Geza Ulole
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- Oct 31, 2009
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From TEMI MARELLE in Moshi, 8th December 2011 @ 16:00, Total Comments: 0, Hits: 76
CHIEF Marealle II developed good relationship with religious institutions, with his administration giving grants to all schools including those belonging to the Lutheran, Roman Catholic and Muslims in Kilimanjaro region.
The grants helped in buying school equipment and paying teachers salaries and all students whose parents could not pay school fees or fees at Makerere College received grants from the Chief's Administration-the Chagga Council Treasury.
The school middle school, secondary school and Makerere College fees were 400/-, 700/- and 15,000/- per year, respectively while primary school education was not only free but also compulsory, with all school equipment-desks, exercise books, pens and pencils, textbooks, rulers, ink and school uniforms-provided freely.
The boarding schools beds, mattresses and bed sheets were free too and many famous and successful people from Kilimanjaro-ministers, deputy ministers and judges as well as successful politicians and businessmen got education in schools built by Chief Marealle.
The relationship between the Marealle family and religious leaders did not start with Marealle II. During his reign Chief Marealle's grandfather, Marealle I invited to Marangu the first German Lutheran Missionaries and in 1896 Marealle I gave them land to build a Church and a school.
It's believed that the land on which Marangu Teacher Training College (TTC) was built in 1902, was also given by Marealle I who built his two-storey palace in Marangu in 1888 and became a highly successful coffee farmer, owning 15,000 coffee trees in 1909. He ruled Kilimanjaro from 1893 through 1912 and died in 1916.
Chief Marealle II addressed the then Trusteeship Council of the UN in New York on June 17, 1957, where he gave a brilliant speech petitioning for Tanganyika's Independence. Mwalimu Nyerere also gave a passionate speech petitioning for the Independence of Tanganyika the next day and was full of praise for Chief Marealle's Speech, saying:-
"Yesterday, I was very pleased when I listened to Chief Marealle II, the Mangi Mkuu of the Wachagga, making his statement. I should like, if I may say so, to recommend the speech which the Mangi Mkuu made.
He expressed then what, I am sure, everyone in Tanganyika would agree were our fears and hopes about the future. And I believe that the statement of Chief Marealle II, which was virtually the same kind of statement which I have made to this Council before, has even greater significance than mine."
After his UN Speech Chief Marealle II addressed the meeting of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Minnesota on 23 August 1957 and in discussions he had, he repeated his proposal that Lutheran Church in Africa should have Bishops like elsewhere in the world.
He had first made the proposal at the First All Africa Lutheran Conference he hosted in his kingdom at his birth place of Marangu in Tanganyika in November 1955. He argued that although we have Presidents and Superintendents in our Lutheran Church, these titles "bear very little weight here."
After his US tour-he was the first Tanganyikan to visit the US as a guest of the US government-he visited a number of European countries before returning home. He visited Germany to thank the families of the Lutheran Missionaries like Dr Guttman who had brought Christianity and Education to Tanganyika in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
He received a warm reception amid promises of continued assistance to Africa. In 1997 Chief Marealle had translated from German into Swahili Johannes Schanz's book on the History of the Lutheran Church in East Africa 1902- 1912.
He had realised the importance of promoting the Swahili language as a tool for unifying Tanganyika's tribes, and even the publication of his own administration "Komkya" (Chagga for "Dawn") was in Kiswahili and not Kichagga.
It's unfortunate however that although Chief Marealle translated three books from English to Swahili, started the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation in Swahili and published Komkya in Swahili, he is nowhere among the list of people who have contributed to the growth of Kiswahili.
Chief Marealle started the TBC in Dar es Salaam and was the first Programs Manager and also the first Broadcaster, broadcasting in Swahili and English. The late Rashidi Kawawa was one of the Chief's assistants, working in the Film Unit. Since 1951 the TBC has interviewed people from all walks of life including politicians, religious leaders and academicians except its founder-Chief Marealle-who was the first person in the country to preach and promote environmental protection.
The Chagga have always lived and conducted their economic and agricultural activities on Kilimanjaro for centuries, the Africa's tallest mountain was part of Chief Marealle's kingdom and therefore he took it as his responsibility to protect the mountain and its environment.
His administration vigorously promoted environmental conservation and a belt of wattle half a mile wide surrounding the mountain and nobody was allowed to cut trees above the strip. The Chief had a forest department with forest officers employed to protect the mountain, the forest and the environment.
The Chief started the Northern Province Chief Convention in 1956 and later, in 1957, the Territorial Chiefs Convention (TCC) that sought to bring together all the Chiefs in Tanganyika, break down barriers and increase cooperation. This was the first step towards ending tribalism in the country.
Chief Marealle used to send assistances to many other tribes, the Wagogo of Dodoma for instance when they encountered famine in 1956. The sole female Chief, Mwami Theresa Ntare of Kasulu district in Kigoma region became the first chairperson of the TCC, with Chief Marealle deputising her.
He had wanted to invite Mwalimu Julius Nyerere to address the Convention and reassure him that the Chiefs were in support of his efforts to obtain independence but when some of the Chiefs objected to Mwalimu's invitation, Chief Marealle relinquished his position in the TCC.
