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Theories of the State in Tanzania: a Critical Assessment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2008

Howard Stein
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Extract

In February 1967, Tanzania, formed from the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, declared its intention to purpue a policy of ‘socialism’ and self-reliance. In the famous Arusha Declaration, the Tanganyika African National Union called for the Government to exercise control over the means of production and move away from over-reliance on foreign assistance in development. It stressed the need to strengthen agriculture and thereby improve the lives of the majority of the population which earned their livelihood in this sector. Finally, T.A.N.U. called for changes in the party to ensure that it contained only committed socialists. Closely linked to this was a leadership code for senior officals in ministries and parastatals which prohibited them from owing stock or holding directorships in private corporations. Renting out house was also declared impermissible.

Type
Review essay
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , March 1985 , pp. 105 - 123
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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References

page 106 note 1 Mwansasu, Bismarck U. and Pratt, Cranford, ‘Tanzania's Strategy for the Transition to Socialism’, in Mwansasu, and Pratt, (eds.), Towards Socialism in Tanzania (Toronto, 1979), pp. 6.Google Scholar

page 107 note 1 Reginald Green, ‘Tanzanian Political Economy Goals, Strategies and Results, 1967–74. Notes Towards an Interim Assessment’, in Ibid. pp. 19–45.

page 107 note 2 von Freyhold, Michaela, ‘The Post Colonial State and its Tanzanian Version’, in Review of African Political Economy (London), 01–04 1977, pp. 75–89.Google Scholar

page 107 note 3 Shivji, Issa G., Class Struggles in Tanzania (Dar es Salaam, 1975; New York, 1976).Google Scholar

page 107 note 4 Ibid03.. p. 85.

page 108 note 1 See Samoff, Joel, ‘The Bureaucracy and the Bourgeoisie: decentralization and class structure in Tanzania’, in Comparative Study of Society and History (Cambridge), 21, 1, 01 1979, pp. 30–62,Google Scholar and also ‘Bureaucrats, Politicians and Power in Tanzania: the institutional context of class struggle’, in Journal of African Studies (Los Angeles), 10, 3, Fall 1983, pp. 84–96.Google Scholar

page 108 note 2 Susanne D. Mueller argues that the state is run by a petty bourgeois which has inherited and continues to maintain a backward system of capitalism which arose during the colonial period. Although she is less specific about the state's relationship within the current centre-periphery framework, it clearly is a product of that system and can be classified roughly in this category. ‘The Historical Origins of Tanzania's Ruling Class’, in Canadian Journal of African Studies (Ottawa), 15, 3, 1981, pp. 459–97.Google Scholar

page 108 note 3 Saul, John S., The State and Revolution in Eastern Africa: essays (New York and London, 1979).Google Scholar

page 108 note 4 Nursey-Bray, P. E. might also be included in this group; ‘Tanzania: the development debate’, in African Affairs (London), 79, 01 1980, pp. 55–78.Google Scholar

page 108 note 5 Resnick, Idrian N., The Long Transition: building socialism in Tanzania (New York and London, 1981).Google Scholar

page 109 note 1 Boesen, Jannik and Raikes, Philip, ‘Political Economy and Planning in Tanzania’, Centre for Development Research, Copenhagen, 1976.Google Scholar

page 109 note 2 Cf. Mushi, S. S., ‘Decentralization and Popular Participation in Tanzania: the question of devolution of decision making powers’, Department of Political Science, University of Dar es Salaam, 1980.Google Scholar

page 109 note 3 Cf. Warren, Bill, ‘Imperialism and Capitalist Industrialization’, in New Left Review (London), 81, 09–10 1973, pp. 3–44,Google Scholar and Robert Brenner, ‘Origins of Capitalist Development: a critique of neo-Smithian Marxism’, in Ibid. 104, July–August 1977, pp. 25–92.

page 111 note 1 Hodges, Donald, The Bureaucratization of Socialism (Boston, 1981).Google Scholar

page 114 note 1 Brett, E. A., Colonialism and Underdevelopment in East Africa: the politics of economic change, 1919–1939 (London, 1973), pp. 91–9.Google Scholar

page 114 note 2 Tanzania, , Background to the Budget: an economic survey (Dares Salaam, 1968), p. 61.Google Scholar

page 114 note 3 Hawkins, H. C. G., Wholesale and Retail Trade in Tanganyika: a study of distribution in East Africa (New York, 1965), pp. 33–5.Google Scholar

page 114 note 4 Ibid16. p. 13.

