Hi,
Is there any way you could furnish me with the article on Nyerere by Prof.
Ayittey and co-writer? I unknowingly deleted it. PLease send it to my e-mail
account. Thanks.

Cherno B. Jallow
Detroit, Michigan

>From: Madiba Saidy <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: The Burial Of Julius Nyerere
>Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 12:04:45 -0700
>
>Mr. Sallah,
>
>I'll forward your write-up to Mr. George Ayiteh.
>
>Cheers,
>         Madiba.
>
>On Tue, 26 Oct 1999, foroyaa wrote:
>
> > Published in FOROYAA of 25-28 October 1999.
> >
> >
> >
> > THE BURIAL OF JULIUS NYERERE
> >
> > The Criticisms and the Facts
> >
> > On 14 October 1999, Julius Nyerere departed. He was 77 years old and he
>died at St Thomas Hospital in London. Many heads of state paid respect to
>him. Eventually, his body was flown to Musoma and transported by road to
>his home in Butiama for a family burial.
> >
> > Prior to his burial, critics and admirers utilised all forms of media to
>state their various opinions about him.
> >
> > It is important to emphasise that individuals do not make history. It is
>people who build political, economic and social systems. Individuals can
>influence the history makers either by giving them inspiration and clarity
>to ensure that they carve a destiny under the sun that can guarantee them
>liberty in prosperity or serve to fetter their awareness and thus deprive
>them of the ability to be the architects of their own destiny. Individuals
>can either be part of the problem or part of the solution.
> >
> > Hence, if we want to judge Nyerere fairly, we must identify his proper
>place in the struggle for the liberation of the African people to achieve
>liberty, dignity and prosperity.
> >
> > We must, therefore, ask the question: Was Nyerere part of the problem or
>part of the solution? In order to answer this question, we must enter into
>dialogue with Nyerere. Unfortunately for many critics, like one Dr George
>B.N. Ayiteh, a Ghanaian Associate Professor of Economics at American
>University, Washington DC, and Ludovick Shirama, a Tanzanian and Research
>Assistant at the Free Africa Foundation, Washington D.C., history is
>interpreted without relying on the facts which provide for its basis.
> >
> > To them, the Nyereres and the Kwame Nkrumahs constituted the problem of
>Africa and were not part of the solution. They do not see society in its
>process of change and development, but see reality as fixed+ADs- concepts
>which lack contextual framework. Consequently, they could easily pass
>judgment after assuming the posture of prosecutor, judge and jury.
> >
> > It is, therefore, important to revisit African history and put the facts
>in their proper context. In order to do that, we must also contextualise
>the history of the world. Those who focus on Africa without focusing on the
>world outside of Africa at each given historical period can neither
>understand Africa nor the world.
> >
> > It is very important to bear in mind that liberation has been a process.
>It started with a process of identity formation with many Pan African
>Congresses being held. The Fifth Pan African Congress of 1945 laid the
>basis for the national liberation struggle which culminated in the
>attainment of political independence of most African countries in the
>1960s.
> >
> > While the African peoples were struggling for independence, the
>colonialists were struggling to impose their domination. They imposed
>monarchies on the African people and were ready to go to war to maintain
>their domination. It stands to reason that the will of the people could not
>be the determinant of African Governments under colonialism. Colonialism
>was a fetter to democracy and progress. Hence, the establishment of
>democratic states was inconceivable as long as colonialism existed. Hence,
>those who were the architects of African independence achieved the first
>stage of the liberation of the African people, that is, liberation from
>colonial domination.
> >
> > Once liberation was achieved, the African governments were confronted
>with the task of economic emancipation and the establishment of governments
>which will give authority to the people and ensure that authority derived
>from the people is utilised to achieve their aims and aspirations.
> >
> > The problem which these early liberators faced should be fully
>understood before they could be properly judged. Take the two people we
>mentioned, who claim that stadia, streets and all sorts of monuments were
>erected in the name of the Nyereres and the Kwame Nkrumahs. Yet they are
>writing their analysis from Washington D.C. forgetting that monuments,
>capitals, streets of all sorts are named after the Washingtons, the Thomas
>Jeffersons. They, who may be students of American government, could have
>read about concepts like Jeffersonian Democracy+ADs- yet history teaches us
>that George Washington was opposed to the establishment of many parties in
>the United States and refused to continue leading when it was clear that a
>multiparty system was emerging.
> >
> > Suffice it to say, he was never directly elected by the people, but was
>elected by an Electoral College for two terms, yet he is considered the
>father of the American nation and his memory is celebrated everywhere in
>the United States.
