These inc luded pea sants, wage w orkers, c ivil servants,


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stud ent 's, tea chers, politic ians relig ious leaders, members of the c ivil soc iety o rganizations

and trad ers Interviews com prised of informal and forma l disc ussions.

In order to e nsure the ha rnessing of a wide range o f informa tion the struc tured

questionna ire w as d ivided into a number of sec tions. The first sec tion was c onc erned with

persona l pa rtic ula rs of respond ents. The sec ond sec tion was conc erned with getting

information and view s from respond ents on w hy Tanzania had enjoyed a relative sta te o f

peac e since indep endenc e. Various aspec ts which we re e xpec ted to ha ve m ad e

contribution to the relative sta te o f peac e were asked .

The third and fourth sec tions carried out questionna ires on sources of p otent ial

conflic ts and dem oc ra tiza tion respec tively. The m ain aspec ts of p otential conflic ts on

which q uestions we re based inc luded growth o f e thnic ity, rac ia lism, relig ionism and

reg iona lism; the struc tura l ad justment prog ramm es; and the p roc ess of d em oc ratiza tion

There were a lso q uestions on c onflic ts which have ta ken plac e since independ enc e.

The sec tion on dem oc ratiza tion c a rried out questions on the origins of dem oc ratiza tion,

multi-pa rtism and multi-pa rty elec tions, expansion o f the c ivil soc iety a nd em pow erment

of the p eop le, freedom s of speech, of the p ress and ob servanc e o f huma n rights, and

relationship be tween d emoc ra tization a nd soc io-ec onomic development. In short a

variety issues related to the d evelopment of dem oc rac y were a sked.

The p roc essing of da ta and informa tion ha d to b e c a rried out b y a da ta ana lysis

expert through the use of a c om pute r. It is that da ta and informa tion p roc essed through

a com puter which ha s pa rtly been used in the writing of this resea rch rep ort.


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3. Why Tanzania Has Enjoyed a relative State of Peace Since Indep endenc e

3.1 Introduc tory Rem arks

In the G rea t Lakes Reg ion a nd in Afric a as a whole it has bec om e a n accep ted

fac t tha t Tanzania is amo ng a few c ountries in Africa w hich have enjoyed a sta te o f

relative p ea ce since independ enc e in 1961. This does not m ea n tha t Tanzania has

com p letely avoided c onflic ts, but com pared to c ountries with conflic ts the rate of

conflic ts in Tanzania has been sma ll and the sca le has not been high.

Som e c onflic ts which have taken plac e in Tanzania inc lude the a rmy m utiny and

the Zanzibar Revo lution of 1964, a numb er of unsucc essful coup d 'eta t a ttem pts, the

Mwem be chai conflic t o f Feb ruary 1998, and the non-violent c onflic t b etween CUF and

CCM p olitica l pa rties from the g ene ra l elec tion of 1995 to June 1999. If one leaves out

the a rmy m utiny and the Zanzibar Revo lution sca le c onflic ts. The c onflic t betw een CCM

and CUF in Zanzibar too k more than three and a ha lf years, but it had not e volved into a

violent conflic t. Desp ite these few excep tiona l cases, Tanzania has c ertainly enjoyed

relative sta te of peace sinc e indep end enc e. Tanzania has a lso experienc ed c onflic ts

with neighb ouring countries such as the wa r with Uga nda , and border c lashes with

Rwa nda, Burundi, Ma lawi and colonia l Mozamb ique.

Most stud ies on conflic ts in the Great Lakes and Africa have m ainly been

conc erned with situa tions whe re violent c onflic ts have oc c urred . Thus there ha s been little

interest in ca rrying out stud ies and resea rch on situa tions of p ea ce a nd absenc e o f


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conflic ts. How ever, with the growth theo ries and the d eb a te on pe ace, co nflic t

ma nagem ent a nd c onflic t prevent ion, need has arisen to c a rry out stud ies on why som e

countries and situa tions have been charac terized by ab senc e of c onflic ts and sta te o f

pea ce. This arises out of the p rinc ip le that w here pea ce p reva ils there is need to ma ke it

sustainable.

This resea rch p rojec t ha s therefore a ttem pted to imp lem ent tha t p rinc ip le. As the

rep ort on this subsec tion ind ic a tes, efforts have been made to answe r the question as to

why Tanzania has ma nag ed to enjoy a state of relative pea ce since indep end enc e b y

examining the na ture and charac ter of the Tanzanian soc iety from the p re-co lonial

pe riod , the colonia l period and the post-independenc e pe riod .

3.2 The Pre-Colonia l Period

One of the mo st d ifficult undertakings is to d ete rmine the extent to which

pre-c olonia l soc ia l forma tions have c ontributed to the state of p ea ce d uring the

post-indep end enc e period . How ever, our resea rc h find ings seem to ind ic a te tha t to a

certain extent the nature a nd charac ter of pre-co lonial soc ieties a t the eve o f

coloniza tion d uring the 19thC ha ve som e influenc e o n the p ost-inde pe nde nce sta te o f

peace.

It has been o bserved that the g row th of ethnicity and rac ialism w hich bec am e

amo ng the mo st c om mo n forms of c onflic ts in the Great Lakes Reg ion (GLR) a fter

independ enc e ha s its orig ins in the na ture of soc ia l forma tions and politica l systems by the


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19PC before colonialism, Tanzania ma inland wa s charac terised by soc ia l forma tions

based on c om muna l and high com munity soc ia l relations (Mpangala , 1992: 1-30).

Among com muna l soc ieties, po litica l orga nizations were b ased on non-centra lized

institutions, ma inly in the fo rm o f c lan and kinship politica l orga nizations amo ng c rop

cultiva tors (Wemba-Rashid, 1975: 10), and in the form of a ge set orga nizations among

pastora lists such as the Ma asa i communities (Mp angala, op .cit). Soc iet ies with high

com munity soc ia l forma tions had a lso deve lop ed centralized sta te system s with strong

rulers ruling ove r la rge r comm unities such a s the Cha gga, the Hehe , the Ngoni, the

Gw eno, the Nyam we zi, the Sangu a nd Shambaa sta te systems (Sheriff, 1980).

With the exce ption o f the sma ll kingd om s of Buhaya Tanzanian soc ieties had not

developed very highly centralized societies like those of the Interlacustrine Region such as

Buganda, Bunyo ro, Toro, Ankole, Busoga, Rwanda and Burund i. Those w ere a lso

charac terised by feud a l soc ia l forma tions (Mafeje, 1991).

Stud ies in the GLR have indica ted tha t soc iet ies with feuda l forma tions and highly

centralized kingdom s by the 19thC have showed greate r tend enc ies of ethnicity and

ethnic conflic ts during the post-indep end enc e p eriod , while those w ith less c entralized

sta tes have lesser tend enc ies of e thnic ity and ethnic c onflic ts. Soc ieties tha t were

com muna l with c lan and kingship politic a l organizations have even fa r less tend enc ies of

ethnic ity and ethnic conflic ts; desp ite p roc esses of c rea tion a nd c onsolida tion o f ethnicity

under colonialism.


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The m a jority of soc ieties in Tanzania Ma inland we re c om muna l at the eve of

coloniza tion during the 19thC, and only few had c entralized sta tes though not very highly

centralized . And , unlike in the Interlac ustrine Reg ion whe re the grow th o f c entralized

kingd om s be ga n som etime d uring the 15thC in Tanzania Ma inland mo st o f the c entralized

sta tes we re esta b lished during the 19thC a s a result of long -distance c oa sta l based trade

system and the invasion of the Wangoni from South Africa (Shorter, A., 1969), with the

excep tion o f the Pare Kingd om of Ugw eno whose estab lishment b eg an during the

17thC(Kima mbo, I., 1968, 1969). This mea ns tha t the level of centra liza tion o f sta tes in

Tanzania Ma inland wa s far lowe r tha n tha t in the sta tes of the Inte rlac ustrine Reg ion.

It ha s a lso been o bserved tha t a mong mo st p re-colonia l soc ieties in Tanzania

ma inland, ethnic ity had not d evelope d a s the ethnic g roups were not rigid a nd tha t they

we re a mo rphous Kop onen has thus a rgued :

"Basic soc ial units in pre-colonial Tanzania were no t those b asedon e thnic ity, c alled 'tribes' or ethnic groups. What the ba sic unitswere is less widely agreed on; it will be argued in chapter 5below that they were units determined by politica l and economicc riteria whic h I propose to call 'soc ieties"' (Koponen, J. 199?:180).

How eve r, a lthough Kop onen tend s to knoc k out the existenc e of e thnic g roup s, the

most imp ortant fac t is that even if there w ere ethnic groups, they had not d eveloped

ethnicity with forms of ethnic ideology and consciousness among most societies in

Ma inland Tanzania.

Pre-colonial cond itions in Zanzibar were rather d ifferent from those of the Ma inland .

During the 19thC befo re British c oloniza tion the Om an Sultana te had estab lished a highly


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centra lized sta te. Due to the development of clove produc tion from the ea rly dec ad es

of the 19thC and the g row th of Zanzibar as the c om me rc ia l centre of the East Afric an

trad e system, the sultan shifted his hea dquarters from Musca t in Arab ia to Zanzibar (Alpers,

E.A., 1969).

