by Ben Taylor

On 8 August 1914, the Royal Navy bombarded the German wireless relay station in Dar es Salaam. War had broken out in Europe just days earlier, and already it had come to East Africa.

In the shadow of the horrors of western Europe, space in the popular memory for the East African theatre of the First World War is limited. Such room as there is tends to be dominated by Boys’ Own tales of derring-do, successes against the odds and heroic failures.

The madcap British scheme to gain naval supremacy on Lake Tanganyika is Exhibit A. Two 40 foot motorboats, HMS Mimi and HMS Toutou, were shipped out to South Africa and transported 3,000 miles by land (including being dragged for 146 miles through the jungle of the Belgian Congo) to reach the lake. It should never have succeeded, and yet it did, capturing one German vessel and sinking another before forc­ing the Germans to scuttle their 220-foot flagship Graf von Götzen (now the MV Liemba).

This inspired C.S. Forrester’s novel, The African Queen, a film of the same name starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn, and, more recently, Giles Foden’s book Mimi and Toutou Go Forth. Partly as a result, though the military significance of the Battle of Lake Tanganyika was negligible, the story became arguably the most well-known episode of the Great War in East Africa.

Or perhaps that accolade should go to the sinking of the German battle-cruiser SMS Konigsberg. Just before outbreak of war, the ship had given the British navy the slip from Dar es Salaam harbour. She frustrated the British in the Indian Ocean for well over a year, sinking ships including City of Winchester and HMS Pegasus, before eventually being cornered and sunk in the Rufiji Delta.

The Germans began the war with a well-trained force of some 5,000 men under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. They launched an early attack over the border into British East Africa (now Kenya) to disrupt the Mombasa-Nairobi railway, capturing an area around Taveta and Tsavo. This was the only British territory anywhere worldwide to be occupied during the entire First World War. During one skirmish, a German sniper is said to have hidden inside a hollow baobab tree; locals still claim the tree to be “the most shot at tree during World War I.”

In November 1914, a British/ Indian Expeditionary Force launched a disastrous attack on the port of Tanga, the terminus of the strategically important Usambara railway to Moshi. There was an agreement that guaranteed the neutrality of Tanga, so the British gave the Germans 24-hours’ notice that the agreement was cancelled. Lettow-Vorbeck thus had time to bring reinforcements down the line from Moshi. When allied troops were landed, they struggled against a swarm of bees. The Germans faced similar problems, but they prevailed in what inevitably became known as the “Battle of the Bees”.

Guerrilla tactics and impossible logistics
These episodes have a place in the history of the Great War in East Africa. But they do not tell the full story – far from it – for this was a brutal war.

Schutztruppe in German East Africa – German Federal Archive Bild 134-C0265

In contrast to the immobile trench warfare in western Europe, the war in East Africa was one of mobility and guerrilla tactics: brief battles and long marches. The allied troops launched an offensive in early 1916, after which Lettow-Vorbeck conducted a guerrilla war for two and a half years around the south of German East Africa (Tanzania), the northern part of Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique) and finally in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia).

Lettow-Vorbeck by 1916 had around 20,000 troops – mostly Africans with German officers – while the allied combatants numbered around 150,000, under the command of South African General Jan Smuts. Smuts’ troops were drawn from Britain, the British colonies in East, West and Central Africa, South Africa, India and the Belgian Congo. By the end of the war, the allied force was almost entirely African.

Troops and carriers would often walk twenty miles a day, every day for a month, exposed to tropical weather of intense heat and drenching rain. Two King’s African Rifles battalions marched 1,600 miles in seven months, in the process fording 29 large rivers and fighting 32 engagements. Much of this was done with virtually no rations, subsisting on what could be found locally. Disease killed more British troops than combat. On returning from the field, soldiers were described as “resembling the victims of famine.”

In the words of one South African quartermaster, the war “involved having to fight nature in a mood that very few have experienced and will scarcely believe.” Another stated that “there is no form of warfare that requires so much inherent pluck in the individual as bush fighting.” And an officer who had fought on the Western Front wrote: “what wouldn’t one give for the food alone in France, for the clothing and equipment, and for the climate, wet or fine”.

A Malawian veteran described the experience: “Think of lying on the ground where the hot sun is beating directly on your back; think of yourself buried in a hole with only your head and hands outside, holding a gun. Imagine yourself facing this situation for seven days, no food, no water, yet you don’t feel hungry; only death smelling all over the place. Listen to the sound from exploding bombs and machine guns, smoke all over and the vegetation burnt and of course deforested. Look at your relatives getting killed, crying and finally dead. These things we did, experienced and saw.” (Page, cited by Samson).

Supply chains for food, medicines and munitions were impossible to maintain. Historian Edward Paice describes the logistical challenge: “As the availability of livestock for transport proved incapable by mid­1916 of matching the depredations of disease, the onus fell on the only alternative – human porterage. The mathematics are sobering. … 16,500 carriers were required to transport a single ton of supplies – enough to feed 1,000 askaris and their camp-followers for one day – for the simple reason that 14,000 of them were needed to carry food for the column while 2,500 carried the food for the troops. … The troops required more than a million carriers to keep them in the field.”

The German troops largely abandoned efforts to maintain a supply chain, and instead appropriated crops and livestock without payment. They recruited some 300,000 carriers, again largely without payment.