> >
> > Needless to say, George Washington owned slaves. The same thing with
>Thomas Jefferson, who was the author of the famous Declaration of American
>Independence. Kwame Nkrumah and Nyerere never owned slaves. However,
>history permits us to judge George Washington and Thomas Jefferson in a
>good light for having struggled for the liberation of America according to
>the limit set by their time and circumstances. If we judge them outside the
>bounds of their times and circumstances, we will begin to question their
>greatness for he or she who transforms one's fellow human being into a
>slave cannot be considered to be a defender of liberty and humanity.
> >
> > We must say at the time that the Kwame Nkrumahs and Nyereres were
>fighting for independence, people in Germany were just emerging from
>fascism and were trying to redefine their own identity. The Fourth Republic
>in France also came into being in 1945 and in the elections for a National
>Assembly women in France voted for the first time.
> >
> > History teaches that De Gaulle resigned as President in January 1946
>because of his disagreement with the Assembly. De Gaulle opposed the new
>constitution which did not provide him with the strong executive powers he
>wanted to assume. A bloody war was imposed on the Algerian people by France
>and the French army which was being defeated in Algeria in 1958 rebelled
>and threatened to overthrow the government unless De Gaulle was called back
>to power. History teaches us that de Gaulle became Prime Minister and
>imposed emergency powers in France for six months. He also gave birth to a
>new constitution which gave him greater powers and the powers of parliament
>were reduced. In December 1958, an Electoral College elected De Gaulle as
>President to a 7 year term.
> >
> > When De Gaulle was imposing his absolute power on the French people by
>the threats of arms, Kwame Nkrumah was organising in 1958 conferences of
>independent African states in April, 1958 and all-African peoples
>conferences comprising liberation movements and political parties
>throughout the continent to prepare the ground for the total liberation of
>the African continent from colonialism.
> >
> > De Gaulle is, however, seen as a great leader by the French people.
>However, our Dr George Ayiteh wants to consign the Nkrumahs and the
>Nyereres to the camp of political bandits who robbed Africa of a future.
> >
> > They say in their paper that it is criminally irresponsible for people
>to accord the Nkrumahs and Nyereres the respect that is being given to them
>by those who knew their contributions. We must assert that nothing can be
>more criminally irresponsible than to give the impression that the Kwames
>and the Nyereres were enemies of Africa without comparing their
>contribution with those who were the original inspirers of liberation
>movements in other countries or comparing them with other leaders of their
>times.
> >
> > In order to understand the Kwame Nkrumahs, the nyereres and Lumumbas,
>one must understand the type of world that existed in the late 1950s and
>early 1960s. It was a world of covert and overt actions to suppress the
>colonised peoples from achieving liberation. It was a world of terror+ADs-
>a world of plots+ADs- a world of sinister plans to promote the selfish
>interests of those who controlled the world economy. They had
>disinformation at their services to be able to manipulate the minds of the
>people who were struggling for liberation.
> >
> > In 1958, when Kwame Nkrumah was transforming Ghana to be a bridgehead
>for the total liberation of the African Continent, the Ku Klux Klan reigned
>in the United States. Black people could not ride the same buses with white
>people. They could not sit in the restaurants or drink from the same water
>fountain. In fact, Mrs Rosa Parks' defiance of the City's Segregation
>Ordinance of Montgomery, Alabama led to a trial and conviction.
> >
> > Kennedy is seen as a saint. However, he presided over a nation where the
>Ku Klux Klan murdered black people with impunity. U.S. Congress served the
>humiliating role of debating whether to pass legislations outlawing
>discrimination on the basis of race.
> >
> > In short, whilst Kennedy was the President of the United States, there
>were laws which barred black people from holding certain employment in the
>conduct of voter registration and access to public accommodation. Police
>dogs, batons, suppression of all sorts followed the civil rights protest
>movement.
> >
> > The world in which Kwame and Nyerere lived when they assumed office was
>a world where people in the North and South were all kept ignorant. They
>did not know what democratic rights were. All of them worshipped their
>leaders. Narrow nationalism was the order of the day, and each nation was
>trying to impose its power on the world.
> >
> > The task which confronted the Nkrumahs and Nyereres were two-fold. How
>to quickly deliver economic prosperity to a marginalised people who were
>kept completely ignorant under colonialism and had no sense of nationhood,
>but were in fact divided into tribal groupings and were living under local
>authorities who behaved like monarchs above them.
