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| Prof. Kighoma Ali Malima 1985 |
On Sunday 17 July, 1995, 37 years since TANU held its 1958 annual
meeting in Tabora the meeting which paved the way to independence, Prof. Malima
addressed a big rally at Uyui grounds. The Tabora meeting would be remembered
for its achievement. It managed to put into Legislative Assembly Julius Nyerere, Chief Abdallah Said Fundikira,
John Ketto, Nesmo Eliufoo, John Mwakangale, Lawi Sijaona and Paul Bomani. It
was in Tabora that Nyerere shed tears because of oppression of which
Tanganyikans were being subjected to by the British. Nyerere said if the
British did not want to set Tanganyikans free he would direct his anguish to
God. Before Prof. Malima spoke Bilal Waikela
mounted the platform dressed in his prison uniform which he wore thirty years
ago when he was detained by Nyerere for resisting Christian hegemony. He
reminded the people of Tabora that he was detained by Nyerere for reminding him
of the cherished ideals of TANU the party they had formed and built together in
order for Africans of Tanganyika to be free from all forms of oppression.
Waikela told his audience that and he was now returning to politics to seek for
that equality and justice denied.
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| Bilal Rehani Waikela |
Prof. Malima announced his resignation from the CCM at the Uyui meeting.
Prof. Malima told his audience
that that oppression which made Nyerere shed tears while giving a speech to
members of TANU and the people cried with him at the Tabora Central Market was
still prevalent 37 years after the tears had long dried. Prof. Malima told his
audience that he was resigning from the CCM because,
he said, the party has deviated from its cherished ideals of justice and
equality and had established classes. He was resigning and joining the
opposition in order to fight for equality among all the people in Tanzania.
That Sunday night NRA National Conference was held and Prof. Malima was
elected Chairman and Abubakar Olotu secretary of NRA. What had taken place in
Dar es Salaam Airport repeated itself in Tabora Railway Station. NRA had booked
a wagon for its delegates travelling back to Dar es Salaam and had paid for it
in advance. But when they arrived at the railway station, they were told that
no wagon has been allocated to them. The press had the chance to correct their
earlier story that Prof. Malima had planned to announce his resignation from
the mosque but it did not do so. The propaganda machinery wanted people to
believe that Prof. Malima was unable to do so because Muslims did not allow him
to mix “religion and politics.”
Soon after returning from Tabora Prof. Malima travelled to Mecca and
from there he went to London. Meanwhile NRA was preparing for a big welcome of
Prof. Malima which would be followed by a meeting of Dar es Salaam Elders in
which he would tell them why it was necessary for him to resign so that they
charter a new course which would ensure justice and equality to all. This meeting would have been followed the
next day with a meeting with foreign journalists at Kilimanjaro Hotel Prof.
Malima died in London on Friday night the 4 August, three weeks after resigning
from CCM and announcing he was standing as s presidential candidate under NRA.
On 9th August, Prof. Malima’s body was flown back to Dar es Salaam
for burial. The government took upon itself to take over the funeral on what it
said was Prof. Malima’s “commitment in serving the country diligently and
honestly.”
(Excerpts from ''Christian Hegemony and the Rise of Muslim Militancy in Tanzania'') unpublished.
***
In 1998 I published my book ''The Life and Times of Abdulwahid Sykes (1924 - 1968) The Untold Story of the Muslim Struggle Against British Colonialism in Tanganyika.'' I dedicated the book to the memory of Prof. Malima:
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| Julius Nyerere |
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