Category Archives: Issue 58

TANZANIA IN THE MEDIA

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WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR CORRUPTION IN AID?
Under this title, in the June issue of Transparency International’s Newsletter, Brim Cooksey blamed foreign aid for much of the corruption found in developing countries. He wrote that one of the main reasons for the disappointing performance of structural adjustment programmes was systematic corruption. An extreme example had been Tanzania’s import substitution programme which had allowed local manufacturers to import raw materials and finished goods. Some companies stopped paying counterpart funds. Import duty and sales taxes were not paid on some imports. Neither the Treasury nor the commercial banks had the administrative capacity or the integrity to handle large volumes of free foreign exchange and the donors ignored the problem.. . . ‘in December 1996 the IMF started disbursing a US$240 million structural adjustment loan but to date not one private or parastatal company has been put in receivership for the hundreds of millions of donor dollars which went astray ….pressure to spend (donor money) has led to unbelievable over funding.. . .well known examples are NGO’s, many of which are created with the sole objective of embezzling donor money’.

The writer went on to say that the picture emerging from the recent Warioba Report on corruption was that of an oppressed people largely at the mercy of an incompetent and corrupt state apparatus. Unfortunately, the report had not mentioned corruption in aid and this matter should be explored (Thank you Ron Fennel1 for this item – Editor).

ELEPHANTS
AFRICA (July-August) reported that singing of Ishe Konzberera (God Bless Africa) greeted the 74-21 vote at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Harare to relax the protection of the African elephant in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe and allow regulated sales of ivory in 1999.

SPARTAN SPLENDOUR
Dr. Adbayo Williams, wrote in AFRICA TODAY (July/August) about what he described as the ‘new generation of visionary African leaders’ now emerging on the continent. It contrasted former President Mobuto of Zaire who ‘will spend his last days in lonely exile’ on the one hand with Nelson Mandela ‘who will be granted his last wish to die with a smiling face’, Leopold Senghor of Senegal who was spending his last days in ‘refined retirement’ and Julius Nyerere who, ‘in spartan splendour, still continues to function as the father of his nation’.

HELL ON EARTH
Tanzanians figured prominently in a two-page article in the July/August issue of NEW AFRICAN under the heading ‘Turkey: Hell on Earth for African Immigrants’. Istanbul was said to have less than 1,000 African immigrants but half of them were currently in detention, rotting away on trumped up charges. The trouble had started, the article said, when a Tanzanian was caught with heroin stuffed in his back-pack in June 1996. ‘This gave the Turkish police the excuse to raid the apartments of other Africans in the city…. Later, 43 Africans (mostly Tanzanians) were caught crossing illegally into Turkey from Greece. The immigration police promptly put them in detention. A week later the narcotics police arrested a Tanzanian with 500 grammes of heroin. The police then went straight to the African hostel, took out 13 other Africans, and planted heroin on them. A year later they are still in detention….another group was found in the apartment of a Tanzanian who had a postcard photo of a famous Turkish model singer, Hulya Avsar. The police mistook the postcard for a real photograph and thought the Tanzanian (“a monkey from the African jungle”) had had the cheek to take the beautiful model as a girl friend. The police gave the Tanzanian a good beating before realising that it was merely a postcard….’

‘JENGA’
This is the name of the second-best-selling game (after Monopoly) in the world and is, of course, the Swahili word ‘to build’. The object of Jenga, is to take wooden bricks from the bottom of a tower and put them on top without making it fall over. Last year 3 million people bought it. The SUNDAY TIMES (July 6) explained how the inventor of the game, Leslie Scott, who now lives in Denmark, spent the first years of her life in Africa and her first language was Swahili (Thank you Randal Sadleir for this item – Editor).

THE CURATE’S EGG
‘Tourism. The definitive curate’s egg, the pre-eminent mixed blessing’ – so began a recent article in THE SCOTSMAN by Julie Davidson. She went on to say ‘This week I thought of Nasser K. Awadh … whose gene pool is Zanzibar’s history, who draws his pedigree from the Yemen, from Indonesia and also from sub-Saharan Africa … and who recently slapped an Italian visitor. Crowning tourists, rather than hotels, is not one of the traditions of Zanzibar hospitality, but Nasser was defending his island’s dignity. “I asked him several times to stop throwing sweets at the children and then photographing the ensuing scrum of human monkeys but he went on doing it. So I smacked him’. Later we were standing outside the Persian Baths at Kidichi, a relic of the Omani Sultanate, when we saw the same disagreeable device practised by two German men. This time Nasser controlled his itchy palm. He scolded the children instead while I scowled and muttered at the Germans…. The curate’s egg. Nasser knows the merits of its good parts. He is much in demand for his guide’s eloquence and authority, the valued employee of Abercrombie and Kent, the only British tour operator which maintains an office in Zanzibar. But A & K’s exclusive foothold will soon be challenged by Britain’s largest tour operator, Thomson, who will be the first mass market holiday company to go into Zanzibar…..’ (Thank you Fiona Scott for this item – Editor).

INDUSTRIES REVIEW
The INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE (June 11) contained a ‘sponsored page’ written by Richard Synge, who is based in Cambridge, Extracts: ‘Practically every sector of the economy is being transformed. The new Government policies are attracting investor interest from all over the world……analysts say that the first results of foreign direct investments made in the past five years will show over the coming months in the form of a rapid rise in gold exports and a sharp revival in the production of goods and services for the domestic market….evidence of the benefits of reform can be seen clearly in Dar es Salaam where a construction boom is under way. Mwanza is also developing rapidly with banks and other services moving in…. over the next three to five years Tanzania will begin to score some successes that will be noticed internationally…..if Uganda has done it, then Tanzania can do it……’ (Many thanks Ronald Neath for sending this item – Editor).

