Kinyume na hapo kuna utapeli mkubwa sana unaenda kutokea kwenye eneo la usafirishaji mzigo, maana yeye anaenda kutumia miundombinu yote ya SGR kupitishia mizigo yake kwenye treni zetu.
Ikiwa wa Belgium kwa niaba ya makoloni yao Burundi, Rwanda, Free Congo ya Mashariki hata Tabora waliweza kusaini ulioainisha kipengele kwa kipengele ktk mkataba na Uingereza iliyokuwa inatawala Tanganyika ili waweze kutumia bandari ya Kigoma na reli ya mkoloni hadi bandari ya Dar es Salaam kwa ufanisi kwa kutumia mkataba uliosainiwa kimakini miaka 100 iliyopita, sisi waafrika wa nchi huru 2022 tukiwa na wasomi kibao na historia ya kufanyia rejea kwanini tushindwe?
100 YEARS BELBASES
A FORGOTTEN PAGE OF BELGIAN COLONIALISM IN AFRICA
Belgian bases in East Africa
View attachment 2303343
The Belgian colonial period ended with the independence of Burundi and Rwanda on July 1, 1962, but there is still a vestige of our colonial past:
the Belbases (Belgium Bases) in Tanzania.
In 1919, during the negotiation of the Treaty of Versailles, Great Britain was able to seize almost all the German colonies in East Africa. Rwanda and Burundi have become areas of Belgian mandate.
But Belgium, which had also participated in the war effort in East Africa, was not satisfied, protested strongly.
It received in 1921 from the British a commercial gesture by way of consolation, the so-called Belbases (of "Belgian Bases"), sites in two ports of Tanganyika: Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika, and Dar es Salaam on the Indian Ocean , with free transit on the railway between these two ports.
This agreement was signed 100 years ago, on March 15, 1921.
Belgium receives a lease of the concession for a symbolic Franc per year, where it could build quays and warehouses, initially in perpetuity, from 1956 for 99 years.
Goods to and from Belgian colonies in Central Africa could pass tax free via rail.
The Belgian government entrusted the operation to a private company, the Belgian East African Agency, which later became the International Maritime Agency (AMI).
In 1956, the Belbases were transferred to the colonial government, which now funded the infrastructure. After the independence of the Congo, Burundi and Rwanda, the Belbases became the joint property of the former colonies.
The transit zone gradually lost its economic importance and, certainly after the riots of 1991 (Congo) and 1994 (Rwanda), traffic from Central Africa stopped. Between 1994 and 1995, the AIM (Agence Maritime Internationale) began discussions on an "honorable end" of the management agreement, in 1996 Tanzania took over the sites.
100 YEARS BELBASES
A FORGOTTEN PAGE OF BELGIAN COLONIALISM IN AFRICA
Belbases Convention
Extract from the Moniteur Belge n° 113 du 23.4.1921
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
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CONVENTION BETWEEN BELGIUM AND GREAT BRITAIN
TO FACILITATE BELGIAN TRAFFIC THROUGH THE
TERRITORIES OF EASTERN AFRICA
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The British Government and the Belgian Government wishing, on the one hand, to give effect to the agreements in principle concluded between them, on the occasion of the common effort accomplished in Africa, after the violation of the neutrality of the Belgian Congo; taking into account, on the other hand, the special needs, from the point of view of access to the sea, of part of the Belgian Congo and of the territories whose administration has been entrusted to Belgium,
Have agreed on the following provisions :
Item 1. In the present convention, the expression "Belgian Congo" refers not only to the territories of the Belgian Congo properly speaking, but also to the territories of the former German protectorate to be administered by Belgium.
The expression "East Africa" refers, in addition to the present protectorates of Great Britain, to the territories of the former German protectorate to be administered by her.
The expression "vessel" applies to any ship or boat.
Art. 2. Great Britain undertakes to grant freedom of transit through East Africa on such routes as are or shall be most suitable for transit, whether by rail, lake, navigable river or by canal, to all persons, post, all goods and all ships, cars and wagons coming from or heading towards the Belgian Congo and, for this purpose, the crossing of territorial waters will be permitted. Such persons, post, goods, ships, carriages and wagons shall not be subject to any right of transit or to unnecessary delays or restrictions and they shall be treated, as regards taxes, facilities and all matters, on the same footing as British people, post, goods, ships, cars and wagons. Goods in transit will be exempt from all customs duties or other similar charges. All charges, in respect of carriage in transit, shall be reasonable, having regard to the conditions of the traffic, and no charge, facility or restriction shall depend, directly or indirectly, on the quality of the owner or the nationality of any vessel or any other means of transport which has been, or will have to be, used during any part of the total journey.
