Nyerere's Road to Socialism

Author(s): Neville Linton

Source: Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne des tudes Africaines, Vol. 2,
No. 1 (Spring, 1968), pp. 1-6
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Canadian Association of African Studies
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Nyerere's
Road to Socialism
NEVILLE LINTON
The
phenomenon
of the
one-party
state has been
widespread
in
post
colonial
Africa in a
variety
of forms. Rationalisations for this
system
of
government
have varied from the rule of
necessity'
to the claim of
unique
cultural relevance.2
None of the
exponents
have been as articulate and
convincing
as President
Julius Nyerere
of
Tanzania, and,
it will be asserted
herein,
none of the
experi-
ments to date have been as
hopeful
as the Tanzanian one.
It is
generally recognized
that the
major problem facing
most new states
after
independence
is that of
translating
the nationalist movement into an
effective
government; major organisational
weaknesses and
political instability
are usual in the
post independence period. They
are characterized
by
a lack of
a
disciplined program
of action and a set of
practical principles through
which
effective
organization
can be created.
What
distinguished
the
great
Communist states
-
China and the Soviet
Union
-
in their drive for modernization was
exactly
that
they
had a
concept
of the
party
as an instrument for fundamental
change
and action and not
just
as a
machinery
for
mustering
votes and
general support.
And what
distinguishes
Tanzania
amongst
African states is that the
ruling party
-
the
Tanganyika
African National Union
(TANU)3
- has such an
image
of itself and is
assiduously
and
systematically working
towards its
goals.
The task
facing
TANU at
independence
in 1961 was far
greater
than that
facing
the Chinese or
Soviets,
for the
people
of
Tanganyika
did not
comprise
an
integrated
or mobilized
community.
TANU's
problem
was to build a nation
in the face of considerable
political, social, economic,
and communications dis-
advantages.
It would have been
enough
of a task to set out to build a modern
nation-state as was the
goal
of most of the new states of the Afro-Asian world.
Nyerere's purpose, however,
was to create a new
order,
a
truly
socialist commu-
nity,
an African vision of what
society ought
to be.
Nyerere's
socialism has been articulated in several
key
statements in recent
years
the most
important
of which are
Ujamaa:
The Basis of African Socialism
of 1962 and The Arusha Declaration of 1967.V From these it is clear that he
1. R. Emerson "Parties and National
Integration
in Africa" in
J.
LaPalombara and M.
Weiner,
Political Parties and Political
Development (Princeton, 1966),
296.
2. President Sekou Tour6 of Guinea has been the
major spokesman
for this
position
although
the
argument
has also been
regularly
used
by
other African leaders.
3. Tanzania is the name of the United
Republic
that was created in 1964 with the
linking
of
Tanganyika
and Zanzibar. The
only party
in Zanzibar is the Afro-Shirazi
Party
which shares the
government
of the United
Republic
with TANU.
4.
J. Nyerere, Ujamaa
-
The Basis of African Socialism
(Dar es
Salaam, 1962);
The
Arusha Declaration (Dar es
Salaam, 1967).
1
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LE
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believes that in the
past,
traditional African
society
was classless and that his
socialism is an
updating
of this tradition." He has
always
stressed that there are
many
roads to socialism
6
and
rejects
Marxism-Leninism or
any "theology
of
socialism".
The
rejection
of Marxism-Leninism
sharply distinguishes Nyerere
from
other
leading
African socialists. Nkrumah of Ghana for instance often used the
language
of scientific socialism and
clearly
associated himself with the Marxist
tradition of
analysis. Nkrumah,
it would
seem, thought
of himself as the African
interpreter
of an international doctrine that was of universal
validity.
All
classic socialist states
always
mention Marxism-Leninism as their
base, including
the Chinese who
have,
of
course,
added on the
phrase
"and the
thought
of Mao
Tse-tung". Nyerere's thought, however,
is not based on dialectical materialism
or the law of
unity
of
opposites;
he does not
speak
of the
theory
of
proletarian
revolution or
dictatorship
or of the
proletarianisation
of the state or the
world;
he has never claimed that the
driving
force of
history
is class conflict or that
the current historical manifestation of class conflict is the
struggle
of
emergent
nations
against imperialism.
Yet he does have a
concept
of class
struggle
and of
antagonism
between
capitalism
and socialism and he does
speak
of the
presence
and evils of
"imperialism",
"neo-colonialism" and
"exploitation".