‘WHAT THE WITCHDOCTOR ORDERED’
This was the heading of a serious article in the DAILY TLEGRAPH (July 2) about how rich Tanzania is in medicinal plants and in people who say they can use them in medicine. With panic in the West that the African repository of potential future drugs will disappear as agriculture spreads across the continent, Tanzania is launching a pioneer project (through the Missouri Botanical Garden) which will try to document this plant world before it is too late and through training of local people, attempt to quell the fears of local scientists about the drug company scientists who, they say, fly in, whip some exciting looking plants from the bush, and then jet home again without benefiting the host country. The author of the article had visited the corner of the market in Dar es Salaam where the healers sell their exotic wares and went on to describe the work of the Tanzanian Institute of Traditional Medicine and of botanists at the university. Mention was made of a pile of gnarled ebony roots in the market used to relieve pain; elephant dung – ‘its smoke treats children’s fits’; and, lion oil ‘which relieves an inflamed leg’ (Thank you Liz Fennel1 for this item – Editor).

CORPORATE AMERICA
‘Kiswahili has found its way into the highest level of corporate America, sort of’. So began a note in the Spring 1997 issue of Mbegu za Urafiki (the Newsletter of (American) Friends of Tanzania) which is based in Maryland and has many former Peace Corps volunteers among its membership. The note continued: ‘The Miami-based Burger King Corporation has appointed Tanga born Dennis Malamatinas (41), the son of Greek sisal farmers as its Chief Executive…. although he left Tanzania at the age of six he still speaks a few words of Kiswahili and is believed to be the highest ranking American business executive who is from Tanzania (thank you Trevor Jaggar for this item – Editor).

BEAUTY CONTESTS
The September issue of NEW AFRICAN contained an article under the heading ‘Tanzania Bans Beauty Contests’ in which it wrote about what it described as the ever growing controversy over beauty contests. Organisers of a MSS Eastern Africa contest in April were warned that they were not to allow competitors to compete in swimsuits. Arguing that all beauty contests in the world allowed swimsuits, the non-Tanzanian entrants threatened to boycott the contest and the organisers backed down. But the government was said to have been furious. Arts and Languages Director Elinkunda Matteru said “We cannot allow our culture to be spoilt. We cannot allow the aping of shameful things with Africans walking in halls”. But former culture minister Philemon Sarungi was said to have defended the wearing of swimsuits as they are worn universally. The debate seems likely to continue.

SUKUMA SINGERS AND THE STATE

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Among recent study visitors to London has been Mr Elias Songoyi, Lecturer in Oral Literature and Drama at the University of Dar es Salaam. He has described to Tanzanian Affairs the fluctuating fortunes of two Tanzanian singers in their relations with the Tanzanian state during the last 40 years. One, known as Kalikali, who has since died, was from Kwimba; the other, known as Mwinamila, who is now 67, is from Tabora. Their lives and their art have gone through four distinct phases according to the political climate at the time, Mr Songoyi said.

In the pre-independence period singers were popular figures, both through their singing and though their position as medicine men. Kalikali used to sing about work, about politics, about people’s problems. The language of the songs was figurative, full of light hearted jokes and wit. The songs were also narrative, containing elaborate descriptions of people, things and events. Society was criticised. During the colonial period this freedom of expression was constantly threatened, but nevertheless, it managed to survive. When the independence struggle began, singers like Kalikali, and especially Mwinamila, joined with enthusiasm with their songs praising Nyerere and the TANU party he had established. But three years after independence, Kalikali became disillusioned. His songs reflected what the peasants were thinking (translated from the Kisukuma):

My skin is itching
I cannot stop scratching myself
I had harvested much cotton
But the price fell
Paul, the son of Bomani
Never turned to look back
He does not care for the peasant

Another of his songs spoke of ‘Area Commissioners/ your buttocks getting fat’ – a reference to their getting fat on the money collected for public works. Kalikali was seen to have gone too far. In 1965 he was detained in Butimba prison where he was kept incommunicado for two months before being released by order of President Nyerere. We don’t know exactly what happened during his detention but Kalikali learnt that the state was not a thing to be played with. When he came out, his songs were very different. A new phase had started which continued until the eighties. The song he sang soon after his release sounded repentant and resigned:

I brought suffering
To my children and my wives (4)
When I spoke about the price of cotton
That was my mistake
I shall not say it again
I shall never repeat……

By 1967 Kalikali was singing the praises of the Arusha Declaration and Nyerere. But his audience had changed. It was no longer the peasants. He was more and more addressing party and government officials. He started singing in Swahili as well as Kisukuma. One of his songs – a very long and detailed one – coincided with the visit in 1971, on the invitation of President Nyerere, to former British administrators:

Welcome back Englishmen
Come and see how Tanzania has become
We parted peacefully
We did not quarrel Englishmen
Schools are in every village…..

Kalikali’s counterpart, Mwinamila, was not detained; instead he received rewards for his singing. A house was built for him and he was given employment by the TANU party. He still works in the Cultural Affairs Department of the CCM even though he had also been very critical of the government in the 70’s and 80’s. By 1988 he was singing about the Walanguzi (the racketeers) who, in his view, were among the party and government executives.

Why was one artist detained and not the other? Mr Songoyi said that the relationship between artists and the state is often complex. In these two cases timing was important. Kalikali became critical in his singing when the state was still insecure, not long after the army mutiny in 1964. Mwinamila’s criticism coincided with the campaign against ‘economic saboteurs’ in the early 1980’s. Mwinamila also benefited from his close association with Nyerere whom he had known since 1954. Kalikali had no friends in high places. Their audiences differed. Following Sukuma dance tradition, Kalikali performed in the open where many people could attend. His songs were seen to be contagious, and, in the view of those in power, he had to be stopped from acting ‘in a manner prejudicial to peace and good order’. He had to change the nature of his songs; jokes, provocation, insults were no longer there. Mwinamila, being close to the party, was not a threat. He became a professional singer – the ‘crude’ language was out.

Next came the period of ‘liberalisation’ in 1985. Socialism seemed no longer to be the ideology. The gap of the state on artists was relaxed. Singers could express different ideas. Themes were no longer primarily political. Social relationships came to figure more prominently in the songs.

Now, in the 90’s, there have been more changes. Almost a full circle but in a different way. Party politics is now widely featured. But the main difference is that most singers are young and have been through primary education. They are no longer as conversant as the older singers with the artistic use of Kisukuma in their songs. Swahili words appear intermingled amongst older style phrases.

One wonders – could the next step be singing in English?