The highly c entralized sta te under the Sulternate wa s based on the slavery mode o f

prod uc tion. Prod uc tion of c loves and c oc onuts wa s ca rried out through the use o f slaves

who we re b roug ht from the M a inland under the system of the East African slave trad e

(Alpers, ib id .,). The slavery mod e c rea ted a c lass structure based on rac ia l group s. The

Om an Arab s we re not only the ruling c lass, but a lso the land ow ning aristoc rac y. Africans,

mainly from the Mainland constituted the class of slaves. Indians were traders and

financ iers of the inte rior long d istanc e trad e. The indigenous Africans or the Shirazi peop le

were small holder pea sants. Thus by the time of British c oloniza tion to wa rds the end of the

19thC, rac ial ethnicity had alrea dy be en d eveloped in Zanziba r, which had considerab le

contrition to the state of rac ial c onflic ts during the strugg le fo r indepe ndence a nd the

po st-indepe ndence period s.

3.3 The Colonia l Period

The colonia l period provides a very interesting scenario in terms of its c ont ribution to

the sta te of relat ive p ea ce in the post-independenc e p eriod in Tanzania. It has be en a n

a lmo st accep ted fac t tha t historic a lly colonialism w as responsib le fo r c rea ting and

consolida ting ethnic ity a nd rac ia lism nea rly in a ll co lonies in Africa . What m ight ha ve

differed was the levels of creation, consolidation and consciousness.


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Amo ng exponents of the view of c rea tion a nd consolidation of ethnicity a re

Ranger T.0.(1983, 1985, 1989 and 1994); Va il, L., 1989); Iliffe , J. (1979) and Kima mbo (1980).

Range r for instance has strong ly a rgued tha t e thnic ity in Zimb abwe in p articular, and

Southe rn Africa in genera l was a c rea tion or invention o f c olonialism, tha t b efore

colonialism the re was no e thnicity. Iliffe and Kima mbo ha ve a rgue d o f the invention o f

ethnic ity in Tang anyika Kima mb o has po inted out on how ethnic ity wa s invented am ong

the Pare, while Iliffe on how ethnic ity was c rea ted in d ifferent parts of the territory.

It would b e interesting to exam ine, a lbeit briefly, how the p roc ess of c rea tion and

consolida tion had taken p lac e und er Germa n and British c olonialism in Ge rma n East

Africa , and Tanganyika a nd Zanzibar. The Germa ns we re the first c olonial po we r of wha t

they c a lled Germa n East Africa (DOAG) which com prised of Tanga nyika, Rwa nda and

Burundi; while the British were the colonial power for Zanzibar throughout the colonial

period . Afte r the First World War Tanganyika came under British c olonia lism, while Rwanda

and Burund i came under Belgian c olonialism und er ma ndatory arrangem ents of the

Lea gue of Na tions.

Although the view of Iliffe is tha t the c rea tion of ethnic ity in Tanga nyika beg an

during the period of British colonialism through the indirec t rule system, we a re o f the v iew

tha t such proc ess beg an during the e ra of Ge rma n colonialism (Mpanga la , op.cit., 1992).

The p roc ess of c rea tion under German c olonialism wa s carried out und er ideo log ic a l,

administra tive a nd ec onomic system s.


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The German c olonia l ideo log y was based on "race and c ivilizing mission"(Buttne r, K.,

1981). Tha t ideo log y had two m ain functions: one wa s to d ivide the c olonial peop le

acc ording to their races so that they could a ccep t the ir positions of superiority and

inferiority. The whites had oc cup ied the position o f superiority, the Asians in the midd le,

while the b lacks had to oc cupy the p osition of inferiority. The sec ond func tion w as to

d ivide the colonial Afric ans according the ir ethnic groups with ethnic consc iousness of

superiority a nd inferiority. Som e ethnic groups we re ma de to fee l more superior than o ther

ethnic groups.

The G erman colonia l ideology fac ilita ted the e stab lishment o f the G erma n

administra tive and ec onomic system s. In German East Africa three d ifferent forms of loc a l

administration were esta b lished (Nationa l Archives of Tanzania (NAT, 1920/21 Ref No. 1733

f.7). The first w as the indirec t rule system which wa s app lied to Rwa nda and Burundi. The

sec ond and third we re the sem i-ind irec t and d irec t rule system s which were a pp lied to

d ifferent p arts of Tanganyika .

Under the ind irec t rule system the trad itiona l kings in Rwanda and Burundi (the

Mw ami) were left w ith a g ood d ea l of pow ers and a uthority. Under the sem i-ind irec t rule

the Germa ns d id a lso ma ke use of t rad itional rulers or chiefs, but stripped off m uch o f the ir

trad itiona l pow ers and authority. They eve n changed their trad itiona l names, such tha t a ll

came to b e rega rded as sultans. Thus the Watem i of Wanya mw ezi, the Mtw a of Uhehe ,

the Nkonsi of the Wango ni, the Mangi of the Wac hagg a , for instance, became sultans.


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The d irec t rule system, wa s app lied in situat ions where there w ere no t strong

trad itiona l rulers. In suc h a rea s Arab s and Swahili peop le from the coa st were sent to

bec om e loc a l chiefs com mo nly known as akidas. In urban a rea s it w as liwa lis. The akidas

and liwa lis had to d irec tly observe the Germa n p rinc ip les and reg ula tions in a dministering

their areas.

The c olonial ec onom y contributed to the c rea tion o f ethnic ity and rac ia lism

bec ause it was based on rac ia l and ethnic d ivision o f labour. The G erman c olonialists

ma de Afric ans as porters and those who p rovided labour inc lud ing m igrant labour to

p lanta tions, set tler fa rms and infrastructure c onstruct ion. Asians oc cup ied the position of

midd lem en and reta il traders. The whites constituted the sett ler farmers, planta tion owne rs

and who lesa le a nd imp ort export traders (Mpanga la , op.c it.:28 - 34). Among Africans

d ifferent e thnic groups we re a lso assigne d d ifferent p re-oc cupations, som e as migrant

labourers othe rs as pea sant p rod ucers of export c rop s, while othe rs as pea sant p rod ucers

of food c rop s. All these d ifferent types of d ivision of lab our resulted into the em ergenc e

and growth o f rac ism and ethnicity (NAT. 1905/ 06 f.23, and NAT, GEAAR 1901/ 02 f.9).

During the period of British c olonia lism in Tanganyika, ideolog y, the administrative

system and rac ia l and ethnic d ivisions of lab our go t more c onsolida ted . The ideology of

"race a nd c ivilizing m ission" came to b e mod ified and reg arded as the ideology of

"modemization" which in terms of its essence and functions was not very much different

from the forme r. In te rms of the system of loc a l ad ministrat ion the British c ontinued with

the Ge rman system from 1918 to 1925. From 1925 they introd uc ed the indirec t rule system

under go vernor Cam eron (Iliffe, op . c it: 3 18 and Kima mb o: 172).


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The ind irec t rule c rea ted and c onsolida ted ethnic ity. Under situa tions whe re you

had d irec t rule und er German c olonialism, e thnic ity was c rea ted such tha t the British

invented trad itiona l c hiefs and g ave them ind irec t rule pow ers and a uthority. Under

situat ions where you ha d sem i-ind irec t rule during German c olonia lism the British

transformed tha t systern into an indirec t rule one , by giving the trad itional c hiefs mo re

pow ers and restoring the ir trad itiona l! names of c hiefly autho rity. The na me o f sultans wa s

abolished , and with few exce ptions akidaship wa s a lso abolished .

The rac ia l and e thnic d ivision of labour was a lso expa nded and c onsolida ted under

British c olonialism. The ideo log y o f mod erniza tion fac ilita ted the d rawing of mo re ethnic

groups into the system of export c rop p rod uc tion, while a t the same time expanding a nd

consolida ting labour migra tion. The p roc ess of d ivid ing p eop le rac ia lly also g ot expanded

and consolidated , and it bec am e m ore conspicuous in urba n centres.

How ever, desp ite the p roc esses of c rea ting and consolida ting ethnic ity and

rac ia lism, b y the end of colonialism the leve l of e thnicity in Tanganyika w as relatively

low er than other colonies of the G rea t Lakes Reg ion. By the e nd of c olonialism one c ould

identify three categories in the levels of ethnicity (Mpangala, 1999:79-80).

One categ ory constitutes low leve l of e thnic consc iousness and ethnic ity. The

sec ond ca teg ory constituted a med ium leve l of e thnic c onsc iousness and ethnic ity. The

third ca teg ory constituted a very high leve l of ethnicity and ethnic consc iousness.


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Tanganyika fe ll under the first a nd sec ond ca teg ories. Desp ite the proc ess of c rea tion

during the British period , ethnic groups which were und er direc t rule during Germa n

colonialism had low leve l develop me nt o f ethnic ity. Those with sem i-ind irec t rule we re

norma lly at the me d ium leve l. High leve ls of ethnicity were ma inly to b e found in Uganda,

Rwa nda , and Burundi, while high leve l of rac ialism w as to b e found in Zanziba r within the

context of the sulternate system. The Barund i, Banyarwa nda , Baganda, Banyoro,

Banyankole e tc . were a ll examp les of e thnic g roup s with very high levels of e thnicity and

ethnic consciousness.

We have a lrea dy ob served be fore how rac ia lism ha d b egan grow ing under the

slavery social formation in Zanzibar long before British colonialism. Although the British

abolished slavery, under British colonia lism rac ialism was highly co nsolida ted. This was

done throug h a num ber of processes. Rac ia lism c ontinued as an ideo log y of the c olonial

sta te w hich fac ilita ted both a rac ia l-based system of administra tion and d ivision o f labour

in the ec onomy. With the abo lition o f slave ry slave labo ur wa s rep laced by wa ge migrant

labour. It was ma inly Africans from the M ainland who provided such labour.

