COLONIAL TANGANYIKA

When the Germans took over Mara Region, they wanted someone directly responsible to them. They forced the tribes there who had no chiefs to choose chiefs. In many cases the people chose those who had been their "Abagambi" as their chiefs. As chiefs they were given salaries and power over the people. They also had the responsibility of collecting taxes, the conscription of labor to build roads, schools and other projects as well as the administration of justice in the local courts or "Baraza" as they were called in Swahili. This gave them a great deal of power.

In their effort to give some representation to the people, the British established District Councils. Individuals who had some education or who had shown some leadership were invited to be members of these District Councils. The District Councils offered advice to the District Commissioners. At the time Fr. Ed Bratton and Fr Art Wille were building Komuge Mission the District Commissioner from Tarime came to enquire where he could find a young educated woman.

He was looking for Maria Waningu the daughter of Gabrieli Magige. We directed him to Gabriel Magige's home in Baraki. He was very surprised when he found her working in her father's field hoeing. He was even more surprised when she turned down his invitation to join the Tarime District Council. Maria Waningu the daughter of Gabriel Magige would later marry Julius Kambarage Nyerere and become the First Lady of an independent Tanganyika.

Maryknollers soon realized how important it was to establish good working relationships with the chiefs, sub-chiefs, and headmen or "Mwanangwa" as they were referred to in Swahili. Because Maryknollers followed the custom of the White Fathers and learned the tribal languages they had easy access to the chiefs. This good relationship was helpful in working with the people in establishing bush schools, primary schools, dispensaries, outstations as well as getting plots for missions.

For example, in Nyegina, Fr. William Collins and Lou Bayless had a close relationship with the old chief Musira. Later Fr. Collins would baptize him, Alois, and bring him into the Church after provisions had been made for him to separate from his several wives. Fr. Joe Glynn was a close friend of chief Nyamo of Kowak. He and Fr. John Schiff were also well known and liked by chief Gregory Nyatega of Shirati. In Tatwe, Fr. Mike Pierce was a good friend of chief Philip Nyatera. Philipo was a very loyal and enthusiastic Catholic. He helped Mike in many ways in developing this mission. Chief Edward Wanzagi whom Fr. Art Wille came to know through his brother Julius Kambarage Nyerere became his good friend. He supported Fr. Wille in many ways. At the meeting at which Fr. Wille asked the elders of Zanaki in Busegewe for a plot to build the mission, chief Edward Wanzage opened the meeting in Kizanaki by telling everyone present that he did not want anyone to oppose Fr. Wille's request. No objections were raised by the elders and the plot was quickly granted.

THE MOVE TO INDEPENDENCE

A new period dawned for Tanganyika in 1952 when Julius Kambarage Nyerere returned from Scotland where he had obtained a Masters Degree in History and Economics. This young man was shortly to lead his country to independence and become the Father of Tanganyika. Before going to Musoma and his home village of Butiama, Julius secured a position as a teacher of history in St. Francis Secondary School Pugu. This was the first territorial secondary school set up by the Roman Catholic hierarchy for Tanganyika. It was the elite Catholic Secondary School that got the selection of all the best students when they completed middle school.

The Tanganyika Government was anxious for Nyerere to teach in one of their secondary schools. At this time he was the only Tanganyikan with a Masters Degree in Arts. Because he opted to teach in a Catholic secondary school, he was offered only a salary of Pound 300 by the government. This was the salary for a Bachelor Degree level teacher. After Fr. Walsh made several request his salary was raised to Pound 450. The objection raised by government was that there was no precedent in government service for a Tanganyikan to receive a Master's Degree salary.

