In 1964, three years after President Julius Nyerere had peacefully walked the former Eastern African colony Tanganyika out of British colonial rule, he united his country with Zanzibar. This archipelago in the Indian ocean just off the African East coast was by the time an even younger democracy: it was two weeks since the end of the Sultanate.
Three syllables, Tan(ganyika), Zan(zibar) and Ia (the Swahili ending for together) melted into one new word, into one new nation: Tanzania.
120 separate tribes with distinct languages had for centuries lived in Tanganyika, due the vastness of the land in relative peace and tranquility. It was colonialism that drained the soil and wildlife, and left cracks in society.
First it was the slave and ivory trade by European and Arab merchants that turned not only elephants, but humans into cheap and abundant merchandise. Unspeakable misery was cast over the land. When the Germans colonized and shamelessly exploited the country, rebellions against their ruthless regime ended in more bloodshed and tears. In WWI, enlisted as soldiers for their colonial powers, Askaris (as African soldiers working for their colonial powers were called) were made to kill their own neighbors, their own cousins even, in the name of Germany respectively Great Britain, or the colonies of German East Africa and Malawi. And after WWII, the new colonial power Great Britain tried to use the land as a granary to stave off a famine in their war torn homeland. The notoriously unsuccessful Groundnut Scheme afforded the UK a loss of 49 million pounds, and turned the land into a useless dust bowl.
When Great Britain finally dismissed Tanganyika into liberty, it was mainly because they had failed to draw enough profit out of a land that had been drained for too long. The Tanganyika Julius Nyerere took over was one of the poorest places in the world.
But the man had a plan. First, he re-united the estranged tribes by one common language: Kiswahili, a hybrid language that had formed in the run of centuries by mixing Arabic and tribal languages, was promoted through literature, drama, and poetry. It was also made official language and installed as educational language in the schooling system. For Nyerere also introduced obligatory schooling from the age of six.
Nyerere’s plan was a socio-economic system he called Ujamaa , family in Kiswahili, or commonly called African Socialism. Emancipation from colonial rule, pride and solidarity as a nation were paramount, economic self-reliance and cultural independence the goal.
But unlike other socialist economies, he didn’t build massive factories. Instead he villagized the economy and put family and solidarity into the center of attention. His policy showed success. Infant mortality dropped, life expectation rose, as did literacy. The Tanzanians called Nyerere The Father Of The Nation.
But Ujamaa could not withstand the pressures of capitalism and neoliberalism. In 1985 Tanzania was still among the world’s poorest nations. Nyerere resigned and the chapter of Ujimaa
was forever closed.
Lately, it has been Safari tourism, nature and wildlife that brought Tanzania and its economy back into the game. Especially since the unrest in neighboring Kenya, hitherto a number one Safari Tourist destination, Tanzania has known an influx of upscale tourism. The secret is the social peace and stability that Kenya, which never unified its country under one language, lacks.
Tanzania’s current economic upswing is still owed to Ujamaa. Let’s hope it will continue – despite today’s different political and economic system. The current president of Tanzania, John Jospeh Magufuli, also has a nickname: The Bulldozer.
