Nationalism and Democracy in Tanzania A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Arts and Science of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Eun kyung Kim June 2008 2 This thesis titled Nationalism and Democracy in Tanzania by EUN KYUNG KIM has been approved for the Political Science and the College of Arts and Science by Dauda Abubakar Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science Benjamin M. Ogles Dean, College of Arts and Sciences 3 ABSTRACT KIM, EUN KYUNG, M.A., June 2008, Political Science Nationalism and Democracy in Tanzania (104 pp.) Director of Thesis: Dauda Abubakar Julius Nyerere’s one-party democracy, prolonged over three decades in independent Tanzania, succeeded in unifying an ethnically diverse population and making Tanzania a relatively stable African state by emphasizing nationalist ideals. Affected by the one-partyism and Nyerere’s respected rule, Tanzania has maintained a single-party dominated state without plural representation and has generally enjoyed social and political unity even after the transition to the multi-party system. This unity is due in large measure to the success of Nyerere’s original nationalist ideals, in which the people find no need to differentiate their political and economic interests but appreciate egalitarian value. Based on my qualitative research and textual analysis – relying on secondary sources, public opinion polls, and profiles provided by election monitoring institutions on democratization in post-Nyerere Tanzania – it appears that this one-party dominated democracy will continue to promote Nyerere’s nationalism and will keep gaining legitimacy at least in the short term. However, to advance the cause of democracy, Tanzania needs to gradually open its political system to be responsive to various demands. Approved: Dauda Abubakar Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am very grateful to my advisor Dauda Abubakar for guiding me through the completion of this thesis and granting the intellectual support and academic advice. With a grateful heart, I would like to acknowledge great teachers who have inspired and encouraged me: Dr. James Mosher from whom I have learned to love political science and took confidence in the study; Dr. Myra Waterburry who inspired me to explore the facts and realities critically; Dr. Takaaki Suzuki for the generous support for scholarship and the intellectual stimulation; and Dr. Lisa Aubrey who has encouraged and trusted me even in her physical distress and in her absence at OU. I give special thanks to my cohorts for their compassion, encouragement, and everlasting friendship: Ayumi, Ping Quei, Moayad, Unie, Jullie, Erica, Drew, and the brilliant others. I also owe warm thanks to Shawn Selby and Andrew Carlson for much time spent on continuous revising of my thesis. Much thanks to my father Sung-sub, my mother Chun-hwa, and my brother Woo-hyun for all times they are concerned about me with the love, patience, support, and assistance. I am also grateful to my church members who have been praying for me to be nurtured and to grow in joy. Finally, along the way the Lord sent many who were just the help needed at the moment. Much thanks for his grace. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract……………………………………………………………………………….3 Acknowledgement…………………………………………………………………….4 List of Tables………………………………………………………………………….6 List of Figures………………………………………………………………………...7 Chapter 1: Introduction………………………………………………………………8 I. An Overview of Colonialism in Africa…………………………………...13 II. Post-colonial History…………………………………………………….16 i. Nationalism in Africa……………………………………………….17 ii. Authoritarianism in Africa…………………………………………..22 iii. Cultural Pluralism & Democratization in Africa……………………24 III. Theories…………………………………………………………………27 i. Nation-building Strategy…………………………………………...27 ii. Personal Rule……………………………………………………….30 IV. Summary of Chapters……………………………………………………32 Chapter 2: Nationalism & National Integration in Tanzania…………………………35 I. Colonial Legacy in Tanzania……………………………………………...36 II. TANU & Nationalism……………………………………………………38 III. Julius Nyerere…………………………………………………………...49 Chapter 3: Democratization in Tanzania……………………………………………..52 I. Quality of Democracy…………………………………………………….54 II. One-party Domination……………………………………………………57 III. Civil Society……………………………………………………………..69 Chapter 4: Analysis & Conclusion…………………………………………………...76 I. Analysis…………………………………………………………………..76 II. Concluding Remarks……………………………………………………..91 References……………………………………………………………………………94 Appendix A………………………………...