The effect of all this on the civilian population was devastating. Agriculture became more and more difficult, leading, by 1917-18 to famine in much of East Africa.

Map of the Great War in East Africa based on that by Mehmet Berker, wikipedia

And for what?
M’Inoti wa Tirikamu, a carrier from Meru, “wondered why white men hate each other so much. They looked so much like brothers. We asked ourselves: Do they fight for land, or for the power to rule, or is it because they are all white, or why?”

Odandayo Mukhenye Agweli, an askari of the King’s African Rifles had similar thoughts: “To this day, I still do not know why we fought the Germans and how the war began. Though we admired the European ways of fighting, we were still left wondering why so many people had to die. In our tribal wars, the number of the dead was never very big.”

There is no answer to these questions that can possibly justify the war. Lettow-Vorbeck saw the role of his army as a drain on allied resources – drawing men and weaponry away from more important battles in Europe. Though he evaded capture until the war had ended, at which point he surrendered in Northern Rhodesia, he never really drew significant manpower away from Europe. The allies fought the war mostly with African soldiers.

Historian Edward Paice sees the war in East Africa as “the final phase of the Scramble for Africa”, which “epitomised the vainglorious imperial ambitions which helped to trigger – and certainly prolonged – World War I”. The British gained a League of Nations Mandate over Tanganyika and the Belgians gained one for Rwanda and Burundi. But the war laid bare the human vulnerability of the white man as never before, and sowed seeds of a demand for independence. The First Pan-African Congress was held in Paris in 1919, to coincide with the Versailles Peace Conference. It called for Africa to be granted home rule, and for Africans to take part in governing their countries as fast as their development permits.

The real cost
In contrast to the (relative) glamour of a small British navy expeditionary force on Lake Tanganyika, the real story of the war in East Africa is far more brutal. The vast majority of war deaths were among carrier units – an estimated 95,000 on the allied side, probably well over 50,000 among the German carriers. Around one in eight of the adult male population of British East Africa – today’s Kenya – lost their lives either as askaris or carriers. And an estimated 300,000 civilians in German East Africa died as a direct result of the war and the 1917-18 famine. The official death toll among British combatant and support units was over 105,000 men. This equalled the number of American war deaths, and was almost double the numbers of Australian, Canadian or Indian troops who lost their lives during the war.

Disgracefully, however, the official death toll does not include carriers. According to Paice: “There were many British combatants in East Africa who paid tribute to the carriers on whom they were utterly dependent for survival … But when the mortality rate became common knowledge in Whitehall it was deemed a “bloody tale” best ignored, or even suppressed, as Britain sought colonial prizes in Africa at the Paris Peace Conference. As one colonial official put it, in particularly arresting terms: the conduct of the campaign “only stopped short of a scandal because the people who suffered the most were the carriers – and after all, who cares about native carriers?””

And yet, somehow, the worst was still to come. In September 1918, as the war was coming to an end, Spanish Flu reached sub-Saharan Africa. In British East Africa, probably as many as 200,000 died, nearly 10% of the total population of the country. In German East Africa, the death toll from Spanish Flu may have been as high as 20% of the population. “There came a darkness” is a much-repeated phrase in oral histories of the time. This was a war with an immense human cost: on the troops and on the carriers, and most of all, on the civilians.

Sources
Great War in Africa Association http://gweaa.com/

Edward Paice – How the Great War razed East Africa, Africa Research Institute http://www.africaresearchinstitute.org/publications/counterpoints/how-the-great-war-razed-east-africa/

Edward Paice – The Great War and the size of the butcher’s bill, The Africa Report
http://www.theafricareport.com/Columns/the-great-war-and-the-size-of-the-butchers-bill.html

Anne Samson – When two bulls fight
http://thesamsonsedhistorian.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/when-two-bulls-fight.pdf

Anne Samson – The numbers game: how many men fought in Africa?
http://thesamsonsedhistorian.wordpress.com/2014/06/13/the-numbers-game-how-many-men-fought-in-africa/

Wolfgang H Thome – Battlefield East Africa, 98 years and counting http://wolfganghthome.wordpress.com/2012/06/24/battlefield-east-africa/

World War I in Africa: What happened in Africa should not stay in Africa http://wwiafrica.tumblr.com/
Wikipedia – East African Campaign (World War I) https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/East_African_Campaign_(World_War_I)
Wikipedia – Battle for Lake Tanganyika https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_ for_Lake_Tanganyika
Wikipedia – Battle of Tanga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tanga
Wikipedia – Schutztruppe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schutztruppe

by David Brewin

Yet another political party
As if Tanzania did not have enough political parties – there are twenty – there is now another one! This party, now going through the processes of official registration, bears the name; ‘The Alliance for Change and Transparency’ (ACT). It is believed that it has been set up by former members of the leading opposition party Chadema, which is the only party to have a chance of defeating the ruling CCM party in the 2015 elections. CCM has been in power for more than 50 years. ACT’s interim chairman said that the party would be guided by five principles – patriotism, equality, accountability, transparency and true democracy.

