Mwinyi Senior’s memoir: He has charmed his way into history

A BBC journalist had written of his shock after he had posted birthday wishes to Zambia’s first president, Kenneth Kaunda on a social network forum but was met with questions, especially from younger readers below the age of 30, who asked him “Kenneth who?” about one of the towering figures of independence struggles on the continent.

He was defeated in multiparty elections in 1991, and peacefully handed over power to another leader. He wondered what kind of history lessons students are taught across Africa.

In the same time frame, former president Ali Hassan Mwinyi’s memoir was published. He is the second president to publish his recollections of his time in office. His predecessor wrote many books but never an autobiography but there is no shortage of materials on his time in office.

His immediate successor wrote his memoir too, but he was a globalist president who came to power at a time when the chorus of ‘Africa Rising’ was at fever pitch; that this continent was going through a ‘new dawn’. On that end as well, there is a lot of material too for young readers not to ask embarrassing questions about their past.

Six years before Kaunda’s historic defeat, in Tanzania, Mwinyi had been picked to lead the country after another long term ruler had opted to retire. Some of the headlines at the time showed no confidence in the new man in town.

The Economist, argued not to “…expect many changes in Tanzania’s lackluster economy when Mr Ali Hassan Mwinyi takes over as president…he is Mr Nyerere’s man”. The New York Times in two different reports, quoted individuals who expressed sentiments of doubts. A young man who had cast his vote for Mwinyi, was interviewed and said, “…not many people know him, the common man doesn’t know him. He came from nowhere. I am told he is a polite, humble man. I wonder if those are the right attributes to be a president.”

A week later in another report, the same publication argued that “…many find it hard to believe that Mr Mwinyi will be permitted to serve more than one-five year term. That possibility coupled with what is reported to have been a fierce battle within the party over Mr Mwinyi’s nomination suggests that the real struggle to succeed Mr Nyerere is yet to come.”

Looking from this end, that era is a lifetime ago.

Those were other people’s take on what or how they thought his presidency will turn out to be or not to be. Now he has had his own say.

I have always thought that to better understand this country, in its ‘modern’ semblance of trying its hand at liberalizing its economy and politics, one must understand former president Mwinyi’s time in office. After all, at the time he came to power, the country’s finances were poor. The same thing was said when the curtain on his leadership came down.

He was the last president to be elected into office as a sole presidential candidate. Those who came after him have all tried to reform and improve on his experiments with the economy and politics, each with their own limits even though this country’s presidency is described by some as an ‘imperial’ one.

Some of the individuals the former president will not forget are uniquely products of his time in office, some are creatures he inherited from a previous time but flourished and truly came into their own during his presidency. To some of these individuals, there was also the party element and the crucible of its politics which shaped them into the socio-political characters they turned out to be. Former president Mwinyi has enjoyed more longevity after his time in office more than his predecessor or successors. He has been out of office for more than a quarter of a century, which is way beyond this country’s median age but he has avoided Kaunda’s fate.

With all the many issues of his time, especially during his second term in office like corruption, the passionate debates about the structure of the Union and the confines through which individuals can compete for public office being insulated by the passage of time from the man himself.

He has become an elder statesman who easily evokes smiles and laughter to those who encounter him. His attributes, which the young man of the 1980s had wondered whether they were fit for a president, have served him and this country very well.

The amiable old man has charmed his way into history.