(The second part of the article begun in Bulletin No. 26)

The Parliament of the United Republic is unicameral. It is composed of the National Assembly and the President of the United Republic. The President is not a member of the National Assembly but he assents to all Bills passed by the Assembly before they become Acts of Parliament.

The National Assembly’s role is to supervise Government in the implementation of Party policies through legislation. It is also responsible for passing the annual budget of the Government. The National Assembly. or its committees, can question Government Ministries on all matters under their jurisdiction. The present composition of the National Assembly is as follows:
– Constituency Members (Mainland 119, Zanzibar 50) = 169
– National Members chosen by Parliament = 15
– Regional Commissioners ex-officio (20 Mainland, 5 Zanzibar) = 25
– Members elected by the House of Representatives of Zanzibar = 5
– Members nominated by the President (5 from Zanzibar) = 15
– Women members (special seats for women; 5 from Zanzibar) = 15
Total 244

A candidate for election as a Constituency Member of Parliament must have the following qualifications:
– he must be a citizen of Tanzania not less than 21 years of age;
– be must be a Member of the CCM and must abide by the provisions of the Party Constitution;
– he is disqualified if he is:
– under a declaration of allegiance to some other country than the United Republic;
– under any law in Tanzania adjudged to be of unsound mind;
– under sentence of death or a sentence of imprisonment exceeding six months; – detained under the Preventive Detention Act of 1962 for a period exceeding six months; or,
– an undischarged bankrupt having been adjudged or declared bankrupt under any written law.

In order to be validly nominated at a primary nomination to stand as a candidate for a constituency a person must be nominated in writing by not less than twenty five voters registered in a polling district within the constituency for which he is a candidate. Any number of candidates can be nominated in a constituency provided that they are all Party members and fulfil other qualifications required by law. By 4p.m. on a day assigned by the Electoral Commission as nomination day all forms must be submitted to the returning officers.

As soon as practicable after the primary nomination a special meeting of the District Party Conference is convened. This Conference is itself composed of elected Party members. The main purpose of the District Party Conference is to cast preferential votes. The Returning Officer presents each candidate to the Conference by reading his particulars from the nomination papers filed by each candidate. Each candidate must be given a fair and equal opportunity to answer questions put to him by the members of the District Conference.

Having discussed the merits and suitability of each candidate, the Conference Members then proceed to vote by secret ballot for the candidate they think is most suitable. To ensure that each candidate is given a fair opportunity, the Electoral Commission is represented at each District Conference by three supervisory delegates, who are required to report to the Commission their opinion of the Conference.

The preferential votes are counted and the results are declared. Then the Returning Officer certifies the number of preferential votes accorded to each candidate and forthwith sends such certificates together with the nomination papers of the candidates to the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Party. The NEC considers the nomination papers of the candidates, the certificates accorded them at the meeting of the District Conference, the minutes or record of the proceedings of such Conference and any report of the supervisory delegates. Finally the NEC nominates two candidates to contest the ejection.

After the names of the candidates are known, the Electoral Commission fixes the date of the campaign, which is conducted under the auspices of the Party. Candidates are not allowed to organise their own campaigns, nor are they allowed to spend money to win votes. The Political Committee of the District Conference arranges the programme for the campaign, which must be overseen by three Supervisory delegates. As at the District Conference, the Supervisory Delegates must see that the Election Manifesto is strictly adhered to by the candidates and that both candidates are given a fair and equal opportunity to address the electorate. They also have to report any anomalies to the District Political Committee of the Party and, if the anomalies persist, they must report immediately to the Electoral Commission, which is empowered to take any steps it deems fit to rectify the anomaly.

Voting is not compulsory. The voting procedure is as follows. Each voter has to go in person to the polling station at which he is registered. He has to Identify himself that he is the voter he claims to be by presenting his registration card. The Presiding Officer verifies the identity of the voter by checking the particulars in his register. On being satisfied about the identity of the voter the Presiding Officer presses a stamp on the back of a ballot paper and folds it, he hands it over to the voter, who proceeds alone to the screened compartment, where he casts his vole and puts the ballot paper into the ballot box. At the close of the poll the Presiding Officer, his assistant and the polling agent seal the ballot box and padlock it. It is then escorted to the Returning Officer. The Presiding Officer must also prepare a ballot paper account showing the number of ballot papers used, those unused or spoilt, and the latter are then put in different packets, sealed and presented to the Returning Officer.

The Returning Officer is responsible for the counting of votes and the safe custody of all election documents for six months, after which period they must be destroyed unless there is an order from the High Court pending an election petition.

