During recent weeks, in an atmosphere of increased political excitement, eleven leading politicians, seeking to obtain the coveted nomination as candidate of the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) Party have been criss-crossing the country in search of support from party members. The weakness of most of the 16 opposition parties (compared with the 294 political parties which took part in the British general election!) and their apparent determination not to cooperate to beat CCM almost guarantees that there will be another CCM president – the fourth since independence in 1961.

It is worth noting that the field is not as crowded as analysts had predicted it would be. In fact, the 11 aspirants fall far short of the 17 hopefuls who entered the party’s nomination race ahead of the 1995 elections after which Ali Hassan Mwinyi stepped down as president after two consecutive five-year terms in office.

The Procedure. To be nominated as a CCM candidate for the presidency it is necessary to pay a deposit of Shillings 1 million and have the written support of 250 people from each of eight mainland regions plus two Zanzibar regions. CCM members in the constituencies first sign up for the candidates they prefer and then the CCM National Executive Committee (225 members) sorts these out and submits the names of five of the most popular candidates to the 36- member Central Committee. This committee then hears individual presentations and submits the names of three candidates to the party’s Congress in Dodoma which was due to make its final choice from April 29 to May 5. However, just before the final date for submissions, allegations arose of bribery by some candidates eager to obtain the necessary number of supporters and CCM Headquarters immediately launched an enquiry, the results of which might mean the elimination of some candidates.

The candidates. Although opinion polling is in its infancy in Tanzania it became apparent just before this issue of TA went to press that there were four probable front runners for the presidency of the republic. These were:

Jakaya Kikwete

Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Jakaya Kikwete (53) who started his career in the army and later became Minister of Finance. He made it clear that he felt that he had the right to be selected as CCM’s candidate because, although he was the first choice of the CCM delegates in the 1995 elections, he stood down at the request of Mwalimu Nyerere, accepting that he was too young and would have another chance. He has loyally supported President Mkapa for nine years and felt that it was now his turn. He is a Muslim but has also supported Christian charitable efforts. He exudes a lot of charm and is popular amongst the youth – a significant factor where the median age of the population is 17 -18 years. He is an economist by training and is said to be respected in the World Bank. As he toured the country seeking support he was greeted by large crowds everywhere. When he arrived in Iringa he quickly obtained over 1,000 endorsements while many of his fellow candidates were struggling to reach the 250 mark.

Salim Ahmed Salim

Dr Salim Ahmed Salim (63) the Chairman of the Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation has had a star-studded career having been Tanzanian Ambassador in several countries, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and having served for an unprecedented three terms as Secretary General of the OAU. If he made mistakes in Addis Ababa they are not well known about at home. He is articulate and has a refreshingly open personality and a good reputation internationally. His long absences overseas have meant that he is not tarred with the brush of corruption which allegedly affects some other CCM leaders. He almost became President twice before. Firstly, in 1980, having been President Nyerere’s first choice as his successor but he came up against strong opposition from senior CCM cadres and was the subject of some in-fighting in his native Zanzibar. In 1994 Nyerere asked him to come back to Tanzania to accept nomination in the country’s first multi-party elections but he declined the offer as he was so heavily involved in the OAU. His candidacy has its weaknesses. Because he has been away so much he is not so well known in the country and may not appeal to the rural masses nor to the younger generation – some CCM youth groups declared that they would not work for the party in the elections if Kikwete was not chosen.

John Malecela

The veteran CCM Vice-Chairman (Mainland) John Malecela (71) also made it clear that he felt that he had the right to the nomination. He is a former Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Transport, Minister of Agriculture and High Commissioner in London. He is a powerful political operator and seemed likely to mobilize considerable support amongst the older generation but his determined efforts in 1985 and 1995 to be chosen as candidate were vetoed by Nyerere who accused him of corruption.

Frederick Sumaye

Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye is around 60 and comes from the Arusha Kilimanjaro area. He ran the Tanzania Agricultural Engineering Training and Research Centre before being plucked out of obscurity nine years ago by Mkapa and is now the longest serving prime minister in independent Tanzania’s history. He stressed that he had a particular appeal to the peasants because of his background in agriculture. There have been allegations about his acquisition of land belonging to peasants in the Dodoma region but the Attorney-General explained that it was his wife who had the lease on the land. President Mkapa said that it was a good thing for leaders to take part in farming and that under the Zanzibar Resolution of February 1991 it was legal for leaders to acquire land.

Other candidates who appear to have less chance of gaining the nomination are:

Minister for Communications and Transport Professor Mark Mwandosya; Dr Iddi Simba, former Minister of Industry and Commerce and former head of the East African Development Bank who would have been a strong contender but had to resign from government after allegations of irregularities (which he strongly denied) in sugar importation; Ambassador in Moscow Patrick Chokala; Minister of State (Planning and Privatisation) Dr Abdallah Kigoda; one time member of the NEC John Shibuda; Dr William Shija MP; and, Tanzanian Ambassador in Germany Ali Abeid Karume, a brother of the Zanzibar President.