‘Traitors’ in Chadema
The main opposition party Chadema, which did well in the 2010 elections, is now being torn apart by internal dissension. According to The Citizen, a group of its members have written to the Registrar of Political Parties on alleged illegal amendments to the party’s constitution, and to the Controller and Auditor General requesting an audit of the party’s accounts. Others have apparently accused the party of removing illegally a section on term limits for presidential candidates in Chadema’s constitution which could have made the party’s two main leaders ineligible for leadership posts’.

Some observers think that these events are simply ‘business as usual’ in Tanzanian politics ahead of elections. Many of these members have defected before – mainly from CCM to Chadema or other smaller parties.

Potentially more damaging is the revolt of perhaps Chadema’s most ambitious and charismatic former Deputy Secretary General, Zitto Kabwe, MP for Kigoma. Kabwe has been virtually expelled, together with other party members in the Kigoma and Tabora regions. He played an important role (see TA 108) in establishing the party’s growth, especially among the younger generation.

CCM in trouble too
In the case of CCM, too many people want to put themselves forward as candidates for the presidency. But the party has severely frowned on this premature campaigning and is threatening severe penalties for those engaged in it.

All this is disheartening for those wanting Tanzania to develop into a democracy on the British model where governments change from time to time to reflect the changing views of the electorate. But most Tanzanians regard security and peace as their highest priorities. People continue to vote for CCM in large numbers because, unlike the situation in all its neighbours, Tanzania and CCM have given the country peace and a relatively good state of law and order.

Calm before the storm
The present political scene, and especially the highly contentious debate on the constitution, could lead to stormy times in the next few months. With most politicians installed in Dodoma for the deliberations of the Constituent Assembly, the ruling party and the opposition parties have begun to worry seriously about the forthcoming 2015 elections. For the first time, three main opposition parties have come together in a ‘Coalition of the Peoples Constitution’ (UKAWA). Unless the CCM drops its determination to continue with two governments, Chadema has threatened to boycott further meetings of the Constituent Assembly (see separate article).

Chadema goes much further in threatening not to take part in the 2015 elections under the current constitution because they claim (perhaps with some justification) that the present law favours the CCM. Chadema is concerned to ensure that the nearly six million new young voters will be correctly registered before the 2015 elections. It fears that the country could go to the polls before a new and fairer constitution comes into effect. It wants to see the setting up of a new; independent (of government) Electoral Commission which will not receive orders from any government authority and will have only members not belonging to any political party. It also points out that, although over 20 million people registered to vote in the last election in 2010, only 8.6 million actually voted.

Municipal elections are due in October this year but the present National Electoral Commission says that it cannot afford to update the register twice between the two elections and is seeking funds to buy a biometric system with which to update the permanent voter register for both the constitutional referendum and the 2015 general election (but not for the local elections this year).

Salim retires from the ring
Respected Tanzanian ‘elder statesman’ Salim Ahmed Salim, who is highly qualified for the presidency and reached the last stage of the presidential primary contest in 2005, has indicated that he no longer plans to stand for the presidency in 2015. He is believed to have been disillusioned by ‘political machinations’ at that time. He said that a good track record in leadership had not been enough to guarantee him victory. He is now 72 and says that younger blood should get the chance.

What next for President Kikwete?
President Kikwete has received much praise following his recent recognition by the African Leadership Magazine as Africa’s ‘Most impactful Leader of the year 2013’. In a rare interview with the press, the President told The East African that when he returned to private life he would look after his cattle and expand his pineapple farm.

The costs of democracy
The Tanzanian government has released the amount of subsidy it paid, during a recent four-year period, to the political parties. The figures correspond to the strength of the party representation in the National Assembly and the Zanzibar House of Representatives.
The amounts received were as follows:
CCM – $31.8 million
CHADEMA – $5.75 million
Civic United Front – $3.93 million
NCCR Mageuzi – $423,125
Tanzania Labour Party – $135,025
United Democratic Party – $20,625
APT Maendeleo – $ 6,875
Democratic Party – $2,062

The quality of financial control exercised by the parties left much to be desired and the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee revealed that none of the political parties had kept proper financial records. Some parties did not even have bank accounts! Presumably, in these cases, the money went in to private accounts. The then chairman of the committee, Zitto Kabwe, was quoted in the East African as saying that political financing was the largest single driver of large-scale corruption. “It has taken four years for this audit to be implemented but it has been done and we have shown that fighting corruption must start with political institutions. A foundation has been built for cleaner politics.”

The immigration problem
As in Britain, immigration is becoming a major political issue in Tanzania. Legislation is being considered for possible action on foreign workers. President Kikwete has said that the number of foreign workers has reached an “alarmingly high figure” and that a bill will be introduced in Parliament in October to limit the number of work permits issued to foreigners, even if they come from other parts of East Africa. The other members of the East African Community seem likely to oppose this.

by Ben Taylor

As the Tanzanian political scene gears up for the 2015 presidential and parliamentary elections, CCM remain in a strong position, despite a growing challenge from Chadema.

But who exactly supports Chadema, and who backs CCM? It has often been assumed that Chadema draws most of its support from a young, urban demographic, while CCM retains strong support in rural areas, though there has been little information available to back this up.

Recently released data from the Afrobarometer initiative, a continent-wide public opinion survey, allows us to examine this question in more detail. The survey asked the standard opinion poll question: If an election were held tomorrow, which party’s candidate would you vote for?