Ownership of p lantations c ontinued to b e m onop olized by a n Arab landowning

c lass, while trad e c ontinued to b e a p re-oc cupation of Ind ians and som e Arab s. The

whites ca rried out export - imp ort trade through trad ing c om panies.

The indirec t rule system was esta b lished from the very beg inning o f British

colonialism in 1890. The Sultan who had been the O ma n Arab colonial powe r befo re

British c olonialism wa s left with a lot of pow ers under protec torate a rrange me nts. Ac tua lly


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the British ruled Zanziba r through the Sultan and his ruling aristoc rac y. Tha t g reatly

consolidated the political position of the Arabs in the Islands.

Unlike Tanganyika w here the leve ls of e thnicity and rac ia lism we re low and

med ium, in Zanziba r it w as very high, just like the levels of ethnic ity in Uganda, Rwa nda

and Burund i. Tha t had a grea t d ea l of imp lica tions in te rms of the situa tion of sta te of

pe ac e a nd c onflic ts in Zanzibar after indepe ndence.

In Tanganyika, am ong the fa c tors for low and m ed ium levels of ethnicity by the

end of c olonialism w as the fa c t tha t the ind irec t rule system came la te from 1925,

wherea s in all other colonies of the G LR the system w as esta b lished right a t the beg inning

of c olonia lism. After the Sec ond World War British colonia lism introduc ed a polic y of

consolida ting the ind irec t rule system throug h the system of paramo unt c hiefs. In e thnic

group s whe re you ha d a numb er of sma ll chiefta ins, the sma ller chiefta ins we re

am algam ated into one p aramount and strong c hieftain.

In Kilima nja ro the Chagg a ethnic group p rovides us with a g ood examp le o f the

establishment o f the pa ramountcy system . The C hag ga c onstituted of a numb er of

sma ller chiefd om s around the Kilima nja ro Mounta in. After the Sec ond World War, with the

introd uc tion of the p aramount c hiefs system , a ll the smaller Chag ga c hiefd om s we re

plac ed under one Chief or Ma ngi, who w as Ma ngi Marea le.

However, the p a ramount chiefs system had not succ eed ed to c onsolida te

ethnic ity, and thus p rod uce very high level ethnic consc iousness with strong and pow erful

ethnic groups. That wa s bec ause the polic y came ra ther late , and that it c oincided with


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the nationa list moveme nt for indep end enc e. As we sha ll see in the next sub-sec tion the

nationalist m ovem ent g rea tly c ontributed in we akening the a spec t o f ethnicity in

Tanganyika.

3.4 The Post-Indep end enc e Period

In the G LR and in Afric a in ge neral the post-indep end enc e p eriod in mo st c ountries

has be en c harac terised by b oth latent a nd violent conflic ts and thus the a bsenc e o f the

sta te o f peace. In most of such cases stud ies have indica ted tha t the fa c tors for conflic ts

are to b e trac ed from the historica l past, tha t is from the p re-colonial to the c olonial

pe riod s. Som e m ore imp ortant fac tors a re a produc t o f developm ents during the

po st-indepe ndence p eriod . What c an be sa id in connec tion w ith conflic ts can a lso b e

sa id in connec tion with the state of pe ac e.

Our discussion in the p rec ed ing sub-sec tions has reve a led tha t politic a l and

soc ioeconom ic developments during the p re-co lonial and colonia l pe riod s led to the

growth of the situa tion o f low and me dium leve ls of e thnicity and rac ia lism in Tanga nyika.

We can therefore argue tha t tha t situation c ontributed considerably to the

post-indep end enc e rela tive sta te o f pea ce, particularly in Tanzania Ma inland . But som e

post-indep endence de velop ments have m ad e even greater contribution tow ards

pe ace. Such developm ents inc lude the na ture a nd charac ter of the po litica l system and

soc io-ec onomic a nd p olitica l sta te polic ies.

Our resea rch find ings have revea led tha t both sec ond ary and prima ry source s

have po inted out tha t such politica l system and po lic ies have contributed to the state of


19/60

relative pea c e though with differing leve ls of c ontribution. Som e fac tors are sa id to ha ve

ma de ve ry high c ontribution, others average c ontribution, while o thers rank very low .

In order to be able to c lea rly unde rstand the p ost-indepe ndence po litic al system in

Tanzania it is necessary to examine the na ture and c harac ter of na tiona list strugg les for

indep end enc e b oth in Tanganyika a nd Zanziba r. Nationa list struggles for indep end enc e

be ga n soon afte r the Sec ond World War, and came to the ir high stag es of development

during the 1950s.

The mo st important c ontribution o f na tiona list struggles for indep end enc e in

Tanga nyika w as the em ergenc e and growth of non-ethnised politic s soon a fter

indep end enc e (Oyugi, W., 1992). This wa s due to the fac t tha t the proto -nationa list

movements which w ere ba sed on e thnic groups d id not transform into e thnic po litical

pa rties as wa s the c ase in othe r countries of the GLR and Africa in general.

Proto-nat iona list m ovem ents beg an d uring the 1940s and 1950s as strugg les of a

number of ethnic g roups aga inst the c olonia l system. The e thnic groups, ma inly from

among ethnic g roups which we re being exploited through the produc tion of export

c rop s, formed p rotonationa list orga nizations. Som e few examples inc lude the Sukuma

Union formed in 1945, the Pare Union in 1946, the Kilimanjaro Union (o f the Cha gga) in the

late 1940s, and the Meru Union in 1951 (Iliffe , op .c it.:495-496, Rogers, S.G., 1972:790-799,

and Puritt , P., 1970:113-114). These proto -nationa list o rga nizations could easily develop

into ethnic politica l pa rties, thus resulting into e thnised politics in Tanganyika .


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Transformation into e thnic p olitica l parties wa s avoided bec ause o f the fo llow ing

develop ments. First tha t d uring the late 1940s and ea rly 1950s when the Tanganyika

African Assoc ia tion(TAA) w as op ening branches in the rura l areas, most o f the

proto -nationalist e thnic organizations bec ame b ranches of TAA. (Mpanga la , op .cit.:62).

TAA had been an assoc iation o f urban elites since its forma tion in 1929. Due to the

grow ing w ave o f nationa lism from 1947 it beg an to d eve lop nationa list idea s of not only

fight ing for the righ ts and we lfare of urban e lites, but a lso strugg ling for nat iona l

indep end enc e. Thus the sprea d of its tentac les in the rura l areas wa s a stra teg y of

mo bilizing the p ea sants tow ards tha t ob jec tive.

The sec ond deve lop me nt was tha t the TAA transformed into a nationalist politica l

party in 1954, and its name b ec ame the Tanganyika African Nationa l Union (TANU). Tha t

meant that the branc hes of TAA in the rural and urba n areas automa tic ally bec am e

branc hes of TANU. TANU grew as the most pow erful and pop ular mass-ba sed politica l

party as it incorpo ra ted elites, peasants, workers and trad ers in its broa d mem bership.

Although othe r nationa list p olitica l pa rties had rac ia l and religious tend enc ies such

as UTP, ANC and AMNUT, ethnic -based politica l pa rties were no t esta b lished in

Tanganyika. The UTP (United Tanganyika Party) w as rac ial in the sense tha t it was mainly a

party o f the whites. The ANC (African Nat iona l Cong ress) had rac ia l tendenc ies bec ause

it seg reg a ted whites and peop le of Asian orig in, The AAMT wa s a Muslim politica l pa rty,

thus it was relig ious-ba sed . But TANU inc orporated not only peop le of a ll ethnic groups,

but a lso o f a ll rac es and relig ions. Being the mo st p op ular and pow erful politica l pa rty,

and given the fat tha t it wa s the party that took over po wer at indep endence in


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Decem ber 1961, it g rea tly fac ilita ted the emergence a nd growth o f non-ethnised ,

non-rac ia lized and non-religiona lized politic s in Tanga nyika a fter indep end enc e.

Develop me nts in Zanziba r we re d ifferent from Tanganyika g iven the fac t tha t

nationalist strugg les for indep end enc e led into the growth o f rac ia lized politic s. As we saw

earlier Zanzibar has three main racial groups: Africans, Arabs and Indians. Africans are

subd ivided betw een Africans of M ainland orig in and the Shirazi, som e of w ho a lso tend to

reg ard themselves as Arab s by trac ing the ir orig in from Arab ia.

Forma tion o f politica l pa rties in Zanziba r arose out o f c ivil soc iety assoc ia tions which

we re formed during the c olonial period as part of strugg les aga inst colonial dom ination,

oppression and exploitation. About 23 civil society organizations were formed, most of

which were rac ia l-based . Typica l examp les of rac ia l-based assoc ia tions we re the Ind ian

Assoc iation fo rmed in 1910, the Arab Assoc ia tion, the African Assoc ia tion formed in 1934

and the Shirazi Assoc iat ion fo rmed in 1940 (The Presidentia l co mmission fo r One p arty or

Multi-Party System in Tanzania, 1991 Report Book One:22-23). Each o f these assoc iat ions

foug ht fo r the inte rests of its rac ia l g roup.


