It is clear that Nyerere did not want to write his autobiography.
Another treasure trove and one of Nyerere's political children, Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim, has also refused to write a book about his life and work.
In an interview with Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's eldest son, Gamal Nkrumah, who is one of the editors of "Al Ahram," Egypt's leading newspaper, Dr. Salim said he was not interested in writing such a book. When he was asked if it was time to write his memoirs, he said: "Far from it. I do want to write, but not my memoirs."
Here's an excerpt from the article in "Al Ahram" about the interview: is it time for him to jot down his memoirs? 'Far from it,' he dismisses the idea outright. 'I do want to write, but not my memoirs. The problem with memoirs is that people talk to me in confidence about sensitive issues, including what are deemed top state secrets. I cannot betray their trust,' he explained. 'Moreover, I will inevitably annoy, even anger, many people if I do so. Prickly events are still fresh in people's minds, others ongoing. Many distinguished personalities in Africa and abroad might feel embarrassed if I write freely and honestly about my experiences working with them or about the roles they played in the often turbulent and controversial developments that swept the continent in the past decade. Too many feathers will be ruffled at this particular historical juncture,' the outgoing OAU secretary-general chuckled."
There are many people here in Tanzania who would like to see Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim write such a book as much as they would have liked to see Nyerere write one. But he has ruled that out. He said it won't happen.
And that's when unauthorised biographers should come into the picture. If they have enough material, verified, to write about the political careers of prominent personalities like Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim who is a leader of international stature, they should do so.
I don't consider Godfrey Mwakikagile's book, "Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era," to be an unauthorised biography of Nyerere since that's not the main thrust of his study. It's also highly documented from readily available sources about Nyerere and has not relied on primary sources to get inside knowledge about Nyerere as biographers, authorised and unauthorised, normally do.
But there is still an imperative need for biographers, whether authorised or not, to write books about prominent national leaders because if nobody does that, we will be deprived of a very important part of our history.
The prominence of Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim as a leader of continental and international stature, let alone as a prominent national leader in the Tanzanian context, and about whom a biography should be written, is clearly demonstrated by what Gamal Nkrumah wrote in "Al Ahram." The full text is reprinted here:
Ambassador at 22; OAU secretary-general for an unprecedented three four-year terms; there is hardly a post, save president, that he has not held in his native Tanzania. He served as minister of defence, foreign minister and prime minister, included. In an exclusive interview Salim Ahmed Salim shares some of the highlights of his astounding career with Gamal Nkrumah.
Nothing succeeds like success. And by African continental standards his illustrious career has been one of constructive achievement, soaring to dizzying heights. "I feel very privileged. I've had an exceptionally full and fulfilling life," says Salim Ahmed Salim, the outgoing secretary-general of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). He owes it all to his mentor, the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, whom Salim holds in high esteem. Indeed, Salim was hand-picked by Nyerere who spotted his exceptional leadership talents when the teenage Salim was a secondary school student.
Currently, Salim is the chairman of the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Foundation, a non-profit charitable organisation established by Nyerere himself. The early contact with Nyerere, one of the most internationally acclaimed and influential of the OAU founding fathers, was a defining moment in Salim's life. Salim sees himself as a disciple of Nyerere, and would like to carry on with the work of the late Tanzanian statesman. Salim hopes to devote more time to the fund-raising activities of the Foundation to help facilitate the realisation of its many projects in Tanzania and across Africa. He steps down as OAU secretary- general in September, and would consecrate the next couple of years at least to the Foundation.
An enthusiast for African development, Salim sees his leaving office as a chance to work at different levels and in a less official capacity for the social, political and economic development of Africa. "I would like to keep abreast of developments in Africa. I would like to remain in the service of Africa," he explains. Like Nyerere, Salim is a socialist at heart. "I am all for market liberalisation. But when income differentials are very great, crisis ensues. State intervention is crucial to ensure the welfare of the most vulnerable segments of society."
Will his spellbinding career wind down after he leaves office. "This is a time to reflect, to recollect," Salim says. The Nyerere Foundation is the perfect means for reaching out to non- governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society at large without breaking his old ties with Africa's political establishment. One difficulty Salim encountered as OAU secretary-general was working more closely at grassroot level. The Pan- African body was too much of a presidents' club. Salim worked at constructive non-partisan relations with African leaders of different political and ideological hues. He cleverly used his diplomatic skills and contacts to build a consensus at the OAU.
Africa has come a long way, Salim insists. Barely a decade ago, South Africa was still in the throes of the apartheid system. Most African states at the time were ruled by military juntas or quasi-military dictatorships. "We have seen the total eradication of colonialism as well as institutionalised racism," Salim pointed out. "The signing and coming into force of the Abuja Treaty establishing the African Economic Community was a manifestation of a determination to advance our collective destiny, and a reaffirmation of a strong faith in each other. It marked a resolute effort aimed at fostering closer co-operation and integration among the peoples of our continent," Salim extrapolated.
