Phillipo Bukililo
JF-Expert Member
- Dec 29, 2015
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Asante kwa kumbukumbu nzuri. Cocabs zilikuwa ni taxi zikipaki kwa wingi pale Kilimanjaro Hotels miaka ile ya 1980 mwanzoni.
Asante kwa kumbukumbu nzuri. Cocabs zilikuwa ni taxi zikipaki kwa wingi pale Kilimanjaro Hotels miaka ile ya 1980 mwanzoni.Heshima juu mkuu, ngoja na mimi niweke input zangu kidogo kwa zile ninazoweza
Ni kweli mzee Hans Pope alikua RPC na alikwenda kupigana vita ya kagera akaishia mikononi mwa Idd Amin na alikufa kifo kibaya sana, baadaye recovering ya mwili wake ilikua priority namba moja ndio akaja kuzikwa Tz, nakumbuka ilikua ni baada ya TPDF kuteka wale askari wa Gadafi ndio Idd Amin nae akawa anadai kuwa na Mwalimu kakodisha mamluki wa kizungu( Alikua mzungu kabisa huyu jamaa masalia ya wajerumani) kwa hiyo sidhani kama ilikua 1972 na pia kama kumbukumbu zangu ziko sawa nadhani alikuaga RPC wa Iringa sio Kagera
Vijana wa Hans Pope walioshiriki walikua wawili Zakaria na Harry, nakumbuka Harry ndo aliyekua rubani pale 613KJ naye walikua wanamuita Capt kwa sababu hiyo ila sidhani kama alifikia cheo cha uCaptain, aliyekua Captain for sure ni Zakaria ambaye ni mkubwa kwa Harry.
Kuna mdau hapo juu ameongelea namna mipango ilivuja SIO kweli kwamba walilewa huko Ukonga ila aliyeharibu ni Hatty McGhee ndo alipiga stori na mwenzake mmoja kwenye Taxi akiwa anaenda airport kupanda ndege to Zanzibar( Nadhani mnajua coCabs wakati ule zilikua zinamilikiwa na watu gani) basi jamaa waliwapandikizia Agent kirahisi kwa kutumia njia ya Dereva Taxi na wakawa wanawaangalia wote kwa muda mrefu mpaka waliporidhika ndo wakaanza kuwakamata
Kwa sasa niishie hapa.
Aiseee nimependa andiko lako la historia hii. Kudos!!Hans Pope (senior) alikuwa regional police commander, Iringa, kabla ya kupelekwa Mkoa wa Ziwa Magharibi (West Lake Region) ambao sasa ni Kagera. Nakumbuka picha yake ilipochapishwa magazetini hapa nchini, 1972, baada ya kuuawa na askari wa Amin waliomteka Mutukula.
Katika picha ile, mwili wake ulivimba sana. Amin alisema jeshi letu lilikuwa na Wachina na Hans Pope ulikuwa ndiyo ushahidi huo. Hans Pope alikuwa na damu ya Kijerumani, siyo ya Kichaina, ingawa sura yake katika picha ile ilikuwa kama ya "Kichaina" kwa sababu ya kuvimba sana. Naikumbuka sana picha ile. Ilikuwa ukurasa wa kwanza magazetini.
Watoto wake ndiyo hao wawili waliohusika na mpango wa kumpindua Nyerere, 1982, pamoja na wanajeshi wengine.
Jaribio hilo limejadiliwa na watu mbalimbali pamoja na Godfrey Mwakikagile katika kitabu chake, Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era. Kuna afisa mmoja aliyehusika na jaribio hilo la kumpindua Mwalimu Nyerere ambaye Mwakikagile alizungumza naye. Sijui kama alizungumza na mmoja wao, akina Hans Poppe, au na afisa mwingine wa jeshi aliyehusika na jaribio hilo. Hakumtaja afisa aliyezungumza naye na ameeleza kwa nini hakumtaja katika kitabu chake. Kwahiyo inawezekana ni mwanajeshi tofauti kabisa aliyezungumza naye.
Lakini katika kitabu hicho kuna mahojiano na afisa mmoja wa jeshi aliyezungumza na Mwakikagile kuhusu jaribio hilo la mapinduzi. Sijui alizungumza naye macho kwa macho, kwa simu au vipi. Sidhani kama ameeleza katika kitabu chake walizungumza kwa njia gani. Lakini ameandika katika kitabu hicho kwamba Andrew Nyerere alimwambia azungumze na mmoja wa maofisa wa jeshi waliojaribu kumpindua Mwalimu Nyerere kwa sababu alifahamiana na afisa huyo tangu walipokuwa pamoja katika mafunzo ya uanajeshi Mgulani.
Katika kitabu hicho, Mwakikagile ameandika yafwatayo kuhusu mpango wa kumpindua Mwalimu Nyerere, 1982, pamoja na majaribio mengine ya kumpindua Mwalimu:
"Appendix VI also contains some details on another coup attempt from one of the coup plotters who was introduced to me by Andrew Nyerere. I got in touch with him and he gave me the information directly, but asked me not to use his name in the book. And I have honoured that request.
But he also made it clear that I could disclose his name if I had to. As he put it in writing:
"I only request that you don't put my name anywhere, although if it comes to litigation or a situation which demands that you reveal your source, then you can do so. If you want anymore clarification or explanation, just contact me."
I also knew about his father back in 1972, as I explain in Appendix VI, long before Andrew introduced me to the son years later in 2003 when I was working on this expanded edition. And, besides the information about the coup plot in which he was involved, he also gave me some information on other coup plots against President Julius Nyerere.
When I was discussing my work with Andrew, especially after he read the chapter on coup attempts, he felt that it was important to include all this information in the book for the sake of truth. That is why he contacted one of the coup plotters whom he knew to get this material on his own initiative without being prompted by me.
The information I got was in response to the questions I asked this former army officer after I was introduced to him. As Andrew said to me after he talked to him:
'There are certain universal principles that must be adhered to. This is just about wanting to know the truth; it is not about wanting to please anyone....He was arrested for a coup attempt. He will write to say what happened. He is not going to defend anything or not defend anything. Let him decide how he wants to write. Do not come to this with pre-conceived ideas of what you want him to write....One thing I want to tell you is that I know (name withheld) because we were together in basic military training at the Tanzania Military Academy (TMA), Mgulani'.
Andrew is now a retired army captain who served in the Tanzania People's Defence Forces (TPDF) and fought in the six-month war against Idi Amin when the Ugandan military dictator invaded Tanzania at the end of October 1978 and annexed 710 square miles of its territory in the northwestern part of the country, Kagera Region, bordering Uganda. The coup plotter Andrew introduced me to, was also a captain at the time of the coup attempt in 1982 - 1983.
And he did write what he wanted to write. It is for the readers to decide what they think about it. And I am grateful for his contribution, hoping that it will shed more light on the political history of Tanzania and raise important questions about issues which are still important to Tanzanians today and which may continue to generate interest for many years as the country adjusts to the new era of multiparty politics and free market policies away from its socialist past under one-party rule instituted by the founding father of the nation Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere.
I must also express my profound gratitude to Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim, chairman of the Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation (MNF) in Dar es Salaam and former secretary-general of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), for reading portions of my manuscript which I sent to him, and for asking probing questions when I was working on the book after Andrew Nyerere told him about it. He also agreed to read the rest of the manuscript. Later on, I sent him my entire work before I submitted the final version to my publisher so that he and his staff at the Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation could read it and, if necessary, make some suggestions or critically evaluate my work.
I am equally grateful to Joseph Butiku, executive director of the Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation and former private secretary and personal assistant to President Julius Nyerere, for inviting me to send them my manuscript. As with Dr. Salim, Andrew Nyerere talked to Butiku first about my book. And he was just as interested and asked me to send them my work after I said I would like to do so.
But they did not in any way try to influence my work or tell me what I should and should not write. I wrote what I wanted to write. And the final decision to include whatever I have included in the book was entirely mine. I am, nonetheless, grateful to them for their great interest in my work and for taking the time to read it.