It is expressly understood that the term "transit charge" does not refer to the tax of 25 cents per parcel currently levied on goods in transit from East Africa; however, this tax will not be levied on goods in transit from or to the Belgian Congo passing through the locations of Kigoma and Dar-es-Salaam referred to in Article 5.
Art 3. Belgian subjects and property, and ships flying the Belgian flag shall, in all respects, be treated on a footing of perfect equality in all ports and on the inland waterways of East Africa, in such a way so that no distinction is made to the detriment of Belgian subjects, property and flag between the latter and British subjects, property and flag.
No other impediments to the movement of persons and buildings shall be introduced other than those resulting from the provisions relating to the police, customs, health requirements, emigration or immigration, and the import or the export of prohibited goods. These reasonable and uniform provisions shall not unnecessarily impede traffic.
Art 4. Travelers, post and goods from or to the Belgian Congo shall automatically benefit, on the railways and shipping lines of East Africa linking or capable of linking the Belgian Congo to the sea, from the point of view of taxes to be levied (taking into account all discounts and bonuses), facilities and, in all other respects, the most favorable treatment applied to travellers, to the post office, as well as to goods of the same nature or same class transported on the respective lines of East Africa, either in internal traffic, or on import, export or in transit, under similar conditions of transport, in particular from the point of view of the length of the journey.
It is understood that fares on the line from Dar-es-Salaam to Kigoma will never be unreasonably high to divert traffic between the Belgian Congo and the Indian Ocean from the port of Dar-es-Salaam.
At the request of the Belgian state, combined rates may be created between any point in the Belgian Congo on the one hand, the ports listed in article 5, as well as the places of destination and overseas origins , on the other hand. To this end, the Belgian and British Administrators will endeavor to conclude agreements with a view to combining the railway tariffs with the tariffs of the Belgian navigation services which may serve the said ports.
Any advantages which may be accorded by the railways to a British navigation service serving the said ports shall be extended, as of right, to the Belgian navigation services.
The Belgian state will be able to circulate on the Kigoma - Dar-es-Salaam route its own wagons for the transport of goods between the Belgian Congo and the sea. The conditions which these wagons must meet from the point of view of conditioning, weight, dimensions, brakes, etc., will be fixed by the British Authority, the Belgian Authority being consulted beforehand.
In the event that the general classification of goods adopted by a railway or a shipping line in East Africa does not mention certain products originating from or destined for the Belgian Congo, these products will, from the point of view of the application tariffs, treated by assimilation and placed as far as possible in the category of the most similar products.
Art 5. In order to facilitate the access of the Belgian Congo to the sea, the British Government will lease, in perpetuity, to the Belgian Government, in return for an annual fee of fr. 1, locations in the ports of Dar-es-Salaam and Kigoma.
The extent of these locations will be determined taking into account the probable increase in traffic with the Belgian Congo.
Commissioners will be designated on both sides, with a view to the choice and demarcation of these sites.
The sites will be chosen in such a way:
1° To present a sufficient berthing front in deep water
2° To be able to be easily connected to the railway
3° To allow the construction under favorable conditions of the maritime installations envisaged in the following article .
If necessary, the British Government will extend to the main railway line the connections existing or to be established on these sites.
Art 6. The locations shall remain subject to the laws and general regulations enacted by the competent British Authority, and British officials and agents shall have free access thereto, with a view to maintaining order and the application of these laws and regulations. regulations. The Belgian Authorities may carry out any work on the sites and carry out any installations that they deem useful for the development of traffic. However, the plans for works which may affect the regime of the navigable passes or the circulation of vessels must be drawn up by mutual agreement between the two Governments.
Buildings erected on the sites, in particular for the accommodation of staff, must meet the requirements of British regulations on building and hygiene. Dwellings will be subject to ordinary municipal taxes.
