MISCELLANY

Posted on September 1, 2004 by editor

A Tanzanian from Moshi, Angela Nkya, fifth-year architecture student at Iowa State University in US, has won the $3,000 annual Berkeley Undergraduate Prize for Architectural Design Excellence.
The Sunday Observer (August 1) quoted Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, Pius Ng’wandu, as saying that using the giant pouched rat to detect smell, vapours or explosives used in anti-personnel landmines, could complement existing methods in this important field if well developed. “Apparently, during civil unrest the best lands become also the best sites used by minelayers to deter the adversary” he said. A Belgian de-mining organisation, the University of Antwerp, together with the Sokoine University, signed a memorandum of collaboration in 2001 to undertake research on the possibility of using the rat to detect by smell vapours of explosives used in anti-personnel landmines.

The Guardian reported on June 16 that computer software giant Microsoft will release at the end of this year a computer operating system in Kiswahili.
Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda have obtained international registration and a patent for Lake Victoria’s Nile Perch to establish themselves as sole exporters of this type of fish to Europe. The move is aimed at protecting the perch, popularly known in Tanzania as Sangara, against potential threats in its main export market. There were threats from exporters of similar kinds of fish from Asia – Guardian.

Mtanzania has reported that Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Abdulkadir Shareef said on August 5th that Tanzania was to send 100 troops to Sudan as part of the African peace keeping force.

OBITUARIES

Posted on September 1, 2004 by editor

The RIGHT REVEREND GEORGE BRIGGS (93) was a missionary priest in Tanzania for 36 years. He died on March 15. He had belonged to a company of unmarried Anglo-Catholic clergy and, in the years before the Second World War, felt drawn to sacrificial service in the Universities Mission to Central Africa. From 1969 to 1973 he was Warden of St Cyprian Theological College in Masasi where many future African bishops passed through his hands. In 1960 Father Trevor Huddleston was elected Bishop of Masasi and they worked closely in helping the Church and the nation to prepare for independence two years later. From 1964 to 1969 Briggs was Rector of St Albans, Dar es Salaam. In his will he left £1,000 to the Britain Tanzania Society – from the obituary in the Daily Telegraph – Editor.

SIR HORACE PHILLIPS KCMG (86) died on 19th March. He spent four years in Tanzania as British High Commissioner from 1968.

ROBIN THORNE (86) who died on May 11 was a District Officer in Tanganyika from 1948 to 1958 before moving to a very troubled Aden for nine years where he was badly wounded by a letter bomb. (Thank you John Sankey for sending this information – Editor).

DR. HAROLD WHEATE OBE (86) died on 19th April. He was first in charge of the Makete Leprosarium, near Tukuyu (1954 – 58) and then of the Chazi Leprosarium, near Morogoro (1958 – 72). As Senior Government Leprologist, he developed a nation-wide leprosy control scheme which brought government and missionary medical workers together, an effective co-operation which dramatically improved the rates for early diagnosis and treatment of leprosy around the country. (Thank you Mike Wheate for sending this – Editor).

REVIEWS

Posted on September 1, 2004 by editor

Editor – John Cooper-Poole

JOURNEY INTO AFRICA. THE LIFE AND DEATH OF KEITH JOHNSTON, SCOTTISH CARTOGRAPHER AND EXPLORER (1844-79). James McCarthy. Whittles Publishing ISBN 1-904445-01-2. 2004. Pp. 248.

The origins of this remarkable biography lie in an invitation to the author from the Director of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, to transcribe the unpublished expedition diary of Keith Johnston, who was among the last of the European explorers of the classical period of African exploration. Only a small part of the book derives from that manuscript, however. The author obtained access to Johnston family papers, which provided insights into the formative years in Keith Johnston’s short life. Thereafter, the author sought out a range of archival sources shedding new light on the evolution of the family firm of Alexander Johnston, Keith’s father and one the most prestigious cartographic houses of the nineteenth century. The author also immersed himself in the literature of nineteenth-century African exploration. The result is a significant contribution, both to the history of nineteenth-century cartography and to the history of European penetration of Africa.

Although much the smaller part of the narrative, the part which will be of most interest to readers of Tanzanian Affairs will be the account of four months of preparation in Zanzibar in 1879, the trial safari to the Usambaras, before eventually setting off from Dar es Salaam southwest to Behobeho village on the banks of the Rufiji, where Johnston died of dysentery and was buried, with the expedition less than two months old. The slow progress of the expedition, the observations which were made and the many difficulties encountered are related from Johnston’s diary and from the records of his young and ultimately more famous assistant, Joseph Thomson. The tragic brevity of Johnston’s journey into what is now the Selous Game Reserve is emphasised by the short flight which the author himself made in 2001, in an unsuccessful attempt to locate Johnston’s grave. This was to be the last great expedition into Africa mounted by the Royal Geographical Society. At last, a part of it has been meticulously researched in its wider context, within a scholarly biography which is lucidly written and appropriately illustrated.

Jeffrey Stone

WOMEN STRIVING FOR SELF-RELIANCE: DIVERSITY OF FEMALE-HEADED HOUSEHOLDS IN TANZANIA AND THE LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES THEY EMPLOY. Anke van Vuuren 2003. Amsterdam University, Drukkerij Haan-Bedum. ISBN 090 5448 055 3. Available from African Studies Centre, P.O. Box 9555, 2300 Leiden, The Netherlands. asc@leidenuniv.nl

This book provides a detailed account of livelihood strategies of Nyamwezi female household heads in Ndala, Tabora, documenting the ways and means by which female-headed households manage to not only get by but even flourish. This bucks the view that female-headed households are necessarily marginalized relative to male-headed households. Interestingly, Van Vuuren found a very high incidence of female-headed households in Ndala, 42%, rather than the normal 20-33% one comes to expect in rural villages in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Van Vuuren refined the concept of household headship discerning four different forms of female headed-households. Besides the usual divorced, widowed or married women temporarily heading households by virtue of male migration, there was a relatively new category, the avowedly unmarried single female heads of households. This is a category that has been observed in urban settings for decades, but it has been rare in rural areas where women are generally made to feel that they should reside with a male ‘protector’ in the form of a father or husband.

Non-agricultural income diversification is central to the economic well-being of the female heads of household. Non-agricultural income diversification is very far advanced in Ndala generally with 96% of female-headed households’ income and 88% of male-headed households’ income coming from non-agricultural sources. Ndala is a settlement that is outgrowing its village origins, being the site of a Catholic mission hospital and school. The Mission complex offers salaried employment opportunities to a level quite unusual in the Tanzanian village context. The implication is that not only is salaried employment higher but the multiplier effects of such formal employment raises the level of informal sector opportunities for people. Hence Ndala has a higher than average level of non-agricultural income-earning.

