NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA

HISTORY FROM FOUR

NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA

The word “Nationalism” is formed from stem nation which means a stable community of people formed on the basis of a common language, territory, history and ethnicity, and suffix –ism which indicates state, condition or action.

The origin of African nationalism

Nationalism in Africa is traced back to the era of colonialism and primary African resistance against colonial rule by the mid of 19 century. Colonial governments after the Berlin conference (1884-1885) which legalized colonialism in Africa introduced various colonial projects in Africa such as mining, agriculture, colonial administration and colonial social services. Colonial governments introduced those projects so as to recover the destructed economy in the metropolis which was highly destructed by the world wars..

PHASES OF NATIONALISM

Nationalism in Africa is divided into two phases according to their periods of existence.

A)      Nationalism before 1945/ Early Nationalism

This refers to all neglects which were done by Africans after introduction of colonialism in Africa, it included various resistances like Shona and Ndebele in Zimbabwe, Zigua in Tanganyika (Saadani) under Bwana Heri and Nama and Herero in Namibia.

B)      Nationalism After 1945/ Mass Nationalism

Refers to all movements which were done in Africa after WWII (1945) aimed at eliminating colonial regimes in Africa. Mass nationalism was championed by various African Elites through political parties, Pan Africanism, African Churches, African workers Associations 

Importance of African Nationalism

1. Helped Africans gain political sovereignty; colonialism largely destructed African political systems through introduction of European administrative systems such as direct rule, indirect rule , assimilation system and association policy, all these administrative systems undermined and destructed pre exited African ruling systems such as chiefdoms and kingdoms. The Africans reacted to the colonialists so as to regain their power of self rule.

2. To spread political awareness to African against European economic exploitation the imperialist extended excessive oppression and exploitation to the Africans, heavy taxation, land alienation and forced labor.

3. To bring various African ethnic groups to form unity and solidarity to fight their grievances through formation of political parties.

4. To remove the Eurocentric view funneled by capitalism and its related evil and adopt new afro centric views mainly based on Marxism.

5. To spread the African culture and remove foreign culture that had been promoted by the agents of colonialism and colonial administration. The target cultural aspects included like language, dressing, table manners among others.

6. To eradicate inferiority complex among the Africans and instigate sense of self determination, appreciate and mobilize liberation effort of the Africans from European domination

A) Nationalism before 1945

In the first decade of colonial rule most African communities experienced only spasmodic /abrupt contacts with the white men. In one of the principles of the Berlin Conference known as “principle of occupation’’, it was agreed that nations which got colonies in Africa should quick reach in the colony and establish colonial projects. This forced European nations to reach in Africa soon after the Berlin conference. The aim of this principle was to reduce imperialists’ desire over unoccupied colonies. But by the mid of 1920's, the activities of the government officials, missionaries and settlers were beginning impinge or to affect much more direct on the lives of many Africans. Acts like land alienation, forced labour, injustice and taxation now were affecting the Africans.

The African started to resist colonial domination in the 1980’s e.g. Abushiri and Bwana Heri(1888-1889)  in Tanganyika, Shona and Ndebele(1896-1897) in Zimbabwe, as well as Nama and Herero(1904-1908) in Namibia.

There were internal grievances that emerged after the establishment of colonialism and economy. These affected Africans economically, socially, politically and culturally.

1. Economically) Forced labor, to work on the colonial plantations to provide cheap labor any African who resisted was punished heavily

ii) Imposition of heavy taxes; as to initiate money economy taxes like hut tax, poll tax and matiti tax were introduced so as to force the indigenous Africans supply labor in the European plantations. Before colonialism Africans had batter system (exchange of goods by goods) but soon after introduction of colonialism money system was introduced by the colonialists so as to simplify collection of tax and to facilitate trade. This affected much the trading system of Africans as it did not only destroy African industries but also it removed African traders in the colonial economy. 

2. Politically

i) Destruction of traditional setup; colonialism destructed traditional ruling systems of Africans through introduction of colonial administration systems in Africa such as direct rule and assimilation policy. Colonial administrative systems weakened the power of African rulers for example in the British colonies LEGCO was responsible for making laws in the colonies but there was no equal representation to Africans in the Legislative Council (LEGCO), this motivated desire to Africans to remove colonial ruling system and restore African ruling system.

 ii) Destruction of traditional African kingdoms and chiefdoms made Africans to find how to regain their political freedom.

