Tuesday, October 23, 2012

OBAMA AND ROMNEY 3RD FULL DEBATE


Write Own Constitution, Warioba Tells Wananchi


 


THE Chairman of the Constitution Review Commission and former Prime Minister, Judge Joseph Warioba began his two days working visit in Iringa on Thursday. 
Speaking to the residents of Kitwiru and Ruaha wards in Iringa Municipality, he urged them to make sure that they are the ones who write the new constitution. He is in Iringa to participate in the exercise by observing and helping in the processes of collecting views in the region. 
"We make interventions to get clarifications from the speakers so that these ideas are clear to all of us who are going to sort them out," he said.
The chairman had a number of times asked some speakers to clarify on certain opinions that they presented to the Constitution Review Commission Team that he joined here, which is continuing to collect views in Iringa Municipality. 
Soma zaidi...

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Nyerere: No! We did not flounder



LAST week on Friday, Tanzanians marked the 12th anniversary of the passing of the Father of the Nation, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, following a brief but tough battle for his life in a London hospital. Luckily though, Mwalimu left us a legacy that can easily be retrieved from many of his words.

In one of the his interviews, Mwalimu spoke to Dr Ikaweba Bunting, an African American who lived in Tanzania for almost three decades following Nyerere’s invitation when he visited Harlem, New York, in the late 1960s. Dr Bunting also served in the Burundi Peace Negotiation Facilitation Team under Mwalimu and later under Nelson Mandela.

Dr Bunting interviewed Nyerere in December 1998 in Butiama village, Tanzania. Thus, on January 1, 1999, the first day of the year that Mwalimu passed away, the London-based magazine, New Internationalist, published a along article titled - The Heart of Africa. In that article, Nyerere addressed the key issues that haunt Tanzania and Africa even today.

This was one of the Bunting’s questions - a question that many people would have asked Nyerere even today: “Does the Arusha Declaration still stand up today?”

Nyerere replied: “I still travel around with it. I read it over and over to see what I would change. Maybe I would improve on the Swahili that was used but the Declaration is still valid: I would not change a thing. . . . We articulated a new national objective; we stressed that development is about all our people and not just a small and privileged minority. The Arusha Declaration was what made Tanzania distinctly Tanzania.”

Today Tanzania is thinking of borrowing a page from the Arusha Declaration about the leadership code. What did Mwalimu say about leaders? “We stated what we stood for, we laid down a code of conduct for our leaders and we made an effort to achieve our goals. This was obvious to all, even if we made mistakes – and when one tries anything new and uncharted there are bound to be mistakes.”

Mwalimu was proud of his achievement: “The Arusha Declaration and our democratic single-party system, together with our national language, Swahili, and a highly politicized and disciplined national army, transformed more than 126 different tribes into a cohesive and stable nation.”

Nyerere added: “However, despite this achievement, they say we failed in Tanzania; that we floundered. But did we? We must say no. We can’t deny everything we accomplished. The floundering of socialism has been global. This is what needs an explanation, not just the Tanzanian part of it.”
On the unification of East Africa in particular, Nyerere dropped a bombshell: “I respected Jomo immensely. It has probably never happened before in history; two heads of state, Milton Obote and I, went to Jomo and said to him: ‘let’s unite our countries and you be our head of state’. He said no. I think he said no because it would have put him out of his element as a Kikuyu Elder.”
Dr Bunting at one time asked: “What were your main mistakes as Tanzanian leader? What should you have done differently?” Nyerere started by saying: There are things that I would have done more firmly or not at all. For example, I would not nationalize the sisal plantations. This was a mistake. I did not realize how difficult it would be for the state to manage agriculture.”
Fortunately, regarding the current discussion in Tanzania on how to curb ufisadi, Nyerere predicted correctly: “But I still think that in the end Tanzania will return to the values and basic principles of the Arusha Declaration.”
On the topic of his failure and success, Nyerere gave a story of his encounter at the World Bank in Washington: “At the World Bank the first question they asked me was ‘how did you fail?’I responded that we took over a country with 85 per cent of its adult population illiterate. The British ruled us for 43 years. When they left, there were two trained engineers and 12 doctors. This is the country we inherited. When I stepped down there was 91percent literacy and nearly every child was in school. We trained thousands of engineers and doctors and teachers.”
Nyerere continued: “In 1988 Tanzania’s per-capita income was $280. Now, in 1998, it is $140. So I asked the World Bank people what went wrong. Because for the last ten years Tanzania has been signing on the dotted line and doing everything the IMF and the World Bank wanted. Enrolment in school has plummeted to 63 per cent and conditions in health and other social services have deteriorated. I asked them again: ‘what went wrong?’ These people just sat there looking at me.”
This is how Mwalimu finished his story: “Then they asked what could they do? I told them have some humility. Humility – they are so arrogant!”