(Someone else who is closely involved in Sukuma and other cultural pursuits is Dr James Matunga, the owner of a herbalist clinic in Dar es Salaam, who is the chairman of a Society registered on January 25, 1997 under the title ‘Jumuiya ya Kuhifadhi na Kuendeleza Mila na Desturi za kiTanzania’ (to preserve and maintain Tanzanian customs) He has recently been touring Sukumaland and meeting vast crowds enthusiastic about restoring respect for traditional music and dancing. Among those who have been supporting this initiative have been the then Minister of Health, Mr Mayagila and Prince Rohert Lega, the son of the former Paramount Chief Majebele Masanja – Editor)

TOPICAL TIPS ON TRAVEL TO TANZANIA

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COMMON SENSE, awareness, vaccination and avoidance is the self-evident message. Knowing your own blood group could be useful. Taking needles and syringes and having a good travel insurance are important.

VACCINATION should be taken against Tetanus, Diphtheria, Polio, Typhoid, Hepatitis A and Yellow Fever. Vaccination against Hepatitis B, Rabies and Meningitis A & C may be indicated for longer term travellers and backpackers. Cholera vaccine is not very effective.

MALARIA has no effective vaccine so anti-malarial tablets must be taken. Three regimes are suggested: a) chloroquine 2 tablets weekly and paludrine 2 tablets daily (75% effective); b) mefloquine 1 tablet weekly (90% effective); c) doxycyline 1 capsule daily (75% effective). There is a lot of publicity surrounding mefloquine (Lariam) but it was our choice for a recent trip. Side effects are quite rare and usually show early, so start 3 or 4 weeks before going to see how you tolerate it.

PREVENTION OF BITES is also vital. Mosquitoes bite at night and prefer sweaty feet! Use screens and a pyrethrum impregnated sleeping net. Cover exposed areas. Use DEET insect repellent. Avoid sluggish water (Schistosomiasis) and fast running water (river blindness) so, no swimming, except in the ocean! Wear walking boots (snakes, bites, blisters).

TRAVELLERS DIARRHOEA is extremely common. It is normally self limiting with full recovery within a few days. Wash your hands, avoid untreated water, ice cubes, ice cream and raw fruit and vegetables unless they have been peeled. The mainstay of treatment is taking plenty of clear fluids (bottled drinks, clear soup) but powdered proprietary preparations of salt and sugar for reconstituting in boiled water are best (e.g. Dioralyte). The anti-biotic Ciprofoxacin is effective in helping most causes of the problem. Loperamide (imodlum) is a good anti-diarrhoreal.

Michael and Jo Nelki

STOP PRESS – RELATIONS WITH BURUNDI

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Following the reported killing of three Tanzanians by Burundi soldiers and in the light of Tanzania’s continued determination to exert economic sanctions against the government of Burundi leader Pierre Buyoya, who took power in a military coup on July 25 1966, relations between the two countries are said to be deteriorating as this issue of TA goes to press.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

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Tanzania usually gets a fairly good report from Amnesty International but the Annual Report for 1996 was highly critical. Extracts: ‘The authorities in Zanzibar were responsible both before and after the elections for harassment, sometimes violent, of supporters of the Civic United Front (CUF) which was repeatedly denied permits to hold meetings; after the elections hundreds of Pemba islanders working in Zanzibar were dismissed and their houses demolished….criminal charges such as sedition, vagrancy and involvement in acts of violence, often accompanied by the denial of bail for periods of two weeks or more were also used as methods of intimidating government critics and opponents. Scores of anti-government opponents were tortured and ill-treated by police and Anti-Smuggling Unit personnel…including shaving prisoners’ heads with broken glass, spraying prisoners with motor oil and forcing them to eat faeces…

On the mainland in August over 50 gold miners were killed … during evictions from disputed land in an operation involving the police, regional authorities and a Canadian mining company…the men were buried alive when small scale mines were bulldozed in advance of the company taking possession of the mines for industrial mining….criminal investigations appear to have been discontinued.

Amnesty international strongly criticised the government’s decision to impose a 31 December deadline for the return of Rwandese refugees and appealed to the government to ensure protection for refugees who had a wellfounded fear of human rights violations’.

In a strongly worded 16-page response, quoted in the Daily News on August 8, the Government attacked the Amnesty report for being one-sided and derived from hearsay and wild accusations by some disgruntled members of the Tanzanian community. On refugees, Amnesty had blamed Tanzania for arresting seven refugees for engaging in political activities against their state; in doing so Tanzania had been upholding UN regulations. Amnesty had exhibited an absolute lack of appreciation and gratitude for Tanzania’s positive attitude towards refugees and the great efforts made by Tanzanian citizens in handling refugee problems. On Zanzibar the statement said that Amnesty had relied on complaints made by the opposition CIJF party without considering the Mews of the government or ruling party. On the demolition of houses near an electric transformer, Amnesty had not mentioned the sabotage of a key electrical installation that had prompted the removal of people residing in its vicinity. On the Bulyanhulu mines episode in Kahama district, the government said that the story was fabricated. An investigation had reached the conclusion that no one was either intentionally or inadvertently killed in the exercise to stop further exploitation of the mines.

OBITUARIES

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Dr. RUTH ELLMAN, who, with her agriculturalist husband Antony, had a long standing association with Tanzania, died on June 6 after a courageous struggle against cancer. She taught at the Muhimbili Medical School from 1967 to 1970 and from 1994 to 1996 conducted research on malaria and anaemia at the Amani Medical Research Institute. This research is leading to important advances in the search for low cost approaches to prevention and treatment of malaria including the use of insecticide-treated bednets and combinations of herbal and modem remedies. There will be a memorial service later this year and a fund is being established in Ruth’s memory to carry forward the medical research she initiated – details from Antony Ellman, XXXX.

OSCAR KAMBONA (68) has died in London. Originally a close friend of Julius Nyerere and Secretary General of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) which brought the country to independence, Kambona held five ministerial portfolios in the post independence government. He was the son of the first African Anglican priest and in 1957 was admitted a member of Middle Temple in the UK. He and his wife Flora were the first black couple to be married in St Paul’s Cathedral; Julius Nyerere gave the bride away. He played the main role in the army mutiny of 1964 and was quoted in the obituary in the Daily Telegraph as saying “After I had calmed down the soldiers I went to fetch the other leaders (who had been in hiding) in my Landrover to bring them back to the city”. Mwalimu Nyerere praised him for his bravery but within a year, had fallen out with Nyerere because, according to the Telegraph, of the latter’s enthusiasm for socialism on the Chinese model – and for the one-party state. Kambona went into exile in 1967 (for 25 years) and plotted against Nyerere from abroad. When multi-party democracy came back to Tanzania in 1992 Kambona set up his own party TADEA but this has enjoyed little support, (Thank you Kim Keek and others for providing this information – Editor).