Support for CCM Chadema with age range

First, the survey found that support for Chadema was indeed substan­tially stronger among 15-29 year olds (at 33%) than the over 50s (14%). Conversely, support for CCM rises with age, from just under half the 15-29 year olds (47%), and nearly three in four of those over 50 (71%). Support for CUF and other parties was negligible.

(This survey was conducted in 2012, so those who were 15 at the time will be of voting age by the time of the 2015 election.)

Support for CCM and Chadema versus education level

There is also a strong link between a voter’s level of education and their party affiliation. At each successive level of education, support for CCM dropped, and support for Chadema rose. Among those with post-secondary or university-level education, support for Chadema was higher than for CCM – 51% v 30% among university graduates. Support for CCM among less well-educated groups remains well ahead of Chadema. Among those with primary education, CCM has the support of a strong majority: 59% to Chadema’s 23%.

Since those with primary education or below represent three quarters of all potential voters (8% have no formal education, 13% have some primary education and 58% have completed primary education), this suggests Chadema have a lot of work to do to bring less-well-educated voters to their side.

Opinion poll data – a staple of political journalism across much of the world – have only very occasionally been available in Tanzania. The fast turn-around times of UK-style polls is simply not possible in Tanzania, where there is no easy way of quickly producing a random sample and few organisations have both the capacity and the credibility to carry out polls.

However, two separate initiatives have begun to fill this gap. Twaweza [‘we can make it happen’] have set up a nationally representative sur­vey panel, reachable by mobile phone, and are now conducting twice-monthly public opinion surveys. This initiative is known as Sauti za Wananchi – Voices of the People.

And the Afrobarometer initiative, a periodic Africa-wide survey of public opinion, has recently published data from its 2012 survey round, including Tanzania. This article draws exclusively on Afrobarometer
data.

by Enos Bukuku

Throughout March and April the Constitutional Assembly (CA), the body tasked to come up with a final draft Constitution, was marred by divisions between two informal coalition groups within the Assembly.

“Tanzania Kwanza” is largely made up of CCM members; whilst “UKAWA” (Muungano wa Umoja wa kutetea Katiba ya Wananchi – Coalition of Defenders of the People’s Constitution) is formed mainly from members of the opposition parties.

The arguing and political mud-slinging is focussed almost exclusively on one issue: the nature of the relationship between Zanzibar and main­land Tanzania – “the union question”. Should Tanzania continue with a two-government system (i.e. Tanzania and Zanzibar), or adopt a three-government structure (Tanzania, Zanzibar, Tanganyika), also referred to as a “federal” government?

As the Constitutional Assembly’s first session broke up in April – to allow MPs to return to parliament for the annual budget session – UKAWA’s frustrations with CCM intransigence on the union question led them to walk out on the Assembly. UKAWA is thought to have considerable support among the Tanzanian public.

In 2010, as part of their election manifestos, both Chadema and the Civic United Front (CUF) pushed for a three-tier government, which had previously been proposed by various groups and commissions over the past 30 years or so. The Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) took the initiative and incorporated this into both the first and second drafts of the proposed constitution, which according to Joseph Warioba, Chairman of the CRC, “was aimed at safeguarding the 1964 merger between Tanganyika and Zanzibar”.

It has been argued by supporters of the three-government system that it streamlines the governmental structure and gives Zanzibar more autonomy, thus maintaining stability between mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar. Judge Warioba has gone on record several times to state that most Zanzibaris are in favour of the three-government idea, though this has been challenged by some Zanzibari politicians.

President Kikwete has been vocal in his objection to the proposal; in his opening speech to the Constitutional Assembly, he stated that a three-government system will not add value and will create problems. CCM, which had previously housed a wide range of opinions on the matter, fell quickly into line behind the president.

The delay in debating the draft constitution has had a knock on effect on new laws being drafted. Proposed energy legislation, for example, which could make Tanzania the first exporter of liquefied natural gas in East Africa, may now have to wait until next year.

Changes to the law to ensure better rights for women, children, the disabled, the press, and many other vulnerable groups are likely to be enshrined in the new constitution if it goes ahead. The issue of dual citizenship has received attention from a few high ranking politicians who suggest that its inclusion will be debated in the Constitutional Assembly. However, it is believed that dual nationality is more likely to be incorporated within a separate Act of Parliament rather than within any new constitution. Bernard Membe, the Foreign Minister, told the National Assembly in May: ”We believe that the time is ripe for our country to have an Act that allows dual citizenship, in the interest of our nation’s development”.

All these issues hang in the balance until the Assembly deadlock is broken.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has also been closely monitoring the situation. In May UNDP Administrator Helen Clark criticised UKAWA for its walk out earlier in the year and urged that they voice their concerns and discontent through the forum of the Assembly, rather than refusing to participate. This has been echoed by Judge Warioba, warning that failure to reach an agreement may plunge the country into a political crisis.

Kenyan politician and legal scholar Patrick Loch Otiendo Lumumba has been asked to mediate in the CA and ease the tensions between UKAWA and Tanzania Kwanza.

