Category Archives: Issue Number

MISCELLANY

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Jayantilal (Andy) Keshavji Chande has been invested by Queen Elizabeth II into the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire as an Honorary Knight Commander. The Order dates back to 1917, having been created by King George V. It recognises outstanding contributions to society. Mr Chande has been closely associated with a large number of educational, social welfare and charitable institutions in Tanzania and has also contributed greatly to UK-Tanzanian bilateral relations. Amongst his many activities over many years, Mr Chande has been a member of the Executive and Legislative Councils, a leading light in the Tanzania Red Cross, World President of The Round Table, Vice-President of The Britain-Tanzania Society and the Representative of The Royal Commonwealth Society in Tanzania.

A fish of the famous species coelocanth, which appeared to vanish 65 million years ago, was caught by fishermen in Kilwa in mid-September. The Chairman of the National Committee which is researching the fish, Professor Phillip Bwathondi, said that the coelacanth was found only by chance as it was being dried ready for sale. It weighed 40 kilograms and was 1.32 metres long. It was transferred to the marine park in Dar es Salaam.

The Government has set aside Tshs 54 million to be used in seeking a national dress for Tanzania. Education Minister Joseph Mungai told journalists at the Maelezo auditorium in the city that dress designers would be called upon to enter the fray by presenting samples of dresses they had made or were designing for consideration as a national dress. He called on interested designers to register themselves with the Regional Administrative Secretaries (RAS) in their respective regions so that their names could be included in the race for a national dress. He said the designers would then be required to present their samples to the RAS’s who would present them to the National Coordinator of National Dress -Mwananchi.

At the August 25 -30 Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit meeting in Dar es Salaam in September, which was attended by some 25 heads of state, President Mkapa was given a standing ovation when he called for an end to the sanctions against President Mugabe by the European Union and the US. President Mkapa said “It has not worked, it will not work, and it only makes the life of the ordinary people in Zimbabwe unnecessarily difficult.” The SADC summit also supported the call to reinstate Zimbabwe as a member of the Commonwealth from which it was suspended when the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union began implementing its land distribution policy in 2000.

President Mkapa was out of action in hospital in Switzerland in November and December. As this issue of Tanzanian Affairs went to the printers he was said to be recuperating following a hip operation.

There was a demonstration in Dar es Salaam on 10th October against the death penalty. Chairman of Amnesty Internationa1’s Tanzania Chapter Israel Magesa told the demonstrators that President Mkapa had never assented to any execution since he came to power in 1995. However, some 100 criminals sentenced to death by the courts over these years were still waiting in jails wondering what their fate would be -Guardian.

Tanzania collected 14 medals as seven of its companies gained prizes at agricultural exhibitions held in Rostock, Germany from April to October last year. Premier Frederick Sumaye urged Tanzanians to change their attitude and invest more in non-traditional agricultural products which now had a bigger market than the traditional ones. He made the call when he presented prizes to the winners. He said that during this interim period when markets for traditional products like coffee, cotton, tobacco and others have declined, it was important that “we make changes in our agricultural production and start producing crops which will be accepted and are competitive in international markets.” He named the products that could be cultivated as flowers, spices and vegetables.

OBITUARIES

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MICHAEL DOREY OBE (80) who spent 12 years in Tanganyika from 1948, became a DC in 1953. Following service with HM Inland Revenue (1962 -71) he returned to Dar es Salaam for two years as a Senior Assessor in the East African Income Tax Department. He died on 28th January 2003.

RAYMOND INSKEEP (76) an archaeologist who spent most of his life working on African archaeology died on 3rd August. He first went to Tanzania as a young man at the invitation of Louis and Mary Leakey to excavate at the painted rock-shelter of Kisese 2 where he established the surprisingly early date of the first art there -The Times.

ALAN LINTON (83), who died on June 3 last year, was the son of the then Anglican Bishop of Persia and served for 15 years in Tanganyika from 1947 becoming a District Commissioner in 1955 (Thank you Simon Hardwick and John Sankey for sending this item -Editor).

REVIEWS

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Editors: JOHN COOPER-POOLE (UK) and MAR/ON E DORO (USA)

IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS IN TANZANIA: A FIRST INVENTORY. Neil & Elizabeth Baker. Published by Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania, 2002. ISBN 9987-558-04-6. £30. Available from The RSPB, International Division, The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG 19 2DL

Many years of desk and fieldwork have culminated in the publication of this monumental work -a milestone in the history of the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania and for bird conservation in Tanzania. For many years, the spectacular mammal wealth of Tanzania has overshadowed the very rich bird fauna of 1000+ species including some notable ones found nowhere else in the world. Using a clear and concise set of internationally agreed criteria developed by World Conservation Union and BirdLife International, all the known information about birds in Tanzania has been analysed in a systematic way to come up with a set of 80 Important Bird Areas (IBAs). These sites are judged (on the basis of the information currently available) to be the most important places in Tanzania for globally threatened birds i.e. those species that are considered most at risk of extinction in the near future.

The book starts with some introductory sections summarising ornithology in Tanzania, the importance of the country for bird conservation, the IBA process, what conservation activities are currently take place; it describes different types of protected areas and lists the most important conservation issues.

The bulk of the book is of course, the IBA site accounts. A vast amount of information (up to 4 pages per site) is nicely presented. For each IBA, there is a sizeable map, a site description, bird information with key species highlighted in a table, a section on other threatened/endemic wildlife, conservation issues affecting the site, ideas for future action as well as a list references/further reading.