One opposition candidate, Professor Ibrahim Lipumba, an economist who leads the Civic United Front (CUF), has an outside chance of winning the election because his party is well organised and is making progress. He was the Economic Adviser to former President Mwinyi who began the liberalisation of the country’s economy. He came third after the CCM candidate in the 1995 elections and second in 2000. This time he said he thought he would be lucky. He has promised a government of national unity, to prosecute corrupt leaders, to sell the newly purchased presidential jet and use the money to buy insecticide-treated mosquito nets and to provide free school meals.
- information from contributors and also from ‘Africa Confidential’.

Will the candidate selection and the October elections be free and fair? There have been a number of significant changes on the electoral scene since the 2000 elections which should go far to prevent the alleged rigging which took place then especially in Zanzibar. Throughout the candidate selection process however there have been allegations of political horse-trading, Takrima (hospitality provided by candidates to their supporters), intrigue, and shady deals.
Meanwhile the Express reported that the leading opposition party, the Civic United Front (CUF) was preparing agents, equipped with motor-bikes and mobile phones to check on possible vote thefts. The introduction of Permanent Voters’ Registers and special voting cards bearing photographs of the prospective voters, should minimize chances of people voting more than once. Unless the Electoral Commission finally announces election results which contradict the ballot tallies in the constituencies (as was the suspicion in the 1995 Zanzibar Presidential election), rigging might have become a problem of the past.

Will they be peaceful? Even on the mainland some observers are worried that there might be violence although previous elections have been largely peaceful.
The local elections held on the mainland in November 2004, did witness some isolated violence. One person was killed and many injured. There were several cases of destruction of property and the CUF HQ in Dar es Salaam was attacked by young CCM activists disappointed by the results of the elections in poorer parts of the city. CCM was easily able to win overwhelmingly, partly because of its 10-house cell structure giving it an element of control especially in the villages. But the opposition parties were pleased with the advances they made and CUF claimed a 250% increase the number of seats gained compared with previous elections.

Strengthening the Executive. Parliament has passed a 14th Amendment to the union constitution reinforcing the power of the executive. Neither the Speaker of the House nor the Chief Justice will continue to act as President in his absence and the line of succession will in future include firstly, the Vice-president of Tanzania and secondly the Prime Minister. However, to the disappointment of MP’s of many parties, independent candidates will still not be allowed to be candidates in elections. Opposition members walked out of the House in protest.

The opposition

CUF, the strongest party, is significantly better organised than it was last time and has put a lot of effort into mobilizing supporters all over the country. It hopes to put up parliamentary candidates in every constituency.
Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) is choosing its presidential candidate from four who have collected application forms. It hopes to have 100 parliamentary candidates. Chairman Freeman Mbowe, MP for Hai, was quoted in the Guardian as saying at one meeting that there was no way the opposition could oust CCM from power if it did not unite. “People have expressed their willingness to support the opposition but we, the leaders, are a hindrance. Why are we so selfish to the extent that we don’t care about the people’s needs?” he said amid cheers from the crowd. But he criticized the country’s laws saying that they did not support the desire of some political parties to unite their forces. Election laws barred parties from fielding a presidential running mate who was not in the same party as the presidential aspirant. All sixteen political parties have signed an agreement aimed at establishing a code of conduct to guide their day-to-day activities. Registrar of Political Parties John Tendwa, who was the architect of the document, said contrary to the election code of conduct, which set standards for political parties during election periods only, the proposed code would make the parties responsible at all times.
The Tanzania Labour Party (TLP) has nominated Augustine Mrema as its presidential candidate but he has been involved in continuing legal disputes for several weeks.
Ten small opposition parties are trying to agree on one presidential candidate to represent them all.

In the 1995 elections CCM won the presidentials by 51% against 49% for CUF. In 2000 CCM won by 67% to CUF’s 33%. Both elections were criticized by foreign observers and subsequent by-elections indicated that the 2000 parliamentary election had almost certainly been rigged. Subsequent riots resulted in the death of some 30 people.

CCM is clearly determined to hold on to the ruling position in Zanzibar which it has enjoyed since the sixties. It claims with some reason that it has given Zanzibar the same stability that it has achieved so successfully on the mainland . However, the October elections seem likely to be different. CCM Secretary General Philip Mangula, in an interview with the Guardian, has admitted that they would be a ‘tough game’ and that the results were unpredictable. Many observers believe that if the election were free and fair CUF would win.

A number of recent developments indicate that CCM may again be tempted to use irregular methods to try and ensure its re-election.

Registration of voters. Although this process began well in Pemba there have been numerous angry but isolated incidents in other parts of the Isles as CUF and CCM supporters clashed. Amongst incidents reported by the Guardian were the following:

December: The arrest of a group of 17 people in Dar es Salaam aboard a boat headed to Pemba allegedly going to register illegally. A Zanzibari or Mainlander must have resided in Pemba for not less than three years to be allowed to register as a voter. Some victims said they were going to Pemba merely for Christmas and New Year festivals.