The CA Chairman, Samuel Sitta, also sought to broker peace between the rival groups with a reconciliation meeting scheduled for 24 July. The UKAWA members did not show up, arguing that it was pointless as CCM continue to hold a firm line on the union question. Deus Kibamba, chairman of the influential civil society group, Tanzania Constitution Forum (TCF), has called for the debate over the new constitution to be delayed until after next year’s elections. There are many who believe that Tanzania will not get a new constitution because both groups will never reach a consensus.

The debate on the Constitution is due to resume in August. The president has authorised a further extension of the time, allowing 60 days from 5 August for the CA to finalise the draft constitution before it can be presented to the public for a vote. At the time of writing, UKAWA continues to boycott the Assembly, though Sitta insists it will carry on regardless.

This raises two questions: Will the CA have sufficient members present to vote on the articles of the new constitution – will it be quorate? Without UKAWA members, it looks to be very close. And if votes are possible, will a new constitution written by a CCM-dominated Assembly have sufficient popular legitimacy and support to pass a national referendum, and stand the test of time?

It would be a bitter shame if it all collapses at this stage, wasting billions of shillings, years of preparation and most importantly, a golden oppor­tunity to address many of the fundamental problems that the country faces. An independent observer may be forgiven for reaching the con­clusion that Tanzanian politicians excel at forming coalition groups, but underperform in implementing objectives. The next few months will show whether such an observation is unfair.

by David Brewin

Tanzania and the EAC
Three East African Community (EAC) member countries (Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda) continue to forge ahead in signing agreements and strengthening their relations, while Tanzania and Burundi, the other members, remain either absent from discussions or self-excluded because so many of the new development programmes do not directly concern their countries for geographical reasons.

Examples include the dramatic fall in the clearance time for goods going from Mombasa to Kampala – down to 4 days compared with 12 days previously, and from 21 days to 6 for goods going from Mombasa to Kigali (Rwanda). There has been a substantial lowering of costs. This is the result of the East African Single Customs Territory (EASCT), which ministers from the three countries have recently signed.
Under a new special visa deal, foreign residents can get a single six-month multiple entry visa for US $100 valid in all three countries (i.e. not including Tanzania). This compares with the earlier cost of $150. The three countries are also participating together in various international tourist fairs.

From August 2014 the tax on mobile phone calls between the three countries is being reduced by 20%. Plans were being prepared for Tanzania to join in this.

Rwanda
After the rough period in relations between Tanzania and Rwanda last year, relations seem to be slowly getting better again. Rwandan President Paul Kagame said he would readily honour an official invitation to visit Tanzania if he received one because Tanzania meant a lot to him, as did the survival of Rwanda and the stability of the region. Tanzania’s State House responded by saying that the idea was not only welcome but was also a critical step in normalising relations between the two countries.

North Korean arms
A recent UN report has claimed that that 18 military technicians from North Korea had been involved in the refurbishment and repair of Tanzanian F-7 fighter jets and other military aircraft at the its Air Force base in Mwanza. The journal Africa Confidential has reported that although N. Korea has no diplomatic representation in Tanzania, two senior officers had been seconded to the Tanzanian Peoples Defence Forces. The report said that Uganda, Ethiopia and Eritrea were also engaged in providing military assistance.

Tanzania has strongly denied the allegations. “Tanzania has no trade relations with N Korea. UN sanctions are specific. They are about trade and we don’t have any trade deals with North Korea,” said a Foreign Affairs spokesman. He added however that maybe the TPDF may know more.

North Korea is believed to have developed sophisticated ways to circumvent UN sanctions, including the suspected use of its embassies to facilitate an illegal trade in weapons, and making use of complicated financial techniques “pioneered by drug-trafficking organizations” , so that tracking the isolated state’s purchase of prohibited goods is more difficult.

The 127 page report was compiled by a panel of eight UN experts and is part of an annual audit of North Korea’s compliance with UN sanctions imposed in response to Pyongyang’s banned nuclear weapons and missile programs. The panel reports to the UN Security Council.

“From the incidents analyzed in the period under review, the panel has found that (North Korea) makes increasing use of multiple and tiered circumvention techniques,” a summary of the report said.

Chinese ambassador speaks frankly
In a wide ranging interview given by Chinese Ambassador Lu Youqing to the Hong Kong newspaper South China Post (quoted by the Citizen) he touched on some delicate parts of Chinese relations with Tanzania and Tanzanians.

On corruption he said that in 2011 his country had made amendments to its criminal law so that it was now a criminal offence for Chinese nationals to bribe nationals in foreign countries.

The Ambassador voiced his concern about “shoddy” work being carried out by some Chinese contractors in neighbouring countries and said that some infrastructure projects had been undertaken by Chinese companies at unrealistic prices. They had been building roads for between $300,000 and $400,000 per km but the real cost was much higher and he wondered what would happen to these roads in five years’ time.

The Ambassador expressed his disappointment over “bad habits” that tarnished China’s image in Tanzania. For example he mentioned corruption and illegal ivory trading. “Our people just cannot shake off their bad habits. When they come to Africa, they are not united and engage in infighting as usual” he said. He referred to competition among Chinese companies over contracts and bribes offered to Tanzanian officials to lobby on their behalf.

