Was Kambona That Bad

Was Kambona That Bad?
This article originally appeared on my blog, but given its importance, I thought it would be nice for all of us to share.
An old respectful Tanzanian lady dropped by for a visit last night. She dropped her hello for my brother who just moved to the US from Tanzania. That was a wonderful courteous Tanzanian gesture. Quite naturally, the conversation touched on politics and maendeleo topics. Given that my brother just landed, we all expected a fresh perspective from Tanzania. Obviously, when you talk about maendeleo you cannot avoid throwing Mwalimu Nyerere into the mix.I have had a taste of what it meant to live in the Nyerere era. I understand the mystique around this late dude. This lady happened to be an old guard who strongly believe that Nyerere is the best thing that has ever happened to Tanzania.Really?How do we know that Nyerere was the best thing? See the problem I have with folks who regard Nyerere highly is that we dont the alternatives, at his time, to make a logical, objective comparison. I am not even sure if we know Nyerere for who is or what he wanted Tanzanians to believe. He managed to create an aura of admiration and worship. He created an atmosphere where no one would question his ideas.Remember the days when we couldnt read anything other than Uhuru, Mzalendo, Daily News and Sunday News before Mfanyakazi came into existence to provide some kind of an entertainment relief? You remember the days when the 8:00 PM RTD news bulletin would be followed up by a Ujumbe wa Leo propaganda? I have to give it up to Nyerere. He ensured that Tanzanians couldnt run or hide from his ideology. If you feed someone junk for twenty (20) years, they would believe that crap. He even went as far as insulting our intelligence by putting a hoe against himself in the election. A hoe or a hammer, can you believe that? Who elects a hoe as the president?What ticks me off is the fact that he forced us to sing derogatory songs against Oscar Kambona. We sang this tune during our morning mchakamchaka routines in High School, Kambona ameolewa! Wapi?! Wapi?! Uingereza! Was Kambona really that bad? What is the historical truth?Since I was born past the time Kambona took off, I had to dig into the history materials to find out for myself. This is what I found.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.Source: Maryknoll AfricaIt gets me mad to realize that I actually sang derogatory songs against an individual who did nothing wrong. If at all, his crime was to express his opinion against Nyereres utopian dreams. The worst part is the fact that the introduction of free market economy has proven that Kambona was right and Nyerere's ideas were just a disaster in the making.This artile is not whether Kambona was better than Nyerere, and vice versa. It is intended to push us into taking a very hard look at our history and what we have been long taught and gauge whether our perspective and perceptions are correct. But in order to effectively do that, we have to be objective and let go of our political biasness. Unfortunately, the Tanzanian history is tangled with Nyereres legacy.In order for us to create the right future, we have to unearth some of the wrong foundations and beliefs that we have held on for so long. I dont want my children to grow up thinking that Nyerere was the best think that has ever happened to Tanzania, while that could not an objective assessment. I dont want my kids to grow up thinking that Oscar Kambona, Mzee Mapalala, or Kassanga Tumbo were villains simply because they didnt fit into Nyereres thinking. That is the point.
I strongly believe that we owe it to ourselves to query as to whether the little we know, particularly on Kambona's disagreement on Ujamaa, is enough to sideline this man and negatively portray his contribution the way Nyerere did.So the question of the day is: Was Kambona that bad?