January: Allegations of intimidation of CCM voters by CUF security agents (‘blue guards) in East Unguja… A registration centre set ablaze by unidentified people…. Police accused of intimidating CUF supporters.

March: CUF agents in Unguja North region accused of blocking Zanzibaris of Mainland origin from registering. A few grassroots leaders, commonly known as Shehas (appointed by the CCM government) said that Zanzibaris who traced their ancestry to the Mainland were being forced to show the graves of their grandfathers as proof of their residence on the Isles. They were also being asked to show their 1964 IDs which were obsolete …..an attack on a registration centre near the capital Stone Town…. A CUF claim that registration figures for the Unguja South Region had been doctored (Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) Chairman Yussuf Masauni said that such claims had no legal weight. “We stand firm by our statistics”……. 18 people arrested after violence between supporters of CCM and CUF….. more than 100 members of the Field Force Unit in full riot gear carried out an operation lasting several hours; three people reportedly injured and doors of two houses smashed by the officers…. two CUF candidates in the Kwamtipura area, in Zanzibar municipality arrested…..

April: The ZEC temporarily suspended voter registration in Mjini Magharibi after detecting irregularities…..Dozens of residents in North Unguja chased out of voters’ registration stations by Shehas on the grounds that they had originated in Pemba….. CUF complained that the ZEC had allowed establishment of registration centres near the camps of paramilitary forces…..The home of a CUF leader Abbas Muhunzi, was attacked and set ablaze….A crowd of some 400 CUF supporters, disgruntled over what they claimed to be voter registration fraud, attempted to break into a registration center…. hundreds of people protesting that they were not being allowed to register demonstrated in the Centre West Region ….. Shehas, boycotted a meeting called by the ZEC to discuss various anomalies in the voter register……Unidentified people used petrol to set three houses on fire plus a CUF branch office at Kianga in Unguja …. registration of voters stopped again because of irregularities.

Candidate selection bombshell. It has been the tradition in Tanzania to allow an incumbent president to stand for his second term unopposed so that there was considerable surprise when former Zanzibar Chief Minister, Dr. Mohamed Gharib Bilal, announced that he intended to stand against incumbent President Abeid Karume. Bilal contested the presidency in the 2000 elections but was not chosen as presidential candidate because of pressure from mainland CCM supporters who have the majority on the CCM Central Committee. For several months there had been rumours of a split within CCM between supporters of president Karume and those of former President Salmin Amour. It was well known that Amour was not pleased when he was not allowed to stand for a third term in 2000. Dr. Bilal said that his move was aimed at consolidating democracy within the party. He was referring to the fact that incumbent President Karume did not receive majority support in candidate selection in Zanzibar in 2000 and was selected largely under pressure from mainland party members. On March 25 Bilal was quoted in the Guardian as saying that the Zanzibar government had been ‘shunning retired leaders’. It was indisputable that there were in-house problems within CCM. “There are some ministers as well as other government leaders who panic whenever they see former President Dr Amour. They cannot even say hello to him for reasons best known to themselves…. We need to be free and close to the retired leaders to get wisdom from their age and experience, he said. Zanzibaris should build a culture of tolerance and learn to accept criticism. “My decision to challenge president Amani Karume was not engineered by Dr Salmin. I was advised to contest by CCM supporters in the Isles and the mainland” he said.

Boundary changes bombshell. On February 15 the ZEC dropped a bombshell when it announced that the number of constituencies in Pemba (a CCM stronghold) would be reduced by three and that in Unguja (where CCM is stronger) there would be 32, rather than the present 29. The constituencies closed down in Pemba (according to the Guardian) were Wingwi, Utaani and Vitongoji and the new constituencies in Unguja were Fuoni and Magogoni, born out of the Mwera constituency, the birthplace of Chief Minister Shamsi Vuai Nahodha. Magomeni had been sub-divided into two constituencies – Sebuleni and Mpendaye following the closing down of the Mikunguni constituency.

The two ZEC members of CUF, Nasor Seif Amour and Usi Khamis Haji, strongly objected to the changes and called on the ZEC to abide by Cap. 120 of the Zanzibar Constitution, which stipulated that the number of constituencies would only be reduced on the basis of the size of the population and its growth rate, the means of transport available and administrative boundaries. The party had argued that if the Constitution was the guiding document per se, then Unguja, where several constituencies had a small population should be the first to be affected by any such plan.

Hamad Bombshell. Zanzibar was plunged into a crisis on April 15 when an Assistant Returning Officer and a Sheha stated that CUF Secretary-General Seif Shariff Hamad, who many expect to be elected as President of Zanzibar if the elections are free and fair, had been barred from registering in the permanent voters’ register. He would thus not be eligible to stand for the presidency. Hamad told the Guardian that he had been barred because he did not qualify to vote in the area. To register, voters have to be Zanzibari and to have lived at the place where they want to vote for at least 36 consecutive months. Hamad has been spending a lot of time overseas recruiting international support for a free and fair election. He said he had filed an objection to the banning and would follow up the matter until he was allowed to register. “This incident proves our oft-repeated complaints that ZEC is siding with CCM,” he said.