National Members of Parliament are elected by the National Assembly itself from among candidates nominated by mass organisations and approved by the National Executive Committee of the Party. The five mass organisations are the Trade Union (JUWATA), Youth Organisation (VIJANA), Women’s Organisation (UWT), Cooperative Union (WASHIRIKA) and the Parents’ Association (TAPA). Each organisation nominates six candidates. The National Assembly elects fifteen Members out of the thirty candidates Dominated by the five mass organisations.

Women Members for the special reserved seats are also elected by the National Assembly after their names have been approved by the NEC. Prior to that all women candidates whether Members of the Women’s Organisation or not, submit their nomination forms to the UWT. In nominating them the UWT has to give equal consideration to candidates from both parts of the United Republic. The NEC will have to approve thirty candidates, fifteen from each side of the United Republic. To ensure that the Islands are represented the constitution stipulates that at least five woman members must come from Zanzibar. Women are also free to contest seats in other categories of Member, for example, as Constituency Members, National Members etc. The Parliament of 1980-85 had a total of 26 Women Members, of whom one was a Cabinet Minister, two were Ministers of State and one was a Regional Commissioner.

At the first sitting of the Assembly in a new Parliament the members elect a Speaker. He may be elected from within the House, or from without. A Speaker who is not a Member of Parliament must have the necessary qualifications to become a Member of Parliament. The present Speaker is not a Member of Parliament. The Deputy Speaker must, however, be a Member of Parliament.

The first sitting of the House after a general election is summoned by the President. Subsequent meetings are summoned by the Assembly on a date mentioned in a motion moved by a Minister and decided without amendment on the last day of the sitting of the Assembly. The National Assembly meets four times a year for about ninety days. The longest session is the budget session which meets for about fifty days. The proceedings of the Assembly are conducted in Kiswahili or English. All Members, however, use Kiswahili when debating in the House, but most of the Bills are published in English.

The National Assembly has ten standing committees as follows:
– the Steering Committee,
– the Constitutional Affairs and Legislation Committee,
– the Finance and Economic Committee;
– the Political Affairs Committee;
– the Public Accounts Committee;
– the Parastatals Organisation Committee;
– the Social Services Committee;
– the Standing Orders Committee;
– the Foreign Affairs Committee; and,
– the General Purposes Committee.

Every Bill is published in the Official Gazette in two issues at an interval of not less than seven days. The first publication of a Bill must be at least twenty one days before the Bill is introduced in the House. Very urgent Bills may be introduced without fulfilling the twenty one day rule provided they are supported by a certificate of urgency signed by the President and laid on the table by a Government Minister. After a Bill has been published and before it is debated in the House, it is referred to the appropriate Standing Committee. After the Chairman of the Standing Committee has reported to the Speaker that the Committee has concluded its consideration of a Bill referred to it, the first reading of the Bill is entered on the Order Paper on such day as the Minister in charge of the Bill may appoint. The first reading is confined to the general merits and principles of the Bill. It is at this stage that Members consider whether to support or oppose the Bill. The debate on the second reading of the Bill is confined to amendments if any. The procedure is the same for both Government and Private Members’ Bills, except that before a Private Member’s Bill is published in the Official Gazette its objects and reasons must be approved by the House itself. When a Bill has been read a second time, a printed copy is presented to the President by the Speaker for the President’s assent or other order.
Chief A.S. Mkwawa

Jan van Donge and Athumani J. Liviga writing in the April 1986 issue of the Oxford University Press publication “Parliamentary Affairs” gave some facts and figures arising from research they have been conducting into the recent history of the Tanzanian Parliament and the CCM Party. They covered the period 1965 to 1980.

For example, an analysis of the four elections for M.P.’s (1965, 1970, 1975 and 1980) revealed that 45% of all candidates stood once only and lost their election battle; 78% of the successful candidates served only one term; 41% of all M.P.’s stood for re-election but half of them lost the second time; and only 22% sat in more than one Parliament. An exceptional eight people were members of all four Parliaments.

Parliamentary elections have also proved risky for front bench members. Some Cabinet Ministers have a long record of representing their constituencies (four of the eight who won four times are long serving Ministers) but one or more Ministers lost their seats in every election. There is thus no hard core of safe seats for political heavy weights as in the British system. The grass roots exert a strong influence in Tanzania.

