Historia ya Tanzania na Maadili – FORM FIVE – All Topics

HISTORIA YA TANZANIA NA MAADILI – KIDATO CHA TANO – FULL NOTES

To view the Notes for Form Five, click the following links below:

1. DHANA ZA HISTORIA, UTAMBULISHO NA MAADILI YA TAIFA

2. MCHANGO WA HISTORIA NA URITHI KATIKA MAENDELEO

3. FURSA ZA UWEKEZAJI ZITOKANAZO NA VIVUTIO VYA KIHISTORIA NA URITHI

4. JAMII ZA KITANZANIA KABLA YA UKOLONI

5. UHUSIANO WA JAMII ZA KITANZANIA NA JAMII ZINGINE

6. MIFUMO YA KIHISTORIA NA MAADILI KABLA YA UKOLONI

7. NGUVU YA UKOLONI KATIKA KUJENGA MWELEKEO MPYA WA JAMII

8. MCHANGO WA UKOLONI KATIKA MFUMO WA MAADILI YA KITANZANIA

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Pre-History of Tanzania

The greatest part of the known history of mainland Tanzania has been pieced together from the oral tradition of tribal story-telling, explorers’ tales and archaeological remains, although written records exist dating back to the 1st century AD describing trade and lifestyles on the islands and coastal regions.

Fossil evidence has also been found of life many thousands of years earlier, including some of the earliest known evidence of proto-human ancestors, various types of hominid, which earned Tanzania the strange accolade of perhaps being ‘The Cradle of Mankind’.

Africa is geographically ancient. This vast and diverse continent is thought to have once been a major component of the Gondwanaland supercontinent that drifted apart in the Mesozoic period, 150 – 100 million years ago.

The ancient rock strata of Tanzania have retained a historical record of buried evidence, only now partially revealed by time and science. Petrified dinosaurs, such as the giant Brachiosaurus and tiny Kentrosaurus, were found on Tendaguru mountain in the region of Lindi in southeast Tanzania in 1912, (now removed to the Natural Museum of Humboldt), and one of the oldest known examples of bipedal hominids, immortalised in a set of fossilised footprints, were found at Olduvai Gorge in Northern Tanzania.

German East Africa Company

After the Arabs, the Portuguese and the French marked their presence in Tanzania, the country became a place of interest for German forces. In the wake of its colonial expansion to increase its market, the country turned its attention toward Tanzania. The first invasion conducted by the Germans resulted in the surrender of many Tanzanian chiefs due to their lack of modern warfare technology.

Apart from this, the land was already ravaged by the world’s biggest colonialist, Great Britain. After the German invasion, the land was divided equally between the British and Germans per the Anglo-German Agreement of 1886. The Germans tried to follow British expansion methods and got into trouble because of a Muslim uprising in the region they held. However, this was brought under control with the help of the British.

Soon, the German government realized the ineffectiveness of the German East Africa Company and brought the territories under its control. Though communication was initially an issue, the formation of the railway helped matters. Along with local plants, sisal, a fibrous plant, was introduced to the country, which led to the formation of the country’s most valuable business. Schools were built in the country to help with the shortage of educated and skilled labor.

In the previous chapter we discussed the development of different types of means of subsistence, based on both the continuing expansion of new technologies such as agriculture, animal husbandry, and metal working. Communities specialised in foraging, keeping domestic livestock, and agriculture primarily based on the particular environments in which they lived. This chapter explores the development of socio-political orgnisations in Tanzania. The first section provides a general account of different types of socio-political organisations while the second section provides details, for different parts of the country, of specific sociopolitical organisations that developed in the pre-colonial period. We argue that the…

While trade had reached deep into the interior of East Africa for centuries from the Swahili settlements on the coast, its intensity remained low until the late 18^th century. The rapid expansion of demand for tropical goods and for labour to produce them increased this intensity throughout the region. The Omani Sultanate eventually based in Zanzibar became the agent for this increase. Large trade caravans left from the coast intent on bringing back ever more amounts of ivory and increasingly captives to work as slaves on plantations on the East African coast, on islands in the Indian Ocean, and even…

