THE JUDICIARY

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(Extracts from a speech to Judges and Resident Magistrates given at Arusha on 15th. March, 1984, by President Julius Nyerere)

President Nyerere began by admitting that there was a wider gap between Tanzania’s principles and practices than there should be. He referred to the ‘sickness of bribery and corruption’ which had entered society and he explained that it could not yet be said that people were absolutely equal before the law. It was still an advantage to have friends or relations in high places. Some of the shortcomings were for the time being inevitable in the sense that they could not be remedied immediately. They reflected the poverty, technological and educational backwardness and the lack of administrative and managerial experience, complicated by the international economic situation.

He went on by saying that’ first class administration of the laws does not by itself create a just society, especially if the laws themselves are unjust. An obvious and clear case of this is South Africa. But how does this subject relate to Tanzania? Successive Governments in this country have sometimes felt forced to pass laws which in practice can be very dangerous for justice. Perhaps the clearest case is the Preventive Detention Act, which was first passed in 1962, but the Economic Sabotage Acts, together with the setting up of Tribunals, could also be cited. And there may be others.

The reason for these laws is known. People can differ about whether or not they are necessary, but it is obvious that those who proposed them, or agreed to them, thought that they were necessary- and I am among those who saw their importance. It is, however, true that in their implementation there can be dangers. I myself believed that the power to use preventive detention for the security of the country – which was the intention of the Preventive Detention Act – is necessary and that when used for this purpose it has on the whole been used well. But on too many occasions we have used this law to arrest criminals, or people believed to be criminals, whose acts do not relate to the security of the state. This is bad use of a necessary law and can introduce the practice of evading the use of normal legal procedures for ordinary crimes. It is essential that we should correct ourselves in this respect and I am sure that the first person who has to correct himself is the President.

I am not sure that in its present form the law on Economic Sabotage is essential. What we want is a law which will effectively protect our national economy. But it is not sufficient that there be strict or harsh laws on this. Those concerned, including the courts, must be willing actually to use them to protect our economy. It is the use of law to protect criminals which destroys respect for the instruments of law and incites Government to pass laws like the present one. This is why I say it is necessary for you to understand the problems with which Government has to contend and if possible to send recommendations to us about how to deal with the problems in a manner which does not bring danger to the rule of law and the principles of justice.

…. I am quite sure that Tanzanians do not want a Judiciary which has no principles and which carries out the wishes of the Government or Party leaders instead of respecting the law. Tanzanian people want a Party with principles, a Government with principles and a Judiciary with principles.

…. The truth is that the protection of the principle of the independence of the Judiciary is in your hands and especially in the hands of the senior judges such as those at this meeting. You must enforce discipline strictly throughout the judiciary and do so without being swayed by personal sympathy for the wrong doer, or fear of unpopularity should he be related to persons known to you. There are jobs in our society which can be done by undisciplined people and people whose personal integrity can be called into question. Being a Judge or Magistrate is not among them.’

Julius K. Nyerere

REFUGEES IN TANZANIA

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Tanzania, like many other African countries, is a place of asylum for refugees of diverse Origin who have fled from their homes on account of war, persecution, or famine. At the present time more than 200,000 refugees from Rwanda, Burundi, Zaire, Malawi and South Africa are making their homes in Tanzania, some on a permanent basis, while others retain hopes of returning one day to their countries of origin. Unlike some countries of the Far East and elsewhere, it is not the policy of the Tanzanian Government to herd the refugees into camps ‘, where they are maintained in idleness, or indeed to enforce their separation from the local population. Fortunately, Tanzania has land to spare on which the refugees are enabled to settle and maintain themselves, developing their own institutions and receiving initial help from external agencies.

One substantial group consists of Hutus, victims of a cruel civil war in Burundi in 1972. There are about 37,000 Hutus now settled in the Mishamo settlements in Mpanda District in an area the size of Zanzibar. Each family on arrival is given about 12 acres of land and rations are provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) until the refugees are able to support themselves. The UNHCR and other international bodies have provided resources and expert help to enable the settlers to dig wells, to build schools and other communal facilities and to improve their agricultural programme.

The refugees at Mishamo are settled in 16 villages organised on self-help lines. Each village has a substantial communal farm from which the produce is sold to the Tanzanian crop authorities and the proceeds are devoted to village development. The settlements are served by some 250 Tanzanian agricultural and health workers and other specialists. In 1~80 some 36,000 refugees from Rwanda were granted Tanzanian citizenship.

This approach to the refugee problem based on 1ine creation of self-supporting communities and integration in the national community is almost unique. There are of course other parts of Africa where overpopulation, or unfavourable natural conditions would make a solution on these lines difficult. Nevertheless, Tanzania’s policy takes account of the enduring nature of much of Africa’s refugee problem and the need to provide refugees with the chance to form self-sustaining and self-respecting communities within the national family.

REVIEW

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‘Technological Choice, Industrialisation and Development Experience in Tanzania.‘ by F.C. Perkins: Journal of Development Studies, Vol.19 No.2 January 1983

The Arusha Declaration identified the emphasis on industry inevitably dependent on foreign loans and expertise 2.S one of the mistakes of Tanzania’s early development plans. The new objectives of self-reliance and development based on agriculture were expected to be reinforced by a form of industrial development emphasising the use of labour rather than capital, providing a market for local raw materials and closely integrated with the rural economy. The Chinese-funded Friendship Textile Mill using technically outdated, but easily maintained, machinery and the establishment of SIDO (Small Industries Development Organisation) were regarded as demonstrations of the new strategy.

The place of industry in Tanzania’s development was set out in more detail in the 1977 Long-term Industrial Strategy, which defined prime objectives to be greater economic self-reliance and self-sustaining economic growth. This was to be achieved by creating links between sectors of the economy with a first priority for new public investment in basic consumer, intermediate and capita] goods industries and a stress on the importance of export-oriented industry and small-scale village enterprises.

Major investment decisions which did not conform with these policies, such as the Dar es Salaam Bakery and the Tanga Fertiliser Factory, both very expensive and embarrassing to the Government (see Coulson: ‘African Socialism in Practice’ and the Journal of Modern African Studies Vol.XX no.X 1977), were generally regarded as aberrations. This assumption is challenged by Perkins in his study of 300 industrial units in 10 industries, which suggests that Tanzania has had little success in maintaining its industrial investment policies against the pressures of foreign aid donors and international corporations.

Parkins compares the capital intensive techniques with the less technically advanced but more labour intensive methods (which he terms appropriate) actually in use in each of the ten industries. Using economists’ measures of efficiency, he calculates that appropriate techniques create more employment, produce more output for the capital invested, have either the same or higher labour productivity and use no more raw materials than the capital intensive methods. Yet despite firm political direction and economic justification, Tanzania’s industrial parastatals have avoided appropriate technology and shown a marked bias towards capital intensive and advanced methods. As a consequence, industry is still highly dependent on imported raw materials and there are few links within and between industries.

These characteristics are especially marked in the new parastatals, which choose to use more capital intensive methods than the organisations created by the nationalisation of existing private firms. Of all the parastatals studied, only 22% are calculated to be technically efficient; ‘all the rest used both more capital and more labour to produce a unit of output than did the other firms in their industries.’