When Julius and Maria returned to Musoma to make preparations for their marriage, in discussing it with Fr. William Collins, Maria told him that she needed a period of time to see if Julius was still the same person she had known before he left for Edinburgh. "You know Father a person can change a lot in three years". However, on January 24th 1953 Julius and Maria were married in the small church in Musoma Town. Fr. William Collins witnessed their marriage. This was the beginning of a long and close friendship between Julius Nyerere and Fr. William Collins. Three years later Fr. Collins, Fr. Al Nevins and Fr. John Considine would assist Julius with money for his fare from Europe to America so that he could appear before the United Nations for the second time.

His first visit was in March 1955 when he appeared before the Trusteeship Council that debated the third U.N. Visiting Mission's Report on Tanganyika. It was in this debate that Nyerere won international recognition. Despite his youthful appearance he was self-possessed, relaxed well prepared for the debate. He stated "The main object of my presence here is to prove the falsity of European Press Reports that the Tanganyika population is opposed to the recommendations of the Visiting Mission". He was able to win the sympathy of the packed gallery and the officials by proving his point without attacking the Administration Authority.

It was on his return from this meeting in New York that he had to make an important personal decision. Previously, Governor Twinning had made a law which forbad civil servants from being members of any political organization. Nyerere as a member of TANU had to make a decision to either resign from TANU or to resign from teaching. Since his salary as a teacher came from government even though he was teaching in a Catholic School, he was considered a civil servant. He resigned his teaching position at St. Francis, Pugu. He also realized that because of the increasing amount of time and energy he was devoting to TANU he could not do justice to his students as their teacher.

He returned to his village of Butiama with his wife Maria and his two children, Andrew and Anna. It was just at this time that Msgr. Grondin decided to open a new mission in Zanaki. Fr. Art Wille was assigned the job of starting this new mission. He and Msgr. Grondin went to see Nyerere in Butiama. He and his family were living in the small mud brick house that he had built and given Maria as a wedding present. He was delighted when Msgr. Grondin asked him to teach a priest Kizanaki and Julius immediately accepted the offer.

He made arrangements to move into Mwisenge, a suburb of Musoma Town. He and his family moved in with his old and close friend Oswald Marwa. Oswald at this time was in charge of public works under Musoma District Council. Julius accepted a small salary of 600 shillings a month from Fr. Wille who came under criticism from some of his conferees for paying such a high salary. Years later Julius would jokingly introduce Fr. Wille as his former "boss". This was the beginning of a long and close friendship between Fr. Wille and Julius Nyerere and his family.

Nyerere was to have an influence on Fr. Wille throughout his life and work in Tanzania. In addition to teaching him every day for three months, he composed during this time an English Kizanaki grammar. He also translated two catechisms, two explanations of the catechism that the White Fathers had made up in Kikwaya, all the prayers for Mass and all the Scripture Readings for Mass. In 1955 there were no decent translations of either the Old Testament or the New Testament in Swahili. Julius started the translation of the Scriptures using the Douay Rheims Bible. The old English in this translation proved difficult. He then used the Latin Missal. One day he asked Fr. Wille if he had a Greek New Testament. He said "I find some of the passages in St. Paul difficult to understand". When Fr. Wille asked him if he knew Greek, he answered "Yes, I had a year of Greek in the University. I think I can handle it".

The road to Julius Nyerere's baptism had been a long one. He studied our Catholic Faith for four years in primary school, four years in middle school and four years in secondary school. When he was chosen to go to Makerere university in Uganda, he went to Nyegina Mission to ask for baptism. He was told that he still needed to take a special course given by the mission catechist. He had to study in Kikwaya language. On December 23, 1943 he was baptized by Fr. Matias Keenen a White Father in Nyegina Mission. He chose for his godfather, the catechist Petro Maswe who had prepared him for baptism. At this time there were no other Catholic Zanaki who could have been his godfather.

The three months that Nyerere spent teaching Fr. Wille were also a time for him to think and prepare in his own mind the path he would follow to bring about the independence of Tanganyika. He often discussed his ideas. He had no doubt that TANU would gain independence and that world opinion was in favor of it. He was greatly concerned about how to prepare for independence. On one occasion he told Fr. Wille that he would gladly turn over the leadership of the party if there was someone whom he felt could lead it without bringing about a bloodbath. He would be happy to return to his life as a scholar.