The authors have been helped in their work by many dozens of people both resident in Tanzania (these are acknowledged in the book) and from outside Tanzania who contributed a lot of information to the IBA project. Together, they represent a huge amount of knowledge about Tanzanian birds. This knowledge base is obvious to anyone reading many of the site accounts.

Many of the IBAs in Tanzania are already protected within the existing protected areas network but a few are totally unprotected. Amongst these, perhaps the most important are the Kitulo Plateau and Usangu Floodplain in Southern Tanzania and the Wembere Floodplain/Lake Kitangire/Lake Eyasi complex in the Eastern Rift Valley.

The book will have many uses. It will be used by local, national and international decision makers to guide planning and conservation work. It may be used by bird watching tourists to get information on some of the best sites for birds in Tanzania. It should be used by protected area managers to inform their management plans. It will form the basis of IBA site-protection groups as have already been started in neighbouring Kenya following publication of their own IBA book in 1999.

The authors have done an excellent job of bringing a mass of information together and presenting it to the world, but, as they say, this should be seen as a first step. Tanzania is a vast country and some areas are very poorly studied. The writing of the book (and the Tanzania Bird Atlas project, which the authors have been running for nearly 20 years), has highlighted the gaps. They are also at pains to highlight that if further conservation action does not follow from the publication of the book, their work will have been in vain. Much of the information given in the book is accessible via the BirdLife International website (http://www.birdlife.net) and following the links in the datazone tab.
Zul Bhatia

THE BATTLE OF TANGA 1914. Ross Anderson. Tempus Publishing ISBN 0752423495. Pp. 158. £16.99. p/b.

ARMIES IN EAST AFRICA 1914-18. Peter Abbott. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1 84176 4892. Pp 48. £8.99. Available from PO box 140, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, NN8 2FA, U.K. www.ospreypublishing.com

The conflict in German East Africa in the First World War has become widely known from films like The Africa Queen and William Boyd’s novel The Ice Cream War. These two paperbacks will be of interest to those who would like to know the real facts behind the legends. Ross Anderson’s scholarly publication concentrates on the disastrous British expedition to capture Tanga in November 1914. The plan was not in itself unsound -a seaborne assault by an expeditionary force sent from India, while the King’s African Rifles (KAR) diverted the main German forces under the control of Col. Paul von Lettow Vorbeck. Unfortunately, the disembarkation of the inexperienced Indian Army troops at Tanga was a shambles, and morale was further lowered when they met unexpected resistance from a small force of Schutztruppe (the German equivalent of the KAR). Heavily outnumbered, the Germans withdrew from the town under cover of darkness, but the British Force Commander, General Arthur Aitken, failed to send out patrols and did not realise that the town was undefended. Von Lettow now acted swiftly and rushed the bulk of his forces from Moshi to Tanga by rail. The Royal North Lancashire Regiment suffered severe casualties and some of the Indian units panicked and fled to the rear. In the face of stiff German resistance and with unreliable troops, General Aitken decided that the situation was untenable and ordered the expedition’s withdrawal. Von Lettow could hardly believe his good fortune -his 1500 men had defeated an Anglo-Indian force of over 9000. Aitken left East Africa in disgrace and was given no further command.

Peter Abbot’s Armies in East Africa 1914-18 is primarily intended for those interested in regimental history, uniform and equipment. There are eight attractive full-page colour plates showing the British, Indian, South African, Belgian, Portuguese and German units involved in the fighting. The book has a useful potted history of the whole East Africa campaign, covering the allied offensives in 1915116 and the incredible trek by von Lettow through Tanganyika and Mozambique until his final surrender in Northern Rhodesia.
John Sankey

RITUALS OF VERIFICATION: INDIGENOUS AND IMPORTED ACCOUNTABILITY IN NORTHERN TANZANIA. Tim Kelsall, “Africa” 73 (2) 2003.

The author examines two different means of holding people to account, namely:
(1) The practice of ritual ‘breaking a pot’ which is a powerful form of curse in the Mount Meru area of northen Tanzania, and (2) Local government audit, a practice that is currently being reinforced as part of local government reform under foreign donor support of ‘good governance’, at both local and central government levels. Superficially, the two practices appear to have little similarity, but the author suggests that the two accounting systems have more in common than might be supposed. He asserts that both practices are forms of verification, aimed at disclosing truth and bringing retribution for misconduct in order to attain accountability on the part of those responsible.

The author attempts to compare the indigenous (pot breaking) and imported (rational) mechanisms for holding people to account, both of which are currently in use in Arumeru District, and concludes that the two systems neither fit neatly into an ‘irrational/rational’ scheme nor could they conceptually be seen to complement or substitute each other in local government audit. He has also cited several field cases based on interviews of informants’ testimonies of people who, after ritual breaking of pots, had suffered some calamity (usually death) as a result of being linked, by action or by kin, with some kind of social transgression. Further evidence is presented of people who had confessed to transgressions and paid compensation to plaintiffs for fear of the effects of the pot, which can be construed as empirical evidence that the procedure of breaking pots is successful in holding people to account for their actions. Whether it is successful solely because of its pyschological impact upon individuals who believe in its efficacy is difficult to say. However, the author has not been able to rationalise the mystical powers of the pot.

Before a pot is broken, a notice of intent must be posted some weeks prior to the actual ceremony. Clan elders will normally give their consent to break a pot only if they are satisfied that other channels of dispute resolution, e.g. normal clan fora, the police and the courts, have been exhausted. In other words, pot breaking is undertaken as a last resort. Given that the pot is believed to be so powerful, elders are reluctant to allow it to be used without good cause. To break a pot, it is also necessary to obtain a permit from ward or village government. When a threat is made to break a pot, there is an opportunity for reparations to be made. Fearing the pot’s lethal effects, which may affect an individual culprit or the culprit’s clan, many offenders either expose themselves or are exposed by kinsmen. Confession is followed by appropriate reparation as may be decided by the village authority, after which the dispute is resolved.