Women have access to formal and informal employment and are choosing not to marry men – the new breed of female household heads. But would such a category exist in the absence of the Mission employment? Why are such women avoiding marriage to men? Men are largely invisible in this study. How are they reacting to this? And what do the missionaries think about this trend?

This is a pioneering study with surprising findings, opening the way for research elsewhere to ascertain if Ndala is an isolated case or part and parcel of a growing trend. It is readily evident that the author had very good rapport with her female informants and gleaned valuable insights into household emotional relationships and family finance. The book will appeal to anyone wanting to know more about Unywamwezi, Tanzanian female-headed households or general social trends in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Deborah Bryceson

AFRICAN DINOSAURS UNEARTHED. The Tendaguru Expeditions
By Gerhard Maier (2003). Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 380 pp. $49.95. ISBN 0-252-34214-7

Eastern Africa is today famed for its fossil human ancestors, the hominins, but few concerned with those stars of the palaeontological world may know of the earlier work in the region that produced huge quantities of those other famous and popular fossils, dinosaurs. In fact between 1907 and 1931, German and then later British research teams recovered some of the finest known specimens of large Jurassic dinosaurs at Tendaguru in what is now southeastern Tanzania. This fascinating book by Gerhard Maier interweaves the history of the discoveries and the later fate of the remains with the political events of the 20th Century, and in the process even underlines the links between the search for dinosaurs and human ancestors. That most famous of all African palaeontologists and archaeologists, the Kenyan-born Louis Leakey, then a Cambridge student, was originally invited to join a British Museum (Natural History) expedition to recover more dinosaurs from Tendaguru in 1923

While the British sought more specimens, in Berlin technicians were busy removing the huge bones from the plaster jackets in which they had been encased for transportation back to Germany before World War I. The logistics of such recovery from field to museum would tax even a modern expedition, and in the chaos of early 1920s Germany raising funds for the preparation of the material in the museum was an equally daunting task. But by the late 1920s whole skeletons had been reconstructed and numerous scientific papers published, and the importance of the material made clear to the scientific world and public alike. The material even survived the massive destruction of Berlin during World War II and the rather cavalier attitude to lending whole skeletons to overseas institutions under the German Democratic Republic, and to this day forms one of the centrepieces of the Berlin Natural History Museum.

Maier’s book details all of this in great (perhaps at times a little excessive) detail, and ends with a very good review of the interpretation of Jurassic dinosaurs and the significant contribution to this field of study made by the Tendaguru specimens. In doing so, he also gives a very impressive review of the history of fossil prospecting in eastern Africa as a whole during the first part of the 20th Century, and of the extreme conditions in which much of the work at Tendaguru and elsewhere had to be done. It puts the specimens that we palaeontologists now casually look at in museum collections into a very useful and at times frankly sobering context, and underlines the debt that we owe to those who recovered the material, often at the cost of their health or even their life.

Alan Turner

THE FORGOTTEN FRONT (The East African Campaign 1914-18), Ross Anderson, Tempus Publishing, ISBN 07522423444.pp.352, £25 hardback.

Ross Anderson’s earlier book The Battle of Tanga 1914 was reviewed in Tanzanian Affairs No. 77. He has now continued his scholarly account of the war in East Africa to its conclusion in November 1918.

Following the disastrous attack on Tanga in November 1914, Field Marshall Kitchener, The Secretary of State for War, was anxious to avoid further setbacks. He told the British Commander in 1915 “You are entirely mistaken in supposing that offensive operations are necessary”. While the Germans remained in firm control of their colony throughout 1915, the British had to be content with the sinking of the battle cruiser Konigsberg in the Rufiji delta.

The appointment of General Jan Smuts to command the British forces produced a dramatic change in the situation. The offensive he launched from Kenya in 1916, assisted by an attack by Belgian forces from the Congo, steadily forced the German army under Colonel von Lettow Vorbeck to withdraw. Dar es Salaam, Kilwa and Lindi were captured in September and in January 1917 Smuts announced that the campaign was more or less finished, with only “mopping up” left.

Unfortunately the Germans showed no signs of readiness to be “mopped up”. Von Lettow won several skirmishes against British forces (now mainly from Nigeria and the Gold Coast) and a separate column under Colonel Naumann roamed at will for eight months as far north as Moshi before being defeated near Dodoma. In November 1917 von Lettow avoided attempts to encircle him and slipped across the Ruvuma River into Portuguese East Africa (now Mozambique). Finally he moved into Northern Rhodesia in October 1918, and only surrendered on 13th November after learning of the Armistice in Western Europe. As a mark of respect for his dogged resistance the British allowed the German officers to retain their swords when they were repatriated to Germany.

Anderson gives some fascinating glimpses into the complicated political maneuvering behind the military campaign. The Belgians from the Congo were determined to annex Rwanda and Burundi and made an important contribution to the fighting, with their troops operating as far south as Njombe and Mahenge. On the other hand, the Portuguese forces were totally inadequate and von Lettow regarded their outposts not as obstacles but as useful sources of food and ammunition. When the Portuguese commander was recalled to Lisbon in disgrace, the Portuguese Government imprisoned him for two months, while the British Government, in the interests of bilateral relations, made him a Commander of the Bath (CB).

The general reader, without a detailed knowledge of East African geography, might sometimes find it difficult to follow the intricacies of the bush fighting, particularly as Anderson uses German place names like Bismarckberg and Wiedhafen without giving their English equivalents. The index could also be rather fuller. But the book as a whole gives a comprehensive and definitive survey of the “Forgotten Front” and deserves to be on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the military history of East Africa.

John Sankey

UNDER THE GAZE OF THE ‘BIG NATIONS’: REFUGEES, RUMOURS AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN TANZANIA. Simon Turner. African Affairs. Vol. 103: 227-247.

In his exploration of Burundian refugees in Lukole camp in northwest Tanzania, Turner argues that while confinement in the camp alienates refugees from national (i.e., Tanzanian) socio-political processes and rights, their role as aid recipients has brought them closer to the international community. This exposure has, through rumour and conspiracy, led to international factors being insinuated into refugees’ understanding of the roots of the conflict that has led to their displacement: Hutu refugees have positioned themselves as victims of a Tutsi plot endorsed and abetted by the international community (including Tanzania). Paradoxically, neither the refugees’ extra-national status nor their suspicions of international actors have undermined their faith in the nation state or in the international community’s ability to engender a peaceful future.