A commodity is a product produced primarily for sale. It is differentiated from a product produced mainly for consumption or use. Communities that existed in Tanzania between 1000 and 1800 A.D produced commodities mainly for consumption in order to survive. Food crops as millet, sorghum, bananas, beans and sweet potatoes, for example, were produced for consumption. In modern Tanzania, cash crops like cotton, coffee and sisal are commodities because they are produced for sale. Of course, food crops can also function as commodities if a market for them exists, but in times when human porters served as the main means…

The cradle of mankind
Tanzania is home to some of the oldest human settlements on earth. Fossils found in and around Ol Duvai Gorge in northern Tanzania (an area often referred to as “The Cradle of Mankind”) include Paranthropus bones thought to be over 2 million years old. Also in Ol Duvai are the oldest known footprints of the immediate ancestors of humans. Known as the Laetoli footprints, they are estimated to be about 3.6 million years old.

The hunter-gatherers are replaced by the Cushitic, Bantu and Nilotic peoples
10,000 years ago, Tanzania is thought to have been populated by hunter-gatherer communities, probably Khoisan speaking people. Between three and six thousand years ago, they were joined by Cushitic-speaking people who came from the north and introduced basic techniques of agriculture, food production, and later, cattle farming.

About 2000 years ago, Bantu-speaking people began to arrive from western Africa and developed ironworking skills and new ideas of social and political organization. Later, Nilotic pastoralists arrived and continued to migrate to the area until the18th century.

The early coastal history
Travelers and merchants from the Persian Gulf and Western India began visiting the East African coast early in the first millennium CE and by the beginning of the second millennium CE the coastal Swahili towns were conducting a thriving trade between Africa and the other countries that bordered the Indian Ocean. From c. 1200 to 1500 CE, the town of Kilwa, on Tanzania’s southern coast, became the centre of what was termed the “golden age” of Swahili civilization. Islam was practiced on the Swahili coast as early as the eighth or ninth century CE.

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Reason for the change from Mono-party to Multi-party system

The reasons for readopting Multi-party system in Tanzania were internally and externally influenced:

Internal factors;

1. Failure of One Party system to bring development. After attaining independence people had great expectation for socio-economic development, but their expectations were not realised. People continued to live under extreme poverty which was the result of poor economic policies and plan under one party system. So they advocated for multi-party system that would bring in balance and checking of government activities.
   1. The dictatorial tendencies of the one party system. Majority of people in Africa opposed the system because it was working against democratic values and rights of the people such as right to vote, freedom of expression, as well as freedom of association. Also it was in the hands of the president or the ruling party, it was conservative and a leader could stay on power for long and everything left to him.
   1. The role of elites. The increasing number of elites and workers in Tanzania pressed for the transition to Multi-party democracy. For instance the Tanzania Law Society (TLS) and University of Dar es salaam Academic Staff Assembly (UDASA) played a vital role during 1980s to pressurise the government to make changes in the constitution so as to adapt multiparty system that will involve people in decision making.
   1. The economic crisis in Africa in 1980s. During that period, many Sub-Saharan African countries including Tanzania faced problem in their economies. Some associated the crisis with the authoritarian rule of mono-party system. When they approached the IMF, World Bank and western countries for assistance, African countries were conditioned to embrace multi-party system.
   1. The need for transparency and accountability. The system was sought as a way to increase transparency and accountability of leaders in their duties. Transparency is one of the basic principles of democracy since the leaders are elected by the people and they should be answerable to the people. This was difficult in one party system.

