Mwalimu Nyerere and the Ideological Amalgam of African Socialism and Welfare State Liberalism
Frustrated by the elitist development in the 1960s and the heightened educational crises which culminated in the National Service dispute, President Nyerere, who was by now the key education policy maker in Tanzania, decided to formulate education policies which, though radical in their own rights, were anticipated by colonial agricultural-based educational policies which were detested by the majority of Tanzanians. The time was ripe now for Nyerere, who is on Hatch (1976) and Smith (1973) records for claiming that his self-evolved ideas of politics were formed completely at the University of Edinburgh were his strongest subject was philosophy, to implement a synthesis of the liberal ideas to the Tanzanian education system and to the nation as a whole.
Not deviating much from the social democratic liberalism conceptualisations of the father of utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill, whom he admired a lot, Nyerere (1966) came up with a new synthesis of man and society which aimed to resolve the tension between the individual and his/her society and paved the way for the creation of a quasi socialist welfare state. His synthesis asserted that mans existence in society involves an inevitable and inescapable conflict of his own two main desires: the desire for freedom to pursue his own interests/inclination and the desire for the freedoms which can only be obtained through life in society. He further assert that this necessitate the individual to sacrifice, in the interest of the society, certain private freedoms which he could have possessed outside the society if it was at all possible to live outside the society.
To Nyerere, the basic purpose of this society - which is to serve man - could be realised by the establishment of institutions which safeguard and promote both unity and freedom as well as by fostering an attitude - a social ethic which ensures that these institutions remain true to their purpose and are adapted as need arises. It follows, then, that all social and economic policies were to be formulated with the aim of creating a new society that was founded on these social democratic liberal ideals. However, to Nyerere, these policies were to be distinctively African in the sense that they could synthesize traditional African family values with modern techniques in order to build a relatively well-off egalitarian society. He called this synthesis Ujamaa i.e. the Kiswahili word for familyhood and he institutionalized it in his 1967s Arusha Declaration.
The Declaration, Nyerere asserted, supplied the need for a definition of socialism in Tanzanian terms, and provided the necessary sign-post of the direction in which the nation must travel to achieve its goals (Nyerere 1968: viii). This need, as he further noted, arose from the fact that for a long time the meaning of this philosophy in the Tanzanian condition was left vague even though the ruling party had been officially committed to the building of a socialist society since 1962. This lack of ideology, as he further asserts, did not prevent TANU and its government from pursuing policies which were in fact socialist. However, the absence of a generally accepted and easily understood statement of philosophy and policy was allowing some Government and Party actions which were not consistent with building socialism, and which even encouraged the growth of non-socialist values and attitudes (Nyerere, 1968, pp. vii- viii).
These Arusha Declaration policy statements were then complemented by Nyereres (1968) 'Socialism and Rural Development' and Nyereres (1968) 'Education for Self-Reliance' (ESR) Policy booklets. The former text called for the establishment of cooperative communities. In the latter text, he offers an alternative to the inherited capitalistic colonial education system which limited the expansion of educational facilities and inculcated values that were irrelevant to the needs of Tanzania. Sensing that the low rate of social-economic development meant that post-primary education will remain elitist, He called for a relevant and complete universal primary schooling. Since he viewed the traditional African family, which was mainly rural and agricultural, as the natural embodiment of this new society he was trying to create and that the school was an important socializing institution, Nyerere asserted that schools should become farming communities.
Nyereres state also initiated programs to educate illiterate adults who were mainly peasants and tied it to his concept of self-reliance and school farm programs. This articulation of his policies aimed to break with the legacy of colonial education by creating egalitarian values among the youth of Tanzania and their parents, who were struggling for social mobility that elitist education system seemingly promised to provide. Since school children were meant to be an integral part of the peasant society, it was expected that the practical knowledge they get from school would also trickle to the illiterate peasants. Thus, Tanzanian farmers and their children, including those who were still practicing individualistic small-scale capitalistic farming, were urged to live in Ujamaa villages (co-operative socialist community) in line with the policy statements of the above-mentioned three policy booklets. In favouring the collective over the individual, Nyerere was increasingly lining himself with social democratic liberalism and sidelining himself from the classical liberalism of Adam Smith that was to influence neoliberalism significantly in the last years of Nyereres life. However, throughout his life this liberal tension between individualism and collectivism remained within and between Nyerere the person and Nyerere the statesman/policymaker as the following response -given few months before his death - to the contention that one should let the individual develop and let the nation-states be secondary implies:
"It cannot be. Im telling you, Bill [Sutherland], if the blessed Lord had wanted a planet for myself, He would have done it. He could have made a planet for every single individual but He never did it. He puts us in community, and we jolly well have to live as part of it. Of course, Im an individual and I respect my own individuality. But I am an individual and a member of a community. And the community has conditions. All the commandments Thou Shalt Not are about community. Now there is an anarchism that is called democracy, but rejects the community. But I dont accept that, I dont accept anarchism. I wish we had a chance to develop Ujamaa because I dont believe we have failed in Ujamaa. I believe it is in the spirit
i ndividuals, yes but individuals in the community. Individuals, yes because I myself am an extremely assertive individual. Nobody can doubt my own commitment to my own individualism, but I am still an individual within the community" (Nyerere quoted in Sutherland & Meyer 2000: 88-89)
Mwalimu Companero,
Ma-Rapper huwa wanasema "this is deep" kuonyesha uzito na ukoshaji wa roho wa kitu. Nami juu ya mimbari nasema "This is Deep"
Nchi hujengwa na falsafa za kisiasa. Ikuangalia hiki kilichoandikwa hapo juu (iwe ni maoni yako mwenyewe au uchambuzi wa mzungu fulani ili GT asikutoe macho
😛) kinaonyesah wazi kuwa si falsafa au misingi ya Ujamaa ambayo ilishindwa, bali ni watu na utekelezaji wake.
