Reflections on Tanzania’s 50thanniversary

The CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup produced a Déjà vu moment when the defending champions and hosts, Tanzania, were knocked out of the tournament by a spirited Ugandan side on the eve of the country’s 50th Independence anniversary. On October 8, which is the eve of Uganda’s Independence Day, the Uganda Cranes were made to forget about taking part in the next African Cup of Nations after a goalless draw with Kenya’s Harambee Stars. I guess what all this means is that when it comes to sports, there is nothing like “community brotherly love” that would see one team letting the other off simply because they have a big celebration the next day. Football aside, the largest country in the East African Community, Tanzania, marked 50 years of Independence on December 9, 2011. Tanzania was colonised by the British who took over from the Germans. Being the first country in East Africa to join the club of 50, Tanzania is certainly the oldest independent nation that deserves to claim the tag, Big Brother although not in the Orwellian sense. Celebrations to mark 50 years of independence were kicked off much earlier with the Tanzanian president handing over the UhuruTorch to the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Mwamunyange who, in turn, gave the torch to a team of soldiers to hoist it atop Mount Kilimanjaro in a replay of a similar exercise that took place 50 years ago when mainland Tanzania gained independence. 50 years back, there was nothing like Tanzania but Tanganyika. In 1964, Tanganyika merged with the Island of Zanzibar to form The United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, later shortened to Tanzania. Tanzania was indeed blessed to be led to independence by one of Africa’s greatest thinkers and true statesmen, Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere. The man, who is better known as Baaba wa Taifa by his countrymen is also lined up for possible sainthood by the Catholic Church. It is actually alleged that Mwalimu Nyerere was willing to delay the independence of Tanganyika, so that East Africa could march to freedom as one federated country but the idea was not bought by his Kenyan and Ugandan colleagues. He was later partly blamed for the collapse of the East African Community regarding his sharp differences with Uganda’s Idi Amin Dada. For some time now, Tanzanian TV station TBC has been airing a documentary about the 50 years of independence. My desire to follow the documentary has been hampered by my little knowledge of the Swahili language that was used by the commentators. However, I noticed that most of the footage focused on the successful war that Tanzania Defence Forces waged in response to Idi Amin’s provocations in the area often referred to as the Kagera salient. The events leading to this war and the war itself count for so much significance as far as Uganda and Tanzania are concerned. The alleged rogue behaviour of some of the Tanzanian liberators is often given as one of the reason why some Ugandans are reluctant to embrace the Swahili language. In 2007, when I visited Tanzania, I was told by my host that in many parts of Moshi, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is considered a ‘son’ and talking ill of him there never wins you any audience. It all made sense when I saw the cooperatives college where Museveni taught economics before he joined hands with other exiled Ugandans to fight Idi Amin. Of late, many have taken to the habit of labelling Tanzanians anti-federation, something I have disagreed with. To be fair, the Tanzanians were only against the so called fast-tracking process of the federation. The fact that Tanganyika joined with Zanzibar, the Tanzanians do have some experience with what federation means and its challenges. As the country marks 50 years of independence, Tanzanians joined Ugandans and Kenyans in the joint suffering caused by insufficient electricity. Several Tanzanians, on Twitter, pointed to the fact that, as the country celebrated 50 years, many areas were in darkness. Talking of Twitter, like President Paul Kagame, Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete is an avid user of social media, and the following is what he tweeted on the eve of his country’s independence day: @jmkikwete Jakaya Kikwete Nawatakia maadhimisho mema ya miaka 50 ya Uhuru wa Tanzania Bara, ni siku kubwa nay a kihistoria kwa Taifa letu. #TanzaniaBara50 #Africa. The author is a Ugandan analyst based in Kigali. Email: ssenyonga@gmail.comBlog: www.ssenyonga.wordpress.comTwitter: @ssojo81