This book has not, in any way, been censored by the Tanzanian authorities. Many Tanzanian leaders, including members of parliament, read it, or portions of it, before it was published.
I am also deeply grateful to many individuals and institutions who have served as a source of some of the material I have used to write this book.
While the analysis is mine, and a lot of the information I have used is also mine since I am the primary source because of my first-hand knowledge of Tanzania and Africa as a whole; I must also acknowledge that my work would not have been completed without the secondary sources I have cited to fortify my thesis." - (Godfrey Mwakikagile, Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era, pp 8 - 9).
Kuhusu jaribio hilo la kumpindua Nyerere, 1982, Mwakikagile ameandika katika kitabu chake:
"The chapter on coup attempts against Nyerere prompted Andrew to seek comments on my work from one of the coup plotters mentioned in his letter above. His father was one of the first people killed by Idi Amin's forces on the Ugandan-Tanzanian border in 1972 when they made repeated incursions into our country. The pictures of some of these victims were published in our newspaper, the Daily News, to demonstrate the diabolical nature of Amin's blood-soaked regime; incursions into our country and the bombing and killing of innocent Tanzanians by his forces being only the tip of the iceberg. Earlier, Andrew had written this to me about (name withheld), whom he said he met when they underwent basic military training together at the Tanzania Military Academy (TMA), Mgulani, in Dar es Salaam, and about his attempts to get in touch with him in case he had any comments to make on my work:
"Dear Godfrey,
I would like to make a few comments about the interview (Appendix VI above). But I will do it tomorrow. There are many things which are not well-known. For example, that Nkrumah financed the Zanzibar Revolution, the one which overthrew the Arabs. I heard it on a tape of a speech by Sheikh Thabit Kombo.
(Name withheld) was one of the coup plotters. He is the son of (name withheld) you mentioned. I will try one more time to find him, to see if he is willing to write anything.
I am Andrew."
That is how the coup plotter came into the picture. I asked him to describe the sequence of events which led to their arrest and conviction:
"It was Friday the 7th January 1983 at around 1500hrs local time. We were to assemble at a house in Kinondoni ( a ward in Dar es Salaam, the nation's capital) then proceed to another place for the final briefing as the coup was to take place the following night.
By this day we had already postponed the strike twice at the request of the mastermind Pius Lugangira or known at that time as Father Tom or Uncle Tom. Apparently, his reason was that he was expecting some ships with essential commodities in big shortage at that time. We had planned for the previous Monday but put it forward to Wednesday; then, again, he said he wasn't ready. We did warn him of the dangers of putting it forward as the number of people in the conspiracy always increases towards the culmination and the chances of leaks increase. So, on that Friday we had decided to go ahead whether he was ready or not.
I was close to the RV (the assembling place) when I saw Tamim running while being chased by three people. Shortly after that, I heard shots and Tamim fell from the pickup that he had jumped into in his attempt to get away. He was taken to MMC (Muhimbili) in a car that was waiting for them. I followed them up to MMC to see what would be next. I saw the body being taken to the mortuary and after a few minutes the pursuers who happened to be from the state security came out looking quite excited about something. I went to the attendant and gave him some money and requested to see the body, which I did, and satisfied myself that Tamim was already dead. From the wounds, I knew that he couldn't have said anything as death must have been immediate. But what the attendant revealed to me scared me. He said those guys had taken a piece of paper from Tamim's pocket that had a list of names with military ranks.
I tried to look for my colleagues at their homes but couldn't find any. I knew it would be futile to as the plan was no one was to return home that day but go somewhere until H-hour (the hour that the actual action starts). I went back to that house in Kinondoni only to find it surrounded by both uniformed and plain-clothed police. I could recognise some of them and, to my utter dismay, I saw some of my colleagues already under arrest. I knew then that the whole thing was abortive as three of those arrested were from the tank unit whose success in the mission was of paramount importance. I spotted a few of us hovering around the perimeter of that house. So, I went to them and informed them of what had taken place. It was already 2000hrs and there was nothing that we could do to salvage the situation and it was everyone for himself.
Some decided to flee to Kenya where they were given refuge; only to be returned at a later date in exchange for Ochuka and Okumu who had fled from Kenya to Tanzania after their attempt to overthrow Moi failed in August 1982. I was married and had a one-year old daughter, not knowing what would happen to them. I decided to remain and ride out the storm.
I was arrested the same night around 0300hrs and taken straight to the Central Police Station where I found my brother (name withheld), who was a captain and pilot, already arrested; two captains in the company of a good number of armed soldiers. They said to me that they were arresting me on the orders of the Chief of Defence Forces, but they did not say on what charge although I did ask them.
What I found out later was that my name was also on that list of paper but appeared as Captain (name withheld). And since in the army we are addressed by our surnames, there were two of us by that name. So, they arrested my brother first, as he was staying in the air-wing barracks, and they didn't know where I was staying in town until they asked my brother.
On my arrest, the whole of my family was taken out and the house was locked. The following morning my house was searched in my presence by the police, the military and the state security, but nothing of significance was found. We then went to my office. And, again, nothing was found.
I was not tortured physically, although there were a lot of threats to do just that or bring harm to my family. In my opinion, we were not tortured due to an issue that had occurred in the previous year. What happened then was that there were interrogations that were conducted by the state security guys among prisoners who were under the care of the police and the prisons department. Something went wrong and some of those prisoners died. One of them was connected to a person in power. So, an inquiry was initiated which culminated in the resignation of the then minister of home affairs, Mwinyi, who later on became president, and of Siyovelwa who was the minister in the president's office dealing with security. As for the operatives, the Regional Police Commander and his counterpart in Prisons and some police officers were charged and received prison terms of between 3 and 8 years. But the guys from the state security were left scot-free. It is this background that made the police protect us from any kind of torture.
I vividly remember the 5th day of my arrest when a security guy came to take me for interrogation but was refused permission by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Mwamakusa under whom I was placed for investigation. The security guy angrily went away and came back later with other top officials from the State House. But the SSP stood his ground. There were no interrogations for the following two days after this episode. We later found out that a meeting was held by all the security organs and it was agreed that all questions were to be asked in the presence of police officers and they should follow regulations. We were to remain under police custody. And that we did, until we were taken to court and thereafter to the prisons department.
We weren't allowed to get visits from relatives until a strong rumour started circulating that some of us were dead. To prove that we were still alive, they had no option but to allow relatives to visit us and bring us some food. Identification parades were held and, three weeks after our arrest, we were formally charged and taken to prison remand. Thirty people were initially charged and all the military people were remanded at Ukonga while the civilian elements were put at Keko.
Every two weeks we were taken to court, and another mention would be requested and, of course, granted. By the seventh mention, Father Tom and Mcghee, who were the first and the second accused respectively, escaped from Keko and fled to Kenya. The case was withdrawn and we were all put in detention.
There was no harsh treatment while in remand but, as soon as we were detained, conditions changed and we were mostly held incommunicado and dispersed to different prisons. I was always segregated from the others and was always in leg shackles apparently for being accused of being the mastermind of the Keko escape.
Almost a year later, Kenya and Tanzania settled their differences and exchanaged fugitives. Mcghee and a few others who had escaped during the first arrests were brought back, while Tanzania sent back Ochuka and his friend. These two were later hanged by Moi. After a long trial, almost a year, nine of us were sentenced to life imprisonment and the others were set free. Altogether this time, 18 were brought back to court while the others remained in detention until four months after we were sentenced when they were released. And that included my brother whose only mistake was to have a similar (the same last) name. He spent a total of three and a half years.
As a prisoner, conditions changed again but this time slightly for the better as we were treated as political prisoners. Food was better; we were given beds, mattresses, mosquito nets, radio and newspapers. We were also allowed visits from relatives and friends. It is standard procedure for any person in detention, or sentenced to life, to write a letter for clemency to the head of state. And I believe all of us did. I was again put alone and changed prisons from time to time. I stayed at Ukonga, Maweni, Tanga, Mtwara, Lindi, Mwanza, and again Ukonga where I was released on presidential pardon in 1995 in the wake of the first multiparty elections. In total, I spent 13 years in prison.
