Mzee wetu anazeeka na imani yake kuwa Tanu ni Wasauzi
Yericko,
Mjadala unapendeza ikiwa tutajiepusha na lugha za kihuni kama, ''Wasauzi.''
Wewe utataka kuwa mwandishi wa vitabu ni muhimu kuanzia hapa ukawa
unaijenga heshima na jina lako.
Maalim Faiza anaita hii, ''Elimu bila khiyana,'' sasa hebu wasome hao wenye
TANU yao na hii si kwa ajili yako wewe bali kwa wote wanaotusoma:
''TANU as a political movement had always existed in Abdulwahid’s mind and he persistently and constantly worked for its realisation. A party to unite all the people of Tanganyika irrespective of their ethnic identity or religious affiliation was now a reality. Abdulwahid and the TAA leadership had planted the seeds of unity in Tanzania. If that unity was to be destroyed soon after independence the founding fathers are not to blame. The TANU inaugural meeting was attended by a small crowd of about twenty people, among them Julius Nyerere, Abdulwahid and Ally Sykes, Dossa Aziz, Rupia, Mshume Kiyate, Makisi Mbwana, Jumbe Tambaza, Juma Waziri, Clement Mtamila, Rajab Diwani, Schneider Plantan, Marsha Bilali, Rashidi Ally Meli, Frederick Njiliwa Idd Faiz Mafongo, Idd Tulio, Denis Phombeah and others. Abdulwahid, Ally, Dossa Aziz and Rupia were the main financiers of the movement in Dar es Salaam.
In the colonial environment of 1950s the Sykes family was considered well-to-do, owning several houses in town. Dossa Aziz was also a man of means, driving his own car since 1949 when most Africans could hardly afford a bicycle. Dossa Aziz’s car was the only means of transport to the nationalists including TANU president Nyerere. Dossa Aziz’s house of tiles and glass at Mtoni Kwa Aziz Ali was a building a white colonial officer could envy. As to Rupia, he was out of this league completely. He was rich in the real sense of the word and he made his resources available to the movement. Although Abdulwahid and Ally were considered to have same source of finance, the fact is that each one of them contributed money to support the Party in his own way and capacity.
In 1954, risking his job as Market Master, little did Abdulwahid realise that a time would come when the history of the struggle would be written and his name would not be associated with that important period in the history of Tanganyika as a nation. One can also speculate what would have been the role of Nyerere in the politics of Tanganyika if Chief Kidaha had accepted TAA’s proposal to become president of the Association in 1951; or what would have been the future of Tanganyika if Abdulwahid and the TAA inner circle had accepted Ivor Bayldon’s proposal to form a multiracial political party. This was an obvious ploy contrived by the government to co-opt the nationalists and hence compromise their stand for majority rule. What the government was seeking was to incorporate the TAA leadership with the traditional authorities in the Legislative Council and form what could be wrongly perceived as true representative body of authority with the Governor at the top. This would have nipped in the bud the struggle for majority rule for the Africans of Tanganyika.
With such an hypothetical set up, would Nyerere had been able to form a political party of his own, either within the framework of the TAA or from any other base? Would his party build its power base first from the peasantry in his home area in Musoma, or could he have ventured to build his base from Dar es Salaam with the same Muslim support he was able to get in TANU through his acquaintance with the townsmen?
On the formation of TANU, Iliffe has noted that:
...none of the published accounts, even those of politicians like S.A. Kandoro or E.B.M. Barongo, is particularly revealing. Available government records contain little of importance. President Nyerere has never analysed the process in public...The most difficult problem of all is to evaluate president Nyerere’s own role in the process of transformation, specially the extent to which he was planning a mass movement or was led into it by provincial politicians already involved in mass action.
[1]
Abdulwahid now thirty years old, had accomplished the ambition of his lifetime, an ambition which had originated from his late father, who twenty-one years before had predicted a continuous struggle between the Africans of Tanganyika and the colonial state. Kleist Sykes had foretold the role of the next generation. In a letter he wrote in 1933 to Mzee bin Sudi, then president of the African Association, Kleist at the tender age of twenty-nine years had this to write:
Let us struggle with all our hearts towards the path of civilization just like other tribes are doing. It does not matter if we do not accomplish everything. Those who will come after us will finish the rest.''
[2]
[1] Iliffe, 'The Role of African...' op. cit. p. 24.
[2] See Buruku, op. cit. p. 105.
Yericko,
Naweka na kwa Kiswahili baadhi kama yalivyo katika nakala
ya kitabu tafasiri ya Kiswahili:
''Abdulwahid sasa akiwa na umri wa miaka 30, alikuwa amekamilisha lile lengo lake kubwa katika maisha yake, lengo ambalo lilianza kwa marehemu baba yake ambaye miaka ishirini na moja iliyopita alitabiri kuendelea kwa mapambano kati ya Waafrika wa Tanganyika na serikali ya kikoloni. Kleist Sykes alikuwa halikadhalika ametabiri jukumu la kizazi kijacho. Katika barua aliyomwandikia Mzee bin Sudi, rais wa African Association, mwaka wa1933, Kleist katika umri mdogo wa miaka ishirini na tisa, akiwa kijana mdogo sana aliandika maneno haya:
''Tupambane kwa nguvu zetu zote kuelekea njia ya ustaarabu kama vile watu wa makabila mengine wanavyofanya. Haidhuru kitu ikiwa hatukamilishi kila kitu. Wale watakaokuja baada yetu watakamilisha yatakayobakia.''