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In 1955 the Arab Assoc ia tion gave rise into the forma tion o f the Zanziba r Na tiona list

Party (ZNP), and in 1957 the African Assoc iat ion merged with the Shirazi Assoc iat ion to form

the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP). Thus the ZNP was an Arab dominated na tiona list p arty, while the

ASP was an African d ominated party (M osare, L, 1969). In 1959 the ASP sp lit into ASP and

ZPPP, with the lat te r being a Shirazi dominated party. Thus the ASP remained as a pa rty

dom inated by the Afric ans of the Ma inland Origin. In 1963 the UMMA Party was formed , also

as a sp linte r of the ZNP. This mea ns tha t a ll the na tiona list p olitica l pa rties fighting for na tiona l

indep end enc e in Zanzibar we re rac ia l-based . The rac ia l charac ter of the parties has been

very we ll summa rised by Ayang (op .cit.:88) as follow s:

"Sec ond, there was thefac t thatpolitica lparties were based on rac ialdivisions. The ba sic d ivision was between Africans and Arahs.Members of aparty naturally regarded their membership in, andaffiliation to it, as a convenient vehiclefor disseminating age-longethnic ha tred be tween their group and o thers in the plural soc iety, inZanzibar. An attack on the ZNP or its leaders by the ASP would betaken as an essentially an a ttack on Arabs and vice ve rsa. Thedifferences grew deeper and uglier especially during an electioncampaign."

As hinted at the end of the q uota tion a bo ve the rac ial charac ter and d ivisions of the

political parties were more evidenced during the election processes. Before independence

in Dec em ber 1963 three elec tions were he ld 1957, 1961 and July 1963. In the 1957 elec tion

the ASP wo n by an overwhe lming m ajority. During the elec tions of 1961 and 1963 the ZNP

and the ZPP won bec ause the y ma de som e c oa lition aga inst ASP. How ever, wha t is

significant fo r us is the fac t tha t the elec tions we re not only charac terised by stiff

com pet itions, but a lso ethnic violence. Thus politics in Zanzibar during the strugg le for

indepe ndence were highly rac ialized , an a spec t which led into the nature of p olitic s soon

after independence.


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highly ethnised in terms of rac ia l ethnic ity. Tha t d ifferenc e ha d c onsiderab le imp lica tions in

terms of c ontribution to pea ce d uring the p ost-independenc e period .

Soon a fter inde pe nde nce Zanzibar had to e xpe rienc e a high level of the sta te o f

rac ia l c onflic ts. After the a ttainment o f inde pe ndence on the 10th Decem ber 1963, pow er

wa s handed over to the Arab minority through the ZNP/ ZPPP c oa lition. Besides pow er ge tting

into the ha nds of the Arab minority the constitution stipula ted tha t the Sultan was the

mona rch head of state.

These d eve lop ments we re not accep ted by the African minority. They interprete d the

situa tion as a return of o ld Arab politica l domina tion and op pression over Africa ns. Thus the

ASP beg an to p rep are for a revo lution. The revolution to ok p lace on the 12th Janua ry, 1964

(Mp angala, 1999:102). Through the Zanziba r revo lution pow er wa s taken by Africans through

the use o f force.

Afte r the revo lution there was a sta te o f rela tive pea c e in Zanziba r up to 1995. The

sta te of p ea ce wa s due to a numb er of fa c tors. First, soon a fter the revo lution multi-partism

wa s abolished and ASP wa s the only pa rty under a one -pa rty system . Tha t m ea nt

suppression o f rac ialized politics. Sec ond , on 26th Ap ril 1964 a union betwe en Zanziba r and

Tanganyika w as estab lished . Under the union a rrangem ent Zanziba r had its ow n

go vernment but und er the Union government.

It ha s been strong ly view ed by mo st resea rch respond ents tha t the union has p layed a

vital role in ensuring the sta te of p ea ce fo r more than thirty years. This is bec ause the union

could not a llow the em ergenc e of violent rac ia lized politics (Mp angala , 1999:103). The third

fac tor was that the one pa rty system came to b e m ore consolida ted , when the ASP merged


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However, the reintroduction of multi-partism in 1992 began to resurface racialized

politics in Zanzibar. Som e o f the p olitic a l pa rties beg an to deve lop tend enc ies of the old

rac ia lized parties. Whereas CCM c ontinued to b e a n African of the M ainland origin

dom ina ted party, the C ivic United Front (CUF) pa rty developed tend enc ies of the o ld

ZNP/ ZPPP c oa lition, thus dom inated by Arab s and the Shirazi peop le.

These deve lop me nts resulted into grea ter tendenc ies of rac ia lized politics during the

multi-pa rty elec tions of 1995. After the e lec tions la tent conflic ts grew betw een the CCM a nd

CUF parties, with the latte r party ac cusing CCM o f having manipula ted the victory of the

CUF Presidential cand idate. Even if the sta te of c onflic t d id not erupt into violent c onflic t, the

sta te o f la tent c onflic ts grew betw een the CCM and C UF parties, with the la tte r pa rty

acc using CCM o f having ma nipula ted the victo ry of the CUF Presidential ca nd idate.

Even if the sta te o f conflic t d id not e rup t into violent conflic t, the sta te o f la tent

conflic t wa s tense for nea rly three and ha lf years, until whe n a rec onc ilia tion ag reeme nt

wa s signed in June 1999 throug h the me dia tion of C hief Eme ka Anya cku, the

Commonwea lth Sec reta ry Genera l (The East African, June 14 - 20 1999). It is our hope tha t

the reconc ilia tion a greem ent w ill lea d into susta inab le p ea ce. But such susta inab le p ea ce

can only be possible if multi-party politics in Zanzibar move out of tendencies of racialized

politics.

Fac tors for the relat ive sta te of pea c e in Zanziba r were the refo re ma inly a result o f

deve lop me nts during the post-indep end enc e period . In Tanzania Ma inland the situa tion has

be en rather different. Som e o f the fac tors during the p ost-independenc e p eriod were new,

while otherswe re a continuation a nd further developm ent o f historic al d evelopments from


25/60

ma de me dium contribution and those tha t had ma de very low c ontribution towa rds the

sta te of relative pea c e.

For those tha t had m ade very high contribution the respond ents who sa id that tha t

aspec t had ma de a contribution c onstituted 80 percent and ab ove. It is interesting to no te

the fa c t tha t ha ving Kiswa hili as a national lang uag e had the highest p ercenta ge of 92%.

The role o f the polic y of ma king Kiswa hili as a nationa l language in the p rom otion o f peace

and unity in Tanzania ha s a lso b een em phasized by ma ny other pe op le suc h as Musoke, I.K.

S., (19...). Musoke has strong ly argued tha t the polic y of d eve lop ing Kiswa hili as a na tiona l

language ha s considerab ly bo osted its position to the extent tha t it is often referred to a s

one of the ma in fac tors for na tional unity and sta te o f peaceful relations in the c ountry.

The next from Kiswahili as a na tiona l lang uage is the one-party system, an a spec t

which has scored 89% of respond ents. The respond ents have ind ica ted tha t the one -pa rty

system wa s ab le to unite p eop le und er a sing le ideology. The respond ents have however,

ind ica ted tha t the one p arty system had c rea ted a situa tion o f autho rita rianism, thus ma king

the state o f pea ce being a produc t of force and fear.

The one -pa rty in powe r wa s TANU which, as note d ea rlier, had deve lop ed as a ma ss

and no n-ethnised na tiona l party during the strugg le for indep end enc e. Even when it

me rge d with ASP in 1977 to form CCM, it c ontinued with tha t c harac teristic . Unlike na tional

pa rties in som e othe r countries of the GLR, TANU and la ter on CCM d id not deg enerate into

an ethnised or rac ia lized party throug hout the post-indep end enc e period (Presidential

Commission Rep ort, op .c it.,:30).


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eq uality. How eve r, there are a lso views tha t tha t po lic y has contributed to the grow th of

poverty in Tanzania.

Through the Arusha Dec laration o f 1967, the policy o f Soc ialism a nd self-relianc e w as

ab le to develop a single na tional ide ology whic h fastened a com mon national

consc iousness. Proc esses of na tiona liza tion a nd rura l develop ment on the basis of

villag izat ion p rog ram me a ll these were a b le to p revent a nd even erad ic ate ethnic ity and

minimise racialism (Mpangala, 1992, op.cit.:71).

The next fac tor among those rega rded as having mad e high c ontribution to the sta te

of p ea ce is the question o f lea dership which has scored 85.1% of the respondents who sa id

yes. The respond ents we re o f the view tha t lea dership ha s been ab le to unite the peop le,

and it b rought the ideology o f soc ia lism and self-relianc e w hich ma de pe op le w ork

tog ethe r. The imp lica tion here is tha t muc h referenc e is ma de to the unique role of Mw alimu

Julius Nyerere who b roug ht the ideo log y of soc ia lism and self-reliance, and who has been

ab le to fac ilita te the g row th of nationa l unity as the first President of Tanzania.

Desp ite the positive a ttributes on politica l lea dership, c ritic isms have a lso b ee f] raised

tha t lea dership in Tanzanian during the post-indep end enc e period wa s c harac terised by

authorita rian and d ic ta toria l tend enc ies. It a lso ta mp ered with ind ividua l rights and it

de velop ed prac tices of corruption.

The fac tor that ha s held the last position a mong fa c tors that had ma de high

contribution to pea c e is na tiona l ed uc a tion, In this fac tor 80.5% of respondents sa id yes. It

has been a rgued tha t national educ a tion has greatly c ontributed to the erad ic ation of the

three enernies of d eve lop me nt, that ispove rty, disea se a nd ignoranc e. Furthermore, the


27/60

order to leg itimise the existing system . Som e ha ve a rgue d tha t the polic y of na tiona l free

ed ucation had a tendenc y of unde rmining individua l initia tive, and c rea ted a sense o f

dep endence on the state.

We have referred to fa c tors tha t ma de med ium c ontribution a s those c onstituting

be tween 65 and 79 percent of respond ents who have respond ed with yes. Such fac tors

inc lude abolition of chiefta inships, affiliation o f ma ss orga nizations to the party, foreign

po lic y, development of national culture a nd the aspe c t of having m any ethnic group's.