Then the author analyses the procedures of local government audit and suggests the idea behind audit is scientifically familiar in so far as it relies on sampling techniques to provide a picture of reality. However, accounting remains vulnerable to error, or subversion. At present, auditors are not highly trusted, not only because the methods they use are not understood by most Tanzanians but because it is rightly or wrongly assumed that auditors can be, and are frequently bribed. Arumeru people interviewed by the author showed more faith in the pot than they did in modem systems of financial accountability. They mistrusted accountants and auditors, just as they did the entire system of government. The second reason for mistrust relates to shortage of competent accountants. Until this situation changes, some audits are likely to lack thoroughness and credibility. Thirdly, more often than not, annual audit reports by the Government Comptroller and Auditor General in Tanzania point out serious irregularities which are the responsibility of others to investigate, e.g. police, anti-corruption bureau, and Parliament. Sadly no serious effort has been taken to find out the culprits and punish them. Observers of this indifference to deal with suspected cases of theft, embezzlement and corruption have cynically attributed such inaction to lack of will on the part of politicians, some of whom may be implicated in corruption. Some adverse audit reports resulted in court prosecutions (with few convictions), some transfers or retirements and some no action at all.

In view of this, the way in which modem audit technology, when combined with other institutions of government, leads to accountable outcomes is in some ways more mysterious than the ritual of pot breaking. Modern audit technology does not instil the same fear in suspected culprits, given that the consequent punishment is by far less severe than that associated with pot breaking. Whereas pot breaking is directed at specific individuals and their kin who believe in the mystical powers of the pot, modern audit technology is far less feared by culprits, given the relatively benign consequences of being found guilty. Besides, it is against Government of Tanzania Law to condone mystical powers/witchcraft as a means of extracting confession from suspected citizens. On the other hand, it is unlikely that many auditors and accountants outside of Arumeru District believe in the power of the pot even if they were subjected to it. In the final analysis modern accounting technology has to be adopted at all levels of government. Irrational folklore should have no place in accounting of public funds.
Augustine Macha

THE LANGUAGES OF TANZANIA: A BIBLIOGRAPHY (Orientalia et Africana Gothoburgenisa No.17). Jouni Filip Maho & Bonny Sands. Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis, G6teborg, 2002. ix & 428pp (paperback). ISBN 91-7346-454-6. Swedish Krona 300 (approx. £23.20: information on ordering can be found at www.african.gu.se/research/lot.html).

Tanzania is blessed with an abundance and variety of languages. It is the only country in Africa which can claim to host all four of the continent’s major language families -Niger-Congo, Afroasiatic, Nilo-Saharan and Khoisan. The Niger-Congo phylum is represented by more than 100 Bantu languages (as commonly defined), including the national language and lingua franca Swahili. Afroasiatic and Nilo-Saharan are represented by a small number of Cushitic and Nilotic languages respectively: the most widely spoken of these is Eastern Nilotic Maa, the language of the Maasai. One click language, Sandawe, is generally thought to be related to the Khoisan languages of southern Africa. Tanzania’s other click language, Hadza, is a fascinating isolate whose genetic affiliation remains undetermined.

For many years the best guide to the literature on Tanzania’s indigenous languages was the second edition of W. H. Whiteley and A. E. Gutkind’s A
Linguistic Bibliography of East Africa, published in 1958. This practical volume was produced with screws holding the cover boards in place, a loose­leaf format intended to facilitate the insertion of supplementary material. If this didn’t get across the message that there was still linguistic work to be done, then the many pages in the Tanganyika section with little more than a language name printed on them should have done so. It wasn’t until the 1970s that researchers began to make significant progress in filling in some of the gaps. Edgar Polome’s overview of ‘The Languages of Tanzania’ (1980) provided a bibliographic update and record of obscure manuscripts and other items that Whiteley and Gutkind had missed. And there matters largely stood still, though researchers continued to gather and (less frequently) publish material on Tanzania’s languages and dialects.

Maho and Sands’ book, has finally provided us with the rich bibliographic resource that Tanzanian languages deserve. An explanatory ‘Introduction’ is followed by a section listing ‘General Reference Works’. This is followed by sections headed ‘Asian Languages’, ‘Bantu Languages (Excluding Swahili)’, ‘(South) Cushitic Languages’, ‘Khoesan Languages’ (= Khoisan, including both Sandawe and Hadza for convenience), ‘Nilotic Languages’ and finally ‘Other Languages’, a residual category which includes English and Tanzanian Sign Language. Each language heading includes some general information (a map showing its location, the estimated number of speakers, and alternative language or dialect names), followed by the references themselves, which are split into two categories, primary descriptive works and other, assorted, materials. There are two indexes at the end of the book: one listing language names and the other listing authors. The volume as a whole is well produced, though many libraries will want to bind their copies with hard covers.

The only major omission from the bibliography is Swahili: as the authors explain the literature on this language is so voluminous that it would require a volume of its own. No attempt has been made to include literature in local languages, for example vernacular religious and educational texts: to do this properly would require specialised research in libraries and institutions both within and outside of Tanzania. These omissions are well justified. To make up for them the bibliography provides a number of bonuses. As should be evident from the summary of its contents, The Languages of Tanzania includes both indigenous and introduced languages. It also includes many references which are non-linguistic, but provide general historical and ethnographic information.

