BY EDITOR
26th April 2013
Tanzanians of all walks of life have reason to hang together in consolidating their historic Union, which is a rare symbol of peace and mutual coexistence.
Tanzanians born after April 26, 1964 need to be told that the history of this unique Union was also a key building block in the founding of the East African Community.
Founder presidents Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere of Tanganyika and Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume of Zanzibar signed the agreement for the unification of the two states on April 22, 1964 – in Zanzibar.
The Union has faced a number of daunting political and other challenges, including those associated with the transition from one-party state to multi-party democracy and the move from a socialist to a capitalist economy, but it has withstood all.
While it may look especially fragile under the prevailing social, economic and political environment, many see no reason for it not to continue weathering the storms history if what promises to be a relatively smooth run-up to the rewriting of the Constitution.
The merger between Tanganyika and Zanzibar has long been a source of contention, with critics arguing that the initial discussions leading to its endorsement in 1964 were conducted secretly and the official announcement on April 26 came as a surprise – an unwelcome one in some quarters.
Some critics suggest that the Union came into being only months after the Zanzibar Revolution overthrew the Sultan of Zanzibar as per plan hatched by Western powers eager to contain Zanzibari communism.
The “secrecy” talk has made intrigue and conspiracy theories continue to feature in debate upon debate by disenchanted Tanzanians and Tanzania watchers. Issues such as Zanzibari nationalism, government structure and economic distribution have dominated the discussions.
But some of points raised do not come as a surprise. For instance, who would naturally hope to see a union between a Tanganyika (now Mainland Tanzania) of over 40 million people and a Zanzibar of just over a million people to be trouble-free?
Religious differences have also featured in some deliberations in that Zanzibar’s population is almost wholly Muslim and there have been fears of religious extremism on the island, while the mainland is said to be about 45 per cent Christian and 40 per cent Muslim. But this is a historical fact that has always been taken for granted, and anyone planning to use it to drive wedges between and among our people will have gotten it all wrong.
Surely, the Union has often been more accepted than celebrated. So which way forward? If there is anything to fear with respect to the sustainability of the Union it is the fear to discuss the challenges it is faced with.
The good news is that all the major divergent views recognise the need to sustain it, differing only on how to achieve that noble goal.
The Tanzanian Union is a ‘home-grown’ phenomenon. What we need to see are constructive debate and analysis meant to strengthen it and make it more relevant and useful to our country and nation – not to weaken it.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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