Research
Levels, Causes and Consequences of the Fear Phenomena: Findinngs from a Pilot Study in Tanzania
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Tanzania is the most democratic nation in the East Africa region, although according to UNDP (n.d.) popular attitudes towards democratic practice in the country are ambivalent (Sunday Citizen, 15/01/ 2012). A comparative civic study done by Riutta (2007) concluded that Tanzanians were generally interested in politics. Despite this there is also a sense that citizens do not get the chance to truly engage in the political process for several reasons, includng fear, apathy and domination by a single party for a good part of the country’s political history. Citizens often lack awareness of their rights and how these rights can be voiced and channelled into the government system. Indeed according to critical analysts (Chaligha et al, 2002; Schellschmidt, 2006; Jensen, 2010), Tanzanian villages are more used to receiving government directives than being involved in making decisions that involve the government. In 1993, the renowned judge Lugakingira had occasion to observe that Tanzanins found contentment in being “receivers†rather than “seekersâ€, and hinted that, “...over the years since independence Tanzanians have developed a culture of apathy and silence†(Lugakingira, 1993). Lange, et al (2000) found that the “culture of silence†that developed during one-party rule seemed to prevail and apparently there was no culture of voicing discontent, not to mention taking action. An African Afrobarometer Survey of 2002 concluded that Tanzanians exhibited a high level of patience, which was manifested through “uncritical and passive acceptance†of the status quo (Chaligha, et al op. cit). The survey went on to claim that there was a tendency among Tanzanians to accept whatever their leaders gave them, resulting in a paradox whereby trust in government institutions and satisfaction with the performance of political leaders endured, even if people were disgruntled. The same survey found that civic competen
Recapping the Meru Land Case, Tanzania
Mt Meru dominates the scenery and economy of the people living on its slopes. The lower slopes of the mountain provided fertile, well-watered land for the Meru and Arusha people for several centuries. Here they have developed "moral economies," innovative and well-managed mixed farming and agro-pastoral systems. The earliest Meru were Chaga speakers from western Kilimanjaro who expanded across the Sanya plains sometimes in the 17th century. They were traditionally organised through “big men†known as vashili (singular nshili who supervised all important matters including traditional prayers, land conflicts, inheritance, farm boundaries, ceremonies and punishment. There were chiefs and elders who met under a large sacred tree, the mringaringa. Colonial occupation since the late 19th century caused the closing of the land frontier on Meru and alienation of most of their land to white settlers. The Meru Land Case was a protest by Meru people, living in the Eastern part of what is now Arumeru District, against the allocation of their land to Europeans for development purposes. It is a tale of the Meru united to demand in an international forum the restitution of their rights to land. It is the story of Kirilo Japhet the first Tanzania to speak at the United Nations and in Kiswahili at that. Though they lost the case, it marked a milestone in African nationalist awakening and also opened the eyes of the British to forces at work against them.