LETTERS

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BARRED FROM ANIMAL KINGDOM
The paragraph published in TA issue No. 57 under the above heading summarised an article published in the London Observer on April 5th. That article named the George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust and contained a number of grossly distorted facts and half truths.

I do not intend to comment on the Maasai claim to grazing rights in the Mkomazi Game Reserve since the Trust is not a party to the dispute but the statement that there are ‘…fly infested, stinking animal carcases, children with distended bodies …’ around the boundaries of the reserve is false. The lot of the local villagers is no better and no worse than that of most of the rural population in Tanzania. The famous ‘glass-fronted house with a satellite dish’ in which the Trust’s representative, Tony Fitzjohn, lives, was a one-room building constructed of local stone until a small nursery was added recently. Alas there is no satellite dish. Until he built his house, Fitzjohn lived for many years under canvas….

The Mkomazi Reserve is not privately run by the Trust and Fitzjohn is not the manager. It is a national reserve managed by the Tanzanian Government and has a Tanzanian manager. The George Adamson Trust was asked by the Government to assist in rehabilitating the reserve and it has acted strictly within its remit. It does not, as might be inferred from your comments, have the authority to negotiate with the Maasai.

The Trust and its sister trusts have raised millions of dollars for the building of roads and airstrips, equipping the ranger force, constructing the only purpose-built rhino sanctuary in Africa and for the Mkomazi Outreach Programme which funds resources and educational facilities for those living near the reserve. The Duke of Kent is not the patron of the trust. The trust has no such officer.

Most of the original Observer article is incorrect and indeed libellous …
Dr. S K Eltringham
Chairman of Trustees
The George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust

FREEDOM AND UNITY OR TRIBALISM?
Hasty, narrow research leads to shallow conclusions. The article ‘Barred from animal’s kingdom’ (Observer 6th April) which was referred to in your last issue, demonstrates both.

I am a Tanzanian. I have been working in rural extension for 23 years.. .I have worked in and around the Mkomazi Game Reserve for more than two years researching community conservation ….I and my colleagues have had considerable dialogue with villagers of all ethnic groups…we have lived there. From this research I have come to realise that the area is not just a Garden of Eden for Maasai that you fancy. There are other ethnic groups such as the Pare and Sambaa who have historical roots with the area inside and outside the Reserve, before the Maasai arrived…. Where was the voice of other ethnic groups in the article?

Another group whose viewpoint seems to have been omitted is that of the Tanzanian Government. Since the Reserve was gazetted there has been a great deal of consultation between the people and the government.. . .of course, where movement was not voluntary some force was used. Which government does not use force like this? Ask Swampy!!

…… It is vital that we Tanzanians solve our conflicts between different ethnic groups and between ethnic groups and the Government. This can only be done with good information and careful, broad research. Please do not antagonise and aggravate conflict between the government and the people, and between NG07s of the North and the South, with such poor information. Tanzania has 120 ethnic groups…. Groups in the Mkomazi area have coexisted for many years, they have intermarried, they have traded. They were and are still able to solve conflicts and have organised utilisation and management of rangelands and irrigation water together. It is wrong for outsiders to pick on one ethnic group, fancy it, sponsor it and promote it at the expense of other groups’ inclusion in debates.. . .
Yours, in love with my country,
Hildegarda Lucian Petri Kiwasila
University College, London

(I regret that it has been necessary to slightly abbreviate the above two important letters. I think it should be pointed out that our column headed ‘Tanzania in the Media’ is intended to tell readers what the international press is writing about Tanzania. What is written is not necessarily the view of the Britain-Tanzania society or of myself- Editor).

LAKE NYASA
Thank you for letting me have the address of Mr Clarke following my recent letter. On page 9 of Tanzanian Affairs No. 57 you refer to CCM’s candidate at the Magu vacant seat as being ‘a well-known local businessman who had been the NCCR candidate for the seat during the general elections’. If this refers to Dr. Festus Limbu, then our records show that Dr. Limbu is a member of staff of the Department of Economics at the University of Dar es Salaam. Dr. Limbu did contest the seat through the NCCR-Mageuzi during the general elections and lost. The description of the well-known local businessman I suspect fits one of the other contestants.
On page 12 there is a reference to Lake Malawi which is called Lake Nyasa by this side of the border!
Professor Geoffrey Mmari
Vice Chancellor, the Open University of Tanzania

STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT
One of the main tasks of a reviewer, dealing with writings on a controversial subject, is to place those writings in their context and let his readers know that there are two sides to the argument. John Budge, in issue No 57, simply fails to do this. There IS a debate on structural adjustment, but all he has done is to take a couple of writers from the ‘anti’ side and tell us how much he is in agreement with them.

Both Kaiser and Schatz, as he quotes them, draw their conclusions from shaky evidence. Tanzania’s admirable social cohesion was already there (in contrast to Kenya and Uganda) when Julius Nyerere took over the reins, and was not created later. Whatever you think about structural adjustment, the country’s economic and social decline dates from long before Government took to measures of economic liberalisation. It began as a spin-off of the one-party state and the centralisation of power; it continued with the policies of ‘nationalising everything’, pressures for people to leave their homesteads and migrate to ujamaa villages, and the unrealistically low producer prices fixed by Government which shattered national food production in the 1970’s. Crime and corruption went into a steep rise then, not after the adoption of IMF/World Bank policies.

