Gen. Mrisho Sarakikya aliwahi kuhusishwa na Uhaini?

[Gustanza_The]

Kudi Shauri, Joka Kuu, Kithuku, Rev.Kishoka, Mkandara, Jasusi, asante sana kwa michango yenu...

 

[JokaKuu]

..Kuna habari hapa inaelezea kesi ya Uhaini ya Bibi Titi Mohamed na wenzake.

July 1970: The trial opens.

THE SETTING was the timbered and whitewashed courthouse built on Dar-es-Salaam's picturesque harbour front by the German colonists shortly before the start of the First World War.

The cast was seven Tanzanians ranging in age from 27 to 46, with just one woman. And as the plot unfolded, an audience of hundreds of thousands of Tanzanians scrutinised their newspapers and kept their ears glued to the radio for every detail.

What was attracting their attention was the start of what was likely to become Tanzania's most sensational trial ever. Eight people are charged with treason following the attempt in October 1969 to overthrow the government of President Julius Nyerere.

One of the accused and the man claimed to be the ringleader, is Oscar Kambona, the former Foreign Minister.

It was from his London hideaway that he allegedly drew up plans to oust his country's leader and formerly one of his closest friends. He is the first accused.

The others accused are:

Grey Mataka, formerly news editor of the Tanu newspaper, The Nationalist;

Michael Kamaliza, a polio cripple, one time Minister for Labour and head of NUTA, Tanzania's trade union movement;

Bibi Titi Mohamed, a former close friend of the president and one of the founder members of Tanu. She headed the women's wing of the ruling party and was at one time a Junior Minister;

William Chacha, a former colonel in the TPDF, until recently military attaché in the Tanzanian embassy in Peking;

Elia Chipaka, a former captain in the TPDF, and
Alfred Milinga, a lieutenant in the TPDF.

It is Tanzania's first-ever treason trial. All face the death sentence. It is believed that the government may institute extradition proceedings against Oscar Kambona.

The court was told that the bid to overthrow the government was planned for between October 10 and 15, 1969. At the time, the President and a large group of government officials, as well as the Chief of the Tanzania People's Defence Forces, Major General Sam Sarakyika, were on an overseas tour.

Evidence to be presented at the High Court trial will link the mainland plotters with conspirators in Zanzibar, who have already been dealt with.

Tanzania's CID director, Mr Geoffrey Sawaya, told the court that Kambona, who used seven aliases, sent large sums of money to some of the accused to pay people who were to help with the coup.

Mr Sawaya said that almost all the accused used code-names in most of their correspondence except for Kambona.

He alleged that the attempted coup was foiled because some of the accused were arrested and detained before the date set for the take-over.

Some of the accused made statements after their arrest admitting most of the allegations. These, he said, would be produced at the trial.

There was more evidence, said Mr Sawaya, showing instructions which had been made on how key points should be taken, and lists of important people who were to be detained.

Moonlight trips by dhow between Dar-es-Salaam and Zanzibar, secret meetings in posh hotels in Nairobi and London and night-clubs in Dar-es-Salaam, and coded messages signed with secret names: these were just a few aspects of the stranger-than-fiction story of the plot to overthrow and kill the President. The final chapter of this incredible story was written in the Dar-es-Salaam High Court.

One of the most damning pieces of evidence in the trial was the "wedding guest list" found at the flat of Elia Lifa Chipaka. All 37 names on the list were those of army officers.

At the trial, Lifa claimed that it was a list of guests he was preparing for his wedding. But, as the Chief Justice pointed out in his summing-up of the case, the list contained comments which the average person might consider quite irrelevant when considering wedding guests.

Against the name of one colonel, for example, was the comment: "Dissatisfied, but his stand is not known".

As the trial groaned on and on, evidence against the plotters built up word by word. This included letters said to have been received from Oscar Kambona.

Chief witness at the trial was Mr Potlako Leballo, Acting President of the Pan African Congress of South Africa, which is based in Dar-es-Salaam.