In the beginning, a lot of people used to avoid me. But gradually, as the freedom of speech increased in the country and the people became more bold, things began to change until now where I am leading a normal life. My wife waited for 10 years, then despaired and divorced me. She is married with two children and lives in (name withheld) with our daughter who was one year old when I was arrested; she is now 22. I own several trucks.... I married again in 2001 and have a six month-old son (in 2003) from this marriage."
Besides the questions to which he provided the answers in the preceding statement, I also asked him the following:
Why did the coup plotters want to overthrow the government? What did they have against Nyerere? Why did the coup not succeed? Was there a foreign power, such as the United States, involved in trying to overthrow Nyerere? Didn't the coup plotters worry that they would not get support from most Tanzanians and the international community for overthrowing such a popular president? Did the plot include assassinating President Nyerere and other leaders? Did the plotters anticipate massive resistance from other members of the armed forces and from the general public? What kind of government and political and economic system did they want to replace Nyerere's? Who was the coup leader or leaders?
Was the coup attempt very close to being successful? What was your rank in the army when you got involved in the plot? When was the attempted coup and when was it planned to take place? Was Oscar Kambona involved in this one as well? How many army officers or air force officers were involved?
He gave me these answers:
WHY THE COUP
In 1982 the country was going through a very difficult economic period and shortages of essential commodities was an everyday thing. To the dismay of many, the blame was always put on our imaginary enemies, external and internal, without mentioning who these enemies are. If you are bold enough to ask about the situation, then you are from there branded a fifth columnist, a name coined by the Nazis in Hitler's time to refer to anyone in their ranks who opposed them. Some of us got fed up and decided to look for change. But since there was no way one could achieve that in a totalitarian regime like that, the only option viable at that time was the use of force.
WHAT DID WE HAVE AGAINST MWALIMU
Nothing personal. The only thing was that he was already surrounded by hypocrites whose survival depended solely on the system continuing as it was. And instead of telling the president the truth, they would tell him what he wanted to hear. Very unfortunately, Mwalimu had reached a stage where he believed them and would listen to no one else. And if one wanted to get into his bad books, then he only had to point out an anomaly and that would have been the end of him. That is when people baptized Mwalimu haambiliki (Kiswahili word meaning, can't be told or won't listen, depending on the context - definition and clarification by the author, Godfrey Mwakikagile). He believed the path he had chosen for this country was the only one and there was no alternative. I remember one of his speeches where he said we should not look back lest we turn into stone. As such, what was the alternative? Well, some of us were young and impatient, so we went for the shortcut.
WHY DID THE COUP NOT SUCCEED
Rather complex, and it would take a lot of time to explain the sequence of events. But in short, I can say bad luck on our side and good luck on them. What really happened is that one of the plotters, Captain Tamim, was wanted for having had defected to Kenya when Ugandan interim president, Yusuf Lule, was ousted and had fallen out of favour with Nyerere. Tamim was then heading Lule's security unit. So he joined him in Kenya. It is said, though, that Tamim was sent there by General Msuguri who was the Task Force Commander in Uganda. General Msuguri later on denied that, as this would have put him in trouble for having exceeded his authority. Be it as it may, Tamim could not return as he would have faced a court martial although two of his colleagues were arrested, tried, and acquitted, thus giving credence to Msuguri's complicity. So, (just) a day before the coup was to take place, the security guys decided to pick him up for questioning but in the process, Tamim resisted and fought back. This culminated in gunning Tamim to death. Unfortunately, he had a list of (some) army officers' names on a slip of paper found in his pocket. And these officers were arrested the same day. Some of them confessed and this led to more arrests. This is how it failed.
WAS THERE A FOREIGN POWER?
Not one that I know of, although there was foreign financing. But that could have been done by individuals and not necessarily by a government.
DID WE WORRY ABOUT NOT GETTING SUPPORT?
Not at all. In fact, there were a lot disappointments in different quarters when the whole thing failed. It was very surprising that, in the wake of such an incidence, the normal procedure would have been rallies to condemn us, choirs would have been sung and all such razzmatazz. But there was no such thing. And this really helped to get Mwalimu out of the dreamland to reality as he realized how unpopular his government had become. History will be the judge of that, but one thing I can say for sure is that any meaningful change that has taken place in the country started soon after that.
DID THE PLOT INCLUDE ASSASSINATION?
No. The issue was discussed at length as there were worries that if the coup succeeds but Mwalimu slips away, then he may be an obstacle to us. This argument was discarded on the grounds that there was no neighbouring country that would have risked having him there as they all had plenty of trouble internally and we could have reciprocated by escalating those problems by aiding their opposition. For example, if (Mozambican President) Samora gave us problems, then we would have welcomed RENAMO; in Uganda we would have aided Museveni who was against Obote; Zambia, we would simply have choked them by closing the (oil) pipeline and the port. There was agreement that there was no need to kill anyone without a strong reason to do that.
WAS RESISTANCE ANTICIPATED?
Yes. There is no way that one can take power from another and expect to get it on a silver platter. But you have to know one thing in military planning: surprise is the main thing that plays an important role in determining the kind of resistance that you may get. In our case, there would have been some resistance mainly from areas of strategic importance and that would have been overcome easily. We didn't think there would have been a long-term and consistent resistance, given the unpopularity of the government at that time. But should one have arisen, then it would have been dealt with accordingly by the new government.
KIND OF GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMIC POLICIES
Ironically, we are now having the type of government that we wanted then. We would have installed an interim government that would have prepared the country for a multiparty election within one year. And this interim government would have been totally civilian. A liberalized economic policy is what we advocated And after surviving the coup, Mwalimu borrowed a chapter from us and put it into practice, albeit with a few items, the list of which kept on expanding until now where we can trade freely.
THE COUP LEADERS
There was one person who masterminded the whole thing. And if there was someone behind him, then I don't know. The mastermind is dead now, and his name is Pius Mtakubwa Lugangira. He was a chemistry teacher in secondary schools but had long quit that job. At the time of this plot, he was a businessman supplying different manufacturing industries with chemicals. On the operational part, I cannot reveal their names as it may jeopardize their position.
WAS IT CLOSE TO SUCCESS?
I think yes, because it was (only) a few hours away, with the security guys still in the dark. According to Mr. Apiyo, now retired but at that time the Principal Secretary in the president's office, this was the closest of all the attempts ( to overthrow the government), and it did speed up Mwalimu's retirement.
WHAT WAS MY RANK?
I was a captain.
WHEN WAS IT?
The plot was planned from November 1982 and was to take place on 9th January 1983. We were arrested on the eve of the 8th.
WAS KAMBONA INVOLVED?
No, he was not, as he was already a spent force by then.
HOW MANY WERE INVOLVED?
I can say many, because it was already in the implementation stage. But the ringleaders were about 14."
I communicated with him further and asked him a few more questions: "You say this was the third coup attempt. Which one was the second, by Eli Anangisye? And when was Anangisye's attempt? Who else was involved in Anangisye's coup attempt? Was Kambona one of them?"
He answered this way:
"I have never heard of Anangisye as having attempted a coup. But if I can recall right, I think he was like what the Soviets used to call dissident; someone who differs with the authorities and makes noise about it. They are usually detained without trial, and this is what I think happened to Anangisye.
The coup attempts that were known are the Chipaka and Bibi Titi one which involved Kambona. These were tried in court. The second one was in 1974 when I was in Officer Cadet School. This was said to be rather tribal by officers mainly from the Chagga group. No one was tried but more than 50 officers were removed from the army and given insignificant posts in parastatals. Then came ours.
But, in between, there were other incidents that you cannot call coup attempts; for instance, during the ten years of independence celebrations leaflets castigating Mwalimu were dropped at the National Stadium and in a few other regions. This was Kambona's job, as his picture was in the leaflets. He again made the same attempt in 1973 but his timing was not good, as Mwalimu was at the peak of his popularity.