External forces

• Collapse of the USSR. The USSR was the main supporter single party state regimes including in Tanzania hence its disintegration in the early 1990s meant that they lost the political and economic muscles and military support to uphold Single Party system. As a result, they adopted Multi-party system as demanded by the new western states masters.
  • Influence of donor countries. Western powers that African countries needed assistance from notably USA and Britain and also the European Union pressed African countries for multi-party politics. Their intention was to win African states for capitalism and exploitation under the pretext of promoting democracy. The fact that African countries including Tanzania were heavily bothered by economic troubles, they had no option but to comply with their demands to qualify for aid from them.
  • Pressure from the Breton Wood Institutions. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Band pushed African countries to adopt multi-party politics from the 1980s. The two institutions conditioned African countries including Tanzania in the economic crisis during the 1970s to 1990s to embrace Multi-party politics if they wanted to qualify for loans and aid from them.
  • The influence of UNO. The UN put pressure on African states including Tanzania to increase democratisation through Multi-party politics. It claimed that political pluralism is in respect to Human Rights since it gives people the chance to have leaders or systems of their choice. Since African states were part of the UN and receiving its aid, were forced to adopt Multiparty politics.

THE CONSTITUTION OF ZANZIBAR, 1979

This 1979 Constitution of Zanzibar was a result from the personal efforts and initiatives of the then President of Zanzibar, Aboud Jumbe, who became President of Zanzibar following the assassination of President Abeid Karume in April 1972. President Jumbe who directed his energies to the democratization of Zanzibar’s institutions of government seems to have been dissatisfied with this state of affairs of the time.

This constitution was enacted on the 12^th February, 1979, by a Constituent Assembly which had been appointed specifically for that purpose. It was in fact the first Constitution of Zanzibar to be enacted after the 1964 Revolution had abrogated the Zanzibar Independence Constitution of 1963. Although Presidential Decree no. 5 of 1964 had served as a basis for the governance of the Zanzibar State, it was really not a Constitution in the conventional sense of that word.

The most important features of the 1979 Constitution of Zanzibar were that; it established the Zanzibar House of Representatives, whose members were to be elected by the people of Zanzibar from constituencies established for that purpose. It also made provision for the election of the President of Zanzibar by the people of Zanzibar.

THE CONSTITUTION OF ZANZIBAR, 1984

The 1984 Zanzibar Constitution was a product of some major policy review which was undertaken by the National Executive Committee of CCM in 1981. Its principle objective was to identify suitable ways and means of consolidating democracy within One Party system which was in operation at that time. It made review of some areas of the 1977 constitution of the Union, as well as the 1979 Constitution of Zanzibar.

Many important decisions were made in respect of these matters; the limiting of the President’s period of service to a maximum of only two five-year terms; the reduction of the President’s powers of appointment of public officers to a much smaller number; the introduction of special seats for women representatives in Parliament and the House Representatives and; the introduction of Local Government Authorities at the District and the Village levels.

Impact/significance of the constitutional changes to political development in Tanzania

1. Increased participation of people in the political process and decision making. Constitutional amendments such as the reintroduction of Multi-party politics in 1990s after the Nyalali Commission findings indeed widened the political platform to increase people’s participation in the political process and decision making in their country.
2. Growth of civil society organizations. Following the adoption of multiparty politics from the early 1990s, Tanzania has experienced unprecedented growth of civil society organisations with more than I 500 civil organisations registered in the 1990s alone. The development of the organisations that had been marginalised by Mono-party politics was an attempt to independently participate in the country’s development without direct state assistance.
3. Accountability and transparency. Since the reinstallation of multi-party politics in Tanzania, there is an increase in accountability and transparency. Opposition groups check the actions of leaders, making them accountable to the public on different matters like governance, corruption and development.
4. Consolidation of independence. The transformation from the Independence to the Republican constitution affirmed the independence of Tanganyika and later Tanzania. The Independence Constitution maintained the presence of the Queen of England who was represented by the Governor General who served as the formal head of state of the country. The Republican Constitution however, declared Tanganyika a republic and established a presidential system with the president serving as sovereign head of state.
5. Increased women participation in politics. BAWATA (Baraza la Wanawake Tanzania) came up with a policy document on the 1995 election to educate women voters and candidates and analyse the position of political parties on women issues. With such efforts special seats for women in parliament were increased from 15% in the 1995 election to 20% in 2000 election.
6. Protection of human rights. Constitutional changes stipulated and guaranteed human rights and assured people constitutional protection. For example the constitutional amendments that followed the Nyalali Commission findings that led to transition to Multi-party system in early 1990s guaranteed rights and freedoms of speech, association, press and others.
7. Consolidation of the union. With the merger of Tanganyika and Zanzibar that formed the United Republic of Tanzania in 1964, the constitution has been revised a number of times to consolidate the union. For instance, the Republican Constitution (1962) was revised to bring about the Interim constitution (1964-77) that accommodated the Articles of Union that endorsed the agreements between the two states.
8. Promotion of national unity. To begin with the constitutional merger of Tanganyika and Zanzibar that united the people of the two states and the subsequent Mono-party system. Also, the restoration of Multi-party system has also played part in uniting Tanzanians in their respective parties to fight for the common good of people like the war against corruption.