During this time he received a number of letters and telegrams from Oscar Kambona urging him to return to Dar es Salaam and begin the campaign for independence. On one occasion, Oscar came to visit Nyerere in the rectory in Musoma Town where Julius was teaching Fr. Wille. Some time later Nyerere mentioned to Fr. Wille that TANU had received 10 scholarships for students to study behind the "Iron Curtain." Nyerere was not in favor of members of TANU going to these countries for education but could do little to stop them. Although the Western press frequently characterized Nyerere as a Communist, he was never in favor of Communism. One day talking about these accusations, Julius told Fr. Wille "I am not a Communist. I believe in God".

When Julius mentioned to Fr. Wille that he was afraid that Oscar Kambona was going to take one of these scholarship, Fr. Wille offered to try to get him a scholarship in the West. Oscar Kambona was the Organizing Secretary of TANU and number two man in the party after Nyerere. Fr. Al Nevins at Maryknoll who had many connections around New York was able to get Kambona a scholarship at Fordham University. When Oscar learned this and went to apply for a passport, he was told that he would not be given a passport because he wanted to study behind the "Iron Curtain." He denied this and said that he wanted to go to the states to study at Fordham University in New York. When the Administration heard this, they offered him a scholarship to study in England. Because he wanted to study law and since the law in Tanganyika was British Law he opted to go to England.

At tea in the afternoons, Nyerere would frequently talk about himself. One day he told how he got the opportunity to go to school. His elder brother Wanzagi had not been given this opportunity. His father, chief Nyerere had a good friend, also a chief of the Ikizu tribe, Mohamedi Makongoro. They frequently enjoyed an African game called "Soro" in Kizanaki or "Bao" in Swahili. To play this game well requires a lot of intelligence. The game is played on a long board that has four rows of holes in it. Pebbles or seeds are moved along these holes in order to land them in such a position that you will confiscate your opponents pebbles until they are finished. To do this one has to figure many moves a head and keep track in ones mind every position that you will end up in. When Julius' father would be busy, Julius himself would play this game with chief Makongoro. Frequently he would beat him. One day Makongoro told Julius' father that he should send his son into the school at Mwisenge that the British had started for the education of the sons of the chiefs. It was because of this prompting by chief Makongoro that Julius was sent to primary school in Mwisenge.

Nyerere's second visit to the United States was sponsored by Maryknoll. Instrumental in arranging it were Fr. William Collins, Fr. Al Nevins and Fr. John Considine. Maryknoll paid for his passage from Europe to America and back. His air line ticket from Tanganyika to Europe and back was bought by money raised in Tanganyika from a number of sources including Fr. Richard Walsh W.F. The purpose of this trip was to enable Nyerere to appear before the Fourth Committee of the U.N. on December 20, 1956. Maryknoll also arranged a lecture tour for Nyerere to visit various universities to acquaint himself with the American educational system and to seek scholarships for Tanganyikans. He also made an appearance on television with Eleanor Roosevelt on the Mike Wallace show.

Nyerere was met in New York by Fr. William Collins and Fr. Al Nevins. Fr. John Considine who was on the General Council had submitted a memo to Maryknoll for the fare that would enable him to come. During the period of struggle for independence that Nyerere and TANU led, many Maryknollers would get to know and respect him for his devotion to his people, his honesty, integrity and his great faith. Despite the tremendous work load and constant travel that he undertook during his campaign for independence he always took the time to go to Mass and receive Holy Communion whenever there was a Catholic Church in the area. He would continue this practice through the many years of his presidency.