Socialism to
Nyerere
is "a doctrine which
accepts
mankind as it
is,
and
demands such an
organization
of
society
that man's
inequalities
are
put
to the
service of his
equality"
. . . it is in fact . . . "the
application
of the
principle
of
human
equality
to the
social, economic,
and
political organization
of
society".7
It is not
surprising, therefore,
that
Nyerere
has
emphasized
the creation of the
correct attitude of mind for socialism rather than the
creating
of socialist
institutions and
organizations
since "without the correct attitudes institutions
can be subverted from their true
purpose." 8
This reformist
approach
is remin-
iscent of that of the Chinese who
developed
the
technique
of
'thought
reform'
to this end. To
bring
about a fundamental moral and
psychological
trans-
formation of individuals is not
easy.
To move
beyond
what Mao calls the
"emotional
stage
of
cognition",9 past
traditional and national
appeals
to ration-
alistic
acceptance
of a new order
requires
a
thorough organizational
structure
and a clearcut
ideology
to which
people
react
emotionally, intellectually,
and
necessarily.
The
Chinese,
for
instance,
used intense
thought
reform for the elite
cadres and mass
movements,
as well as
regimented activity
and incessant
propaganda
for the masses. The
Chinese, moreover,
did not
stop
at
"thought
5. See H.
Bienen, Tanzania, Party
Transformation and Development (Princeton, 1967);
W.
Tordoff,
Government and Politics in Tanzania
(Nairobi, 1967.)
6.
Speech
at Cairo
University, April 10,
1962 -
See Mwalimu in Cairo
(Tanzanian
Information
Services,
Dar es Salaam
1967), 20,
27-88.
7.
Ibid.,
21.
8.
Ibid., 28.
9. Mao Tse
Tung,
"On
Practice",
Selected
Works,
Vol.
I, 274.
2
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THE CANADIAN
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reform" but also
revamped
the institutions and nature of the
society
consider-
ably.
But
Nyerere
the
Catholic,
the liberal
humanist,
the
gradualist
is not
likely
to use the methods of Mao.
Moreover,
he does not have the
advantages
which
emerged
from the concrete conditions of the Chinese
Revolution, e.g.
the
discipline
and trained
personnel
which were
by-products
of the Yenan
years,
the intellectual traditions of the
long
centuries of the Middle
Kingdom,
and the
Chinese
people's
historic sense of
unity
and
identity
as a nation. What has been
tried in Tanzania for most of the time has been the method of exhortation and
of demonstration
by
the
example
of
leadership.
Nyerere
has been reluctant to face
up
to the
necessity
to
develop
an
organization
suited to the
ideology
of the state. This
might
well be because he
shies
away
from
considering
his own
thought
as the
ideology
of the state. Yet
he has articulated over the
years
a consistent
body
of
principles
of belief and
goals
which can be called an
ideology. They
constitute a set of
major
ideas
which can
govern party policy, organization
and action. The care and
scholarship
which
goes
into his
major pronouncements
on socialism and the fact that he
has
monopolized
the task of
defining
Tanzanian
socialism'" leaves little room
for doubt that he
consciously
seeks the
responsibility
of
framing
the
ideology
of the state.
But
Nyerere
does not seem to have created the means of
carrying
the
ideology
to the
people.
For one
thing Nyerere
did not and does not seem to
believe in the
development
of
cadres,
of
political
elites and of functional
elites,
both socialist and
technical,
and so there was no
ideological training
of a
party
vanguard.
Nor has there been
any well-organized program
of
political
education
for the
party
rank and file and the masses in
general.
These weaknesses in the link between
ideology
and
organization
have been
attacked
gradually
over the last two
years
and
particularly
since the Arusha
Declaration of
February
1967.
With the Arusha Declaration"
Nyerere
moved closer to the demands of the
leading Marxists12
of
his
party by producing
a concrete
plan
for the creation
of socialism and a
program
for the
training
of leaders and the
political
education
of the masses.
The Declaration itself is a hard-headed
approach
to the
problem
of
developing
Tanzania. It faces
up
to the
shortage
of
capital
and to the desire not
to be
dependent
on
foreign
aid
by shaping
a
development
scheme that is based
10. This has been
particularly
noticeable since the Arusha Declaration in a series of
Presidential
policy papers
on
implementation
in
specific
areas such as education and
agricultural development.
11. The Arusha Declaration (Dar es
Salaam, 1967).
12. Individuals such as A. Babu and Kassim
Hanga
from the ASP and 0.