……………………………………….104 6 LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1: Major ethnic groups’ population, language, and region……………………36 Table 2: No. of Votes (%) in 1995, 2000, 2005 Presidential Elections……………...60 Table 3: National Assembly Elections in 1995, 2000, 2005………………………..60 7 LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1: Map of Tanzania…………………………………………………………...63 Fiture2: Map of the Regions of Tanzania…………………………………………….63 8 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Most African countries gained their independence in the 1960s. Following this period, many Africa’s post-colonial states embarked on the process of nation-building. However, rather than political stability many of them experienced military intervention, violent ethnic and religious conflicts, civil wars as well as state collapse. One country, however, seems to be a comparatively exceptional narrative in Africa’s post-colonial nation-building project. That country, which is the subject of this case study, is Tanzania. Tanzania possesses many of the factors that arguably impede social stability such as ethnic, religious, and racial diversity, general economic deprivation, and a history of indirect rule as a British colony. Yet, Tanzania has enjoyed rather peaceful political transitions both to the post-colonial regime and to multi-party democracy while in many other African states, political and economic development was retarded by protracted civil conflicts around the issue of defining identity, citizenship, and indigeneity required for democratization. For example, in the aftermath of Kenya’s 2007 election, the violent dispute between the ethnic groups of the Kikuyu and the Maasai resulted in a death toll of 1000. Similar ethnic hostility has repeatedly occurred in Kenya around election times in 1992, 1997, 2002, and 2007. It originated from the clash on land ownership in the Rift Valley, which the Maasai was deprived of by the Kikuyu after Kenya’s independence. Precipitating the schism among ethnic groups, President Daniel arap Moi, who had ruled Kenya for 24 years, practiced a strategy of ethnic discrimination, 9 repression, and marginalization of opposition forces (Steeves, 2006:211). Nigerian civil war (1967-1970), in which over one million people lost their lives, shows how ethnic identity could easily erupt into violent conflict; Sudan experienced a 20 year civil war with the South, and the conflict in Darfur continues to escalate. So far approximately 250 thousands innocent civilians have been killed and over 2 million people have been turned into refugees. Similarly in 1994, Rwandan genocide led to the massacre of over 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu. In contrast, Tanzania has been relatively peaceful, despite the recently increasing conflicts between indigenous Tanzanians and the Asian population in Tanzania as well as between the Mainlanders and Zanzibaris. It seems to suggest a different comparative experience with cultural pluralism. Although it has over 120 different ethnic groups, the country has been relatively stable. The key question in the research, therefore, is “Why has Tanzania been relatively peaceful during its experience with nation-building and democratization?” To interpret the social stability throughout the post-colonial regimes, this study first explores explanations for political integration led by Julius Nyerere’s authoritarian rule during the nation-building period in post-colonial Tanzania (1961- 1985) based on colonial legacy, political regime, and personal rule. Building upon the existing colonization and liberation literature, I examine the social patterns emerging in the decolonized African states: authoritarianism, ethnic division, and insurgent proclivity. These elements of colonial legacy hinder national integration while having 10 not undermined Tanzania’s. Nevertheless, the colonial legacy, either of Anglophone or Francophone, lies dormant, whether potentially provocative or active and insurgent. In other words, because ethnic identity, erected during the colonial era, does not easily disappeared, even if successful nation-building created a new national identity, ethnicity can be used for political purposes whenever the motive is provided. In terms of the political regime, nation-building strategy offers one possible explanation for this variation in the process of constructing a political structure in a country. Particularly in dealing with ethnic cleavages after independence, there are largely two ways to manage conflict over a transitionary period. According to Mamdani Mahmood in Citizen and Subject (1996), two different types of political reform emerged after independence. One, which Mahmood calls the traditional strategy, involves a political system allowing key ethnic leaders to compete for power. In the other system, known as the radical strategy, a hegemonic leader takes control of balancing the competing demands of ethnic interests and minimizes the factionalism of ethnicity. However, Mahmood argues that both cases eventually result in