Perkins concludes from the first part of his study that ‘…despite the rhetoric, Tanzania’s industrialisation programme has in general promoted the establishment of enterprises using large-scale, capital intensive, often technically and almost invariably economically inefficient techniques. Its technological choice policy in industry has in most instances failed to promote the achievement of major national development objectives …’.

Tanzania’s experience in this field is similar to that observed in other developing countries and Perkins examines the possible explanations. The orthodox economic criticism of developing countries is that their economies are distorted by regulations making labour artificially expensive and investment incentives making capital artificially cheap. These distortions exist in Tanzania, but this does not explain why high cost methods were chosen when lower cost systems were available. Nor do other possible constraints- the scarcity of skilled workers, the quality of product, or information on possible alternatives, explain the choice of methods which were not the most economically efficient.

The divorce of industrial investment decisions from clear national policy commented on by missions from both the World Bank and the ILO has probably been due to the nature of the decision-making process and the management of foreign aid. Studies in other developing countries have noted a tendency for the appraisal of investment schemes to be dominated by engineers, who are concerned to maximise output, often assuming unrealistic levels of utilisation, than by economists, who should select on the basis of cost efficiency. This factor may be present within the Tanzanian bureaucracy and a general absence of adequate staff to assess projects may have led Ministries to tend to approve projects on the oo.sis of having identified a source of funding, the usual funding agent being a foreign government, or a transnational corporation. Parastatal managers ha.ve tended to judge their success in terms of expanding output by starting new projects. Hence their preference has been for projects that can be started quickly. Their protected position means that parastatals have been little concerned with profitability and hence they have accepted the technology offered by the source of finance rather than search for the most economic or appropriate.

The existence of SIDO may even have acted as a justification for other parastatals to ignore small-scale industry ~s not being their responsibility. There are certainly examples of new large-scale investment being planned to meet total national needs even when SIDO has had plans and programmes to expand small-scale production of the product. Loom-weaving, hand-made paper. hand-tool making by blacksmiths, grain-milling, saw-milling, oil-milling. shoe-making and open pan sugar milling are in this category.

Perkins concludes that Tanzania’s rate of industrial growth and the growth of the national income would have been faster if the declared national policy had been followed. His research has given further insight into the power of the industrialised nations to influence to their own advantage the development of the economies of the Third World countries and the importance of examining with considerable care what aid, technical assistance and private investment are actually achieving for the economies of both donor and receiver.

John Arnold

SOME ITEMS OF NEWS

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Death of Prime Minister Edward Moringe Sokoine
Ndugu Sokoine was killed as a result of a road accident on April 12th. on his way from Dodoma to Dar es Salaam. His car collided with a land cruiser driven by Dumisani Dube, a member of the African National Congress (ANC). The Prime Minister was fatally injured and died on the way to hospital in Morogoro.

Ndugu Sokoine was born at Kisongo near Monduli in 1938. He was educated at Monduli Primary School, Umbwe Secondary School and the Mzumbe Local Government Training College. He then went to Germany for further training in administration and finance.

In 1965 he was appointed to a post in the Masai District Council and in the same year became a Member of Parliament. In 1967 he became Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Commerce, Transportation and Labour and in 1970 Minister of State in the Vice-President’s Office. In 1972 he was appointed Minister of Defence and National Service, a post that he held until 1977, when he was promoted to the post of Prime Minister. In 1980 he was obliged to relinquish this position for health reasons. After his recovery, he was again appointed Prime Minister in February, 1983, a post that he held until his untimely death.

Ndugu Sokoine was hard working and self-disciplined and a person of complete integrity. One of the very few Masai who have played a prominent part in national affairs, he maintained close contacts with his own people and was appointed Haigwanani, or leader, of the Masai in Kisongo, the place of his birth. In others he expected his own high standards and took a leading part in the campaign against economic saboteurs (see Bulletin No.17). He is understood to have been closely involved in the creation of National Service at the time of its inauguration in the early 1970’s.

The death of Ndugu Sokoine is a very serious loss to Tanzania at a time of great national difficulty and has deprived it of a distinguished leader.

Some national trends
Real national income per head in Tanzania has been falling since 1979. This is partly due to flagging production, but is also the consequence of a high rate of population growth. The World Bank records an average growth rate of 3.4% between 1972 and 1980 and forecasts a rate of 3.5% for the period from 1980 to 2000. The total population is now over 20 million and is expected to reach 26 million by 1990 and 36 million by the year 2000.

This very high rate of growth is due to the spread of health services, resulting in a considerable fall in mortality. Life expectancy at birth has risen from 40 in 1960 for males to 51 years in 1982 and for females from 43 in 1960 to 54 in 1982. In the meantime, infant mortality has fallen between the same dates from 144 per thousand to 98 and the child death rate (aged 1 to 4) from 31 to 18.

The Constitution
As noted in Bulletin No.17, considerable thought is being given to some necessary changes in Tanzania’s constitution and the constitution of Zanzibar. Some initial proposals were drawn up by the National Executive Committee of the Party and published for public discussion. The reactions of organisations and individuals have been collected at Party Headquarters and in June they received the consideration of the National Executive Committee. The outcome of this consideration of the amendment proposals by the NEC has now been published (June 7th.).

The NEC recommend that the Union Constitution should have entrenched within it a Bill of Rights, which would encompass human rights and obligations and the safeguarding of the public interest.

The NEC recommend a reversion to the previous practice of having two Vice-Presidents, one being the President of Zanzibar and the other the Prime Minister of the Union. The Union Presid0nt would be chairman of the cabinet and would appoint the Ministers on the advice of the Prime Minister.

Powers under the Preventive Detention Act would remain with the President, but the procedures used would be legally binding and detention would be subject to periodic review. The names of detainees should be published in the Gazette and provision should be made to enable those detained to dispute the grounds for their detention. A similar provision should be made in the Zanzibar Constitution.

The President’s power to declare war, or a state of emergency, should be subject to seeking a mandate from a joint session of the NEC and Parliament within 14 days.

The main powers to appoint and discipline public servants should be vested in the Public Service Commission, with the exception of the most senior officials in sensitive and important ministerial and parastatal positions.

The Constitution of Zanzibar should uphold the independence of the judiciary. While the Court of Appeal would be empowered by the Union, it would be necessary for Zanzibar to introduce a system of primary, district and high courts similar to those on the mainland.

The powers of parliament would be strengthened and it would be made clear that the Prime Minister (and the Chief Minister of Zanzibar) were in overall charge of government business and were responsible to the National Assembly (House of Representatives in the case of Zanzibar). The functions of the two parliaments would include the consideration and approval of development plans. Both houses would have permanent secretariats and would form permanent committees to supervise the implementation of policies.

The Musoma Resolution
It was decided by the National Executive Committee of the Party (TANU) in 1974 that students admitted to the University of Dar es Salaam should have worked for two years and should carry a positive recommendation from their TANU branch. It was found necessary at an early stage to relax this requirement in the case of women on account of the small number able to qualify on such terms, and also in the case of most of those entering the Faculties of Science, Engineering and Agriculture. At a meeting of the NEC on 31st. May, 1984, this condition of entry was relaxed and henceforth it will be possible for all students to enter the University after completing their sixth form studies and one year in the National Service. The NEC, however, emphasised the importance of retaining the existing provisions for mature entry.