While borrowing heavily from post-modernists critiques of the nation-state and analytic divides between domestic and international affairs, Turner argues that these artificial constructs exert strong influence even among those most likely to question their ontological status. Turner supports his position through a review of how development and displacement provide the schematic foundations for national allegiances while drawing attention to ways in which everyday practices—rumor, economic exchange, displacement, and encampment—reproduce and naturalize refugees’ shared history and ethno-national divisions. Through this analysis, and a review of United Nations operations and refugees’ attitudes, he also counters facile charges that refugee camps serve as anomalous systems of governmentality removed from broader domestic trends and histories.

Although this is a significant analysis and contributes to restoring human agency to the displaced, one wonders if Turner has made too much of the rumours he encountered. There is little doubt that rumour and casual conversation are important in shaping refugees’ perspectives and, presumably, actions. Indeed, the way in which Hutu refugees relate Monica Lewinsky’s ‘seduction’ of Bill Clinton to the ways in which Tutsi women ostensibly elicited the allegiance of foreign powers is both comic and illustrates how all societies use familiar logics of causality, however specious, as metaphors for understanding the unknown. Similarly, Turner convincingly illustrates how Hutu refugees’ reliance on global conspiracy theories serves as a powerful (informal) tool for absolving domestic actors—including themselves—for their suffering. However, understanding the emergence of these conspiracies and their ontological power requires a broader analysis of the camps’ political structures. While rumor is a mechanism through which conspiracy theories take form, they do not adequately explain the interests and motivations behind them. That said, Turner is unlikely to dispute the need to situate these rumours within a broader socio-political and historical context, as indeed he tries to do. Rather, he would justifiably argue that this article is intended merely to draw attention to the ways in which rumor and sub-altern discourse can transfigure or, as in this case, fortify, the national order of things.

Loren B. Landau

AN AFFAIR WITH AFRICA Tanganyika Remembered. Donald Barton. Authors Online Ltd, 40 Castle Street, Hereford, SG14 1HR. ISBN 0 7552 0122 1. Pp xii. 260. p/b. Available from the author at Christophers, Powntley Close, Alton, Hants, GU34 4DL. Tel. 01256 862630. £11.50 plus £1.50 postage. The author will donate £1.50 to the Britain Tanzania Society for each copy bought direct from him.

Memoirs by former Colonial Service officers replete with tales of witchcraft and exciting encounters with wildlife are not uncommon, and probably fairly easy to write. In this case the author goes much further and tries to answer such questions as “yes, but what did these chaps actually do for their living, and why and how did they do it?”

Don Barton joined the Colonial Administrative Service in 1951 and after attending the First Devonshire Course at Oxford was posted to Tanganyika in 1952, where he served until 1961. During that time he had postings in Manyoni, Kondoa, Lindi and Masasi and finally Ukerewe.

The author’s feel for place results in vivid description, not just of views and sights, but of tastes and smells. That pervasive smell of bat droppings above ceilings, for example. He also shows us the day to day work of administration at District level, and the impetus which lay behind it, and gives a good insight into the diversity of matters with which young officers had to deal, including much which was routine or plain boring. This insight into the work of the young District Officer gives the book an historical value which such memoirs do not always have. The reproduction of the letter from Julius Nyerere to the author, and presumably other officers, begging them to stay on after independence would alone give the book an historical interest.

There are interesting insights into family life. Very special qualities were needed by the wives of colonial service officers. The early years of their marriages were marked by long separations and the difficulties of bringing up young children in remote places. A lot could (and should?) be written about the way they spent their time.

The book is well illustrated. There are interesting and relevant photographs and attractive drawings by Don and his daughter, Nicola, as well as maps.

The author was initially attracted to the idea of a Colonial Service career by reading Kenneth Bradley’s “Diary of a District Officer” at the age of sixteen. If there were still a Colonial Service this book would surely attract other youngsters to join it. As it is, it is a very enjoyable read, while being also a document of considerable historical interest. Thoroughly recommended.

J. C-P.

DHOWS AND THE COLONIAL ECONOMY OF ZANZIBAR 1860-1970. Oxford, James Currey. P/b viii+ 176 pp. ISBN 0 8214 1558 1. £15.95.

This is an interesting and pleasingly slim and accessible volume from a specialist East African Publisher, more often known for its longer and less penetrable works of scholarship. Erik Gilbert went to Tanzania to research a thesis on the effects of the caravan trade on nineteenth century farming. However, he came across supposedly extinct dhows being newly built, and decided that a much more interesting thesis topic would be to investigate the history of the dhow trade that had helped create an Indian Ocean world linking peoples and commodities from India, the Swahili coast, the Red Sea, Arabia and the Persian Gulf long before European steamers and officials arrived on the scene.

The “dhow trade” was to a large extent a creation of colonial ideas about modernity and tradition, Gilbert concludes, similar to Western constructs like “witchcraft”. It sat ill alongside the modernising and regulating tendencies of colonial rule, particularly after the dhow’s fateful association with the slave trade gave it pariah status. Colonial officials, and most subsequent historians, repeatedly characterised the dhow trade as “dying out”, yet it remained stubbornly alive. Though a new colonial economy based on steamships emerged in the later nineteenth century, the dhow trade survived, still essential in the carriage of goods around the Swahili coastal ports and linking the region to Arabia and India. Though Zanzibar ceased to be the capital of a commercial empire in the Western Indian Ocean, the dhow trade remained a prop to the local economy and critical to Zanzibar’s well-being. Under colonial rule dhows had been expected by the British to wither on the vine as steamships took over, and dhow owners were prevented from carrying the export crops that colonial governments hoped would underwrite the future, like cotton, coffee, and sisal. But mangrove poles, dried shark, coconuts and salt were still hugely important staples, and the dhow continued to ship them. Dhows even experienced a significant revival during the second world war because of the dearth of shipping.

The end of colonial rule brought new challenges for the dhow trade, as governments fervently embraced modernisation. In 1979, however, dhows still carried nearly 30 per cent of Zanzibar’s official cargo traffic.

This book will be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in Zanzibar’s history, because its trading connections with a wide regional economy are so central to it.

Ashley Jackson

RECENT JOURNAL ARTICLES.

Beth-Elise Whitaker., “Refugees and the Spread of Conflict: Contrasting Cases in Central Africa.” Journal of Asian and African Studies. Vol. 38. #s 2-3, August 2003, pp. 211-231. Basic focus on the 1994 Rwandan refugee movements into eastern Congo as well as into western Tanzania, the first of which contributed to the outbreak of war in 1996 and 1998, while the Tanzanian experience was relatively peaceful.

