CROSS ROADS : What made Tanganyika unique in trust territories

So, it has come to light that Tanganyika was the most significant of all UN trust territories, that is, until December 9, 1961 when it gained independence.

A book by Ullrich Lohrmann titled: “Voices from Tanganyika: Great Britain, the United Nations and the Decolonisation of a Trust Territory, 1946-1961”, shows that Tanganyika was the most significant territory because of “its geography, topography, climate, geopolitics, patterns of settlement.”

What of the people of Tanganyika? The decades of Germany and later British rule, the common man was under great oppression. The Maji Maji War and other struggles for freedom later bore fruits -- as we finally gained self-rule. This makes December 9 one of the most important days in Tanzania, and will forever be marked in our history. Colonialism ended and we became independent – at least from the political point of view. Economically, we still need another struggle.

The face of the struggle for independence was Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, but you can bet it was a struggle by majority men and women of Tanganyika. The struggle started even before Mwalimu Nyerere was born in 1922. The faceless men and women maybe nowhere in history books! And even those who are there, many are footnotes. There could be thousands of stories untold.

The other day I was reading an article about a police officer in colonial government known as Hamza Aziz. He was a Tanu informant during the struggle for Tanganyika’s independence. He used to inform Tanu leaders what the police were plotting against them.

Later, Mwalimu Nyerere made him Inspector General of Police (IGP) but his elder brother, Dossa Aziz, was not so lucky. The author of the article further said that, despite financing Tanu and Mwalimu Nyerere as he fought for independence, he died a poor man, unhonoured and unrecognised!

We know little of Bibi Titi Mohamed story. From what I gather about her, she should have been named the mother of independence. We have Bibi Titi Road, yes, but it is enough. Yes, Mwalimu Nyerere is of course the father of independence.

This year, President John Magufuli decided to halt the fanfare that normally accompany Independence Day.

He decided that it should be marked with work and cleaning up the surroundings. He wanted us all to fight cholera. The disease is really a shame all these years since we became independent.

As we clean up our homes, our compounds, our roads and the general environment as ordered, what of the other dirt not visible to the naked eye? The President has made huge efforts so far. I hope he will not abandon the good work he started. His moves are sure ways of making proper reflections on our independence. Historians must revisit our history.

There are too many gaps that need to be filled up. History is supposed to guide us as we search how best to proceed into the future.

For over 50 years the official history books have never told us the full story about the independence struggle.

Those of us born after independence -- we have to struggle to fill up gaps that exist in our history. All we get is the perspective mostly of the people who managed to be able to eat the first fruits of independence. But many others, who contributed to the struggle, but were not lucky to get the fruits, we don’t have their side of the story. As we reflect about the day, I think it should also be a time to look at the constitution that has brought us this far. The need to change constitution is great, and so let us fight for a people-centered constitution.

Saumu Jumanne is an assistant lecturer, Dar es Salaam University College of Education