DEMANDS FOR A NEW CONSTITUTION

Even though there have been several constitutional amendments on the current Permanent Constitution, to fit the new demands of the people, there are still demands for the enactment of a new constitution. A number of reasons account for the demands;

That whenever there were major political changes, a new Constitution was written. Such major political changes include:

• Tanganyika’s attainment of independence in 1961, brought the Independence Constitution of 1961;
• Tanganyika’s becoming a Republic in 1962, gave the Republican Constitution of 1962;
• Formation of the Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1964 led to the Interim Constitution of the United Republic in 1964.
• With the adoption of a Single party political system in 1965 led to the 1965 Interim Constitution of the United Republic and eventually it was enacted to the 1977 Permanent Constitution.

Logically therefore, it is construed that; the establishment of a multiparty political system was a major political and historical event that necessitates a new Constitution.

1. People’s needs to be involved in the constitution making process. There are claims that existing Constitution is not legitimate because people were not involved in its making. Therefore people need a constitution which is a production of their participation.
2. The existing Constitution is based on a One Party system. It was enacted under One Party system and therefore people claim that it is only adequate for that system.
3. The Nyalali Commission recommended enactment of a new Constitution. The commission’s work led to many changes like the adoption of Multi-party system that could convincingly lead to the making of new constitution.
4. Numerous patches on the current constitution. The existing Constitution has too many patches and thus there is need for making a new Constitution that will be adequately comprehensive. The many patches are leading to loss of originality to the constitution.
5. Increase in public awareness. The increase in the number of the educated people and the general public awareness especially through the mass media has increased demands for a new constitution. The public can now note the weaknesses in the current constitution to demand for a new one.
6. The role of political parties. These, especially, opposition political parties have ever been on the frontline in campaigning for a new constitution. They claim that the current Permanent Constitution favours the ruling CCM party and that it doesn’t match the new changes of Multi-party politics.
7. Influence of other African countries. Some African countries, notably the neighbouring Kenya have recently embraced a new constitution that widely involved the masses in the decision making. The new constitution in Kenya seemed to have had success in many areas and has inspired some people to feel the need for a new constitution.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN TANZANIA SINCE INDEPENDENCE

Economic development is the process in which an economy grows and becomes more advanced, especially when both economic and social conditions of the people or a country are improved. It calls for proper and effective utilisation of the country’s human and physical resources for the improvement of per capita income and economic income (GNP and GDP) of the country.

ECONOMIC SITUATION OF TANGANYIKA AT INDEPENDENCE

At independence Tanzania like other African states inherited backward economies. All sectors of production like agriculture and industry were underdeveloped and tied on metropolitan British economy. Tanzania was still expected to produce raw materials and then rely on Europe for market of her raw materials and for imports of manufactured goods.

