This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: • This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. • A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. • This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. • The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. • When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Chagga Elites and the Politics of Ethnicity in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania Thomas Fisher Ph.D. The University of Edinburgh 2012 Declaration This thesis has been composed by myself from the results of my own work, except where otherwise acknowledged. It has not been submitted in any previous application for a degree. ii Abstract The focus of this thesis is on elite members of the Chagga ethnic group. Originating from the fertile yet crowded slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, this group is amongst the most entrepreneurial and best educated in Tanzania. In the literature on ethnicity, elites are usually understood as playing a key role in the imagining of ethnicities, while at the same time usually being venal and manipulating ethnicity for purely instrumental means. Yet this approach not only risks misrepresenting elites; it also clouds our understanding of ethnicity itself. This thesis interrogates themes of elites, politics and ethnicity through an examination of the trajectories of Chagga experience from the 1850s to the present. Any discussion of Chagga ethnicity must have at its centre place - the landscape of Kilimanjaro, and the kihamba banana garden. Ideas of Chagga ethnicity were shaped by how the very first European explorers and missionaries saw the landscape of the mountainside. This formed how the colonial Tanganyikan state treated the Chagga people, placing them in an advantageous position through education, and a wealthy one through the growing of coffee. In the 1950s, the Chagga ethnic group came under a single political leadership for the first time with the introduction of a Paramount Chief. This decade marked a period of Chagga nationalism. The role of intellectuals in the articulation and imagination of Chagga ethnicity is examined through two Chagga- authored ethnohistories. After independence in 1961, the advantages of the colonial period placed Chagga elites in key roles in the new state. However, as Tanzania moved towards Julius Nyerere’s ujamaa socialism, the policies of the state began to clash with the more capitalist outlook of the Chagga elite. Nevertheless, through educational achievement and international migration, members of the Chagga elite were able to remain influential and powerful. As such, they were in an ideal position to take advantage of the political and economic liberalisation, even as new challenges emerged from within Kilimanjaro itself. The thesis concludes with an analysis of the role of ethnicity in the 2005 Presidential elections in Tanzania. This thesis makes a contribution to the literature on ethnicity in Africa by providing an account of elites that is more nuanced than in much of the existing literature. Even though Kilimanjaro saw one of the strongest manifestations of ethnic nationalism during the colonial period, Chagga elites contributed greatly to the nation-building project in postcolonial Tanzania. Tanzanian nationalism, however, did not destroy a Chagga identity, but rather enabled a new imagining of Chagga ethnicity which today continues to have a role and saliency within the Tanzanian nation. iii Dedication In loving memory of Simbo Ntiro iv Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisors, Professor Alan Barnard, Dr Tom Molony and the late Dr Chuck Jedrej, for their advice, help and support in the completion of this thesis. In Edinburgh, I would like to thank my colleagues in the School of Social and Political Science, and the Centre of African Studies, particularly Paul Swanepoel, Alex Beresford, Marc Fletcher, Kaori Nagai, Steve Kerr, Dan Hammett, Lawrence Dritsas, Joan Haig, Dave Edwards, Dan Allman, Salla Sariola, Fiona Mackay, Andy Newsham, Jude Murison, Emilie Venables, Julie Grant, Meera Venkatachalam, Gracian Mkodzongi, Louise Müller, and Adiel Mushi. Outside of the School, I would like to thank John and Liz Grace, Bill Donovan, Nanette Sutherland, Thom Scott-Philips, and Sandy, Rob and the staff and regulars at Dagda. In Tanzania, I would like to thank all those who gave up their valuable time to assist me in the completion of this thesis. I would also like to thank David Sawe, Edward Kileo, Max Mmuya, George, Clemence, Linda and Diana Latson, Aloyce Tarimo, Simon Schnetzer, Kazuko Funakoshi, Mercy Wanjiru, Tracy, Tom Manuo and his family, Vicky Nsilo-Swai, Sajjad and everyone at Hill Street, Bianca, Liesbeth Hofs, and v all who sat and served at the High Table. Thanks are due to the assistance of Bariki Manuo. I would like to thank the staff and students at Moshi Technical School for always making me welcome, as well as Mick Callaghan and Jeff Carr for organising the exchange visits that started my interest in Tanzania to begin with. Particular thanks must go to Simbo Ntiro, for all his help and support, in so many aspects of the research that went into this thesis. He is sadly missed. Steve Kerr and the vice-chancellor and staff at the Teofilo Kisanji University kindly hosted me for three months in 2008. Financial support was given by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council, and I would particularly like to thank Kirsty Woomble for her patience. Finally, I would like to thank my parents, for their endless love and support in the writing of this thesis. vi Table of Contents DECLARATION .......................................................................................................... II ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ III DEDICATION ........................................................................................................... IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................V TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................... VII ACRONYMS AND GLOSSARY .................................................................................. IX LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES .............................................................................. XI CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1 THE CHAGGA ETHNIC GROUP AND THE KIHAMBA .....................................................................................6 CHAGGA VARIATION AND IDENTITY.............................................................................................................9 DO “CHAGGA” EXIST?................................................................................................................................... 20 THEORIES OF ETHNICITY............................................................................................................................. 23 CONCEPTUALISING ELITES.......................................................................................................................... 27 THE MORAL ECONOMY................................................................................................................................ 33 RESEARCHING ELITES .................................................................................................................................. 35 THE CHAGGA ELITE...................................................................................................................................... 38 FIELDWORK – METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................... 41 THESIS STRUCTURE...................................................................................................................................... 49 CHAPTER 2: UNDERSTANDINGS OF KILIMANJARO BY EUROPEAN EXPLORERS, MISSIONARIES AND COLONIAL OFFICIALS ........................................................ 53 KILIMANJARO BEFORE 1848 ..................................................................................................................... 57 THE MEANINGS OF KILIMANJARO.............................................................................................................. 59 THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO .................................................................................................................... 63 HOUSE OF GOD .............................................................................................................................................. 72 THE CHIEFLY CHAGGA ELITE AND EUROPEAN CONTACT ..................................................................... 74 FOREIGN VISITORS AND CHAGGA UNITY.................................................................................................. 77 INTO THE COLONIAL PERIOD.....................................................................................................................