Jim Igoe. “Scaling Up Civil Society: Donor Money, NGOs and the Pastoralist Land Rights Movement in Tanzania.” Development and Change. Vol. 34. #5, November 2002, pp. 863-885. Traces the complex evolution of traditional grazing land rights and the registration of pastoralist NGOs as the process moved through traditional cultural institutions to modern structures; donor funding greatly influenced institutional behavior and outcomes.

Birgit Brock-Utne. “The Language Question in Africa in the Light of Globalisation, Social Justice and Democracy.” International Journal of Peace Studies. Vol. 8. #2, Autumn-Winter 2003, pp. 67-87. Focus on use of European languages in Tanzanian and South African institutions, noting conflicting trends that support globalization and the capitalist market economy as opposed to democratic patterns of behavior and social justice.

Siri Gloppen. “The Accountability Function of the Courts in Tanzania and Zambia.” Democratization. Vol. 10. #4, Winter 2003, pp.112-136. The courts in both Tanzania and Zambia tend to restrain their judicial authority to hold government accountable because the legal culture, the institutional structure, and the social legitimacy of the courts serve to minimize their willingness to challenge the executive.

Marion Doro

TA ISSUE 78

Posted on May 1, 2004 by editor

TA 78 cover

COULD IT EVENTUALLY LEAD TO WAR?
WHO WILL BE THE NEXT PRESIDENT?
ASYLUM AND REFUGEES – BRITAIN AND TANZANIA IN DISCUSSIONS
TANZANIA IN THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
RECONCILIATION AND VIOLENCE IN ZANZIBAR

NILE BASIN – COULD IT EVENTUALLY LEAD TO WAR?

Posted on May 1, 2004 by editor

When Tanzania launched in February a $85 million project to draw water from Lake Victoria (one of the sources of the 4,160 mile long River Nile) and to lay a 170-kilometre pipe to supply it to Kahama and Shinyanga (plus 54 villages on the route of the pipeline) it set in motion an international furore of considerable proportions. Strong protests came from Egypt, which (with Sudan) is almost totally dependent on the waters of the River Nile for its survival. Egypt accused Tanzania of contravening two treaties colonial Britain had signed with Egypt and Sudan in 1929 and 1959 which restricted riparian countries from initiating projects that would affect the volume of the Nile waters without the permission of Egypt.

Tanzania’s reaction was firm. “Tanzania does not recognise the Nile Basin Agreements” said Minister for Water and Livestock Development, Edward Lowassa, in the National Assembly on March 13th quoted in Nipashe. He added however that Tanzania would continue attending meetings of the Nile basin countries with the intention of reaching an equitable quota of Lake Victoria waters for future use in irrigation. Under the agreements water for home use, as in the proposed project, does not need to be negotiated.

THE PROJECT
The water will be tapped from Misungwi village near Mwanza and transported to water tanks about 9 kms away, from which the main pipeline will be built. The first phase of the two-phase contract was awarded to the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, and the project is eventually expected to provide water to up to 940,000 Tanzanians.

THE THREAT
The London Times (Thank you Betty Wells for sending this item – Editor) quoted the ‘Inter-Africa Group’ a conflict prevention organisation, as saying that ‘in the absence of an agreement on equitable allocation, there would be a considerable increase in the risk of conflict.’ Since the signing of the two Nile agreements, Egypt and Sudan have used force or the threat of force to emphasise their rights. In June 1980, Egypt nearly went to war with Ethiopia after Addis Ababa threatened to obstruct the Blue Nile. This followed attempts by the late President Anwar Sadat to divert Nile waters into the Sinai Desert. Sadat had promised Israel that he would irrigate the desert after the historical peace agreement made in Camp David, USA.
According to the ‘Al Jazeerah Information Centre’, when Kenya threatened similar action some months ago, the Egyptian Minister of Water Resources said that any threat to unilaterally revoke the 1929 treaty would be a ‘declaration of war.’
A recent UNDP report quoted in the Africa Research Bulletin (February 12) said that ‘water wars’ were likely in the future where rivers and lakes were shared by more than one country.
A ‘Nile Basin Initiative,’ backed by the World Bank, was created in 1999, in an attempt to head off what many regional analysts saw as a potential source of ‘water wars’. “In 10 to 20 years all countries bordering the Nile river, particularly Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia will have much larger populations and face a greater demand for water” Milas Seifulaziz of the Inter – Africa Group said. “In the absence of an agreement on equitable allocation, there will be a considerable increase in the risk of conflict.”
However, East Africa and the White Nile provide only about 10% of the Nile Waters. Most of the water (the Blue Nile) comes from Ethiopia.
There is a precedent for North African involvement in war in East Africa. Libya’s Colonel Gaddafi sent 2,700 troops to Uganda to help Iddi Amin Dada in his war with Tanzania in 1979.

FLURRY OF DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITY
The Tanzanian action seemed to concentrate minds. It was followed by a flurry of tense meetings between all the interested parties – Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Congo – under the auspices of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), an intergovernmental UN body.

At acrimonious emergency talks held in Entebbe, Uganda which started on March 8 and lasted ten days, Egyptian Irrigation Minister Abdel Abu Zaid said that Egypt would reject any proposal to lower its quota of Nile water and said that the talks would have to focus on initiatives to prevent seepage. Any tampering with the 1929 agreement would be tantamount to an act of war.
This meeting ended without agreement.

RECONCILIATION?
The Ministers met again in Nairobi on March 20 but this time, and under great pressure from the other countries, Egypt modified its stand. It finally accepted that the Nile Agreement would have to be amended. Returning from the meeting, Tanzanian Minister Edward Lowassa advised Tanzanians that they could use Lake Victoria water for household supplies and small irrigation schemes, and declared that the dispute on who legitimately controlled the Nile River and its sources had been cleared up. He denounced the treaties but added: “Our colleagues from Egypt have shown a commitment to agreement and were not wishing to cling to ‘those old treaties’.” He said that even the British government, which had signed the treaties, was no longer in favour of them.

PRIME MINSTER ADDRESSES MP’S
As this issue of Tanzanian Affairs went to the printers, Mwananchi reported that Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye, officiating at a one-day seminar for MP’s on the subject of the Nile Basin Waters, had called on them not to waste time discussing ineffective colonial pacts. He said that Arab countries should come forward and unite in demanding a new, more equitable treaty on the use of the Nile Waters. Most MP’s were said to have spoken emotionally on the topic; others suggested that the country should be ready to go to war, just in case.

WHO WILL BE THE NEXT PRESIDENT?

