Mohamed Said,
..safi sana.
..hayo maandamano yalikuwa na KIBALI?
..Je, yako maandamano yoyote kipindi cha kudai Uhuru ambayo Polisi walitumia risasi za moto kuyatawanya?
JokaKuu,
Katika uelewa wangu na hii nafanya rejea katika nyaraka na simulizi katika utafiti
wakati naandika historia ya uhuru wa Tanganyika sikukutana na maandamano ila
sehemu moja tu katika maandamano yaliyofanywa na Chama Cha Makuli wa Dar
es Salaam mwaka wa 1947 hapo chini ndiyo kisa chake:
''In order to negotiate for workers rights in the absence of statutory regulations, conditions had to be created for enactment of the requisite laws. A small clandestine committee of dockworkers into which Abdulwahid was incorporated was formed to provide covert leadership to plan for a strike to counter repressive labour conditions of post-war Tanganyika. The dockworkers held a council of war meeting in the outskirts of town, at a place called
Shamba kwa Mohamed Abeid in the Msimbazi Valley, away from prying eyes. They bounded themselves with Ahlil Badr to protect themselves against fifth columnists, treachery and black feet. Incense was burned and the Qur’an was recited. Secured by this oath and fired by invoked Muslim militancy reminiscent of the Battle of Badr, and by reciting the names of the martyrs who died fighting the unbelievers of Mecca alongside Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), the dockworkers chose 6 th September, 1947 as the day of the strike.
Early one morning what had begun as a clandestine operation against the stevedoring companies suddenly erupted into open confrontation. The neighborhood was still sleeping when the dockworkers, many of them bare chested, surrounded Kleist’s house, shouting at the top of their voices demanding to see Abdulwahid. The dockworkers had marched all the way from the port shouting anti-colonial slogans and singing to keep their morale high. This scenario was unprecedented. It was the first time the people of Tanganyika had witnessed such open defiance against colonial authority in the streets of Dar es Salaam. Young Abdulwahid peeping through his bedroom window, was taken aback by the sight of the crowd. He was able to recognize some of his port contacts and other members of the clandestine committee. When he came out to meet the angry dockworkers they told him that the strike was on and that they would not resume work until all their demands were met.
The strike spread like bushfire and engulfed the whole of Tanganyika. The railway workers in Tabora led by Salum Abdallah Popo joined the strike on 11 th September.
[1] The African Association in Tabora nominated Mwalimu Pinda, a teacher at St. Mary’s School to act as ‘adviser’ to the railway workers. On the morning of the strike, railway workers gathered at the football ground of the Town School shaded from the sun by mango trees for which Tabora is famous. From then on, that ground became the center of all political meetings.''
[1]Information from Rashid Mussa interviewed at Tabora in 1988.
JokaKuu,
Sikuona popote ambapo polisi wakiingilia maandamano haya.
''Mapema asubuhi moja kile kilichoanza kama mipango ya siri dhidi ya makampuni ya wazungu bandarini, kililipuka na kuwa mapambano ya dhahiri. Watu katika mitaa jirani ya alipoishi akikaa Abdulwahid walikuwa hawajatoka vitandani mwao alifanjiri moja waliposikia vishindo na makelele vimetanda mtaani. Makuli, baadhi yao wakiwa vidari wazi, walikuwa wameizingira nyumba ya Kleist, wakipiga makelele wakimtaka Abdulwahid atoke nje. Makuli wale walipiga kwata njia nzima kutoka bandarini huku wakitoa maneno ya kupinga ukoloni na wakiimba kupandisha morali zao. Tukio hili halikuwa na kifani. Ilikuwa ni mara ya kwanza nchini Tanganyika kwa wananchi kushuhudia katika mitaa ya Dar es Salaam uasi wa dhahiri kama huo dhidi ya serikali ya kikoloni. Abdulwahid, wakati ule kijana mdogo kabisa, akichungulia kupitia dirisha la chumba chake alichokuwa amelala, alishangazwa kuona umati mkubwa wa watu nje ya nyumba yao. Aliweza kuwatambua baadhi ya wenzake katika kamati ile ya siri iliyokuwa inapanga mipango ya mgomo. Alipotoka nje kuonana nao makuli wenye hasira walimfahamisha kuwa mgomo ulikuwa umeanza na wasingerudi kazini hadi madai yao yote yamekubaliwa.
Mgomo huo ulioenea kama moto wa makumbi ulikumba nchi nzima kwa kasi ya ajabu. Ilikuwa kama vile wafanyakazi wa nchi nzima wametaarifiana. Wafanyakazi wa Tanganyika Railways huko Tabora wakiongozwa na Salum Abdallah Popowaliingia kwenye mgomo tarehe 11 Septemba. Chama cha African Association mjini Tabora kilimteua Mwalimu Pinda, aliyekuwa akifundisha shule ya St Mary, kuwa 'mshauri' wa wafanyakazi waliogoma. Asubuhi ya siku ya mgomo wafanyakazi wa Tanganyika Railways walikusanyika kwenye kiwanja cha mpira cha Town School, wakakaa chini ya miembe kujikinga jua. Tabora ni maarufu kwa miti hiyo. Tangu siku hiyo kiwanja hiki kikawa ndicho uwanja maalum kwa mikutano yote ya siasa.''