On violent crime targeting Chinese nationals in Tanzania he said: “Tanzania has ambassadors from about seventy countries but none of them needs to constantly worry like us about consular protection issues, police harassment and robberies targeting Chinese citizens.”

by Mark Gillies

Prior to his resignation, Natural Resources and Tourism minister, Ambassador Khamis Kagasheki, inspects tusks impounded at a Mikocheni house (DSM)

Tokomeza – to scatter, or destroy, or to reduce to nothing.

In the autumn of 2013, a report commissioned by the government’s Wildlife Division and the Frankfurt Zoological Society concluded that the elephant population of the Selous Game Reserve had dropped to 13,000, its lowest recorded level. This is a drop of 80% from the previous survey in 2005, when there were an estimated 65-70,000 elephants. The cause of this decline was unrestrained, systematic poaching. At the current rate, in four years time there would no longer be any elephants left in the Selous.

The Tanzanian government had no choice: it had to act. The result was Operation Tokomeza, a cross-services, multi-ministry attempt to end the poaching of large mammals in Tanzania.

Initial success came in the form of increased seizures of illicit ivory, but this was soon overshadowed by horrific stories of beatings, sexual assault and even murder, some of which were recorded on mobile phones and posted on YouTube. MPs raised questions in Parliament, issuing a report that confirmed the existence of human rights abuses. The Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Hamisi Kagasheki, resigned, and three Ministers were sacked: the Minister for Home Affairs, Emmanuel Nchimbi, the Minister for Defence and National Service, Shamsi Vuai Nahodha and the Minister for Livestock Development, David Mathayo.

In the last days of 2013, President Kikwete cancelled Operation Tokomeza. In the months that have followed, as ivory seizures continue and a number of Chinese nationals have been arrested (one successfully prosecuted and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment), the international media, led by the Daily Mail and ITV in the UK, has caught up with the story of Tanzania’s poaching crisis, ratcheting up the pressure on the government and focusing on what is being done to protect the wildlife that Mwalimu Nyerere vowed to protect.

There is currently a struggle going on in rural Tanzania, where competing interests battle one another as well as the forces of the state that remain true to protecting the natural resources of Tanzania. To this battle must be added widespread ineptitude and inability to control men with guns but no sense of personal responsibility. A sense of fear pervades all those willing to contribute information for this article; not one would agree to be identified. They fear the consequences of becoming known to those with power, those with weapons, or both.

According to one source, close to, but not involved in, the operation in the vicinity of the Selous, Tokomeza was inspired by Operation Uhai, the 1989 ‘silver bullet’ that was seen to have successfully stopped poaching at the end of the 20th Century. Tokomeza was intended to repeat this, or at least provide a positive PR opportunity.

While some involved in the operation were motivated by media coverage and not the actual result, committed individuals across the services, led by the Minister, Khamis Kagasheki, made comprehensive preparations.

In the northern Selous, three lorry loads of soldiers from Tanga, three Land rovers of police field force from Morogoro, two TANAPA Land cruisers with rangers from Ruaha/Mikumi, and locally based Wildlife Division rangers arrived at night, and the next day were out in the villages. A similar pattern was also witnessed in the Ruaha National Park area and across Northern Tanzania.

Results came quickly, for the first time in over a decade more illegal ivory was seized in Tanzania than in transit to (or in) the Far East. In 2013, there were 56 seizures of ivory in Tanzania totalling 8,255kg, the equivalent of what has been seized over the last decade, and 216 suspected poachers and traffickers have been brought to court. Mobile phones confiscated from poachers provided the security services with invaluable information that enabled them to quickly move up the poaching command structure from the villages to those commissioning the killings.

In the opinion of the Selous source, two weeks into the operation the intelligence services had enough information to arrest a number of senior individuals, if there was the political will to do so. This information was compiled in a dossier that included the names of the senior people involved in the illegal trade, some alleged to be very close to the President.

The sources contributing to this article do not deny that human rights abuses occurred. Trucks full of detainees were seen and footage posted online purportedly showing soldiers and rangers beating villagers and engaging in brutal and degrading treatment. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwGnkTqVDhI). However, why was it at the exact point at which the dossier was compiled that MPs in parliament began protesting against the abuses of the operation, so that Tokomeza was suspended? Policing actions across Africa are often brutal, but in this case, the allegation is that the brutality itself was a means by which to sabotage the operation and bring it to a premature end. Fear of collusion between game rangers and poachers was such that operational personnel were trucked in from distant districts, but perhaps the effect of corruption in the upper echelons was underestimated? (http://www.rasilimaliwatch. org/index.php/en/component/content/article/19-sample-dataarticles/main/24­rasilimali)

To understand the story of poaching in Tanzania, it is necessary to understand the stakes. The website ‘Serengeti Watch’, illustrates the financial reality of the poaching war well:
‘During this time (2009-13) – Poachers could make $300 a tusk, grossing more than $34 million. Middlemen sold to sellers in the city for about $1000 a tusk, total profit $23 million. Sellers passed onto exporters for $1400 a tusk, total profit $23 million. In China one pound of ivory sells for about $1000, making the gross value of Selous’ elephants worth billions. This big money has attracted organized crime, corrupt officials, and terrorist groups like Al-Shabab.’
(http://www.savetheserengeti.org/uncategorized/selous-game-reserve-tragedy/)

Yet, this is not just a story of personal aggrandizement. 2015 will be an election year in Tanzania. The ruling party is divided; new political parties threaten change; and elections campaigns cost large amounts of money. It is a sad joke that when safari drivers pass one another on a game drive and pause to ask the whereabouts of the animals that all tourists wish to see, they no longer use ‘masikio’ (ears) for the elephant, but the name of a senior ruling party official.