Education
The NEC has been considering the recommendations of the Presidential Commission on Education, the contents of which are not yet public. One recommendation emerging from the report, which was endorsed by the NEC, was that the need for secondary education expansion should be met as far as possible by creating day schools within easy reach of communities. Apart from the reduction in cost, such a development would harness local effort to contribute towards the initial outlay.

The Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Science of the University of Dar es Salaam at Morogoro became on July 1st. the independent Sokoine University of Agriculture.

Law reform
On 21st. May, 1980, an Act of Parliament received presidential assent
establishing a Law Reform Commission of Tanzania to review the existing law and propose measures for bringing it into line with current circumstances in Tanzania, for the elimination of anomalies and defects and for improved simplification of the law; to advise on the more effective administration of the law; to prepare programmes for the reform of laws and their consolidation and revision at the request of the Attorney General. The initial members of the Commission are:
Ndugu Augustine Saidi, former Chief Justice
Ndugu Pius Msekwa, Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister and Chairman of the Judicial System Review Commission of 1974-77
Ndugu D.Z. Lubuva, former Attorney General of Zanzibar
Ndugu J. Kanywanyi, Professor of Law at the University of Dar es Salaam
Ndugu F.B. Mahatane, private advocate in Arusha
Ndugu M. Ismail, private advocate in Dar es Salaam

The Commission will draw upon the detailed and valuable recommendations of the Judicial System Review Commission. The Commission has been asked to consider the possibility of establishing ward and village tribunals; to review the Companies Ordinance in the light of the Arusha Declaration; to review the legal profession with particular reference to private practice and the role of the Tanzania Legal Corporation without jeopardising the rights of individuals to legal assistance; the causes of delay in civil suits; and the possibility of statutory compensation for persons injured while assisting the police.

Destruction of the Bank of Tanzania by fire
The main building in Dar es Salaam of the Bank of Tanzania was completely destroyed by fire in the early hours of May 17th. 1984. The cause of fire is not yet known. It is understood that the strong room in the basement, where vital records and currency are kept, has not been affected. But the loss of current documents and records will be serious. It is, however, thought that copies of certain records are kept at the National Bank of Commerce.

The Tanzania Railway Corporation needs £100 million to replace track on the 1,600 miles of the central line, which is now carrying goods in and out of Burundi, Uganda and Eastern Zaire.

The annual report of the Customs and Excise Department states that in the past 12 months illegal imports and exports worth Shs. 5 million were seized at border posts. The most commonly smuggled items were TV sets, which are very scarce since their import was banned five years ago.

The 1980-81 tourist season earned Tanzania shs.13 million from the export of wildlife and game trophies.

Social services
Members of the Presidential Commission on Education (see Bulletin no.13 of July, 1981) divided into 3 groups to make two week tours of Africa, Europe and the Far East.

The Tanzania Agricultural Machinery Testing Unit (TAMTU) is to be merged with the Arusha Appropriate. Technology Unit (AATP).

The Kilombero Sugar Training Centre, built with assistance from the Netherlands, was opened in August.

The Minister for Information and Culture, Ndugu Ben Mkapa, himself a former journalist, has officially opened the Tanzania School of Journalism at Mgulani in Dar es Salaam.

The Minister of Health, Dr. Aaron Kiduo, criticised the country’s doctors at the annual conference of the Medical Association of Tanzania, describing their performance as mediocre and a decline in ethical standards, which was producing public discontent. He claimed that too many doctors had entered the profession simply to obtain a comfortable living. The Minister has also announced that the law banning private hospitals passed in 1977 is to be enforced and that commercial hospitals are to be closed.

In an address to the nation in Swahili carried by Dar es Salaam radio on 5th August, President Nyerere said that since the start of adult education in 1970 many Tanzanians had learned to read and write and to do simple calculations. While it was not known exactly how many Tanzanians had acquired that ability, it was known that by 1977 over 6 million had registered for adult education courses; in 1975 over 3,800,000 had sat the exams and the number in 1977 was 2,346,154. Those who had passed the third and final fourth stage exams could be regarded as having overcome illiteracy to the extent that they were ready to begin further reading of books and newspapers. It was not known how well the nearly 3,500,000 people at present registered for adult education classes were progressing, for, by January of this year, many had stopped attending, some of them possibly because they had completed the course and were ready to sit the tests, which had not been set for the last four years. At present it was not known how many Tanzanians could read or write, or how well; nor was it known whether the learners and their teachers were being provided with the services they required.

Foreign relations
A military pact with Uganda provides for Tanzanian troops to train Ugandan troops in Uganda, but they will not become involved in security operations.

In a further attempt to end cattle rustling on the Kenya border, Tanzanian police have disarmed people who do not have firearms licences. This is part of a long-term strategy of improving relations with Kenya.

Tentative agreement has been reached with Malawi on the definition of a new border to replace the river Songwe, which in the past has caused confusion by changing its course.

The British High Commissioner in Tanzania, Sir Peter Moon, has said that within the past two year period more than 700 Tanzanian students have been trained by the British Government. He said, although it would be difficult for Britain to continue training large numbers of students because of rising costs, his country would continue to assist Tanzanian students going abroad for further studies.

General
As from 1st. October all residents of Tanzania will require the approval of the Bank of Tanzania for foreign travel even if fares are being paid for in foreign exchange by foreign sponsors.

Some passengers were stranded at Kilimanjaro International Airport in the middle of September because large aircraft were unable to land due to lack of fire fighting equipment. Services to Tabora and Songea were suspended for the same reason.

President Nyerere has been awarded the second Third World Prize by the Third World Foundation for Social and Economic Studies. This prize of one hundred thousand dollars and a medallion is conferred for outstanding contributions to Third W0rld Development in the economic, social, political, or scientific fields. The Foundation said that Mwalimu had played a key role in interpreting Africa to the world and the world to Africa. His ideas and values had been a source of inspiration and guidance to Africans across the continent and to people throughout the Third World in their pursuit of development, self-respect and genuine independence.

TA ISSUE 18

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Issue 18 cover

Bulletin of Tanzanian Affairs
Issued by the Britain – Tanzania Society
No.18 JANUARY 1984

CONTENTS
The Legal Profession in Tanzania – M.R.M. Lamwai
Agricultural Policy – Frank Ellis
SADCC – a Way to Independence – Maria Jerkland Aberg
Notes on Current Issues – John Arnold
The President’s Press Conference

Reviews:
Demand for Modern Family Planning in Tanzania by I.S.L. Sembajwe – Julia M. Carter
Summons: Poems from Tanzania edited by Richard S. Mabala – Hugh Dinwiddy
Some Items of News

EDITOR’S NOTE
We have included in this issue a review of ‘Summons’, a collection of poems written in English by Tanzanian poets and published by the Tanzanian Publishing House. In the dust cover to this volume it is explained that ‘the poets in this collection are young people brought up in the ferment of the policy of socialism and self-reliance. Their poetry is therefore, as would be expected, about the problems of building socialism … They are also about ordinary human questions and about the search of the poets for personal happiness and meaning in their lives’.