According to the prosecution, Leballo had been working for Tanzania's special branch at the time of the planning of the coup and had infiltrated the group working against the government and gained their confidence.

The defence claimed Leballo was a liar who had dreamed the whole thing up and they implied that Leballo was in the pay of the South African government.

As he delivered the verdicts, Mr Philip Georges, Tanzania's Chief Justice, ignored pleas from the defence for leniency and said that independent African states badly needed stability. At the same time, the Chief Justice warned that he was not happy with preventive detention in Tanzania, saying that he hoped the trial heralded a new era in which suspected criminals would be brought before the courts of law rather than be held indefinitely in prison without trial.

At the end of this summation of the 127-day trial, Chief Justice Georges passed the following sentences:

Bibi Titi Mohamed – Life imprisonment for treason;

Gray Mataka – Life imprisonment for treason;

Elia Chipaka – Life imprisonment for treason;

Michael Kamaliza – Ten years' imprisonment for misprision of treason;

William Chacha – Ten years' imprisonment for misprision of treason.

Former army lieutenant Alfred Milinga was found not guilty, and after 16 months in detention, he was carried shoulder-high from the courtroom by his joyous relatives.

In the end, Oscar Kambona was tried in absentia. A brief three years earlier, Nyerere had said of his cabinet colleague: "Oscar is extremely loyal - to the party, to me, to the people".

****

Two years later, in April 1972, Bibi Titi Mohamed received an unprecedented presidential pardon.

BIBI TITI Mohamed, former strongwoman of Tanzania, stepped down from the train at the crowded Dar-es-Salaam station and said: "Whoever thought I would see Dar-es-Salaam again. Incredible!" She was then thronged by exuberant relatives, friends and admirers.

She had written to the President for pardon, but she had never been given any reason for hope. She was set free from Dodoma Prison in central Tanzania, under a special Presidential decree. Freed along with here were Ottini Kambona and Mattiya Kambona, younger brothers of self-exiled Oscar.

Mwalimu's reason for releasing Bibi Titi and the former Tanu Youth League secretary general, Eli Anagisye, as well as the two Kambonas, is a mystery. Bib Titi had appeared to be so inextricably involved in the treason charges.

Bibi Titi has been given an unheralded pardon. Rumours had been rife in and around the capital that she had died while in prison. In fact, a woman who heard the news of her release from prison in a radio broadcast remarked: "Hear those people! They will never get tired of telling us lies. How can they say Bibi Titi has been freed when everybody knows she died months ago?"

Bibi Titi spent about half an hour at the railway station before she was whisked away to her mother's home in Temeke, a southern city suburb.

She went to stay in the old house she built for her mother in her heyday. Her mother, now 92 years of age, is almost as vibrant as her 47-year-old daughter Bibi Titi. But on this day she literally fell unconscious at the sight of her long-absent daughter.

 

[Mwikimbi]

jokaKuu,
Hii ya Sarakikya kuondolewa jeshini haikuwa na mizengwe. Julius alimwita pale Msasani akampasha juu ya njama zake za kupindua serikali, Sarakikya akabaki mdomo wazi. Lakini ukiangalia taratibu, utaona Mkapa somehow aliwatafuta wote wale waliogombana na Nyerere, kukiwemo Bibi Titi, Mzee Fundikira, na kujaribu kuwasogeza karibu naye. Nimejiuliza juu ya hili na hitimisho langu bado siwezi kuliweka hapa.

siyo alimpasha bali alimita mlinzi wake akamwambia una bastola? akmwambia ninayo mwalimu, akmwambia mpe sarakikya.
kisha mwalimu akamwambia sarakikya, nasikia unataka kupindua nchi uue wanachi wangu wasiyo na hatia, sasa nimekupa hiyo bastola niue kwanza mimi kabla hujaua hao watanzania wasiyo na hatia
sarakikya akabaki mdomo wazi, akamwangukia kifudifudi mwalimu akamwomba msamaha

adhabu yake ikawa ni kupelekwa nje kuzurura kwenye balozi za nchi zilizokuwa chini ya serikali za kijeshi kama nigeria, ethiopia nk

 

[Jasusi]

adhabu yake ikawa ni kupelekwa nje kuzurura kwenye balozi za nchi zilizokuwa chini ya serikali za kijeshi kama nigeria, ethiopia nk

kwi!kwi!kwi!kwi!

