KUTOKA GAZETI LA MWONGOZI ZANZIBAR 1958

Gazeti la Mwongozi

Gazeti la Mwongozi lilikuwa gazeti lililokuwa likahaririwa na Ali Muhsin na Ahmed Seif Kharusi kwa nyakati tofauti na likitoka kila siku ya Ijumaa. Gazeti hili lilikuwa alikichukuliwa kama msemaji wa Zanzibar Nationalist Party (ZNP) au Hizbu.  Naitafuta makala yenyewe kwa Kiswahili na nikiitia mkononi nitaiweka hapa. ZNP ililiona tatizo la ukabila mapema sana na walijaribu kadri ya uwezo wao kuwatahadharisha Wazanzibari hatari yake. Tatizo hili la ukabila bado lipo Zanzibar na Tanganyika baada ya zaidi ya nusu karne toka makala hii iandikwe. Tumesikia katika Bunge Maalum la Katiba ubaguzi wa rangi ukizungumzwa bila hofu na tumesikia ukabila ukizungumzwa na viongozi ngazi za juu bila soni - ''Wapemba,'' limekuwa kabila.

Msomaji hebu soma hapa chini uone juhudi za waliotutangulia:

''On page five of this issue we have published a declaration which was passed in Ghana on tribalism. It is our belief that our readers will sincerely adhere to what has been declared because the message is of utmost importance and will be ardently remembered many years to come. Why is it that the Ghana meeting took so long and had a prolonged brain storming to pass the declaration? It is because in Africa the main weapon used by the colonizing powers is to divide us in tribes since under such divisions it is easy for them to rule us. The Ghana meeting passed the declaration because the purpose of the meeting was first to eradicate colonialism and that is why the declaration was passed in earnest. Many times in this paper we have warned on the dangers of conducting politics under tribal sentiments but we were perceived as people who were not sincere or that we had an axe to grind or we wanted to warm our way into one of the tribes in Zanzibar. It is now clear that, that was not what made us oppose tribalism.

What made us oppose tribalism was the realization that where there is tribalism it is difficult to gain independence. Our aim is to be free so that the people of this country seize the chance to prosperity. The freedom will not be exclusively ours or for a particular people, freedom will be for all citizens of these islands. We are delighted to announce the thoughts of Mr. Msanifu Kombo a delegate from MADU who is also the head of Dockworkers Union in Mombasa. Mr. Msanifu Kombo came to visit us for a week from Dar es Salaam where he attended an important meeting of workers from East and Central Africa which was held in Dar es Salaam two weeks ago. Msanifu Kombo is of the same mind as we are on the stand which we keep on drumming every Friday in this paper, warning our brothers that that tribalism is not the correct way to play politics. It is not possible that Msanifu Kombo had prior knowledge of our stand, but because he is a freedom fighter it is obvious that his main priority is to oppose divisions.

It is good riddance that this Friday we have two different people speaking on the same subject. It is good riddance because Zanzibar at the moment is on second transition stage towards independence. And to take control of this stage we must root out tribalism in our society. As stated by Msanifu Kombo, Zanzibar is ready for independence what it requires is for the people to end their differences. It is a pity that we Zanzibaris are not aware of  the situation to the extent that we have to be reminded about this by an outsider. Msanifu Kombo grieves that there is such spite among us. He knows that if Zanzibar becomes free there are benefits which will trickle over to Kenya.

What are we waiting for dear brothers? Independence is before our very eyes why don’t we snatch it before it slips away? Or are we waiting until such time that we come to regret? We should remind ourselves that the coming generation will come to blame us for having independence within our reach but we threw it away because we were engrossed with trifles like tribalism. We should realize that all problems about tribalism will go away once we achieve our independence; these divisions are being given priority so that we can be ruled.''