This makes it an excellent resource for anyone interested in Tanzania’s different linguistic communities, as well as providing specialised linguists with the opportunity to gain a wider perspective on the peoples they are studying. And the references themselves are both thorough (including, for example, page counts where these are known) and in some cases helpfully annotated. The authors have also set up a web appendix to the bibliography, listing relevant web links (at www.african.gu.se/tanzania/weblinks.html).

Specialists will find plenty to quibble about: language names misspelled, dialects omitted, references missing … But this is inevitable with an undertaking of this size and complexity, and the authors are to be congratulated on the work they have done. Research currently underway on Tanzanian languages -for example by SIL Tanzania teams in the field, and by the Goteborg-supported Languages of Tanzania (LOT) project in the University of Dar es Salaam ­means that the new bibliography will soon need updating anyway. Let’s hope then that this is only the first edition of many, and that Maho and Sands can be persuaded to periodically update and improve their bibliography. In 1958 Whiteley and Gutkind gave us loose leaves and detachable boards and plenty of blank spaces: now we have their electronic equivalents and better technology to process an admittedly greater volume of information. Meanwhile, the paper edition that is currently available can be highly recommended.
Martin Walsh

HIGHER EDUCATION IN TANZANIA: A Case Study. Daniel Mkude, Brian Cooksey & Lisbeth Levey. lames Currey: Oxford, Mkuki wa Nyota: Dar es Salaam 2003. 114pp. £9.95 (pb).

This book, part of a series on ‘The Partnership for Higher Education in Africa’, sponsored by four V.S. foundations, is designed to share information about higher education in Africa and promote supportive measures in research and collaboration. It offers historical background, extensive evidence about the goals and accomplishments of Institutional Transformation Programmes, the financial strategies, economic trends and legal policies that affect the system. In view of the broad generalizations -and minimal attention to the early influence of socialism and current political-economic realities –the goals it envisions seem quite ambitious.

Perhaps more realistic is a recent Oxfam report: Debt for Poverty Reduction: The case of education in Tanzania.
http://www.caa.org.au/oxfam/advocacy/tanzdbet/education.html which, among other things, explores the country’s Basic Education Master Plan (BEMP). An equally realistic account can be found in America, January 2003, vI88, Of Many Things, George M. Anderson’s interview with officials of the St. Augustine University near Mwanza. The clergy note the extent to which poverty and the H.I.V.-AIDS factor adversely affect access to education, and the minimal advantages produced by recent World Bank and IMF debt reduction policies.

Frances Katherine Vavrus, Desire and Decline: Schooling Amid Crisis in Tanzania. New York: P. Lang, 168 p., 2003. Claire Mercer, Performing Partnership: Civil Society and the Illusions of Good Governance in Tanzania, Political Geography, v. 22, no. 7 (September 2003), p. 741-63. Explores consequences of recent efforts by the IMF, World Bank, and international donors to promote “good governance” in the face of debt problems.

Jyotika Ramaprasad, The Private and Government Sides of Tanzanian Journalists. Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, v. 8., no. 1 Winter 2003. p 8-26.

Poverty Alleviation in Tanzania. Milton Makongoro Mahanga. Dar es Salaam University Press. ISBN 9976603436. P/b. £18.95. Distributed by African Books Collective, The Jam Factory, 27 Park End Street, Oxford OXl IHU. A study based on research in unplanned and planned areas of Yombo Vituka, Dar es Salaam. It argues that adequate housing for the urban poor is a source of income generation and therefore a means of improving livelihoods. It emphasises that the urban poor are able and willing to contribute to better social services and housing, but that the land allocation system and lack of access to credit are major constraints. The author is Member of Parliament for Ukonga Constituency, Dar es Salaam.

African Music for Schools. Mbati-Katana. Fountain Publishers. ISBN 9970022946. ppl90. £20.95. Available from African Book Collective, The Jam Factory, 27 Park End Street, Oxford OXl IHU.

This songbook for children brings together East African songs from many heritages. It includes children’s play songs, dance and story songs and some patriotic party songs, from the ethnic or language groups of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and related groups in neighbouring countries. The songs bear witness to centuries of African life, and their transcription aims to make music accessible to children from their own cultural traditions. The book includes the musical scores and song texts, translations of the texts, notes on the structure of the music, and suggestions for story telling, poetry, drama, art or dance which teachers or other adults may introduce to bring the songs alive and use them creatively, allowing the children to participate fully in their performance.

EASTERN AFRICA VISUAL TRADITONS: NEW PERSPECTIVES. Horniman Museum Day Conference, 24 October 2003

This first Colloquium in the UK about visual culture in eastern Africa provided a platform for a wide range of scholarly presentations by ten researchers from museum anthropology and other relevant fields. The scholars introduced and explored the actuality and to a lesser extent the theory of the region’s Visual ‘Traditions’. The purview was inclusive, both in terms of the region’s geography and its myriad visual practices. The wide scope of these small scale, ongoing traditions –such as the use of sticks for communication, many kinds of personal adornment and portable sculpture, several systems of drawing and ‘ready-mades’ ranging from debes to cattle –reinforced the notion that the big question is not what is art, but rather “when is art”. Aesthetic values make the connexion between ideas and things.

