The President has appointed a Commission to review the country’s education system, including the extension of education, curriculum development, administrative structure, equipment and materials. The review is to cover the past 19 years and make recommendations for the next 20.

In view of the central role of education in the development of Tanzania’s social philosophy and the changes which the system has been expected to absorb, it is reasonable for this kind of wide-ranging review to be made now. However, it seems likely that a further and more immediate reason is to provide a response to the widespread and increasingly vocal criticism of the system of seven year primary education which is now provided for all children. The criticisms of education in Tanzania are very similar to those being made in the debate on education in Britain. There is the same questioning of the results of investment, the same confusion of legitimate concern and holding the education system responsible for all of society’s problems.

Tanzania’s primary education system has been ‘very rapidly expanded under the double pressure of the introduction of universal primary education and a rising population. Universal primary education (UPE) was brought forward as a result of a political decision. Those concerned with implementation were aware that it could not be done without reducing standards, but official, public acceptance of this consequence would have led to the same result by destroying morale in the teaching service and reducing public confidence in schools in advance of the expansion. UPE required great effort and dedication from large numbers of people and it was important to give them the maximum of political support. The Minister had to make a particular effort to maintain confidence of parents in the thousands of additional teachers who were trained in villages using the methods of mass adult education which has been developed by the Institute of Adult Education.

UPE was introduced during a period of continuing economic crisis which has produced shortages of even the most basic school materials, not only books, but paper and pencils (it is said that some schools have been without pencils for two years). Even without the increase in pupils the school system would not have been able to fully maintain the quality of its service.

The problems of rapid expansion and shortage of supplies could, eventually, be overcome but despite the clear and repeated statements on policy, the question of what primary schools are for has not been resolved; the intentions of ‘Education for Self Reliance’ have not been worked into a curriculum which is understood and accepted by parents and teachers.

Teachers have been required to take on a wide range of additional responsibilities for which they have no special training such as adult education and community leadership. There has. been little time for training or even thinking about what and how they should be teaching in their schools.

The proportion of primary school pupils who can obtain places in secondary schools, always low, has fallen further as primary numbers increase. The rewards of a secondary and higher education produce strong parental and social pressures for pupils to pass the entrance examination. Despite the theory the education system remains highly competitive and examination oriented and therefore biased towards children who are academically gifted and have the support of educated parents. The requirements of the Secondary entrance exam still dominate the primary curriculum so it is still divorced from the real needs of most pupils.

There is little social acceptance of the primary school leaver as being adequately educated for life in a rural community. The teaching has not helped pupils to support themselves, but neither have they learnt the traditional skills which would make them of practical assistance to their family or village. The sense of failure, rejection, wasted time and lost income remains strong. Hence one innovation the Commission is likely to be considering is the establishment of post-primary village level technical education, drawing on the experience of the District Folk Development Colleges, or even the Kenyan village Polytechnics.

As in Britain quite legitimate questioning of aspects of the education system is expanded by some into wholesale condemnation and the cause of all social problems. It is claimed that pupils completing seven years of primary school are not up to the same standard as those who went through the old primary and middle school system. This must be true of many pupils, since the old system was highly selective and only the very best were allowed to continue to the end of middle school. It is not clear if there has been any reduction in the standard of the best pupils under universal primary education – some secondary school teachers would claim that there has – and the question needs proper research.

Many of those who have successfully passed through the education system have found employment in the large state trading, production and crop marketing organisations. These organisations carry at least some responsibility for the country’s economic difficulties and are popularly believed to be incompetently, if not corruptly, managed. ‘Why’, it is asked? ‘can the school system not produce competent staff and staff with sufficient civic and political education to resist corruption and be courteous and helpful to customers?’ This may not be a fair question in view of all the pressures on young people, but it is an indication of the concern of those who pay for the education system.

by Ida Marie Andersen (Translated from an article in Hodi no. 3/80, journal of the Norge-Tanzania foreningen).

Who are the Makonde?
The Makonde belong to the Bantu tribes of Africa. For many years they lived as a compact community on a barren plateau on both sides of the Ruvuma river, which formed the boundary between Tanganyika and Mozambique. Thus, the Makonde lived in two separate countries. Survival is arduous on this plateau and the Makonde got little help from outside. The first missionaries reached the area around 1920, but contact with the outside world was scanty as access was difficult.

In the colonial period there was a demand for labour on the plantations and in the mines and men from the Makonde tribe travelled further north into Tanganyika for work. The northward migration has continued, especially during the liberation struggle in Mozambique, as conditions were unsettled in the Makonde country. The Makonde built their own villages in the areas to which they moved. They have thus been able to live under their own customary laws and maintain many of their ancient traditions, even though there have been many changes in their manner of life and beliefs as among the peoples of Africa generally.

Tribal characteristics and mythology
Makonde society is matrilineal, relationships being determined by the female line of descent. Externally the tribe is distinguished by marks tattooed in a particular pattern on the face and breast of both men and women and the front teeth are filed to a point. The women had a plug or plate in the upper lip, the larger the greater the number of offspring. These customs are, however, dying out. In the old Makonde villages the wood carver occupied an important place and wood carving was a craft handed down from father to son. Wooden figures were used in ceremonies such as weddings, initiations and magical rituals. As far as we know these figures were naturalistic and were made of whatever kind of wood came to hand. In certain ceremonies a display of dancing was customary, where the dancers would wear masks of carved wood and clothing to correspond.

According to Makonde creation mythology, a woman was the foundress of the tribe. A manlike being wandered in the wilderness. In his loneliness he carved a figure of wood and set it up against a tree. As the sun came up the figure became a living woman and at the same time the manlike being was transformed into a man. The woman bore him a child, which died there where they were by the river. She took the man to a higher place, but a second child also died. Eventually they reached the plateau and there their children survived.