3. Socially

i) in the colonial era the colonial governments introduced various social services such as colonial education, colonial housing, colonial, health services and colonial transports, in all these services Africans were segregated as the provision of social services favored Europeans, Asians and few sons and daughters  of African chiefs. Africans viewed this as a tool of division and oppression for Africans. Also in plantations Africans worked for long hours, in Tanganyika for example Africans worked for 12 hours in various plantations like Morogoro sisal plantation. Some men were displaced from their home during migrant labor campaigns. Africans experienced 

ii) Inhuman punishments; Africans experienced mistreatments from colonialists in implementing colonial projects like chopping off ribs of the Africans in case of the Congo colony under Belgium, corporal punishment in Tanganyika under Carl Peter( a Germany explorer who championed a company known as Germany East African company).

4. Culturally

European colonialist denounced African traditions such as polygamy, dances, religions, and women circumcision. These precipitated Nationalism struggle by the Africans, also Europeans disrespected and discredited African traditional medicines and the associated personnel, procedures and ways of treatment. African treatment was referred to healing and indigenous doctors were renamed as witch doctors.

FACTORS FOR  NATIONALISM IN AFRICA.

There are internal and external factors for nationalism in Africa.

a)      External Factors which Influenced Nationalism

This focuses on the movements which were done outside Africa but brought significant contributions towards nationalism and decolonization process in Africa,

1. The impact of world wars; Africans ex-soldiers learned military techniques and become leaders because when they came back they were in the forefront in mobilizing their fellow Africans to fight for independence.

2. The rise of UNO; This pressurized the colonizing powers to permit people to rule themselves and supported Nationalist leaders e.g. J.K Nyerere.

3. The rise of U.S.S.R; after the second world war USSR emerged as the socialist super power thus She wanted to spread socialism all over the world. Therefore she started to support freedom movements in Africa sometimes through direct material and rival support and sometimes through veto power in U.N.O. She supplied military training to African soldiers, armies and freedom fighters. This speeded up the national struggles in the colonies.

4. Independence of Ghana 1957; created awareness to other African countries to struggle for independence.

5. The rise of U.S.A as a leading capitalist nation, after the world war two US became the chief superior of war materials and the war did not affect her economy negatively, this made her to became a leading capitalist nation and begun to advocate for decolonization of African nations as a trick to compensate for not colonizing through establishment of neo colonialism to get market for her finished goods area of investment for her international cooperation.

 6. The role of Bandung conference; The Bandung conference of 17th April 1955, where Asians and Africans nations such as south Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Libya and Egypt met in Indonesia to discuss their problems which include colonialism and economic development, they emphasized solidarity, it was during this conference that non aligned movements NAM was formed in this conference. It called upon the colonizing power to grant independence to colonial people. The conference created solidarity among the nationalistic movements.

7. Independence of Indian 1947; It was very important to Nationalistic struggle in Africa because Africans learn that; The independence could be won peacefully, There is potential in Nationalistic, Many congresses similar to those of Indian were formed in African,  African Nationalists leaders learn a lot from Mahatma Gandhi of India.

8. The role played by pan-African movements; thiswas the movement of all black people in the world. The first meeting of pan africanism involved African leaders like Jomo Kenyatta, Milton obote, kwame Nkrumah was held at Manchester (Manchester conference of 1945). The pan africanists provided moral and material support to support liberation struggle. 

b)     INTERNAL FACTORS FOR NATIONALISM

• Formation of peasant cooperative unions, especially in rural areas to defend the interests and welfare of the farmers, where some associations were formed by the colonialists as to speed up the production and the marketing of cash crop as well as sensitizing peasants about cultivation through their associations. But later alone developed nationalistic feelings and turned against the colonialists using their association’s structures in rural areas.
• Intensive exploitation after the Second World War in the colonies the colonizers wanted to revamp their ruined economies, which were heavily damaged by the war; large scale colonization was carried out.