Kambona,
the
former
Secretary-General
of TANU. Both the last two leaders are no
longer prominent
in Tanzania and in fact have fled the
country
within the last
year.
3
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LE
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essentially
on self-reliance. It is therefore a call for
austerity,
for hard work and
for
sacrifice;
its aim is to
put
the nation
consciously
on a war-time
footing
in
the war
against
backwardness. The Declaration has the clear
stamp
of
Nyerere's
preference
in it - this is demonstrated
by
its
rejection
of an
emphasis
on
industrialization as the
path
to economic
development,
the
strong
assurances
given
to the
private sector,
and the
charge
to the nation to avoid racialism.
The nationalization of the
major
means of
production
was in a sense the
easier
part
of the Arusha Declaration. The more fundamental and difficult task
was to create the
right atmosphere
of sacrifice
amongst
the
people
and to find
dedicated and
intelligent leadership
to
carry
out the national
purpose.
TANU has started a
program
of
political
education which is
geared
to
reach all TANU members
through
their
party cells,'"
to reach the
bureaucracy,
the
military
and
police,
the
personnel
of nationalized industries and
para-govern-
mental
concerns,
and of course the schools. The content of the
program
is
essentially
the
teaching throughout
the
country
of the
meaning
of the Arusha
Declaration and of related
papers
on the state
ideology.
Whilst a
training
school for
party personnel,
trade
unionists,
bureaucrats and
party
workers does
exist in Dar es Salaam at Kivukoni
College
-
an adult
training
school in the
Social Sciences which started as a sort of Tanzanian version of Ruskin
College
-
there is no
ideological
school as such in the
country, although party
militants
have been
pushing
for one for some time.
Nyerere
seems to have resisted this
demand;
he
may
be
suspicious
of the
concept
and he
may
also be aware of the
unsatisfactory
record of Kwame Nkrumah's
Ideological
School at Winneba in
Ghana. The
Chinese,
of
course,
have had their
ideological
schools which trained
cadres to be "red" rather than
"expert"
and some of the difficulties with the Red
Guards seem to have been the result of the
training
of too
many
militant
"reds". The
staffing
of Kivukoni in fact reflects
Nyerere's
eclectic
approach;
he
has not insisted that this
key
institution be staffed
exclusively
with
pedigreed
socialists or with TANU adherents or even insisted on a Tanzanian or African
principal.'"
Even
though
TANU has started on a serious
program
of
political
education
there is neither the desire nor the
personnel
to make this a case of
rigid
indoctri-
nation.
Nyerere
is
unwilling
to create a monolithic
society
and wants the
relatively
small African
bourgeois
class
composed largely
of the civil service and
teachers to be transformed
by
conviction. It is too
early
to tell whether the
bourgeois
will be so convinced or whether
they
will do no more than
pay lip-
service to the
principles
of the Arusha Declaration. At the material level the
bureaucrats and trade unionists are forced to
cooperate
with the
government
13. On the TANU cell
system
see H.
Bienen,
W. Tordoff and W.
Klerru, Whys
and
Wherefores
of TANU Cell
System (Dar
es
Salaam, 1965).
14. The
College
has not had an African
principal
and East
European
or Soviet citizens
have been
noticeably
absent
-
unlike the situation at Winneba.
4
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THE CANADIAN
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OF AFRICAN STUDIES
austerity program
as
they
are the
subjects
of a series of
economy
drives and
cutbacks on salaries that have been launched since Arusha. A
bureaucracy
is
of course often alienated from the
masses; Nyerere,
like
Mao,
is a
strong
advocate of the masses. Mao's solution was to use the
party
to resolve the
contradiction between state and
society;
sometimes he even
dispensed
with the
formal administration as in the
program
of the Great
Leap
Forward.
Nyerere,
however,
does not want the
party
to be in the
position
of
giving
formal
commands;
it frames
policy
but does not issue orders. The state
gives
orders
and this is
probably
because the President wants to
keep
control and cannot
trust the
party
with comand functions.
But what then is the role of the
party?
If it is the
organized expression
of the interests of the
people
should it be bureaucratized and used as an
instrument to ensure that the ministries function
properly?
Even if this was
what
Nyerere wanted,
the
shortage
of educated
people
means that the
party
cannot
easily
afford a
separate complex
machine. It
is, however, trying.
The
staff has been
revamped
and
enlarged
in the last
year
and the
key
areas of
research, publicity
and
political
education have been
given
more
prominence.