At the same time, he could laugh at how he became a Catholic as he said "by chance." When he went to begin primary school in Mwisenge at the suggestion of chief Makongoro, he met there another boy who was also a Mzanaki. This boy, Oswald Marwa was also the son of another Zanaki chief. Julius and Oswald immediately became friends. Since Oswald had arrived at school ahead of him, he was able to show Julius around. When the bell for religion rang Oswald told Julius "It is time to study dini (religion). Let us go to the class with the Padre. "Under the British there was a period of religion every day in the schedule for primary schools. Children were free to study any religion they or their parents decided. With Oswald's help Julius began to study the Catholic Faith. Later he would tell Fr. Wille that when he went to Makerere University after his baptism he would read a lot of Catholic Philosophers and other authors in order to understand his faith better. At Makerere he became one of the leaders of the Catholic students, organizing retreats and pilgrimages to the shrines of the Uganda Martyrs. This interest in his faith would grow when he went to Edinburgh University.

There, he corresponded with Fr. Walsh, his friend and sponsor, who had raised the money for his scholarship. In this correspondence Nyerere wrote that he was considering becoming a priest. Fr. Walsh wrote back to him and told him that he did not think that he had a vocation to the priesthood. He knew of his keen interest in politics and advised him to continue on in this field.

One result of Maryknoll's support of Nyerere was a resistance on the part of the local British District Commissioner to grant us plots for new missions. Undoubtedly they had heard from Governor Twining who regarded Nyerere as a rogue and foolish upstart, not to be helpful to us. In these negotiations Msgr. Grondin and Fr. Collins were given good advice by Benedict Mato. This old man held the highest position available at the time under the British Administration. He was Secretary of the Native Treasury. All the chiefs were under him. They made their reports to him. They also handed over to him all the taxes that they collected. Benedict was an outstanding Catholic. He was also a good friend of Nyerere. Julius used to stay in his house when he came to Musoma Town. Benedict told Msgr. Grondin and Fr. Collins when they were turned down on their request for mission plots by the District Commissioner, "D.C's come and D.C's go. Just wait a little and you will get your plots".

POST INDEPENDENCE

After independence the new government revamped its whole system of government. One of the first steps was the removal of the chiefs and headmen. These in general had remained loyal to the British Government. They were replaced by Katibu Tarafa (Division Secretary) and Katibu Kata (Sub-division Secretary). They functioned in these positions in much the same way that the chiefs and headmen had done, but in most cases those chosen for these positions were not from the tribe among whom they worked, but from other tribes. They were also TANU loyalists. This was one of the measures adopted to brake down tribalism and to build nationalism.

When the TANU National Executive Committee met in Arusha January 26-29 1967 it turned out to be a stormy session. At this meeting Nyerere proposed that Ujamaa become the official policy of the government. Oscar Kambona objected strongly to this policy. Twice during these sessions, the Executive Committee adjourned in order to allow their three leaders, Nyerere, Kambona and Kawawa to go into private session. Each time that they returned to the Executive Committee it was apparent that Kawawa had supported Nyerere to defeat Kambona. The result was that the Arusha Declaration was adopted.

Following the proclamation of the Arusha Declaration there was a short period of great enthusiasm and endeavors in development. Even before independence Nyerere explained his hopes and goals to Fr. Wille. He explained that he wanted to build the new nation on the African culture. The most basic element of this culture is the extended family and how it values things. In the extended family, the clan and even the tribe, all the people have the right to all that is necessary to sustain life, land to cultivate food, water, grass for their livestock, trees for building their houses. These could not be monopolized by one or several individuals. At the same time, everyone had the right of personal property that he or she inherited or which an individual produced by one's own efforts. Also important in Ujamaa were cooperative efforts by groups of individuals in which they would work together for their own benefit. These were the basic principles on which Nyerere hoped to enlarge and build the new Nation.

In Komuge Fr. Art Wille organized some fifty families into an Ujamaa village. Their efforts were directed to cooperative work in agriculture. They cleared several fields of brush, thorn trees, tree stumps and rocks so as to develop a modern approach to agriculture. Their first effort to raise 100 acres of corn got off to a good start. In Komuge the heavy rains are in March, April, May with April ordinarily having the most rain. At the end of March the corn was three feet high and in excellent condition. That year April was dry with less than one inch of rain. Seeing this crop dry up without being able to do anything, Fr. Wille was ready to give any "rainmaker" a cow or goat to bring rain.