FORMS OF NATIONALISTIC STRUGGLES IN AFRICA

From 1919 –1940s Nationalistic struggles changed from wars of resistances to formation of social welfare associations.

SOCIAL WELFARE ASSOCIATIONS

Social and welfare associations; are social groups associations formed by Africans to meet the immediate needs of members by protesting colonial exploitation, oppression and humiliations. They played an important role of providing political education to African communities by showing the evil of colonialism and the need to liberate themselves. Or

Social and welfare associations were groups which were formed by Africans who were working in different sectors of colonial economy such as agriculture, industries.

PROTEST AND RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT

Protest can be referred as a reaction against those who mistreat or humiliate others, indicating that their treatment cannot be taken any more. Protest can be divided into two;

• Active protest this involves physical reaction such as fighting or striking
• Passive protest this involves silent reactions such as boycotts.

The African religious movements prevailed in the early 20th century among African communities. They took form of either indigenous protest movements like Msambwa Religious Movements in Kenya or the form of independent churches that had broken away from white missionaries churches.

African independent churches’ paved the way for African emancipation to occupy high ranks in the church hierarchy; previously Africans were at the bottom in the church as they only ended up being bible school teachers and catechists all high ranks and decision were made by white missionaries, the formation of independent churches made the Africans to accept Christianity as a religion not an aspect of colonial system as they thought to be when it was conducted by white missionaries.

Generally, the breaking away of African from various western missionary churches to independent churches was an expression of a protest against colonial domination in Africa.

The Meaning of Protest and Religious Movements

Protest refers to a strong reaction against mistreatment and humiliation. Protests can be divided into two categories: Active protest e.g. physical reaction like fighting, and passive protest e.g. boycotts. While African religious movements were movements created by Africans to protest colonial powers.

The Causes of the Rise of Protest and Religious Movements

(Analyze the causes of the rise of protest and religious movements)

• Church segregation, the European churches preached the salvation and equality of human being before God while Africans were segregated, oppressed and not allowed even to lead prayers they were taken as third citizens.
• The assistance of missionary to colonizers, the European churches also involved in helping colonizers in land alienation, forced labour, taxation and administration which had no any relation with the teaching of the bible.
• Africans realized that the European churches and colonialism were two sides of the same coin that the Christian missionaries were only to pave way for colonization process of Africa as many of them acquired labour farms and exploited African just like the white settlers.
• Missionaries advised Africans concerning political and economic problems by breaking their resistance e.g. through preaching biblical doctrines like the humble people are the blessed for them will enter the kingdom of God forgive those who wrong you.
• Missionaries intervened in African culture like girl circumcision among the kikuyu people in Kenya who vehemently detested the missionary activities. That prompted them to start independent schools and begun to spread.
• The Africans showed disapproval of missionaries’ education system, they considered it inadequate as it only taught African reading, writing and arithmetic (3Rs) this enabled African to occupy low position in colonial administration like clerks and wound dressers in the colonial government’s hospital.
• The Africans wanted to counter attack the colonial exploitation and domination independent church campaigned against payment of taxes by African, racial discrimination, unequal provision of social services and forced labour.

The Strengths, Weaknesses and Contribution of Protest and Religious Movements during the Struggle for Independence

Weaknesses/problems faced by religious movements during the struggle for independence

• Financial problems the independent churches experienced in adequate funds because of depending on the little money rose from the few members of the churches that could not sustain most of their needs. For example the churches needed funds to support a large number of pupils expelled from mission schools in Kenya during the female circumcision controversy of the 1920's and 1930's.
• Conflicts among church leaders within independent churches there were several church leadership conflicts emerged among the church founders, since everyone demanded leadership recognition in the church.
• Competition between independent churches and the white missionary churches for followers following this the white missionaries influenced many Africans to be converted into their churches by all means including provision of gifts like clothes and shoes for the aim of preventing African independent churches from getting followers.
• Lack of enough trained personnel as most of teachers in independent churches were untrained since most of them were ex-missionary school students with little western education and management skills.