Inabainika wazi kama jinsi Azimio la Arusha lilivyosema kuwa kamaTaifa changa tulishaanza kujijenge amatabaka ya Wazungu Weusi ambao ni Wasomi (Elitist) ambao wengi walikuwa katika nyadhifa na sehemu za kuongoza Taifa letu.
Kilichojengwa ambacho Mwinyi na hata majuzi Kikwete wamekilalamikia kuwa kigezo cha kushindwa Ujamaa ni kule kuondolewa kwa Umwinyi na Ubwana kati yetu.
Najiuliza, kama tulikuwa na wachumi mahiri kama tunavyojigamba, walishindwa nini kuunda mfumo mzuri wa Uchumi kwa kuzipima zile principle za uchumi na mechanism zake na kuzioanisha na Siasa ya Ujamaa na Kujitegemea?
Nia nzima ya Ujamaa ilikuwa ni kujenga mtu na jamii endelevu ambayo inaweza kujizalishia na kujitoshelezea, sasa kwa nini tunashindwa hadi leo hii kuliona hilo na kukimbilia kuegemea kwa tunaloambiwa na Wazungu?
Ulinikasirikia sana niliposema Watanzania ni Wavivu hata majibu yangu ukayapuuzia, sasa ukiangalia nia na maono ya Nyerere kujenga Taifa ambalo liliacha likiwa halina nguvu kutokana na mfumo wa Kikoloni ambao ulitufanya tudumae kifikra na hata kiunyonge na kutuacha tukiwa na mfumo duni wa uchumi, inakuwaje tulipopata Mwanamapinduzi mwenzetu ambaye alitaka kujenga jamii kwa manufaa yetu wenyewe tukashindwa kujniunga nyuma yake na kufanikisha hizo "fikra na njozi"?
Kwa nini Tanzania bado tunaishi kwa mawazo na fikra za Pre-Agrarian Revolution?
Mkandara hupenda kusemaWatu na Mazingira, sasa hata pamoja na mvutano wa kifalsafa kati ya Babu na Nyerere na hasa katika utekelezaji wa Ujamaa kutokana na tofauti zao za mtazamo, je Wasomi wale kiduchu tuliokuwa nao walikuwa wapi basi kuhakikisha kuwa Principle za Adam Smith na Aristotle wetu zinafanikiwa? Iweje wote walimpinga na kutong'amua kuwa tulikuwa tunajijengea Utaifa na kuwa mfano wa pekee?
Naamini kuna Wazungu wengu haswa Mabepari ambao waliliona hili la Nyerere na walisubiri mavuno yake kwa shauku kubwa. Lakini katika Wazungu hao hao, wengine wao walikuwa ni wahujumu, ambao hawakutaka kamwe kuona mafanikio ya Jamii bali mafanikio ya mtu mmoja mmoja na hivyo kuendeleza mirija na ubabe wa Kibepari. Yanayotokea leo Marekani ya kusema udhaifu wa udhibiti ni kithibitisho tosha kuwa bado kuna mvutano ndani ya jamii ya nini kinapaswa kufanywa ili tuishi kama jamii na si kisiwa cha mtu mmoja mmoja.
Bwana Yesu alipotoa ile hotuba/Mahubiri yake maarufu kama "Sermon on the Mountain ilikuwa ni kujenga misingi imara ya mtu mmoja mmoja ndani ya jamii na jamii kwa ujumla.
Hata Dr. Martin Luther King jr. na hotuba yake ya "I have the Dream" FDR ya "what we have to fear" siku akiapishwa, zililenga kumjenga mtu mmoja mmoja na jamii kwa ujumla na kuonyesha wazi umuhimu wa kuwa na jamii iliyo na rutuba, afya na nguvu bora.
Leo hii, Tanzania hatuna mwamko wowote ule wa kujijenga kama Taifa au kujipatia utambulisho kama Taifa. Tumepoteza ile hazina tuliyoanza kuijenga kutokana na uofu na ufupi wa maono kutokana na Ubinafsi.
Unaposikia Mwinyi na hata Kikwete leo hii wakiukana Ujamaa na kuoanisha na Umasikini, ni jambo la kutia aibu na kusikitisha sana.
Kwa wengi ambao wanaona Ubepari uchwara au soko huria kuwa ndio kigezo cha kujenga jamii, kujaa kwa bidhaa madukani na kuneemeka kwa nafsi zao na familia zao kutokana na manufaa na matunda ya "kufanikiwa" kwao kupitia mgongo asili wa kulijenga Taifa letu, ndio wanakuona bora.
Lakini kuna faida gani kuwa na bidhaa bwelele madukani ilhali hakuna mwenye uwezo wa kununua?
Tunahitaji kuanza kupanda mbegu mpya ya Wanasiasa na wanafalsafa hata wasomi kwa ujumla ambao wanaweza kutumia elimu zao na usomi na kuzigeuza kuwa matunda ya kweli ambayo yatafanya kazi kutokana na mazingira yetu.
Nashukuru sana kwa kutuletea hizo nukuu na uchambuzi, maana kwa mara nyingine zinatuambia kwa wale ambao tumeweza kumuelewa Nyerere pamoja na udhaifu wake, hatukukosea na hatuna makosa kuwa mashabiki wake na kumtetea!