Larger than the conventional East Africa of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, the eastern herein is flexible in order to engage aspects of the shared cultures and histories of the peoples of the Nile and Rift Valleys, the Great Lakes, Indian Ocean and to a lesser extent eastern Congo and Zambezia. Most of the presentations offered some evidence of regional interaction: for sculpture and masquerade (Kingdon, Israel), concerning pastoralist aesthetics and artifacts (Arero, Ostberg, Oteyo), concerning styles of drawing (Court, Marner, Neiderstadt) and about the kanga (Spring, Clarke). For example, the ‘frame’ and slogan format of the kanga has been consistent along the eastern Africa littoral for nearly one hundred years, while its use and imagery differ somewhat in time and by place. Research has been carried out about the kanga’s social uses and slogans, but as yet there is scant systematic study of its visual content of motifs and imagery. Perhaps, this will be stimulated by the upcoming, 2005 kanga exhibition at the Sainsbury African Galleries of the British Museum. Indeed, the curator is seeking evidence of hand-printed kanga, which were still for sale in Zanzibar town in the late 1960′ s; it seems only the printing blocks are available nowadays.

The Horniman Colloquium was an opportunity to view Tanzania’s visual practices in a larger context. In fact, no effort was made to extract what is specifically Tanzanian, although nationality was considered in the presentations based upon evidence from Kenya and Ethiopia. One reason is that systematic scholarship by Tanzanians about their visual art practices is slight to the point of underdevelopment, apart from the early 1960’s efforts of Prof S J Ntiro and current undertakings of archaeologist Prof Felix Chami and Waiter Bgoya of Mkuki na Nyota Publishers. Critical research has yet to catch up with the plurality of art practices, apparent in the renewal of the Dar-es-Salaam and Zanzibar Museums, innovations in ‘Tinga Tinga’ and other kinds of modern practice including fashion, local patronage [cut Chami] -all are part of the visual arts discourse in Tanzania and all have regional resonance. Please note the term ‘tribe’ was not employed to discuss this unit of ethnic, local, community practice; consider that kabila whether in Swahili or Arabic does not have the colonial, historical connotation of its English translation.

One theoretical ‘tradition’ that requires fresh unpacking is the assertion that there is no art in eastern Africa. Belief that there is/was ‘no art’ was due to a basic assumption, inscribed in western art historical scholarship and commerce in the late 1930’s that focused solely upon the traditions of figurative sculpture in west and central Africa. This construction was/is grossly inaccurate, even for its exclusions of west Africa’s traditions (C Steiner, J Picton). In the past two decades, western scholarship in African archaeology and contemporary art have interrogated and extended the canon to include eastern Africa and its array of art forms (Coote, S Hassan, Mack, Visona et al).

The sessions were attended by forty-five people including the presenters. The Colloquium, hosted graciously by the Horniman Museum, Forest Hill, London, was co-convened by Hassan Arero the Horniman’s Keeper of Anthropology and Zachary Kingdon, Curator of the Africa Collections, Liverpool Museum, who intend to publish the proceedings. We are thankful for this first cultural harvest. Uushukuru.
Elsbeth Court

‘BWANA SHAMBA’ by Peter Wilson. Following the demise of the Pentland Press, Peter Wilson has acquired the remaining copies of his illustrated autobiography. His book contains a forward by Vice-President and Prime Minister of Tanganyika Rashidi Kawawa. Autographed copies may be ordered @£15 plus £2.50 p&p (double p&p for overseas) from Peter Wilson, PO Box 304, Horley, RH6 7NE. (cheques payable to P M Wilson please).

LETTERS

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MIKINDANI
When I wrote enclosing the snippet of news about the gift towards a museum at Livingstone’s house at Mikindani, I said I was unaware that he had lived in that town. You probably knew that, but my curiosity was stirred, and, after some reading, I find that Livingstone commenced his last journey there (to explore the course of the Ruvuma as a route to Lake Nyasa) but following that disappointment he tried to find the source of the Nile at Mikindani Bay. Presumably he stayed in a house in the town which is now to be made into the museum. Having discovered this, my reading then made me doubtful if the Arab Tembe at Tabora is the one where he stayed or a reconstruction of it.
John Rollinson

TANZANIA IN THE MEDIA
In the recent ‘Tanzanian Affairs’ you asked for contributions from your readers that mention Tanzania in the media. I regularly see articles about Tanzania on the BBC website www.BBCNews.com There are other websites that also include news from Tanzania including www.allafrica.com and www.africaonline.com. Some of these articles are very interesting, and at least could be mentioned in your magazine, even if not printed in full. Every few weeks I receive an e-mail claiming to be from the wife or family of a deposed African dictator or army leader, asking for my help to access millions of dollars that were placed in foreign bank accounts by their husband or father while they were running their country. The money they claim belongs to the family, but they need a foreigner to access it for them. I have no intention of helping these families access money presumably stolen or otherwise unjustly obtained while their husband or father was in power, despite the financial rewards they tell me I stand to gain if I help them. The only way they could have got my e-mail address is because I regularly correspond bye-mail with people in Tanzania. I must have received at least a dozen of these e-mails so far from countries as far apart as Nigeria and Sierra Leone to the Congo. Of course I just delete them from the computer. Do you have any better idea as to what I could do with them? Catherine Lee

‘AFRICA ON YOUR STREET’
Your readers may be interested to hear that BBC Radio 3 is introducing on January 1, 2004 a new website celebrating the African music scene across the UK at www.bbc.co.uk/radi03/africaonyourstreet. Our African hosts will offer tips on gigs, clips of their favourite CDs, news from the studio and gossip from the dance floor, covering styles from Afrobeat to zouk and from laid-back mbira to Tanzanian hip-hop. You’ll find profiles of the big international artists on tour and interviews with a wealth of African musicians based here in the UK. We hope to create a community of music-lovers, celebrating the UK’s rich heritage of African musical traditions, as well as the fresh energy of new styles and fusions being created here every day. It is expected that there will be some coverage of Tanzanian hip-hop, such as the X-Plastaz, but we would like to cover more traditional music as well. We were wondering if there would be some space in TA to request your readers to send their recommendations on Tanzanian music in Africa and the UK? We have had a meeting regarding music from the region and are very keen to develop knowledge and information for the website.
Meera Sengupta Mob: 07811 xx1 231