Strengths and contributions of protest and religious movements during the struggle for independence

• Establishment of African independent schools these schools enrolled African children only and they were taught their culture and evils of colonialism as a result later on they became political activists.

1. INDEPENDENT CHURCHES / RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS

 These were churches which were made by Africans out of churches formed by Missionaries, They opposed European church leaders who discriminated African church leadership and despise African customs like polygamy and female circumcision, They also opposed land alienation, forced labor, involvement of Africans in European wars.

Examples of Independence Churches were;

·         Kikuyu independent church formed in 1929 by David Maina (Kenya)

·         Religion of spirit –“Dini ya msambwa” formed by Elijah Masinde which opposed colonialism and foreign religion (Kenya).

Factors for Rise of Independent Churches

1. Missionaries didn’t value and accommodate African ways of worship.

2. Africans regarded Missionaries as agents of colonialism.

3. Africans were upset by Missionary teachings which were against African traditions and customs.

4. Colonial exploitation such as forced labor, taxation and discrimination in the provision of social services..

2. WORKERS ASSOCIATION/TRADE UNIONS

These were formed by workers to address their grievances such as low education, low wages, poor health facilities, lack of representatives in local council and discrimination at working places.

Example of Workers’ Associations

1. Tanganyika Territory civil servant Association (T.T.C.S.A), Formed in 1922 in Tanga by Martin Kayamba.

2. Tanganyika African Association 1929 which became TAA-

3. Young Kavirondo association formed by students lead by their teacher Jonathan Okwir.

4. Kikuyu central association formed in 1924 by Joseph Kangethe.

3. TRIBAL ASSOCIATIONS

These were ethnic organizations formed by member of a certain tribe to address specific grievance in tribe such as poor health, education and absence of representatives in local council.

4. PEASANT ASSOCIATIONS

These were formed by farmers to air their grievances e.g. Low price for their crops. Examples of peasants associations were;

• Kilimanjaro native planters association formed by Joseph Mwinyi in 1925,
• Kikuyu Central association 1928, whose general secretary was Jomo Kenyata,
• The Young Buganda association founded in 1920.

POLITICAL PARTIES IN AFRICA

The Strengths of Political Parties in Africa

1. The political parties rose awareness among different groups of Africans- This was done through political rallies, propaganda newspapers, and organized boycott for example CPP of Ghana encouraged Ghanaians to boycott the colonialists.

2. The political parties had a major duty of unifying the masses to fight a common enemy, which was colonialism. The political to fight a common enemy, which was colonialism, the political parties used youth and women to unify the masses at the grassroots to fight their common enemy. For example CCP of Ghana under Nkrumah and TANU of Tanganyika. They had youth and women groups to support them in fulfilling their goals of bringing independence.

3. The use of peaceful means to fight for independence unlike armed struggle which led to loss of many African lives and property destructions

Weakness of Political Parties in Africa

1. The colonial government created restrictions to political parties. They created restrictions in order to limit their activities and slow down the decolonization process. For example the British colonial government restricted government workers from being members of TANU in Tanganyika.

2. Opposition among political parties within individual African countries, each political party competing against the other to the extent of conducting campaigns against the other instead of joining hands in fighting their common enemy. The major causes of such rivalry were ethinism, regionalism.

3. Many political parties faced financial problems or constraints; this was due to its members who were poor and unable to contribute the money required for various political activities.

4. Political parties lacked the support of other organizations such as women, youth, farmer associations in their move of propagating the decolonization process in Africa.

DECOLONIZATION OF AFRICA

Decolonization is the process by which a country (colony) is granted social, economic and political independence by the colonial power. It is a state in which a colony becomes free from imperial dominated powers.

The decolonization of African states began immediately after the second world war in 1945. African states employed/waged different means in the struggle for independence .the methods used by Africans depended on the nature of the colonial economy which was practiced in the colony, for example almost all African colonies which were settler colonies regained their freedom through the battle of gun because the settlers had invested much in the respective colonies thus they were not willing to grant them independence. The common forms of struggle were four as follows;

1. Political/ constitutional/ peaceful means.

In this method the colonies used peaceful means such as negotiations, dialogues, diplomacy while demanding for their freedom through this means were under the UNO Trusteeship council. The respective nationalistic leaders went almost annually to the UNO Trusteeship council to ask for the freedom of their countries, examples of the African countries which regained their freedom through constitutional means are /were Ghana(1957), Tanganyika(1961) and Uganda(1962).