CUF National Chairman Ibrahim Lipumba immediately called upon the ZEC to register its Secretary-General or risk plunging the Isles into turmoil. Addressing what the Guardian described as a ‘mammoth gathering’ at Jangwani grounds in Dar es Salaam on April 17, Lipumba said the incident could also provoke the party to take President Mkapa to the International Court of Justice at The Hague to face charges related to the deaths of over 20 people on January 26 and 27, 2001 following political violence on the Isles. Mainland CUF supporters, especially the youth, Prof Lipumba said, were ready to go to Zanzibar to press the government to register the CUF leader. He said the incident was proof that CCM wanted to retain power by hook or by crook. “We want the international community to save Zanzibar from witnessing another massacre,” he said. Hamad alleged that he and another 32,000 people had been barred from registering. He said it was amazing that the Shehas had usurped the powers of ZEC contrary to the electoral laws.

STOP PRESS. As this issue of TA went to press it was announced that Hamad would be allowed to register, thus bringing to an end the weeklong controversy regarding his eligibility. A jovial Hamad was quoted in the Guardian as saying: “I won my appeal and have finally registered. I advise other people who have had similar problems to appeal against ZEC’s decision.” The hearings of Hamad’s appeal were heard in camera.

President Mkapa

Firstly, he has restored the dignity of Tanzania’s national currency. When he took over the presidency, the Tanzania Shilling was depreciating much more rapidly than it is doing now, and was treated with disdain by visitors and citizens alike. I can recall with sadness an event I witnessed at the Dar airport when a tourist was arrested for tearing up a bundle of notes on the grounds that they were useless to him (which was true). Now Tanzanians note with satisfaction that the country has accumulated foreign currency reserves equivalent to eight months of imports. Contrast this with the constant lack of foreign currency that we used to experience.

Mkapa has restored the civil service. When he assumed office, government offices were badly dilapidated, those who worked there were grossly underpaid and a situation was created where they ‘pretended to work, and the government pretended to pay them’. It is true that there is still much room for improvement in our civil service, but the downward trend has been arrested thanks to Mkapa’s quiet revolution.

There has been also a telecommunication revolution under the leadership of Mkapa. He has guided the nation from a situation where even city dwellers could not readily get a table phone, to the current situation whereby electronic communications in Tanzania are as good as any in the region.

Mkapa has re-built the education sector thanks to his clear realisation that an educated populace is the best resource that a country can have.
He has also been a road builder. The Mtwara to Mwanza Road Project is a bold initiative. He had the good sense to appoint a most capable minister, the Honorable John Magufuli, to look after this sector and no one in Tanzania can dispute his well completed work.

Finally, Mkapa has managed to continue to permeate Tanzania with a sense of direction and good governance, a sense that was beginning to vanish. It used to be quite common to hear people on the street in Tanzania asking: ‘Hii nchi ina serikali kweli?’ i.e. does this country have a serious government? There was the beginning of anarchy. Civil servants were beginning to steal not only the monies entrusted to them, but also misusing the positions conferred on them in a number of ways.

These achievements and many more belie what many people believed when Benjamin Mkapa was picked as the preferred presidential candidate by the late Mwalimu!

Hildebrand Shayo

In its third review of Tanzania’s ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE under the three year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) arrangement, reported in the Guardian, Agustin Carstens, the Deputy Managing Director of the IMF said that the results were excellent. Tanzania had made further strides in enhancing macroeconomic stability and addressing key impediments to growth through the accelerated pursuit of structural reforms. The report said the completion of the review enabled a further release of about $4.2million bringing total disbursements under the programme to the equivalent $17 million.

However, there were some critical observations. Trade with the US saw a large deficit in the past year because of the purchase of the presidential Gulfstream jet. Progress in amending banking laws was not satisfactory. The country would need to sustain its reform efforts in the areas of energy, infrastructure, trade facilitation, governance, fiscal management, and financial sector reform to make deeper inroads into poverty. The Guardian commented that all growth-poverty analysts agreed on one point – that given the rate of population growth in the country, only GDP growth rates of seven per cent could start denting poverty compared with the existing growth level of six per cent. Tanzania might be getting poorer.

The UN has placed Tanzania in the ‘fast track’ category of developing countries, which have used donor funds effectively towards attainment of MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGs). Addressing a press conference at the launch of the UN Millennium Report in January, UNDP Resident Representative John Hendra said Tanzania was among a small number of poor countries that have demonstrated quick and effective utilisation of aid. Hendra noted how the country has made tremendous progress in poverty reduction and primary school enrolment and that strides had been made in eliminating gender inequality and improving environmental sustainability. In September 2000, world leaders adopted the Global Millennium Declaration containing MDGs to be reached by the year 2015.

