PanAfricanBooks
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Registered: Oct 2002
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Godfrey Mwakikagile, "Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era" (Atlanta, Georgia: Protea Publishing, 2002), 6" x 9", 700+ pages, softcover and hardcover editions.
Web site:
http://www.proteapublishing.com/catalogn.htm
This is one of the first major studies of the late Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere and his policies in a Pan-African context. It is also a sweeping survey of Africa since the sixties, and a critical look at the one-party system instituted across the continent soon after independence as Africans celebrated the end of colonial rule.
Probably more than any other African leader, Nyerere played a critical role practically in all the major events on the continent in the post-colonial era. He led Tanganyika to become the first country in East Africa - and southern Africa - to win independence. He was the first East African leader to call for federation of the three East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanganyika; and even offered to delay the independence of Tanganyika so that the three East African countries could unite and become independent on the same day as one country. He was also the first East African leader to achieve unity.
Nyerere was also one of the strongest supporters of African unity, and he saw the proposed East African federation as a step towards achieving this goal. But he differed with Kwame Nkrumah, another uncompromising Pan-Africanist, who - for other reasons as well - was opposed to the East African federation, and other regional federations, in favour of immediate continental unification. In a chapter devoted to the subject, the author looks at the different approaches taken by the two leaders in their quest for continental unification and sheds some light on the underlying causes of the differences between them, despite their shared vision of Africa and the close working relationship they had until Nkrumah's ouster in a military coup supported by the CIA, as the author shows.
Nyerere was also the first and only African leader who united two countries, Tanganyika and Zanzibar, to form one country, Tanzania. It is the only union of independent countries on the entire continent, and it has survived for almost 40 years, although not without difficulties as we learn from the book. On 26 April 2004, Tanzanians will be joined by other Africans across the continent and around the world to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the union which was consummated at the height of the Cold War. Did the rivalry between the East and the West have anything to do with it as some have suggested? Was it purely an African initiative by Nyerere as a step towards continental unification? Or was it fear by the black majority in Zanzibar that the Arabs would again take over the island nation if they did not unite with Tanganyika for protection? The author provides some insights into this in a highly analytical way to dispel some myths about the merger of the two East African countries.
Not long after the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar was formed, Nyerere took another initiative which would have enduring significance for all the countries across the continent. Less than three months later at the OAU summit in Cairo, Egypt, in July 1964, President Nyerere introduced a resolution calling on the member states to maintain the borders inherited at independence, as he himself explains in Appendix II of this book. His fellow heads of state and government agreed with him and adopted the resolution which became one of the most sacred principles of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Yet, under his leadership, Tanzania became the first country to capture the capital and overthrow the government of another member state, Uganda under Idi Amin, in violation of the very principles upheld by the OAU to maintain peace and stability on the continent. Was that a contradiction on his part? The author has some answers which also raise more questions about this idea of non-interference in the internal affairs of another state when other, and probably even higher, principles are at stake.
Tanzania was also the first country to recognise the secessionist region of Eastern Nigeria which declared independence as the Republic of Biafra. Yet under Nyerere's leadership, Tanzania was also one of the staunchest supportes of African unity which Nyerere himself tried so hard to achieve. Was this another contradiction? Were higher principles and values at stake? Or did he do it for other reasons? Yet even his defence of Biafra earned him respect from many of his opponents, as he remained passionately committed to African unity and maintained an uncompromising stand on the imperative need for continental unification. As he explained in an interview with the "New Internationalist" less than a year before he died, he would rather see a united Africa than a divided socialist Africa; although he remained a socialist until his last days. The author does an excellent job explaining why Tanzania recognised Biafra, and why the union of Tanzania itself has been facing increasing difficulties since Nyerere died; and he uses both - Nigeria and Tanzania - as case studies for conflict resolution in Africa.
Tanzania's role in the liberation of Africa, especially southern Africa, is beyond dispute. All the African liberation movements had their headquarters in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Tanzania also had the largest number of military training camps for the freedom fighters from southern Africa. It was also in Tanzania where most of the leaders from southern Africa and other African countries - as well as others - found safe haven during the liberation struggle. President Nyerere became the most relentless supporter of the liberation movements on the continent more than any other leader besides Kwame Nkrumah. But Nkrumah was overthrown back in 1966 before he had full impact on the liberation struggle. Nyerere's dream of a free Africa was finally realized when apartheid ended in 1994 five years before he died.
This is seminal work by one of Africa's leading writers. It is also one of the most important books about one of the world's most influential leaders in the twentieth century. As Professor Ali Mazrui said in his tribute to Nyerere: "In global terms, he was one of the giants of the 20th Century....He did bestride this narrow world like an African colossus."
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter One:
One-Party System and National Unity:
Consolidation of the Nation-State
Chapter Two:
Milestones: Africa Since the Sixties
Chapter Three:
Julius Nyerere: Early Years
Chapter Four:
Tanganyika Before the Union:
Creation of A Non-Racial State
Chapter Five:
Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar:
Nyerere as Architect of First African Union
Chapter Six:
The Struggle for Mozambique:
The Founding of FRELIMO in Tanzania
Chapter Seven:
The Rhodesian Crisis: Tanzania's Role
Chapter Eight:
Tanzania Recognizes Biafra
Chapter Nine:
The Ouster of Idi Amin by Tanzania
Chapter Ten:
American Involvement in Angola
and Southern Africa: Nyerere's Response
Chapter Eleven:
Nyerere and Nkrumah:
Towards African Unity
Chapter Twelve:
The Last of the Independence Leaders:
Life under Nyerere from A Personal Perspective:
End of an Era
Appendix I:
Julius Nyerere, On the Boycott of South Africa,
in a letter to the editor of "Africa South,"
October-December 1959
Appendix II:
Julius Nyerere: Reflections
Appendix III:
Address by President Benjamin Mkapa of the United Republic of Tanzania at the state funeral for Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere
Appendix IV:
David Martin on Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere
Appendix V:
Tributes to Mwalimu Julius Nyerere from around the world
Chapter Notes
Index
About the Author
[Edited by PanAfricanBooks on 7th October 2002 at 13:07]
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