The abolition o f c hiefta inships had the lea d ing score o f 79.3%. While indep end enc e

wa s ac hieved in Decem ber 1961, by 1962 the new na tiona l gove rnme nt of Tanganyika

abolished trad itiona l chiefta ins which ha d been used by British colonia lism in the system o f

ind irec t rule. The new go vernment fea red tha t c hiefta ins wo uld give rise into e thnicity and

henc e lea d into the grow th o f ethnised politics. Althoug h 79.3% respond ents we re o f the

view that tha t step contributed took the sta te o f peac e, the same respo ndents wee c ritical

of the step , arguing that that step wa s undemoc ra tic , and that it ab olished one o f the mo st

imp ortant aspec ts of the c ivil soc iety.

Sec ond to the a bolition of c hiefta ins wa s the q uestion of having m ore than 120 ethnic

group s in Tanzania . It has often been one of the arguments tha t having m any ethnic g roup s,

most of which a re sma ll and w ea k has c ontributed to the absenc e o f ethnic ity and henc e

absenc e o f ethnic conflic ts. So 75.9% of respond ents we re o f the view tha t tha t a spec t d id

ma ke som e contribution to the state of p ea c e in Tanzania. They have a rgued that having

ma ny sma ll ethnic groups has ma de Tanzania a void a n em erge nce o f strong and pow erful

ethnic c ulture w ith strong and p ow erful rulersof the e thnic g roup s. Som e have howe ver


28/60

pea ce. Howeve r, the 74.7% who sa id yes could not support the ir position with rea sons. Those

who sa id no c onstituted only 2.3%, and we re o f the v iew tha t the re w as no relationship

between pea ce and foreign p olicy.

Although the 74.7% who sa id yes could not g ive reasons, it ha s been one o f the

ge neral a rgum ents tha t the polic ies of supporting a rmed liberation strugg les in Southe rn

Africa during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, and tha t o f hosting thousands and millions of refug ees

from neighb ouring c ountries have p layed a significant role in avo id ing violent c onflic ts in

Tanzania. Through the influx of refug ees and the ir serious prob lems has provided sufficient

experienc e to Tanzanians to view c onflic ts as som ething that should b e a voided.

Development o f nat iona l c ulture a nd the q uestion of mass organizations a ffilia ted to

the party a re the next fac tors with 71.3% and 67.8% to respec tively. On na tiona l culture it ha s

be en p ointed out b y respo ndents that national culture ha s contributed to na tiona l unity

be cause it has played a unifying role. Nationa l culture ha s c rea ted a com mon c ulture w hich

has fac ilita ted the erad ica tion o f foreign c ulture. Som e respond ents had a d ifferent view

that the g overnment has failed to develop na tiona l culture, and the refore ca nnot have

som e c ontribution to na tiona l unity and peace.

On the question of mass organizations such as cooperatives, trade unions, women and

youth o rga nizations, and parents organiza tion being a ffilia ted to the party, TANU and la ter

CCM, and henc e subo rd inate d to the go vernment, those w ho sa id yes were o f the view

that tha t situation create d g ood rela tionship a nd c oope ration be tween the pa rty, the

go vernment and the ma ss orga nizations. They a lso pointed out tha t rela tionship fac ilita ted

the g row th o f c ollec tive leade rship.


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was undemocratic, arising out of the authoritarianism which made mass organizations as civil

soc iety institutions less autono mo us, althoug h it contributed to the sta te of p ea ce.

The third category is that of fac tors which ha ve b een reg arded as having m ad e low

contribution to the sta te o f pea ce. Such fac tors inc lude the system of loca l government

which has been tipped yes by 63.2%, and the union betw een Tanganyika and Zanziba r

which has been tipp ed yes by 57% of the respond ents.

On the system of loc a l go vernment reference wa s ma inly made to the p olic y of

dec entraliza tion of 1972 which a bolished loca l governme nt institutions. Those who sa id yes

we re o f the view tha t the system wa s positive as it c rea ted go od relationship b etw een the

go vernment and the peop le, but without elaborating how. Both som e o f those who sa id yes

and those who sa id no were c ritica l of the d ec entraliza tion system , pointing o ut tha t the

system weakened the p olitic al po sition o f the p eop le a t loc a l level and that it only

bene fited the leaders and streng thened their positions a t the expense o f the peop le. Tha t

mea ns that under that system the p eop le a t loc al level could not b e emp owe red .

It is interesting to note tha t the union b etw een Tanga nyika a nd Zanzibar got the

lowe st score of a ll the fac tors, tha t is only 57% of respondents sa id yes. For tho se who

respond ed with yes, there w as no reason g iven to show tha t the re w as som e c ont ribution to

the sta te o f peace on the Tanzania Ma inland. But they indica ted that it had considerab le

contribution to Zanzibar in terms of fac ilitat ing the sta te of d isc ip line in the Island s.

For those who respond ed with a no p ointed out that the union had a num ber of

prob lem s which inc luded Zanzibar exploiting the Ma inland, Zanzibar being dom inated by


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TABLE 1: CONTRIBUTION OF VARIOUS FACTORS TO THE STATE OF RE PEACE IN TANZANIA

MAINLAND

Percentage of RespondentsLevel ofContribution

Factors

YES%

NO % No ValidResponse

VERY HIGH 1. Kiswahili as a national language 92 4.6 3.42. Ideology and policy of Socialism & Selfreliance

87.4 10.3 2.3

3. One prty system 88.5 5.7 5.74. Political Leadership 85.1 11.5 3.45. National Education 80.5 12.6 6.9

HIGH 6. Abolition of Chieftainships 79.3 11.5 9.27. Having more than 120 ethnic groups 75.9 13.8 10.38. Nature and character of Foreign Policy 74.7 2.3 23.09. Development of National Culture 71.3 14.9 13.810. Mass organizations Affiliated to the Party 67.8 23 9.211. The System of Local Government 63.2 27.0 14.0

MEDIM 12. The Union Between Tanganyika and

Zanzibar

57.0 24.1 12.6

13. System of Colonialism. 57.0 39.1 3.4

Source: Data Ana lysis Doc ument

How ever, in add ition to fa c tors rec orded with pe rcenta ges, the respond ents a lso

po inted to o ther fac tors which they felt also m ad e som e c ontributions to the state of pea ce

in Tanzania. Suc h fac to rs inc luded first and forem ost the Uhuru torch. The Uhuru torc h is

raced every year national-wide , and thus providing a sense o f nat iona l unity. Othe r fac tors

inc lude the na tiona ls servic e institution, sec urity b ased on the trad itiona l sungusungu system,

and freedom s of expression a nd ob servanc e o f huma n rights.

TABLE II: LEVELS OF CONTRIBUTION TO THE STATE OF PEACE IN TANZANIA BY VARIOUSFACTORS

FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO PEACE PERCENTAGE OF LEVEL OF CONTRIBUTIONACCORDING TO RESPONDENTS

HIGVERY HIGH % HIGH % AVERAGE % LOW %

1. Kiswahili as a Common Nationa l Language 72.5 23.8 3.8 -

2. Na tiona l Eduac tion 68.1 23.2 8.7 -

3. Policy a nd Ideo logy of Soc ialism and Self-

reliance

59.2 31.6 9.2 -

4. One PartySystem 48.2 38.7 14.3 -

5. Politic a l Leadership 44.3 44.3 11.4 -6. Abolition of Chiefta inships 35.3 47.1 16.2 1.6

7. Having more than 120 Ethnic Groups 31.6 57.8 7.8 1.6


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The va rious fac tors contributing to the sta te of p ea ce d iscussed above , pa rticularly

those w ith high rate of c ontributions, are charac terised by contrad ic tions. Som e o f the

contradic tions have be en c lea rly indica ted by most o f the respond ents. On the one Party

system and lea dership , for instanc e, althoug h these ha ve ha d high contribution to the sta te

of pea ce, they a lso d eve lop ed tend enc ies of a uthorita rianism a nd d ic ta torship . This means

that c ontribution to p eace w as not ma de within the c ontext of de moc rac y. Absence of

dem oc racy was even muc h more reflec ted by one-pa rty elec toral system w hic h gave

greate r po we rs to the pa rty ra ther than to the people in dete rmining w ho should be the

candidate.

The policy o f soc ialism and self-relianc e has had a lso som e serious c ont rad ict ions a t

the level of the ec onomy. Much o f the ec onomic p olic ies assoc ia ted with the po lic y of

soc ia lism a nd self-relianc e resulted into reta rdation of the economy d ue to too muc h sta te

control, intervention a nd monopoly of ec onom ic ac tivities.

This mea ns tha t g iven the c ontrad ict ions assoc iated w ith the va rious fac tors, both

po litical, ec onom ic and e ven soc ial, the sta te o f peac e c ould not b e susta ined for a long

time . The a bsenc e o r narrowness of dem oc rac y, and e conom ic reta rdation and p overty

could lead into eventua l eruption of conflic ts, thus putting to an end the state o f pea ce. This

means that fac tors that c ontribute to peace in Tanzania m ust b e c harac terised by the

process of democ ra tization and eq uitab le soc io-econom ic developm ent.

4. Sourc es of Potential Conflic ts

4.1 Introductory Remarks


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developm ents during the p ostindependenc e pe riod . Resea rch respo nde nts have p layed a

significant role in terms of c ont ributing va rious views.

Experience in Africa has showed that relative peace is not likely to be sustainable if

p rop er mec hanisms and stra teg ies of c onflic t prevent ion a re not de veloped . For example

Kenya ha d a lso enjoyed relative pea ce for nea rly three d ec ad es since indep end enc e, but

in 199192, and aga in in 1998, violent conflic ts erupted in the Rift Valley a nd c oa sta l a rea s.