> >
> > How was democracy to be brought to such a people? By declaration from
>above? Clearly, the task was a great one and required the decolonisation of
>minds.
> >
> > Furthermore, how were they to build independent national economies when
>colonialism had reduced their individual countries into cocoa producers,
>groundnut producers, tea producers and importers of everything else. They
>were confronted with a situation where the colonialists had not created any
>avenue for the local population to become owners of capital so as to invest
>in a local economy.
> >
> > On the contrary, it was the colonial multinational corporations which
>controlled imports and exports, mines, plantations and industrial
>establishments. What could such people do to create a national economy?
>This was the rationale behind nationalization ventures, be they ill-fated
>or not. If one studies the economies of Taiwan, of Singapore, one would see
>that the state intervened in all these countries because of the lack of
>wealthy capitalists who would take control of the productive enterprises of
>their economies.
> >
> > Our Dr George Ayiteh talks about economic failures. It seems that he has
>not read Nkrumah who declared from the very beginning that all African
>governments were going to fail if they failed to build a union of African
>states. He told them that all their economies were controlled by
>multinational corporations which controlled mines, factories, communication
>networks, all the institutions which make a nation economically viable, and
>that individual economies would not be able to compete with these
>multinational corporations. They would invest where they want to invest and
>deprive countries which they want to deprive. No wonder foreign direct
>investment of 90 billion dollars in 1997 which went to developing
>countries, only 2 million went to Africa.
> >
> > Hence, what has happened in Tanzania constituted mere coping strategies
>in the face of economic domination by the former colonial masters.
> >
> > So-called intellectuals like Dr George Ayiteh have the responsibility of
>examining this net in which Africa finds itself and come up with ideas
>which can facilitate the liberation of the African continent rather than
>engage in this empty quackery which those who controlled us yesterday still
>occupy us with, thus depriving us of being the architects of our own
>destiny.
> >
> > Kwame Nkrumah had indicated that the economic Commission for Africa
>should have been the depository of research findings and should have been
>the embodiment of the highest intellectual standard that could be produced
>on the African Continent+ADs- that it could have mobilised African
>intellectuals who would be able to continuously provide knowledge and
>guidance for the development of the African Continent.
> >
> > The circumstances which surrounded these people limited their own
>contributions not because they did not have the heart and the vision to
>contribute every ounce of their strength for the liberation of the African
>Continent. We, therefore, recognise the honourable aspirations and our
>heart cries with them that they have gone to their graves without seeing
>them fulfilled.
> >
> > However, as Lumumba said, the history of Africa must be re-written. We
>can assure them that a new generation is emerging which will never be found
>guilty of not empowering the people+ADs- a new generation which will
>eradicate the conception that the people need political messiahs in order
>to attain liberation+ADs- a new generation which will teach the people that
>they are their own saviours+ADs- that the role of leaders is to provide
>them with knowledge, clarity so that they will know where they are going
>and how to get there+ADs- a generation which will not only be satisfied in
>establishing systems where people will determine their manner of
>government, but will also give them power to participate in the
>administrative life of their societies by forming village committees which
>will take part in planning projects, developments of all sorts, as well as
>monitor the finances, the resources, the tendering and the implementation
>of those very projects on their behalf.
> >
> > We will come back to this very analysis of the economic strategy that
>Kwame Nkrumah had which was foiled in another analysis.
> >
> > For the purpose of paying our respect to Nyerere, it is important to do
>what we said should be done, that is, to engage in a dialogue with him.
> >
> >
> > ON LEADERSHIP
> >
> > +ACI-Let me emphasize that this leadership I am now talking about does
>not imply control, any more than it implies bullying or intimidating
>people. A good leader will explain, teach, and inspire. In an ujamaa
>village he will do more+ADs- he will lead by doing. He is in front of the
>people, showing them what can be done, guiding them, and encouraging them.
>But he is with them. You do not lead people by being so far in front or so
>theoretical in your teaching that the people cannot see what you are doing
>or saying. You do not lead people by yapping at their heels like a dog
>herding cattle. You can lead the people only by being one of them, by just
>being more active as well as more thoughtful, and more willing to teach as
>well as more willing to learn from them and others.+ACI-
> >
> > This is what Nyerere said on 1 January 1968 at a seminar organised by
>university students. Now, may we ask: Can this be the words of a tyrant?