It is particularly important for human beings that they are blessed with fertility, both to produce children who in turn are able to give birth to future generations, and to secure good harvests and good returns from cattle so that the tribe may survive. Woman is an important symbol of fertility in her childbearing role. Thus figures of women were later used to bring good fortune and happiness. Closely related to fertility is sexuality, which is a life-giving force and the sex organs symbolise this power.

The Makonde conception of the world about him is different from ours. Supernatural powers in nature control man’s destiny among good and evil spirits, each with its own mode of operation and characteristics. Medicine men and magicians have closer contact with the world of spirits than other men. Their task is therefore to placate the spirits and seek help for mankind. The Makonde honour their ancestors and the spirits of the dead live among them. The individual is a connecting link between past and present generations.

Modern carving among the Makonde
Many Makonde today live wholly or in part by carving. The traditional craft has been further developed and some carvers are recognised artists. The carvers have settled in particular in Makonde villages around Dar es Salaam, where they are able to sell their carving. They like to sit and work in groups beneath a large mango tree, or under a grass shelter beside the road.

The tree that is used produces a hard kind of wood with a black heart-wood surrounded by a lighter layer of sapwood. In Tanzania it is called ‘Mpingo’, or African black-wood. According to Jonn Korn, ebony is not used because the black heartwood does not grow large enough in this part of Africa. This tree has always been reserved for artistic uses and today felling is regulated by the state.

Carvings are made from an entire piece of the trunk and are therefore limited by the thickness of the trunk. Only the heartwood is used. This is so hard that insects and other vermin cannot attack it. From time to time a little of the light sapwood is incorporated. The tools used are simple – an axe, a chisel, a mallet and a knife. Only the men do the carving and the women must therefore undertake most of the work on the village land.

What do the carvings represent?
Makonde carvings can be very varied, ranging from the naturalistic to the abstract and strongly stylised. Naturalistic carvings usually portray human figures in a situation drawn from daily life. A special type are the so-called ‘ujamaa carvings’, in which a group of people, old and young, sustain and clasp each other on a carving fashioned from a single block. Such carvings express human fellowship in an historical perspective, and from time to time, ancestors and the shapes of spirits are included. Another variant is an open design in which each human figure appears to stand right out, and this form is also used with more abstract figures and having a different meaning.

In his ‘shetani’ carvings the carver portrays spirits from Makonde mythology. The normal indication that a carving represents a spirit is the presence of some non-human feature, an enormous ear, or the absence of certain members. Spirits can also have the forms of animals, birds, snakes and chameleons often appear. These carvings have no ritual function in Makonde society and are simply artistic creations. The carvers make no sketches or models before they start and just carve in accordance with their imagination, combined with an inborn feeling for the possibilities inherent in a particular piece of timber. Their creativity and capacity for abstraction does not appear to be diminished by the fact that most of the carvers are illiterate.

Parts of the body are stylised and combined in new ways and mythological symbols are woven in. We find such elements in abstract carvings with a modernistic stamp. The female breast is often carved in a form resembling a calabash – a gourd used for carrying water. This is no accident. The function of the breast is to give milk to a baby so that it may survive. In the Makonde country water is a scarce commodity and one has to go far to fetch it, but all depend on it for survival.

The Makonde carver is indeed receptive of ideas from without, but they can only bring positive results if they inspire him to creative activity on his own terms. With the exception of a carving here and there with Christian symbolism, the influence is difficult to point out directly. But, as we shall see, the purchasers can also influence the Makonde’s carving.

The Makonde carvers and the market
Compared with our own craftsmen, the Tanzanian carver is in the special position that his customers are natives of other parts of the world. He has little direct contact with his public, who make their purchases against the background of a different culture from his.

The market has opened up new possibilities for the development of Makonde art. The few carvers who thereby have acquired an artistic reputation are most often able to sell their products and at the same time to retain relatively intact their freedom to create as they wish. But at the same time we have to admit that most of the carvers are obliged to accommodate themselves to demand and in large measure to reproduce those carvings that sell best at a given time.

The chance of buying original creations is maybe greatest at art shops in the cities and by direct sale to visiting foreigners. Many carvers deliver almost wholly to purchasers in the export business; these are mostly anonymous craftsmen who more or less mass produce popular models. Only the best known carvers sign their work, but of course good unsigned original carvings are also found.

The parastatal organisation ‘Tanzania Handicraft Corporation’, which promotes handicraft products has a large turnover of Makonde carvings. But mass production is seen as essential for this purpose. The corporation is able to attract substantial foreign exchange income from its operations. At an art centre in Dar es Salaam, ‘Nyumba ya Sanaa’, students are enrolled from various tribes. Here also Makonde carvings are made. It is hard to say as yet whether this centre will make a significant contribution to the art of the carver in years to come.

Commercialisation of this peculiar Makonde craft has come to stay. Craftsmen lose their freedom by becoming dependent on purchasers who enrich themselves by exporting their products. If official cultural policies dictate that Tanzania needs foreign exchange, it is questionable how long the craftsmanship will retain its special character.

The society in which the Makonde live is continually changing. These are difficult times both for those living in Mozambique and for those in Tanzania. We can only pose the question whether there will be fertile soil for the maintenance of this special form of art. To what extent are the craftsmen who are able to renew and develop the art of carving dependent on their contacts with their own cultural tradition?