The commercial operation of the pitches is entrusted to the Belgian Government. The tariffs for the use of these sites and their installations will not be lower than the tariffs of the surplus of the port. It is understood that in principle they will be reasonable, having regard to the expenses of the initial establishment, improvement, maintenance and administration of the sites.
In the application of these tariffs, no distinction shall be made between the nationals of the High Contracting Parties and those of other Powers admitted to the benefit of national treatment, either by reason of the nationality of the persons, or by reason of the origin or the destination of the goods.
The Belgian Government may entrust the operation to concessionaires to be designated by it. However, these concessionaires must be approved by the British government, and the duration of the concession may not exceed twenty-five years.
Art 7. On entering and leaving ports, vessels calling at the above-mentioned locations must comply with the port police regulations and the orders of the British authorities.
Art 8. Subject to complying with the regulations governing the use of these installations, the ships, calling at the sites, will have access to slips, and dry docks of the surplus of the two ports; the same will apply to floating equipment assigned to the operation of the sites, such as lighters, tugs, tankers, etc.
Art 9. In the above locations, which can only be used for the traffic of goods in transit from or to the Belgian Congo, and not for the traffic of goods from or to East Africa, the British Customs Authorities will not be involved and the goods may not be subject to any duty or tax other than a statistical duty of one thousandth ad valorem at most, which will be collected by the Belgian authorities and assigned to cover the costs of the service responsible for establish the statistics of the trade and the movement of the Belgian location.
Art 10. On the railway between Kigoma and Dar-es-Salaam, wagons in transit between the sea and the Belgian Congo which will have been sealed by Belgian agents, in a manner to be agreed between the competent Administrations of the two countries , will be exempt from any British customs formalities.
The British Customs Authorities shall have the right to be represented at the sealing operations.
Art 11. The British Government will simplify, as far as possible, customs formalities with regard to goods in transit from or to the Belgian Congo via Kigoma and Dar-es-Salaam which do not pass through the locations referred to in the preceding articles.
Under the conditions to be determined between the competent British and Belgian Administrations, the transit of these goods will not be subject by British customs to consignments, sureties or other financial guarantees.
Art 12. In general, the British Government will ensure that Belgian traffic in East Africa is provided with the greatest possible facilities.
In witness whereof the undersigned have signed this Agreement and have affixed thereto their seals.
Done in duplicate at London, March 15, 1921
Baron Moncheur
Curzon of Kedleston
Certified true by the Secretary General
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
H.Costermans
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Belbases - Une page oubliée du colonialisme Belge en Afrique
Even if they have not been used for 25 years, in theory these Belbases still exist, because the four countries (Tanzania, Burundi, Congo and Rwanda) have not yet been able to agree on compensation for the resumption of the installations.
July 1916, Belgo-Congolese troops return home after a victorious battle in German East Africa
26 March 2022
Belgo-Congolese Force Publique troops return home to Albertville (Today Kalemie) after the successful attack on Kigoma in German East Africa (Today Tanzania) in July 1916 during the Battle of Lake Tanganyika in World War I. Belgium may had lost more than 90% of its land in Europe to Germany, but it still had it's overseas empire in the Congo. Although the defense of the homeland was the top priority, the Belgian administration in the Congo was eager to strike the Germans where they still could–at German colonies in Africa. They had contributed some small forces to the conquest of Cameroon, but an attack against German East Africa had been beyond their capabilities until 1916, held up in part due to Belgian distrust of Britain’s colonial aims in Africa. That summer, in conjunction with Smuts’ advance from Kenya, a force of 10,000 under General Tombeur advanced through what is now Rwanda and Burundi to Kigoma, the western terminus of the Central Railway, taking it on July 28. Over the next month and a half, Tombeur’s forces pushed east along the Central Railway towards Tabora, the German provisional capital in the colony after the Governor left Dar es Salaam. From the north, British forces advanced from Lake Victoria, and the Germans arrayed their troops to defend against the British. After ten days of fighting in September, the Belgians outflanked and dislodged the Germans from the west. On September 18, realizing that the Belgians now occupied hills overlooking Tabora, the Germans evacuated the city. A decoy force headed east along the Central Railway, while the Governor and most of the troops headed southeast through largely uncharted territory to join Lettow-Vorbeck’s forces