Apologies
It is regretted that there was a serious error in the Obituaries in the last issue. That for Mrs Josephine Rollinson should have been for Mrs Josephine Sharp.
The Obituary should have read as follows: Mrs Josephine Sharp, wife of the late former Commissioner for Town Planning in Tanganyika, Robert Sharp, who has died of cancer, directed or took part in more than 39 of the productions of The Dar es Salaam Players at the Little Theatre. Her proudest moment was when, in 1964, President Nyerere attended a production of ‘Twelfth Night’ which she directed. She was also sometime President of the Women’s Service League.

Thank you to the reader who has written as follows: ‘Concerning the article about HH the Sultan of Zanzibar in Tanzanian Affairs No. 76, the Zanzibar Revolution took place on 12 January 1964, i.e. rather more than ‘three years later’ than the Queen’s Coronation – Editor.

Christine Lawrence has pointed out that in the review “Out of the Box” in TA No. 75 Colin Hasting’s e-mail address should have been: colin_AT_kijijivision.com

CUF DOMINATES IN FREE AND FAIR BY-ELECTIONS IN PEMBA

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CCM REMAINS DOMINANT ON THE MAINLAND
By-elections for 36 seats in the National Assembly and the Zanzibar House of Representatives on May 18 gave some very clear indications as to the present strength of the two main political parties in Tanzania and what might happen in the next general elections due in 2005.

By winning comfortably in four by-elections on the mainland the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party indicated that it is still in command of the political scene. The opposition is still way behind in popular support. President Mkapa retains his popularity and many will be sorry to see him go when his second term ends in 2005. He cannot stand for a third term.

But in the Zanzibar island of Pemba the results were spectacular. Voters overwhelmingly demonstrated their support for Tanzania’s main opposition party, the Civic United Front (CUF). The Commonwealth Observer team, whose predecessors in the general election in 2000 described that election as being ‘in many places a shambles …. a colossal contempt for ordinary Zanzibar people and their aspirations for democracy’ this time praised the elections as being credible in terms of transparency, electoral management and the overwhelming turnout of voters. 107,074 people registered to vote out of an estimated 140,000 eligible and in the elections themselves a remarkable 93% of those registered turned out to vote. The Commonwealth observers were full of praise for the newly reformed Zanzibar Electoral Commission and its conduct of the elections.

CUF won all 15 Zanzibar seats in the Union parliament and 11 out of the 17 seats in the House of Representatives. It should have won all of the latter as well. However, the CUF candidates were barred in six seats after the NCCR­Mageuzi, a relatively insignificant opposition party, cited a section of the Zanzibar constitution that bans any MP who has been dismissed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives (for failing to attend three consecutive sessions) from seeking re-election for three years. The six were among the 17 elected CUF MP’s who boycotted the House to protest against the alleged rigging of the 2000 general election. Most of the electorate in the six seats responded to the barring of the CUF candidates by spoiling their ballots rather than vote for CCM. In Chake Chake, for example, out of 5,910 votes cast, 4,385 were spoilt. NCCR got 183 votes. The six seats were however won by CCM but its best winner scored just 23% of the votes cast.

CUF Chairman Pro£ Ibrahim Lipumba commented: “If we want any evidence that CCM stole the 2000 elections the result in the Mkanganyeni constituency is it” (a view contested by CCM). This was a seat won by CCM’s Dr Ali Mohamed Shein in 2000, who later had to vacate the seat when he became Vice-President of Tanzania. This time the CUF candidate took the seat comfortably with 66% of the vote.

The elections marked an important development in the implementation of the “Muafaka”, an agreement signed between CUF and the CCM, after post­election protests turned violent in 2001 and led to the death of some 40 CUF supporters at the hands of the police.

Following these by-elections it seems that in 2005 CCM can look forward again to success on the mainland. But for it to win in the Isles, if the election is free and fair, will be something of a struggle. CUF needs to win only a few seats on the sister Zanzibar island of Unguja to win control of the Zanzibar House of Assembly and probably the presidency of Zanzibar as well.

MAINLAND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS

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According to a Statehouse press statement on August 24, President Mkapa has been suffering from arthritis for the last few weeks and has been attending physiotherapy exercises. The President went to the airport to welcome only two of the 14 heads of states and Governments who arrived for the first SADC summit to be held in Tanzania on August 25 and 26. Vice President Ali Mohamed Shein, Prime Minister Sumaye and other senior ministers received the other foreign dignitaries -Nipashe.

OPPOSITION COALITION
The Guardian has reported that the major opposition parties reached an agreement on August 23 to harmonise their relations and reinforce unity as part of the preparations for the 2005 elections.

But then CHADEMA announced that it would field its own presidential candidate in 2005. In the 2000 elections CHADEMA supported CUF’s candidate for president. Then a member of the East African Legislature from the NCCR-Mageuzi party, Mabere Marando, sprang a surprise on his fellow party members by praising the CHADEMA party and promising to help it by contributing funds. Thereupon NCCR National Executive Committee Member and Regional Secretary for Iringa, Eliud Mvella, told the press that Marando would be expelled and would lose his seat in the EA legislature.