Despite economic difficulties, publishing in Tanzania goes on. In 1980 the Tanzania Publishing House published the two volume novel by Aniceti Kitereza, ‘Bwana Myombekere na Bibi Bugonoka’, which was reviewed in Bulletin No. 16. Meantime, the University-based journals ‘The African Review’, ‘Utafiti’ and ‘Taamuli’ have resumed publication. Among recent books that we hope to review are ‘Debate on Class, State and Imperialism’, edited by Professor Y. Tandon, ‘Mass Communications and the Development of Socialism in Tanzania’ by Nkwabi Ng’wanakilala and ‘Some aspects of Education in Tanzania’ by E.A.K. Meena.

John Arnold
Editor
Department of Adult Education, University of Southampton, Southampton S09 5NH.

THE LEGAL PROFESSION IN TANZANIA

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The legal profession in Tanzania can be divided into three sections: the Bench, the Private Bar and the Public Bar. The Bench is composed of at least 5 Court of Appeal judges, at least 15 High Court judges, and several Resident, District and Primary Court magistrates. The Private Bar is composed of the advocates engaged in private practice in law while the Public Bar is made up of State Attorneys who act on behalf of the Government and are employed in the Attorney General’s chambers, and the Corporation Counsel employed by the Tanzania Legal Corporation who act on behalf of public corporations.

(1) The Bench:
(a) The Court of Appeal:
The 1979 amendment to the Constitution of Tanzania establishes a Court of Appeal which is the final Court of Appeal in Tanzania. It is manned by at least 5 Judges of Appeal appointed by the President of the United Republic. The Chief Justice is the head of this Court. The Constitution also provides for the office of the Registrar of the Court of Appeal. The holders of these offices must have the qualifications laid down under the Constitution and have normally been appointed from among the senior members of the Bench.

(b) The High Court:
Section 60 of the Constitution provides for at least 15 Judges of the High Court. These are appointed by the President after consultation with the Chief Justice. The President may also appoint Acting Judges if he is advised by the Chief Justice that the work of the High Court at a given time is such that an additional number of judges is required on a temporary basis. The Acting Judges normally act as such only for the period stipulated in their appointment (which may be extended) although a number of them have been confirmed as Judges of the High Court in the past. In addition, the Magistrates’ Courts Act empowers the Minister responsible for legal affairs, after consultation with the Chief Justice and the Attorney General, to invest any Resident Magistrate with jurisdiction ordinarily vested in the High Court. These magistrates are commonly known as Resident Magistrates with Extended Jurisdiction and while exercising such jurisdiction are deemed to be High Court Judges. The appointment of magistrates with extended jurisdiction is normally made for the remote areas of the country so as to facilitate the hearing of appeals from District Courts and the Supervision of these courts. The Order appointing such magistrates normally specifies their tenure.

Under the Constitution, High Court judges are appointed from among people who are eligible for registration as advocates of the High Court of Tanzania and have held these qualifications for at least 5 years. However, the President is empowered to waive the latter qualification if he is satisfied that a person who otherwise would have qualified is sui table to hold the office of a judge of the High Court.

The judges of the High Court are guaranteed security of tenure. Once appointed, their office cannot be “abolished” until they attain the compulsory retirement age of 55 years. However, judges can, with the consent of the President, take voluntary retirement at the age of 45 years, or can go on working after the age of compulsory retirement until they attain the age of 62 years if the President considers that it is in the public interest for them to continue working. They can be dismissed from office only on disciplinary grounds in which case the judge concerned must be impeached before a Commission of three judges appointed from any British Commonwealth countries.

Although the Chief Justice (an appointee of the President) is the head of the judiciary in Tanzania, the running of the High Court is left in the hands of the Jaji Kiongozi (Principal Judge) who is appointed by the President after consultation with the Chief Justice.

The Constitution also provides for the office of the Registrar and Deputy Registrars of the High Court which are manned by officers appointed by the President and with similar qualifications as those held by judges.

(c) Magistrates:
There are two classes of magistrates: professional magistrates comprising the District Magistrates and Primary Court Magistrates. The District Magistrates are normally promoted Primary Court Magistrates and the Primary Court Magistrates are appointed after a short training mainly in procedure and criminal law at the Institute of Development Management at Mzumbe.

Like the judges of the Court of Appeal and the High Court, the Magistrates are appointed by the President. The Constitution establishes a Judicial Service Commission composed of the Chief Justice as its Chairman, one High Court judge nominated by the President after consultation with the Chief Justice and another member appointed by the President. Members of Parliament and people barred by law cannot be members of the Commission. This Commission is the disciplinary body for magistrates.

(2) The Bar:
(a) The Private Bar:
The Private Bar is composed of private legal practitioners known as advocates. The Advocates Ordinance requires the Registrar of the High Court to keep a Roll of Advocates. Any person who has the qualifications prescribed by the ordinance is entitled to be registered. These qualifications are: either a law degree of the University of Dar es Salaam (formerly the University of East Africa) or such other University or legal training institution as recognised by the Council for Legal Education; or the applicant must be a legal practitioner with a right of audience before any court of unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction in any Commonwealth country or any other country designated by the Minister for Legal Affairs; or a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England, Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland; a Writer to the Signet; a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Scotland and holders of other legal offices in the United Kingdom. In addition, the applicant must satisfy the Chief Justice that he has adequate knowledge of the language of the court which is English and must also produce testimonials of character. A person wanting to be registered as an advocate in Tanzania must petition the Chief Justice.

The Private Bar in Tanzania is the one which is engaged in assisting and representing private individuals in both criminal and civil proceedings before the court. Its members perform the function which are performed by both barristers and solicitors in England. The division which exists in England between the two functions does not exist in Tanzania.

However, the number of advocates is far from adequate. The slow development of the Bar before independence, the exodus of many advocates of foreign origin in the 1970’s and the fact that most Tanzanian graduates in law are employed in the public sector have contributed to the small size of the Bar. Also there are fears that private practice in law will be abolished and so some lawyers are hesitant to start private practice.

The few advocates who exist are centred in urban areas – Dar es Salaam and Arusha taking the largest proportion. Most of them are engaged in individual practice. Partnerships in legal practice in Tanzania are exceptions rather than the rule. Criminal practice takes a large portion of the advocates’ time. It was observed by the Tanzania Judicial Systems Review Commission that very few people benefit from the services of the Private Bar, because the advocates are so few and very expensive. Most cases in Tanzania are conducted by the parties themselves. There is no comprehensive legal aid programme, so even in criminal cases there is no right to legal aid unless the case falls within the provisions of the Legal Aid (Criminal Proceedings) Act, normally one involving offences carrying the death penalty.

(b) The Public Bar
This comprises the lawyers who are employed as State Attorneys in the Attorney General’s Chambers. They are mainly engaged in advising the Government and in public prosecutions under the direction of the Director of Public Prosecutions. They appear on behalf of the state in appeals before the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

Another group of lawyers belonging to the Public Bar are the lawyers who are employed as Corporation Counsel by the Tanzania Legal Corporation. This corporation was established in 1971 under the Tanzania Legal Corporation (Establishment) Order with the purpose of providing legal services to public corporations. Although the Order has been amended to enable the Corporation to provide legal services to the public, the Corporation has so far played no significant role in cases in which private persons are involved because of the small number of lawyers employed by the Corporation.