Bibliography
Berg, Erik: Makondene- kulturfolk in Ost-Afrika: article in Norkontakt, No.1 of 1981
Fouquer, Roger: The Makonde and their sculpture – Dar es Salaam, 1972
Korn, Jorn: Modern Makonde Art – Hamlyn Publishing Group, London 1974
Museet i Dar es Salaam fortaeller om Tanzania: Danish National Commission for UNESCO 1974
Poppius, Ulla: Makondeskulpturen talar Afrikas eget sprak; Folkbildnings-forbundet, 1973
Stout, J. Anthony: Modern Makonde sculpture: Nairobi, Kibo Art Gallery, 1966.
Wood sculptures of the Makonde people: ed. by Instituto de investigacao scientifica de Mocambique, Laurenco Marques, 1963

The rise and development of a language policy in German East Africa by Ann Brumfit: from Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika 2 (1980) pp.219-331

Tanzania is unique in sub-Saharan Africa in having a single, widely used and accepted African national language. Though vernacular languages survive and are still used for daily verbal communication in many areas, especially by the older people, they have been widely displaced by Kiswahili among the younger generation and retain virtually no significance as vehicles of literate communication. A traveller in any part of Tanzania can now easily get by with Kiswahili. In local government offices he will hear little else and almost all official documents and communications are in this language. Parliament (Bunge) transacts its business in the national language and with the exception of most major legislation, for which English is retained for the time being, the laws are increasingly in Kiswahili. Official documents and pronouncements, such as the republican constitution, development plans and budget speeches, use the national language exclusively and provide evidence of linguistic development, for which the existing dictionaries make increasingly inadequate provision.*

The happy possession of a single official African language undoubtedly powerfully reinforces national unity in Tanzania and provides a psychological outlet for pride in nationhood. Unlike Kenya or Nigeria, where the use of European lingua franca seems inescapable, Tanzanians can employ an essentially Bantu language closely related to the local vernaculars and in this respect a more natural expression of their own identity and traditional habits of thought.

How did Tanzania come to enjoy this considerable advantage? The reasons are in part geographical and in part historical. Apart from small enclaves of nilotic and nilo-hamitic origin, the people of Tanzania are of Bantu stock. In this respect they differ fundamentally from the population of Kenya, for whom the colonial partition of Africa has secured the presence of a large nilotic minority, whose language and culture differ radically from those of the Bantu majority, and not inconsiderable populations of nilo- hamitic origin, such as the Kisii.l The nilotic Luo have been traditionally resistant to the penetration of Kiswahili, which in Kenya, notwithstanding its general inclusion as a subject in the primary school and limited use as an urban lingua franca, has remained largely a coastal vernacular.

But the reasons for the pre-eminence of Kiswahili in Tanzania are predominantly historical and the essay to which this article refers traces these origins from early times to the end of German rule. The earliest and most important influence leading to the spread of Kiswahili was the penetration of the inland areas of Tanganyika by Swahili traders from Zanzibar and the coastal strip in search of slaves and ivory.

The early overland routes emanated from Zanzibar and passed through Tanganyika from Bagamoyo in the north and Kilwa in the south, leading to the establishment of inland trading posts occupied by Swahili traders from the coast. Some of these trading centres eventually became towns such as Tabora, Ujiji and Songea. In due course people from inland tribes began to make journeys to the coast for the purposes of trade during the dry season and in pursuit of this aim acquired a working knowledge of Kiswahili. As trade gradually penetrated the rural areas and with increasing labour mobility in search of work on plantations, in commerce or on the railways, the utility of Kiswahili as a lingua franca became increasingly apparent.

The value of Kiswahili as a common language of administration early became evident to the German colonial government and during the German period increasing provision for it was made in the schools, in spite of opposition in Berlin, where German was the favoured second language and Kiswahili was distrusted on account of its Islamic associations. The Protestant missions were also initially hostile to Kiswahili both as a possible vehicle of islamic proselytism and in view of the Lutheran conviction that religion should be taught in the mother tongue. But in the end, with the gradual opening up of the country and the increasing mobility of its people, the inevitable spread of Kiswahili and its potential as a vehicle for Christian teaching were recognised.

While it cannot be said that either the German colonial government, or the missions, provided the initial impetus which caused Kiswahili to rise supreme over the other vernacular languages of mainland Tanzania and to penetrate to all corners of the country, both government and missions – including the post-war government under the Mandate – eventually did much to promote Kiswahili, both by their use of it in their respective spheres, and by teaching it in the schools under their control. In spite of the early associations with slavery, it was a utilitarian argument that eventually triumphed.

The article provides a most interesting, well-documented account of the origins and growth of Kiswahili and the influence upon its propagation exerted by the German colonial authorities and the catholic and protestant missions. In so doing, the narrative at the same time provides usefu1 insight into the conditions prevailing in the closing decades of the nineteenth century and the years leading up to the Great War. The legacy of colonial governments has by no means always, or in all respects, been an asset to the successor governments of independent Africa, but in respect of language, notwithstanding the early perverse intentions of the imperial government in Berlin, the German colonial authorities and German scholarship certainly made a valuable contribution. It has been the genius of independent Tanzania that has transformed this inheritance into a vehicle fit for the complex requirements of life in a modern society.

*Such phrases as ‘pato la taifa’ (GDP) are now in common parlance among people who talk of such things. Percent is ‘asimilia’, correlate ‘wianisha’ and evaluation technique ‘ubinu za tathmini’.

Transport.
In June, petrol and diesel rationing was introduced. Private motorists can only buy fuel on three days a week and diplomats are required to buy fuel in foreign currency.

All passenger services on the Tazara railway were suspended on 16th. April due to shortages of locomotives and allied problems. These services were due to resume in May. The problems of the railway continue. It is still not getting the payments from Zambia which it needs to cover its costs. Too much is still going by road and by other routes. Repayment of the Chinese loan for building the railway was due to begin in January 1983, but President Nyerere has secured Chinese agreement to a ten year delay in the start of repayments of the £300 million loan. Repayment over 30 years will now begin in 1993. The Tazara Board met in Dar es Salaam in May to discuss the railway’s economic and operational problems. These were identified as a lack of reliable locomotives and spare parts and difficulties in transferring funds (most revenue is collected in Zambia, but most of the track and hence of maintenance expenses are in Tanzania). It was agreed to increase the number of engines by 50% to be purchased probably from West Germany because Chinese engines had shown a high rate of breakdown.