OPPOSITION MAMES SHADOW CABINET
MP’s in the newly expanded 34-member opposition camp in the National Assembly in Dodoma have joined together to appoint a shadow cabinet. This followed the expulsion of two United Democratic Party (UDP) MP’s following internal clashes. The two lost their seats when they were expelled after trying to dislodge the founder of the party John Cheyo. Another legislator, Zamda Bozeni, who had been suspended by CUF also returned to the fold after winning a case against the party in court. Wilfred Lwakatare (Bukoba Urban -CUF), is the new leader of the opposition camp taking over from Dr Walid Kabourou (CHADEMA) who had been suspended by the Speaker of the Assembly. The Deputy leader is Isaac Cheyo (Bariadi West -UDP) and the Chief Whip is Thomas Ngawaiya (Moshi Rural -TLP). Philemon Ndesamburo (CHADEMA) represents Tourism and Natural Resources but almost all the other cabinet members come from the increased number of CUF MP’s following the by-elections.

ELIMINATION OF SMALL PARTIES
It is understood that political parties that fail to get 3% of the national vote may be de-registered according to a Bill to be presented to parliament in October. Registrar of Political Parties John Tendwa said the aim was to ‘minimize parties that are there in book form only but have failed to conduct even one political rally or meeting since they were registered ten years ago.’

SOME MP’S NOW WANT PRIVATE CANDIDATES
Some MP’s are requesting the Government to consider the issue of introducing private candidates without party affiliations in local and general elections. Under existing rules private candidates are not allowed. Prominent lawyer and CCM advisor Masumbuko Lamwai has said that the time has come for constitutional changes to accommodate private candidates. Responding, while presenting his ministry’s expenditure estimates for 2003/2004, Justice and Constitutional Matters Minister Bakari Mwapachu said the Government had prepared proposals for constitutional changes and would hand them to parliament later for more scrutiny -Majira.

CUF PARLIAMENTARIAN ARRESTED
As this issue of TA went to the printers it was reported in Majira that Bukoba Urban CUF MP Wilfred Lwakatare was in police custody following disturbances caused by CUF members demonstrating in Bukoba town. Prior to the arrests police had used tear gas and live ammunition to disperse the CUF members. He said police permitted CUF to hold the rally but party followers became unruly and used stones to break windscreens of cars, including a police car.

ZIMBABWE
The opposition Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co­operation, Khalifa Suleiman Khalifa, has criticised the Tanzania Government’s support of President Mugabe of Zimbabwe, saying it was not fair for Tanzania to identify itself with people who opposed ‘the wind of democracy which was sweeping across Africa.’ He attributed the Mugabe problem to the trend towards overstaying in power and called on other African leaders to take Zimbabwe as a warning. Khalifa commended Presidents Benjamin Mkapa and Joaquim Chissano (of Mozambique) for their unflinching decision to retire when their time was due.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN ZANZIBAR

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TWO NEW PARTIES
Two new political parties have been registered in Zanzibar bringing the total number of parties in Tanzania to 18. They are ‘Solidarity of Force 3’ (SOFT) and ‘SAFINA’. The leaders of both parties originally belonged to CUF before defecting to CCM. Both parties have said that they want to guide Zanzibar to a ‘new beginning’ and that CCM is out of touch.

DIVISION WITHIN CCM?
On July 18 the Swahili press reported that prominent Zanzibar businessman Mohamed Raza, who was Sports Advisor to former CCM Zanzibar President Salmin Amour, had said that the ruling CCM party in the Isles was now split into two groups. He said that one group was currently in power while the other represented those who were previously in power during President Amour’s time. He said the situation was becoming critical and that if elections were held in the islands today the opposition CUF would win. CCM leaders reacted by saying that Raza was ignorant in politics and also on the constitutions of the CCM and of Zanzibar. Deputy CCM Secretary General, Zanzibar, Saleh Ramadhani Feruzi said that Raza had always been an impatient person and denied his allegations that CCM Zanzibar was mistreating former President Amour and that the party was divided. Some observers however began putting two and two together and coming to the conclusion that at least one of the two new parties referred to above might comprise dissident CCM members.

SPECIAL PARLIAMENTARY SEATS
There has been some controversy about the two special (nominated) Zanzibar House of Assembly seats, which, under the constitution, are granted by the Isles presidency, to the opposition. President Karume hesitated for some time before awarding one to CUF but seemed to hold out in the case of the second. Some of the very small parties in Zanzibar had been carrying out a vociferous campaign demanding that they should be awarded the other seat. A decision is awaited.

POLICE QUESTIONING
CUF National Chairman Professor Ibrahim Lipumba was questioned by police for three hours on July 25 as was the party’s Deputy Secretary General, Juma Duni Haji. The questioning was said to be in connection with speeches made at a CUF rally. Duni was quoted as having admitted he received a letter from Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police Ramadhani Kinyogo calling on him to report at Police headquarters in Zanzibar. He said reasons for the summons was not revealed but that he suspected it had something to do with the recent remarks made by Professor Lipumba at the Zanzibar rally. He admitted that remarks annoying to the Government were made at the meeting, adding that they would continue making them. Later the Police said it was satisfied by explanations and answers given by Professor Lipumba but added that should there be any eruption of violence they would take legal measures against him -Mtanzania.