The nature of the economy inherited at independence was as follows;

1. The economy was export oriented. The economy of the country was an off-shoot of the colonial economy, therefore dependent on the international capitalist economy. Tanzania continued to export primary products largely agricultural and mineral raw materials to advanced industrial powers and imported manufactured goods from them.
2. Backward agriculture. Agriculture was largely peasant with low productive forces; unscientific – using primitive tools like hand hoes and dependent on nature, so, peasants produced very little surplus for sale. Therefore production of export cash crops such as sisal, cotton, coffee and cloves was low that the country could not raise enough export earnings.
3. Low industrial development. The industries inherited were mainly processing like cotton ginneries and sisal decortications and a few Import Substitution Industries for manufacture of few consumer goods drinks, soap and textiles. Such industrial frame could contribute very little to economic development.
4. Limited skilled labour. A large part of labour force inherited from the colonial masters was unskilled. Consequently, there was low productivity and low per capita income. To arrest the acute shortage of skilled labour like doctors and teachers the government invited expatriates.
5. Limited and poor transport infrastructure. The provision of transport and communication networks by the colonialists was directed to the productive areas. Roads and railways ran from the ports to cash crop or mineral producing areas to tap raw materials. Most parts of the country were remote with no communication lines.
6. Low power supply. Very little electricity was generated. The little produced served export and commercial areas like Dares Salaam, and Tanga to run the few colonial industries. After independence the trend continued, for example over 80% of electricity was sold to commercial city of Dar es Salaam. Very little electricity was sold for domestic use.
7. Existence of classes based on economic and racial lines. At independence, there was a small class of elites and the majority peasants. Besides them were a small wealthy class of Europeans, Asians and Arabs and a small section of African rich class.
8. Limited social services. Health, education and other social services were poor and inadequate. These services were confined to commercial urban centres and raw material production areas to boost production. They were mainly ran by mission centres on denominational basis and for evangelical and commercial purposes.
9. Neo-colonialism. The British maintained their influence and control over Tanzania even after independence. Neo-colonialism operated by giving aid to former colonies and control of industrial capital and world market through price fixing and imbalance trade.

DEVELOPMENT OF MAJOR ECONOMIC PROGRAMS BETWEEN 1962 AND 1966 AND THEIR IMPACT

Immediately after attaining independence, Tanganyika government sought to bringing quick development to its people to meet people’s expectation of independence. To achieve that, the government embarked on various economic programs. In the period between 1962 — 1966, the government came up with two development plans as a strategy to alleviate the socio-economic hardships the country suffered even after independence.

Firstly, Three Years Development Plan (1961-1 964)

This was a model of communist development plan. The plan aimed at improving agriculture, communication, transport and education.

The government directed its efforts to agriculture which was the backbone of the economy. A National Program for Construction of Transport lines was launched to improve accessibility of different areas of the country, and so, improve agriculture and stimulate economic development.

Secondly, Five Year Development Plan (1964 — 1969)

In 1963 a new ministry of Development Planning was formed. International experts were hired to study the country’s economic problems and suggest realistic methods by which they could be tackled and in May 12, 1964, President Nyerere announced the Five Years Development Plan to the National Assembly. Costing altogether £246 million, the plan covered the period from July, 1964 to June 30, 1969, although it looked as far ahead as 1980 for long term effects.

The plan had three main objectives as follows;

1. To raise the country’s average income per head from 19 British pounds in 1964 to 45 by 1980.
2. To produce enough skilled labour by 1980 to meet the country’s trained man power needs in full. This could be achieved by provision of more secondary education from Form Four (1) to Form Four (4) and expansion of technical education.
3. To raise the average expectation of life. The plan was aimed at raising the average life expectation which was at 35 to 40 years, to and expectation of 50 years by 1980.

The money was distributed to different ministries such as the ministry of Lands, Settlement and Water Development, Ministry of Communication and Works and Ministry of National Education to implement the development programs.