SUCCESS RATE OF CANDIDATES 1965-1980

Number of Times Winning/Losing – Number of candidates

Win once- 190
Lose once – 267
Win once; Lose once – 53
Win once; Lose twice – 6
Win twice – 39
Win twice; Lose once – 9
Win twice; Lose twice – 2
Lose twice – 6
Win three times – 10
Win three times; Lose once – 4
Win four times – 8
Lose three times – 2

Looking at Party as distinct from Parliamentary elections the story is rather different, The 1982 elections confirmed those already in power, This was also the case in the elections for district and regional Party chairmen as well the Party National Executive Committee (NEC), The latter was dominated by professional politicians who make their living working for the Party while M.P.;s hardly played a role. Of the 130 NEC members elected only five were constituency M.P.’s but 11 had held the position in the past. Only in the elections for regional chairmen can a relationship be seen between a parliamentary career and a Party career. Almost half of the 25 regional chairmen elected in 1982 had at sometime been parliamentary candidates. Only one combined the two posts at the same time. At the district level this relationship was not evident at all. Fifteen of the 112 district Party chairmen had been parliamentary candidates; none of them was at the time in parliament and nine among them had never won.

A comparison of success in the 1980 parliamentary elections with success in the 1982 NEC elections is instructive. 25 of the 164 NEC candidates from the mainland had also stood as well in the 1980 parliamentary elections. Some of them won in both, some lost in both but ten who lost in the parliamentary elections became members of the NEC in 1982. If a politician fails in a parliamentary career that does not mean an end to a Party career.

In the case of the national M.P.’s there is a much lower rate of turnover than in the case of constituency M.P.’s. Politics loses its risky character. 25 of the 40 national M.P.’s stood for (indirect) re-election in 1980 and 19 of them won. People who lose in their constituencies sometimes try to come back as national M.P.’s. Twelve of those who contested such seats in 1980 had been directly elected M.P.’s before. This was no guarantee for success however as six of them lost in the indirect elections as well. It may be necessary, according to the authors, to be well connected at the top because the national M.P.’s tend to belong to the political establishment. Fifteen of the 40 national M.P.’s elected after the 1980 elections were Cabinet Ministers, managing directors of parastatal organisations or NEC members.

The authors of the article conclude that parliamentary elections are of an exceptional nature in the Tanzanian system. Although in general there is much security of office in Tanzania this does not apply to ordinary M.P.’s. Cabinet Ministers belong, the authors say, to the world of security. If people who belong to that world lose an election they tend to be appointed as M.P.’s and are included in the Cabinet. In every Cabinet there has been a substantial number of appointed M.P.’s. A ministerial career can be, say the authors, independent of favour with the electorate.

THE ARUSHA DECLARATION
Date: February 5, 1967
Place: Arusha, Tanzania
Basic elements: – The TANU Creed,
– The Policy of Socialism;
– The Policy of Self-Reliance;
– TANU Membership;
– The Leadership Code.
Described at the time as: A textbook model of Third World development, one of the most coherent and constructive documents to have emerged in Africa so far – Los Angeles Times.
Actions which followed and are associated with it: Nationalisation of the “commanding heights” of the economy – the Banks, insurance companies and much of estate agriculture.

Tanzania has been celebrating. A Shs 1,2 million Heroes Monument has been unveiled in Dodoma. The Tanzanian flag has been hoisted by youths on the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. Other groups of young people have been walking and cycling from all over Tanzania to Dodoma to join in the celebrations. Potholes have been filled in on roads, buildings have been painted. There was music and dancing.

But there has also been a great deal of reflection. The occasion? The 20th Anniversary of the Arusha Declaration and the tenth Anniversary of the CCM Party.

It is a cliche to say that Tanzania is at a crossroads but everything seems to indicate that that is just where Tanzania is. And one of the most encouraging things about Tanzania today is the degree of freedom with which everyone joins in the discussion about the best direction for Tanzania in the future.

The Achievements
The celebrations, or, more correctly, the reflections began in December 1986 when, as reported in Bulletin No 26, President Mwinyi opened an International Conference on the Arusha Declaration in Arusha. He made a pragmatic speech, as is his custom, and began by saying that Tanzanians always knew that building socialism in a society with inherited capitalist and feudalistic tendencies would be a long process. “It is for this reason” he said, “that no time frame was established for the implementation of the Arusha Declaration. It is not surprising therefore,” he said, “that today, almost twenty years after the adoption of the Declaration, Tanzania is neither socialist nor self-reliant.”

He went on “but the process of building socialism and self-reliance has begun. It is also a fact that the foundation for further progress towards our cherished goal has already been firmly laid down. Remarkable and positive change has taken place in Tanzania since the adoption of the Arusha Declaration.