TANESCO has announced plans for coping with the GROWING DEMAND FOR ELECTRICITY by conversion of the Independent Power Tanzania Limited (IPTL) thermal units to using natural gas and developing new hydrosites. Two additional units – 38MW each – would be installed at the Songas site at Ubungo this year. But vandalism was becoming a major problem. Since January some 49 transformers had been vandalized in Dar es Salaam Region alone, causing the company a loss of Shs 343 million. Transformers had been blowing up because of lack of coolant oil, which was being stolen. Vandals were selling it mainly for making illicit cosmetics for face bleaching and as engine oil for vehicles – Guardian.

Barrick Gold Corporation announced in March that it has started production at the NEW TULAWAKA MINE in Kagera Region. It is expected that Tulawaka will produce some 70,000-75,000 ounces at a total cost of about $210-$220 per ounce.
The Business Times (January 8) reported on a visit to Tanzania by ZIMBABWEAN WHITE FARMERS who had lost their farms under that country’s land reform programme and wished to invest in Tanzania. But, said the paper, they were turned off by the country’s land policies and legislation (since modified). About 100 finally decided to settle in Mozambique. Others went to Zambia and Nigeria, where they have already established farming activities. According to the paper, critics were saying that, 43 years after Independence from foreign rule, the majority of farmers in Tanzania continue to use the hand hoe to scratch the land in sustenance agriculture, and cultivate cash crops whose earnings in the world market are determined by forces beyond their control. Had Tanzania been serious in its agriculture, it would have been capable of producing food in a single farming season that would be enough for its population, with food to spare to feed its neighbors.

Zanzibar Chief Minister Vuai Nahodha said his government would not allow EXPLORATION OF PETROL to start in Zanzibar without an agreement over revenue sharing. He told the House of Representatives that negotiations were going on between the Union and Zanzibar governments but no agreement had been reached so far. He said the Zanzibar Government would like oil to be an internal matter to Zanzibar in the same way as minerals were to the mainland – Mtanzania.

Jim Read

Professor Jay

However, the originators of Bongo Flava are undoubtedly the Rap and Hip Hop artists. This stems from back to the early 1990s when The Hard Blasterz Crew and others started recording rap music. While rap in America grew from the streets with disenchanted and disempowered rappers, in Tanzania the early rappers tended to be from well off families, who thought it fashionable to follow US trends. Joseph Haule “Professor Jay” a member of Hard Blasterz Crew who is now a solo star, makes no secret of his wealthy parents. His song “Chemsha Bongo” starts “Kwa kifupi nimekulia kwenye maisha ya kitajiri, Wazazi wangu walinipenda walinipa lile na hili, Na tangu nikiwa mdogo nilionyesha kwamba nina akili, Sio siri nilikimbia umande kusoma sikuona dhili”. (In short I was raised in a wealthy lifestyle, My parents loved me and gave me this and that, and ever since I was young I showed I was intelligent, its no secret I ran to study in the morning dew – I didn’t see it a torture). The song goes on to describe how he was left with nothing partly due to his own excesses and partly because when his parents died suddenly, little known relatives “attracted by the smell of blood” descended and took unfair shares of the estate. When I met him in Tanga in 2001 despite being one of the best known rappers in Tanzania he was having to record in his spare time while holding down a full time job with a mobile phone company. Professor Jay has always tried hard to avoid the association of rap music with the American images of gangstas and lawbreakers (wahuni), and he is immensely respected by young Tanzanians because the lyrics of his songs are truthful and speak to people. “Ndio Mzee” tells of a politician who promises everything before an election, but then disappears until the next election time. “Bongo DSM” is an affectionate but honest take on life in Dar-es-Salaam.

Most of the other younger stars have followed his lead with Juma Nature and Mwanafalsafa among others singing about social problems and AIDS. That said, there are a good number of songs about love, jealousy etc, and a fair number of songs with less wholesome lyrics.

The recent hit Mikasi by MaNgwair describes a night out at a night club – the chorus “Mitungi, blunt, mikasi” referring to alcohol, marijuana and sex. Being the latest slang it is probably not understandable to many listeners, and there were only muted calls for it to be banned. Fagilia by Mr Nice is a nonsense rhyme “Kuku kapanda baiskeli, bata kavaa raizoni’ (The chicken rode a bike, the duck wore high-heeled shoes), and has been criticised in the press for this with Mr Nice labelled a “one hit wonder”.

Part of the reason for the rise of Bongo Flava has been the move away from pure rap songs to more melodic pop/soul music. Lady Jay Dee, Ray C and V2 are all female artists who have sold well, and certainly the Lady Jay Dee song “Siwema” is viewed as a classic and widely played even by Tanzanians living in the UK. There are very few female rappers, Sista P being the only example which springs to mind.

Most artists work independently, but one name which crops up again and again is that of producer P Funk. Paul Halfani is still in his early thirties, but has produced an amazing percentage of the most popular hits, and if any one person were to be credited with the popularity of Bongo Flava, it would have to be him. He has received numerous awards and official recognition, but unlike the artists he produces, he prefers to keep a low profile. I have met him only once in passing, about five years ago when he was working with rap artist Inspekta Haroum.

