Mandela Day 2023 commemoration and our culture of silence

By Andrew Bomani

-former British Prime Minister Anthony Blair described, “the world's most famous political prisoner.”

I had the privilege of meeting Madiba in Johannesburg in the year 2000 during his role as the facilitator of the Burundi Peace Talks. My father was his representative, continuing on from his work with Julius Nyerere. I do remember Mandela upon being told that I had studied political science, remarking in jest that “I’m supposed to fear you.”

I must say that the more the years go by since his passing, the more I appreciate him when looking at Africa’s manifold challenges. For the sake of record, upon my joining my first political party, the UDP, in 2016, I took the initiative to commemorate Nelson Mandela International Day (NMID) by mobilising a few comrades to give a donation of foodstuffs to an orphanage in Magomeni, Dar es Salaam.

It was a wonderful occasion and the first time our party had done something of that nature. Unfortunately, due to problems that arose from the top of the party, we were unable to continue doing such community work, but it is our every intention that with a new political party in the pipeline, the day will firmly occupy its space on our annual calendar.

NMID 2023 was a special one as it was the 10th year since his death. An event celebrating his life was organised at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) by the high commission of South Africa in collaboration with the United Nations. The icing on the cake was the support from the private sector under the aegis of the South Africa Business Forum.

The venue - the auditorium of the newly built library - was appropriate indeed. It is a finely done job by friends from China. We were informed by the Principal of the Mwalimu Nyerere Leadership School in Kibaha of the original plan for the event to have taken place there only for the chancellor of UDSM, Jakaya Kikwete, who also gave the keynote address, to propose otherwise. That was a sound decision, no doubt.

An anti-climax to the day sadly was the quality of contributions from the floor. By and large, they were very ordinary. Hardly anything of interest was said by the student community. The two prominent panelists, Judge Joseph Warioba and Ambassador Ami Mpungwe, are ex-students of the university and if I were in their shoes, I’d have left with a sense of shame.

It speaks to a deep-seated problem of education quality issues in our country. Of course, in all this features the language question. That English is a major hindrance for our students such that even some funny anecdotes on Mandela from Mpungwe didn't click.

As a caveat though, I was intimately involved in a remembrance event five years ago on the life of the late law lecturer, Dr Sengondo Mvungi that was all in Kiswahili. It was no different to the Mandela event in the type of contributions. Many students were present only in body, so to speak.

Such an occasion was surely a great opportunity for the student union leadership to display their knowledge of the continent. A school friend of mine once described our pitiful condition as the Tanzanian “culture of silence.”

In an intellectual environment is where you find many Tanzanians struggle while otherwise they are loquacious. It is the case even in our National Assembly when it comes to regional and international affairs. For instance, when Mandela departed, I had expected that our parliament would have set aside a special sitting to reflect on the epic journey we only know too well. Instead, it didn't go beyond 30 minutes. What a joke! The UK parliament set aside not less than seven hours or so for their parliamentarians to pay tribute to Mandela.

One matter among many that would have been of big interest to the general public was his meeting with the opposition leaders during his state visit to Tanzania in 1995. That he set aside time to have an audience with them was an honour. What lessons though did they take on board? It wouldn't be surprising to find they had even forgotten of such a meeting.

It also says a lot on Tanzania-South Africa relations how Mandela became the Burundi peace facilitator after Julius Nyerere. There was no automaticity here as Mandela revealed to the late Larry King of CNN that seven other countries had sought him out to help resolve their conflicts. The fact that he chose a country that he admitted he knew so little about, was a testament to the kind of regard he held for Nyerere.

And whilst on Nyerere and Mandela, in a recent book entitled 38 Reflections on Mwalimu Nyerere by Prof Mark Mwandosya and Ambassador Juma Mwapachu, Mpungwe shares an important anecdote on the two.

Nyerere had told Mandela (just after his inauguration), “I have only two pieces of advice. The first one you may wish to ignore, but the second one you shouldn’t ignore. It is about your relationship with your fellow Africans. I know very soon Americans will be coming to you. They will tell you that you are like them. You are not like Burkina Faso. Don’t listen to them. However, don’t behave like a big brother. If you do, your fellow Africans are going to resent you. But don't pretend to be a small brother either. If you do, they are going to be suspicious of you. If Lesotho is providing leadership on an African issue, follow it. Don't say 'oh no'. If, on the other hand, there is an African crisis, and nobody is moving, don't fold your hands. Take leadership. Don't pretend to be a small brother. You may ignore this but advice. The one you shouldn't ignore is the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP)."

Nyerere raised a pivotal matter on South Africa and the rest of Africa that needs an extensive analysis. For the purposes of this article, I’ll just say that Mandela became president when multi-party democracy or political pluralism was ‘on a roll’ in Africa. Nyerere was not left behind on that. And democracy and human rights are indivisible, we are told.

Mandela clearly was determined to make human rights as meaningful as possible as a tool of nation-building. His strong sense of human rights drove him upon his release in 1990, whilst on a visit to Kenya, to cause big embarrassment to the KANU regime by expressing a desire to visit the widow (recently deceased) of the famous freedom fighter, Dedan Kimathi.

More than that, as head of state, he didn’t spare General Sani Abacha of Nigeria over his tyrannical rule. When Frederick Chiluba of Zambia was going astray, he called him out. Tensions would be felt between him and Robert Mugabe.

Thinking of Tanzania, I can only imagine that when the late John Magufuli was muzzling the press to the point where the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) had to pay us an embarrassing visit, we could have counted on Mandela as a lone voice in the region.

How I so miss you Madiba!

Andrew Bomani is a political scientist based in Dar es Salaam. He can be reached at a_bomani@yahoo.com