 

[Icadon]

siyo alimpasha bali alimita mlinzi wake akamwambia una bastola? akmwambia ninayo mwalimu, akmwambia mpe sarakikya.
kisha mwalimu akamwambia sarakikya, nasikia unataka kupindua nchi uue wanachi wangu wasiyo na hatia, sasa nimekupa hiyo bastola niue kwanza mimi kabla hujaua hao watanzania wasiyo na hatia
sarakikya akabaki mdomo wazi, akamwangukia kifudifudi mwalimu akamwomba msamaha

adhabu yake ikawa ni kupelekwa nje kuzurura kwenye balozi za nchi zilizokuwa chini ya serikali za kijeshi kama nigeria, ethiopia nk

Ha ha ha...inabidi Sarakikya ahojiwe kuhusiana na hizi tuhuma za uhaini na hili la kuanguka kifudi fudi liwepo ...nimeshindwa kujizuia kucheka.

 

[Mkandara]

Mwanakijiji,
Mkuu nitafurahi sana kama utahojiana na Sarakikya kuhusiana na mapinduzi kama kweli alihusika pia ningepend kumsikia akizungumza kuhusu UFISADI na jinsi wananchi wazalendo wanavyoweza kupambana na kundi hili...

 

[William J. Malecela]

..the promotions of Twalipo and Gama, and the fact that they are southern boys as Kawawa, is used as the evidence that he[kawawa] was the man who engineered the transfers that took place in the army.

1. Twalipo alikuwa a solider of his own right kupandishwa kwake vyeo ilikuwa tu ni haki yake kwa sababu kwanza alikuwa a royal soldier na pili hakuwa na tamaa kama za wengine, na he was a quite soldier pia mtekelezaji amri tu za wakubwa wake,

- Kosa kubwa Mwalimu, alilofanya na Kambona lilikuwa kumpa nafasi ya kupandisha viongozi vyeo, ambapo Kambona aliitumia nafasi hiyo kujijenga sana kisiasa na viongozi wa juu na wa chini, baada ya Kambona kuondoka Mwalimu, hakurudia tena hayo makosa ya kumsikiliza mtu yoyote na uongozi, ni mpaka kipindi cha Mwinyi, ndio viongozi wakaanza tena kuwafagilia wengine wapande juu,

- Ninaheshima sana na huyu Mkuu Twalipo (RIP), na ninakumbuka mwishoni mwa uhai wake, jinsi alivyofikia mhalai akawa kipofu kabisaa, ingawa hakuwa na elimu kubwa sana, lakini ninaamini kuwa alikuwa ni mmoja wa viongozi wachahce sana walioli-serve hili taifa kwa uadilifu sana, Mungu amuweke mahali pema peponi.

2. Gama, alikuwa ameoa dada wa Mwalimu na alikwua avery trusted man na Mwalimu, I mean almost a left hand man aliwahi kuwa mkuu wa uwt, naaamini ilikuwa briefly baada ya Mzena, kwa sababu kuna Maftah pia aliyewahi kukishika che hicho kama ninakumbuka vizuri, baadaye Gama akawa RC Songea, kwa muda mrefu sana,

- Under Mwinyi, akawa waziri wa uwt yaani asiyekuwa na wizara maalum, lakini akapelekwa kuwa katibu wa CCM, ambako alimuudhi sana Mwalimu alipojaribu kumpigia debe Msuya, kuwa rais mwaka 1995, akapelekwa Morogoro kuwa RC, huku akiwa mbunge wa huko Songea, mpaka alipokuja pumzishwa na Nchimbi, akalia sana lakini hakuna aliemsikiliza maana katika ile kampeni yake ya 1995, ya kumsadia Msuya alim-cross muungwana, ambaye alilia sana, kwa hiyo 2005, mtandao wakamlipa a sweet payback.