Posted on May 1, 2004 by editor

Hildebrand Shayo, who writes on social, economic and political issues in the UK, has sent us his views:

People in Tanzania are excited. Although President Mkapa has warned against political ‘hooliganism’, enthusiasm for the coming contest is rife everywhere. But, coming up to the 2005 general election there is increasing disagreement about who is likely to take over from President Mkapa. Tanzanians, both in urban and in rural areas, are frustrated and many are eager to know who will be the next President. The incompetent opposition camp is not likely to provide an alternative to the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party. This implies that certainly CCM will win the 2005 elections with a landslide. Although many Tanzanians are anticipating a ‘surprise’ in the choice of candidate, names that have been mentioned are numerous. Although I may be proved incorrect, I don’t agree with recent views, expressed by long-standing politicians, who continue to maintain that the time hasn’t yet arrived to start discussing who will take over from President Mkapa.

The Tanzanian constitution stipulates that the President must hold a University degree. Does this decisive factor take some of the candidates who have been mentioned off the list? No. There are rumours that some mentioned names are working on their degrees and putting in place mechanisms that will help to oil their campaign machinery. One of the candidates being mentioned, Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye, was the biggest vote getter at the CCM National Executive Committee (NEC) candidate elections in Dodoma at the elections in 1995, outperforming even the influential veteran Marxist ideologue Kingunge Ngombale-Mwiru whose power in the CCM is well known.

My view is that we still don’t know what will happen this time. Prime Minister Sumaye has remained an outsider, at least in the party machinery. He is a hard worker, he has knowledge about the running of the government, and is well intentioned; but, during the forthcoming campaign, he may be easily squashed by wise party heavyweights if the competition is intense. Time will tell whether some of these candidates can build the required skills and expertise in time to be fit to be candidates but many doubt it.

Zanzibar President Abeid Karume, (son of the first President of Zanzibar) is a laid back kind of a gentleman, almost an ‘Uhuru Kenyatta’ replica. (The son of Jomo Kenyattta who tried but failed to become President of Kenya last year). He does not take politics too seriously as opposed to former Zanzibar President Dr Salmin Amour and that has helped Zanzibar in the reconciliation process. Karume has offered tremendous concessions to CUF that would have been unthinkable during Amour’s era (eight CUF members work alongside CCM counterparts in key and sensitive government positions in Zanzibar!). Karume could suit the position of Tanzanian Vice President, but that also won’t happen, for he will want to remain the President of Zanzibar. He could have made a good Vice- President but lacks the ‘gravitas of former Prime Minister and Head of the OAU, Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, and he is not a great communicator. My sense is that he enjoys being the President of Zanzibar and will offer formidable opposition to the leading opposition candidate in the Isles.

The two ‘young’ men, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Jakaya Kikwete and Minister of Water and Livestock Development Edward Lowassa, had a terrible time in Chimwaga (CM HQ) in Dodoma in 1995. They both got disappointing votes both in NEC and Central Committee contests and that is certainly unhelpful to their ambitions. You wonder what has gone wrong in the past eight years. That is the problem with operating with a sense of privilege (“my turn is coming”). However, despite losing that magic touch and mystique with the general public, they remain influential in the CCM party and what they do next will definitely have an impact on the party’s future. Dr John Malecela, Vice-Chairman of CCM, will definitely not win but we need him as the CCM party’s wise man. However. who he chooses for an ally will be the key. Sumaye was to be the Party’s Vice-Chairman in the last party election in 1995 but Malecela chose to keep the seat. Malecela is one of the very few people in CCM who is beyond the control of anybody. Known as a smart, behind-the-scenes operator he is likely to have in his mind the alliance he will need to back up his candidature. If things get out of hand, this could prove devastating for the CCM party. Such alliances, and a cluster of other factors known within the party, may hasten the realisation of the late Dr Nyerere’s prophesy that the only credible opposition will come from within the CCM.

Lowassa is an extremely intelligent ‘A type’ personality; a hard working Maasai. He is a ‘can do’ type of gentleman. The problem is that he is assumed to be too much of a thriving entrepreneur. However, Lowassa would have been flourishing even if he had chosen to be a cattle herder. It appears that he hasn’t recovered from the bruises of the 1995 campaign and the hugely symbolic action of President Mkapa in leaving him out of his first cabinet. Unless something huge happens, his presidential ambitions appear to be ruined. In the period running up to the 1995 elections, he was partly elevated because of the ‘Mrema threat’ (CCM feared that Augustine Mrema, the leading opposition candidate at that time) could win but, as we all know, that threat no longer exists. In essence, CCM can afford to surprise us with a non-celebrity candidate.

Former Prime Minster Judge Joseph Sinde Warioba is one of those respectable and incorruptible fellows. He will only run if there are guarantees that he will win the nomination this time around. His recent judgeship appointment to the East African Community Court moved him away from the political scene during a very important ‘jockeying period’. He will most likely quietly enjoy his judgeship and private practice in Dar es Salaam. However, if Dr. Salim runs and wins the nomination, he will accept none other than Warioba for a running mate. The two of them would be a ‘super ticket’ as they would bring with them the voters of the Isles and the vast Sukuma population of the Lake region, their respective birthplaces. So, Warioba could end up the Vice-President.

A quick analysis of the other possible candidates:
Former Minister of Commerce and Industry Iddi Simba – very influential; big CCM architect and a crucial link between CCM and the business community. His presidential ambitions, however, are not going anywhere. He is not so popular with the CCM rank and file for he appears very elitist. His demotion from the cabinet was also unhelpful. He will, however, come back after 2005 in a prominent position if Dr. Salim becomes the President for he is a good friend to Dr. Salim. Minister of Agriculture Charles Keenja is mentioned but his chances are extremely slim. He is known for cleaning up Dar es Salaam (which he really didn’t) but only when there was no bureaucratic democratic system (of councillors) to negotiate with. His political skills, thus, remain untested. He is a Sumaye buddy and that will feature in the equation. He also shares the same ‘outsider’ problem as Sumaye despite winning a position on the NEC. He however could be a surprise candidate. Many don’t know enough about him to be able to judge whether he would be a good president but his ‘electability’ inside CCM is doubtful.

Minister for Works John Pombe Magufuli could be the big surprise. He is very articulate, hard working, a former school teacher, very well educated (Master’s holder in Engineering). He has proved exceptional in performance in his very difficult ministry. He is fearless and has been Mkapa’s asset in the cabinet. He is a smooth government operative and can also be a good politician. He was not very well known by Tanzanians. But, hey, we didn’t know Mkapa that well in 1995. If he wins the nomination he will have been ‘pushed’ and emerge as a compromise candidate if the nomination process proves divisive and contentious, as it will likely be.