There were a few other hiccups but, to the best of my knowledge, it is only the three that I have mentioned that are of any significance in so far as coups are concerned. One other item is that during Mwalimu's era, they were very keen to conceal any news of coups, as that would indicate the truth that the regime was not all that popular. So, there may have been other hidden ones that I never learnt about."
I thought about including the government version of what happened but decided not to. The High Court of Tanzania found the accused guilty and sent them to prison. The conviction summed up the government case. As Andrew Nyerere said, when we discussed the matter, regarding the government version of the coup attempt:
"I don't see why there should be any reason to give a different point of view. Facts can be twisted, but they cannot be changed. And besides, here are people who had the wrong view. They thought they would go to State House but, instead, they went to Ukonga Prison. What more proof do you need to know that these people were wrong and the government was right?" - (Godfrey Mwakikagile, Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era, pp. 680 - 688).
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Kuna mengi zaidi ya hayo katika kitabu hicho pamoja na jaribio la kumpindua Nyerere lilo ongozwa na Oscar Kambona. Kambona alikuwa na mpango wa kumpindua Nyerere October 1969 wakati Mwalimu alipokuwa nje ya nchi pamoja na mkuu wa jeshi Sarakikya na maofisa wengine wa jeshi; mawaziri kadhaa, na viongozi wengine serikalini. Waliokamatwa, walipelekwa kortini June 1970. And they were well-represented in court. Lakini Senior State Attorney Nathaniel King alipambana vizuri sana na mawakili wao.
Namkumbuka sana Nathaniel King hadi leo. Tulikuwa tunamwona mara nyingi saa za jioni akiendesha gari lake dogo, a green Austin, na wakati amevaa shati ya kitenge na pia akienda kunywa New Africa Hotel. He was a jovial fellow but extremely tough in court.
Mitano tena kwa Bw.YerikoNashukuru sana mkuu
Hapana, alikuwa mtanzania. Inasemekana amekulia kariakoo, had tukio lile linatendeka wazazi wake na ndugu zake walikuwa bado wanaishi kariakoo, pia inasemekana chimbuko lake ni muheza - TangaJe huyu Hatibu Gandhi aka Hatty MacGhee alikuwa ni mmarekani ama?
Hilo jina Hatty MacGhee sio la kiswahili kabisaHapana, alikuwa mtanzania. Inasemekana amekulia kariakoo, had tukio lile linatendeka wazazi wake na ndugu zake walikuwa bado wanaishi kariakoo, pia inasemekana chimbuko lake ni muheza - Tanga
Halikuwa halisia na Wala halikuwa jina lakeHilo jina Hatty MacGhee sio la kiswahili kabisa
I think jina lake halisi lilikuwa Hatibu GandiHalikuwa halisia na Wala halikuwa jina lake
Naam, ndio jina lake hiloI think jina lake halisi lilikuwa Hatibu Gandi
Yote yanawezekana.Kama Nyerere alinusurika kupinduliwa mara kadhaa , basi yawezekana kung'atuka kwake hakukutoka moyoni Bali yawezekana alishauriwa tu na waungwana kwamba mzee a step off The throne kuepuka aibu ya kupinduliwa au pia kuuawa you never know. Dunia Ina mengi.
Masharti ya IMF na World Bank, yale ya Structural Adjustment Programme. Alimuachia sakata Mwinyi alicheze rumba.Yote yanawezekana.
Ila wachambuzi wa mambo wanadai mzee aliona anapoelekea na fikra & misimamo yake anakwenda kuwauwa wananchi wake ilihali hawez kukubali sera za magharibi upande wa pili. Akaona Bora ang'atuke Ili ajae ndio akubali sera za magharibi ila sii yeye.
NB; kipindi hicho umaskin ulikuwa umeshamiri kupita maelezo
Baadhi yetu tulikuwepo na tumeyapitia mengi tu, mpaka ya kufanya maandamano kupinga sera za IMF na kujiuzulu kwa Mzee Mtei.Naam, japo inasemekana kuwa mastermind alikuwa yeye mwenyewe - angalau ajioshe mikono yake
Dah, nikikumbuka zile enzi naona safari ya maendeleo taifa liliyo ipiga ni kubwa sana.Baadhi yetu tulikuwepo na tumeyapitia mengi tu, mpaka ya kufanya maandamano kupinga sera za IMF na kujiuzulu kwa Mzee Mtei.
acha uongo.Sio kweli, nadhani huyo jamaa wa Simba kwa sababu ni maarufu ndio anajulika lakini naamini kuna wengine baadhi watakuwepo wapo japo siwajui.
P.
Mkuu Afande Macha, heshima kitu cha bure, huku kuitana waongo kwa kitu ambacho huna uhakika nacho, sio kunitendea haki!. Jee wewe unawajua washitakiwa wote 46 na unauhakika wote wamekufa?.acha uongo.
washtakiwa wa Uhaini 1982 walishakufa wote.
the most recent ni Hans Pope, boss wako wa zamani wakati umeajiriwa Part-Time "Radio One"
Hans Pope (senior) alikuwa regional police commander, Iringa, kabla ya kupelekwa Mkoa wa Ziwa Magharibi (West Lake Region) ambao sasa ni Kagera. Nakumbuka picha yake ilipochapishwa magazetini hapa nchini, 1972, baada ya kuuawa na askari wa Amin waliomteka Mutukula.
Katika picha ile, mwili wake ulivimba sana. Amin alisema jeshi letu lilikuwa na Wachina na Hans Pope ulikuwa ndiyo ushahidi huo. Hans Pope alikuwa na damu ya Kijerumani, siyo ya Kichaina, ingawa sura yake katika picha ile ilikuwa kama ya "Kichaina" kwa sababu ya kuvimba sana. Naikumbuka sana picha ile. Ilikuwa ukurasa wa kwanza magazetini.
Watoto wake ndiyo hao wawili waliohusika na mpango wa kumpindua Nyerere, 1982, pamoja na wanajeshi wengine.
Jaribio hilo limejadiliwa na watu mbalimbali pamoja na Godfrey Mwakikagile katika kitabu chake, Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era. Kuna afisa mmoja aliyehusika na jaribio hilo la kumpindua Mwalimu Nyerere ambaye Mwakikagile alizungumza naye. Sijui kama alizungumza na mmoja wao, akina Hans Poppe, au na afisa mwingine wa jeshi aliyehusika na jaribio hilo. Hakumtaja afisa aliyezungumza naye na ameeleza kwa nini hakumtaja katika kitabu chake. Kwahiyo inawezekana ni mwanajeshi tofauti kabisa aliyezungumza naye.
Lakini katika kitabu hicho kuna mahojiano na afisa mmoja wa jeshi aliyezungumza na Mwakikagile kuhusu jaribio hilo la mapinduzi. Sijui alizungumza naye macho kwa macho, kwa simu au vipi. Sidhani kama ameeleza katika kitabu chake walizungumza kwa njia gani. Lakini ameandika katika kitabu hicho kwamba Andrew Nyerere alimwambia azungumze na mmoja wa maofisa wa jeshi waliojaribu kumpindua Mwalimu Nyerere kwa sababu alifahamiana na afisa huyo tangu walipokuwa pamoja katika mafunzo ya uanajeshi Mgulani.
Katika kitabu hicho, Mwakikagile ameandika yafwatayo kuhusu mpango wa kumpindua Mwalimu Nyerere, 1982, pamoja na majaribio mengine ya kumpindua Mwalimu:
"Appendix VI also contains some details on another coup attempt from one of the coup plotters who was introduced to me by Andrew Nyerere. I got in touch with him and he gave me the information directly, but asked me not to use his name in the book. And I have honoured that request.
But he also made it clear that I could disclose his name if I had to. As he put it in writing:
"I only request that you don't put my name anywhere, although if it comes to litigation or a situation which demands that you reveal your source, then you can do so. If you want anymore clarification or explanation, just contact me."
I also knew about his father back in 1972, as I explain in Appendix VI, long before Andrew introduced me to the son years later in 2003 when I was working on this expanded edition. And, besides the information about the coup plot in which he was involved, he also gave me some information on other coup plots against President Julius Nyerere.