The outgoing OAU secretary-general is especially proud of what he terms "our [Pan- African] determined effort and success in maintaining the relevance of our organisation internationally." Salim insists that it took considerable courage and dogged persistence to achieve. "This [success] was not by coincidence or happenstance," he explained. "Our credibility and legitimacy have come as a result of the seriousness with which we have approached the affairs of our continental organisation. Increasingly our member states in particular, and the people of our continent in general, are according great importance and extending profound goodwill to our collective undertakings."
In 1964, and at the remarkably youthful age of 22, Salim was appointed his country's ambassador to what was then the United Arab Republic. In Cairo he worked closely with the numerous representatives of the African liberation movements and he has fond memories of the African Society, 5 Ahmed Hishmat, Zamalek, where offices of the various African liberation movements were housed. This was Salim's first introduction to a coterie of African revolutionary characters who were to become the presidents and ministers he worked closely with two decades later. "Cairo has always been home to me," he says.
His tenure as ambassador to Egypt was short-lived. In 1965 he was appointed ambassador to India. His sojourn in Egypt was jam- packed with fruitful endeavours.
From Egypt, he was transferred to India where he spent four of the most rewarding years of his life. In India he met yet another set of African diplomats and dignitaries and he found time to complete his graduate studies as well. China was next. At this point, his diplomatic career looked like it was soaring from one height to the next, always spiralling upwards. After a stint at the United Nations in New York, Salim was appointed minister of foreign affairs. A number of senior cabinet posts followed, including minister of defense and prime minister.
However, the most significant day of his life, one which dramatically altered the course of his career, was when on 27 July 1989 Salim was elected secretary-general of the OAU. "I was elected at the 1989 OAU summit under the chairmanship of President Hosni Mubarak. Salim was re-elected as secretary-general of the OAU in 1993, "interestingly enough once again under the chairmanship of President Mubarak, who I consider as one of the strong pillars of the OAU."
The phone rings incessantly, interrupting our conversation. He frowns in irritation, but is always gracious and convivial when speaking on the phone. It was well past midnight and he had a plane to catch back to Addis Ababa in two hours. Frequent flying is one of the more exhausting aspects of the job. Travelling around Africa, even in presidential jets, business and first-class luxury was never easy.
"I have kept a travel log, and I have made over 1,000 air trips, mainly travelling in Africa. It has been a tremendous educational and humbling experience as I witness the vastness and rich diversity of Africa. But it has been an exhausting experience as well. I have visited every single country on the continent save two -- Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome.
Salim moves deftly for a man of his vast bulk. In sharp contrast, his beautiful wife Amne, a compatriot of his, has kept a delightfully trim figure. They have three children whom Salim is very proud of. He says that his kids have not been adversely affected by his being constantly on the move. He son Ali is a successful surgeon; his daughter Maryam, a law graduate with a masters in public administration from Johns Hopkins University, is a World Bank employee. Their younger sibling Ahmed is still at secondary school.
Salim's educational experience was entirely different from his children's. He was educated in India, where, as a young ambassador, he did his undergraduate studies at the University of Delhi (1965-6 and the United States. He holds a masters degree in international relations from Columbia University, New York, which he received in 1974. Moreover, Salim proudly holds six honorary doctorates from the University of the Philippines (1980), the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria (1983), the University of Mauritius (1991), the University of Bologna, Italy, (1996) and most recently from the University of Cape Town, South Africa (199.
Salim came to national Tanzanian, regional and international attention when he was in his twenties. He was director of the Africa and Middle East Division at the Tanzanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs before being posted in 1969 as ambassador to the People's Republic of China. In 1970 Salim was appointed Tanzania's permanent representative to the United Nations in New York. During his time at the UN Salim was concurrently accredited to Cuba and a number of smaller Caribbean islands including Jamaica.
When only in his mid thirties, Salim was elected president of the UN Security Council in January 1976 and proceeded to serve as president of the 34th Session of the UN General Assembly in September 1979. Salim was president of the International Conference Against Apartheid in 1984. Between 1971 and 1979 he chaired the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation, a period which coincided with the attainment by numerous colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific regions of full sovereignty and independence.
Salim was deeply involved in national Tanzania politics before his appointment as OAU secretary-general. He held several key positions in the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), Tanzania's ruling party, serving as central committee member and member of the CCM National Executive Committee from 1982 to 1989 while simultaneously serving as the party's secretary for foreign affairs. From 1984 to 1987 as secretary of the CCM National Defense and Security Commission.
So is it time for him to jot down his memoirs? "Far from it," he dismisses the idea outright. "I do want to write, but not my memoirs. The problem with memoirs is that people talk to me in confidence about sensitive issues, including what are deemed top state secrets. I cannot betray their trust," he explained. "Moreover, I will inevitably annoy, even anger, many people if I do so. Prickly events are still fresh in people's minds, others ongoing. Many distinguished personalities in Africa and abroad might feel embarrassed if I write freely and honestly about my experiences working with them or about the roles they played in the often turbulent and controversial developments that swept the continent in the past decade. Too many feathers will be ruffled at this particular historical juncture," the outgoing OAU secretary-general chuckled.