The Tanzania Legal Corporation is headed by the Chief Corporation Counsel, who is appointed by the President, Senior Corporation Counsel, Assistant Corporation Counsel and Corporation Counsel. All these officers are people who are qualified to be registered as advocates, but in practice they are not registered as such. Their right of audience before the Courts accrues from their employment.

Although the Corporation has not played a significant role in private litigation, it has been providing lawyers to represent people who fall within the provisions of the Legal Aid (Criminal Proceedings) Act.

Conclusion
It may have been seen that the President of Tanzania has very wide powers of deciding the composition of the Bench at every level, except in the case of Zanzibar, which is not governed by the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania in this respect. In fact, the Constitution preserves the right of the High Court of Zanzibar to exercise jurisdiction concurrently with the High Court of Tanzania. The existence of such wide powers vested in the President has led some commentators to question the independence of the judiciary in actual practice.

M.R.M. Lamwai

SADCC- A WAY TO INDEPENDENCE

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In May, 1979, the foreign ministers of the five Front Line States meeting in Gaborone decided to call a larger meeting in Arusha (SADCC 1) in July of that year to try to evolve a strategy for broadly-based cooperation in southern Africa. At the Arusha conference in addition to the Front Line States nine bilateral and a number of multilateral aid organisations (World Bank, Commonwealth Secretariat, European Community, African Development Bank and a number of UN organisations) took part as observers. The conference was united in forming the SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COORDINATION CONFERENCE (SADCC). The transport and communications sector in the region was considered to be particularly crucial and demanded immediate attention. Consequently, the decision was taken to establish the SOUTHERN AFRICAN TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (SATCC) with headquarters in Maputo. Other important questions discussed at the conference dealt with energy, soil and water conservation, training and food production, with the special purpose of reducing dependence on imports from South Africa. As a contribution to the section on agriculture the INTERNATIONAL CROP RESEARCH INSTITUTE FDR SEMI-ARID TROPICS (ICRISAT) in Hyderabad, India, offered to start a branch in the region, or, to be more exact, in Botswana. In its research and development projects, the Institute is to investigate the special agricultural problems faced in the extensive dry areas of the region.

The discussions in Arusha were concluded with the endorsement of a proposed declaration containing four principal goals for cooperation within SADCC:

(1) to reduce economic dependence on South Africa in particular, but also on other countries;

(2) to institute a true and just integration of the states in the region;

(3) to mobilise resources for national, international and regional projects; and

(4) to act together towards securing financial and technical assistance within the framework of a strategy for economic liberation.

Action Programme and Financial Provision
The Arusha conference was followed in April by a summit meeting in Lusaka, the first meeting at which all nine member states took part, including Zimbabwe, which had just become independent. The summit endorsed unanimously the Lusaka Declaration, a formal presentation of the proposed main objectives of SADCC, which in turn emphasised the following spheres of activity :
(1) transport and communications;
(2) agriculture;
(3) training, especially within the transport and agriculture sectors;
(4) industrial development; and
(5) energy.

Within the framework of the action programme it was calculated that 1.5 milliard dollars would be needed during the eighties for the regional projects. It would be impossible to generate so much money within SADCC. Tb maintain the momentum of the development programme it would be necessary to be assured of considerable external financial support. Consequently, it was decided that at the next plenary meeting, which was to be held in Maputo in November, 1980 (SADCC 2), the problem of funding should be the main subject. Thirty governments and bilateral aid organisations together with twenty multi-lateral and international bodies were represented at Maputo. The result was that the donor organisations undertook to support the regional projects within SADCC to the extent of 650 million dollars spread over a five year period from 1980 to 1985.

The SADCC projects were set in motion and at the Blantyre conference in November, 1981, the time had come for the first evaluation. It transpired that the greatest progress had been made in the transport and communications sector and that many projects were in full swing. Even within the agriculture and food sectors as well as within the industry sector progress had been made. Less satisfactory was the position with energy and land conservation. The main question before the conference was finance. One year after the Maputo conference only 273 million dollars out of the promised 650 million had actually been committed in legally binding agreements. This factor had obviously reduced somewhat the tempo of development. Delays in obtaining the release of funds can in part be attributed to bureaucratic sluggishness, but it is unfortunately true that in some cases political problems were associated with the delays. In January, 1983, a new meeting with various donors was held in Maseru, where about 200 million dollars were promised.

Unanimous decisions at all levels
Sir Seretse Khama, at that time chairman of SADCC, stated in his opening address to the summit meeting in Lusaka in 1980 that cooperation within SADCC should be built on ‘concrete projects and specific programmes rather than on grandiose schemes and massive bureaucratic institutions’. This motto has since then characterised the manner in which SADCC has attacked regional cooperation. A decentralised model and a decision-making process requiring unanimity at all levels was decided upon. A limited number of institutions have in the meantime been developed and formalised in a Memorandum of Understanding of the SADCC, which was adopted at a summit meeting in Harare in July, 1981.

The Summit is the highest authority in SADCC with responsibility for general policy and for the control of activities. The summit consists of the chiefs of the member states and it meets at least once a year. All decisions must be unanimous.

The Council, which consists of one minister from each member state, is responsible for overall planning, general coordination, control of the organisation’s various institutions and supervising the implementation of programmes. The Council approves the work programme of SADCC and appoints the member state charged with the coordination of activities within a particular area of work. The Council meets at least once a year and all decisions must be unanimous.

Sectoral Commissions can be set up for programmes within particular areas of activity. The Southern African Transport and Communications Commission (SATCC) is such a commission. It is possible that similar commissions will be set up within the energy, agriculture and industry sectors. The Commissions report to the Council.

A Standing Committee of Officials responsible to the Council has been established. It also must meet at least once yearly and its decisions must be unanimous. Finally, a small Secretariat has been established in Gaborone, which is responsible for serving the various SADCC institutions. The Director of the secretariat is responsible for and rapporteur to the Council. The Council also occupies a key position in respect of planning within SADCC with sectoral commissions, a permanent committee of officials and a secretariat as executive organ. Outside this structure are the annual conferences (SADCC 1, SADCC 2, etc.) to which the various aid organisations are invited.

Distribution of responsibility
The ongoing work is in large measure decentralised. Each member state has been allocated its special sphere of responsibility. Angola is responsible for coordination in the energy sector. Botswana has been given development research and activities connected with cattle diseases. Lesotho shares with Zimbabwe responsibility for land conservation and land use. Malawi coordinates the conservation of fish and wild animals. Mozambique, on account of its central situation in the region, has been allocated the coordination of the important transport and communications sector. Swaziland is responsible for the coordination of manpower development and training. For the time being it is also responsible for the health sector. Tanzania has special responsibility for industrial development. Zambia is responsible for the Southern African Development Fund and for the mining sector. Zimbabwe, finally, has been given the foodstuffs sector, land conservation and development (jointly with Lesotho) and the printing of securities (currency, cheques, state bonds, etc.).