When I was discussing my work with Andrew, especially after he read the chapter on coup attempts, he felt that it was important to include all this information in the book for the sake of truth. That is why he contacted one of the coup plotters whom he knew to get this material on his own initiative without being prompted by me.
The information I got was in response to the questions I asked this former army officer after I was introduced to him. As Andrew said to me after he talked to him:
'There are certain universal principles that must be adhered to. This is just about wanting to know the truth; it is not about wanting to please anyone....He was arrested for a coup attempt. He will write to say what happened. He is not going to defend anything or not defend anything. Let him decide how he wants to write. Do not come to this with pre-conceived ideas of what you want him to write....One thing I want to tell you is that I know (name withheld) because we were together in basic military training at the Tanzania Military Academy (TMA), Mgulani'.
Andrew is now a retired army captain who served in the Tanzania People's Defence Forces (TPDF) and fought in the six-month war against Idi Amin when the Ugandan military dictator invaded Tanzania at the end of October 1978 and annexed 710 square miles of its territory in the northwestern part of the country, Kagera Region, bordering Uganda. The coup plotter Andrew introduced me to, was also a captain at the time of the coup attempt in 1982 - 1983.
And he did write what he wanted to write. It is for the readers to decide what they think about it. And I am grateful for his contribution, hoping that it will shed more light on the political history of Tanzania and raise important questions about issues which are still important to Tanzanians today and which may continue to generate interest for many years as the country adjusts to the new era of multiparty politics and free market policies away from its socialist past under one-party rule instituted by the founding father of the nation Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere.
I must also express my profound gratitude to Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim, chairman of the Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation (MNF) in Dar es Salaam and former secretary-general of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), for reading portions of my manuscript which I sent to him, and for asking probing questions when I was working on the book after Andrew Nyerere told him about it. He also agreed to read the rest of the manuscript. Later on, I sent him my entire work before I submitted the final version to my publisher so that he and his staff at the Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation could read it and, if necessary, make some suggestions or critically evaluate my work.
I am equally grateful to Joseph Butiku, executive director of the Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation and former private secretary and personal assistant to President Julius Nyerere, for inviting me to send them my manuscript. As with Dr. Salim, Andrew Nyerere talked to Butiku first about my book. And he was just as interested and asked me to send them my work after I said I would like to do so.
But they did not in any way try to influence my work or tell me what I should and should not write. I wrote what I wanted to write. And the final decision to include whatever I have included in the book was entirely mine. I am, nonetheless, grateful to them for their great interest in my work and for taking the time to read it.
This book has not, in any way, been censored by the Tanzanian authorities. Many Tanzanian leaders, including members of parliament, read it, or portions of it, before it was published.
I am also deeply grateful to many individuals and institutions who have served as a source of some of the material I have used to write this book.
While the analysis is mine, and a lot of the information I have used is also mine since I am the primary source because of my first-hand knowledge of Tanzania and Africa as a whole; I must also acknowledge that my work would not have been completed without the secondary sources I have cited to fortify my thesis." - (Godfrey Mwakikagile, Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era, pp 8 - 9).
Kuhusu jaribio hilo la kumpindua Nyerere, 1982, Mwakikagile ameandika katika kitabu chake:
"The chapter on coup attempts against Nyerere prompted Andrew to seek comments on my work from one of the coup plotters mentioned in his letter above. His father was one of the first people killed by Idi Amin's forces on the Ugandan-Tanzanian border in 1972 when they made repeated incursions into our country. The pictures of some of these victims were published in our newspaper, the Daily News, to demonstrate the diabolical nature of Amin's blood-soaked regime; incursions into our country and the bombing and killing of innocent Tanzanians by his forces being only the tip of the iceberg. Earlier, Andrew had written this to me about (name withheld), whom he said he met when they underwent basic military training together at the Tanzania Military Academy (TMA), Mgulani, in Dar es Salaam, and about his attempts to get in touch with him in case he had any comments to make on my work:
"Dear Godfrey,
I would like to make a few comments about the interview (Appendix VI above). But I will do it tomorrow. There are many things which are not well-known. For example, that Nkrumah financed the Zanzibar Revolution, the one which overthrew the Arabs. I heard it on a tape of a speech by Sheikh Thabit Kombo.
(Name withheld) was one of the coup plotters. He is the son of (name withheld) you mentioned. I will try one more time to find him, to see if he is willing to write anything.
I am Andrew."
That is how the coup plotter came into the picture. I asked him to describe the sequence of events which led to their arrest and conviction:
"It was Friday the 7th January 1983 at around 1500hrs local time. We were to assemble at a house in Kinondoni ( a ward in Dar es Salaam, the nation's capital) then proceed to another place for the final briefing as the coup was to take place the following night.
By this day we had already postponed the strike twice at the request of the mastermind Pius Lugangira or known at that time as Father Tom or Uncle Tom. Apparently, his reason was that he was expecting some ships with essential commodities in big shortage at that time. We had planned for the previous Monday but put it forward to Wednesday; then, again, he said he wasn't ready. We did warn him of the dangers of putting it forward as the number of people in the conspiracy always increases towards the culmination and the chances of leaks increase. So, on that Friday we had decided to go ahead whether he was ready or not.
I was close to the RV (the assembling place) when I saw Tamim running while being chased by three people. Shortly after that, I heard shots and Tamim fell from the pickup that he had jumped into in his attempt to get away. He was taken to MMC (Muhimbili) in a car that was waiting for them. I followed them up to MMC to see what would be next. I saw the body being taken to the mortuary and after a few minutes the pursuers who happened to be from the state security came out looking quite excited about something. I went to the attendant and gave him some money and requested to see the body, which I did, and satisfied myself that Tamim was already dead. From the wounds, I knew that he couldn't have said anything as death must have been immediate. But what the attendant revealed to me scared me. He said those guys had taken a piece of paper from Tamim's pocket that had a list of names with military ranks.
I tried to look for my colleagues at their homes but couldn't find any. I knew it would be futile to as the plan was no one was to return home that day but go somewhere until H-hour (the hour that the actual action starts). I went back to that house in Kinondoni only to find it surrounded by both uniformed and plain-clothed police. I could recognise some of them and, to my utter dismay, I saw some of my colleagues already under arrest. I knew then that the whole thing was abortive as three of those arrested were from the tank unit whose success in the mission was of paramount importance. I spotted a few of us hovering around the perimeter of that house. So, I went to them and informed them of what had taken place. It was already 2000hrs and there was nothing that we could do to salvage the situation and it was everyone for himself.
Some decided to flee to Kenya where they were given refuge; only to be returned at a later date in exchange for Ochuka and Okumu who had fled from Kenya to Tanzania after their attempt to overthrow Moi failed in August 1982. I was married and had a one-year old daughter, not knowing what would happen to them. I decided to remain and ride out the storm.
I was arrested the same night around 0300hrs and taken straight to the Central Police Station where I found my brother (name withheld), who was a captain and pilot, already arrested; two captains in the company of a good number of armed soldiers. They said to me that they were arresting me on the orders of the Chief of Defence Forces, but they did not say on what charge although I did ask them.
What I found out later was that my name was also on that list of paper but appeared as Captain (name withheld). And since in the army we are addressed by our surnames, there were two of us by that name. So, they arrested my brother first, as he was staying in the air-wing barracks, and they didn't know where I was staying in town until they asked my brother.
On my arrest, the whole of my family was taken out and the house was locked. The following morning my house was searched in my presence by the police, the military and the state security, but nothing of significance was found. We then went to my office. And, again, nothing was found.
I was not tortured physically, although there were a lot of threats to do just that or bring harm to my family. In my opinion, we were not tortured due to an issue that had occurred in the previous year. What happened then was that there were interrogations that were conducted by the state security guys among prisoners who were under the care of the police and the prisons department. Something went wrong and some of those prisoners died. One of them was connected to a person in power. So, an inquiry was initiated which culminated in the resignation of the then minister of home affairs, Mwinyi, who later on became president, and of Siyovelwa who was the minister in the president's office dealing with security. As for the operatives, the Regional Police Commander and his counterpart in Prisons and some police officers were charged and received prison terms of between 3 and 8 years. But the guys from the state security were left scot-free. It is this background that made the police protect us from any kind of torture.