Where WERE Messrs Budge, Kaiser and Schatz when all this was going on?
Dr Philip Mawhood
University of Exeter

‘SIXTY YEARS IN AFRICA: THE LIFE OF A SETTLER 1926-1986’
Thank you so very, very much for your wonderful review of Werner Voigt’s book in the last issue. I have long felt passionate about how great the story of Werner and Helga’s life is. You may not be aware that Werner died last February 8th. It is very unfortunate that we were not in touch just a year earlier because we stopped in England on the way to Tanzania and you could have met Werner and Helga (and myself and Evelyn, their daughter)……
Gordon Breedyk, Ottawa, Canada

‘PASTURES LOST’
I was delighted to read the kind review of my book about the Barabaig in your last issue. I am pleased to advise the reviewer, Christine Lawrence, that the book was published in Kenya…..but is also available from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) 3 Endsleigh St. London WClH ODD.

The quotation with which Christine ends her review is most apt. At this time in Tanzania the whole question of how land is to be administered is under consideration with a new land policy in place and a new land law to be passed by the Bunge in the near future.. . .Indications from the draft legislation suggest that customary tenure will be accommodated and the interests of pastoralists will be satisfied to an extent by its provisions. If this comes to pass then it will be the result of the efforts of many including pastoralists, a triumph of reason and as a result of good governance. I have made regular comment on this process in the IIED Bulletin Haramata.
Charles Lane

Reviewer John Budge has responded to the letters from Julie Jarman and Dr Astier Almedom in our last issue by writing to say that he is thoroughly ashamed of his ill-considered and inconsiderate comment about the handwashing of African children. He goes on ‘I suppose that foremost in my mind was the plight of country people in places where saving water is of paramount importance… I regret any implied devaluation of the magnificent work of WaterAid UNICEF, The Dodoma Hygiene Evaluation Study and the Tanzanian Government and above all, of devoted relief workers in close contact with village people. Perhaps I can take some consolation in the fact that their letters can play some small part in shedding even more light on a vital Issue of African rural life – the connection between water and killer diseases’ – Editor

REVIEWS

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Compiled by Michael Wise and John Budge

ADULT education in Tanzania: Swedish contributions in perspective, edited by Gunnar Rydstrom. Lonkoping Centre for Adult Education 1996 171p (Centre for Adult Education serles, 10) ISBN 91-7871-839-2, SEK 160 Obtainable from Vuxenutbildarcentrum, Lonkopings universitet S-58 L 83 Linkoping, Sweden

This is an anthology, based on the involvement and interaction of four Swedes, five Tanzanians, and two other expatriates in the adult education movement. The fist of the three main sections provides the “background to Sweden’s commitment to international aid in general and to adult education in Tanzania in particular”. Rolfe Sunden, in his article “How it all began” traces the history of Swedish involvement in adult education and folk development colleges in Tanzania. The author discusses the emergence and significance of the Social Democratic Party in Sweden and its belief, in the 1960s, that it could have “something to contribute to the new states, those just declared independent or those struggling for independence”. It is also emphasised that Sweden was particularly sympathetic to President Nyerere’s philosophy of Uhuru, Maendeleo, Demokrasi.

The second part provides four lengthy essays narrating personal experiences of Swedish participants. Folke Albinson discusses, amongst other things, his involvement in training adult education personnel: differences between the Swedish environment and that of Tanzania in terms of awareness of colleagues, teaching methods, economic circumstances and so forth. The example of his typist, Hamis, made him aware of the fact that “living conditions for almost all of the Tanzanian staff’ were more or less the same”. Perhaps Gunnar Rydstrom had the most challenging task. He was presented with a “short list of urgent requests: to get some kind of adult education journal or magazine going, to produce a handbook for adult educators, specifically geared to Tanzanian needs, and study materials to be used in evening classes and other courses”.

The third section presents contributions from Tanzanians. namely Yusuf Kassam. Nicholas Kuhanga. Paul Mhaiki and Shaaban Msuya, narrating their experience of participating In the Swedish input to adult education Most of them write as administrators. and it would perhaps have been appropriate for the beneficiaries to have been given an opportunity to air their views a: this point. Apart from narration of the various authors’ personal experiences in Tanzania, the book also shows some common points of agreement that the success of adult education in the country is attributed to, inter alia, personal commitment of President Nyerere at the time, favourable policies, commitment and dedication of administrators, favourable economic conditions and a warm Sweden-Tanzania relationship. The book presents such a picture of positive Swedish contribution that it would have been equally interesting to know why Sweden had to withdraw its support

Ali A.S Mcharazo

CHELEWA, chelewa: the dilemma of teenage girls, edited by Zubeida Tumbo-Masabo and Rita Lijestrom Uppsala Scandanavian Institute of African Studies. 1994 218p. ISBN 91-7106-354-4, distributed by Almqvist & Wiksell International, Stocknolm $15.95p

This interesting volume comes out of work by a team at the University of Dar es Salaam funded by the Swedish Agency for Research Co-operation with Developing Countries. The authors focus on a series of problems faced by young women. There are the health hazards faced by girls as young as thirteen due to pregnancy following on early marriage and casual sex. There is their low representation relative to boys beyond primary education. There are state laws that target those who commit abortions or infanticide and stipulate expulsion from school for pregnancy, whilst doing little to support girls who bear children and thereby jeopardise their education, job and marriage prospects. Exploited by men; disregarded by fathers, even their mothers may withdraw, blamed by their husbands for the disgrace the girl may bring to the family. Older women mock them in the pain of labour: -‘You thought it was ice-cream. Taste the sweetness of it now!’. (p. 181)

One of the challenging questions raised by the studies in this book relates to changes in the way young women learn about sex. There has always been a powerful taboo on discussion of such matters within the family; in the past it was the responsibility of the whole community to socialise young people through initiation ceremonies In some areas these collective rituals survive, but in many ways they are fading. given the onslaught of urbanisation, labour migration Islam, Christianity and ‘modern’ education systems. So too is the wider influence of kinsfolk and community in nuclear family affairs, whilst parents, schools and clinics have been unable successfully to fill the gap.

Hence Ntukulu’s call here for the revival of collective initiation ceremonies. On the other side of the argument, Shuma points out that in Lindi, where such ceremonies are still prevalent, there is a high level of teenage pregnancies as well as of maternal and child mortality in childbirth.

