United, Tanzania Will Always Stand

Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam)

Gabby Mgaya

25 April 2011

opinion

IF there is one thing that has drawn much admiration from both friend and foe (do we have any?) alike about this nation, then it is the successful merger of two sovereign states of Tanganyika and Zanzibar to form the United Republic of Tanzania.

That was 47 years ago on April 26, 1964, the auspicious day that millions of Tanzanians on both parts of the United Republic are marking today, invoking all the sweet memories that have come with it over the years.

When it happened in 1964, sceptics within and outside the country had expected it not to survive and flourish but flounder and perish like most other experiments at unity in the continent had been consigned. Little did the sceptics know that this Union, described in many quarters as ‘unique’, had been built upon firm foundations for unity that had existed between the people of the two countries for centuries.

To begin with, let us reminisce (though most, if not all of us, were not there!) the dark chapter of slavery that brought much misery, dislocating thousands of compatriots from their

lands of origin — by force to be sold to greedy masters whose aim was to acquire cheap labour and settled in foreign faraway lands.

At the end of it all, and it happened in Zanzibar, following a concerted international humanitarian effort spearheaded by Christian missionaries, most of the survivors of the notorious trade settled in Zanzibar before moving to various Mainland destinations. Some of them decided to stay in Zanzibar where they interacted with the local population.

In the 18th Century, Zanzibar was the centre of trade in East and Central Africa, which saw much movement between the Mainland and the Isles and from other countries in the region. Such interaction brought the people from both parts of the channel closer and intermarriages settled in.

It is no wonder that most of the indigenous population in Zanzibar would readily claim their origin on a number of Mainland regions. There was even a famous saying that whenever drums beat in Zanzibar the whole of the East and Central African region danced! Christian missionary activity that saw the establishment of several educational institutions in Zanzibar, notably Kiungani, brought many youths to Zanzibar to seek education, laying a firm base for educational development in both parts of the United Republic.

Apart from education, the students forged and maintained everlasting bonds of brotherhood that exist to this day. Sports is another activity that provided some of the mortar for the firm foundations for unity that had been built long before the Union. Close brotherly ties were established and are still maintained to this day by several soccer clubs on both parts of the United Republic.

One such example is the relationship between Young Africans Sports Club (Yanga) of Dar es Salaam and Kikwajuni Sports Club of Zanzibar. It is no wonder that after the Zanzibar Revolution in 1964 and the Union, the first President of Zanzibar, Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume, contributed much of the funds that saw the construction of the presentday Yanga Headquarters at Jangwani in Dar es Salaam.

Mzee Karume went on also to provide funds that helped in the construction of Simba Sports Club along Msimbazi Street in the city. The annual Easter Bonanza, an exchange programme between sports groups from the Mainland and Zanzibar on a rotational basis is one of the products of such relationship dating back to many years.

On the political front, the two parts of the Union were united in their resolve to fight for the independence of their countries from British colonial rule. Zanzibar had an added resolve to rid the isles of many years of the Omani-Arab sultanate oligarchy.

Imbued by the pan-African movement spirit to which both Sheikh Karume and the founder of Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) and first Tanganyika prime minister, later president, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, were followers, the struggle for independence in both countries took on a united stand with much common planning and laying of strategies.

When the revolution in Zanzibar happened on January 12, 1964, most of its architects had been directing operations from the Mainland, finally returning home to take over the mantle of power after it succeeded. The Republic of Tanganyika was one of the first countries to recognise the Zanzibar Revolutionary Government and even provided logistical support, including sending a team of police officers, to establish the isles post-revolution police force.

It is no wonder, too, that in less than four months after the revolution, the two sovereign states, the People’s Republic of Zanzibar and the Republic of Tanganyika sacrficed their sovereignities and declared the United Republic of Tanzania. This rekindled the union spirit that had existed for centuries though the political marriage was not without opposition. There are some quarters that disapproved of the Union and even worked behind the scenes to derail it through much instigation.

They have not succeeded and the Union remains stronger by day. Of course, there had emerged some misgivings on the structure and distribution of benefits but given the existing goodwill, all these had been amicably solved. Some anti- Union sentiments still persist and new challenges keep on emerging.

But such opposition and such challenges have only served to strengthen the resolve of the people between Tanzanians from either side to jealously guard their unity of many years. It is with such sense of togetherness that Tanzanians commemorate the 47 years of their unique Union today. Long live the Union.

AllAfrica – All the Time