Zambia has used part of its recent IMF loan to payoff outstanding port bills in Dar es Salaam port.

The Tanzania Railways Corporation is unable to repay foreign debts, which it inherited from the former East African Railways Corporation. Some shs.85 million are due for repayment in 1981-82.

Air Tanzania is due to make repayments of shs.160 million, for which it will need government help.

As part of an agreement with Mozambique to expand trade through a Ruvuma free trade area, work is to start on a bridge over the Ruvuma river in September, 1981, to be named the Unity Bridge.

Industry and Power
In February, the Mtera dam, 100 kms. north of Iringa, was inaugurated. It will provide water storage and hydroelectric power, reducing dependence on imported oil. The cost of $113 million is being met by the Swedish International Development Agency and the World Bank.

Angola has agreed to supply Tanzania with part of its oil needs on favourable credit terms and in return for goods.

The American chemical company Agrico has signed an agreement with Tanzania to form a company to make ammonia and urea from natural gas if the Songo Songo field can be exploited. The products would be used to make fertiliser and production could meet all local needs for ammonia and urea and provide a surplus for export.

Natural carbon dioxide found at Kyejo in Longwe District is to be processed with plant supplied by Denmark. Production is expected to begin early in 1982.

Overseas aid
West Germany is to finance a road project in the Usambaras, a paper mill at Musindi, the railway workshop at Morogoro and a water supply for Tanga. Technical cooperation includes support for the Faculty of Engineering at Dar es Salaam, the national coconut development scheme and Nyegezi agricultural college.

Sweden has signed an agreement covering two years, which will provide shs.1,411 million in development assistance and shs.85 million for import support.

President moves to Dodoma
On 26th. July, The President officially moved to the State Lodge at Chamwino village 40 kms. from Dodoma. This is an important step in the plan to move the headquarters of government to the new capital.

The article that never was
During May and June, Dar es Salaam was swept by rumours alleging that an article had been published in Time or Newsweek giving details of money held in Swiss bank accounts by the President and senior party officials. No such article appeared in either journal, but this is difficult to prove, since, together with many other magazines, Time is not being imported as a foreign exchange conservation measure, while the number of copies of Newsweek available is limited. The rumour claimed that the magazines had been banned because of the article. The US library was inundated with requests, but most of its copies of the magazines were stolen. The Tanzanian English language paper Daily News offered shs.20,000 to anyone who could produce the article and promised to print it in full. State House also offered a reward to anyone who could produce one of the photo-copies said to be on sale at shs.200 each. Neither of the rewards has been claimed.

Uganda
The last Tanzanian troops have left Uganda. They entered the country in 1978 to defeat Idi Amin. At the height of the conflict there were 40,000 Tanzanians in Uganda. Most of them returned in 1979 and 1980, but some 10,000 remained until this year helping with training and security. They were called on many times to maintain order and protect key installations. They frequently came in for criticism. Some undoubtedly were involved in activities that have little to do with the job of an army. Some Tanzanian soldiers have been involved in black market trading on a big scale. But generally speaking the Tanzanians have been praised on all sides for their good discipline, their tolerance and their courtesy towards ordinary people on roadblocks, in marked contrast to what Ugandans have become used to from their own soldiers. About 1,000 Tanzanian policemen remain in the country to help with the training and organisation of the police force. As with any departing army, there are the usual social and domestic problems. The army is not only leaving much equipment and supplies behind, to the delight of local people, but Tanzanian soldiers have also had the problem of saying goodbye to a number of women with whom they had been living and the children they had fathered.

Notes from a visit in October/November 1980 by Geoffrey Rockliffe-King, Development Economist.

I visited Tanzania for six weeks in October and November 1980 as part of a team engaged in a study for a U.N. agency. Prior to the field work I benefited from a desk study which revealed some of the most pressing issues for Tanzania. The field trip did much to dispel the gloomy prognosis of the desk study, although it is hard to see a possible way out of the investment/ foreign exchange trap. Morale was surprisingly high amongst lower rank civil servants. Their response to the rapid erosion of the buying power of their salaries has been to engage in home-based enterprises such as egg production. The rules preventing second jobs for civil servants have been circumvented by businesses operated through wives, a practice of many senior officials and politicians with large scale undertakings. The interest in the election in October, in which two ministers lost their seats, seemed to indicate some confidence in the government despite the economic setbacks. All over the country, people expressed hopes that life would return to ‘normal’, given a couple of decent harvests, now the involvements in Uganda and Zimbabwe were working themselves out.

Import difficulties and self-defeating Government measures to fix prices have combined to promote a thriving black market. One trivial example is film, virtually unobtainable outside Dar; there the asking price was TSh 210 in October. Prices have been bid up for many non-luxury items, and distribution complicated by patterns of influence: you need a friend at the factory. This unfortunate development disadvantages those many people without influence and deprives the Government of tax. At the margins of the cash economy, we came across several instances of a return to barter. Inflation has certainly set back the gradual process of drawing cattle-holding peoples into the money system. Overstocking in the north is already having dire effects on the grazing lands, but there will be no enthusiasm for reducing numbers without trustworthy alternative stores of value.

In the remote areas, there were signs that programmes to promote development were losing ground. The veterinary services, for example, were effectively immobilised by shortages of fuel and spares, were unable to pursue vaccination campaigns without vaccines, had run out of most medicines and lacked the essential chemicals to conduct post-mortems. It will not take long to lose the network of skilled veterinarians, which has been established at a great cost, if the vital inputs are missing. Similar problems were apparent with supplies such as fertilisers and insecticide; the absolute scarcity is compounded with daunting transport difficulties.

