Introduction

The Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar: Product of The Cold War?

Author: Godfrey Mwakikagile

Paperback: 160 pages

Publisher: New Africa Press (24 November 2008)

ISBN-10: 0981425852

ISBN-13: 9780981425856

Introduction

THE unification of Tanganyika and Zanzibar in April 1964 was the first political union between independent countries ever to take place on the African continent in the post-colonial era. And it continues to be a subject of interest among many people more than 40 years after its consummation.

It was preceded by the Zanzibar revolution which took place on 12 January 1964. Three months later, the new nation of Tanzania was formed after the two former independent states of Tanganyika and Zanzibar surrendered their sovereignties to a supra-national entity which came to be officially known as the United Republic of Tanzania. And there is no question that the revolution played a major role in encouraging or pushing the leaders towards unification.

The union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar may still have been consummated had the revolution not taken place in the island nation. We will never know.

But given the Pan-Africanist inclinations of the leaders involved in the consummation of the union, there was a high probability that the two countries would have united sometime at a later date.

The union was a milestone in the history of post-colonial Africa and in the continent's quest for unity and had an impact that is still felt today, decades after it was formed.

It influenced political and diplomatic relations between and among countries and changed the course of history. It was even a factor in the super-power rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It also became a major subject of intellectual and ideological debates in and outside Africa for many years. And it continues to stimulate debate even today among many Tanzanians.

There are some people in Tanzania including some leaders who think the union was a mistake. Some people say it was formed in hurry without seriously considering all the issues involved. And there are those who say the union should not have been formed at all and that the two countries of Tanganyika and Zanzibar should have remained separate entities with full sovereign status they attained when they won independence from Britain on separate dates.

Tanganyika won independence on 9 December 1961, and Zanzibar on 10 December 1963, although the legitimacy of Zanzibar's government which assumed power on independence day was highly questionable since the black African majority in the island nation were excluded from power by the Arab rulers; one of the factors which played a major role in igniting the Zanzibar revolution.

It has been a bumpy road since independence. And many problems still lie ahead as the two partners continue to find ways to resolve their differences and strengthen the union.

In fact, a significant number of Zanzibaris, especially on Pemba island, would like to see the union dissolved and return to the status quo ante.

Only time will tell where the union is headed.

Problems faced by the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar have also served as a warning to other African countries which may contemplate uniting under one government, although that is a remote possibility on a continent where nationalism transcends Pan-Africanism despite professions to the contrary.

In fact, even within Tanzania itself, Zanzibari “nationalism” is still strong, although Zanzibar is no longer a separate country. It is an integral part of the United Republic of Tanzania and does not have sovereign status. But that has not stopped a significant number of Zanzibaris from claiming independent status and demanding dissolution of the union.

Some of the union's strongest opponents are members of the Civic United Front (CUF), Tanzania's major opposition party, which has its biggest support in the former island nation, mainly on Pemba Island, and has ties to Oman and other Gulf states.

Opposition to the union also comes from a significant number of people who were supporters of the old Arab regime and they are mostly Arab themselves.

The union was a major achievement. But it also has a lot of problems, some of which may not have been anticipated by the architects of this macro-nation.

Why was the union formed, when it was, besides the desire that already existed among the leaders to unite the two countries? Were others forces at work? Did the United States and Britain exert pressure on Nyerere to unite the two countries as Professor Ali Mazrui contends? Or was it a Pan-African initiative by Nyerere and the leader of Zanzibar after the revolution, Abeid Karume and some of his colleages, to form the union?

And were the two leaders – Nyerere and Karume – equally motivated to unite their countries? Or was it Nyerere who was behind it all? Or was it Karume who first suggested to Nyerere that their countries should unite? As Tanzania's former First Vice President Aboud Jumbe, who had fallen out with Nyerere, bluntly stated at a press conference in Dar es Salaam in January 1998 on the 34^th anniversary of the Zanzibar revolution which, among other things, provided an impetus towards unification of the two countries:

“Ask Nyerere, because he is the one who went to Zanzibar. He is the one who wanted the union. He must have had goals. Has he achieved them? I can not speak for mainlanders on the achievement of the union.”

The union remains a highly contentious subject among many Tanzanians. Many questions are still being asked. And most of them have not been fully answered.