SADCC can be characterised by concepts such as pragmatism, decentralisation and unanimity in decision-making. It deals with limited, concrete projects within the region and works towards increased cooperation in line with its principal common goals. The decentralised mode of operation has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are that bureaucratisation is avoided and money is saved. The main drawback may be deficient coordination between sectors. A system requiring unanimity in decision-making at all levels (in contrast to majority decisions) assumes as a prerequisite that unanimity between such different states will generally speaking be attainable. The member countries are of course most dissimilar in respect of size, resources, stage of development and political aims. The disadvantage of this model may well be that progress is slower when all the time it is necessary to aim at the lowest common denominator. But with a ‘speedier’ model based on majority decisions and a supranational organisational structure, the organisation might all the time be threatened with collapse.

During the short time that the organisation has existed, it seems that SADCC has made relatively good progress. Development has got furthest in the transport sector. The South African regime clearly sees SADCC as a threat and conducts an aggressive destabilisation policy against its neighbours – a policy, however, which rebounds upon it and threatens its own commercial interests in the region.

Maria Jerkland Aberg

Note: The above article is translated from the Swedish and omits the first part, which describes the present economic geography of southern Africa. The article, in turn, constitutes a summary of ‘Dependence and collective self-reliance in southern Africa: the case of the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC)’, by Arne Tostensen (Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, 1982).

AGRICULTURAL POLICY

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Between May and October, 1982, a Government task force undertook a major reappraisal of agricultural policy and its implementation in Tanzania with the object of defining alterations to existing policy and new priorities for the nineteen eighties. The results of that exercise are contained in two documents published by the Ministry of Agriculture – the report of the task force itself, “The Tanzania National Agricultural Policy (Final Report)”, dated October, 1982, and the official statement concerning future agricultural policies, “The Agricultural Policy of Tanzania”, dated 31st. March, 1983.

The intention of these notes is to summarise briefly the key changes in agricultural policy set out in the documents and also to provide some comment on the proposals within the context of agricultural development in Tanzania over the preceding decade.

The task force on national agricultural policy was chaired by Professor Simon Mbilinyi, formerly Personal Economic Assistant to the President and now Principal Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture. It was composed of roughly 15 members drawn from relevant Government agencies and from the University of Dar es Salaam. Its terms of reference were broad and its final report is extremely wide ranging, encompassing for example the organisation of agricultural production, land tenure, land use planning, agricultural research and extension, agricultural technology, agricultural marketing and prices, agricultural inputs and the problems and prospects of individual crops. With respect to each of these, as well as other topics, the report (which, incidentally runs into 240 pages) contains both a detailed interpretation of past performance and a set of policy recommendations for the future. It is clear that most of the task force recommendations were subsequently accepted by the Government as components of the new official agricultural policy, since the March, 1983, document is essentially a re-statement of the task force policy proposals with only minor amendments.

The task force report recognises various defects in previous agricultural policy, especially in the areas of motivation for production, agricultural marketing, agricultural input supply and extension. Within each of these areas heavy emphasis is placed on improving incentives, increasing efficiency and rationalising institutional arrangements. The outcome appears to take the form of a perceptible shift towards permitting more market criteria to enter the practical implementation of agricultural policy. However, considerable ambivalence surrounds this intention, since the report also contains a commitment to the existing apparatus of state controls and planning, such that it is difficult to envisage how some of the proposals will achieve their intention (on which more later). Some main policy shifts and the thinking which seem to lie behind them are summarised as follows:

1. The problems for agricultural production in some locations of village size (distance to fields) are recognised. The proposed solution is the concept of Central Service Villages, which would act as the focal point for satellite settlement located closer to production areas. The size of such satellite settlements is not specified in the task force recommendations.

2. Increased security of land tenure is strongly emphasised for all private forms of agricultural production, including the so-called ‘homestead shamba’, the family plot on the village ‘block farm’ and private commercial farms. A minimum leasehold of 33 years is proposed for all such farming in order to give tenants sufficient security to maintain and develop the long-term productivity of their land instead of carrying out short-term, soil-exhausting agronomic practices.

3. The formation of new, private commercial farms is to be encouraged, especially for the production of export crops, or crops needed as raw material for domestic industry. There seems to be a hint here of attempting to promote a new frontier spirit in Tanzania (including for outsiders) to take up the ‘challenge’ of private development under conditions of acute shortage of foreign exchange. (The whole of Canada and USA was opened up for grain production before the invention of the internal combustion engine.’)

4. The high costs and inefficiencies of the former parastatal crop marketing system are recognised. Proposals include:
(a) a reduction of the status of the export crop parastatals to marketing boards concerned principally with the sale, where possible by auction, of export crops;
(b) the concomitant reintroduction of Regional Cooperative Unions as the purchasing agents for all designated crops from Primary Cooperative Societies (villages, or groups of villages). This decision actually pre-dates the task force, but is integrated into its recommendations;
(c) for export crops a target proportion of 75% of the export price to be passed back to farmers. This compares with proportions which fell to as low as 30% for some export crops during the nineteen thirties;
(d) the encouragement of food crop transfers between Primary Cooperative Societies and between Regional Cooperative Unions to meet local variations in food self-sufficiency and to avoid the necessity of centralised procurement of all food crops by the National Milling Corporation;
(e) the associated limitation of National Milling Corporation functions to the delivery of urban food supplies, management of the Strategic Grain Reserve and food processing, especially for urban markets.

5. Some of the defects in the past implementation of producer prices policy, especially the relative neglect of export crops and the failure to adjust agricultural prices in line with inflation are recognised. It is proposed that producer prices should be biased towards export crops with a high net foreign exchange earning capacity and towards food crops, which minimise foreign exchange expenditures in their production, that is, minimise imported inputs. It is also proposed that the price fixing procedure should take account of changes in the cost of living index. In addition, it is recommended that annual farm management surveys are undertaken in order to obtain up-to-date and realistic estimates of production costs.

6. Both the supply of agricultural inputs and the organisation of agricultural extension are recentralised in the Ministry of Agriculture. This recognises the waste and duplication, as well as poor implementation, of the previous decentratisation of those functions to individual crop parastatals and other Government distribution agencies. The new agricultural policy thus represents an ambitious attempt to correct deficiencies in the past implementation of agricultural policies both by correcting perceived weaknesses in existing institutions and by once again modifying organisational arrangements. It also contains a strand of improved private incentives and greater market orientation. The new policy does not, however, challenge the most important implicit assumption of the Government approach to agriculture in Tanzania over the past two decades, which is that comprehensive state controls and planning in every sphere of agricultural activity is necessary in order to achieve centrally-determined targets and objectives. For example, one of the recommendations concerning agricultural production is that every single village in Tanzania should prepare two Master Plans, one on village residential areas and the other on economic activity, showing agricultural production targets, and so on. This may seem reasonable until it is pointed out that there are over 8,000 villages in Tanzania, making for 16,000 proposed Master Plans, and it becomes legitimate to conjecture how exactly the information generated by these plans is to be analysed and assimilated for policy purposes (perhaps each village should have a microcomputer?). Another example in the sphere of agricultural marketing is the reintroduction of cooperative societies and unions without actually abolishing the crop parastatals. It is difficult to see how unit marketing costs are to be dramatically reduced by this proliferation of marketing agencies. It has only to be recalled that one of the major reasons given for the previous abolition of the cooperative unions was their spiralling costs and losses.