It is not a coincidence that the birth of Bongo Flava coincided with digital music processing becoming affordable and possible with relatively cheap PCs rather than requiring massive recording studios. Before the turn of the century, the only studios in Tanzania were those
of Radio Tanzania, and recordings were usually made “live”. Due to the poor quality instruments and drum kits and the short time spent recording, the results never sounded as good as the Zairean artists recording in Paris. These days using synthesized instruments professional sounding Hip Hop tracks can be created by someone equipped only with a computer. There are plenty of examples at www.mzibo.net though note that downloading these tracks does not benefit the artists.

Many young Tanzanians dream of being the next star, and pay around 300,000 TShs (£150) to record their song which they then offer free of charge to the radio stations to try and get them played. This means that there is a lot of fairly mediocre music about, but it does encourage creativity and competition. Cassettes are still the main format for music, and sell for around 1,200 TShs (60p) of which the artist will receive about 200 TShs. Pirate copying of tapes has been greatly reduced by police intervention and the fact that more people can afford the relatively cheap “official” cassettes. MaNgwair’s last album sold at least 35,000 cassettes, giving the artist an income of around £4,000. Even more lucrative for established stars are live concerts where they sing along to backing tapes. MaNgwair can command about 1M TShs (£500) per performance. Unfortunately, as in the rest of the world a lot of this money is siphoned off by promoters and managers rather than benefiting the artist. However, their popularity allows artists to sponsor other activities such as Ray C who owns a string of Boutiques in Dar, and MaNgwair who has opened a bar under his nickname “Speed 120″. This financial viability of the music business is another factor in its rapid growth, and differentiates Bongo Flava artists from more established Tanzanian music bands playing “dance music” such as Twanga Pepeta, Tam Tam and OTTU Jazz Band, in that the older bands have many members and performers and tend to be funded and run by external tajiris (rich men/women) who own the instruments and pay the performers a salary. The Bongo Flava artists are seen much more as entrepreneurs and “pop stars”.

Most of the stars are in their 20s and see fashion and videos as being an extremely important part of their work, though from my experience they are much more approachable (and talented!) than their European counterparts. Bongo Flava videos receive widespread coverage on TV, with one channel “East African TV” almost entirely devoted to music videos. A short movie called “Girlfriend” produced in 2003 surprised many Tanzanians by showing that they could produce modern drama of a technical standard as good as what comes out of South Africa and elsewhere. It starred TID (Top in Dar) and Angela Damas (Miss Tanzania 2002) and was accompanied by a hip hop soundtrack.

Another example of close links between TV and Bongo Flava was a competition held in Morogoro to find the “Mfalme wa Rap” (King of Rap). This attracted a lot of media attention and the winner, Mwanafalsafa won a car. Many of the artists have come on tour to the UK, though this seems to be seen as much as an opportunity to get publicity in Tanzania as a commercial venture in itself – excerpts from the concerts in the UK being shown on television back in Tanzania. That said, website www.africanhiphop.com reports significant interest in Bongo Flava in the USA. Sterns Music (www.sternsmusic.com) have finally responded and stock a couple of CDs, notably a compilation called “Bongo Flava” and music from Ray C, Xplastas and Sugu (formally known as Mr II). However, volumes of sales in the UK are unsurprisingly low, at typically only 10 CDs or so a month.

While some may regret the fashion for “copying” Western rap and soul music, in Tanzania Bongo Flava is very much viewed as African music, and is helping to forge an identity for youth all over East Africa. As such it can have a tremendously positive influence as well as reinvigorating the Tanzanian love of Swahili lyrics.
Jacob Knight

Others are less upbeat – The Danish Ambassador Mr. Peter Lysholt Hansen has been quoted as saying “The figure of just eight percent is an illusion. I am convinced the real figure is higher.” The WHO/UNAIDS 2004 report on the global epidemic estimates that in 2003 some 160,000 people died in Tanzania as a direct result of AIDS and that there were 1.6 million people living with HIV, around 9% of the population. According to UNAIDS statistics, life expectancy at birth in 2005 has fallen to 43.9 years, there are thought to be 980,000 children orphaned as a
result of AIDS, and more than 50 percent of all hospital beds are occupied by people with HIV/AIDS, according to the Ministry of Health.

Kilimanjaro photo in Guardian

The paper reported that 34 ministers at a G8 energy and environment summit meeting in London were receiving a book – published by the Climate Group and entitled Northsoutheast-west: a 360-degree view of climate change – that included a picture depicting global-warming. The book’s text described the devastating speed of climate change documented by ten of the world’s top photographers.

Three days later the paper quoted from an article in the NEW YORK TIMES which spoke of the ‘naked, angry summit and new icon of Africa, something to accuse us all.’ It went on: ‘But angst is unproductive: there are powerful reasons to save Kilimanjaro’s ice. ….It also contains a vital record of past climate. To predict Africa’s future we must understand its past. Nearly 12,000 years ago there was a snap change in the earth’s climate. Ever since, ice has accumulated on the summit, trapping an amazing record of the tropical climate. Ice cores tell us which years were warm or cold, when there were fires or dust storms, when there was drought and disaster…… But the cloud forests that ring the mountain are now being destroyed. The top of the ice is already lost, the sides retreat. Soon all will be gone….. Scientists have shown that there are now too few clouds and too much sunlight. We do not know why. Perhaps it is due to global climate change. The cloud forests that ring the mountain are being destroyed. Without them the whole mountain becomes drier, fires occur, perennial streams become seasonal and fewer mists and clouds rise to the summit….

