TAA strikes fear in colonial hearts

Tanganyika was handed over to Britain under sections 76 and 77 of the constitution of the United Nations after the Second World War. As the administrative authority, Britain was expected to take charge of the political, economic and social development of Tanzania until such a time as the people would be ready for self rule.

But the British failed to do so, instead focusing on protecting their own colonial interests and those of white people as they continued to ignore the majority Africans.
Europeans and Asians had their own exclusive community groupings—the European Association and the Indian Association—to champion the interests of their people.
African interests were totally neglected, though they were represented on the legal committee by Father Gibbons, a missionary who worked at Minaki Mission, some distance outside Dar es Salaam.
He had nothing to do with the Africans he was supposed to be representing. On realising that they had neither representation nor a forum to fight for their rights, Africans decided to form their own party, which they named the African Association.
Governor Donald Cameron, who was in charge of Tanganyika from 1925 to 1929, started the first law-making committee during the period of indirect rule. Though he did not object to the launch of the African Association, he was adamant that the organisation should not engage in politics.
But how would Africans liberate their country if they were not allowed to take part in politics? Africans who had returned from the Second World War and those who had been studying at Makerere College in Uganda objected to this idea.
Come 1950, these young men made great changes in the Tanganyika African Association (TAA), as it was known before a name change in 1948. In elections held in Dar es Salaam, Mr Vedasto Kyaruzi became president and Mr Abdulwahid Sykes the secretary.
There are no records showing that the African Association had any plans to get involved in politics. To understand the direction of politics then, we would have to analyse the conduct of the leaders of TAA and how they dealt with issues that concerned the people.
The first thing the new leadership did on coming to power was to form the TAA political sub-committee that had the following members: Tanganyika and Zanzibar Mufti Sheikh Hassan bin Amir, Vedasto Kyaruzi, Hamza Mwapachu, Said Chaurembo—who was the local head man in charge of cases at the Kariakoo courts—Mr John Rupia and Mr Stephen Mhando.
The sub-committee’s work was to engage with all political issues in Tanganyika, marking the start of the nationalist struggle.
For 21 years, The African Association’s constitution steered clear of politics. In 1950, however, the new leadership moved closer to being a political party—but by forming a political committee within the association rather than changing the constitution.
Sheikh Hassan bin Amir of Zanzibar was the mufti of Tanganyika and represented Muslims, who led the campaign against the government.
Mr Chaurembo represented the Zaramo of Dar es Salaam and communities in the city’s vicinity. Mr Rupia, from Mission Quarter, was a rich man and used his wealth to support the party. Mr Mhando, from Muheza, was well known for his hardline stance and represented graduates of Makerere University. There was also Mr Sykes, the benefactor of the association, whose father was the founding secretary of The African Association.
With the committee in place, Mr Sykes wrote to TAA branches countrywide inviting them to get involved in activities. One of the major challenges of the time was Tanganyika’s status and its relationship with the United Nations.
TAA invited Mr Earle Seaton, a lawyer from Bermuda who lived in Moshi, to become a member of the committee so he could advise on legal and constitutional matters to effectively challenge the colonial government. Mr Seaton was expected to direct TAA on how to pursue the agenda of freedom from the United Kingdom.
The Trustee Committee of the United Nations sent an initial delegation to Tanzania in 1948 to assess whether the citizens were ready for self-rule. Nothing much came out of that visit but it was evident from 1950 that TAA headquarters in Dar es Salaam, under Mr Kyaruzi and Mr Sykes and backed by the political committee, was waking up from a deep slumber and had set some targets.
TAA’s leadership got its first challenge via the Constitutional Development Committee that was formed by Governor Edward Twining and the land dispute among the Wameru. Twining invited proposals from famous people, social development committees and native authorities on how Tanganyika should be governed. TAA sent proposals signed by all members of its political committee.
TAA recognised that many of the problems to do with the rights of Africans had a legal basis and required advice from lawyers. With the help of Mr Seaton, TAA presented proposals that were backed by facts and figures that demonstrated oppression during the colonial era that ran contrary to the agreement with the United Nations.
TAA’s presentation to the constitutional development committee, which was of high standard, proposed that Africans should comprise 50 percent of the membership of the Legal Committee for 12 years. Membership would subsequently be decided by the vote.
Governor Twining rejected the proposals and the government continued with its long term plans to back the minority Whites and Asians contrary to the United Nations rules on nations under the protection of the United Nations.
Many Africans had believed that TAA’s proposals would ultimately be the foundation of the constitution of a Tanzania that belonged to all races. Still, TAA’s proposals did not die. They were brought out again at a meeting to launch TANU on July 7, 1954. The same proposals were incorporated into the speech Julius Nyerere read to the Board of Trustees of the United Nations in New York in March 1955.