2. Armed struggle/ bloodshed means

This was the violence means employed by some African states to liberate themselves from colonial control. Most of these were the ones in which settlers had invested much and that they were not willing to leave.  Examples of African states which regained their freedom through this means were Kenya(1963), Zimbabwe(1980), Congo(1960), Angola(1975) and Mozambique(1975).

3. Combinational means

It was a blend of both constitutional and Armed struggle. Some countries embarked on this method following the failure of the peaceful means. Example of Africans who combined both methods was South Africa. South Africa embarked on armed struggle soon after the march 21^st 1960 Sharpeville massacre. The ANC leaders being led by Oliver Thambo and Nelson Mandela formed the fighting wing (Umkotho We Sizwe). “the Spear of the Nation”  which led liberation movement in south Africa.

4. Revolutionary means.

A revolution is  a complete overthrow of the existing system of governance by a group, which is subjective to it and being mistreated, exploited, discriminated, and oppressed. an example of the colony which waged this means for liberation is Zanzibar revolution on Sunday 12^th January in 1964. It was the revolution which completely overthrew the Jamshid Abdullah Sultanate regime. Others were Egypt revolution, Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau. 

DECOLONIZATION THROUGH CONSTITUTIONAL / PEACEFUL MEANS

This refers to the process of independence struggle through peaceful means that is without the use of armed struggle. Some African countries which used this means were Tanganyika ( now Tanzania), Uganda, Gold coast (Ghana) OR

Decolonization through constitutional means is the type of liberation which involve intensive negotiation between the colonialists and African nationalists e.g. the political independence of Tanganyika, Ghana, Uganda and Zambia. All applied negotiation or peaceful means to get their independence.

Reasons for the decolonization through constitutional means

• Absence of white settlers, in areas with no settlers like in Tanganyika and other parts of Africa they attained their independence through peaceful means; For example Tanganyika contained influential minorities of Europeans and Asians as the number involved was not large enough to bring obstacle in the path of national independence only 23,000 European among whom only few hundred could properly be regarded as settlers and the number of Asians was 87,000.Hence decolonization through constitutional means.
• Minimal problems like tribalism and religious differences; that would have brought internal disputes struggle or disunity. This was a sovereignty advantage to some African countries. For it was simple for them to unite the masses for self determination.
• The trusteeship colony; a trust territory colony was subjected to measure of supervision by the United Nations a situation that made it impossible for the colonizers government to entirely pressure exerted by international opinion. For example Tanganyika was not mandatory like Uganda or Kenya it was under the trust ship of UN given to Britain as a result her independence was easily influenced by the United Nations.
• The role of political parties, where the political party which took over the power lacked serious opposition from other political parties which would have delayed the independence then the decolonization was through peaceful means. For example Tanganyika TANU was a major political party that had never been banned by the colonial government so it was able to operate freely without any hindrance unlike KANU in Kenya. This was very significant in achieving her goals of independence.
• The role of the leader, where there were strong, approachable and democratic leaders

STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE IN TANGANYIKA (TANZANIA)

The conditions which facilitated constitutional / peaceful struggle for independence in Tanganyika were as follows

1. Tanganyika was a mandated colony under the British since 1945 thus a UN delegation had always made follow up to ensure that Tanganyika was prepared to be self governing

2. The role played the mass media such as SAUTI YA TANU newspaper which was very much used by TANU to spread its policies and mass mobilization enabled TANU to have mass support not only in the urban centre’s but also in the remote areas where there was some literacy.

3. The wide use of Kiswahili as a lingua franca throughout the country. Kiswahili was spoken y a large population in Tanganyika. Therefore, it eased communication and brought unity among the people of Tanganyika.