 

[William J. Malecela]

Mkuu nitafurahi sana kama utahojiana na Sarakikya kuhusiana na mapinduzi kama kweli alihusika pia ningepend kumsikia akizungumza kuhusu UFISADI na jinsi wananchi wazalendo wanavyoweza kupambana na kundi hili...

Itabidi aelezeee kwanza jinsi alivyoweza kufungua benki kubwa kama aliyonayo, aliwazaje bila ufisadi kidogo?

 

[Jasusi]

Mimi nilidhani Twalipo alikuwa mtu wa Tanga, no?

 

[William J. Malecela]

Ninaamini kuwa alikuwa ni mtu wa Mbeya aliyelowea sehemu za pwani, kwani Twalipo kwa Kinyakyusa ni tulikuwepo, au?

Ninajua as a fact kuwa alikuwa na ndugu kutoka Mbeya, ingawa hakuwemo sana kwenye circle za wanyakyusa, mjini lakini ninaamini kuwa alikuwa wa huko tununu na twambombo!

 

[Kichuguu]

Kitabu cha David Martin kilikuwa na title Idi Amin na ali-publish I believe 1973. I think it was published jointly by East Africa Publishing House and a British publisher I forget which one. Unaweza pia kupata more information kutoka kwenye kitabu kilichotungwa na Tony Avirgan & Martha Honey entitled The War In Uganda 1978/79 - I think kilikuwa published na Tanzania Publishing House & another foreign publisher in 1979- it gave a very detailed and in my view a balanced analysis of the war to get rid of Idi Amin in 1979.

Tony Avirgan & Martha Honey were BBC correspondents in Dar during this period. The late David Martin used to work for Daily News in the late 1960s early 1970s and thereafter he became a reporter for the Observer of UK. He moved and settled in Zimbabwe in 1980 where he died in 2007 - until his death he was a very strong supporter of the principles of Mwalimu and ironically Robert Mugabe!

Lawrence Gama ali take over as DG of TISS if I irecall correctly I think in 1973. He did not last long as by 1976 he had been moved back to politics and Col Kitine took over all the way to Ugandan War.

The year 1971 was a major milestone in the defence and security policy of Tanzania - it was the year of Mwongozo following two major events in Africa - The Amin Coup in Uganda of January 1971 and the invasion in 1970 of Guinea Conakry of Sekou Toure by Portuguese mercenaries based in Guinea Bissau. The mercenaries were routed by Guinean Peoples Militia and Nyerere in a public address in Jangwani pledged msaada wa $10million to Guinea which was a lot of money then.

These events led to TANU kutoa policy ya Mwongozo of 1971 which included also formation of the Peoples Militia - au Mgambo. The Mgambos were the bullwark of TZ defence in the southern regions in support of FRELIMO but following Mwongozo this system was extended to whole country. Perhaps these events contributed to the changes in JWTZ in 1973 which led to the transfer of Gen Sarakikya.

Sikujua kuwa na sisi tuliwahi kutoa msaada wa fedha kwa nchi nyingine. Je tunaweza kuendelea kufanya hivyo hadi leo?

 

[Jasusi]

Sikujua kuwa na sisi tuliwahi kutoa msaada wa fedha kwa nchi nyingine. Je tunaweza kuendelea kufanya hivyo hadi leo?

Kichuguu,' The simple answer is no. Ukijua fungu ambalo Tanzania ilitumia katika ukombozi wa Afrika utazimia. Na kama harakati za ukombozi zingekuwa zinafanyika leo Tanzania tungekuwa bubu kama Kenya ilivyokuwa enzi hizo.
Tanzania si nchi masikini kama tunavyodhania. Hata Zambia kuna wakati walikuwa wanaishiwa hela wanakimbilia Dar.