Two issues are raised here. The first is the value of continuing community concern for young women and the expression of this through collective means, whilst the second concerns the substance as well as the style of the teaching in initiation ceremonies. Shuma notes that in Lindi the matrilineal system of kinship does not stigmatise girls for becoming pregnant before marriage as responsibility is taken by their mother’s brothers to whose lineage children are affiliated. High rates of mortality have more to do with levels of poverty than with ignorance. In other areas there is a contradiction between teaching about sex and then expecting young people to abstain for many years. Tumbo-Masabo also argues that the teaching in such settings was always didactic, with girls unable to ask questions for fear of seeming too forward. It is also evident that girls’ initiation rites entailed learning subservience to the power of men, rather than the gender equality which ‘Tumbo-Masabo sees as essential to improving the lives of young women. This is a book that puts young people on the research agenda and raises issues of sexuality age and gender in a way that is relevant not only to other parts of Africa but also more widely Janet Bujra

CUSTODIANS of the land: ecology und culture in the history of Tanzania edited by Gregory Maddox, James Giblin and Isaria N Kimambo. London James Currey. Dar es Salaam Mkuki na Nyota. l996 xiv, 271p , £12.95p ISBN 0-8214-1134-9

This interesting collection brings together nine papers written by historians which consider interactions between local agricultural systems, human development and the environment in various different regions of Tanzania during different historical periods. The great strength of the collection is the detailed evidence provided, from excellent scholarly research amongst archival material as well as more easily available publications, of the diverse nature of agriculture and population dynamics of this huge country – material which will be of great use to Africanist students and scholars from a range of disciplines.

The book is presented in four sections. each considering a different aspect of environmental interrelationships. The first focuses on demographic issues and the first demographic paper, by Koponen provides some fascinating insights into Tanzanian population dynamics during the colonial period. The material on fertility rates and of truly terrifying levels of infant mortality I found particularly compelling. The other in this section provides a case study of environment and population growth during the colonial period in Ugogo. central Tanzania.

Part two focuses on the relationship between environmental change and human history in the northern highlands. Kimambo’s paper on precolonial development in Usambara, the Pare Mountains and on Kilimanjaro examines the significance of trade as a stimulant to economic innovation (presented here as a challenge to the idea that precolonial societies were inherently unable to respond to market opportunities). The discussion is enlivened by the author’s own background of being brought up on Kilimanjaro, and he brings personal experience to his examination of aspects of local agricultural systems. The second paper, by Conte, deals with the Usambara Mountains and the Impact of settlement by Wambugu pastoralists on the high forests

The third section on politics and environmental change contains two chapters examining environmental and agricultural issues in eastern Tanzania at different times: Handeni District in the nineteenth and early twentieth century and the Uluguru Mountains of Morogoro in the 1940s and 1950s. Both draw attention to the way in which political organisation can affect the environment – for example settled, organised and stable populations were able to create environments more suited to human occupation and development than the ‘natural’ vegetation and flora (e.g. ticks and tsetse flies) would allow.. Thus weakening the political structures easily leads to increased human vulnerability as the environment becomes ‘degraded’ – not in the usual sense utilised in the ecological literature, where human intervention is the cause of degradation, but in the more people-friendly sense that the environment is less productive for human needs because there is too little human intervention.

The fourth section, entitled Environmental and Morality, provides detailed case studies of agricultural and environmental issues in precolonial Buha, western Tanzania; early colonial times in the Kilombero Valley, and the 1950s in Mount Meru. In each case compelling evidence is presented of the existence of institutionalised concepts of ‘proper’ resource use amongst local communities, which was tied in not only to the exercise of indigenous political authority, but also to much more individual or very locally-based moral economies.

As a non-historian it is possible to feel that some of the authors might have found their positions easier to develop had they looked at more of the literature from outside their discipline – particularly geographical and contemporary demographic studies. Overall this is a valuable contribution to the literature on African environmental history. It should be of interest to any student of Tanzanian affairs in general, and provide valuable case study material for readers from a wide variety of disciplines, including geography, environmental studies and demography as well as history.
Deborah Potts

Jeffrey MEEKER, The Precarious socio-economic position of women in rural Africa the case of the Kaguru of Tanzania. Jeffrey Meeker and Dominique Meekers African studies review 40 (1) April 1997, p 35-58

There seems to be a common belief that while men in rural African societies ‘enjoy life’, often succumbing to the alleged ‘delights’ of drunkenness, laziness and debauchery, their women folk struggle valiantly against great odds to maintain a reasonable standard of living for their children and, incidentally, for their good-for-nothing- husbands. Although this is a dangerous general assumption, the authors found when interviewing a large number of representative women that they seemed to confirm that, sadly, it is not a complete misconception.

While then women are typically engaged in agricultural, household and income-earning work, they do not experience equal access to educational and economic resources because they are restrained by family relationships, land-holding customs, household power structures and other financial and social realities.

The Kaguru who occupy a hilly area in the Morogoro region, are cultivators mainly of millet, sorghum and maize, and keep chickens, goats and sheep. The land is relatively fertile but recurrent droughts, floods and rodent infestations often destroy the harvest, sometimes resulting in severe famine.

While attempting to secure universal primary school enrolment, various African countries find it impossible to achieve the same result in secondary education. particularly in rural areas where parents are too poor to afford fees. The writers suggest that the implementation of World Bark Structural Adjustment Programmes tends to decrease government spending, causing more difficulty for parents, especially of girls, who are in any case traditionally expected to remain at home, or be solely wives and mothers. One woman declared, “Yes. I went to school. In those days there was only up to Standard Four. If you pass, you proceed. I actually passed but my Father wanted me to get married so that he received bridewealth.”

Women suffered by the introduction of cash crops that altered the customary household division of labour, with men becoming increasingly involved their production, while women continued to grow food for the family, from decreased allocation of arable land. The revenue from cash crops generally goes to the men, and women have only limited access to credit services. They also suffer most in cases of divorce, separation or widowhood. They most usually generate income through non agricultural activities such as bee-keeping, pottery making, baskets and mats, charcoal and beer-brewing, most especially during times of general economic hardship; when their income generation is often needed for the household’s survival.

It is reported as being not uncommon for women and children to have no shoes or adequate clothing, although the husband and father may be relatively wealthy. “My husband doesn’t care for the children … I have to pay the school fees and buy the uniforms.” Some men seem to believe that extra-curricular activities by their wives might undermine their authority.

