URAIA PACHA vs HADHI MAALUMU: HISTORY REWARDS STRATEGIC PATIENCE!

 

The Maji Maji War in Tanganyika (modern-day Tanzania), which began in July 1905 and ended in 1907, was one of the most significant African challenges to German colonial rule. Although the uprising itself did not immediately liberate Tanganyika, it ignited a spirit of resistance whose flames were later carried forward by future generations, eventually culminating in Mwalimu Nyerere leading Tanganyika to independence in 1961.

Dear ZNK,

After carefully reading Dr. Shaaban Fundi’s latest article, I must honestly confess that he makes one of the most emotionally powerful and constitutionally persuasive arguments presented so far in this entire debate. Had he not already possessed a Doctorate title, I would probably have started lobbying Zanzibar University to urgently confer one upon him after reading that article.

Indeed, many Tanzanians both abroad and at home strongly identify with his central argument that citizenship by birth is not a government favor, but part of one’s identity, ancestry, and belonging. On that moral question, Dr. Fundi raises concerns that cannot be dismissed at all, and I, for one, take my hat off to him.

However, Dr. Fundi, I believe we may now be confusing two completely different struggles - the struggle for ultimate constitutional ideals, and the struggle for immediate political realities.

History repeatedly teaches us that nations are rarely transformed through emotional declarations alone. Most political victories are achieved gradually, through carefully accumulated steps, strategic patience, and the intelligent securing of what is politically attainable at a given moment in history.

Even the greatest liberation struggles in Africa did not achieve all their objectives overnight. Mwalimu Nyerere himself continued where the Maji Maji warriors had left off. The Maji Maji resistance did not immediately remove colonialism, but it planted seeds of resistance that future generations later advanced through different political strategies and circumstances.

Similarly, the beloved Zanzibar Revolution of 1964, itself did not emerge suddenly from nowhere. It was preceded by the failed June 1st, 1961 uprising - an earlier struggle whose setbacks and lessons later helped shape the revolutionary momentum that followed.

Similarly, supporting Hadhi Maalumu today does not necessarily mean abandoning the larger constitutional debate tomorrow. On the contrary, one could even argue that formally recognizing the diaspora through Hadhi Maalumu may eventually strengthen the political and institutional foundations upon which future constitutional reforms could later be built.

One important reality we must never ignore is that constitutional struggles themselves often require political footholds from which future battles can be launched. 

Rights are rarely achieved in a vacuum! 

They are usually built upon earlier recognitions, earlier compromises, and earlier institutional openings.

In that sense, Hadhi Maalumu should perhaps not be viewed as the final destination, but rather as the first politically achievable bridge toward a broader future conversation.

Dr. Fundi is absolutely correct that permits and investment incentives are not the same thing as citizenship. However, political wisdom sometimes requires societies to distinguish between what is morally desirable and what is immediately attainable.

A farmer does not refuse the first rains simply because they are not yet a full storm.

Perhaps the real danger before us is not that Tanzanians abroad will lose their dream of Dual Citizenship. The greater danger may be exhausting ourselves in endless internal disagreements while allowing even smaller achievable opportunities to slip away year after year.

History is full of people who lost achievable victories while waiting for perfect victories.

After all, a man crossing a river does not reject the bridge simply because it does not take him directly to his final destination.

Respectfully,
(Mr.) Concerned (ZNK Regular Reader)

https://zanzibarnikwetu.blogspot.com/2026/05/citizenship-by-birth-is-not-government.html