Daily News | Meet Chief Marealle, unsung hero of Kiswahili promotion
MY TAKE
I know this will be a topic of contention ila this is what Chief Marealle did and for some reasons the Tanzanians were not been told except the smear campaigns about his reign and his ant-independence motives
CHIEF Marealle II developed good relationship with religious institutions, with his administration giving grants to all schools including those belonging to the Lutheran, Roman Catholic and Muslims in Kilimanjaro region.
The grants helped in buying school equipment and paying teachers salaries and all students whose parents could not pay school fees or fees at Makerere College received grants from the Chief's Administration-the Chagga Council Treasury.
The school middle school, secondary school and Makerere College fees were 400/-, 700/- and 15,000/- per year, respectively while primary school education was not only free but also compulsory, with all school equipment-desks, exercise books, pens and pencils, textbooks, rulers, ink and school uniforms-provided freely.
The boarding schools beds, mattresses and bed sheets were free too and many famous and successful people from Kilimanjaro-ministers, deputy ministers and judges as well as successful politicians and businessmen got education in schools built by Chief Marealle.
The relationship between the Marealle family and religious leaders did not start with Marealle II. During his reign Chief Marealle's grandfather, Marealle I invited to Marangu the first German Lutheran Missionaries and in 1896 Marealle I gave them land to build a Church and a school.
It's believed that the land on which Marangu Teacher Training College (TTC) was built in 1902, was also given by Marealle I who built his two-storey palace in Marangu in 1888 and became a highly successful coffee farmer, owning 15,000 coffee trees in 1909. He ruled Kilimanjaro from 1893 through 1912 and died in 1916.
Chief Marealle II addressed the then Trusteeship Council of the UN in New York on June 17, 1957, where he gave a brilliant speech petitioning for Tanganyika's Independence. Mwalimu Nyerere also gave a passionate speech petitioning for the Independence of Tanganyika the next day and was full of praise for Chief Marealle's Speech, saying:-
"Yesterday, I was very pleased when I listened to Chief Marealle II, the Mangi Mkuu of the Wachagga, making his statement. I should like, if I may say so, to recommend the speech which the Mangi Mkuu made.
He expressed then what, I am sure, everyone in Tanganyika would agree were our fears and hopes about the future. And I believe that the statement of Chief Marealle II, which was virtually the same kind of statement which I have made to this Council before, has even greater significance than mine."
After his UN Speech Chief Marealle II addressed the meeting of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Minnesota on 23 August 1957 and in discussions he had, he repeated his proposal that Lutheran Church in Africa should have Bishops like elsewhere in the world.
He had first made the proposal at the First All Africa Lutheran Conference he hosted in his kingdom at his birth place of Marangu in Tanganyika in November 1955. He argued that although we have Presidents and Superintendents in our Lutheran Church, these titles "bear very little weight here."
After his US tour-he was the first Tanganyikan to visit the US as a guest of the US government-he visited a number of European countries before returning home. He visited Germany to thank the families of the Lutheran Missionaries like Dr Guttman who had brought Christianity and Education to Tanganyika in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
He received a warm reception amid promises of continued assistance to Africa. In 1997 Chief Marealle had translated from German into Swahili Johannes Schanz's book on the History of the Lutheran Church in East Africa 1902- 1912.
He had realised the importance of promoting the Swahili language as a tool for unifying Tanganyika's tribes, and even the publication of his own administration "Komkya" (Chagga for "Dawn") was in Kiswahili and not Kichagga.
It's unfortunate however that although Chief Marealle translated three books from English to Swahili, started the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation in Swahili and published Komkya in Swahili, he is nowhere among the list of people who have contributed to the growth of Kiswahili.
Chief Marealle started the TBC in Dar es Salaam and was the first Programs Manager and also the first Broadcaster, broadcasting in Swahili and English. The late Rashidi Kawawa was one of the Chief's assistants, working in the Film Unit. Since 1951 the TBC has interviewed people from all walks of life including politicians, religious leaders and academicians except its founder-Chief Marealle-who was the first person in the country to preach and promote environmental protection.
The Chagga have always lived and conducted their economic and agricultural activities on Kilimanjaro for centuries, the Africa's tallest mountain was part of Chief Marealle's kingdom and therefore he took it as his responsibility to protect the mountain and its environment.
His administration vigorously promoted environmental conservation and a belt of wattle half a mile wide surrounding the mountain and nobody was allowed to cut trees above the strip. The Chief had a forest department with forest officers employed to protect the mountain, the forest and the environment.
The Chief started the Northern Province Chief Convention in 1956 and later, in 1957, the Territorial Chiefs Convention (TCC) that sought to bring together all the Chiefs in Tanganyika, break down barriers and increase cooperation. This was the first step towards ending tribalism in the country.
Chief Marealle used to send assistances to many other tribes, the Wagogo of Dodoma for instance when they encountered famine in 1956. The sole female Chief, Mwami Theresa Ntare of Kasulu district in Kigoma region became the first chairperson of the TCC, with Chief Marealle deputising her.
He had wanted to invite Mwalimu Julius Nyerere to address the Convention and reassure him that the Chiefs were in support of his efforts to obtain independence but when some of the Chiefs objected to Mwalimu's invitation, Chief Marealle relinquished his position in the TCC.
Daily News | Meet Chief Marealle, unsung hero of Kiswahili promotion
MY TAKE
I know this will be a topic of contention ila this is what Chief Marealle did and for some reasons the Tanzanians were not been told except the smear campaigns about his reign and his ant-independence motives