Sierra Leone had also e njoyed a state of p ea ce since indep endenc e, but in rec ent yea rs

c ivil war has erupte d whereb y organised reb els have be en fighting the g overnment.

This me ans tha t even if a c ountry is charac terised by a sta te o f pea ce, there a re

a lwa ys fac tors tha t can bring a sta te o f conflic ts, thus d isrupting tha t pea ce. So w e a re o f

the a rgument tha t eve n in Tanzania a sta te o f potential conflic ts does exist, and it is a ma tter

of vita l imp ortanc e tha t we t ry to identify fac tors for the p ote ntial conflic ts.

In orde r to e nsure susta inab le p ea c e in any c ountry there is need to p revent the

eruption o f conflic ts. This enta ils develop ing p roc esses of c onflic t p revent ion. In order to b e

ab le to undertake p roc esses of c onflic t p revention it is nec essary to exam ine fa c tors for

potential conflic ts so tha t rea listic mechanisms, stra teg ies and even p olic ies c an b e

developed.

4.2 Structural Adjustment Program mes (SAP)

In sec tion 3 the ideology and polic y of soc ia lism a nd self-reliance was amo ng fa c tors

that had ma de c onsiderab ly high c ontribution to the state of pea ce in Tanzania M ainland.

One of the ma in effec ts of the SAPs in Tanzania has been to e rad ica te the ideology and


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There have been fea rs tha t these c hanges are likely to neg a tively affec t the sta te o f

pea c e and thus cause c onflic ts. These fea rs have been due to the fa c t tha t liberaliza tion o f

the ec onom y and c rea tion o f a free ma rket ca n lea d into rapid c lass polarization, and thus

growth o f big ga ps betw een the rich and the p oor. These c hang es c an a lso a cc elera te the

rate o f growth o f unemp loyme nt. All that c an lead into strugg les of the p oor and the

unem p loyed , struggles which can take the form of e thnic, rac ia l, religious and e ven regiona

conflic ts (The Family Mirror, No. 79, the first Issue of June 1992:5).

Our resea rc h respond ents have a lso expressed similar views tha t the SAPs ha ve

increased poverty, caused retrenchment of thousands of workers, accelerated the process

of c lass forma tion, brought the system of c ost-sha ring in soc ia l services, and increa sed the

ga p betw een the ric h and the p oo r. There are a lso opposite views tha t SAPs have fa c ilita ted

the red uc tion of infla tion and w ider partic ipation of peop le in the ec onom y, the level of

fea rs seems to be quite c onsiderab le.

On whether SAPs a re likely to fa c ilita te the grow th o f ethnic ity, rac ialism, relig ionism

and reg iona lism, most of the respondents seem to ind ica te tha t SAPs have ve ry insignificant

effec ts on tho se a spec ts. How eve r, deve lop ments and e vents seem to show tha t

reg iona lism in the form of estab lishing reg iona l and d istric t a ssoc iations, and relig ionism in the

sense o f reta in relig ious institutions com plaining and eve n rioting tha t they are b eing

ma rginalized have been g row ing during the last d ec ade of SAPs in Tanzania .

4.3 Democratization and Issues of Ethnicity, Racialism, and Religionism

It is an almost ac cep ted view tha t in Africa d em oc ratiza tion is one o f the ma jor

solutions to conflic ts. It is an important mea ns of c onflic t resolution (Mpangala, 1999, op .cit:).


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It has be en a rgued that fo r dem oc rac y to solve the p rob lem of c onflic ts or even to

prevent the e ruption of c onflic ts, such democ racy has to b e real democ rac y, which should

not rema in merely at the level of m ulti-pa rtism (Shivji, I., 1992). It ha s been c learly pointed out

that adop tion o f multi-pa rties is not e nough, there is need to develop rea l dem oc racy. It

wa s on the b asis of this argument tha t Shivji p rovided a c ritique on the President ial

Commission on oneparty of m ulti-pa rty politica l system rep ort when he sa id: "To b e fa ir, the

Nyala li com mission d oes d iscover in the course of its rep ort tha t Multi-Party is not the same

thing as dem oc racy In the light of its ana lysis, one w ould ha ve expec ted the c om mission to

com e up with som e rad ic al rec om menda tions."

The fea r tha t in the a bsenc e o f rea l demo c racy multi-partism is likely to c ause c haos is

ge nuine given som e p rac tica l instances within the GLR and Africa as a who le. Within the GLR

we have exam p les of Zanziba r and Kenya . We have a lrea dy d iscussed ea rlier how in

Zanziba r multi-partism deve lop ed tend enc ies of o ld rac ia lized politics, and how tha t resulted

into a non-violent p olitica l conflic t a fter the 1995 multi-pa rty elec tions. In Kenya ma ny of the

op position pa rties assumed the charac ter of e thnic parties, a situa tion which gave rise into

the conflic ts of 1991/ 92 and 1998. In Uganda President M useveni is resisting to introd uc e

multi-pa rtism on simila r argum ents tha t suc h a system is likely to lea d into e thnic c onflicts in

Uganda.

Our respond ents have a lso c onfirmed these fears. They ha ve a lso ind ica ted tha t what

is likely to cause c onflic ts is the typ e o f dem oc racy which d oes not d evelop pe op le's

de moc ratic a wa reness and which is not rea l democ rac y. If dem oc racy and d emoc ratic

prac tice is rea l, the p roc ess of democ ratization cannot be a d anger to peace.


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by a sta te o f co nflic ts betw een its Cha irman and Sec reta ry Genera l to the e xtent o f divid ing

the pa rty into two cam ps.

On w hether dem oc ratization c an fac ilita te the growth o f ethnic ity, rac ialism and

religionism, there ha ve b een som e m ixed view s. Most respond ents have b een of the view

that de moc ra tization has not b een a c ause fo r ethnic ity and rac ialism with excep tion o f

Zanzibar wnere rac ia lisn, has em erged . But they a re of the op inion tha t it has som ehow

contributed to religionism.

On religionism the respond ents have argued tha t relig ious funda menta lism has grea tly

grown during the p eriod of d em oc ratiza tion. During the last pa rliame nta ry by-elec tions in

Ubungo and Tem eke constituenc ies in Dar es Sa laa m in July 1999 there w ere som e

spec ulations tha t som e o f the politica l pa rties used relig ious orga nizations in the ir

campaigning p roc esses. This wa s a lso true during the m ulti-pa rty e lec tions of 1995, both

Christian a nd Islam ic institutions were used as mea ns of p olitica l campaigns, thoug h not

openly.

Although on whe ther demo c ratiza tion c ould c ause the g row th of rac ia lism only 20.7%

respo nded with a yes, their a rgum ents po int out to the fac t that freed om s of spe ec h and of

the p roc ess which has grow th w ith the dem oc ratiza tion p roc ess has exposed fee lings of

ind igenization ("Uzawa " in Kiswa hili Language). It ha s been further po inted out tha t sinc e

c lass polariza tion in Tanzania ha s mainly taken the form o f rac ia l d ifferenc es betwe en Asians

and whites on one hand and Afric ans on the othe r, fric tions betw een the tw o sides has

grown m uch more ope nly during the de moc ratization period . If not c hec ked the situation

can lead into muc h more serious rac ia l conflic ts.


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bec ause the re a re a spec ts which have been given very high response b y resea rch

respondents.

On the q uestion of unem ploym ent 89.7% have indica ted tha t this aspec t has a high

pote ntial of being a cause for co nflic ts in Tanzania . They have a rgued tha t the rate of

unem ploym ent is growing very fast, pa rticularly in urban a rea s due to very rap id rura l to

urban m igra tions, The unemp loyed c an be e asily mo bilized in the proc ess of p olitica l

com petition b y po liticians who believe in the use o f violenc e a s a means of gett ing into

power.

On the q uestion of p ove rty 87.4% respond ed with a yes, close to the question of

unemp loyment. Here it has been argued that poor people have nothing to loose, like the

unem p loyed , and in most cases these a re the same peop le, they can be ea sily mobilized

into situa tions of causing chaos and soc ia l unrest. Even if they are not mo bilized by anybo dy

they a re a b ig source of c riminality, band itry and a ll forms of violence, aspec ts which a re

also a threa t to the sta te of p ea ce in the c ountry.

4.5 Causes and Management of Conflic ts Which Have Takn Place in Tanzania

Conflic t p revention req uires only an understand ing of fa c tors for po tentia l conflic ts,

but a lso an expe rienc e of how c onflic ts we re ma nag ed and resolved, and wha t were the

fac tors. In the introd uc tory sec tion of this rep ort we p ointed out som e of the c onflic ts which

have taken p lace in Tanzania, notw ithstanding the sta te o f relative p ea ce.