“The most fundamental principle of our socialist policy is equality among all citizens …. equality means equal access to basic social services. It also means equality in decision making on matters of interest and importance to society. It means, above all, equality in personal incomes.

“The results of our efforts to give reality to the principle of human equality are most visible in the field of education, By providing free education Tanzania has made remarkable achievements in the struggle against one of our enemies, ignorance. At the time of independence in 1961 only 486,000 children went to primary school. Today 3.7 million go. In 1961 only 11,832 pupils were enrolled in public secondary schools. In 1984 40,617 were enrolled. At independence we had one University College with only 14 students. Today we have two full universities – Dar es Salaam with 3,970 students and the Sokoine University with approaching 500 students.

“Great achievements have also been made in the field of health. By providing free medical services, the Government has ensured that no Tanzanian dies of disease because of lack of money to pay for medical care.

“The number of hospitals has increased from 98 at Independence to 149 today. The number of dispensaries has increased from 978 to more than 2,600: At the time of Independence there were only 12 Tanzanian doctors for a population of more than ten million people. The equivalent of one doctor far over 830,000 people. Now there are about 800 doctors which is equivalent to one doctor far 26,000 people. The achievements made in the field of health are clearly reflected in the quality of life. For example, infant mortality rate has fallen from 225 babies for every 1,000 children born to 137. People live longer. Life expectancy is now 51 years. This is still low compared to more advanced societies but at independence it was only 35.

“The improvement in health services has been greatly enhanced by the provision of clean water to an increasing number of people, particularly in the rural areas. In 1961 only about 11% had access to clean water. Today it is estimated that over ten million people or just under 50% of the population have access to clean water within 400 meters of their homes.

“The policy of socialism has enabled us to prevent the growth of gross inequalities in incomes between Tanzanians. For example, in 1962 the ratio of urban personal income after tax was estimated to be 18.8 to 1. In 1966 the ratio was 15.7 to 1. In 1984 the ratio was 4.9 to 1. This progress towards equality in personal incomes has been made possible through deliberate fiscal, monetary and income policies. These policies have helped us to prevent the growth of a class society”.

The Debate
The debate began at the International Conference and continued in the press and in public forums from then until the celebrations began early in February 1987. It will continue in the future as the Central Committee of the NEC began planning a further workshop on the Arusha Declaration while the celebrations were still underway.

The debate was not confined to Tanzania. Haroub Othman, writing in ‘The Observer’ looked at what he described as the “unfulfilled promise” of the Arusha Declaration. “One of its major weaknesses was its failure to provide an analysis of the Tanzanian class system; the struggle for independence and democracy and that for socialism was not addressed” he wrote. After listing some of the remarkable achievements of Tanzania especially in the social services he pointed to some of the serious policy errors that had been made, particularly in the economic sphere. “Agricultural investment has been abysmally low; less than 15%; state farms have consequently ground to a halt while the peasant farmer struggles to fend for himself, his only contact with the Government being through the various taxation mechanisms necessary to prop up bureaucracies in marketing boards.

“Agricultural production is not just stagnant: it is showing a downward curve. Tanzania now has to depend on food aid, of necessity with political strings. The performance in industry has not been much better – most industries are working at about 30% capacity if they are not shut ,down. Indiscipline, inefficiency and corruption have become the norm.

“This sad economic state has led to the virtual death of one of the Arusha Declaration’s main pillars – the Leadership Code. This sets out the code of conduct for public leaders. It essentially sought to limit the accumulation of wealth by such leaders. But the galloping inflation and the low salaries have made a total mockery of the Code. What about the Party? Ah, the man in the street will tell you, the Party is supreme. It is also specified in the Declaration as the tool for building socialism. But the grass root branches are weak – no meetings, no membership dues, no ideological classes. Consequently the Party has to be heavily subsidised by the Government, From Shs 11,124,417 in 1973/74 (39.3% of the Party’s total budget) to Shs 384,014,700 in 1984/85 (92.5% of the Party’s budget). The question is supreme to whom?”

‘Africa Now’ in the cover story of its February 1987 issue focussed on implementation of the villagisation policy. “While the villagisation policy was undoubtedly good. it was the manner with which Party and Government officials went about implementing it that exposed it to grave criticism from which it was to suffer for years to come. It was clear that the people who were handpicked to spearhead the implementation of the programme knew very little or absolutely nothing about what they were being asked to undertake, treating it more as a military style operation than as a project that might take a lifetime to accomplish ….. The failure of the overall supervising authority to discover in time what had gone wrong and to institute remedial measures was another factor which led to unfortunate results. Indeed, it was not until the second part of the decade that calls for ‘de-urbanisation’ of the ujamaa villages, so as to allow more room for agricultural undertakings, began to be voiced. But the damage had already been done”.

