Role of first youthful reformists in Tanzania’s political transformation

Dar es Salaam. The reintroduction of multi-party political system in Tanzania did not leave aside the youth, this is evidenced by various existing narratives during the 30-year period of the country practising the new arrangement.

The narratives become more complete by involving a group of young people who were groomed through the National Convention for Construction and Reform (NCCR) before 1992, which resulted from a symposium held on June 11 and 12 in 1991 in Dar es Salaam with the aim of mobilising citizens about the importance of making political reforms.

Sweat and blood

Mr Anthony Komu was among the young people under 30 who were at the forefront of the establishment of a special youth desk under the committee with the aim of mobilising young people at the university level to join the reforms.

“It was not easy, I remember the platforms were universities, especially the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), where there were debates that hinted on the direction of the world, the enthusiasm of young people at the Hill was high,” says Komu who was among those youth who played key roles in the reform at college and university levels.

“After the reintroduction of the multi-party system in 1992, we started travelling upcountry using trucks and buses a to educate the citizens about the reforms, while our opponents branded the reforms saying that they were as a sign of a civil war like Mozambique, Burundi, Angola, the work was difficult,” he says.

In those struggles, the offices of Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema) were located at Kisutu in Dar es Salaam, those of the NCCR-Mageuzi Party along Mchichichini Street in the City under independent lawyer Mabere Marando and at Kidongo Chekundu under Ndimara Tegambwage while those of the Civic United Front (CUF) were at Buguruni in the city and in Unguja, Zanzibar.

Politicians who provided that education to the young people from NCCR-Mageuzi included Ludovick Bazigiza, Ndimara Tegamwage, James Mbatia, Advocate Mabere Marando, Dr Ringo Tenga and Komu.

“We didn’t get cooperation from the media as all the news involved the government and CCM only. We started gathering these people during their vacations at our offices. We educated them and then they left for their villages after receiving that education. It helped a lot as we got 16 Members of Parliament during the first general election under the multi-party system in 1995,” he says.

Some of the young people from the NCCR-Mageuzi, who were outspoken and ran for seats in the 1995 polls included Tundu Lissu who was aged 24 and vied for the Singida East Seat, James Mbatia for the Vunjo Seat while aged 28 while the late Dr Amani Kabourou (Chadema) was one of the first opposition lawmakers aged 42.

Philipo Fumbo, who was the chairman and presidential candidate of the Democratic Party (DP) in the 2020 polls, was one of those young people who witnessed achievements in the journey of the multi-party system in the 1990s as he was aged 30 and was a member of the NCCR-Mageuzi party before he crossed over to the DP.

“I spent a lot of time in remand prison. I was beaten and persecuted a lot. I remember one incident when I slept on a tree in 1993 with my colleagues. We were prevented from holding a meeting in Kibondo. In the evening, every guest house we approached for boarding rejected us. They were told by the ten-sell leaders that we wanted to cause war,” says Fumbo.

“We started our journey on foot towards Kigoma Town. The night fell and we had to sleep on a tree, in the morning we continued with our journey before getting a truck lift.

“Another incident that I still remember happened in 1996 after our meetings of educating residents in Kigoma Rural, I was arrested and slapped by Kigoma Rural Regional Commissioner Alhaji Juma Lugusha in front of my wife. Well, we have come a long waywith the reforms,” he says.

He points to some of the changes that have been registered so far as including improved public awareness about multi-party system and the commitment to change the country’s leadership through the ballot box.

The director of Information, Propaganda and Public Relations of CUF, Mr Mohamed Ngulangwa, says the party has gone through a lot of fire during this period of 30 years of multiparty politics. Party members were bombed, tear-gassed and even some got killed in the course of pursuing their right to participate in the country’s democracy.

The party participated in both elections of 1995 and 2000 that saw Benjamin Mkapa elected first President under multiparty politics.

He says that among the memorable events for the party was the riots staged on January 26, 2001 against the results of the Zanzibar polls over the CCM presidential candidate Salmin Amour and the tension of the ‘Ngunguri’ slogan against the Police Force on the Mainland Tanzania.

He says the youth of that time included Wilfred Lwakatare and Khamis Said Chambusa, who led the youth in the protests.

The others were Hamad Masoud Hamad, who was the Secretary General of the CUF party, Magdalena Sakaya, and Fatma Magimbi, who was the first female leader of the opposition camp in Parliament in 1995/2000.

“All of them have served this country after participating in the struggle for reforms and paying a hefty cost, the opposition was not accepted lightly. We are thankful that we still continue to produce other young leaders through our ideological classes, so 30 years have been a great success,” he says.

The foundation that raised them

The National Youth Development Policy in 1996 was the impetus for a large group of young people to come forward and vie for various elected leadership positions after being physically, mentally, economically, politically and culturally prepared for taking up various roles including leadership positions in society.

The policy also had the purpose of enabling the young people to bring about social and national development. The policy interpreted the United Nations declaration that recognises a young person as that one aged between 15 and 24.

Among the challenges included the law that continued to be in favour of the one-party system under CCM, the lack of financial resources for campaigns and the spread of education to society about the reforms.

Previous mistakes

Some political analysts in the country say that many young leaders have been seen to base on the foundations laid down by the youth of the 1990s, while the challenges being seen to be swayed by the interests of groups of top leaders of the parties, a move that makes them not to stand on the foundations of the ideology instilled in them.

Prof Moh’d Makame Haji, who is the Vice Chancellor of State University of Zanzibar (Suza), mentions four areas that destroyed the foundations laid down for the first young reformists.

He says 30 years are enough to produce leaders with ideological foundations in patriotism, leadership ethics and that the politics of the youth have turned into an economic opportunity.

“There is awareness, there are opportunities in politics, but it has become an opportunity and that’s why many young people join politics, not with the intention of serving the nation sincerely, but for economic gains, many of them are better in terms of performance than in political positions.

“There are no longer the foundations of faith, integrity and patriotism to love the country,” he says.

“The problem is that we forgot ourselves when we entered the system of doing away with the culture that was built by CCM. It laid down the foundations of the politics of loving the country even in the army that was politics, but today politics is seen as a sin. Nowadays, each party has its own will to assume power without caring about those foundations,” he says.

However, Prof Haji says there can be hope if African parties will be successful in building leadership foundations for young people through the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Leadership School built in Kibaha District, Coast Region.

Its expectation is to produce leaders groomed on the basis of professionalism so that they can play a role in the development of the six African countries in strengthening liberation and economic freedom.

Apart from CCM, other parties include Mozambique’s Frelimo, Angola’s MPLA, Zimbabwe’s ZANU PF, Namibia’s SWAPO and South Africa’s ruling ANC.