The authors observe that since the early 1980s economic growth has stagnated, making the future prospect ‘grim’. Women would receive substantial help by the provision of more wells and grain mills, and from switching to alternative fuel, such as propane, instead of having to search for wood. This study provided valuable evidence of the social deficiencies that hold back economic advance and human wellbeing in many areas of sub-Saharan Africa.
JB

Thomas P. OFCANSKY. Historical Dictionary of Tanzania,2nd ed by Thomas P. Ofcansky and Rodger Yeager Lanham Md. London Scarecrow Press, 1997 xxxi, 291p (African historical dictionaries no 72) ISBN 0-8108-3244-5, $US 69

How very difficult is the task of compiling a dictionary that will encapsulate, through short entries, the recorded history of a country. This one, which is the seventy second (and now revised, which shows the continuing demand for the record provided), follows the publisher’s established pattern of providing short entries, almost never more than two pages long, which give concise information about personalities, institutions and bodies, and outstanding movements and events significant in the history of Tanzania. It ends with a classified bibliography. around 100 pages long, of publications considered important in studying the history of the country

Thus, dipping almost at random there are consecutive entries for Chuma, James (one of Livingstone’s companions), Church Missionary Society, City States (Kilwa, Pemba, and so on), Clarke. Edward A. (Consul General in Zanzibar early in this century), Closer Union (a proposal in the 1920s); Clove Growers’ Association: Cloves; Coal; Coconuts; Coffee; Colonial Development and Welfare Act, Common Market of East and South African States; Consolata Fathers: Constitutions, Cooperative Societies And so it proceeds. This is far more than a mere collection of names of individuals who have helped to shape Tanzania, but they are there too; all kept in proportion by the publisher’s evident insistence on keeping the resultant dictionary within manageable and economic proportions. So even Nyerere, Julius K. gets only a page and a half, as does his successor. This treatment of the subjects does, however, risk becoming pedestrian, because of the constraint on recounting much detail of controversial matters, or outlining telling aspects of personal character. Such is the nature of dictionary compilation.

As with most of the other dictionaries in this series, it is a most welcome and useful addition to general/ specialist information on Tanzania. Yes, every attentive user will discover omissions, but would they have achieved such formidable coverage as Ofcansky and Yeager have done? They deserve whole-hearted commendation for this excellent revised dictionary. The bibliography is unusually fine, even for this series, and must surely leave the Clio Press, publishers of the World Bibliographical series on most countries in the world concerned about their own impact. The bibliography at the end of this work, with some 2.000 references, admittedly presented without any annotations, is considerably longer than the content of the average Clio bibliographical guide.
MW

Francis G. Smith, Three cells of honeycomb. Privately printed, 1994 by Dr F G Smith 36 Vincent Street/ Nedlands WA 6009 Australia xii, 248p, ISBN 0 9587538 5 7 $AUS 25 inc p&p in Australia, £15 p&p to UK by air

This is the autobiography of Francis Smith, who has used the metaphor of honeycomb cells to represent three periods of his life, in Britain, Tanzania and Australia. He worked in Tanzania from 1949 until independence in 1962. and was responsible for introducing many improvements in honey and beeswax production. If you are not interested in beekeeping don’t however give this book a miss. It gives an interesting insight as to what it was like being a government officer at that time, and is written most entertainingly.

For example, after describing problems encountered when locating nests of stingless bees: “There was a story that a team of British army surveyors, working under these difficult conditions, received complaints about the condition of their field notebooks, which they sent periodically to the mapping branch in England. In reply, between the pages of the next set of field notebooks, they included hairs of the buffalo beans (which cause considerable irritation). Complaints ceased.”

On arrival in Tanzania Dr Smith was confronted with a problem of ‘sticky wax’ which was useless and polluted true beeswax, but whose origin was unknown. In a few months he started on the trail of the culprit and the whodunit nature of the text would go well in a TV soap, but probably be rather more original and entertaining. Obviously Francis Smith’s time in Tanganyika was great fun and this comes through. It makes a good read.
David Gooday

Laura SYKES. Dar es Salaam: a dozen drives around the city, by Laura Sykes and Uma Waide. Dar es Salaam: Mkuki na Nyota Publishers, 1997 154p., ISBN 9976 973 357. Distributed by African Books Collective Ltd. 27 Park End Street. Oxford OXJ LW, U.K.

As the authors state in their introduction, this is not merely a straightforward tourist guide to the main sights of Dar es Salaam. In its detail it makes up for the casual attention paid to the city by the majority of guidebooks to Tanzania, which assume that the capital will be merely a staging post for the greater excitements of parks, coasts and mountains. This delightful accumulation of information about Dar arises from the enthusiastic recognition, by two expatriates. that they had the good luck to have come to live in a city with a long and interesting history, of which a remarkable amount survives in buildings that are still extant.

The outcome of their investigations is arranged as twelve systematic routes by car; for the obvious reason that the climate is likely to make much consecutive walking an endurance test. It is, however, easy to use the book as a sampler for information by anyone who looks about them as they go around the entire metropolitan area. The excellent index facilitates this, and the photographs whet the appetite to get out and about. The text is one to dip into, and almost any casual flip of the pages brings up facts. quotations, historical references, which illuminate so much better than the average encapsulated hard facts of where to stay and eat and catch a bus, which are the mainstay of many comprehensive’ guidebooks for travellers with limited time. Not that this overlooks those essentials of daily life for the traveller and resident alike.

To take one example of the care taken by the authors to draw an interested stranger into a feeling of place. Their description of the important commercial sector, Kariakoo, occupies, together with the itinerary for going there and coming array again, nine pages of concisely presented description and background information. Compare such treatment of the main market area of a large city with that given in an average guide book.