The army mutiny of 1964 was the first c onflic t in Tanzania Ma inland . Our resea rch


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TABLE III: RESPONSE OF RESPONDENTS ON SOURCES OF POTENTIAL

CONFLICTS

LEVEL OF SOURCES OF POTENTIAL PERCENTAGES OF REPONSESCONTRIBUTION CONFLICTS

IN TERMS OF YES % NO % NO VALIDRESPONSE

VERY HIGH 1. Unemployment 89.7 5.7 4.6(80-100%)

2, Poverty 87.4 5.7 6.9

MEDIUM 3. Changes Brought by 58.6 29.9 11.5(50 -64%) Democratization

4. Freedoms of speech and thePress

54.0 33.3 12.6

5. Religionism 54,0 28.7 17.2

6. Structural AdjustmentProgramme

52.9 23.0 24.1

LOW 7. Democratization and Ethnicity, 44.8 41.4 13.8(30 - 49%) Racialism & Religonism

8. SAP and Regionalism 36.8 37.9 25.3

9. Ethnicity 35.6 47.1 17.2

VERY LOW 10. SAP and ethnicity, Racialismand Religionism

28.7 44.8 26.4

(1 - 29%) 11. Growth of civil Society 21.8 63.2 14.912. Racialism 20.7 54.0 25.3

Source: Data Analysis Document

As a short te rm solution the mutiny wa s c rushed through the assistanc e o f foreign

forces from Brita in. As a long term m ea sure the a rmy w as d isma ntled and a new army w hic h

wa s supposed to b e a nationa l a rmy with soldiers com mitted to the b uild ing o f the young

nation wa s estab lished . During tha t period of b uild ing a new na tiona l a rmy, an a rmy from

Nige ria bec am e a tem po rary ca reta ker army. The new army be cam e highly po litic ized .

The Zanziba r Revo lution wa s another major conflict . We ha ve a lrea dy d iscussed in the

previous sec tion how the revolution w as a p rod uc t of the grow th of e thnised or rac ia lized


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After the revo lution, the revolution itself wa s part o f a tem porary solution to the sta te

of rac ia l conflic ts as it d isma ntled the pow er of the Sultan and Arabs in general, and p laced

it in the hands of Africans. The new reg ime d id a lso take measures to p lac e the ec onomy in

the ha nds, the p ea sants and wo rkers by na tiona lizing the planta tions and land owned by

the Arab feuda l aristoc racy and d istributing it to the pea sants and wo rkers. As we pointed

out ea rlier the m ost important solution to the sta te o f conflic ts wa s the union b etw een Tan

anyika and Zanziba r.

Respondents have a lso expressed the ir view s on the Mw em bec ha i crisis of Feb rua ry

1998. The c risis involved violent c lashes between the polic e a nd som e Moslem groups, suc h

that two Moslem s were shot d ea d by the field force polic e. The immed iate cause w as that

the p olic e were intervening aga inst Moslem s who used to m ake pub lic prea chings while

abusing o ther relig ions, pa rticularly Christianity. The government perceived tha t tha t could

lea d into violent religious conflic ts, so this had to be c onta ined .

Long term fac tors included ed uca tion and henc e ec onomic imb alance be tween

Moslem s and Christians. Educ ation imb alanc e is a historica l situa tion, a lthough sinc e

indepe ndence the sta te ha s ma de e fforts to chang e the situation through na tiona liza tion

and sta te c ontrol of schoo ls and the e ducation system . How ever, liberaliza tion and

priva tiza tion of the ec ono my and soc ial services has reve rsed the situa tion. While the

imb a lanc e w as ge tting na rrow er and narrow er under the sta te c ontrol system , now the ga p

wa s widening aga in, thus the c om p la ints tha t Mo slem s we re b eing m arg ina lized . In add ition

there has a lso b een growth of tendenc ies of Islamic fundame nta lism through which various

religious discontents are expressed.


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How eve r, the use of fo rc e, resulting into the killing of two Moslem s appea rs to have

hastened the aspec t o f relig ious tension ra ther than reduc ing it. The inc idenc e since

February 1998 has increased the feelings that Moslems are being not only marginalized but

a lso oppressed by the government, which is a lleg ed to b e fa vouring C hristians. The

movem ent for fighting fo r the rights of Moslems is get ting stronger and stronger.

The Mw em bec ha i c onflic t and its a ftermath provides an interesting experienc e which

should ma ke the g overnment d evelop mo re a pp rop riate mechanisms and stra teg ies of

handling religious conflictual situations. Critics of the government on the Mwembechai issue

have a rgued that the p rob lem of p rea c hings c ould be solved b y using m ea ns other than

exce ssive force w hich wa s used bv the field force police.

In add ition to inte rna l c onflicts, Tanzania has a lso experienc ed c onflicts with

neighb ouring c ountries. During the p eriod of liberation wa r in Mozamb ique b etw een 1965

and 1975, Tanzania experienc ed freq uent c lashes with the Portuguese colonial reg ime

along the Ruvuma river border. Tha t was bec ause, like other colonies in southern Afric a ,

Tanzania ac tively supported a rme d liberation in Mozamb ique, inc lud ing the t ra ining of the

FRELIMO guerilla fighters. The indep endenc e o f Mozamb ique in 1975 put to an end those

conflicts.

The b igg est c onflic t w ith neighbouring c ountries took plac e d uring the w ar be tween

Tanzania and the Idd i Amin Reg ime in Uga nda betw een 1978 and 1979. Since 1971 when

Iddi Amin took over po wer through a coup d'eta t overthrow ing the Ob ote g overnment,

relations be tween the Tanzanian g overnment a nd the Am in Government we re c onflic tual.

The Tanzanian gove rnme nt d id not rec og nise the Am in gove rnme nt viewing it as d ic ta toria l,


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a lot of d estruc tion to their p rop erty. How ever, the d efea t o f Idd i Amin a nd the

estab lishment o f new successive reg imes put the conflic t to an end .

There ha ve been many other bo rder c lashes. One wa s in 1968 betw een Tanzanian

and Ma lawian soldiers ove r the b order betw een Ma lawi and Tanzania a long Lake Nyasa .

President Kamuzu Banda of M a lawi c la ime d part o f Tanzania on the ea stern side o f the Lake

to belong to Ma lawi. Other freq uent c lashes have o cc urred a long the b order betw een

Tanzania a nd Burund i, with Burund i accusing Tanzania o f ha rbouring Burund i rebels.

Tanzania's solution to conflic ts with ne ighb ouring countries has been short te rm and

long term. Short term measures have b een throug h milita ry ac tion, and long term one s

inc lude two type o f stra teg ies. One type is tha t Tanzania a lwa ys ma kes sure that a s muc h as

po ssible the neighbouring countries should have democ ra tic and moderate reg imes which

are friend ly to Tanzania . The sec ond type o f stra teg y has been to ensure tha t a sta te of

pea ce is restored in c ountries cha rac terised by violent conflicts internally suc h as Rwa nda

and Burund i. The role w hich Tanzania has been p laying on p ea ce negotiat ions on Rwa nda

in 1993, and now on Burundi from June 1998 to the p resent is pa rt of tha t strate gy.

5. Democratization

5.1 Dem oc ratization and the Sec ond Wind of Change

The d em oc ra tiza tion p roc ess which has been ta king p lace in Tanzania during the past

ten years is part a nd parcel of the dem oc ratiza tion proc ess in Africa . The d em oc ratiza tion

proc ess in Africa has ma inly be en c harac terised by the a dop tion o f multi-pa rtism, the

cond uc ting o f multi-pa rty elec tions, grow th and expa nsion o f the c ivil soc iety, and grea ter


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the then British Prime Minister, Harold Ma cmillan regarded the anti-colonia l strugg les a "wind

of c hange" blowing a ll over Afric a . Whereas the "first w ind of c hange" co nstituted strugg les

against colonialism, the "second wind of change" constitutes struggles against dictatorship

and authorita rian reg ime s. The "sec ond wind o f change" has a lso b een reg arded as the

sec ond phase o f libera tion and African Revo lution. The first phase o f liberat ion a nd Afric an

Revo lution took plac e d uring the e ra of na tiona list struggles for indep end enc e.

5.2 The Process of Democ ratic Cha nge in Tanzania :

As was the case in other African countries strugg les for democ racy in Tanzania ma inly

beg an to appea r during the 1980s. As ea rly as 1983 mo vem ents for multi-pa rtism beg an to

surfac e themselves. This wa s a period of serious ec onom ic c risis in the country. Peo p le beg an

to a ssoc ia te the ec onomic hardships with the a uthorita rian one-pa rty sta te. Som e o f the

advoc ates of m ulti-pa rtism during this ea rly period found them selves deta ined .

Strugg les for democ rac y during the 1980s a lso a ppea red in d ifferent o the r forms. A

numb er of c ivil soc iety organizations and mo vem ents beg an to emerge. These inc luded

human ghts groups, women a nd gende r moveme nts, and ma ny others. Dem oc ratic

strugg les ga ined grea ter mome ntum during the sec ond ha lf of the 1980s whe n the w orld

Bank and IMF ba sed struc tura l adjustment p rog ram mes be ga n to ha ve a bigger imp ac t on

the Tanzanian soc iety. By 1990 to 1991 the numb er of p olitica l groups and mo vem ents

dem and ing for multi-pa rtism inc rea sed . Informa l debates and d isc ussions on the need to

adop t multi-partism were a lso wide ly ca rried out. In 1991 the fo rmer President Mw a limu

Julius Nyerere a lso c ontributed to the g row th o f the d eb a te on w hethe r Tanzania should

adop t multi-pa rtism o r not.


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to c ollec t views, informa tion a nd d ata that ena bled it to p roduce a report that

rec om me nded tha t Tanzania should adop t a multi-pa rty p olitica l system . Thus the multi-pa rty

politica l system wa s offic ially dec lared in July, 1992.

We c an trace the process of d em oc ra tic chang e through multi-partism in three

phases from July 1992 to the p resent in 1999. The first p hase constitutes the period between

July 1992 to Ap ril 1995. This was a period of formation, reg istrat ion, rec ruitm ent of party

membership and consolidation of the political parties. After legalizing the multi-party system

many political parties were formed. Between 1992 and 1993 not less than fifty parties were

formed (Mpanga la , 1999:26).