I found ‘Ujamaa’, the drive for socialism, to be very low key in the approach of officials to the worsening economic problems. Indeed, many had to be reminded of the political context and most held quite pragmatic views on the subject. It seems that it was felt necessary to attract support for the movement by the provision of social services, and that somewhere along the line the notion of central government provision took over from the idea of self-help. Whatever the cause, the policy appears to be stranded and, without considerable resources, looks set to dwindle away. The political slant which I had anticipated turned out to be altogether different: people were very aware of external changes, as those events influenced Tanzania. I was surprised on several occasions by questions from junior civil servants in district towns on foreign policy issues, such as the workings of Lome II and the likely African initiatives of the new US President.

Aesthetically, Tanzania exceeded all expectations, both in variety and appeal. In particular, I enjoyed the section of main road which follows the Great Ruaha for a distance between Iringa and Mikumi, an endless hill in spectacular scenery, although I may have been influenced by the smooth road after so much gravel! Our safari took us by Ngorogoro, a place which deserves the tour-operator’s superlatives if not his customers. We also passed through Serengeti and Mikumi National Parks. In the former, the game was so plentiful it appeared to be tethered. These Parks provide a welcome change of pace on the mission, and, a real bonus, a glimpse of four cheetah together, at dusk in the crater. It remains a mystery that Zanzibar can be so totally different from the Mainland when the 737 is airborne for only nine minutes from Dar; but the country is full of such contrasts and must surely build on its tourist potentials.

As always, the mission enjoyed some lighter moments. One was our arrival at the Dodoma Hotel to claim our confirmed reservations, only to be told that all but six of the rooms had been demolished, “as part of the new capital expansion plan”. It came as no surprise to find that the six rooms were occupied by the master-planners themselves. The most memorable statement of the trip came from a Catholic Missionary, who told us that, for him, the border was not closed! In contrast, the most sobering moment was finding a long diversion indicated, on the approach to Singida, by a barrier with the terse notice; Closed, Cholera. The prolonged drought had given rise to acute water shortages in the middle of the country, with consequent public health hazards.

One does not sum up Tanzania after one short visit. My initial reactions have been very positive, especially with regard to the feeling of freedom in the country. I hope I am able to go back and learn more, as the country certainly justified all the attention it was given in college.

J. Rockliffe – King.

Challenges to Election Results.
A total of 13 petitions have so far been filed in the High Court of Tanzania challenging this year’s 26th October election results. It is the longest list of petitions ever recorded in the country’s electoral history since independence in 1961. The deadline for filing petitions to the High Court was on the 22nd of this month. Justice Mustafa of the Court of Appeal of Tanzania said in an interview that the petitions were a healthy expression of the people’s awareness of their rights. The Attorney-General, Ndugu Joseph Warioba, said the petitions, on the other hand, reflected the successes of the country’s policies in creating politically-conscious people …

C.C.M. Appointments.
Following the Cabinet changes also changes there were also changes in the C.C.M. throughout the country. One of the surprises was Pius Msekwa’s move to Tabora.

Regional Party Secretaries:
Arusha – John Mhaville
Kigoma – Bruno Mpangala
Shinyanga – Gwasa Sebabili
Kilimanjaro – Edward Barongo
Coast – Lawi Sijaona
Mtwara – Moses Nnauye
Tabora – Pius Msekwa (the former C.C.M. executive secretary)
Tanga – Major-General Kiwelu

The new executive secretary of the C.C.M. is Daudi Mwakawago who has for the past five years or so been principal of Kivukoni College. He was previously a Cabinet Minister and nominated MP.

Another important administrative change is that the Head of the Civil Service is now Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, instead of as before, to the President.

The Economy.
The National Executive has decided that the practice of some leaders of giving permits to private individuals to obtain essential commodities from industries or companies must stop at once. The Executive was holding a special session to examine problems of scarcity and high prices.

In December petrol and Kerosene pr ices were raised. Petrol went up to Sh9/35 per litre for premium and Sh7/25 for regular. Meanwhile Tanzania had another energy problem. The water level at Kidatu dropped so low that electricity output had to be cut. Low rainfall in many parts of the country meant that if factories maintained their usual output using normal electric power, the water behind the dam would be exhausted in a short time. TANESCO ordered Tanzania’s forty-eight largest enterprises to close down for a month last November in order to rectify the situation. The recent heavy rain is believed to have improved the situation.

Swiss Aid.
Tanzania signed an aid agreement for 42,000,000 shillings with the Swiss Government. The aid is equipment and technical assistance to improve rural road networks in Kilombero and Ulanga districts. The Tanzanian Government will contribute about 6,850,000 shillings to cover the cost of Tanzanian staff and local manpower on the project. The Swiss-Tanzanian Development corp plans to help Tanzania in various other projects in 1980-81, including the faculty of engineering in the University of Dar es Salaam.

Finnish Aid.
Finland has pledged to give Tanzania a grant of about 96,000,000 shillings during 1981 to cover four main Finnish-financed areas of forestry, water development, mining and construction industry.

Danish Development Aid.
Denmark has agreed to grant Tanzania 970,000,000 shillings to finance rural development projects during the next four years; the projects include rural water supply and rural electrification. According to an agreement signed in Dar es Salaam on 6th December the grant will also finance teacher training programmes, the construction of three girls’ secondary schools, a vocational training centre at Dodoma, and health programmes.

Rebuilding of Kagera.
Bukoba: Eighty per cent of Kagera has already been rebuilt. An officer of the rural district development committee said since the rebuilding started in August of last year the rebuilding has been carried out satisfactorily. He said this while briefing the Swedish Ambassador in Tanzania, who visited the area to see the progress of the rebuilding of the Kagera area. The officer thanked the Swedish Government for its assistance of 10,000,000 shillings for the rebuilding of the area. He said all schools, dispensaries and government buildings that were destroyed during the war have now been newly rebuilt. Ambassador Wirmark saw the Kagera sugar factory and the area destroyed when the troops of fascist Amin occupied the Kagera area between October and December 1978.