I had the good luck along with my wife to be infected by Mrs Sykes enthusiasm for Calcutta a few years ago. This latest jointly authored outcome of her interest in another city of great character is highly recommended. For the curious traveller who wishes to know more than an average guidebook has space to tell.
MW

The UNSUNG heroines: women’s life histories from Tanzania; edited by Magdelene Ngaiza and Bertha Koda Uar es Salaam WRDP Publications 1991 232p ISBN 9987 8820 l l, no price stated

This book takes seven ordinary Tanzanian women who are used as a basis for interpretation of issues confronting women in contempora9 Tanzania. It’s review here, some six years after publication, indicates our opinion that it still has validity as a useful documentary record. Their life histories are told by themselves, and theoretical analyses and interpretations are provided by women scholars. The articles have the same structure, starting with narration of the subject’s life history, and proceeding to interpretations and conclusions about the impact of social and political factors on each of the women. Among them are ‘Life history of Bibi a woman in urban Tanga”, by Bibi with P Mbughuni. “My life is a life of struggles: the life history of a young barmaid’ by Anna X with Alice Nkoma- Wamunza; “A migrant peasant woman in the city” by Eve with A. Nkebukwa; and “The life history of a housewife”, by Mama Koku with M. Ygaiza;

The interpretations are, for instance, that Bibi’s history, like that of many Tanzanian women of her generation, is dominated by the struggle against colonialism and also male domination, while the story of Anna X shows how it “takes a woman of extreme courage to work as a barmaid”. Anna, the narrator states however that she does not believe that all barmaids are necessarily prostitutes, nor that all customers are looking for sex. Her life history is taken by the commentator to show how factors such as Employment Ordinance; job security; lack of credit facilities; are some of the instruments that have been used to perpetuate the subordination of women in society.

Rural-urban migration, bride price, the institution of marriage and household economy are also discussed in the context of the fundamentals of democracy. The book addresses an extremely important area which has not been sufficiently investigated. Since the experience of Tanzanian women is more or less similar to that of women elsewhere in the developing world it can also be useful in other countries.
Alli A. S. Mcharazo


Three from New Holland (Publishers) Ltd.
Lisa ASCH, Traveller’s guide to Tanzania, by Lisa Asch and Peter Blackwell 1997. 192p. £14-99
GLOBETROTTER travel map – Tanzania 1996 £4-99
Graham MERCER, (Globetrotter travel guide – Tanzania 1996 128p , E6-99

New Holland Publishers is a truly International company, using Far Eastern printing sources and East African authors and photographers to produce their exciting new trilogy of Tanzanian travel.

The folding travel map in particular is excellent and good value. More than just a map of the county, it includes detailed street plans of Dar es Salaam and other major cities, as well as large scale projections of popular tourist destinations such as national parks. Mount Kilimanjiro and the Great Lakes.

The larger of the two guidebooks contains a wealth of superb photographs and detailed, often scholarly and erudite information on many aspects of Tanzania – from archaeology, geology and pre-history to anthropology, agriculture, forestry, history and politics, in addition to the expectable tourist data on wildlife, parks, beaches, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar.

The smaller of the two books is a true gu1debook also well illustrated and ideal for a short-stay visitor

Both books are ideal for young (in heart) adventurous travellers and arc spiced with an earthy sense of humour. The smaller volume starts “Tanzania is among the World’s poorest countries and at times among its most exasperating. For visitors it can often be expensive, hot, unsophisticated and exhausting. But there can be few, if any countries in the World which are more exciting.” The longer book has an awesome photo of what might well be a dry river bed, with the laconic caption “The road between Dodoma and Arusha will challenge the skills of all drivers ”
I enjoyed the whole set and learnt a lot, not least that Mount Kilimanjaro is apparently popularly known nowadays as ‘Kily’!
Randal Sadlier

Publications Noted

Jacob L. KIMARYO, Urban design and space use: a study of Dar es Salaam City Centre. Lund: University of Lund, 1996. (School of Architecture, Department of Building Function Analysis; report 1 : 1996). No price stated. (Dissertation)

Vesa-Matti LOISKEb, The Village that vanished: the roots of erosion in a Tanzanian village Stockholm University of Stockholm, 1995 (Meddelanden kin Kulturgeograiiska institutionen , no B9.1) No price stated (Dissertation)

Roger PFISTER, Internet for Africanists and others interested in Africa: an introduction to the Internet and a comprehensive complilation of relevant addresses. Bern: Swiss Society of African Studies (SAG-SSE.1): Basel- Basler rZfrika Bibliographien (B.-). 1996 140p.. ISBN 3-905 141-67-1. 20CHF.

This is possibly the most comprehensive and helpful directory of Africanist Internet locations that has appeared to date. It provides an introduction to Internet connection and search techniques that appears to be designed for those (in Africa?) who require such assistance and encouragement, which is followed by the substance of the guide. This consists of country codes and lists of African and Africana Internet sites arranged broadly by topics and by types, mailing lists and news groups.

There are, of course many more websites of Afrcanist content outside than in the continent, and they grow apace. It is worth noting here the recent arrival of Electronic Journal of Africana Bibliography, whose web site address is http:///www.lib.uiowa.edu/proj/ejab/index.html and of Peter Limb’s A-Z of African Studies on the Internet, with web site address www.library.uwa.edu.au/sublibs/sch/sc_ml_afr.html must hope that Roger Pfister’s very useful guide will be updated to take account of the increasing number of sites becoming available, and it deserves wide publicity.

Joan I. SMITH. Heart of Africa. Privately printed, 1992 by Dr. F.G Smith 36
Vincent Street Nedlands WA 6009 Austra1ia.u. 202p.., ISBNO 9587538 4 9, $AUS 20 inc p.&p in Australia. f15 p&p to UK by air
. A Patch of Africa. Privately printed, 1996 by Dr F.G. Smith; 36 Vincent Street, Nedlands WA 6009 Australia vii. 232p.., ISBK 0 9587538 1 4, $&US 20 inc p.&p.in Australia; £15 p.&p. to UK by air.
Two collections of stories and reminiscences about an absorbing and affectionately remembered expatriate family life in Tanganyika during the 1950s

75 Years, Baldegg Sisters, Capuchin Brothers in Tanzania; editor: Marita Haller- Dirr. Lucerne: Swiss Capuchin Province; Dar es Salaam: Tanzanian Capuchin Province, 1997., 1 SSp., no price stated. (Obtainable from Capuchii Friary Office, P.O. Box 9174, Dar es Salaam).

An unusually impressive commemorative volume. Well illustrated and with articles in German, Swahili or English it conveys the sense of purpose that has been followed by the order during its period of work in Tanzania.