The Problems Experienced during the Struggle for Independence in Tanganyika

1. Opposition from other political parties like ANC and UTP. United Tanganyika party (UTP) preferred racial parity in making the government while TANU was against that. TANU was based on the general interests, such as cattle tax, terracing and destocking. TANU called for democratic election of the legislative council (LEGCO) and demanded democracy.

ii. The British colonial government made everything possible to ban TANU by calling it an illegal movements. The civil servants were also prevented from joining the party. The colonial government sponsored the formation of reactionary organizations such as United Tanganyika party (UTP) which was formed by the chiefs and Europeans in 1956. United Tanganyika party claimed that independence was not necessary, but Tanganyika should continue its affiliation with the colonial power.

STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE IN KENYA

Kenya nationalism was dominated by the rise of political parties and the emergence of Mau Mau freedom fighters.

KANU (Kenya African National Union)

Was formed in 1944 by Eliud Mahu a member of Legco. It demanded increase of African representatives in legco; then Harry Thuki became the chairman but handled over the leadership to James Gichuru in 1945. In 1946 Kenyatta became the pre salient of the party. The party was mainly Kikuyu and had no strength beyond the central province. It was not possible for KANU to mobilize many people who were not literate and European hated many people who were not literate also European hated the party. The party was burned in 1952.

MAUMAU

MauMau was armed struggle against the White settlers in Kenya in 1952-1960 aimed at bringing independence quickly. The group was stated by KAU extreme must and ex-soldiers by the colonial government so African fought to remove such oppressive actions over them.

Mau Mau War

Causes of MauMau Movement

• Land alienation: Colonial government alienated African land and gave it to the European settlers for production of cash crops and settlement. This made Africans to fight for the lost land.
• Forced labor; Africans were forced to work in settler’s farms colonial government ensured constant supply of African labor by passing various labor ordinances e.g. Native master relation labor ordinance of 1921 which required African to carry identity (Kipande system) to show completion of a task in settler’s farm. This annoyed Africans.
• Taxation imposed on African led to the outbreak of MauMau. The people were highly taxed and those who failed were punished British learnt a lesson that their administrative created grievance and discontent among the African.

Effects of MauMau Movement

• Depopulation More than 13,000 people - Asians, civilians, Europeans and freedom fighter lost their lives.
• Many people were forced into reserves and detention camps where they suffered harsh treatments and bad living conditions.
• It created fear and worries of being killed especially in the central province where most fighting took place.
• MauMau forced the British to speed up independence to other colonies e.g. Tanganyika.
• It brought high costs amounting to pounds 50,000 to Kenya colonial government and the British as underground movement in Nairobi in 1946.

The MauMau group was annoyed by slow pace of constitutional change and the settler declaration in 1950 that “we are here to stay and all races must accept that and all it implies”.

Participants in MauMau Movement

1. Leaders – Waruhiu Itote – General China, Dedan Kimathi, Jomo Kenyatta,Sanley Mthenge and Musa Mwariama

2. Kikuyu waged laborers, ex-soldiers from WWII and other dissatisfied groups.

Problems / Obstacles that Hindered the Struggle for Independence in Kenya

1. Settlers opposition Nationalistic struggle; settlers opposed nationalistic struggles because they feared that once Kenya became Independent, Africans would grab their land.

2. Tribalism among the Africans divided Africans in the fight for independence. Political parties such as KANU and KADU were formed in tribal basis.

3. Personality clashes between leaders in some political parties.

Kenyan African Union leader Jomo Kenyatta with the official document of independence in Nairobi on December 13, 1963

DECOLONISATION THROUGH REVOLUTION

Revolution is the process of removing the existing government . OR Is a discontented reaction through violence exercised by the majority of the country population inorder to gain recognition or reform when legal and moderate means of political or social change fail. The known African revolutions are:

1. The Zanzibar Revolution of 1964 led by John Titto Okello,

2. The Egypt Revolution of 1952 led by Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Before that there were associations which did not press for independence but welfare of different races that lives in the Island. Associations before Mid 1950 were based on races e.g.

1. Arab Association was formed by Arab rich families against the British to press for compensation to the Arab slave owners after abolition of slave trade.