Tanzanian commission on reviving co-operative societies.
The International Co-operative Alliance, ICA, has welcomed the idea of restoring regional co-operative unions. It said the move would consolidate co-operative activities in the country. This was said by the ICA regional director for East and Central Africa. He was talking to newsmen in Dar es Salaam yesterday on the idea. A special commission looking into the possibility of reviving the co-operative societies in the country is expected to submit its report to the Prime Minister soon.

Policy on village shops.
A statement from the Ministry for trade stressed that the trade policy directed that by 31st December 1980, leaders in the villages should ensure that every village has a well-established village shop with the capacity and capital to replace private shops. The emphasis of the trade policy was to open, not to close shops. The statement said licences would re withheld from private shops only in those villages which had reached to goal of well-established village shops.

Wine Project.
A modern multi-purpose wine factory is to be built at Dodoma next year at a cost of about 80,000,000 shillings. The new factory would be built in two phases. It would be producing an annual 500,000 litres of wine upon completion. The Dodoma rural district office has set aside some 200 ha for growing grapes for use at the factory.

Cost of University Education.
President Nyerere has commented adversely on the very high cost to the country of University education. Speaking at the degree ceremony in August he noted that the university was taking no less than 31% of the Ministry of National Education’s entire annual budget. He wondered whether such an amount could be justified. He called for people to come up with ideas for making higher education Cheaper, especially in view of the C.C.M. policy of building more universities.

Foreign Affairs.
Mozambique. On 11 January President Nyerere welcomed home members of the Tanzanian People’s Defence Force from Mozambique. The President announced that there was a mutual defence agreement between Tanzania and Mozambique. Tanzanian forces helping to organise the regular Mozambique army had been in action repelling Rhodesian raids. Mozambique had in turn assisted Tanzania with men and weapons in the war against Uganda.

Tanzania-Mozambique unity bridge proposals. At a three-day meeting
in Dar es Salaam engineers from Mozambique and Tanzania had recommended that work on the construction of the 68,000,000 shilling unity bridge across the Ruvuma river should start in August 1981. The construction camp should be located near Masaguru on the Tanzanian side.

Kenya. The border remains closed. But progress has been made. There was a summit of the three East African states in Kampala which was also attended by President Kaunda. Last July, President Nyerere commented that it was “not good” that Tanzania was doing business with all its neighbours except Kenya. But he said, there were still some outstanding issues of difference that had to be resolved.

The Tanzanian Government confirmed that the 22 people killed on 22nd December by Kenyan police at Talek along the Tanzania-Kenya border were its nationals. The people, armed with arrows, bows and guns were killed after they had crossed into Kenya to steal cattle. A Government statement issued in Dar es Salaam today said that those who were involved in the incident were not members of the Tanzanian armed forces; they were Tanzanians living along the border in Mara region. The statement said the Government has strongly condemned the act of crossing the border into a neighbouring state to steal cattle as an act of lawlessness.

Zimbabwe. At the end of the year, President Nyerere, accompanied by the then Minister of Trade, Ibrahim Kaduma, and Foreign Minister Salim Salim went to Zimbabwe. Various bilateral agreement were signed.

Graham Mytton

The Political Economy of Tanzania, 1979-81: Self-Reliance, Solidarity and Survival.

Based on a paper delivered at the Annual General Meeting of the Britain Tanzania Society on 24th.October, 1980. The author was Economic Consultant to the Tanzanian Treasury during the period from April to September, 1980, but this article is issued entirely under his personal responsibility and is in no sense a statement of official Tanzanian policy.

The crisis and its limits.
It would be totally unrealistic to paint a rosy picture of the Tanzanian economy at the end of 1980 or to hold out prospects for an easy recovery in 1981. True, President Nyerere in late 1979 forecast eighteen bad months, but he then assumed a reasonable 1980-81 crop year, not both short and long rains failure in half the country, and did not foresee the 1980 oil price explosion. These two factors have cancelled out the gains from the reduction in defence costs, though that reduction has itself been slowed by the continuing instability and economic collapse of Uganda.

What is surprising is not the crisis, but that there is a functioning economy, a budget and a political and economic strategy. At the end of 1979 a quick review of the economic situation led the writer to remark that Tanzania was walking on water. A year later things are better – Tanzania is walking on thin ice. Unfortunately ice on salt water near the equator tends to be very thin.

However, it is also necessary to note the achievements of Tanzania in spite of the crisis:
1. There have been no deaths from starvation, nor will there be.
2. Universal Primary Education is steadily progressing.
3. Health facility visits are now up to 10 per person per year in contrast to 1.5 at independence and 3 to 4 in the late sixties.
4. By 1981 pure water will become available to over 50% of the rural population, compared with probably 10% at independence.
5. The urban minimum wage was raised by 28% in mid 1980, clawing real purchasing power back to 1978 levels.

Since 1977, Tanzania’s economy has been battered by events over which she has had no control, namely –
1. 1977 – Collapse of East African Community – at least $100 million replacement facilities required.
2. 1977/78 – Collapse of coffee boom. Losses up to $100 million per year on export earnings.
3. 1978/81 – Amin Invasion and support for new Uganda Government. $500 million war, over $100 million support to Uganda.
4. 1979/80 – Oil price doubling. $150 million a year by second half of 1980.
5. 1979 – Flood damage to transport and crops. Of the order of $100 million.
6. 1979/80 – Drought. Probable total crop loss $100 million, 1980/81 added food import bill $50 million.