Minister for Telecommunications Prof. Mark Mwandosya was a rising star in Tanzania. At one point he was mentioned as a replacement for Sumaye for the Premiership. The past year hasn’t been good to him and his star has waned. The railway disaster and the role he played in the privatisation of Tanzania Telecommunications has discredited him. His attempt to get the elders from Mbeya to speak for him was an amateurish political move.

Vice-President Shein’s future hangs in the balance in all this. But, just as in the case of Magufuli, he could be a surprise candidate. The man is qualified to be President pure and simple. He is composed, well educated, incorruptible, not a political opportunist and, most importantly, he comes from Pemba. With his ‘upole’ however, we could have the kind of problem former President Mwinyi was faced with; i.e. controlling the economy. I must concede that I don’t know about him well enough to have a definitive opinion.

My pick for the nod is Dr. Salim. He was Defence, Foreign and Prime Minister. He is a NEC and CC member. He is from Pemba. His lengthy time abroad shielded him from local scandals such as corruption and finally, he is a Mwalimu Nyerere candidate. He has gravitas, he is presidential, articulate and known and respected by almost everyone in Tanzania and outside. If he committed some blunders as OAU Secretary General, they are unknown back home. With Warioba as a running mate, that is a winning combination. Pembans, most of whom support the opposition, don’t associate him too much with CCM (he has been abroad too long) and he would garner some votes for CCM there. His election would give another lifeline to the Union. There are many more names to go through such as Gertrude Mongela who openly complained to CCM Secretary General Philip Mangula recently that CCM had never nominated a woman candidate for the highest post. There has been bewilderment on the presidential post since President Mkapa declared recently that the presidency of the United Republic of Tanzania does not need to alternate between the Mainland and the Isles.
All this is speculation. A week is a long time in politics

Another view
The publication ‘Africa Analysis’ (20th February) also wrote about what it described as ‘the feverish speculation’ as to who might emerge as the Union’s presidential candidate. It said that candidates would have to contend with ‘the powerful force that is 70-year-old John Malecela,’ who was extremely popular within the party. He was said to be planning to pick former Zanzibar President Salmin Amour – ‘an unpopular figure among the mainland elite’ – as his running mate. Such a team would also be anathema to what was described as ‘the System’ – ‘a cabal of senior security officers most of whom had been appointed by the late Julius Nyerere. The article went on: ‘During the CCM nominations for the last elections in 2000, ‘the System’ had been responsible for the debacle that saw Amani Karume, who garnered fewer votes than his rivals, emerge as the CCM candidate for the Iisles presidential elections, which he won, albeit controversially.’

As regards the contest for the Zanzibar presidency, the article said that, if the elections were free and fair – ‘a tall order considering the isles’ last two electoral experiences’ the leader of the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) Seif Shareef Hamad, might well emerge as the next President of Zanzibar. CUF’s eminence in Zanzibar had been further guaranteed when the up and coming opposition party SAFINA (‘Ark’) had been banned recently after it failed to fulfill registration requirements. SAFINA was described as the brain-child of the elder brother of Salmin Amour who was ‘suspected of being the leader of a strong CCM faction in the isles opposed to the current Zanzibar President, Amani Karume’. However the brother had been expelled recently from the party on allegations of misconduct.

The procedure
The ‘Africa Analysis’ article went on to explain how any CCM member aspiring to become a presidential candidate would first have to take the forms and then seek 250 sponsors in 10 regions including Zanzibar. The CCM Central Committee would then make five recommendations to the NEC which would choose three of them whose names would then be sent to the National Party Congress. This Congress would make the final choice. The process should end by April 30, 2005.

STATE HOUSE IN FLAMES

Posted on May 1, 2004 by editor

President Mkapa’s residential quarters and office in State House were set on fire in the early morning of April 14. The combined efforts of the police and the fire brigade eventually brought the fire under control. The fire was reported to have destroyed many official documents and the President’s private library. State House was undergoing a Tshs 3 billion refurbishment at the time. An investigation into the cause of the fire was started.

POLITICAL NEWS HEADLINES

Posted on May 1, 2004 by editor

Kambetela wa Kamsopi of the Guardian (April 6) selected a number of newspaper headings which had appeared in the local press:

‘Mrema crosses back to CCM; receives grand reception from Mangula (CCM Secretary General)’
‘Tanzania debt cancelled up to 2000’.
‘Top Civic United Front (CUF) leader crosses over to CCM’
‘David Beckham arrives in Dar es Salaam quietly.’
But all these headings were published on the same day – April 1st!

Among political developments revealed on dates other than April 1st were the following:

Major changes in electoral system being considered
The Government is considering the possibility of introducing a number of changes to the electoral system. In order to try and establish a viable opposition by increasing the number of opposition MP’s, a system of proportional representation might be introduced. Another proposal is to increase the number of MP’s from 295 to 350. The number of women MPs might also be increased from 25% to 30%. And, in an important change in policy, it appears that CCM has agreed, or is about to agree, to the participation of private candidates in Tanzanian politics.

Opposition presidential candidates
The opposition remains divided (and will therefore not rule) as parties hasten to choose their candidates for the next presidential election.
The main opposition party on the mainland, the Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) has said it will field a presidential candidate in 2005 for the first time since it was established in 1992. The party said that this time around CHADEMA had earmarked an energetic member to contest the presidency. The Party Chairman, Bob Makani, has resigned and said he did not intend to seek re-election at his party’s AGM; he wanted young blood to lead the party. Makani also said that if his party came to power it would allow the formation of three governments. The grant of permission for Zanzibar to fly its own flag was proof of the need for a government of Tanganyika and another for Zanzibar – Nipashe.

It is assumed that Professor Ibrahim Lipumba will again be the Civic United Front (CUF) presidential candidate for Tanzania in 2005 and Seif Shareef Hamad will be again the CUF presidential candidate in Zanzibar.

The Tanzania Labour Party (TLP) has declared its chairman, Augustine Mrema, to be its presidential candidate in 2005. In fear of removal from his post, he persuaded the party to change its constitution at its last meeting; the Executive Committee lost its right to remove a serving chairman from his post. The party also expelled ten of its leaders, including its former chairman, vice-chairman and treasurer who had been opposing Mrema. “A major purge in the top ranks of the party was necessary to prevent the ruling CCM party from annihilating TLP,” Mrema said, referring to a trend in which top officials of his party have been defecting to other parties – Mwananchi and other papers.