> >
> >
> > NYERERE ON FREEDOM
> >
> > +ACI-And equally, it is impossible for one people to free another
>people, or even to defend the freedom of another people. Freedom won for a
>people by outsiders is lost to those outsiders, however good their
>intentions, or however much the outsiders had desired to free their
>oppressed brothers. That is the nature of freedom+ADs- it has to be won,
>and protected, by those who desire it.
> >
> > +ACI-Of course others can help a people who are struggling for
>freedom+ADs- they can give refuge, facilities for action, and they can give
>moral and diplomatic support to an oppressed people. But no group or nation
>- however powerful - can make another group or another nation free. The
>struggle must be waged by those who expect to benefit from it. If the
>persecuted and the oppressed have really been denied their human rights,
>and if there really is no peaceful means of progress available to them,
>then they have the right to demand of the rest of us that we should support
>their struggle - and not join their oppressors on the grounds of
>maintaining peace. But we cannot replace their struggle, and we should not
>try. For if we do so we are not trying to free our brother+ADs- we are
>simply trying to replace one oppression by a different one. It may be less
>harsh, it may take different forms+ADs- but it will not mean freedom for
>those who now lack it.+ACI-
> >
> > Now, may we ask: Can someone who wanted to be a megalomaniac utter such
>statements.
> >
> >
> > NYERERE ON HUMAN RIGHTS
> >
> > +ACI-There is a continuing need for an extension of human rights
>throughout the world+ADs- that surely is incontrovertible. We cannot rest
>where we are because some of us are comfortable or content. Those of us who
>are free to develop ourselves and our nation have no right to demand that
>the oppressed, the victims of discrimination, the starving, and the
>persecuted, should acquiesce in their present condition. If we do make such
>a demand we are ourselves becoming their prosecutors and their oppressors.
>The peace which exists while such human conditions prevail is neither
>secure nor justifiable. We have no right to be patient with the wrongs
>suffered by others.
> >
> > +ACI-Yet peace is of vital importance to us all+ADs- social change and
>the improvement of the human condition must, therefore be made possible by
>other means - means which do not involve killing and destruction. For we do
>have a right to demand of our fellow human beings that they should secure
>change by peaceful means if these are open to them. We do have a right to
>demand that those who seek change should use every opportunity which exists
>for peaceful change, even if this appears to mean the slower progress of
>adapting the society in which they live rather than the excitement of
>pulling it down upon the bodies of all - including themselves. We must
>insist upon this. But if every avenue of peaceful change has been
>closed+ADs- if people are made outcasts in their own society, and denied
>any possibility of securing change through participation - do we then have
>any right to demand our peace at the price of their slavery?+ACI-
> >
> > +ACI-Surely peace under such circumstances is neither to be expected,
>nor to be justified?
> >
> > +ACI-This recognition of the ultimate paramountcy of human rights if not
>a justification for national interventionism, nor a call for some people to
>attempt to free other peoples. No nation has the right to make decisions
>for another nation+ADs- no people for another people. Some of us, like
>Tanzania, may fervently believe in a socialist organisation of our society
>as being both morally right and economically practicable. Others may
>believe equally fervently in capitalism, or in Communism. But none of us
>could or should, assume that what we have decided to be right for ourselves
>must automatically be right for others. For the truth is that it is what a
>people want for themselves at a particular time which is right for
>them+ADs- no one else is justified in trying to impose a different way of
>life.+ACI-
> >
> >
> > NYERERE ON JUSTICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY OF GOVERNMENTS
> >
> > +ACI-Yet I wonder if there is any country in the world where it can be
>truly said that no citizen is ever humiliated by the agents of this
>government, and no injustice is ever perpetrated against the people? I
>certainly could not make such a claim for Tanzania. In fact, I believe that
>all of us, everywhere, have to wage a constant struggle to support the
>supremacy of the people. We have to be constantly vigilant to ensure that
>the people are not used by the individuals to whom they have entrusted
>power, and are neither stifled by bureaucracy and inefficiency, nor misled
>by their own ignorance.+ACI-
> >
> >
> > NYERERE ON PEOPLE-CENTRED DEVELOPMENT
> >
> > +ACI-.... a man (woman) is developing himself (herself) when he (she)
>grows, or earns, enough to provide decent conditions for himself (herself)
>and his (her) family+ADs- he (she) is not being developed if someone gives
>him (her) these things. A man (woman) is developing himself (herself) when
>he (she) improves his (her) education - whatever he (she) learns about+ADs-
>he (she) is not being developed if he (she) simply carries out orders from
>someone better educated than himself (herself) without understanding why
>those orders have been given. A man (woman) develops himself (herself) by
>joining in free discussion of a new venture, and participating in the
>subsequent decision+ADs- he (she) is not being developed if he (she) is
>herded like an animal into the new venture. Development of a man (woman)
>can, in fact, only be effected by that man (woman), development of the
>people can only be effected by the people.+ACI-
> >
> >
> > NYERERE ON THE ESSENCE OF LIBERATION
> >
> > +ACI-For what do we mean when we talk of freedom/ First, there is
>national freedom+ADs- that is, the ability of the citizens of Tanzania to
>determine their own future, and to govern themselves without interference
>from non-Tanzanians. Second, there is freedom from hunger, disease,
>poverty. And third, there is personal freedom for the individual+ADs- that
>is, his (her) right to live in dignity and equality with all other, his
>(her) right to freedom of speech, freedom to participate in the making of
>all decisions which affect his (her) life, and freedom from arbitrary
>arrest because he (she) happens to annoy someone in authority - and so on.