SECURITY

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Minister of Foreign Affaires and International Cooperation Jakaya Kikwete has that said Tanzania would continue the fight against terrorism in collaboration with the United Nations. Presenting his ministry’s expenditure estimates for the 2003/2004 financial year to parliament he said that Tanzania would not support measures taken unilaterally outside the UN. He said Tanzania did not and would not support the US and British invasion of Iraq because they did not get a UN mandate. Kikwete complained that, although Tanzania was fully collaborating with Britain and the US in fighting terrorism, the two nations were issuing travel alerts about the danger of visiting the country. This was harming Tanzania’s the economy in the process-Nipashe

Security was stepped up at the Dar Es Salaam International Airport after State Minister in the Vice President’s Office (Poverty Eradication) Edgar Maokola-Majogo was found in New Delhi, India with a bullet in his bag. Maokola-Majogo had passed through the Dar airport without detection of the bullet by the electronic surveillance equipment installed there. A Majira reporter witnessed security agents at the airport inspecting everyone. Airport Director Ms Faraja Makasi said the incident was just a normal technical problem which could happen anywhere and that was why even Zurich airport security systems couldn’t detect the bullet either. She said airport employees were undergoing further training on security matters.

Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) experts, in collaboration with Belgian scientists, are training rats for use in bomb disposals. The SUA experts said that the rats had proved to be efficient and better than dogs. They could detect buried land mines -Mwananchi.

BUSINESS AND THE ECONOMY

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Speaking about the present state of the economy recently President Mkapa said that the unanimous endorsement of this financial year’s budget by Members of Parliament was a clear indication that the Government was determined to remove major problems that were an obstacle to economic growth. “Nuisance taxes, including development levy, which was really a kind of poll tax, have been removed to enable more Tanzanians to participate and contribute meaningfully to the country’s development process,” he said. On regional economic integration, the President challenged Tanzanians to be open minded and adopt positive attitudes towards the market economy, adding that highly skilled and experienced manpower as well as a strong capital base were a prerequisite for any country to enter into economic integration competitively ….. “Some Tanzanians are still pre-occupied with the mind-set of a closed and controlled economic system” he said. “I would like to advise such people that that era is long gone and they should instead realise that regional economic integration is inevitable and we should be prepared to play an active role lest we be left behind while our neighbours progress.”

The Government has been under sustained attack in parliament and elsewhere over the performance of the Parastatal Sector Reform Commission (PSRC). Some MPs demanded to see all the contracts that the PSRC had entered into for the sale of parastatals. Minister of State (President’s Office) Planning and Privatisation, Dr Abdallah Kigoda, assured Parliament that the activities of the PSRC would be evaluated.

President Mkapa opened the new $30 million 970-metre-long Rufiji Bridge on August 2nd. It was described in the Guardian as possibly the best and longest overpass in the East and Central African region. It is expected to greatly ease the chronic transport problems in the southern regions of Tanzania. CCM efforts to make the ceremony into a CCM occasion were frustrated by CUF supporters who pulled down CCM flags.

Opposition has been growing to the continued heavy payments being made by the Government to Independent Power Tanzania Ltd (IPTL) -see Tanzanian Affairs No 75. Business News reported on July 25 that the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Investment and Trade had described the monthly bill of2.5bn/-, which TANESCO pays to IPTL, as economic sabotage and had demanded disciplinary action against those involved in signing the contract. Opposition spokesman for the ministry, Issac Cheyo (Bariadi East -UDP) asked what disciplinary measures had been taken by the Government against the officials who signed the IPTL contract. On August 14 the Guardian reported that IPTL, the thermal power generation plant in Dar es Salaam, was to be converted into a gas firing plant. The government announced the setting up of a commission to study conversion of the plant which had begun commercial operation in January last year. IPTL sells electricity to TANESCO under the terms of a 20-year power purchase agreement. The Government said it had secured a credit from the International Development Association (IDA) and intended to apply part of the proceeds of the credit to finance the conversion study which is expected to start in December and last for one and a half months. The major source of Tanzania’s electricity is from hydro power plants. However, because of incessant drought associated with power rationing, inviting the private sector to engage in power generation was seen as one way of getting rid of the problem.

TANESCO’s tough new South African management took the drastic step of cutting off power to Zanzibar for three hours one day in July and vowed to continue cutting power to the islands if power bills were not settled. TANESCO Director General Rudy Huysen said power was restored after Tshs. 174 million was paid by the Zanzibar Fuel and Power Corporation (ZFPC) as part of its monthly bill of about Tsh. 419 million.

The construction of the Songo Songo natural gas pipeline, which is likely to greatly improve the power supply situation in Tanzania, is proceeding apace and is scheduled for completion in May next year. However, the media report that local job seekers, who were hoping to secure jobs with the company undertaking the project, have been expressing anger that the contractor had hired foreigners, mostly Indians, for menial jobs which could be done by locals.

Tanzania Breweries Limited (TBL) has said that the company is experiencing about 20 -30 per cent decline in sales following Dar Es Salaam Regional Commissioner Yusufu Makamba’s order for bars to close at 11.00pm. TBL Public Relations Manager Aggrey Marealle said that about 20,000 bar attendants had lost their jobs in the 4,000 bars and other alcohol outlets officially registered in Dar Es Salaam. He told the press that it was most likely the Government would suffer in revenue collections following the beer sales decline. He said that on average bar owners who were selling about 15 crates of beer a day were now selling about eight. He agreed that there was a 1968 law prohibiting drinking after 11.00pm but said that times had changed, which made the law redundant. The law was passed when the main economic activity was agriculture but today a variety of activities were performed in the urban areas. He said Dar Es Salaam alone accounted for 40% of all commercial activities and that any hitches in the way commerce was conducted in the city would have grave economic consequences – Mwananchi.