TZ@60: Freedom is an outcome of unity, Nyerere tells people

"I am not the one who has brought independence to Tanganyika. Your unity has - and this [unity] must continue”.

This is what Prime Minister for Tanganyika Julius Nyerere said during a public rally at Korogwe in what was then Tanga Province.

He also held a public rally at Usambara in Lushoto where he told residents that the task of acquiring the independence of Tanganyika was not a walk in the park. “We face a number of challenges in the process and therefore, we will have nobody to blame if it happens that after independence, people will have no access to improved water, health, education and infrastructure services among others,” he said. He told Usambara residents to start making use of hilly places where there was enough land for cultivation. Premier Nyerere advised the residents to establish cooperative markets where they can easily sell their products. Mr Nyerere also toured a gemstone factory. [Source: Tanganyika Standard Newspaper]

Cooperative unions start making contributions for independence celebrations

The Kilimanjaro Native Cooperative Union (KNCU) contributed 1,000 Sterling pounds (about Sh20,000 then; Sh2.3 million today) to finance independence celebrations after the government announced it was now accepting such donations from institutions, corporations and individuals.

The KNCU handed over the donation to the chairman for independence celebrations in Dar es Salaam. The Union also set aside another 500 Sterling pounds for rehabilitation of its head office in Moshi, Kilimanjaro. It moved that each of 53 communities that are part of the KNCU should avail 100 Sterling Pounds for independence celebrations.

[Source: Tanganyika Standard Newspaper]

Nyerere embarks on thanksgiving tour across Tanganyika

“I am standing here before you to deliver a message from cabinet ministers. As we move towards attaining full independence, they [the ministers] are thankful for the hard work and patience that you have exhibited since the start of full-fledged independence political movements in 1954”.

This was the message that Prime Minister Julius Nyerere delivered to people of Tanganyika when he made a tour of the country.

In his tours, Nyerere briefly explained the history of independence politics since 1954 as he sought to ensure that the people of Tanganyika were well versed of the road that they had travelled through to reach that far.

He said in 1954, Dar es Salaam, residents were moving as though the rain had fallen upon them.

They had no confidence. They were not free because they were under the British rule.

He said when he told them say no to British rule, all they would ask him was: “Do you want to bring us more trouble?”

He said the belief then was that there was no way that an unarmed person, and especially one who cannot manufacture even a needle, would oppose the British rule.

People, he said, had several reasons to substantiate their beliefs that it was just impossible.

He said the cabinet was happy that the people of Tanganyika – irrespective of their religious and tribal differences – had been united towards the goal of attaining their country’s independence.

He recalled how at one point, some influential individuals in Tanganyika used to describe politicians as a group of hooligans who were out to cash in on their movements. [Source: Kusare Newspaper]

Chief Fundikira counsels independence celebration committee in Kondoa

At a time when the country was enthusiastically waiting for the Independence Day, the Minister for Justice, Chief Fundikira told the committee for independence celebrations at Kondoa that beer drinking would not help in the building of a country that they all wished for. Speaking during his tour of the district, Chief Fundikira said it was important for the people of Tanganyika to seriously consider how they would build a st ong nation after independence.

He said there were some resolutions that had been agreed between the government and the British government which led to independence of Tanganyika.

As such, he said the people of Tanganyika were duty-bound to showing the world that there were aware of what independence was all about and that they were ready to advance as an independent nation. It was his advice that people of Tanganyika were to regard independence to be a weapon for defeating poverty, diseases, the threat for repression and tribal differences. [Source: Tanganyika Standard Newspaper]