Article by Mobhare Matinyi, Washington DC. October 21, 2011. The Citizen, Tanzania.

NYERERE ON DEMOCRACY


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MWALIMU JULIUS KAMBARAGE NYERERE 1922 - 1999

I AM QUITTING FROM ACTIVE POLITICS


“I am not resigning but, I am quitting, and I have decided to do so because, I feel time is in hand for another member to lead the Nation ….”


“The almighty God has granted people with many talents, and they can think about so many things. But the important thing is my faith that, what I am doing is good for the Nation I have no power to hide people to give out different interpretation, but interpretation is the second thing.” 


“Tanzania should not believe that a one-party state is a God’s which …. As for the debate they should just debate in today’s Tanzania it is stupid to make secret the debate of on more parties. It is treason to discuss why we have single party; we have been benefited from having a one-part. Tanzania should discuss the prons and cons of having one-party or many parties …. One party has its own limitations and tends to go sleep”.


“There is a time when countries limit their people’s liberties, this can be done during war time, war limits people freedoms.”


“Now when you suppress people who are educated and who want more freedom it becomes really a problem.”


“Tanzania should not believe that a one-party state is a God’s which … In to-day’s Tanzania it is stupid to make secret the debate of, or more parties ….. Tanzania should discuss the prons and cons of having one-party of many parties”


“I don’t propagate long live one-party system, but I do propagate long live CCM”


“We cannot remain an island, we must manage our own changes, don’t wait to be pushed, “

“The people of the majority view have to accept the rights of minority to express their opinions without intimidating social pressure and indeed must accommodate those views as far as possible”.

“Developing nations need democracy, but the need and necessity of democracy should come from within according to geographical necessity, maturity etc … And the internal situation of Tanzania is ready for Transformation”.

“We make mistake to imagine that we can import democracy like coca-cola or readymade garment … But ideas about democracy and democratic institutions are not divine truth, they mere to be accumulated and absorbed into the blood stream of the people and institutions through which ideas … grow out of people’s own practice”


“Leaders of the opposing parties should be serious and patriotic and they should not be money make … And if they fail during election they should know that they have failed and not to take stones and throw to their fellow members in demand to why they have failed”.


“We need at least two committed parties; we don’t want 30 small parties that will be chaos.”


“the west was struggling to post a new set of puppet leaders in the developing world. There is no other explanation rather than us efforts to influence removal rulers who were installed by Washington …. They want to install a new crop of surrogate’s leaders. I must caution them however that it is easier to do this by military coup than through democratic elections”.


“… People say that we should learn from outside from USSR ad other Eastern European countries … what should we learn from them … we should not agree to be pushed like tools …. The Soviet Union is finished … gone.



“You will never hear that any President of America had appointed a communist or socialist as the head of American army. If God himself advised that he should do so he would refuse.”


“… The majority of Tanzania would like to continue with a single party-system under CCM. But we cannot wait until the majority of the people have lost their faith in this party before the party itself seized and uses its responsibility to us her in such a major changes as this”.


“Democracy is more than a matter of majority rule, true democracy requires that minority views be respected and that everyone be given an opportunity to express their views freely and openly … every new thing starts with the support of minority…. True democracy demands that the minority have such freedom. Therefore CCM can and should welcome the opportunity to give a lead in yet another major peaceful political transition in our country”.

“No political party be permitted to exist if it is based on Religious … Religious is the right of all Tanzanians. But our party as a party has no religion… This is an absolute essential stand for the unity and peace in the country”.

“To lead is to show the way. But it is difficult to show the way in the dark, without either a light or compass. And its philosophy and its ideology are the light and the compass of political party.

“Take care of the Arusha Declaration otherwise there will come some people who will cheat you saying it is useless. The Arusha Declaration has strong foundation and will last forever and bring development in Tanzania.”