The article went on on the subject of the Leadership Code. “A committee was set up for the Code’s enforcement and to investigate alleged violations of it. But, over a period, it is apparent that the committee has failed in its purpose and lacks both the eyes with which to see the violations of the Code and the teeth with which to punish the miscreants”.

The Tanzanian News Agency (Shihata) in one of a series of articles during the celebrations took a strongly positive position: “The Declaration is a great document, a towering masterpiece to have emerged in Africa; it is almost a revelation, It drew acclaim from all over the world and amassed a wealth of prestige and respect for Tanzania – then and now, only a poor Third World African nation. To belittle the spirit of the document, therefore, is to despise oneself; to demand its removal is to betray the Tanzanian masses who agonised with it through its formation. To dislike it indicates a moral turpitude of self-aggrandisement and self centredness in the true spirit of the bourgeois mentality”.

At a rather lower level of rhetoric, Shihata produced a number of articles on specific aspects of the Declaration and its aftermath, For example, on the subject of the banks it wrote “the banks, most of which were foreign owned, withdrew skilled and experienced personnel in the vain hope of disrupting their operations and making the country’s financial transactions come to a standstill. But, far from wrecking the banks and slowing down economic development, the banks operated more efficiently, expanding their activities and realised more profits. The National Bank of Commerce is today giving better service to the people of Tanzania than the private banks did. The Bank now has 150 branches in the whole country compared to 41 at the time of nationalisation. ]n 1984/85 it declared a dividend of Shs 40 million”

Daily News staff writer Halima Shariff also pointed to one of the more positive elements… Tanzania today is more self-reliant in terms of indigenous experts manning various sectors of production and adopting her own development policies”. But, in a well balanced article he thought it appropriate to mention also the recent report of the Auditor General. The report had said that the Government had suffered a Shs 52,688 million loss in cash and stores in 1984/85 in 18 ministries and departments and in 14 regions. People had been apathetic about prompt accounting. He went on to welcome the Shs 120 billion Economic Recovery Programme launched in June 1986 and the allocation of between 30 and 40 per cent of annual development budgets to agriculture. He went on “we need to be more action oriented and do what we have to do today, not tomorrow”

The Socialist
Some cutting comments came from a reader of the Daily News who signed himself “Socialist” – “As I understand it, socialism is an attitude of mind; it cannot be acquired by one’s ability to propound Marxist and Leninist philosophies alone. It could be acquired by a person who believes in justice and liberty – one who hates poverty, oppression and war. Any person who has a belief in that should count himself a socialist, I believe that socialists are made from their beliefs and nothing more.

“Most of the people in our country, though of such beliefs, are scared out of socialism because of what those persons who call themselves Socialist are doing. Look around you, you may not fail to spot a person who exploits and oppresses his fellow human beings. One wonders as to whether they truly understand what they talk about when they call themselves socialists.

“It is high time the socialists, if there are any, put their own houses in order to attract other members to their fold. It is my contention that a mere lecturing of a person for three months and then give him a card does not make him a socialist.

“The Arusha Declaration is said to be a blueprint of socialist construction in Tanzania. Are we more socialist now than we were in 1967? Have the anti-socialist attitudes we had then changed? Are we not now more capitalist minded than we were in 1967? Look at our youths. What are they doing? Look at our firms. How are they managed? Look at our workers. Look at our peasants. Look at our offices. And, finally, look at our Party.

“Since we have said that socialism is an attitude of mind, it is not difficult for any person who understands socialism and who is honest with himself to judge the extent of our success in building socialism in this country since 1967”

Self – Reliance.
Meanwhile back in this country, the article by Haroub Othman in the “Guardian”, referred to above, had brought a response from one of its readers. Christine Lawrence in a letter to the Editor referred to part of his article in which he had said that the forthcoming Party Congress in October would be the last hope for socialists in Tanzania. She went on to write that: Socialist in his sense seems to imply a limited concept allied to a Western/Marxist stereotype of a socialist state. Whatever comes out of the next Party Congress will be a Tanzanian variety of socialism, and this is as it should be.

“Self-reliance is certainly not dead. As you know, the majority of people in Tanzania live in rural areas. In spite of great difficulties over the years, they have continued to be self-reliant. These are the people who elect the Government, upon whom the economy depends and for whom the Party must speak most loudly.