Makongoro Nyerere appointed special seats MP
President Mkapa has appointed Makongoro Nyerere, the son of Father of the Nation the late Julius Nyerere, as tenth and last ‘special seats’ MP to be appointed by him. Makongoro is a former opposition MP from NCCR-Mageuzi. He lost his parliamentary seat after he lost an election petition against him. He rejoined CCM before the death of his father in 1999.
Other nominees of the President in Parliament are former High Commissioner in London Dr Abdulkader Shareef, Kingunge Ngombale-Mwiru, Omar Ramadhani Mapuri, Brigadier General (retired) Hassan Ngwilizi, Chief Abdallah Said Fundikira, Anne Kione Malecela, Dr Masumbuko Lamwai, Mwanaidi Hassan Makame – all CCM members – plus Hamad Rashid Mohamed from CUF.

Chosen for AU parliament
MP’s have chosen the colleagues who will represent Tanzania in the newly created African Union Parliament. They are Ambassador Gertrude Mongella, from the women’s group, Dr. William Shija and Athumani Janguo from the mainlanders group, Dr. Aman Kabourou (CHADEMA) from the opposition group and Remidius Kisasi from the Zanzibar group of MPs – Majira.

ZANZIBAR

Posted on May 1, 2004 by editor

Reconciliation
In a gesture of reconciliation, a multitude of CUF members led by Secretary General Seif Shariff Hamad, joined CCM party members (for the first time since CUF was formed in 1992) in celebrations that marked the 40th anniversary of the revolution that toppled the Sultan of Zanzibar in 1964. The celebrations, at Amaan stadium, were also attended by Presidents Benjamin Mkapa and Mwai Kibaki (of Kenya) and Ugandan Prime Minister Professor Apollo Nsibambi. CUF members waved party flags and carried placards urging implementation of the Muafaka accord, while CCM members carried placards proclaiming that the revolution was there for ever – Mwananchi and other newspapers.

Registration of voters
Just before it was due to start, it was announced in Zanzibar that voter registration by the Electoral Commission had been postponed indefinitely because of the unavailability of donor funds. It was also reported, however, that a British company would be appointed to help supervise the registration exercise.
On April 15, however, it was announced that the Zanzibar Government would take charge of voter registration. Zanzibar Chief Minister Shamsi Vuai Nahodha told the House of Representatives that the Government was concerned with an alleged misappropriation of funds (some Shs 217 million) by the Commission appointed to implement the Muafaka and promised that investigations would be conducted and the culprits charged. The Government would look for funds and ensure that the registration process would proceed on time. He said the Government wanted the 2005 elections to be held in a free and fair atmosphere to help islanders forget all the confusion arising from past experiences – Guardian.

ZEC Secretariat
The Zanzibar Electoral Commission’s new secretariat is expected to be fully established by June 2004 as agreed in the Muafaka under a new structure drawn up by Canadian and Tanzanian experts.

Party struck off
Zanzibar’s new SAFINA party was struck off the register of political parties in February but party leaders said they would ignore the decision because the move had been made to favour CCM and they would file a case in the courts. The party was struck off after its leaders had failed to produce a list of 200 founding members from 10 regions on the Mainland and Zanzibar, so as to be granted permanent registration, as provided for in the law. It was alleged that there had also been endless squabbles in the party and a struggle for power so that it was impossible to determine who exactly the party’s trustees – Guardian.

Six bombs and other incidents
There were six bombing incidents in Zanzibar in March and April.
Before the first of these bomb blasts, on March 6, and apparently not connected with the other bombings, the Zanzibar Electricity Company suffered a loss amounting to 26m/- after people, described as hooligans, used petrol bombs to blow up three electricity transformers. Unguja town has 500 transformers, which make it difficult for the company to organize adequate security.
The incident came three days after the police tried to quash an unlicensed public demonstration that had been organized by the ‘Association for the Revival and Propagation of the Islamic Faith.’ Chaos reigned in various streets of Zanzibar town as angry Muslims threw stones at the riot police and burnt tyres. The demonstrators carried placards reading Mbona Maaskofu hamuwakatazi? (why don’t you ban demonstrations organised by Christian bishops), Mnatuonea Waislam (You’re harassing us Moslems) and Haki Sawa kwa Wote, Karume lazima ang’oke” (Equal rights for all, Karume must go). The police responded with tear gas canisters and arrested 32 people – Guardian.
The property that was damaged or destroyed by the six bombs included a house belonging to the Zanzibar Minister of Transport and Communications, another belonging to a ten-cell village leader (or Sheha), a police vehicle, a school bus belonging to St Francis Primary School, and the house of the Mufti of Zanzibar.
A senior official of the British Embassy in Rwanda and a number of tourists escaped unhurt after a hand grenade was thrown at the Mercury Restaurant in Forodhani (named after the famous singer Freddie Mercury, who was born in Zanzibar). The grenade fell on the table occupied by the British official and her company. According to the Guardian it rolled down and caused a stampede but no one was hurt in the incident (this also applied to the other incidents). Tanzanian army specialists diffused the bomb and there followed a loud explosion that shook the whole of Forodhani Street.
On March 26 the Tanzanian Government ordered all defence and security organs, including the Tanzania Peoples’ Defence Forces (TPDF) and the Intelligence Department to use all their powers to hunt down the people involved. The order was issued by Deputy Minister for Home Affairs, Capt John Chiligati who said “The Union government will ensure that peace and security prevail on the isles.” He said that the bomb blasts had been aimed at creating fear and anxiety during the visit to Zanzibar of the German President Dr Johannes Rau.

Mkapa warns Zanzibar’s troublemakers
On April 5 President Mkapa vowed to deal with those alleged to be behind the spate of bombings. Addressing a public rally in Shinyanga he said: “We can’t allow political parties that think they can spread the ‘viruses of religious, tribal, zonal and gender bias’, and indicated that the Government believed that the bombings in Zanzibar were probably sponsored by some political party he wouldn’t name.
Following another statement, this time by the Deputy Minister for Home Affairs, that the attacks were politically motivated and aimed at ruining efforts to build the economy, CUF immediately asked him which political party he was referring to. The party said that international experts should be called upon to uncover the plotters. The party’s Acting Secretary-General, Wilfred Rwakatare, told the press on April 2 that reputable international experts, would undertake free and fair investigations, with no mercy even if the implicated people were state officials. He noted that there was a lot of speculation as to why these explosions were happening at the time when people were preparing for voter registration.

Arrests
Some 39 suspects were arrested shortly after the bombings and twelve of them were charged. Lack of modern equipment had stalled the investigations by the police, Zanzibar Attorney General Idd Pandu Hassan was quoted as saying.

