Don YF
JF-Expert Member
- May 24, 2014
- 11,111
- 10,546
By Meshach Yobby (Facebook post)
I think this will be my last post on Tanzania, and why their hatred for us was institutionalised. I'll try to summarise.
Before independence, Nyerere wanted Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika, Zanzibar, to form the East African Federation. He knew it would be easier to form it before independence and campaigned greatly for it, including to Britain and the U.S. Britain was in support.
However, there were some African countries that opposed it. Nkrumah of Ghana called it the Balkanization of Africa which would see Britain retain control of a large region of Africa.
Contrary to what people believe, the strongest opposition in East Africa came from Obote in Uganda, not Kenya. There were internal pressures from the Kingdom of Buganda, the church, and I don't know who else. Some say that Obote was in Nkrumah's pocket.
Kenyatta did not say much. His only slip of the tongue was during a visit to Kisumu in 1964, when he said that he had used the pretext of a Federation only to get Britain to grant Kenya an earlier independence date. Strike 1: Kenyatta used Nyerere's ambition as a play to get an earlier independence date for Kenya, with no evidence of solid intention of following through.
By the end of 1964, the dream of an East African Federation had died.
In that same 1964, Tanganyika and Zanzibar 'united' to form Tanzania. I say 'united' because the original Articles of the Union signed by Karume of Zanzibar and Nyerere does not exist. And for the Articles of the Union to be valid, it had to be ratified by both the Parliaments of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. Tanganyika did. Zanzibar did not.
If you travel, you will see that Zanzibar is semi-autonomous, and has been the Kisumu of Tanzania, always protesting and being brutalised by security agencies. They have their own parliament and President. And even Tanganyikans will pay import taxes when bringing in stuff from Zanzibar to Dar.
Back to the story.
in 1967, talks were revived. The Treaty for East African Cooperation, which established the East African Community, was signed. Common markets, common customs tariffs, abolishment of trade restrictions, harmonisation of fiscal policies, etc.
Pretty good idea. The countries agreed to measures to promote balanced industrial development. They'd transfer tax on intra-Community trade to protect industries of the less industrially developed members of the Community against those of the more developed.
They established the East African Development Bank with equal contributions from each state. They also formed the East African Railways Corporation, the East African Harbours Corporation, the East African Ports and Telecommunications Corporation, and the East African Airways Corporation.
The highest decision making organ was the East African Authority comprising Obote, Kenyatta and Nyerere. Whatever they decided unanimously was the direction the Community would take.
But Idi Amin ousted Obote in 1971, and he went on a rampage. Nyerere refused to sit on the same table with him. The East African Authority never met again.
Intra-Community trade restrictions were introduced, which led to the collapse of the Common Market.
In 1977, Tanzania accused Kenya of unilaterally dismantling joint facilities, like ports and the East African Railway, and taking over the East African Airways and seizing EAC ships.
But Kenya said that it was setting up its own airline because Tanzania and Uganda refused to pay their share to the airline's headquarters in Nairobi. Kenya was EAA's main creditor, and the other two countries were struggling to pay their share.
But Tanzania was not all innocent. Their socialist ideologies competed with Kenya's capitalism. They got friendly with Kaunda's Zambia and built the TAZARA railway outside of the East African Community framework, using materials from China when materials could, and had previously, been sourced from Kenya. At that time, Kenya cosied up to Ethiopia and Uganda befriended DRC.
From that collapse in 1977 and Kenya retaining most EAC assets, Tanzania has taken an aggressive foreign policy against us. Nyerere's dream died, and he felt betrayed. Strike 2: Each EAC country retained assets present in their countries at the time of collapse, and Kenya had plenty that it did not share. Inter-governmental conflicts became transferred to the citizens. So whether you are the most sinless person, as long as you are Kenyan, you will be met with mistrust.
Tanzania's association with southern Africa's liberation movements has made them more receptive to SADC than EAC, despite EAC headquarters being in Arusha. They did not need a visa to SA, Kenya did. Flights to SA are cheaper from Tanzania. Their national anthem is basically a translation of Nkosi Sikelel IAfrica, which is largely shared by South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia. It was also the national anthem of Namibia and Zimbabwe at some point after Independence.
We share a language, but I doubt we will become a full union in my lifetime.
P.S. I have to say that I have worked in Uganda and Rwanda. I got no problems at all entering and working there, even with a lot of equipment. I came in with a Tanzanian team last year, with equipment, and it was smooth entry and exit for them.
But in Tanzania, EAC members will be asked to state their business, and as long as it is not tourism, you will be charged USD100 for a single-entry business pass. EVEN FOR A MEETING/CONFERENCE.