I vividly remember the 5th day of my arrest when a security guy came to take me for interrogation but was refused permission by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Mwamakusa under whom I was placed for investigation. The security guy angrily went away and came back later with other top officials from the State House. But the SSP stood his ground. There were no interrogations for the following two days after this episode. We later found out that a meeting was held by all the security organs and it was agreed that all questions were to be asked in the presence of police officers and they should follow regulations. We were to remain under police custody. And that we did, until we were taken to court and thereafter to the prisons department.
We weren't allowed to get visits from relatives until a strong rumour started circulating that some of us were dead. To prove that we were still alive, they had no option but to allow relatives to visit us and bring us some food. Identification parades were held and, three weeks after our arrest, we were formally charged and taken to prison remand. Thirty people were initially charged and all the military people were remanded at Ukonga while the civilian elements were put at Keko.
Every two weeks we were taken to court, and another mention would be requested and, of course, granted. By the seventh mention, Father Tom and Mcghee, who were the first and the second accused respectively, escaped from Keko and fled to Kenya. The case was withdrawn and we were all put in detention.
There was no harsh treatment while in remand but, as soon as we were detained, conditions changed and we were mostly held incommunicado and dispersed to different prisons. I was always segregated from the others and was always in leg shackles apparently for being accused of being the mastermind of the Keko escape.
Almost a year later, Kenya and Tanzania settled their differences and exchanaged fugitives. Mcghee and a few others who had escaped during the first arrests were brought back, while Tanzania sent back Ochuka and his friend. These two were later hanged by Moi. After a long trial, almost a year, nine of us were sentenced to life imprisonment and the others were set free. Altogether this time, 18 were brought back to court while the others remained in detention until four months after we were sentenced when they were released. And that included my brother whose only mistake was to have a similar (the same last) name. He spent a total of three and a half years.
As a prisoner, conditions changed again but this time slightly for the better as we were treated as political prisoners. Food was better; we were given beds, mattresses, mosquito nets, radio and newspapers. We were also allowed visits from relatives and friends. It is standard procedure for any person in detention, or sentenced to life, to write a letter for clemency to the head of state. And I believe all of us did. I was again put alone and changed prisons from time to time. I stayed at Ukonga, Maweni, Tanga, Mtwara, Lindi, Mwanza, and again Ukonga where I was released on presidential pardon in 1995 in the wake of the first multiparty elections. In total, I spent 13 years in prison.
In the beginning, a lot of people used to avoid me. But gradually, as the freedom of speech increased in the country and the people became more bold, things began to change until now where I am leading a normal life. My wife waited for 10 years, then despaired and divorced me. She is married with two children and lives in (name withheld) with our daughter who was one year old when I was arrested; she is now 22. I own several trucks.... I married again in 2001 and have a six month-old son (in 2003) from this marriage."
Besides the questions to which he provided the answers in the preceding statement, I also asked him the following:
Why did the coup plotters want to overthrow the government? What did they have against Nyerere? Why did the coup not succeed? Was there a foreign power, such as the United States, involved in trying to overthrow Nyerere? Didn't the coup plotters worry that they would not get support from most Tanzanians and the international community for overthrowing such a popular president? Did the plot include assassinating President Nyerere and other leaders? Did the plotters anticipate massive resistance from other members of the armed forces and from the general public? What kind of government and political and economic system did they want to replace Nyerere's? Who was the coup leader or leaders?
Was the coup attempt very close to being successful? What was your rank in the army when you got involved in the plot? When was the attempted coup and when was it planned to take place? Was Oscar Kambona involved in this one as well? How many army officers or air force officers were involved?
He gave me these answers:
WHY THE COUP
In 1982 the country was going through a very difficult economic period and shortages of essential commodities was an everyday thing. To the dismay of many, the blame was always put on our imaginary enemies, external and internal, without mentioning who these enemies are. If you are bold enough to ask about the situation, then you are from there branded a fifth columnist, a name coined by the Nazis in Hitler's time to refer to anyone in their ranks who opposed them. Some of us got fed up and decided to look for change. But since there was no way one could achieve that in a totalitarian regime like that, the only option viable at that time was the use of force.
WHAT DID WE HAVE AGAINST MWALIMU
Nothing personal. The only thing was that he was already surrounded by hypocrites whose survival depended solely on the system continuing as it was. And instead of telling the president the truth, they would tell him what he wanted to hear. Very unfortunately, Mwalimu had reached a stage where he believed them and would listen to no one else. And if one wanted to get into his bad books, then he only had to point out an anomaly and that would have been the end of him. That is when people baptized Mwalimu haambiliki (Kiswahili word meaning, can't be told or won't listen, depending on the context - definition and clarification by the author, Godfrey Mwakikagile). He believed the path he had chosen for this country was the only one and there was no alternative. I remember one of his speeches where he said we should not look back lest we turn into stone. As such, what was the alternative? Well, some of us were young and impatient, so we went for the shortcut.
WHY DID THE COUP NOT SUCCEED
Rather complex, and it would take a lot of time to explain the sequence of events. But in short, I can say bad luck on our side and good luck on them. What really happened is that one of the plotters, Captain Tamim, was wanted for having had defected to Kenya when Ugandan interim president, Yusuf Lule, was ousted and had fallen out of favour with Nyerere. Tamim was then heading Lule's security unit. So he joined him in Kenya. It is said, though, that Tamim was sent there by General Msuguri who was the Task Force Commander in Uganda. General Msuguri later on denied that, as this would have put him in trouble for having exceeded his authority. Be it as it may, Tamim could not return as he would have faced a court martial although two of his colleagues were arrested, tried, and acquitted, thus giving credence to Msuguri's complicity. So, (just) a day before the coup was to take place, the security guys decided to pick him up for questioning but in the process, Tamim resisted and fought back. This culminated in gunning Tamim to death. Unfortunately, he had a list of (some) army officers' names on a slip of paper found in his pocket. And these officers were arrested the same day. Some of them confessed and this led to more arrests. This is how it failed.
WAS THERE A FOREIGN POWER?
Not one that I know of, although there was foreign financing. But that could have been done by individuals and not necessarily by a government.
DID WE WORRY ABOUT NOT GETTING SUPPORT?
Not at all. In fact, there were a lot disappointments in different quarters when the whole thing failed. It was very surprising that, in the wake of such an incidence, the normal procedure would have been rallies to condemn us, choirs would have been sung and all such razzmatazz. But there was no such thing. And this really helped to get Mwalimu out of the dreamland to reality as he realized how unpopular his government had become. History will be the judge of that, but one thing I can say for sure is that any meaningful change that has taken place in the country started soon after that.
DID THE PLOT INCLUDE ASSASSINATION?
No. The issue was discussed at length as there were worries that if the coup succeeds but Mwalimu slips away, then he may be an obstacle to us. This argument was discarded on the grounds that there was no neighbouring country that would have risked having him there as they all had plenty of trouble internally and we could have reciprocated by escalating those problems by aiding their opposition. For example, if (Mozambican President) Samora gave us problems, then we would have welcomed RENAMO; in Uganda we would have aided Museveni who was against Obote; Zambia, we would simply have choked them by closing the (oil) pipeline and the port. There was agreement that there was no need to kill anyone without a strong reason to do that.
WAS RESISTANCE ANTICIPATED?
Yes. There is no way that one can take power from another and expect to get it on a silver platter. But you have to know one thing in military planning: surprise is the main thing that plays an important role in determining the kind of resistance that you may get. In our case, there would have been some resistance mainly from areas of strategic importance and that would have been overcome easily. We didn't think there would have been a long-term and consistent resistance, given the unpopularity of the government at that time. But should one have arisen, then it would have been dealt with accordingly by the new government.