 

[Zanaki]

Gama, alikuwa ameoa dada wa Mwalimu na alikwua avery trusted man na Mwalimu, I mean almost a left hand man aliwahi kuwa mkuu wa uwt, naaamini ilikuwa briefly baada ya Mzena, kwa sababu kuna Maftah pia aliyewahi kukishika che hicho kama ninakumbuka vizuri

Maftah alikuwa mkuu wa Anti Corruption kama sikosei

 

[NAKWEDE]

Jamani kumbe habari ndio hiyo!!!!!!

 

[Kibunango]

Ninaamini kuwa alikuwa ni mtu wa Mbeya aliyelowea sehemu za pwani, kwani Twalipo kwa Kinyakyusa ni tulikuwepo, au?

Ninajua as a fact kuwa alikuwa na ndugu kutoka Mbeya, ingawa hakuwemo sana kwenye circle za wanyakyusa, mjini lakini ninaamini kuwa alikuwa wa huko tununu na twambombo!

Marehemu General Twalipo alikuwa mwenyeji wa Mtwara.

 

[William J. Malecela]

Marehemu General Twalipo alikuwa mwenyeji wa Mtwara.

Sawa sawa, lakini alikuwa some connections na Mbeya, kwa sababu siku zote nyumbani kwake kulikwa na ndugu zake toka huko, na hata mtoto wake mmoja mshikaji kwa jina Jane, alikuwa siku zote anaenda likizo huko ma-Mbeya, ingawa Twalipo anaweza kuwa anatokea Mtwara.

 

[JokaKuu]

1. Twalipo alikuwa a solider of his own right kupandishwa kwake vyeo ilikuwa tu ni haki yake kwa sababu kwanza alikuwa a royal soldier na pili hakuwa na tamaa kama za wengine, na he was a quite soldier pia mtekelezaji amri tu za wakubwa wake,

- Kosa kubwa Mwalimu, alilofanya na Kambona lilikuwa kumpa nafasi ya kupandisha viongozi vyeo, ambapo Kambona aliitumia nafasi hiyo kujijenga sana kisiasa na viongozi wa juu na wa chini, baada ya Kambona kuondoka Mwalimu, hakurudia tena hayo makosa ya kumsikiliza mtu yoyote na uongozi, ni mpaka kipindi cha Mwinyi, ndio viongozi wakaanza tena kuwafagilia wengine wapande juu,

- Ninaheshima sana na huyu Mkuu Twalipo (RIP), na ninakumbuka mwishoni mwa uhai wake, jinsi alivyofikia mhalai akawa kipofu kabisaa, ingawa hakuwa na elimu kubwa sana, lakini ninaamini kuwa alikuwa ni mmoja wa viongozi wachahce sana walioli-serve hili taifa kwa uadilifu sana, Mungu amuweke mahali pema peponi.

FMES,

..no body is questioning Gen.Abdalah Twalipo's integrity, and his record as an Army Officer and later as the Chief of Defence Forces.

..mchango wa Twalipo "generali Chakaza" kama Mkuu wa Majeshi wakati wa vita vya Kagera/Uganda hautofutika ktk historia ya Tanzania.

..kumuenzi Gen.Twalipo kambi la JWTZ Mgulani imepewa jina lake. Kambi ya Abdala Twalipo ndipo kilipoanzia chuo cha maafisa wa kijeshi, na baadaye kuwa expanded na kuhamishiwa Monduli.

..mimi nimeripoti tu minongono kwamba Gama na Twalipo walipandishwa vyeo kwa connection ya "home boy" mwenzao Rashidi Kawawa. hiyo haimaanishi kwamba hawakuwa na uwezo au hawakustahili nyadhifa walizopewa.

..hapo hapo naomba uzingatie analysis aliyoileta Kudi Shauri ambayo wengi wetu tumekubaliana kwamba it is factual, and closest to the truth of the events that took place in the 70s.