Operation Tokomeza is a story of the appropriation of national resources for private profit. It is a story of ineptitude and unrestrained violence, but it is also an example of what can be achieved by the men and women of Tanzania committed to protecting the animals that continue to contribute so much to the development of the nation, even in these days of gas, gold and uranium.

When Minister Kagasheki addressed the House prior to his resignation, he spoke of the need for an investigation into what really happened during Tokomeza. It is suspected he knows well enough, but he needs someone else to do the telling.

There are calls in Tanzania for a second Tokomeza. Sadly, this is a story that will continue just as long as you can buy ivory in Mwenge Market. As of now, you can.

Editor’s note:
In February President Kikwete attended the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade, and together with the leaders of Botswana, Gabon and Chad promised that he will not ask for permission from CITES to sell any of the Tanzanian ivory stockpile (currently 137 tons of ivory, worth over US$80 million). He further noted that the government was organizing financial and logistical requirements to re-launch Operation Tokomeza.

by Enos Bukuku

A couple of years ago President Kikwete may have thought that as his presidential tenure draws to a close, he would like to leave a befitting legacy behind. His thought process may have gone something like this:
“I’ll spearhead a movement to give Tanzanians a new constitution which will involve the entire nation’s participation. First, we’ll create a Constitutional Review Committee (CRC), headed by a very intelligent and well respected former judge. The CRC will collect the views of Tanzanians from all walks and ensure their participation, which will result in the preparation of a draft bill. That draft will be passed to a Constituent Assembly (CA) who will prepare a final draft, to be presented to the nation for a referendum. This should be a good way for me to finish my two terms as President and be remembered as the man who ushered Tanzania into a new, fairer and more hopeful era”.

If only it was that simple…..

Constitutional change has been welcomed by most in Tanzania, but understandably there has been much debate as to what changes need to be made. Whilst CCM and the President were never really for the idea of a three government solution (with separate governments for Zanzibar, mainland Tanzania and the Union) this has dominated all other proposed changes.

The CRC were very much in favour of a three government system, and when they handed over the reins to the CA, they may have been expecting that the subsequent procedure of finalising the draft would be a mere formality. Judge Warioba announced at the end of December that 61% of the mainland and 60% of Zanzibaris were in favour of the controversial three government system.

An independent opinion poll on the subject found that a large majority on Zanzibar (80%) support the three government proposal, while mainland Tanzania is split on the issue (43% in support) – see next article.

In the last issue of Tanzanian Affairs we documented the problems and delays experienced by the CRC. There were anti-reform rallies against CCM and the CRC, a fight in the National Assembly and Chadema walk outs. Unfortunately the delays and debacles were not restricted to the CRC.

The scheduled deadline for the CA to finalise the draft was 26 April 2014. Although the CA was sworn in on 18 February there was a month delay before any agenda matters could be kicked off, while the rules to govern the CA debates were discussed – including a lengthy debate as to whether clauses should be approved by open or closed ballot.

An interim chairman, Mr Pandu Ameir Kificho, was appointed to chair the CA whilst they decided on who would be the permanent chairperson. According to Mr Kificho, the CRC misrepresented the nation by suggesting that Zanzibar was for a three government system, adding that the draft Constitution causes more problems than it solves regarding strengthening the Union.

Parliament eventually appointed veteran legislator Samuel Sitta to chair the CA. In the two months since then, Mr Sitta has had his work cut out to quell various disputes which continue to plague the Assembly.

After the delay, the question was raised as to whether the CA had the full 70 days to sit or 47 remaining days. Mr Sitta had to take some time to find the answer.

An internal dispute then broke out in the CA over an alleged discrepancy in vote counting, followed by an argument over how much daily allowance committee members would receive. On one day members put aside the agenda of the day to demand increased pay, arguing that the Tsh 300,000 (£110) daily allowance was insufficient.

Then, in mid-April, members of coalition group UKAWA, comprising assembly members from the main opposition parties and some members from independent groups, walked out of the assembly and threatened a series of protests against the draft, criticising the process. Insults and “discriminative sentiments” were exchanged among fac­tions within the assembly.

In an attempt to bring order to the proceedings in their Easter address, Tanzanian clerics proposed that they would form a group of at least 20 to help bring unity. Bishop Mdoe said “Unfortunately, we do not see the wisdom expected to be seen among some faces in Dodoma. The Assembly should not drag itself into the trap of this bad devil.”

At the time of writing, only a few sections of the second draft constitution have been debated. These sections deal with the structure of the government and the implementation of a three government system. It must be remembered that the CA must have a two-thirds majority for a chapter or the entire draft constitution to be approved and then presented to the nation for the referendum. At the moment, this does not appear likely.

To the lay citizen this must be confusing and frustrating, given that many will not understand the need for such a change, which is dominating the agenda of proposed reform, putting aside important issues such as women’s rights, health, education and human rights.