KIND OF GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMIC POLICIES
Ironically, we are now having the type of government that we wanted then. We would have installed an interim government that would have prepared the country for a multiparty election within one year. And this interim government would have been totally civilian. A liberalized economic policy is what we advocated And after surviving the coup, Mwalimu borrowed a chapter from us and put it into practice, albeit with a few items, the list of which kept on expanding until now where we can trade freely.
THE COUP LEADERS
There was one person who masterminded the whole thing. And if there was someone behind him, then I don't know. The mastermind is dead now, and his name is Pius Mtakubwa Lugangira. He was a chemistry teacher in secondary schools but had long quit that job. At the time of this plot, he was a businessman supplying different manufacturing industries with chemicals. On the operational part, I cannot reveal their names as it may jeopardize their position.
WAS IT CLOSE TO SUCCESS?
I think yes, because it was (only) a few hours away, with the security guys still in the dark. According to Mr. Apiyo, now retired but at that time the Principal Secretary in the president's office, this was the closest of all the attempts ( to overthrow the government), and it did speed up Mwalimu's retirement.
WHAT WAS MY RANK?
I was a captain.
WHEN WAS IT?
The plot was planned from November 1982 and was to take place on 9th January 1983. We were arrested on the eve of the 8th.
WAS KAMBONA INVOLVED?
No, he was not, as he was already a spent force by then.
HOW MANY WERE INVOLVED?
I can say many, because it was already in the implementation stage. But the ringleaders were about 14."
I communicated with him further and asked him a few more questions: "You say this was the third coup attempt. Which one was the second, by Eli Anangisye? And when was Anangisye's attempt? Who else was involved in Anangisye's coup attempt? Was Kambona one of them?"
He answered this way:
"I have never heard of Anangisye as having attempted a coup. But if I can recall right, I think he was like what the Soviets used to call dissident; someone who differs with the authorities and makes noise about it. They are usually detained without trial, and this is what I think happened to Anangisye.
The coup attempts that were known are the Chipaka and Bibi Titi one which involved Kambona. These were tried in court. The second one was in 1974 when I was in Officer Cadet School. This was said to be rather tribal by officers mainly from the Chagga group. No one was tried but more than 50 officers were removed from the army and given insignificant posts in parastatals. Then came ours.
But, in between, there were other incidents that you cannot call coup attempts; for instance, during the ten years of independence celebrations leaflets castigating Mwalimu were dropped at the National Stadium and in a few other regions. This was Kambona's job, as his picture was in the leaflets. He again made the same attempt in 1973 but his timing was not good, as Mwalimu was at the peak of his popularity.
There were a few other hiccups but, to the best of my knowledge, it is only the three that I have mentioned that are of any significance in so far as coups are concerned. One other item is that during Mwalimu's era, they were very keen to conceal any news of coups, as that would indicate the truth that the regime was not all that popular. So, there may have been other hidden ones that I never learnt about."
I thought about including the government version of what happened but decided not to. The High Court of Tanzania found the accused guilty and sent them to prison. The conviction summed up the government case. As Andrew Nyerere said, when we discussed the matter, regarding the government version of the coup attempt:
"I don't see why there should be any reason to give a different point of view. Facts can be twisted, but they cannot be changed. And besides, here are people who had the wrong view. They thought they would go to State House but, instead, they went to Ukonga Prison. What more proof do you need to know that these people were wrong and the government was right?" - (Godfrey Mwakikagile, Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era, pp. 680 - 688).
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Kuna mengi zaidi ya hayo katika kitabu hicho pamoja na jaribio la kumpindua Nyerere lilo ongozwa na Oscar Kambona. Kambona alikuwa na mpango wa kumpindua Nyerere October 1969 wakati Mwalimu alipokuwa nje ya nchi pamoja na mkuu wa jeshi Sarakikya na maofisa wengine wa jeshi; mawaziri kadhaa, na viongozi wengine serikalini. Waliokamatwa, walipelekwa kortini June 1970. And they were well-represented in court. Lakini Senior State Attorney Nathaniel King alipambana vizuri sana na mawakili wao.
Namkumbuka sana Nathaniel King hadi leo. Tulikuwa tunamwona mara nyingi saa za jioni akiendesha gari lake dogo, a green Austin, na wakati amevaa shati ya kitenge na pia akienda kunywa New Africa Hotel. He was a jovial fellow but extremely tough in court.
This was my Sunday readingJan 9, 1982. A coup that never was. And its aftermath
By Erick Kabendera
At Butimba Maximum Security Prison, inmate Eugene Magangas routine for the two years he had been to wake up late on weekends. For some reason however, on that Saturday morning October 22, 1995, he had woken up early and when he switched on his small radio he was just in time to catch a brief news item saying that President Ali Hassan Mwinyi had granted him and several others clemency for their crime.-
This is a moment that the group of eight had been waiting for, for the ten years that they been behind bars serving a life sentence for treason. They had never lost hope.
Prisoners in different cells who also heard the news started cheering, narrates Maganga, 50. Surprisingly I did not cheer because I had waited for a long time for this day to come. It was always terrifying to imagine I could spend my entire life in prison.-
Maganga and the other seven Suleiman Kamando, Zakaria Aspopo, Vitalis Mapunda, Mbogolo, Kajaji Badru, Hatty MacGhee and Christopher Kadego were convicted in 1985 for a botched plan two years earlier to overthrow the government of the countrys first President, Julius Nyerere. The ninth person, Mohamed Tamimu had been killed in an exchange with the police at the time of their arrest.
On Monday October 24, 1995, two days after the news had come on radio, Maganga was declared a free man. He clearly remembers that day when he crossed the prison gates to freedom. The time was one p.m.
My joyous relatives and those of my fellow prisoner Hatty MacGhee welcomed us outside the prison. Emotions ran high and the feeling then is very hard to explain even now, says Maganga.
Six of the other treason convicts were released two days later from Ukonga Prison in Dar es Salaam.
By the time of their release, Maganga had been shuffled through several prisons including Ukonga in Dar es Salaam and his last post at Butimba in Mwanza.
Despite the hardships they endured in prison, Maganga says none of them has ever regretted for attempting to overthrow the government. We only regret failing the coup mission but we dont regret planning the coup.
Before they came up with the idea of overthrowing the government, Maganga and Kadego worked in the army with the Tank Battalion. Maganga was a Lieutenant while Kadego was a captain. Maganga was 26 years old and had just returned from London where he spent four months brushing up his military skills before he was summoned to go and fight in the war with Uganda in 1978.
As one of the soldiers on the frontline, Maganga believes Tanzania won the war because Uganda had a weak army. But he is unforgiving of the general premise on which the war was built. President Nyerere misused the countrys resources to fight for the interests of his closest friend Milton Obote so he could return him to power.
If the misunderstandings that led to the war were genuine, Maganga says diplomacy would have helped solve the problem amicably. Instead they had favoured a military campaign.-
Soon after this war, in May 1980, Maganga joined the University of Dar es Salaam to study International Relations and Public Administration. He was never happy with the kind of life that Tanzanians were living he says they were poor and were being forced into Ujamaa villages.-
The group contended that the war between the two countries was unnecessary and had only resulted in the misuse of public funds. The war wasnt between the two countries rather it was between Nyerere and Idi Amin.
Maganga further says they also took issue with the conditions in the army which had particularly deteriorated after Major General Mrisho Sarakikya, the first Chief of Defence Forces (1964-1974) and his team had stepped down. The coup plotters also felt that the president lacked trust in the people from the north because they been educated outside the country and he feared that they would attempt to overthrow him. People who were less educated took over the positions and that is where things went wrong, says Maganga. Soldiers were not commissioned on merit as the president was keener on creating an army consisting of men who couldnt pose any challenge against him. He says some officers were promoted twice in a single week. We wanted to bring changes but the type of people we wanted to work with were not ready to sacrifice. Nevertheless, we didnt give up on our intention to bring about change.-
As Maganga and his colleagues were still discussing the ways to go about their plans, they met with the late Pius Rugangira (Uncle Tom) who was an established Tanzanian businessman in Kenya. Rugangiras father was not on good terms with President Nyerere, according to Maganga, and he had gone to live and work in Uganda. And because of having his father in Uganda, Rugangira was accused of being a Ugandan spy accusations that led to his fallout with the government. Generally, he too felt that Tanzanians were unnecessarily paying the price of an ill-conceived war and that is why he gave audience to the coup plotters.-
With Rugangira volunteering to finance their mission, Maganga and other army officers who had already agreed to work together were now optimistic. We were all young and we did not trust any high ranking officer in the army because they were satisfied with the way things were.-
Though quite forthcoming with just about everything on their coup plans, Maganga is hesitant to reveal exactly how they had had planned to carry it out. He will only say it is still their top secret though they expected to exploit the general negligence in the army to achieve their goals.