The total cost of these events over the period 1977-81 comes to about $1,500 million; that is, 32% of the 1979 Gross Domestic Product, or 125% of the Annual Government Revenue, or 200% of the Annual Export Earnings.

These successive crises and the 1978/79 war diverted attention from the task of improving output. The policy of self-reliance had led to some neglect of export strategy and in consequence the terms of trade moved against Tanzania by an average of 5% a year since 1972, while the volume of exports also declined at a rate of 1 – 2% a year since the mid 1960s. The drive to expand domestic manufacturing stimulated a demand for imported raw materials and spares. These trends produced a recurrent balance of payments problem.

Food production kept ahead of population growth, but there were unuseable surpluses of some crops, while the production of others such as wheat, rice, sugar, milk and oilseed did not meet the demand.

The National Milling Corporation, responsible for the marketing of the main food crop, maize, was badly advised on storage systems and its operations have been generally poorly managed, creating losses which have contributed to inflation.

By October 1979:
1. the rate of inflation had risen from the mid 1975-mid 1979 rate of 8 to 10% a year to over 20%;
2. manufacturing output was collapsing (20-25% fall from the first quarter of 1979 to the first quarter of 1980, with a parallel fall in Sales Tax receipts);
3. for the first half of 1979/80 the recurrent budget deficit came to about shs.l,750 million;
4. goods shortages worsened to record levels (worse than 1975);
5. black marketing became common and built up a middle official or manager/private sub-wholesaler/retailer nexus of corruption;
6. real income fell 20 to 25% below 1973 for minimum wage earners, 5 to 10% for most peasants, over 50% for the majority of salary earners;
7. morale was badly shaken, with tiredness and near despair being dangerously common.

The trough came at the end of October 1979 when talks with the IMF by a weak and apparently ill prepared Tanzanian side collapsed in acrimonious disarray. President Nyerere’s “18 hard months” speech was as sombre as his 1975 New Year’s “grow food or starve” address and had no equally easy call to action to offer, although it did raise again the standard of holding on and striving to get back on a forward course.

The fight back.
Economic management again became central. A new (for his third term) Minister of Finance and a new top Treasury team were soon joined by new Ministers of Commerce and of Planning. The theme was to seek interim bilateral aid while putting Tanzania’s economic house in better order, to hold out for six months basically alone to demonstrate that Tanzanian policy was not up ‘ for auction and that Tanzanian strategy was still coherent and functional.

Action was far reaching and rapid, if by no means always fully successful:

1. the import budget was hacked back to near balance by the first half of 1980, but at a severe cost in reduced production and with no possible cure for the arrears albatross;

2. the recurrent budget deficit was held to shs.2,600 million for 1979/80 and a 1980/81 budget drawn up with measures to cut the deficit to shs.350 million without reducing basic public services;

3. the tax system was simplified, recurrent expenditure control potentially at least substantially improved, and tighter cash flow management instituted;

4. bank credit budgeting was improved for 1980/81 but at the expense of a sharp squeeze in the September-December period;

5. a plausible, detailed export strategy potentially capable of generating 6% export growth was worked out and while implementation is only beginning, for the first time there is broad acceptance of this as a priority area;

6. industrial output was pushed back to early 1979 levels by September 1980, some bottlenecks to plant completion and operation were removed, but the imported spares and inputs constraint was at best dented;

7. the rehabilitation of transport was begun, but from a very weak base as 1971-75 deferred maintenance had been only partly clawed back over 1976~78 before floods and foreign exchange crises imposed new setbacks;

8. food supplies for 1980/81 (including imports) had been organised and prices rationalised somewhat, but no new strategy had been worked out;

9. the reform of the National Milling Corporation had begun, but the process of decentralising and achieving minimal levels of storage, physical control and financial performance would still take at least eighteen months;

10. in commerce efforts to end foreign exchange leakage and the sub-wholesaler centered black market upsurge had begun, sometimes with more energy than detailed planning, and a well worked out programme to strengthen and expand the 5,000 odd village communal shops had also started.

External assistance.
Renewed external negotiations yielded shs.650 million in import support grants and loans in 1979/80 (up from shs.150 million in 1978/79) and the expectation of shs.1,000 million in 1980/81. Negotiations with the World Bank funded further Songo Songo natural gas probing and oil exploration and some agricultural storage and marketing improvement. As shown in the previous article. Renewed IMF negotiations produced funds at least for 1980/81 to cover some reduction of arrears to foreign suppliers, repayment of earlier IMF drawings and a marginal increase of imports without any surrender of political or planning principles.

An interim balance sheet.
What can be said at present about the results to date? Tanzania’s economy and society as well as its political economic philosophy have survived. Given the 1977-80 shocks, that is not a trivial achievement. But there is a continuing crisis.

The foreign exchange gap has been contained. Arrears (barring new shocks) have peaked and allocations are now more rationally planned. But overall the economy is still starved of needed imports which cannot be financed. Manufacturing output has been pushed up a third from March 1980 and should rise modestly in 1981. But shortages continue and 1981 will probably be little – if at all – above the previous 1978 peak.

Shortages of basic goods are contained at irritating and time wasting austerity levels. In six of its eight neighbours the Tanzanian shilling stands at a premium on the black market. But (except for food) the shortages are at least as bad as the previous 1975 trough. Inflation is less than in six of the eight neighbours but at about 20% is still painfully high. Basic public services – especially water, health and education – are steadily being extended. But operating supplies (spares, drugs, fuel, books, paper, chalk) are inadequate, raising serious quality and useability problems.

Violence and – less certainly – corruption have been reduced, but they are still at levels well above 1978 and a fortiori 1973. The minimum wage increases and the control over crop prices have reduced the fall in real income of the weakest social groups. But they have not reversed them (especially following the drought) and the vertiginous fall in the real incomes of salary earners is a cause for alarm as to its morale and morality implications.