Kwa hakika Kleist alikuwa mtu wa fikra. Alizungumzia kuhusu "wastaarabu," ambao hivi leo ungemaanisha, "kujitawala," na kuhusu makabila ambayo TANU imeyageuza kuwa taifa. Katika mwaka wa1954 robo karne baadaye katika jengo lilo hilo, 25 New Street ambalo Kleist alisaidia kulijenga kwa njia ya kujitolea, kizazi kipya nchini Tanganyika kilikuwa kikiigeuza African Association aliyoiunda katika mwaka 1929 kuwa chama cha siasa. Lengo lake lilikuwa kuwatayarisha Watanganyika kujitawala. Miongoni mwa waliokuwa wakiongoza harakati za kudai uhuru zilizokuwa zikiibuka walikuwa watoto wake watatu, Abdulwahid, Ally na Abbas.
Inapendeza wakati mwingine mtu akakaa na kutafakari juu ya hatima. Mwaka wa 1954, Abdulwahid akihatarisha kazi yake kama Market Master, haikumjia hata kidogo kuwa siku itafika historia ya kudai uhuru iandikwe na jina lake lisihusishwe na hiki kipindi muhimu katika historia ya uzalendo wa Tanganyika. Vilevile mtu anaweza kukisia hii leo Nyerere angekuwa wapi katika siasa za Tanganyika kama mwaka wa 1951 Chifu Kidaha angekubali lile pendekezo la Abdulwahid la kumuomba kuchukua uongozi na kuwa rais wa TAA. Au nini ungekuwa mustakbal wa Tanganyika kama Abdulwahid na wenzake katika uongozi wa ndani wa TAA wangekubali lile pendekezo la Ivor Bayldon la kuunda chama cha siasa cha mchanganyiko wa mataifa mbali mbali. Hii ilikuwa ujanja uliopangwa na serikali kuwatia wazalendo katika siasa hizo na hivyo kuwatoa katika msimamo wao wa kutaka utawala wa Waafrika waliokuwa wengi. Kile serikali ilichokuwa ikitafuta kilikuwa kuunganisha uongozi wa TAA na utawala wa machifu katika Baraza la Kutunga Sheria na kuunda kile ambacho kingeweza kudhaniwa kama uwakilishi halali wa serikali na Gavana akiwa mkuu wa serikali. Jambo hili lingedhuru harakati za utawala wa Waafrika wa Tanganyika.
Suali la kujiuliza ni kuwa, ‘’Je Nyerere angeweza kuunda chama chake mwenyewe cha siasa ama ndani ya TAA au kutoka chanzo kingine chochote? Je, chama chake kingejenga msingi wa nguvu yake kwanza toka kwa wakulima katika sehemu za kwao huko Musoma au angebahatisha kujenga msingi wake wa siasa Dar es Salaam kwa msaada ule ule wa Waislam alioweza kuupata katika TANU kupitia kwa watu kama Abdulwahid na Ally Sykes, Dossa Aziz, Sheikh Suleiman Takadir na watu wengine miongoni mwa watu wa mjini?’’
Juu ya kuundwa kwa TANU Iliffe ameandika kuwa:
''...Si taarifa hata moja zilizochapishwa hata zile za wanasiasa kama S.A. Kandoro au E.B.M. Barongo zenye kufichua hasa kumbukumbu za serikali zilizopo zina umuhimu kiasi gani katika kueleza kuundwa kwa TANU. Rais Nyerere katu hajaeleza wazi hadharani kuhusu hilo... Tatizo gumu sana katika yote ni kutathmini nafasi ya Nyerere mwenyewe katika utaratibu wa mageuzi ya siasa, hususan kile kiwango ambacho alikuwa anapanga kuunda chama cha siasa au aliongozwa kwenye chama hicho na wanasiasa wa pale mjini ambao tayari walikuwa wanahusika katika harakati za siasa.''
TANU, kama chama cha siasa, kilikuwa ndani ya fikra za Abdulwahid katika maisha yake na alifanya kazi kwa uthabiti kuhakikisha kuwa TANU kingekuwa chama cha kuwaunganisha Watanganyika wote bila kujali kabila au dini zao. Kuundwa kwa TANU kwake yeye kulikuwa jambo lisilo na shaka. Abdulwahid na uongozi wa TAA walikuwa wamepanda mbegu za umoja wa wananchi wa Tanganyika na ikiwa umoja huo uliangamizwa mara baada ya uhuru kupatikana waasisi wa umoja huo hawapaswi kulaumiwa. Maisha ya siasa ya Abdulwahid hayawezi kutenganishwa na historia ya TANU wala historia ya taifa la Tanganyika. Hakuna mwanaiasa yeyote anayeweza kujilinganisha na marehemu Abdulwahid kwa yale aliyoyafanya wakati wa ukoloni. Abdulwahid alitoa mwelekeo kwa chama cha wafanyakazi, aliunda chama cha siasa na alimweka Nyerere kwenye kiti cha madaraka.''