>All these things are aspects of freedom, and the citizens of Tanzania
>cannot be said to be truly free until all of them are assured.+ACI-
> >
> >
> > NYERERE ON DEMOCRACY
> >
> > +ACI-There are, however, two essential elements of democracy without
>which it cannot work. First, is that everyone must be allowed to speak
>freely, and everyone must be listened to. It does not matter how unpopular
>a man's (woman) ideas, or how mistaken the majority think him (her). It
>does not make any difference whether he (she) is liked or disliked for his
>(her) personal qualities. Every Tanzanian, every member of a community,
>every member of a district council, every member of parliament, and so on,
>must have the freedom to speak without fear of intimidation - either inside
>or outside the meeting place. The majority in any debate must have the
>right to speak without fear of persecution+ADs- it must be defeated in
>argument, not by threat of force. The debates leading to a decision must be
>free debates. And even after a decision has been made free discussion about
>it should be allowed to continue.+ACI-
> >
> > Secondly, Nyerere also wrote: +ACI-Discipline must exist in every aspect
>of our lives. And it must be willingly accepted discipline. For it is an
>essential part of both freedom and development. The greater freedom which
>comes from working together, and achieving things by cooperation which none
>of us could achieve alone, is, only possible if there is disciplined
>acceptance of joint decisions....
> >
> > +ACI-Yet provided decisions are made after free and friendly discussion,
>and by majority will, the essential discipline should be freely accepted,
>and should in fact, be largely self discipline....
> >
> > +ACI-An ujamaa village is a voluntary association of people who decide
>of their own free will to live together and work together for their common
>good. They, and no one else, will decide how much of their land they will
>cultivate together from the beginning, and how much they will cultivate
>individually. They, and no one else will decide how to use the money they
>earn jointly - whether to buy an ox-plough, install water, or do something
>else. They, and no one else, will make all the decisions about their
>working and living arrangements.+ACI-
> >
> > We can go on and on to show the honourable aspirations of the earlier
>pioneers of the national liberation struggle. We now challenge Dr George
>Ayiteh and Ludovick Sherima to give us examples in Africa of leaders who
>have made success of their countries. Menghistu called himself a Marxist.
>Mobutu, a capitalist+ADs- a capitalist, but both maintained tyranny over
>their people. This shows that the classification of leaders into Marxists
>and capitalists is all meaningless. Claims and practices do not necessarily
>amount to the same things.
> >
> > What is clear is that these two people cannot give us examples in Ghana
>of people who have done more to enlighten the African people to be the
>architects of their own destiny than Kwame Nkrumah. We challenge them to
>prove us wrong. Ghana served as the bridgehead for the liberation of the
>African continent. Tanzania served as a bridgehead for the liberation of
>the peoples in Southern Africa. This is incontrovertible and no one has
>done more to educate the African people to become the architects of their
>own destiny in Southern Africa than Nyerere.
> >
> > The problem is that African scholars are reading the works of those who
>have plagiarized what has been written by many pioneers of the national
>liberation movement and who are critics of them instead of going back to
>the source. It is better to remove the books produced by Kwame, Nyerere,
>Frantz Fanon, Cabral and so on and so forth from the dusty shelves and read
>them with sincerity and honesty.
> >
> > We hope that the person who has posted the article produced by Dr Ayiteh
>and Ludovick Shirama would also post them our article and tell them that we
>are ready to engage in polemics. They can show their acceptance by doing a
>critique of what we have just published.
> >
> >
> >
> > HALIFA SALLAH
> >
> >
>
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