The sensitive subject of dual citizenship has also received little attention so far. One CA member has very recently called for the government to allow dual citizenship, but whether he can persuade his colleagues to include it in the final draft remains to be seen.

The CA, not unexpectedly, requested an extension of the period during which it sits. It is now due to reconvene in August, to give time for parliament to convene for the budget session. The likelihood is that the assembly will request further extensions of time given that the other chapters of the draft constitution have not yet been debated.

One certainty is that a new constitution is still a long way off, with political partisanship being an issue which needs to be deal with. There is clearly a lot of passion and interest from all sides regarding the constitution. It is hoped that such passion can be harnessed to finalise what has been a massive undertaking. President Kikwete may still leave a glorious legacy behind, but at the moment it looks as if a new and improved constitution may not form part of that legacy.

by Jacob Knight

Kikwete and Cameron outside No 10 Downing Street

President Kikwete visited London from 31 March-1 April on a three day official visit. He met with the Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague and held talks at Buckingham Palace with the Duke of York, Britain’s Trade Ambassador. The President opened the UK/Tanzania Trade and Investment Forum and visited Aberdeen to see UK expertise in the oil and gas sector. William Hague noted during the visit: “I am delighted at the growing partnership between the UK and Tanzania on a number of fronts. Tanzania offers significant opportunities for British businesses in the energy sector and beyond and has the potential to become a major new global gas supplier.”

The President also met with over 500 diaspora in North Wembley, urging them to play a meaningful role in the country’s affairs and noting that the issue of dual citizenship was being considered.

by Ben Taylor

Nelson Mandela with President Nyerere and Mama Maria Nyerere during his visit to Tanzania after his release in 1990 (source http://ancarchives.org.za)

The death of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela has drawn tributes from the great and the good (and the not so great or good) around the world. Presidents Barack Obama and Jacob Zuma understandably drew the most attention.
Tanzania’s President Kikwete and Mama Maria Nyerere, the widow of Julius Nyerere, attended the funeral service in the village of Qunu. They were both very warmly received. President Kikwete paid tribute to Mandela, taking the opportunity to remind those in attendance, and the watching world, of Tanzania’s role in the anti-apartheid struggle and of the time Mandela spent in Tanzania. In the process, he brought Thabo Mbeki, Mandela’s successor as South African President, to tears. The following is an extract from President Kikwete’s tribute:

“The people of Tanzania would like you to know that you are not alone. They are with you during this difficult period and mourning. They are saying your grief is our grief, your loss is our loss. Nelson Mandela was our leader, our hero, our icon and our father as much as he was yours. The people of Tanzania have lost a great friend and great comrade in arms.

“President Mandela had long standing association with Tanzania. It dates back to the times of the struggle for independence and liberation here in South Africa and in Tanzania. We supported each other at the time of need. It was no accident, therefore, that after the ANC decided to establish the armed wing, the Umkotho we Sizwe, after peaceful means seemed to be futile, Dar es Salaam was Madiba’s first port of call in 1962. He left South Africa secretly and came to newly independent Tanganyika to seek support for the armed struggle and a place to train the MK combatants.

“Though at first President Nyerere had some reservations about when and how to initiate the armed struggle, he accepted Madibas’ request and provided members of the MK both permission to live in Tanzania and places to train. I am sure to the ANC and MK veterans gathered here, names like Kongwa, Mgagao, Morogoro, Mazimbu and Dakawa sound familiar. They may even rekindle nostalgic memories of the life they lived in Tanzania.

“Besides that, Tanzania was generous enough to give cadres of the liberation movements travel documents – passports and all that is needed. Where necessary, they assumed Tanzanian names. When Madiba came to Tanzania he had no passport. He was given a Tanzanian travel document. It facilitated his movement. And I know a number of you used Tanzanian travel documents – I don’t know if Thabo returned his?

“There is another interesting thing about Madibas’ first visit to Tanzania in 1962 which I would like to mention. In order to keep the visit discreet, he did not stay in hotels; he stayed at the home of TANU’s Treasurer who was then the Minister for Commerce and Industries Mr Nsilo Swai. On his departure to his onward trip to Accra, Lagos, Addis and Algiers, he left his boots at Mr Swai’s home in the hope that on his way back he would pick up the boots. Unfortunately, he did not pass through Dar es Salaam and shortly after arriving back in South Africa, Mandela was arrested and imprisoned and spent the 27 years in Robben Island.

“Fortunately, the Swai family kept the boots awaiting his return. In 1995 when Madiba was President of the new South Africa, the pair of brown boots was handed back to him by Mrs Vicky Nsilo Swai the widow of the late Nsilo Swai who died in 1994.

“I have narrated these stories and anecdotes to let people know how far back, the present excellent relations between our two friendly countries and both the ANC and Chama cha Mapinduzi have come from. It is not by accident that South Africa and Tanzania enjoy excellent bilateral relations. We are close friends and allies because our common history unites us.

“Comrades, it is none other than our founding father, first President Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, and the first President of the new South Africa, Nelson Mandela who are responsible for this. They built very strong foundations for our bilateral relations. Madiba is very much our leader, our hero, our icon and our father as he is to you. That is why your sadness, grief and sorrow are ours as well. That is why we also join you in celebrating the life of this great man.”

see TA Issue 36 for details of Mandela’s visit to Tanzania in 1990