7. The problem with extensive Government intervention in a country like Tanzania is that comprehensive controls down to the level of individual village or household require an immense diversion of resources in order to maintain the required administrative apparatus. The magnitude of this cost burden is usually out of all proportion to the gains, which are supposedly made in information and planning. The new agricultural policy unfortunately does not tackle or escape this dilemma. The policy contains numerous sensible suggestions for improving agricultural policy implementation, but there exists a considerable danger that good intentions will be lost in the maze of bureaucratic intricacies which surround them.

Frank Ellis

NOTES ON CURRENT ISSUES

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Agreement on the distribution of the assets and liabilities of the East African Community and the opening of the border between Tanzania and Kenya

The three East African Heads of State met at Arusha on 16th. November and reached agreement on the division of the assets and liabilities of the former East African Community. This meeting and the agreement which followed are evidence of significantly improved relations between Tanzania and Kenya. The East African Community collapsed in 1977 after a period of disintegration marked by the blockage of fund transfers, the expulsion of staff not belonging to the country of residence and the progressive appropriation of Community institutions for national purposes. The problems of the Community were exacerbated by the deteriorating international economic climate and the seizure of power in Uganda by Idi Amin. The central problem of the Community was the economic predominance of Kenya and in 1967 an effort was made to rectify this imbalance by transferring to Tanzania and Uganda some of the Community’s institutional headquarters, including the headquarters of the Community itself to Arusha. A Treaty for East African Cooperation allowed for the protection for a limited period of infant industries by the imposition of transfer taxes. In 1970 the situation deteriorated greatly as a result of the import of cheap consumer goods, hitherto purchased from Kenya, from China in payment of local costs incurred in the building of the Tazara railway. The Kenyans resorted to various obstructive measures and in 1975 Tanzania closed the trunk roads of the country to Kenyan lorries used for trade with Zambia; in the following year the border between Tanzania and Kenya was closed.

The exceptionally complex task of valuing the assets and liabilities of the East African Community was given to a mediator, Dr. Victor Umbrich, and the agreement is the result of his years of patient work. The political climate for the agreement was improved by the removal from office of the former Kenyan Attorney General, Charles Njonjo, who had long been a bitter critic of Tanzania and an obstacle to improved relations between the two countries.

The agreement provides that the Community assets should be divided in the proportion of Kenya 42%, Tanzania 32% and Uganda 26%. As a result, Kenya and Tanzania will pay Uganda compensation in the sum of 191 million US dollars. Payment will be in convertible currency, the provision of goods and services and the offsetting of existing claims. The agreement also covers the pensions of former employees and a mechanism for settling disputes.

It is encouraging that some of the East African Community services have survived and will continue as joint East African institutions. They are the Soroti Flying School, the East African Development Bank, the East African Inter-University Committee, the Eastern and Southern African Management Training Institute and the East African Community Library Services.

Following the agreement on the East African Community assets and liabilities, Kenya and Tanzania agreed to open their border immediately for movement by people subject only to normal immigration requirements. The Presidents of Kenya and Tanzania instructed their ministers responsible for trade, transit traffic, air transport and tourism to meet without delay and to reach speedy agreement on these matters.

Commentators on the agreement believe that it will result in a sharp reduction in smuggling and illegal marketing. What is less certain is the extent to which the conditions which produced the original dispute have changed. Tanzania has, at considerable expense, established its own airline and telecommunications system, but it has not succeeded in persuading major tour operators to use Kilimanjaro airport and few of its industries are in a position to exploit the potential of the Kenyan markets. It remains to be seen whether Tanzania can now meet the challenge of dynamic Kenya and whether the grim economic prospects for Africa will stimulate mutually advantageous collaboration.

Political debate goes public
In Tanzania real political debate outside Parliament has been largely confined within the Party (Chama cha Mapinduzi) and the books and other writings of the staff of the University. In 1981 the National Executive Committee of the Party, meeting in Dar es Salaam, adopted a body of guidelines entitled ‘Mwongozo 1981’, which contained among other matters a series of recommendations on constitutional reform. In the spring of 1983 these proposals were elaborated in a public document, which was distributed for discussion throughout the country in Party cells, churches and other voluntary organisations and the reactions and proposals of these bodies and of individuals were invited. This shrewd move by the Party allowed for the expression of worries and questions that have been building up over five years of persistent economic crisis. People responded enthusiastically to this opportunity and the press and radio have been printing and broadcasting large numbers of letters, some asking for significant changes in the Union Constitution. The most frequent requests have been, first t for the Members of the National Assembly to make more effective use of their power to question Ministers and to call them to account for the actions and omissions of their Ministries and, secondly, for a choice of candidates in Presidential elections. A more detailed account of this important public referendum and its consequences will be given in a forthcoming issue of the Bulletin.

The Government’s campaign against economic saboteurs described in Bulletin No.17 of July, 1983, has also stimulated public debate. After the early successes in uncovering hoarded goods, doubts began to be expressed and fears that the investigations were beginning to hinder legitimate activities while not reaching some of those with the greatest responsibility for malpractices. In July, the level of disquiet persuaded the President to intervene and it was announced that he would reply to questions from journalists at a public meeting, which would be broadcast live. This kind of meeting was new to Tanzania and excited wide interest. The questions were those that were most frequently asked in the letters reaching the press and Radio Tanzania.

Reactions to the meeting and the broadcast were varied. Some of the older, more conservative Party Members were outraged that the President should be subjected to such questioning, but other people, including some of those most committed to the President’s policies, welcomed the innovation and hoped that the example of more vigorous .questioning would be followed by the National Assembly.

Official denial of alleged oil deal with South Africa
The Tanzanian Government has issued a categorical rejection of the allegations made in the ‘Observer’ of 13th. November, 1983, that there had been a secret oil deal between Tanzania and South Africa and that two Tanzanian leaders had been involved in an improper commercial relationship with an oil company. The statement goes into considerable detail with regard to the deal with the company Marcotrade, to which the allegations refer. This deal involved a supply of crude oil from Angola of a type that could not be refined in Tanzania and therefore had to be exchanged for Iranian crude. This exchange was arranged in a manner which minimised the foreign exchange costs to Tanzania. All letters of credit specified the origin and destination of the imports and exports and did not include South Africa. However, even before the Observer article was published, the Tanzanian• Petroleum Development Corporation had discovered that Marcotrade had attempted, as part of the package deal, to import a cargo of refined petrol originating in South Africa with documents giving the origin as Singapore. The Tanzanian Government views this attempt to evade its ban on trade with South Africa wi th grave concern.

A second vessel was named in the Observer report and the statement lists the destinations of its five voyages from Dar es Salaam. Its only calls at South African ports were for repairs following mechanical breakdown. The two leaders named in the article, Ndugu Al Noor Kassam, the Minister for Water and Energy, and the General Manager of the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation, have instituted legal proceedings against the Observer.

