Kuzikwa kwa "Siku ya Matambara" na Kuzaliwa kwa Rev. Square

Ado Shaibu

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Jul 3, 2010
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KUZIKWA KWA SIKU YA MATAMBARA NA KUZALIWA KWA REV. SQUARE

Na Ado Shaibu

“Tukio la kusheherekea maisha na mapambano ya Komredi Walter Rodney si jambo geni kwenye kampasi hii ambayo hapo kabla tuliita kwa kujivunia ‘Mlimani’. Miaka ishirini na tano iliyopita wakati Rodney alipouawa na Burnham ( Forbes Sampson Burnham, rais wa Guyana) tulifanya mjadala

Kwenye mkutano ule tulipitisha azimio la kuutaka uongozi wa Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam kumtunuku Walter Rodney kwa kusimika sanamu yake pale Revolutunary Square..Hakuna kilichotokea!

“Mwaka jana mwezi Juni tulifanya kumbukizi ya kifo cha Walter Rodney na hivi leo (2006) tuna mkutano huu. Tumezungumzia tena wito wa kuwekwa kwa sanamu. Labda wakati huu itasimikwa. Lakini, iko wapi hiyo Revolutionary Square ya kusimika sanamu? Mambo yamebadilika; nyakati zimebadilika. Nani anakumbuka kwa nini eneo lile karibu na duka la vitabu liliitwa Revolutionary Square?

….Revolutionary Square ya zama za Walter Rodney ilikuwa ni kiunga karibu na Kafeteria ya wanafunzi na pembeni ya duka la vitabu la Chuo. Pale palikuwa ni eneo ambalo kikundi cha kiharakati cha wanafunzi, the University Students Revolutionary Front au USARF kama kilivyojulikana kiliiangamiza siku ya matambara (the Rag Day) na kuanzia hapo pahala pale pakajulikana kama Rev. Square….Siku hizi kiunga hicho kimejaa maegesho ya magari na matokeo yake kinaweza kubinafsishwa muda wowote!”

Nukuu hiyo hapo juu nimeichukua kwenye kitabu cha Where is Uhuru cha I.G. Shivji. ( Kwenye sura ya iitwayo ‘Walter Rodney: A Revolutionary Intellectual’. Tafsiri ni yangu ). Tumekwishaona kwenye nukuu hiyo kwamba kuzikwa kwa Rag Day ilikuwa ndiyo kuzaliwa kwa Rev. Square. Rag Day ilikuwa kitu gani hasa? Kwa nini ilizikwa?

Hapa tutaangazia tukio hilo kwa ufupi. Wenye kupenda kujisomea kwa kina kuhusu tukio la Rag Day wapitie vitabu vya Cheche: Reminiscences of a Radical Magazine na Intellectuals at the Hill.

Rag Day ilikuwa siku mahsusi ambapo wanafunzi kwenye vyuo vikuu, ikiwemo Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam walikuwa wakijivika matambara na kisha kwenda mjini kuomba. Michango iliyokusanywa ilipelekwa kwa watu masikini. Chimbuko la siku hii ni kwenye vyuo vikuu vya Kimagharibi na kwa Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam ilikuwa ikidhaminiwa na World University Service.

Mwaka 1968, Rag Day ilipowadia, wafuasi wa siku hiyo walijiweka tayari. Matangazo kwenye mbao za matangazo yalisomeka bayana: “Dress in RAGS of every colour and description. Rehearse your calls and songs! Plenty of noise is required…”. Naam, wafuasi wa RAG Day walijipanga kwenda mitaa mbalimbali ya jiji wakiwa kwenye matambara ili kuomba, au kwa lugha nyepesi, kuwaiga masikini japo kwa siku moja.

Upande wa pili, wanafunzi wanaharakati ( Wana-USARF) walifanya kikao usiku. Walter Rodney alikuwepo pia kikaoni. Iliafikiwa kikaoni kwamba utamaduni wa wanafunzi wa chuo kikuu kuvaa matambara kwa siku moja ni dharau kwa watu masikini. Ikaazimiwa kwamba Rag Day lazima ikomeshwe.

Asubuhi, wakati wafuasi wa Rag Day wakipata chai, wanaharakati wa USARF waliyatoa upepo magari yaliyoandaliwa kuwachukua “ombaomba wa siku moja’’ tayari kwenda mjini. Askari wa Chuo walipoletwa kutuliza mgogoro, kiongozi wa USARF Yoweri Kaguta Museveni ( Huyu huyu anayewakung’uta virungu kina Besigye sasa) alipanda jukwaani na kuwaeleza askari kwamba Rag Day ni dhihaka kwa watu wa chini. Askari wale walioonekana kuelewa na wakaondoka bila kufanya kitu.

Polisi nao walipoitwa Museveni akaendeleza hotuba yake akiwa kwenye eneo ambalo baadaye liliitwa Rev. Square. Mwishowe, polisi wakaamua kufuta kibali cha Rag Day na huo ndio ukawa mwisho wa tukio la wanafunzi wa chuo kikuu kuvaa matambara ili kuwaiga watu wa chini na kuombaomba mitaani kwa kile walichodai, kukusanya pesa kwa ajili ya watu masikini.

Akiandika mwaka 2010, Zakia Meghi (huyu huyu aliyewahi kuwa waziri wetu wa fedha) anakielezea vizuri kisa hiki: “On that fateful Saturday, the 9th of November 1968, USARF members including I woke up early. Before anyone had a clue as to what was happening, we simply deflated the tires of the vehicles that would carry students to town for Rag Day. We also stood and blocked their exit. In no time, the few of us confronted more than a hundred ragged hypocrites.

The campus police intervened to prevent an escalation of hostilities. When we explained our stand, even the ordinary policeman agreed with us..USARF was roundly criticized in the Standard, a mouthpiece of reaction in those days. We were called enemies of poor children.

But we defended our action saying that it was the capitalist system which perpetuated poverty. Charity was a way to cover up unjust system, a device by which the rich soothed their conscience. We wanted to change the system and make poverty history.
By this act, USARF made history. Never again was the Rag Day held. The area near the bookstore was renamed the Revolutionary Square” ( Rejea kitabu cha Cheche Uk.78)
…………………………………………………………
 
Ahsante mkuu
Niliwahi jiuliza why Rev Square
Miaka ambayo tulitembelea udsm hiyo ilikuwa sehemu ya kudai haki na kupanga mikakati ya kuieleza serikali ukweli

Hakika ilikuwa sehemu ya mapambano tatizo eneo kwa sasa ni dogo ukilinganisha na idadi ya wanafunzi

Na chuo sasa kimegeuzwa chama cha wanakondoo
 
huh!.... it seems like those USARF students were filled with communism adeas, it might've been hard for them when they saw communism crumbling almost everywhere around the unfortunate parts of the world where they dared to try it and came to realise it was the biggest lie of the 20th century.
 
Interesting....

The history tried to repeat itself some years later when another Ugandan going by the name Odwar, stepped on the same Rev Square. Guess what....? The same Kaguta stopped it in one way or another.

Is it a coincidence?
Are there Tanzanians doing the likes abroad?
Is our system porous or accommodating?
 
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