Geologist Euan Nisbet at the University of London has said that we could still try to save the ice. We could protect it with white covers, like those used on landfills, designed to shade the cliffs while still allowing cooling winds. Snowmakers could cover the flat top of the ice cap with sacrificial snow. We could buy time while the forest is restored. Then, with luck, more moisture would advect up the mountain…… (Thank you Christine Lawrence for sending these articles – Editor).

(We have also heard from Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Corporation, and former High Commissioner in London, Dr Abdul Shareef who tells us that he has once again climbed to the top of the mountain – Uhuru Peak. He took seven-and-a-half hours to reach Kibo Hut compared with the 13 hours it took him when he climbed six months earlier. He reported that during the previous climb there was no fresh snow at Uhuru. In March this year it snowed heavily but all of it melted the next day – Editor).

Dr Abdul Shareef on Uhuru Peak

In an article in its February issue entitled ‘If only Tanzanians were like Nigerians’ EASTERN AFRICA’S Tanzanian contributor Saidi Yakubu said that Nigerians had tended to adopt Western countries as their second home and that the Nigerian government was benefiting from this. Nigerians in Britain were very active in trade in African products including foodstuffs, textiles, and body cosmetics, they were moving into the film industry and were active in the housing market and in running tax, accounting and mortgage firms. Nigerians were the leaders in African commercial activities in Britain. The writer went on: ‘There are over 22,000 Tanzanians in the UK. If half of them spent £5 at a Nigerian shop every month that would hand over to Nigerians more than £50,000 a month!…. Tanzanians also tend to rent rather than buy their accommodation in Britain which means they are unable to obtain business loans….. We need to nurture the Nigerian spirit to prosper in this land.

The NEW YORK TIMES (23rd December) reported that Tanzania’s High Court had freed Rashid Hemed (34) who had been charged six years earlier with helping to carry out the 1998 bombing of the American embassy in Dar es Salaam. His trial lasted four years and there were 18 witnesses but the judge finally ruled that there was not enough evidence to support conviction. Hemed admitted that a bomb detonator was discovered in his house and that he knew people tied to the bombing. But his defence lawyers argued that Hemed’s clothes were mixed with those belonging to other people including Ahmed Ghailani who had been captured in Pakistan earlier and who was believed to have played a major role in the bombing.

The EAST AFRICAN (3rd January) described how the TSUNAMI which devastated countries bordering the Indian Ocean also claimed the lives of 10 Tanzanians including five schoolboys and seriously injured another three in Dar Salaam. Most residents were unaware of what was going on until a ferry in the Magogoni Creak was caught up in a storm that de-stabilised it for two-hours. The navy had used two marine boats to battle the waves as they rescued fishermen whose boats had overturned or sunk. However, there were no casualties in Zanzibar because the Government there reacted to the impending catastrophe quickly and broadcast announcements on radio and television warning people to stay away from the sea shore (Thank you Christine Lawrence for sending these items – Editor). The Tanzanian Guardian also revealed that the Tanzania Italian Petroleum Refining Company (TIPER) had incurred some Shs 5.5 billion loss when a heavily loaded tanker was swept adrift, forcing the captain to anchor and damage some eight pipelines at the Kurasini Oil Jetty in the Dar es Salaam port.

When Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown decided to go and really see Africa for the first time and to publicise his proposals for a ‘Marshall Plan’ to help the continent, he devoted a large part of his visit (in January) to Tanzania. He got a great deal of publicity in the British media. THE BBC’S POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT MARK MARDELL was one of the many journalists who went with him. He kept a daily diary. Extracts:
…..Brown said that Britain should stop apologising for colonialism and be proud of its history. While missionaries went to Africa out of a sense of duty, African soldiers died to defend British values of liberty, tolerance and civic virtue…..He finds it notoriously difficult talking about his personal life and his emotions. Of course, throughout this trip we have been interested in what he feels when he sees the sort of poverty and suffering that he has come here to witness. He has told us that in the last day or two he has seen ‘grinding, abject, relentless poverty and glimpsed the aching souls of millions’ but has also seen ‘The hopes in the eyes of young people’……
…..He is reporting with increasing enthusiasm what he has seen and done. There is an air that he is relishing getting out from behind his treasury desk, and that if ever Dar es Salaam South needs a new MP……. But the bulk of the day is spent talking about AIDS. It’s hard to avoid sounding mawkishly sentimental reporting even the conversations. The Chancellor crams into a tiny two-room mud hut to hear one dying man tell him that he is too poor to travel to see his doctor, too poor to eat properly. He adds that his neighbours hate him, but he believes that all men are brothers. The Chancellor touched the man’s wrist and said indeed they were. I was rather glad that, when I asked Mr Brown about his feelings, he muttered “Very moving”, and failed entirely to come up with a glib sound-bite…..
A convoy of minibuses drives through the countryside to the little village of Chahwa. People stop working in the fields to lean on their hoes and watch this strange procession. A little girl playing in an old truck tyre waves and when we wave back ducks back inside the tyre. Even a goat stops chewing….. Mr Brown is in Chahwa to see for himself the new school – a sturdy construction of concrete and wood among the low huts of baked brick which are just a slightly darker colour than the bare red earth surrounding them. The point is that the school can be built and education can be free here directly because of debt relief. Tanzania has promised, if it’s let off its debt by Britain, it will spend it on education. ….. Mr Brown is a rumpled Pied Piper surrounded by children bearing mattocks rather taller than themselves in clean but frayed white shirts, the girls in brilliant indigo skirts. The kids are so cute we suspect the Treasury of hiring them. Mr Brown asked the children “Who wants to be a doctor? Who wants to be an engineer?” I try my luck and shout out “Who wants to be prime minister?” But Gordon’s too smart to allow his hand to shoot up…..