Now the burning question. Was Salim denied a fourth term in office against his will? Is there truth in the rumours flying about Lusaka that some African leaders conspired to push Salim away from the helm? Salim dismissed any such suggestions. "These rumours have no basis whatsoever. I made my decision early last year to step down.
In Lusaka, some African leaders wanted Salim to stay on for another year, the transitional period, until the OAU officially becomes the AU. But Salim politely declined the kind offer. "What can I do in one year, that I could not have done in 12," he explained. "Also one must always know when to leave."
"All the talk about my being pushed out is nonsense. If I was interested in seeking another term for re-election I would have done so. Many African leaders urged me to do just that. But, I believe it is time to infuse fresh blood into the organisation. Only under one condition would I have changed my mind, that is if there was total agreement and consensus among the continent's leaders that I had to stay." We left it at that.
So is Salim angling for a political position back home? But as an afterthought, I wondered where home would be for the outgoing secretary-general. "Before I was elected OAU secretary-general, I was Tanzanian first. Today I would say I am African first. I see no contradiction between my triple identities -- African, Tanzanian and Zanzibari."
Salim was born and bred in the Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar, off the East African coast, at a time when it still had close links to the Sultanate of Oman. At the time of his birth in 1942, the official residence of the Sultan of Oman was located in Zanzibar. It was a time of great social upheaval, and the seeds of revolution were sown. An extremely violent revolution did erupt in the fifties. Those of the Arab ruling elite whose lives were spared fled the island. The African majority, many of whom were enslaved for centuries, rose up to usurp power. They were supported, at least morally if not materially and militarily, by the mainland Africans. In due course, Zanzibar merged with mainland Tanganyika to form the United Republic of Tanzania. These turbulent events provided the dramatic backdrop against which Salim was raised, and they shaped his character and the political opinions of his formative years. They left an indelible mark on his psyche, and an insatiable appetite for politics and history.
"As a student of history I recall that not many had given the OAU much of a chance of surviving the turbulence that went with the efforts to consolidate the gains of the post-independence era of African politics. It was a period during which our aspiration for greater unity and cohesion in Africa was repeatedly threatened, in spite of the strong vision of a united continent that many founding fathers of the OAU advocated and defended jealously. They refused to be intimidated by the daunting nature of the challenges that confronted them."
There were some harrowing moments for Salim as OAU secretary-general. The worst, he recalls was when inspecting the mass graves of victims of the Rwandan massacres. Another terrible incident was when on a visit to Sierra Leone he was introduced to a little girl, Maimouna, who had her ears, hands and legs chopped off when still a suckling infant. He cannot understand what motivates some people to commit such atrocities. The world watched in paralysed horror at the senseless and sanguinary violence that engulfed broad swathes of the African continent.
The most exhilarating moment of his years in office is when former South African President Nelson Mandela was released from prison and when he was elected president of a democratic, non-racially segregated South Africa, in a landslide victory. Another inspiring moment was when the African Union was proclaimed in Sirte, Libya earlier this year and again in Lusaka.
"Today I appeal to you, the successor generation of leaders and champions of our new Pan- African quest, to once again find that innermost strength to move our continent to a new level of unity, which irrespective of country, race, creed, ethnicity and religion, can galvanize our people for action," Salim said at the opening session of the 37th OAU summit in Lusaka.
It was his last address at an OAU summit as the Pan-African body's secretary-general. And he delivered a powerful speech, certainly the most poignant of his long and distinguished career.
"The Constituent Act [of AU] provides the political and institutional underpinnings of our desired union in terms of the basic framework. Now that we are embarking on establishing the structures of the African Union, it is imperative that further guidelines be developed with a view to identifying the modalities. This is to ensure that the enhanced unity we have committed ourselves to forge is fully and effectively embedded into the organs and institutions which we are about to establish," he told the assembled African leaders in Lusaka.
More easily said than done? No, he is optimistic by nature. In spite of the many raging conflicts in Africa he sees a silver lining lacing the darkening clouds gathering over the continent's trouble spots. Democracy is taking root in many African countries and there is a heightened awareness of the sanctity of human rights, a greater role played by civil society and the proliferation of non-governmental organisations even as economic conditions worsen in many parts of the continent.
"This is a time of tremendous opportunity for Africa. We must make great capital of this sense of hope and possibility, as a foundation upon which we can secure and construct the future of our continent. There is, I believe, a coincidence of great opportunity and propitious time, we need to seize both the moment and the opportunity." - (Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim interviewed by Gamal Nkrumah, "Al Ahram Weekly," Special/High flyer, Issue No. 543, Cairo, Egypt, 19 - 25 July 2001).