Increases in prices offered to agricultural producers
As part of the policy to increase foreign exchange earnings, producer prices of key export crops- coffee, cashewnuts, pyrethrum, cardamon, cocoa and tea- have been increased by about 40%. The price of maize has been increased for producers by between 39% and 82%, with the highest increases in the major producing areas. This difference presumably reflects lower costs of collection and is also intended to encourage production in the areas most suited to maize. The producer price for cotton has been increased by up to 50% and there are also increased producer prices for castor oil seed, millet and sorghum. The Government has decided to accord priority in the allocation of foreign exchange to export-oriented institutions. Firms and commercial farms, including those in the private sector, are being allowed to retain a proportion of their export earnings in external accounts for the purchase of machinery and other necessary foreign inputs. This will greatly simplify their purchases from abroad by bypassing the normal allocation machinery. A special allocation of foreign exchange will likewise be reserved to enable peasant farmers, whether producing for export, for industry, or for food supplies to purchase necessary equipment abroad.

Tazara railway
The Chinese Government has agreed to a postponement of repayments of the loan for the building of the Tazara railway. Repayments of the principal should have begun in 198~, but will not now start until 1993. The repayment of the loan for locomotives will begin in 1987 instead of 1980. The Chinese have provided a further loan of shs.180 million for the purchase of spares for the Railway and 250 Chinese personnel working for Tazara are to stay beyond the original date intended for their return home.

As reported in Bulletin No.16, the Tazara railway has been beset with operating problems and has been working far below its full capacity. The low level of operations has clearly made it difficult to generate the revenue necessary to start to repay construction costs. The leader of the Chinese delegation to the negotiations, Madame Chen Muhua, made a diplomatic, but none the less revealing, statement: ‘I share the views of President Nyerere, it was difficult to construct a railway, but more critical to manage it well’. The Tanzanian Minister for Transport and Communications promised that strong disciplinary action would be taken against Tazara employees who did not obey operating instructions.

John Arnold

THE PRESIDENT’S PRESS CONFERENCE

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As indicated on page 11, President Nyerere gave a press conference to the Tanzanian newspapers and Radio Tanzania in the Diamond Jubilee Hall, Dar es Salaam, on 28th. July, 1983, before an assembly of leaders. The proceedings were relayed over the Kiswahili service of Radio Tanzania. The following summary is based on a monitoring record of the broadcast.

Although this event appears to have been an innovation, it has been the President’s practice in recent years to visit the University of Dar es Salaam and to reply to questions put to him by the students. But these were essentially private occasions. On this occasion, the questions put to him by representatives of the media were based on letters that they had been receiving and therefore reflected the misgivings and uncertainties of the literate and largely urban minority; the views and feelings of the rural majority were inevitably largely unrepresented and are very much more difficult to ascertain.

The questions were put by the Daily News, Radio Tanzania, SHIHATA (the Tanzanian News Agency), Uhuru and Mzalendo. The large majority of questions were concerned with the working of the law against economic sabotage (see Bulletin No.17, pp.14, 15), at that time only a few weeks old. The action had started on 24th. March and the first legislation was signed by the President on 4th. May. The misgivings expressed were that the most powerful economic saboteurs were escaping the penalties of the Act, or were not being caught, and that the Government’s commitment was declining. Questions were asked about the basis on which clemency was granted, or suspects released by the special tribunal, and about the separate committees which, it was alleged, were dealing with the cases of Party and Government leaders and the heads of parastatals. On the other hand, one questioner asked whether there was a danger of hard work and its rewards being misconstrued as economic sabotage and whether it was right to hold suspects in detention awaiting an appearance before the tribunal after the expiry of the 60 days prescribed by law.

Questions were also raised about the alleged ownership of certain trading corporations by Government and Party leaders, the factors hindering the reopening of the border with Kenya (it has since been reopened), the danger that the removal to their homes of unemployed persons under the Human Resources Deployment Act, 1983, might lead to an increase of tribalism, the proliferation of special committees in Government and Party, the failure of enquiries into the expenditure of Government and public corporations to report within the allotted time of nine months and the apparent re-employment in top jobs of Government leaders who had been retired or dismissed after making gross mistakes.

Many of these questions remained unanswered in the President’s replies. He began by referring to two matters brought to his attention by Uhuru. First, if Lonrho had indeed been guilty of collaboration with South Africa and if its operations in Tanzania had been harmful to trade, why had it been decided to compensate Lonrho for the confiscated assets of this company and even to consider allowing it to resume operations? Secondly, why following the earlier opposition of the Government to the demands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for currency devaluation has the currency nevertheless been devalued? The transcript is incomplete and contains no indication of the President’s views on the first of these questions, but on the matter of devaluation he seems to have suggested that the change in policy had come about because of a new understanding of ‘how things work’. The H1F had recommended an increase in exports and a reduction of imports and this was being done. As regards devaluation, the Government’s objection was not against devaluation per se, whether to 15, 20, or 30 shillings per dollar, but against the manner and timing of the devaluation proposed. The IMF sought immediate devaluation from shs.12 to shs.30 per dollar. The Government were not objecting to the devaluation itself, but to the speed of implementation as requested by the IMF. There was a speed of devaluation that would cause very great problems.

Turning to the questions on economic sabotage, the President first addressed himself to the charge of a loss of momentum. This charge he rebutted and said that it had never been promised that there would be no releases. Some people had been wrongly arrested and it was right that they should be released. He hoped that they would forgive. He was unable to give numbers, but said that when people were released the fact was given publicity in the papers and on the radio. Many people had been released on bail pending a hearing of their cases, but all had been taken back into custody by the police, or on presidential orders. There were, however, others against whom the charges had been withdrawn.

People arrested under the special legislation fell into four groups. First, there were those against whom the police held sufficient evidence to bring them to trial. Secondly, there were those who had committed crimes that were then found to lie outside the scope of the new law. They would be brought before the ordinary courts. Thirdly, there were those against whom the evidence was not very good, but whose known character and records showed them to be ‘big economic saboteurs’. If on the day of the clampdown no evidence could be found, they would have been released by the tribunal. In such cases of known saboteurs the police would ask the President to detain them- presumably under the presidential powers in the Preventive Detention Act. The fourth group consisted of party workers, members of the public service and the staff of parastatals, where the evidence was not weighty enough to secure a conviction before a tribunal. In such cases, their names were referred back for consideration under the disciplinary provisions of their employment.

The President said that all those against whom the evidence was clear would go before a tribunal, be they Party leader, Government leader, or ordinary businessman. But in the case of leaders, whether or not the evidence was sufficient for charges before a tribunal, they would also be considered by the disciplinary organs of Party or Government.

366 people had been arrested and released because there was no evidence to justify keeping them in custody. He himself had released two people, one of them being Edward Barongo, the former Regional Commissioner of Kilimanjaro Region.

On 22nd. August, it was announced that Barongo had been rearrested after the discovery of a large amount of money and goods imported from abroad at his house in Bukoba. Other sums of money were discovered at his house in Moshi. The President explained that his previous decision to release Barongo had been based on the minor character of his infringements known at that time. He had not then been aware of the major new evidence against Barongo.