The p roc ess of fo rming politica l pa rties we nt together with the p roc ess of reg istering

the parties. The go vernment had estab lished an o ffic e of the Reg istra r of politic a l pa rties.

Parties tha t could fulfil certa in cond itions inc luding m em bership from both Tanzania

Ma inland and Zanzibar c ould q ua lify to g et reg istered . The reg istration p roc ess involved

prov isiona l and then full reg istrat ion. Betwee n July 1992 and July 1993 twelve new politic a l

pa rties had be en reg istered, with the incumb ent p arty, CCM, that m ad e up thirteen

reg istered politica l parties (Mm uya, M 19983). One of the c ond itiona lities for reg istration w as

to ha ve suffic ient m em bership , and therefore politic a l parties had been busy rec ruiting

mem bers during th is phase.

Rec ruitment o f me mb ers wa s one of the means of c onsolida ting the positions of the

reg istered parties. Other mea ns inc luded dem and ing for equa l op portunities with the

inc umb ent party in the p laying field, orga nising ma ss ra llies, and c arrying out deb a tes on

strategies of democ ratic c hange.


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the o pposition pa rties. The high p op ularity of Mrem a streng thened the p osition of no t only

NCCR-Mageuzi but a lso other op position p arties (Mm uya, ib id : 4-5).

The third phase c onstitutes the period from 1996 to the p resent. This has been viewed

as a period of ec lipse o r dec line o f the op position politica l pa rties (Mm uya, ib id,:8-1 1). The

ec lips wa s due to the fa c t tha t a fter the genera l elec tions a series of c rises and c onflic ts

beg an to occur nea rly in all parties. Some o f the small pa rties suc h as TADEA, PONA, UMD

NLD and CHADEMA faced som e lea dership p rob lem s in the sense tha t som e o f the lea ders

resigned due old a ge or illness, and could not b e replac ed by com pe tent lead ers.

The strongest o pposition pa rties NCCR-Mageuzi and CUF develop ed serious internal

conflic ts to the extent tha t a ll had to sp lit ea ch into two c amp s. Throug h lea dership struggles

the founder lea der of CUF Jam es Ma palala, wa s ousted from the p a rty that greatly

weakened the p osition o f the pa rty on the Ma inland (Mmuya, ib id :4). In NCCR-Mag euzi

there a rose serious misunderstand ing betw een the pa rty c ha irma n, Augustine Mrema and its

Sec reta ry General, Ma be re M arando, such that the p arty split into tw o c am ps, the cam p of

Mrem a a nd tha t of Ma rand o. Fric tion between the two c am ps lasted for mo re than two

yea rs, and eventua lly the cha irma n, Mrema wa s forced to resign and join ano ther pa rty, the

Tanzania Labour Party (TLP).

The dec line of o pposition pa rties means consolida ting the position of streng th o f the

ruling incumb ent p arty, CCM. This has been ind ica ted by the fac t tha t the ruling p arty has

been winning nea rly a ll the rec ent by-elec tions. These d eve lop ments have serious

imp lica tions in terms of d em oc ra tic c hange and the w hole p roc ess of d em oc ra tization a s it

po ses the d ang er of ead ing into a de fac to one-pa rty system.


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Grow th o f c ivil soc iety ha s involved two types of d evelopments. One d evelopment

onstitutes transformation of traditional civil society organizations notably cooperatives, trade

nions, stud ents orga nizations, wo men orga nizations and so on. These orga nizations have

trugg led to transform into independ ent a nd a utono mo us organizations. For examp le

ransforma tion of the trad e union organiza tion ha s been from JUWATA into OTTU 1991 and

from OTTU into the Tanzania Federation o f Free Trade Unions (TFTU) in 1995. Peasant

cooperative orga nizations have a lso c la ime d grea ter autonom y in rec ent years, "Baraza a

Wana wa ke Tanzania " (BAWATA) has been formed to p rovide an a lternative indep end ent

and autono mo us wome n organiza tion, alternative to UWT which continues to b e a ffilia ted to

the ruling party, CCM.

The sec ond development has been the formation of a new type of c ivil soc iety

orga niza tions com monly known a s NG0s. From 1980s NG0s of va rious types have been

formed in Tanzania. For instanc e, while rap id p roliferation o f NG0s beg an during the 1980s, it

reached a very high acceleration during the 1990s. Between 1981 and 1990, 41 NG0s were

registered as compared to only 25 between 1.961 and 1980. Between 1990 and 19930, 224

NGOs had been reg istered , while b y Ma y 1996 the numb er had shot up trem end ously to 600

reg istered NGOs. Most of the NGOs are c oncerned with environment , professiona lism,

huma n rights, religious, educa tiona l, gender and various interest a nd oc c upa tiona l group s.

Prolifera tion of ma ny NGOs has nec essitated the estab lishment of umb rella NGOs, the most

prominent being the "The Tanzania Assoc iat ion o f NGOs "(TANGO).

As sta ted ea rlier the NGOs are expec ted to p lay the role o f imp ortant a ge nts of

em po wering and p roviding spec ial services to the p eop le. In the proc ess the p eop le are

expec ted to deve lop self-consc iousness, awa reness, identity, organization a nd leg a lity.

How ever, stud ies have revea led tha t rap id formation of NGOs has resulted into ma ny of


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the rap id proliferation of NGOs is an indica tion of the p roc ess of d em oc ra tiza tion taking

plac e in the co untry.

Besides or in add ition to c ivil soc iety orga nizations em pow erment is a lso fa c ilita ted by

a variety of soc ia l movements, which have also e merged as part of the d em oc ratization

proc ess. These m oveme nts have often ta ken the form o f gend er, leg a l, huma n rights, soc io-

ec onom ic and even cultura l movem ents. Activities, movements and netwo rks conc erned

with gend er issues and in particula r c onc erned with the em anc ipa tion o f women have

developed very fast a nd a re p rog ressively playing the role o f em po wering women. Lega l

and huma n rights movements have also b ec om e w idesprea d . We a ll know of lega l aid

soc ieties in Tanzania a nd how they p lay the role of p roviding leg al a id and leg al ed uca tion

to the poor and the ma rginalized . We a re a lso experienc ing the "Ma chinga " movement of

the young urban unemployed imm igrants who a re strugg ling fo r ec onomic surviva l throug h

petty trade and who are fighting fo r the rights to have access to national resources. Distric t

deve lop me nt a ssoc ia tions, cultura l and relig ious assoc ia tions and mo vem ents, to mention

just a few, a re a mong the emerging and growing soc ia l movem ents.

The signific anc e o f em pow erment lies in the fac t tha t it p rovides a serious cha lleng e to

the trad ition of top -down authoritarian approac h to gove rnanc e, polic y-ma king and

development stra teg ies. Through empow erment of the p eop le c ond itions a re c rea ted for

popular pa rtic ipa tion and d evelopment of a bottom -up ap proac h.

5.3 Respondents' View and Opinions on Democ ratization

The va rious peop le w ho w ere interview ed and who filled questionna ires during the

resea rc h p roc ess had expressed inte resting views and op inions on a number of issues.


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various aspec ts greatly dep ended on solving a number of problems and removing a great

de al of imp ed iments to the d emoc ratiza tion process.

5.3.1 Democ rac y, Multi-pa rtism and Multi-party Elections

On w hether the re w ere p rospec ts of suc cess in the dem oc ra tiza tion p roc ess 69.9% of

respondents we re o ptimistic of suc cess, while 23.0% we re p essimistic tha t d em oc rac y could

not succ eed . Those w ho w ere op timistic we re o f the view tha t the c entre of success lay on

the m ulti pa rty system and a new constitution. They were further of the op inion that

democ ra tic chang es had inc rea sed the a wa reness of the p eop le a nd their freed om . The

pe op le c an partic ipate in dec ision-making processes, and that the rule o f law and

ob servanc e o f huma n rights we re b eing p rac tised . The Government w as mo re flexib le tha n

befo re a nd tha t politica l lea ders grew wiser and wiser.

Those w ho we re p essimistic ha ve p ointed out tha t the gove rnme nt still show ed som e

authorita rian tendenc ies and that p olitica l lea de rship wa s not c om mitted to the prac tice o f

de moc rac y. They further sa id that po litica l pa rties did not have internal democ rac y and

therefore it is not ea sy to use such parties to build a dem oc ra tic soc iety. Som e even went to

the extrem e o f not observed any signs of d em oc ratic transition.

On, a c ross-checking question as to whe ther dem oc rac y could fail in Tanzania , only

31.0 pe r cent sa id that it would fa il, while 54.0 percent we re o f the view that democ racy

would not fail. Aga in the ma jority who sa id it w ould not fail gave simila r rea sons as on the

question of suc cess of d em oc racy. They emphasized the c ent ra lity of multi-pa rtism, arguing

that no m ultipa rtism no d emoc racy. Multi-partism c rea ted an op position to the g overnment

and divergenc e o f op inion.


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that they b ec am e d emoc ratica lly ma ture. Demo c rac y fac ilities development, and that

de moc racy fac ilita ted the fight a ga inst c orruption, and that it was due to internal and

exte rna l p ressure.

Whether multi-pa rtism c an contribute to the de velop ment of dem oc racy, ma ny

respond ents constituting 69.0 per cent were o f the view tha t it could m ake a c ontribution.

Only 24.1 percent w ere of the view tha t it could not. Those w ho sa id it c ould m ake a

contribution argued tha t multi-pa rtism was central to demo c racy. If there wa s no multi-

pa rtism there w as no d em oc racy. Multi-partism c rea ted an op position to the g overnment,

and a lso c rea ted cond itions for diffe

why tz enjoy peace

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