Another plotter who was in Magangas company at the time of the interview but preferred not to be named, says most people believe the group was given a lot of money to carry out the coup but in fact the little money that they received from Rugangira was only meant to take care of small emergencies. He insists it was not compensation for carrying out the coup. If we were paid money, none of us would have been poor today, he says.
The former soldier adds that they wanted to build a multiparty democracy in which people could freely express their opinions and choose their own president. We had proposed that Rugangira would become the Prime Minister but on condition that he would not contest as a presidential candidate in the election that would be held five years later.-
Three days before the planned coup was to take place, Rugangira reportedly asked them the positions they wanted to be given in the new government but they had replied they wanted nothing.
When all arrangements were in place, they waited for the president who was on a state visit abroad to return. According to Maganga, the president came back in January 1982 after spending two months away and went to his home village in Butiama.-
The reason we wanted to overthrow the government while he was in the country is that we intended to assassinate him, Maganga says. It was Rugangira who opposed the assassination plan in favour of arresting the president.
Nyerere unexpectedly spent more time in Butiama and had still not returned to Dar es Salaam two days before the day when the coup was to take place on Monday January 9, 1982.-
The Friday before that on January 6 they had planned to meet for the last time before the coup was carried out but some of their colleagues did not turn up for the meeting.-
Mohamed Tamimu was among those who didnt come. We were worried and we decided to send one of us to Kinondoni Mkwajuni to enquire but we were shocked to find that the police had raided his house and killed him, says Maganga.
At that point, they all knew their identities and plans were secret no more. Tamimu, according to his colleagues, had a culture of keeping records of the meetings and the names of collaborators. It was only a matter of time before they were arrested.
They had guessed right.
The police were all over looking for the group. Kadego and Maganga decided to escape through Tanga and Mombasa to Nairobi where they stayed for ten months as political refugees. We dont know what happened to the others whom we left in Dar es Salaam but we had not given up when we arrived in Nairobi. We wanted to re-organise ourselves and come back to overthrow the government, says Maganga.
They never blamed each other for failing to carry out the coup successfully though Maganga believes their luck ran out because MacGhee was a civilian and didnt know how to keep secrets. He suspects MacGhee had leaked the information to almost all of the people he knew before even the mission was a halfway. Maganga also suspects that Tamimu knew that MacGhee was not a former American soldier as he had claimed but did not tell them. We realised later that his real name was Hatibu Hassan Gandhi and he was a Tanzanian pilot.
In Nairobi, they had no jobs and they were surviving under the support of United Nations Commission for Refugees. Maganga says they had some contacts with the America embassy in Nairobi whom they requested for sponsorship to start a base in Nairobi from where they would reorganise and plan for another coup.
They said they had so many similar activities to support and could not afford sponsoring ours, he says.
A few days later as Maganga and Kadego loitered in the streets of Nairobi, they suddenly ran into their co-plotters Uncle Tom and MacGhee whom they had left in Dar es Salaam. The two had escaped from Keko Prison in Dar es Salaam where they had been taken upon their arrest.-
Though they were comfortable with their life in Nairobi Rugangira decided to travel to London to look at ways to move them to Malawi. He was worried that the government in Nairobi would conspire with Dar es Salaam and arrest them. All eight of them had somehow managed to escape to Nairobi.
Indeed, before Rugangira returned from London, the group was arrested by the authorities in Nairobi and exchanged with Senior Lance Corporal Ochuka and Sergeant Pancras Oteyo who had also made attempts to overthrow the government of then President Daniel arap Moi in 1982 and fled to Tanzania.
We were heavily handcuffed and blindfolded and taken to Isaka Maximum Security Prison in Dodoma where we stayed from November 1983 to October 1984, says Maganga.
On arrival there, they found the walls of the prison cells they were assigned were smeared with faeces. They were chained to the ground, and spent three days without taking a shower. The head of the prison had directed the prison warders not to talk to the captives or even get near them fearing that the captives would try to influence the law enforcers to join hands with them.-
Maganga says however that the people who were guarding them were not all that bad and at one time they helped the prisoners smuggle a letter out to the American Embassy. They had wanted the world to know that they were in jail because nobody was aware of this at the time.
The letter they had written, Maganga says, prompted a UN Commissioner for Refugees to visit Tanzania and pressured government to forward the case to court.
The trial started in January 1985 and in December of that year they were sentenced to life imprisonment.
They insist that in principle they have no regrets about plotting the coup, but Maganga says his only disappointments are in the way their lives turned out.
After being set free, they found that some friends and relatives had turned hostile towards them and did not want to be seen near or with them.-
Both Kadego and Maganga have never married and Maganga says the hardest part was probably not the ten years they spent in jail but starting all over again when they owned nothing. The government made sure that we dont get employed anywhere and some of us have remained unemployed to this day, he says.
Some of them whose families were better off managed to make a breakthrough in businesses. Kadego and I live hand to mouth. In fact Kadego is a machinga, Maganga says.-
MacGhee died a week after their release while a couple of them tried to join the opposition parties but decided to quit. They felt the parties were disorganised and the people who led them seemed self-seeking.-
In the last years elections, I contested for a parliamentary seat in Tabora constituency but I lost. I dont want to involve myself in politics again, Maganga says.
Maganga has two children from different mothers and he says nobody bothered to send them to good schools while he was in jail. He still hopes to provide them with a good education but with no income, his plans are beginning to seem like wishful thinking.-
He had himself enrolled at the Open University of Tanzania to study Law in 1999 but dropped out in his second year due to lack of fees. Not all my friends care about my problems. Some try to reach me when they have something to give me, he says.-
With the way things are going for him right now, he is just about ready to do any job that is offered to him.-
Still, his personal life doesnt bother him quite as much as what he calls the mindset of Tanzanians. They complain of almost everything but none of them has ever taken any action. They blame us for trying to overthrow the government while most of them would not even dare, he says.
He told me he was going to bed that night without any food but that didnt bother him; it would not be the first time. It is when he says, This country Nyerere corrupted the mindset of the people. Very few people can think and take action, that he wears the mask of disappointment.-
A dogs life
The time in prison had been very harrowing even for political prisoners like themselves. They were not allowed some of the privileges they were entitled to, and they got to witness several vices that thrived under the very noses of prison authorities.-
Maganga recalls witnessing juvenile prisoners being sodomised. There were same sex couples, drug peddlers and some notorious inmates even organised beauty pageants where men strutted their stuff.-
Prisoners who supervised others slept with those who won the beauty contests and gave them little favours in return, for instance, excusing them from hard work and allowing them the luxury of bathing with soap. It was a nasty and disgusting experience that still lingers in my mind, says Maganga.
Before he was sent into prison, Maganga says he thought that jailhouses were managed by welfare officers but to his surprise there werent any in the prisons in which he served his sentence.-
Moreover, prisons officers facilitated drug trafficking in jails and even participated in selling juvenile prisoners to other prisoners. These wardens also looked on as weaker prisoners were raped without trying to intervene in any way.-
Maganga is however happy for the small changes him and his colleagues were able to bring in all the prisons they served in. With James Christopher Kadego his closest ally, they had been instrumental in strengthening sporting activities and defending the rights of other prisoners in Ukonga. We never tolerated anyone who tried to violate the rights of others.
Because of their efforts to defend them, some of their fellow prisoners did not celebrate their release, for they would now be left to fend for themselves.