The Story of Julius Kambarage Nyerere, 1953
In order to understand
the dilemma facing Abdulwahid, Nyerere and the TAA leadership, particularly
the inner circle, one has to keep in mind that Muslims were a majority in Dar
es Salaam and were in control of local politics. Very few Muslims had confidence
in mission-educated Christians. They were perceived as being too close to the
colonial state to take a leading role in the struggle for independence, and
many people used the election to show their objection to Nyerere. They saw
him as an outsider withdrew their support from the association. Nyerere was
new to the town. He had no political base of his own and was for the most of
the week teaching at Pugu, outside Dar es Salaam. Abdulwahid was flamboyant
and as president of TAA he had put colour into the office. He used to invite
TAA activists to his house for lunches and dinners and this added to his
popularity. At that time many thought Nyerere would not fit into Abdulwahid’s
shoes.
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Tewa Said recollects that
the day before the election at Arnatouglo Hall, Abdulwahid went to his house
in the evening. At that time Tewa lived in Pemba street not very far from
Abdulwahid’s house. Abdulwahid had this to say to Tewa about the leadership
change in TAA that they had decided to effect:
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Tewa, tomorrow we are going to give this
man, Nyerere, power to run this country. From there on, once we elect him to
lead us there is no way we can take that power away from him. We do not know
him very well but I hope everything is going to turn all right.
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Tewa recollects further
the events leading to Nyerere’s election as president of the TAA and says:
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The only edge which Nyerere had over the
late Abdulwahid was the university degree. For almost four years since
assuming office in 1950, Abdulwahid refused to call a delegates’ conference
for one reason or another, until when he met Nyerere. If Abdulwahid had gone
to Makerere, I believe we would have formed TANU much earlier, probably
before 1954 and Abdulwahid would have become president, even if challenged by
Nyerere. But I think Allah had wanted it to be that
way.
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Many years later after
Tanganyika had become independent, Abdulwahid was asked why he did not
withdraw his name in the 1953 election to pave the way for Nyerere to assume
leadership unopposed. According to one informant, Abdulwahid replied:
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There was great opposition against Nyerere
at that time and some members within my own executive committee were putting
pressure upon me not to concede to him. I was a favourite candidate and
withdrawing my name would have marred the election. TAA was a serious
political organisation that believed in democratic elections. Leadership of
the party had to be acquired through competition with regard to ability and
merit. We chose Nyerere to stand for election because we had confidence in
him and I was party to that decision. [1]
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But in order for one to
understand Abdulwahid’s support for Nyerere one needs to analyse the forces
at play in the political system in colonial Tanganyika. In 1951, while
working to revive TAA, Abdulwahid and Mwapachu were approached by Ivor
Bayldon, [2] Brig. Scupham and V.M.
Nazerali and were asked to support the formation of a multiracial political
party. These three were members of the Legislative Council. Bayldon was a
rich settler in the Southern Highlands who had originally
immigrated to Tanganyika from South Africa. African members of the
Legislative Council who were enthusiastic about that idea were Chief Kidaha
Makwaia and Liwali Yustino Mponda of Newala.[3] Other prominent personalities who were consulted
and requested to support the formation of a multiracial political party were:
Dr Joseph Mutahangarwa, Chief Abdieli Shangali of Machame, Paramount Chief
Thomas Marealle of Marangu, Chief Adam Sapi Mkwawa, Chief Harun Msabila
Lugusha, Dr Mwanjisi, Abdulkarim Karimjee, Dr Vedas Kyaruzi, Liwali Juma
Mwindadi, H.K. Viran, Stephen Mhando, Ally Sykes and Dossa Aziz. [4]
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This was a mixture of
privileged Europeans, aristocrats like Marealle, African elites such as
Mwapachu, Asians in the commercial class such as Karimjee and townsmen such
as Dossa. All of them were leaders who commanded following in their own
respective communities. Two years later in a letter which Nazerali sent to
Ally Sykes to lay down the objective of the intended party, after he was
convinced that a multiracial political party was unattainable, Nazerali wrote
in part: ‘The desire was to organise a body of people who are sincere, who
have faith and belief in the progressive development of the people of our
country, with equal opportunities for all.’ [5]
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Abdulwahid and the entire
membership of TAA could not be privy to such an idea. Much as the objectives
of the proposed political party seemed sincere and articulated precisely what
TAA was fighting for, Africans could not trust the future of Tanganyika to
the good intentions of non-Africans who were working hand in glove with the
colonial government. It was obvious that the minorities in Tanganyika did not
want to accept the fact that Tanganyika was basically an African country. For
TAA to accept the formation of a multiracial political party with African
leadership active in its founding was tantamount to putting African interests
under the mercy of the minorities. A few years earlier, a similar idea
under what was known as the Capricorn Society was floated by colonialists in
areas such as Tabora, where there was quite a good number of educated Africans,
mostly in the teaching profession. The beliefs of the society were hinged on
the ‘freedom of civilised Africans’. Stephen Mhando, who was in Dar es Salaam
and was in contact with George Magembe in Tabora, sent a letter to the TAA
leadership there warning them of the dangers posed by the Capricorn.
Tanganyika at that time was in need of a political direction and it was not
TAA’s inner circle alone which was working to provide that leadership.
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Soon after Nyerere’s
takeover, TAA seemed to go into slumber. The militancy and zeal which was
associated with the leadership of Abdulwahid was lost. It had only been once
in the history of Dar es Salaam that a Christian, Erika Fiah, had held the
banner against the colonial state. Nyerere lived out of town and came to Dar
es Salaam only on weekends. This affected administration of the Association
and for a time members seemed to lose interest in it. Members of the
executive committee did not turn up regularly for meetings, in spite of the
fact that Dossa Aziz made rounds with his car to collect them.
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Dossa Aziz recalls that
he would stop outside a member’s house and hoot. A child or the wife would
come out to announce that he was not in when he in fact was in. For a while
it seemed as if Nyerere was going to be a setback to the movement. This had
been the tradition with TAA; its life depended on the calibre and commitment
of its leadership. In the early phase, with Kleist Sykes and Mzee bin Sudi as
leaders at headquarters, TAA made great strides. Likewise, in the era of Ali
Juma Ponda and Hassan Suleiman in the Dodoma branch, TAA was very active and
its leadership was respected even beyond the borders of Tanganyika.
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Abdulwahid was available
as Vice-President but he was also keen to see Nyerere, as President assuming
his full role and making his own decisions. He consulted the TAA inner circle
of fellow townsmen-Ally, Dossa Aziz, Tewa and Rupia, to see what they could
do to arrest the deteriorating situation. By then it was clear that the
problem was the transfer of power. Members were apprehensive of the new
leadership at the top. This was understandable bearing in mind that it was
only three years before that Abdulwahid and Kyaruzi had revived the
Association after years of near inactivity. It was decided that Muslim elders
in the community should be approached and asked to support Nyerere.
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[1]Informant has requested for anonymity.
[2]Ivor Bayldon was the founder president of United Tanganyika Party (UTP), formed by Europeans
in 1955 to oppose TANU. The Vice-President was Sheikh Hussein Juma, a prominent Manyema in Dar es Salaam. [3]A biography of Yustino Mponda was published in Baragumu, 19 th April, 1950.
[4]V.M. Nazerali to Ally Sykes 12 th October, 1953. Sykes’ Papers.
[5] Nazerali, ibid.
(Excerpts from Mohamed Said's book: The Life and Times of Abdulwahid Sykes (1924 - 1968)
The Untold Story of the Muslim Struggle Against British Colonialism in Tanganyika, Minerva Press, London 1998)  |
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