Mwinyijuma, a forgotten hero in the struggle for multi-party democracy

Dar es Salaam. If you happen to meet him in the streets of Mwananyamala in Kinondoni or on the side of Ali Hassan Mwinyi Road, you will see him carrying a bag of empty plastic bottles or firewood on his shoulder, it is not easy to believe when you know the truth about his contribution to the struggle for a multi-party system in Tanzania.

Mwinyijuma Othman Upindo (85) is a household name for anyone wanting to write or know the history of politics of the 1980s that contributed to the re-introduction of the multi-party system. He was among the few Tanzanians who stepped forward to publicly support putting pressure on the authorities to allow opposition politics in the country.

At the age of 49 and an employee of the Tanzania Airports Authority (1984), Mwinyijuma decided to quit his job and instead he joined his fellow politician, Mr James Mapalala, to fight for the right of forming a political party.

Without fearing a hostile political environment at that time, Mr Mwinyijuma boldly stepped forward to help collect the signatures of Tanzanians wanting a change in the law that banned many political parties by using secret and open means of searching for supporters.

However, the life he is living today does not match with his role in opposition politics nor his contribution to the struggle for the existence of many political parties in the country.

How he entered politics

For two years since September 1984 after his colleague, Mr Mapalala, wrote a letter to the chairman of the Chama cha Mapinduzi Party (CCM), Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere, and the party’s National Executive Committee demanding the repeal of the law that banned the multi-party system, Mr Mwinyijuma found himself being put in detention for more than three times.

However, his arrest and intimidation did not deter him from changing his mind. He continued his struggle for political reforms until October 21, 1986, when he and his colleague Mr Mapalala were arrested and eventually started a three-year life imprisonment and exile.

Mr Mwinyijuma was arrested shortly after Mapalala had been arrested. The police were after them for more than three days after getting information that Mr Mapalala had brought into the country political party cards printed in Germany.

A security search by officers led them to Mr Mwinyijuma as they discovered that several boxes containing the cards were hidden in his home at Mr Mwananyamala Msisiri in the City.

After his arrest, Mr Mwinyijuma and his accomplice were detained for several weeks without trial before they were later sent to prisons in Lindi and Mtwara.

As Mr Mapalala was detained in Lindi prison for more than a year before being exiled to Mafia Island, Mr Mwinyijuma was detained in Ukonga prison before being exiled to Ukerewe Island.

Mr Mwinjuma spent two years in prison before being exiled to Ukerewe Island, where he was detained until his release in 1989 with the help of Amnesty International.

Life after his release from prison

Mr Mwinyijuma does not want to talk about what happened to him while in prison and later in exile in Ukerewe. However, one thing that is clear is that immediately after his release, his life changed completely.

The physical and psychological torture he experienced while imprisoned and the circumstances he encountered in his home completely changed his life. That state of affairs has troubled for many years and has affected him to this day.

For several years he has been collecting firewood and logs wherever he finds them and piling them up in front of his house situated at Mwananyamala Msisiri. He is currently collecting empty plastic bottles and keeping them at his house.

When the reporter met him and had a brief conversation, Mr Mwinyijuma made it clear that he would not wish to talk about political issues, saying he was afraid of doing so because the authorities do not want him to get involved in politics and he believes he is still wanted to be eliminated.

“Security people have bought a storey building after my house… they have been living in it all these years wanting to deal with me, they harass me at night, they want to shoot me,” he says, believing the government is still pursuing him.

“Day and night they never sleep, but monitoring me. They want to kill me. So, have mercy on me, have mercy on me. Help me, help me, please. Generally, if anyone asks you about me, just tell them that, that old man has completely given up politics, he doesn’t want it completely.

“What I’m saying is this; “All over the world the ruling party is always dictating things, let no one deceive you, even in America, Europe and parts of Asia and anywhere else they just dictate,” he says.

His plea not to completely talk about politics kept us out of the political debate for a while but later the reporter tried to question him about his arrest and his life in prison.

“I was arrested one day together with James (Mapalala) and we were taken to parts of Mtwara, where we stayed for a long time, Mapalala was taken to Mafia and I was moved to Ukerewe. We stayed in the same prison with my colleague, but we never saw each other,” says Mwinjuma.

The reporter also wanted to know what his life in exile in Ukerewe was like: “Don’t play with it my dear. Just leave me alone! If you say it was good it is only bad and if you say it was bad it is only bad. What happened to me is what happened to me. Now leave me alone, I do not want problems,” says Mr Mwinyijuma.

Mapalala speaks of him

Before his death, Mr Mapalala spoke to The Citizen and described Mwinyijuma as a man of great intelligence with great ability to speak and influence people.

“I have worked with him, he has great mental ability and he knows politics. He was a very honest man in politics. When we were imprisoned it was the end for him to get involved in politics. He was a very good political crusader, and was not for cheap politics. When he stood up and spoke, people accepted him,” said Mr Mapalala.

“This old man (Mwinyijuma) is just a big part of the history of demanding for a multi-party system, but I don’t know if anyone is aware of that. We always look at today’s politics, there are times when it is also important to look at history, ” added Mapalala. One of the relatives living with the him said Mr Mwinyijuma had never been blessed with children and he now gets support from his relatives. Mwinyijuma has asked people who know him and who are financially capable to come forward and help him return to his normal state. “He is really having a hard time, in short he is a person who needs help,” said Mr Mapalala.