The groups next major endeavor was to clear land at Magubia near Lake Victoria so that irrigation could be used. This was done and good crops of rice and onions stirred the enthusiasm of the group in their Ujamaa endeavor. However, at this time, the government undertook its program of villagization. As early as his inaugural speech on December 10, 1962, Nyerere had advocated villagization. In the Mara and Shinyanga Regions where the people were not accustomed to live in villages but on their scattered small peasant farms with their fields surrounding their houses, the program of villagization did not begin until the early seventies. When it did begin these villages were called Ujamaa villages. In reality they were the destruction of the few Ujamaa villages that had begun such as the one at Komuge.

In this program of villagization the people were moved into villages either by persuasion or by force. The goals of villagization were good. The government felt that by bringing people together they would be able more easily to provide them with services, primary schools, dispensaries, markets, roads and water. The government felt in pushing villagization that living together would stimulate and quicken development by a ready exchange of ideas. Each family in these villages were given a plot of one acre. Directives came from above that the villages should be located near trading centers, cotton stores, schools, and Missions.

In some areas of the Mara Region, the people cooperated with this plan. In other sections there was some opposition on the part of individuals. When discussions failed, force was used. Not living in Shinyanga region but hearing from Maryknollers there, the villagization program there went badly. Much force including the burning of houses was used. Also because of the poor choice of the location of villages by the government officials some villages had to be moved twice or three times. The owners of permanent houses, that is houses made with a rock foundation, mud or burnt brick or cement blocks with a corrugated galvanized iron roof were compensated by the government. These owners made out well because they were also allowed to use the material from their houses in building their new ones.

It became apparent that one of the adverse effects of villagization was the reduction of food production. This was due to the fact that the people could not spend as much time working on their fields because of the time lost in going and coming from their fields on foot. Added to this was the destruction caused by animals. Previously they could protect their fields from cows, sheep and goats when the herders failed in their job as they frequently do. In addition the amount of damage by wild pigs, porcupines, baboons, monkeys and birds to maize, sorghum, cassava, rice, and sweet potatoes is considerable when there is no one to protect them. In many cases Maryknollers were instrumental in bringing these problems to the attention of government officials.

JUSTICE AND PEACE COMMISSION

During the period of continual economic decline (1972 - 1985) and its accompanying abuses, there began to develop a concern related to the "Justice and Peace" ministry of the Catholic Church. In interviews with Catholic officials, they reported that actual interest in "Justice and Peace" developed out of the abuses associated with the villagization program, abuses within State organs and the government's agricultural policies. Besides this the initial interest was encouraged by the external influence of Religious Institutes likes Maryknoll and pressure from the Vatican, SECAM or AMECEA. In 1982, the Religious Superiors Association of Tanzania appointed a Maryknoller as a full time person to coordinate and cultivate an interest in "Justice and Peace" on a national level. He developed a workshop that was aimed at increasing awareness not just of this ministry but also specific issues flowing out of a social analysis of Tanzania. At one of the workshops for diocesan personnel, the Bishops were holding their annual meeting at the same time and place.

After a strong reaction by some bishops to the meeting, selected bishops and superiors met to clarify the RSAT's position in this ministry. Through the encouragement of superiors like Henry Mushi and Bill Moroney, the bishops revitalized their Justice and Peace Commission with Bishop Sangu as Chairperson and the members being both lay and clergy with expertise in politics and law. From that time, Maryknoll has maintained a high profile on the national level concerning the Justice and Peace apostolate. Eventually, Fr. Dave Schwinghamer became the first executive secretary of the Center for Faith and Justice sponsored by the Religious Superior's Association of Tanzania.

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