But it is these functions that the
party headquarters
have
responsibility
for and
not for matters that have to do with
policy planning
and research on
govern-
ment
programmes;
these
clearly
come out of the President's office or the
ministries. There are no
party policy
committees for instance on matters such
as the
military
and defence or economic
development.
Nyerere
has tried to
bridge
the
organizational gap
between
party
and
state
by making
little distinction between state officials and
party
officials in
certain
key positions
such as
regional
and area commissioners
"
where the same
individual wears both a
party
hat and a state hat. He has also
brought
the
bureaucracy
into
politics by opening membership
of the
party
to civil servants
and
by,
at
times, transferring top
civil servants to serve full time in
important
party posts.
Fundamental to this
approach
is his attitude that TANU and the
nation are one.
By acting
as if this were indeed so and
accepted by everyone
he seeks to make true his
aspiration.
But one reason
Nyerere
is keen on
using
bureaucrats
interchangeably
and on
integrating
bureaucrats into command
posts
in the creation of socialism is his need for their
expertise;
he is more interested
in
efficiency
cadres rather than
ideological
cadres since
development
and
modernization are the
major priorities
as he sees it. Thus the Tanzanian bureau-
crat as a
politically
relevant
figure
is
expected
to
accept change,
to take
up
challenges,
to show initiative and
accept insecurity
of
tenure,
or
posting. Ideally,
he should be able to transmit the
ideology
of the state to his work and to
inspire
those around him. Instead of
creating
cadres therefore
Nyerere
seems to want
to create a new
type
of bureaucrat.
15.
Bienen, 112-157, 310-320. See also Tordoff.
5
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LE
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The
emphasis
then remains on a revolution of
personality
rather than a
revolution of
system.
The Arusha Declaration
brought
in nationalization but
left a substantial
private
sector
untouched;
there is a
free-enterprise, expatriate-
owned
newspaper
in Dar es Salaam in
competition
with the
government-owned
paper.
The
university, ninety per
cent of whose
faculty
is
expatriate,
is run on
a curriculum that is in the mainstream of western educational theories but its
students on
graduation
have to
willingly give
two
years
of their lives to National
Service
"
and to
play
their
part
as
good
socialist citizens thereafter.
Contradictions are
many
in Tanzania. A
superficial glance
would
suggest
to an observer that
Nyerere
has built a marvellous
superstructure
of rhetoric
which cannot be sustained
by action,
that his ambitions have outrun his
capa-
cities. One commentator who is
by
no means
superficial,
has said that "the
material conditions of
Tanganyika
do not facilitate the
building
of a
centralized,
disciplined party."
"
But it is not that
simple. Nyerere
is a
careful, calculating
strategist.
He has assessed the
political,
social and economic
map
of his
country
and has moved
deliberately
from
stage
to
stage
of a well
thought-out long range
program
of action. Socialism in
Tanzania,
he said in a recent
speech,
will take
some
thirty years
before
major appreciable changes
will be seen in the
society.
While
Nyerere
is
probably
the leader with the most charismatic
appeal
in
Africa,
he has not
attempted
to
push
the
people
too
hard,
too fast. He has a
preference
for an
open party
which allows individual dissent as
long
as
group
dissent or factions do not
develop
and as
long
as he is left free to
get
on with
the
priorities
of
government.
Because of this
approach party development
has
not been as advanced as the
plans
and
program
of the
government might
lead
one to
expect.'"
But this has been deliberate.
Nyerere
is a
good
husbandman
who first
prepares
his
ground carefully.
TANU has continued to be the most
popular
mass
party
in Africa and at the same time the
party
which has done
the most to contribute
something
new towards the
development
of a democratic
one-party
system."9
Success with the
program
started with the Arusha Declara-
tion would make it clear
that,
in the continent of false
starts, Nyerere,
the
charming revolutionary,
is a
political
innovator of universal
significance.
16. The National Service is a
nation-building group
in which all
young
adult Tanzanians are
eligible
to
serve,
to learn some basic
military training
and contribute to national
development.
17.
Bienen, 14.
18. Bienen in fact raises the
question
whether the central TANU Government does in
fact "rule"
Tanganyika
-
See
Bienen,
14. TANU
undoubtedly
rules
Tanganyika
at
least as much as the British did and in fact more. The limited resources of the
govern-
ment meant that it made choices as to
priorities
and
emphasis
in administration and
policy.
19. See L.
Cliffe,
One
Party Democracy (Nairobi, 1967). Also Tordoff and Bienen.
6
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