“As regards the “aggressive policy of seeking aid” what can a poor country do except stand on its own feet and shout? They certainly stood out a long time against the IMF terms and in so doing gave encouragement to other nations in similar dire straits. To say that this policy is not self-reliant is quite mistaken.

“Haroub Othman rightly points out that there have been some achievements in the years since the Arusha Declaration. If the time has now come to revise the Arusha Declaration, should we not regard this as a sign of growth and development?”

The Guardian printed this letter under the heading “Stand up for Self-Reliance.” And that is exactly what Mwalimu Nyerere did in his speech at the climax of the celebrations on 5th February 1987 in Dodoma. The speech occupies 32 pages; in the extracts which follow we have tried to give the main gist of the first part of this important speech. The remainder will be covered in issue No. 28. David Brewin

Mr. President, Wanachama wa CCM, Wananchi,

We have a double celebration today. 20 years of the Arusha Declaration. And 10 years since Chama cha Mapinduzi came into existence.

It is a celebration. And on both counts it deserves to be. Despite all our problems, or perhaps because of our problems, we have a right to rejoice because we have reached this anniversary and enjoy peace and quiet.

Chama Cha Mapinduzi
For twelve years we had a One Party State with two parties. On February 5th 1977 we put that right. Chama Cha Mapinduzi was born. That event marked a very important step forward for Tanzania. It reduced the opportunity for dangerous intrigue against the independence and unity of our nation. Few people in the world have noticed the great success of that move. For it is only when you fail that the rest of the world comments. Yet CCM has already proved its worth. When enemies of our unity tried to divide us, Chama Cha Mapinduzi was able quickly and in unity to clean up the political atmosphere where it had got soiled. But we still have a lot of work to do.

When CCM was formed, we all said that we hoped it would take the good points of both TANU and ASP and forget the bad. In some things that has happened. But it has not always happened.

At some time since then CCM has got lax. We allowed our record of unity to make us big headed and lazy. Many of our Branches and Cells do not hold meetings in accordance with the constitution. That means that democracy within the Party was weakened. How can members control their Party and help decide its policy when they don’t meet. And when meetings are held, they are not meetings for discussion, but just to listen to speeches and take orders from leaders. In these conditions it is hard for our leaders to learn what the people think. This too means that our democracy has been weakened.

But at District, Regional and National level, meetings have always been held regularly. And at all Party Committee meetings we have the very good practice of discussing everything openly and frankly. Also four other things have ensured that the peoples problems have always been brought to the attention of the national Party and the Government.

First, our people are politically conscious – resulting from long term political education. Secondly, we have a Parliament and Revolutionary Council where the troubles of the people are discussed openly and without fear. Thirdly, we have a good number of Party members and leaders who have remained very active, And, fourthly, we have a Government and Party press which has drawn attention to faults and problems as well as successes.

As a result, our democracy has been maintained. And to strengthen that democracy further, the Party has begun to correct its faults. District, Branch and Cell elected leaders are now more concerned to call meetings; for if meetings are not held they have to explain why. The improvement is not universal yet; and the system of checking up does not operate everywhere yet. But it will.

I am less confident of progress in the second area. I do not know whether real discussion does now take place when Party meetings are held. Nor am I sure that, if any discussion does take place at Branch meetings, it includes a consideration of what they can do to solve a local problem. And if this does happen I am doubtful about how often the meeting makes plans, and then acts to overcome the difficulty – by local effort.

Our Party is very good at mobilising people for a rally, a mass meeting like this one or the reception of an honoured guest. We are not so good at organising the people for voluntary work to solve their own problems.
And when a big celebration is to take place, it is very easy for the Party to decide to put a cess on something which is produced or sold locally. This is a mistake. First it is not the job of the Party to put a cess on goods; this is the responsibility of the Government. And, secondly, the ease of acting in that way encourages laziness in the Party.

Party elections take place this year. The possibility of losing their jobs always wakes people up! An election also gives Party members a chance to get rid of leaders who have failed them or to re-elect those who have tried to carry out their responsibilities. Just now there is a great deal of activity in the country! In pointing that out I am not campaigning – for anyone!. I am just saying that CCM is here to stay.
When the Party celebrates its 20th anniversary I believe it will be stronger, more socialist, and still more firmly rooted among the people.

The Arusha Declaration
Today we are also celebrating 20 years of the Arusha Declaration. It was one of the good things taken over by the CCM from one of its constituent parties!

The Arusha Declaration defines the ideology of the Party. It is our basic statement of purposes and principles; it is the foundation of all Party and Government decisions.