Problems encountered during the implementation of the plan

1. Inadequate project preparation. They were to be ready for implementation during the first year of the plan. This caused shortage of information on the preparatory stage of the project.
2. Shortage of trained manpower. Tanzania faced the problem of insufficient skilled labour like agriculture officers and engineers for accurate planning and implementation of the projects.
3. Shortage of funds. The government did not have enough income to facilitate the projects. Money borrowed fm abroad did not come in time and came with high interest rates.
4. Low sensitization. Politicians took the plan as their own therefore did not give civil education to the masses. As a result there was low public participation for project the implementation.
5. Low technology development. This slowed the development pace as all economic sectors. It led to low output of goods, low income per capita and low government income.
6. Environmental constrains. Environmental difficulties hinder the connectivity of the country. For instance poor physical infrastructures hinder the connectivity of the country.

THE ARUSHA DECLARATION AND SOCIALIST STRATEGY FOR DEVELOPMENT

The Arusha Declaration of 1967 was an attempt aimed at making Tanzania a socialist state. The declaration spelled out the policies of socialism (Ujamaa) and Self Reliance as a pathway to attain genuine political and economic sovereignty and development for Tanzania. It sought to draw up a program for development on egalitarian and coo perative bases.

The declaration was proclaimed by the then president of Tanzania, Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere on 5^th February 1967 as he stated “the policy of TANU (the then ruling party) is to build a socialist state.” The policy came to be referred to as Ujamaa villagization (extended family) which Mwalimu Nyerere described as the basis of African socialism.

The policy of Tanzanian socialism

The declaration enlists the following characteristics to a socialist state in which TANU leaders should work to create them:

1. Absence of exploitation. A truly socialist state is one in which all people are workers and in which neither capitalist nor feudalism exists. It does not have two classes of people, a lower class composed of people who work for their living, and an upper class of people who live on the work of others. Every worker obtains a just return for the labour he performs.
2. Major means of production and exchange are under the control of the peasants and workers. The declaration stated that; the way to build and maintain socialism is to ensure that the major means of production are under the control and ownership of the farmers and the workers themselves through their government and their cooperatives. It is essential that the ruling Party should be the party of peasants and workers.
3. The existence of democracy. For a country to be a socialist, it is essential that its government is chosen and led by the peasants and workers themselves. A true socialist state cannot exist without democracy also existing in the society.
4. Socialism is a belief. A socialist society can only be built by those who believe in it, and who themselves practice the principles of socialism. Mwalimu Nyerere argued that, the successful implementation of socialist objectives depends very much upon the leaders because socialism is a belief in a particular system of living, and it is difficult for leaders to promote its growth if they do not themselves accept it.

The policy of Self-reliance and basis of Ujamaa Villagisation policy

The basis of Ujamaa was to create economic self-reliance which was believed to b the only way to build a healthy development and winning a genuine political, social and economic independence. The policy of self-reliance stresses that as far as possible Tanzania should depend on her own local human and physical resources for her development. That never meant that country should not receive foreign aid, but foreign aid was only to be a supplement.

The Arusha Declaration stated further that the development of the people of a country is brought by the people, not by money. For the case of Tanzania the declaration stated that that “it would be quite unwise for a poor country like Tanzania to depend on money, a commodity that she does not have, as her main weapon in the war against poverty, backwardness and exploitation. It argued that money and the wealth it represents, is the result and not the basis of development.

In declaration it is clearly stipulated that Agriculture (not industry) is the basis of development. It was argued that because the main aim of development is to get more food, and more money for

our needs, our purpose must be to increase agricultural production.” Mwalimu Nyerere further stated that “this is in fact, the only road through which we can develop our country.

The Declaration identified four prerequisites of development which are; land, people, good policies and good leadership. Land is abundant, and there is relatively little difficulty in using this all-important means of production.

Since Tanzanian society under colonial rule remained mostly rural, pre-industrial and underdeveloped with plenty of land and labour, no indigenous class interests and, and with its people still living in kinship groups, Mwalimu Nyerere was certain that it was entirely possible to build an African socialist society in modern Tanzania through the Ujamaa villagisation policy.