THE INDEPENDENT (January 15) wrote: Gordon Brown cast aside his dour image yesterday to talk openly about how his childhood memories of missionaries from Africa speaking in his father’s church in Scotland had spurred him to fight poverty. He talked about his wife, Sarah, who spent her first seven years in Dar es Salaam and attended an international school in the city. Her mother ran a nursery, and her father worked as an educational publisher. The Chancellor said he hoped to bring his 15-month-old son John to the Tanzanian city one day. Mr Brown made a fleeting visit to the International School of Tanganyika where she studied. He spoke about the plight of a 12-year-old girl he met who had lost her parents to Aids and was infected with HIV. He was asked whether having children had influenced his attitudes towards the poverty of the young people he had met. Mr Brown, whose daughter Jennifer died days after she was born prematurely, paused. He said: “Yes. It is so important. You are looking into the eyes of children all the time and you ask what their prospects are going to be. It’s right to tell the G7 and finance ministers and politicians that as long as we do not act, all the promises we make to children, to mothers, to parents, are never going to be redeemed.
The DAILY TELEGRAPH (January 22) in its account of the visit, said that, in contrast to its neighbours, Tanzania had allowed the debt relief it had received to trickle down into education rather than into the pockets of bureaucrats or Swiss bank accounts. 31,000 classrooms had been built and 18,000 teachers recruited. (Thank you Jackie Morgan for this piece – Editor).

The ECONOMIST (20th November) and the FINANCIAL TIMES (18th November) revealed that a Chinese plant, Artemisia annua, which holds the key to beating malaria, has suddenly become greatly in demand as the disease continues to kill vast numbers of people around the world. International health officials are seeking to diversify Artemisia cultivation to Kenya and Tanzania where the climate and soils suit the plant. One small company, ‘African Artemisia’ in Arusha, has already started cultivating the herb and it is now anticipated that some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world might begin to take an interest. (Thank you Jill Bowden for sending these items – Editor).

A story in a recent issue of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS concerned a certain Tanzanian named Soreal Elias Nnko: ‘He didn’t kill a goat when he was accepted into a high school class at Plano in Texas. That’s reserved for really special occasions. But he, a teacher and classmates, did drink sodas, and even a couple of beers, to celebrate an opportunity that few enjoy in one of the world’s poorest countries – the chance to learn, at long distance, from teacher’s in one of Texas’s wealthiest suburbs. Mr Nnko, who is enrolled in Plano’s popular on-line e-School, lives in a community centre in Imbaseni, a largely undeveloped farming village within view of Kilimanjaro. He connects to his class from a tiny computer lab that battles frequent power failures. He has, in turn, passed the lessons on to children who need it most – street children who have lost their parents to Tanzania’s AIDS epidemic – Thank you Peter Park for sending this item and for adding that the Britain Tanzania Society’s Development Trust, had tried, a number of years ago – before the computer lab was built – to get Lottery money (without success, unfortunately) to help Imbaseni develop, in particular, to provide dormitories for the girls – Editor).

NEW AFRICAN (January) reported that at the recent 6th summit held in Arusha, Kenya President Kibaki, Uganda President Museveni and Tanzanian President Mkapa accepted a report by a fast track committee which recommended a road map to the political federation of the region by 2010. All three countries will maintain their national identities including their individual presidents, parliaments and flags but they will share a Chief Justice, Supreme Court, cabinet and federal parliament. During the consolidation period between 2010 and 2012 the federation’s presidency will rotate between the three member states before elections for the federal parliament and president are held during the first quarter of 2013. The original concept of the East African Community broke down in 1977 mainly as a result of personal and economic differences between regional leaders. It was resurrected in 1999 by the signing of a new treaty and in 2001 the group became institutionalised, establishing the East African Court of Justice, an East African Legislative Assembly and an East African Customs Union.