In the course of time every basic document deserves review to see whether it still applies to changed conditions. The American Constitution is over 200 years old and still valid; but it has been amended 26 times. So it is not surprising that some people whisper that the Arusha Declaration needs revision.

Even I agree that it does. One obvious example is the need for a new edition with the word CCM instead of the word TANU – throughout! Apart from things like that, let us look at it again.

The Creed
Part One sets out the Creed ~ the ideology of the Party:
– That all human beings are equal;
– That every individual has a right to dignity and respect;
– That every citizen is an integral part of the nation and has
the right to take an equal part in Government ……. and so on. All the nine principles are of this kind. So who wants to change them? There may be a few individuals who do, but they are certainly not the Peasants and Workers of Tanzania. There is nothing to amend – unless we want to improve,the style and the punctuation!

Policy of Socialism
Part 2 of the Arusha Declaration defines what socialism is. It is important to understand this Part very thoroughly, for all sorts of things get called socialism these days!

This Part 2 has four sections. The first explains exploitation, and says that exploitation of man by man is incompatible with socialism. And it concludes: “Tanzania is a nation of peasants and workers, but it is not yet 11 socialist society. It still contains elements of feudalism and capitalism with their temptations. These feudalistic and capitalistic features of our society could spread and entrench themselves”

That was said 20 years ago, but it is still true. It is not easy to root out the foundations of capitalism and feudalism from any society. And when a country is in serious economic difficulties – as we are – the capitalists use the problem as a means of trying to get it to abandon its socialist ambition. They try to persuade the people as a whole, and the chicken-hearted socialists, to abandon the path which has brought them to where they are now. They tell them that if they would use a different and non-socialist path they would be more prosperous, and they would not experience any difficulties. Converting our people away from socialism is the objective of the capitalists and exploiters all over the world, as well as of their followers in Tanzania. Yet I do not believe the capitalists will succeed.

Secondly, the Arusha Declaration says that to root out exploitation the major means of production and exchange must be “controlled and owned by the peasants through the machinery of their Government and their cooperatives”.

But the Declaration does not go into detail about what should be owned by the nation, what by local authorities, what by cooperatives. Nor does the Declaration say what sections can be controlled by means other than public ownership. It says land must be publicly owned; but it does not say “the 100 acre shamba owned by one person must be nationalised; the 99 acre shamba owned by a different person must not be nationalised”. It leaves the Government, under the general guidance of the Party. and in the light of circumstances at any one time, to do what is necessary to implement the principle of public ownership and control.

So when a new problem comes up, we again discuss and decide what should be publicly owned, and what economic activities of the nation can be controlled by other means – whether by licencing, by taxation or something else.

Tanzania has already completed the task of taking the major means of production and exchange into public ownership. This is a vitally important achievement in any country, especially in a Third World country, which is trying to build socialism.

We criticise the efficiency of some of the Parastatals which run these enterprises on our behalf. And we reorganise them from time to time – sometimes even allowing some minor units to go back to private ownership. But we do not revise the principles of public ownership and control. There are those who would like us to do so but they are not socialists. Public ownership and control is an essential element in socialism.

The third section of this part of the Arusha Declaration emphasises that “true socialism cannot exist without democracy also existing in the society”. How can that be denied? Socialism is based on the principle of human equality and dignity. Every person must be able to take part in their government.

It is true that real progress towards socialism is difficult if the capitalists succeed in using democracy to confuse the mass of the people about the meanings and implications of socialism. They then vote for non-socialists. But you certainly cannot build socialism, or maintain it, unless it is understood, and rests on the will of the people and the support of the people. You cannot force people to be free or to be socialists!

The final section of this part of the Arusha Declaration says that socialism is more than organisations or slogans. It is an ideology and a belief – an attitude of mind. “A socialist society can only be built by those who believe in, and who themselves practice, the principles of socialism”.

Our experience shows the need for socialist commitment by leaders which includes all Party members. Our socialist progress has been hindered by some dishonest, selfish, Party leaders and members who support socialism with their mouths but not with their actions. Such people bring discredit on the CCM and on the doctrine of socialism.

Self-Reliance
Part 3 of the Arusha Declaration deals with Self-Reliance. It starts by saying “TANU is involved in a war against poverty and oppression in our country; this struggle is aimed at moving the people of Tanzania from a state of poverty to a state of prosperity.” You don’t need me to tell you we have not won that war! After a very good start we have experienced many setbacks.