“Zanzibar bombings government sponsored”
The leader of the Uamsho group of Moslems in Zanzibar, Sheikh Farid Hadi Ahmed, said on April 3 that the Government was behind the bombings. Its aim was to get a pretext for arresting and detaining some leading figures in Zanzibar. Speaking at Mtambani Mosque in Dar es Salaam, Sheikh Farid said his group would soon call for a demonstration in Dar es Salaam to pressurize the Government into repealing some oppressive laws including the Prevention of Terrorism Act which, he said, targeted Muslims – Mtanzania.

Uamsho leader in court
Sheikh Azan Khalid Hamdan the second in command in the Uamsho group of Moslems has been arraigned in court charged with incitement against the Government. According to the charge sheet Sheikh Azad incited Moslems gathered at Malindi grounds in Zanzibar on 3rd March 2004 against sections of the Newspaper Act No. 5 of 1988. He was released on bail until April 27, 2004. In another case Khamis Haji Khamis (29) was charged with being in possession of seditious leaflets containing the message: ‘The Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar is conducting bombings in the Isles so that it can get the pretext to arrest Uamsho leaders and detain them. He was also released on bail until April 9, 2004 – Mtanzania.

Tourism continues
The Dar es Salaam Financial Times reported that, in spite of the spate of bombs and arson tourism in Tanzania had not been adversely affected. Bookings to Zanzibar from traditional markets had not been cancelled. Skylink Travels and Tours Managing Director Moustapha Khataw was quoted as saying that he remained confident that the tourism business in Zanzibar would remain robust. Tourists regarded the various ‘scuffles’ as minor issues which posed no serious threat to their lives. So far, none of the countries belonging to Tanzania’s traditional tourist markets had issued any new travel advisories to its citizens.
However, Minister for Finance Basil Mramba condemned the bomb attacks on the Isles and described the incidents as very bad for the economy and for the image of the country. The 2001 terrorist attacks on the US embassy in Dar es Salaam three years before had led to cancellation of about 40% of tourist bookings. Tourism in Tanzania accounts for about 16% of the GDP and nearly 25% of total export earnings.

Compensation for property loss
The Commonwealth Secretariat has been accused of back-pedaling on compensating Zanzibaris whose properties were destroyed during the political conflicts in 2001 between the ruling CCM and CUF. According to the East African the cash pledge was made to the Zanzibar government by the Commonwealth, when the latter brokered the peace accord of October 2001, referred to as Muafaka. Many of the houses demolished in Zanzibar’s main island of Unguja, which is predominantly a CCM stronghold, and properties destroyed during the political turmoil of 2001, were those of CUF supporters. CUF has a strong base on the twin island of Pemba. A senior official in the joint CCM/CUF reconciliation committee overseeing the implementation of the Muafaka told The East African that 90% of the accord has been achieved, and only the compensation issue remained.
But Prof Ibrahim Lipumba, the chairman of CUF, said that this was not correct because key areas including reforming the judiciary, introduction of a permanent voters’ register, and reforming public media, setting up a joint parties secretariat to monitor peace in the isles, appointment of CUF members to the House of Representatives, and a number of other issues, were still pending.

Compensation for imprisonment
The Zanzibar Government has refused to give compensation to 18 members of CUF, who were charged with treason in 1997 and confined in prison for three years before being acquitted. They had demanded Shs15 billion. The Government pegged its offer at 20m/- for each of them. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of State in the President’s Office responsible for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Omar Makungu, criticised the former inmates, saying they were too rigid and demanding. They claimed that they had suffered psychological and economic loss while in prison. The court granted a request by the Zanzibar Government to settle the case out of court. But the complainants stuck to their guns and refused to reduce the size of the amount demanded. Among the complainants are the CUF Vice-Chairman, the Deputy Secretary-General, a nominated CUF MP, the CUF Director of Planning and Elections, a commissioner on the Zanzibar Electoral Commission, a former Minister of Agriculture, and a CUF woman party activist, Zulekha Ahmed. – Guardian.

ASYLUM AND REFUGEES – BRITAIN AND TANZANIA TALK

Posted on May 1, 2004 by editor

Britain and Tanzania have been in discussions about Britain’s asylum and refugee problems. Liberal Democrat party leader Charles Kennedy brought the matter into the public domain on February 25 when he asked the Prime Minister what was going on and expressed the fear that the proposal could lead to ‘an international trade in displaced people’. Tony Blair then explained that the idea was for asylum claims to be processed nearer to the country of origin. It would be a pilot scheme to explore how Britain could help process asylum applications which arose in Tanzania. “We have been talking to the Tanzanian Government about various immigration issues, including East Africans falsely claiming to be Somalis in the hope of securing British residency” he said.

In Dar es Salaam, the Government immediately confirmed that consultations over Britain’s request to set up a camp in Tanzania for screening Somali asylum seekers were going on. Home Affairs Minister Ramadhani Mapuri quoted in the East African said: “The government wishes to acknowledge a request made by the Government of the United Kingdom to settle Somali refugees in Tanzania. Internal consultations among stakeholders within the Government of Tanzania are in progress but the Government is yet to give its response.” He added, “Any response must take full consideration of the magnitude, multitude and the entire range of socio-political implications for Tanzania including the fact that Tanzanians are already overwhelmed by the burden of refugees”.

According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Tanzania is host to more than 600,000 refugees mainly from Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Somalia. 470,000 of these are in camps, and another 170,000 are living independently in the Tabora and Rukwa regions.

Mr Mapuri added: “It was brought to the Tanzanian Government’s attention that there are some alleged Tanzanian nationals in the UK who pose and continue to live in the UK as Somali refugees….Tanzania believes that, should any Tanzanian nationals posing as Somali refugees in the UK be identified, they should not be expelled, but returned to Tanzania under normal procedures that respect human dignity.”

The ‘East African’ said that Tanzania was one of the major transit points for asylum seekers from the Great Lakes region trying to get into Europe due to its lax immigration scrutiny. Once they arrived in the UK, most of them identified themselves as Somalis seeking asylum due to the current turmoil in Somalia. People from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and Somalia itself were trying to enter Britain through Tanzania. Britain has said that it is prepared to help Tanzania with cash support for its growing refugee problem.

Somalis made up the largest number of refugee applicants to Britain last year but the numbers are still tiny (around 6,000 in 2003) compared with the number of refugees Tanzania has to host.
Peter Kallaghe, Director of Communications for Tanzanian President Mkapa, told the Guardian that there had been discussions between the two governments over the issue but that it was sensitive. Any decision would not be taken very easily,” he said. The Guardian report said that a camp in Tanzania could offer a processing point for Somalis seeking asylum as well as a home for failed asylum seekers.

Tanzanian Affairs has been told that the British Home Office is planning to send a ‘scoping’ visit to Tanzania in the near future to take the discussions further.