..Kudi Shauri ameelezea operation ya kijeshi ya waasi wa Uganda ambayo ilikuwa handled na JKT. operation hiyo ilifeli vibaya, na kusababisha Amini kushambulia Tanzania, na kusababisha vifo na uharibifu wa mali. tukio hilo siyo kwamba lilihatarisha usalama wa nchi bali pia tulipoteza heshima yetu kimataifa.

..JWTZ ndiyo walioitwa kuokoa jahazi baada ya mambo kuenda mrama Uganda. the fact kwamba hawakushikishwa toka mwanzo, inasemekana iliwachukiza sana JWTZ.

..JWTZ walikuwa waki-train wapiganaji[Frelimo,Zanu,Swapo...] wa kila aina hapa Tanzania. ninaweza kusema hawakutuangusha hata mara moja ktk jukumu hilo.

..ni kitu gani basi kilichosababisha operation ya Waganda ikahamishiwa JKT? je, JWTZ walishauriwa wakati wowote ule kuhusu operation hiyo? au labda serikali na Mwalimu walikuwa hawana imani na JWTZ na uongozi wake.

..kama wapenda Historia tunapaswa kuuliza maswali mengi ya kina na msingi.

..sasa Historia bila kuwaunganisha wahusika wa wakati huo huwa hainogi kabisa. ndiyo maana hapa napenda kuuliza: ilikuwaje Lawrence Gama akapandishwa cheo kuwa DG-usalama wa Taifa hata baada ya kuboronga operation ya kumpindua Amini? je, Abdala Twalipo alishiriki kwa namna yoyote ile ukizingatia kwamba miaka hiyo alikuwa Mkuu wa mkoa wa Kagera?

 

[Gustanza_The]

siyo alimpasha bali alimita mlinzi wake akamwambia una bastola? akmwambia ninayo mwalimu, akmwambia mpe sarakikya.
kisha mwalimu akamwambia sarakikya, nasikia unataka kupindua nchi uue wanachi wangu wasiyo na hatia, sasa nimekupa hiyo bastola niue kwanza mimi kabla hujaua hao watanzania wasiyo na hatia
sarakikya akabaki mdomo wazi, akamwangukia kifudifudi mwalimu akamwomba msamaha
adhabu yake ikawa ni kupelekwa nje kuzurura kwenye balozi za nchi zilizokuwa chini ya serikali za kijeshi kama nigeria, ethiopia nk

Mwikimbi, niliwahikusikia the same reference in the mid-'90s—baada ya Mwinyi kumtimua Mrema uwaziri wa mambo ya ndani [si mnakumbuka Mrema alivyosukumwa na wananchi kila motokari yake ilipowasili karibu na sehemu ya mkutano/mikutano?]. So, nasikia Mwalimu aliwaka na kuwambia wazee wa chama kuwa, "huyu Ali anakosea! Anampatia huyu kichwa ngumu umarufu asiostahili...!" Kwamba: angemtupa huko nje [ubalozi] ili aozee huku kama alivyomfanyizia Sarakikya enzi zake.

 

[Iron]

Even me I heard a little about those people including other retired solders. Those who knows please keep on informing us.

 

[JokaKuu]

So, nasikia Mwalimu aliwaka na kuwambia wazee wa chama kuwa, "huyu Ali anakosea! Anampatia huyu kichwa ngumu umarufu asiostahili...!" Kwamba: angemtupa huko nje [ubalozi] ili aozee huku kama alivyomfanyizia Sarakikya enzi zake.

Gustanza-The,

..kwa kweli Mwinyi hakukosea katika kumshughulikia Mrema.

..kama Waziri ameshindwa kuheshimu "mamlaka yake ya nidhamu" basi kinachopaswa kufanyika ni kumfukuza kazi mara moja.

..hii habari ya kufanya balozi zetu mapango ya wakorofi umeliathiri sana taifa letu.

..hivi unafahamu kwamba mabalozi wetu wanaishi almost bure na juu yake wanalipwa mshahara?

..hivi unafikiri hiyo ndiyo adhabu inayowafaa "wahaini" au wakorofi wasioheshimu wakubwa zao?