The next section is headed “A poor man does not use money as a weapon.” We said that in 1967 because very many people were constantly demanding that the Government give them money in order to bring development. But today we still talk in the same way. We still seem to think that the money is there and the trouble is the Minister of Finance.

We still talk as if without money there can be no development of any kind. Ask why the office is dirty – “no money.” Why the streets are full of rubbish “no money”. Usually these days there is the additional excuse – “there is no foreign exchange”. Or “Hali ya hewa ni mbaya” (conditions are bad).

Yet we know that the amount of money a country has is a sign of how developed it is. America is a developed country; its national income is equivalent to 15,390 U.S. Dollars for every citizen. Tanzania is not developed. Our national income is equivalent to 210 U.S. Dollars for every citizen. Thus it is obvious that it would be very stupid indeed for us in Tanzania to try to imitate these wealthy people either in our everyday lives or in our plans for economic development.

But we can still develop ourselves on the basis of self-reliance. Our development strategy has to be based on what we can do for ourselves.

That is what the Arusha Declaration said 20 years ago. And now we know it to be true – from experience.

Of course there are some things you cannot do without money. So we are grateful for the aid we have received from friendly countries and people … But the aid is given to help our own efforts, not to put us to sleep …. Now however, some people don’t think of doing anything for themselves. A village school is needed – we ask for aid; a maize mill – we ask for aid. And if we ask why these things have not been built they say we have not yet got a donor!

That approach was always contrary to the Arusha Declaration. Now it is absurd also.

Often now Government is told “we will lend you money if you abandon your socialist policies”. That is what the Arusha Declaration said would happen. It is obvious that if we depend on money for our development when we don’t have any money, we shall become slaves of those who do have it, The proverb says: the rich govern the poor, and he who borrows is the slave of he who lends, The Arusha Declaration says~ to govern yourself is to be self-reliant. All the governments of Tanzania have refused to agree to pal i Hcal conditions for aid or loans. That is true of President Mwinyi’s Government as it was for mine.

But it is obvious that we have to remain vigilant. The IMF is not a friend of Tanzania. It is an institution used by the imperialist countries which govern it to control the economy of a poor country and destabilise the governments of countries they do not like. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. So let us be vigilant! If you agree to give them a goat they will demand a camel.

(Mwalimu Nyerere went on to emphasise the vital importance of agriculture in Tanzania’s economy and the need to concentrate effort on the peasant farmer rather than on large scale farming. He spoke briefly about Party membership – again the Arusha Declaration did not need changing – and then spoke at some length on the Leadership Code. He had no objection to leaders making a little extra money in their spare time but said that the Code must be maintained in its essentials. “If some leaders break the Code what should we do? Abandon the Code? Religious leaders try to reform those of their followers who sin. If reform does not take place, the sinners are expelled from the Mosque or Church. CCM is not a religious Party but we have the ideology and rules of socialists. When we enter the Party all of us promise to adopt this ideology and follow these practices. And if we break that promise the Party has the right to try to get us to reform. If it does not succeed it has the right to expel us”.
We hope to publish further extracts in our next issue – Editor

The Honourable Anne Makinda, Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister and First Vice President was clearly delighted to be the first to pass on the news to the Bulletin, during her recent visit to Britain, that President Mwinyi now had five women in his Cabinet. She suggested that in publishing the news of the Government reshuffle, which took place on March 23rd 1987, we should make quite clear in our heading that Tanzanian women had taken a further big step forward.

The changes were brought about as the result of the failure of the Minister of Trade and Industry (Mr. Basil Mramba) to win his disputed election case.

Amongst the principal changes were the following. Firstly, a new Ministry has been created to be responsible solely for Water. The Minister is Mr Pius Ngw’andu. Mr Paul Bomani, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Development became Minister of Labour and Manpower Development. The former Minister of Labour, Mr Daudi Mwakawago became Minister of Trade and Industries. The Minister of Education, Mr Jackson Makweta became Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Development and his post was taken by Professor Kighoma Ali Malima. Mrs Gertrude Mongela took over the additional responsibility for Lands to add to her existing portfolio in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism.

A further change was a lightening of the load on the President’s Office. Ne now remains with only one Minister of State – Mrs Anna Abdalla. The Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs and Planning now has two Ministers of State – Messrs Damas Mbogoro and Simai Pandu Mohamedi. Similarly, the Minister of Communications and Works now has a second Deputy Minister (J. J. Gachocha). Mrs Amina Salum Ali took over a new post in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with responsibility for International Cooperation. Mrs Fatma Said Ali remains Minister for Community Development, Culture, Youth and Sports.