Tanzania came to independence in 1961 under the leadership of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), led by Mwalimu Julius Nyerere. Mwalimu continued to dominate the political scene directly from then on until 1985, when he retired as president and ultimately, in 1987, when he stepped down from the leadership of his political party. By then TANU had become Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) after the union with Zanzibar and the subsequent merger with the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP) Zanzibar. His affective grip on Tanzanians has continued to this day.

Nyerere did not only dominate the political landscape of Tanzania, but also wielded enormous influence over politics in international, regional and African affairs. Internationally Nyerere was one of the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement and, later, chair of the South Commission. Regionally, Tanzania championed the Federation of East Africa by offering to postpone Tanganyika’s independence in 1961, to wait for Kenya and Uganda.

At the continental level, Nyerere was one of the founders of the OAU and will always be remembered for the debate that ensued between him and Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah. While the latter (expressing the views of the Casablanca group) was in favour of a fast paced and almost total political union of the continent, Nyerere (expressing the views of the Monrovia group) preferred a gradual process of forming economic communities which would eventually lead to political union.

Regionally, it should be noted that up to the mid-1980s, Tanzania’s foreign policy and Africa policy, in particular, was largely defined and shaped by the liberation struggles in Southern Africa. As the founder and longtime chair of the Frontline States and host of the OAU Liberation Committee Tanzania, under Nyerere, led the rest of the African countries in providing support for the liberation forces of Mozambique and South Africa, in particular. By the early1980s with the formation of the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) (1979) and the introduction of the US’s Reagan policy of Constructive Engagement (1982) towards South Africa, Tanzania embarked upon the long transition from confrontation to co-operation with South Africa.

This was to result in a regional rapprochement when South Africa joined the Southern Africa development Community (SADC) in 1994 after the country was democratised. These developments have since turned the two countries from confrontation to co-operation and elevated South Africa to the position of one of the major investors in the country. That itself has given rise to new conflicts between the state, local investors and the South African investors, as we shall show later. This development has meant however that with the possible exception of the intermittent tension with Burundi, the country has no external enemies.

One of the intriguing challenges is to figure out how Nyerere established this state of affairs and what lessons can be drawn from this to inform the process in South Sudan. Fortunately, Nyerere was a prolific writer and most of his writings have been collected and compiled chronologically. In particular, we draw upon his edited trilogy published in succession covering the years when state and nation building were the critical concerns.

These writings do not only reveal his intellectual development but also his ideological transformations as well as his political maturity. The works are instructively titled reflecting the particular socio-economic and political concerns at different stages in nation and state building. They are: Freedom and Unity, (1952 – 1965); Freedom and Socialism, 1965 – 1967) and Freedom and Development, (1968 – 1973). We also draw upon a reflective later work written about three years before he died (in 1999) it is entitled; Our Leadership and the Destiny of Tanzania, (1995).

Mwalimu was imbued with a profound vision for Tanzania and Africa as a whole. It is this vision that inspired, mobilised and provided hope for Tanzanians to keep going even when the reality on the ground contradicted the promise of his vision. It is also this vision and Nyerere’s whole hearted commitment that established and maintained social harmony and political stability in Tanzania even when the economy was faltering.

The themes of the four books above embody his vision and provide the key concerns that underlay Nyerere’s political philosophy. To a large extent these ideas also form the core of his legacies from which South Sudan can derive lessons as well as draw inspiration. The themes are Unity, Equity, Human development and Leadership. In his own words, Nyerere persistently told Tanzanians: “In order to develop we need four things; land, committed people, visionary policies and good leadership”.

Source: The Citizen