Arusha declaration history lost?

Arusha. The towering monument stands intact at the road junction as the adjacent museum in the heart of Arusha continues to attract people seeking information yesterday as the Arusha Declaration - Tanzania’s blueprint to Socialism and Self Reliance - marked 50th anniversary today.

“It looks as if people have forgotten this important day in the nation’s history,” lamented Amani Lukhumay, a civil society activist in Arusha as he entered the museum grounds to meet his partners.

He said he was aware of the Declaration which changed the development path of the newly-independent state to Socialism and Self Reliance from 1967 but was surprised that only a few people in Arusha had a memory of the policy document crafted in the city 50 years ago.

“Young people should be reminded of this important day,” Mr Lukhumay stressed he took his way into one of the meeting rooms within the premises of the Arusha Declaration Museum, one of the memorable sites for the policy announced by the Nation Founder Mwalimu Nyerere to the discomfort of the capitalist world and some neighbouring states.

It was at the museum located along the Makongoro road at Kaloleni where the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ruling Tanganyika African National Union (Tanu) met for three days from January 26th to 28th in 1967 to prepare the Arusha Declaration document before it was announced by Mwalimu Nyerere in Dar es Salaam on February 5th.

The building where the historic meeting took place was turned into a museum in 1977 when the Arusha Declaration marked its 10th anniversary. The one-party government organized a lavish party in Arusha which also coincided with the birth of Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM).

Prior to that the building served as a community centre for Arusha town and gained national recognition in January 1967 when the Tanu leaders met for three consecutive days and proposed the National Policy of Socialism and Self Reliance.

Although known as Arusha Declaration Museum, the permanent exhibitions depict the economic and political history of Tanzania, including the pre-colonial developments, the German and British rule, the movements against colonization, the Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, the Liberation struggles in African and advent of multi-partism.

Yet there are some notable structures closely associated with the very Declaration which changed the course of the country’s development path to socialism and the role played by its architect, Mwalimu Nyerere.

“Here are the chairs used by Nyerere, Kawawa and Kambona during that meeting that gave birth to Arusha Declaration,” said Giveson Simon Balange, a security officer with the museum as he took The Citizen on Sunday team inside the premises yesterday.

Mzee Rashid Mfaume Kawawa was Nyerere’s closest political ally since the early independence days. For as many years as Nyerere was in power, he served as the Vice President, Second Vice President (after the Union), the prime minister and Tanu party vice chairman and CCM secretary general.

The story of Oscar Kambona, specifically his association with Arusha Declaration, is a bit tricky. He was one of the confidants of Mwalimu Nyerere both during pre-independence and post-independence days.

Mwalimu picked him as Tanu secretary general before independence when he (Kambona) was studying in the UK. He served in that powerful position until 1967 when he fled the country following his differences with the Nation Founder on some clauses contained in the Arusha Declaration.

Kambona had also been as senior cabinet minister since independence, holding key portifolios such as Education, Defence and Regional Administration. Given his position at that time, Kambona played a role in organizing the meeting that laid down the controversial Arusha Declaration which later divided Nyerere’s cabinet down the middle.

The chairs the trio sat on during the three days of tough discussions on the new policy path for the country are still intact in one corner of the museum hall, now divided by the hardboards depicting various photos, drawings and literature on Tanzania’s political history.

Outside the hall is the Arusha Declaration Monument (Tower), which was unveiled on February 5th, 1977 as the new policy framework marked ten years. The round-about is now an important spot for photo-taking among married couples and visitors to Arusha.

Simon Mapolu, a management consultant, based here had dismissed the notion that Arusha Declaration has been buried after the country’s about turn in from state-controlled economy to liberalized economy.

“The pillars of Arusha Declaration were integrity and patriotism. Self reliance though practically not there was built on morals,” he told The Citizen on Sunday as he displayed a worn-out small booklet; ‘ Azimio la Arusha na Siasa ya Ujamaa na Kujitegemea” which was released by Tanu in 1967. The publication has 40 pages.

Until the advent of multi-party politics in the early 1990s, February 5th has been marked as a Public Holiday. The nation would have prepared a bash party today to mark the history day despite the failures associated with the Arusha Declaration, especially in the economic sphere.