Economic planning and management is much better than in 1978-79 and in some areas is at a new high. But serious gaps – e.g. in the National Milling Corporation – remain and overall there is still some deterioration especially at the middle level of management. The explosive rise of middle level technical ( post , secondary and non-university tertiary) institutions to over 200 and of their enrolment to over 25,000 gives hopes of breaking the middle level personpower bottleneck by 1985.

Morale: How Tanzanians see it.
Ultimately an analyst’s views are of less real significance than those of Tanzanians in offices and fields, on shop floors and in polling booths. Here, morale and perceptions seem to vary widely.

The weariness in the face of successive post-1974 crises remains. The sense of loss of part of what had been won and of any assurance of sustained progress is real. Shortages, corruption and problems with individuals (even if, or perhaps especially if those individuals are senior managers or officials) do lead to cynicism and fatalism. But that is not the whole picture. Even in late 1979 morale in the rural areas and in the Party was surprisingly high. Since June 1980 urban morale seems to have risen. The initial results of clawing back have not passed unnoticed. Further, tiredness – let alone cynicism – is not universal. There are many officials and managers who work late, who seek to improve performance, who become passionately angry at incompetence or corruption. The election results bear out this view. The President’s 93% is a vote of confidence. So is the return of all five major economic ministers standing by large majorities. The defeat of over 50% of back bench MPs is not truly unusual but does reflect the view that many middle level leaders were lazy or inept. The overall pattern is that of a selectively critical but hopeful electorate , not an embittered or despairing one.

The road ahead.
The prospects for Tanzania in 1981-83 depend largely on the progress of events beyond her control. How will the Gulf War affect petroleum supplies and aid from oil producing states? What will the weather be like? And export prices? Will the World Bank structural adjustment credit be approved (indeed will IDA survive President Reagan)? What will the climate be for the transfer of world resources? Will Uganda win through to stable government, thus ending its resource drain on Tanzania? Will Zambia be able to earn and make available sufficient foreign currency to reduce its massive arrears to Tanzania? It is hard to be highly optimistic about many of these questions.

Export prospects look better. Cashew nuts and sisal appear to be reorganised for recovery and manufactured exports for continued increase. The Buck Reef gold mine (a 20,000 ounce one) is due to come on stream. But to win through to 6% growth will be hard. After 1984 there are prospects of substantial mineral exports – fertilizer based on natural gas, perhaps uranium oxide, perhaps nickel and cobalt, vanadium and iron ore, possibly coal . But none is yet in hand, none can yield major net earnings until the late 1980s and major payoffs cannot be until the 199Os.

Agricultural advance is possible. It requires a coherent new strategy based on the five deficit foods, storage, a ‘new’ National Milling Corporation, selected export and industrial crop development, crop prices which are in coherent relationship with each other as well as reasonable in comparison with the prices of urban goods, better crop authority management and – especially – communication with growers. The need for action is seen, some initiatives have been taken and the advance (or failure to advance) to an overall strategy will be the most important economic event of 1981/82.

Finance and domestic credit will be on a sound basis if – and only if – the foreign exchange continues to be available at, or above, late 1980 levels. The same holds for industrial output, where the clearing of power and water bottlenecks, getting factories completed, finding export markets and correcting inefficiencies in management will payoff if – and only if – the import of raw materials and spares can be increased. Rural incomes will rise if weather in 1981 is average or better. Urban wages can be raised parallel to price increases if moderate production gains allow a cut in the inflation rate to 10 – 15%. A 10 to 15% salary increase is badly needed, but the chances of production and tax revenue to allow for it by mid 1981 are at best 50-50.

Foreign exchange is the key question. From 1990 on manufacturing and mining should allow a breakthrough. From 1985 on the export development strategy should payoff fairly well and over the period from 1982 to 1984 it should have some impact. 1981-82 requires good management, external support and more than ‘a little bit of luck’.

Can Tanzania win through?
In 1979-80 economic and social collapse and the end of Socialism and Self-Reliance as proclaimed in 1967 has been avoided. Has this created a basis for mounting a new advance or merely postponed descent into a more dependent, inegalitarian future? Frankness forces a clear warning that the odds against success are still high. But that has been true before- in 1974 when drought and oil prices hit; in 1978 when Amin invaded; in late 1979 when external bankruptcy and domestic disintegration only months away, the prospects and the odds looked worse than today.

The survival of Tanzania’s strategy and dynamics have been problematic ever since its present policies were launched in the Arusha Declaration. It remains problematic. But prophets of doom (right, left and centre; gleeful, sardonic and despairing) have to date been confounded. There have been hardships and setbacks, but Tanzania remains progressive, closer to its goals than in 1967, remarkably united behind the basic strategy and coherently seeking to move ahead. The most appropriate mood may be, at least for the friends of Tanzania, a degree of pessimism of the intellect, looking at the challenges and strains, but optimism of the will, looking at past challenges surmounted and a living national determination to win through.

Reginald Herbold Green.

The state purchasing agency for foodstuffs, the National Milling Corporation (NMC), naturally plays a central part in providing the population with basic food supplies. The NMC has earlier been criticised and this criticism has continued during this year. The NMC fulfils only to a very limited extent its undertaking to furnish the population with necessary basic foodstuffs, while at the same time putting up with serious losses. The NMC’s problem is that it is limited by the aims of the government’s agricultural policies, which among other things provide that the NMC is to buy at the same price everywhere in the country, while at the same time being commercially profitable. Moreover, the NMC also suffers from the deterioration of the transport network and the increasing difficulty of getting spares for vehicles, while a large proportion of the storage silos are of an inferior quality. Denmark and the World Bank have now decided to help Tanzania by building a large number of silos. CCM (the Party) has resolved that the NMC’s role as an organisation must be looked into, so that in future it may be enabled to fulfil its role in a more consistent manner.