2. Africans Association formed in 1934, it was affiliated to Tanganyika association.

3. Shiraz Association formed in 1939 in Pemba to speak for African population like Timbuktu, Hamidu and Pemba.

4. The Indian Association.

ZANZIBAR REVOLUTION

After 1955 the people of Zanzibar formed political parties to struggle for independence. This was due to economic hardship and crisis in marketing cloves after WWII and colonial exploitation.

The Political Parties that were Formed during Struggles for Independence were;

1. Zanzibar Nationalist party (Z.N.P) formed out of Arab association by Sheikh Al Mahsin Barwan 1955. It demanded Multiracial Zanzibar in order to get support from the Africans majority but in principal it served the Arab Minority.

2. Afro –Shiraz party (A.S.P) it was formed out of African association and Shiraz association in 1957. Sheikh Aman Karume was the chairperson and Thabit Kombo was a secretary. It was a racial party because it was supported by Africans from Zanzibar and mainland.

3. Zanzibar and Pemba People’s Party (Z.P.P.P) was formed in 1959 by Shiraz racial group that had conflict with people of Mainland origin and ASP. It was formed by Mohamed Shante and Musa from Pemba and Tajo from Zanzibar.

4. UMMA Party; formed in 1963 by Abdurrahman Mohamed Babu, after splitting from Z.N.P.

The Zanzibar Revolution

Zanzibar revolution was a complete overthrow of the Arab government by the Africans who were subjected to it. It was a fundamental alteration of principle and practices of Arab Sultan government by the African people. The Revolution was organized by the ASP under sheikh Aman Karume with the support from Umma party under Mohamed Babu in 12 Jan 1964. The group of armed people who physically took part in revolution was led by John Okelo, a Lango young man from Uganda.

This was secretary of A.S.P young wing in Pemba. The group attacked the new government and Sultan by surprise. It succeed to capture the police amour in Ziwan then radio station, custrus, airports, post office, hospital and the prison at Mazarin by using knives, axes, hammers, bows and arrows. The armed men got guns after capturing the police station. The sultan escaped to Mombasa and many officials were killed.

Mohamed Shamte went into exile in Arabian. The revolution was successful in Sunday morning 12 Jan 1964, the revolution government was set up with Karume as the president and Hanya the Vice president, Babu and others Asp members were ministers of the new government.

Aims of Revolution

1. To adjust social and economic inequalities between the African Majority and the Arab Minority.

2. To remove Sultan domination over Africans in Zanzibar.

3. To eradicate British colonial interest and destroy capitalism in Zanzibar.

4. To bring socialism in this there will be no exploitation of man by man.

Causes of Revolution

Zanzibar attained its independence in Dec. 1963 from the British. Africans under ASP-(Afro Shiraz Party) recognized that independence granted in 1963 was a way for Arabs. Africans had still to struggle to win Independence. This is war forced Revolution in Jan 12 1964.

1. Exploitation of Africans by the Arab’s government, Africans were dissatisfied by Arabs Mass exploitation so they decided to overthrow the government.

Benefits of Zanzibar Revolution

1. The Africans who had lost their land got it back. The government nationalized plantations and distributed among Africans to grow crops.

2. The government built schools and colleges to provide educated freely up to university level.

3. The government promoted peoples’ participation in government, hash ranking jobs which were held by the Arabs were given to Africans. To date the head of government is African.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

1. How has the membership in the Non-aligned movement helped independent African countries? (NECTA-2000)

2. Identify the external and internal forces which made Namibia to be the last country to eradicate colonialism in Africa. (NECTA-2000)

3. The independence of Tanganyika in 1961 was inevitable development given the nature of the colonial state and the global situation that existed after 1945. How far is this true? (substantiate) (NECTA-2002)

4. Show extent to which the people of Zanzibar has benefited from the 1964 Zanzibar revolution (NECTA-2002)

5. Explain the methods that were employed by the black society in South Africa in the struggle for their liberation (NECTA-2004)

76. Why did the Portuguese colonies in Africa engage in armed struggle to liberate themselves? (NECTA-2005)

7. Show the contribution made by independent churches and early welfare association towards the development of modern nationalism in Africa (NECTA-2006)

8.Explain the roles of welfare associations, Religious movements and cooperative societies in the struggle for independence in East Africa (NECTA-2007)