Chamoto
Geza Ulole
Discuss your take..,
I think this will be my last post on Tanzania, and why their hatred for us was institutionalised. I'll try to summarise.
Before independence, Nyerere wanted Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika, Zanzibar, to form the East African Federation. He knew it would be easier to form it before independence and campaigned greatly for it, including to Britain and the U.S. Britain was in support.
However, there were some African countries that opposed it. Nkrumah of Ghana called it the Balkanization of Africa which would see Britain retain control of a large region of Africa.
Contrary to what people believe, the strongest opposition in East Africa came from Obote in Uganda, not Kenya. There were internal pressures from the Kingdom of Buganda, the church, and I don't know who else. Some say that Obote was in Nkrumah's pocket.
Kenyatta did not say much. His only slip of the tongue was during a visit to Kisumu in 1964, when he said that he had used the pretext of a Federation only to get Britain to grant Kenya an earlier independence date. Strike 1: Kenyatta used Nyerere's ambition as a play to get an earlier independence date for Kenya, with no evidence of solid intention of following through.
By the end of 1964, the dream of an East African Federation had died.
In that same 1964, Tanganyika and Zanzibar 'united' to form Tanzania. I say 'united' because the original Articles of the Union signed by Karume of Zanzibar and Nyerere does not exist. And for the Articles of the Union to be valid, it had to be ratified by both the Parliaments of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. Tanganyika did. Zanzibar did not.
If you travel, you will see that Zanzibar is semi-autonomous, and has been the Kisumu of Tanzania, always protesting and being brutalised by security agencies. They have their own parliament and President. And even Tanganyikans will pay import taxes when bringing in stuff from Zanzibar to Dar.
Back to the story.
in 1967, talks were revived. The Treaty for East African Cooperation, which established the East African Community, was signed. Common markets, common customs tariffs, abolishment of trade restrictions, harmonisation of fiscal policies, etc.
Pretty good idea. The countries agreed to measures to promote balanced industrial development. They'd transfer tax on intra-Community trade to protect industries of the less industrially developed members of the Community against those of the more developed.
They established the East African Development Bank with equal contributions from each state. They also formed the East African Railways Corporation, the East African Harbours Corporation, the East African Ports and Telecommunications Corporation, and the East African Airways Corporation.
The highest decision making organ was the East African Authority comprising Obote, Kenyatta and Nyerere. Whatever they decided unanimously was the direction the Community would take.
But Idi Amin ousted Obote in 1971, and he went on a rampage. Nyerere refused to sit on the same table with him. The East African Authority never met again.
Intra-Community trade restrictions were introduced, which led to the collapse of the Common Market.
In 1977, Tanzania accused Kenya of unilaterally dismantling joint facilities, like ports and the East African Railway, and taking over the East African Airways and seizing EAC ships.
But Kenya said that it was setting up its own airline because Tanzania and Uganda refused to pay their share to the airline's headquarters in Nairobi. Kenya was EAA's main creditor, and the other two countries were struggling to pay their share.
But Tanzania was not all innocent. Their socialist ideologies competed with Kenya's capitalism. They got friendly with Kaunda's Zambia and built the TAZARA railway outside of the East African Community framework, using materials from China when materials could, and had previously, been sourced from Kenya. At that time, Kenya cosied up to Ethiopia and Uganda befriended DRC.
From that collapse in 1977 and Kenya retaining most EAC assets, Tanzania has taken an aggressive foreign policy against us. Nyerere's dream died, and he felt betrayed. Strike 2: Each EAC country retained assets present in their countries at the time of collapse, and Kenya had plenty that it did not share. Inter-governmental conflicts became transferred to the citizens. So whether you are the most sinless person, as long as you are Kenyan, you will be met with mistrust.
Tanzania's association with southern Africa's liberation movements has made them more receptive to SADC than EAC, despite EAC headquarters being in Arusha. They did not need a visa to SA, Kenya did. Flights to SA are cheaper from Tanzania. Their national anthem is basically a translation of Nkosi Sikelel IAfrica, which is largely shared by South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia. It was also the national anthem of Namibia and Zimbabwe at some point after Independence.
We share a language, but I doubt we will become a full union in my lifetime.
P.S. I have to say that I have worked in Uganda and Rwanda. I got no problems at all entering and working there, even with a lot of equipment. I came in with a Tanzanian team last year, with equipment, and it was smooth entry and exit for them.
But in Tanzania, EAC members will be asked to state their business, and as long as it is not tourism, you will be charged USD100 for a single-entry business pass. EVEN FOR A MEETING/CONFERENCE.
Chamoto
Geza Ulole
Discuss your take..,