page 114 note 5 Ibid. p. 37.

page 114 note 6 Bowles, B. D., ‘Political Economy of Colonial Tanganyika, 1939–1961’, in Kaniki, M. H. Y. (ed.), Tanzania Under Colonial Rule (London, 1979), p. 188.Google Scholar

page 115 note 1 An unskilled labourer in 1940 would receive as little as five Shs. per month. In cotton-growing areas as late as 1951, the income of a peasant family was about 148 Shs. per year. See Coulson, Andrew, Tanzania: a political economy (Oxford 1982), p. 46,Google Scholar and also Bowles, op.cit. p. 179.

page 115 note 2 Ibid. p. 176.

page 115 note 3 Ibid. p. 185.

page 115 note 4 Ibid. p. 84.

page 115 note 5 Ibid. pp. 87 and 92.

page 116 note 1 Pratt, Cranford, The Critical Phase in Tanzania, 1945–1968: Nyerere and the emergence of a socialist strategy (Cambridge, 1976), p. 22.Google Scholar

page 116 note 2 Ibid. p. 123.

page 117 note 1 Wilson, E. G. (ed.), Who's Who in East Africa, 1963–64 (Nairobi, 1964).Google Scholar

page 117 note 2 Coulson, op. cit. p. 108.

page 118 note 1 For a more detailed presentation of these institutional changes, see Jackson, Dudley, ‘The Disapperarance of Strikes in Tanzania: incomes policy and industrial democracy’, in The Journal of Modern African Studies (Cambridge), 17, 2, 06 1979, pp. 219–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

page 119 note 1 This was implicit in the 1983–4 budget speech of the Finance Minister, Msuya, C. D.: ‘On the other hand, the vote of the Prime Minister's Office was reduced to Shs. 578 million from 754 million in the previous year. This 34 per cent cutback is a reflection of the Government's intention to require the urban councils to immediately take responsibility for collecting revenues with which to finance their activities without depending on central subsidies, as was the case in the past.’ Tanzania Daily News (Dares Salaam), 17 06 1983, p. 5.Google Scholar

page 120 note 1 Ibid. p. 3.

page 120 note 2 Tanzania, , Survey of Employment and Earnings, 1972 (Dar es Salaam, 1974), pp. 9–10,Google Scholar and Tanzania, , Survey of Employment and Earnings, 1977–78 (Dar es Salaam, 1981), p. 5.Google Scholar

page 120 note 3 Tanzania Daily News, 9 October 1981, p. 1.

page 120 note 4 Two-thirds of these were businessmen; Ibid. 6 May 1983, p. 1.

page 120 note 5 Ibid. 7 July 1983, p. 1.

page 121 note 1 Ibid. 15 March 1981, p. 5.

page 121 note 2 The bureaucratic class is made up of middle- and upper-level civil servants, and their equivalent in the parastatals. Between 1961 and 1974, their number has grown from 1,596 to 15,182, an almost ten-fold increase, and then amounted to 5 per cent of the total public-sector work force. See Tanzania, , Manpower Development Plan, 1975–1980. Volume Three of the Third Five Year Plan for Economic and Social Development(Dar es Salaam, 1979), p. 2,Google Scholar and Tanzania, , Survey of Employment and Earnings, 1975–76 (Dar es Salaam, 1981), p. 4.Google Scholar

page 121 note 3 Tanzania Daily News, 6 July 1984, p. 1.

page 122 note 1 Under the headline ‘Capitalists Face Fines’, Nyerere was reported to have admonished the private sector, early in 1982, as follows: ‘Mwalimu cautioned some local capitalist elements and their foreign allies to at least respect the opportunities afforded them to run their businesses in a society aspiring for socialism. Otherwise we had better do without them’. Ibid. 26 January 1982, p. 1.

page 122 note 2 According to Nyerere, in an interview with the Cuban News Agency: ‘Just now we are engaged in a struggle against black market racketeers and against dishonest people in government and public service; such people seek to discredit our institutions and seize an unfair share of the people's output. The struggle has the full and enthusiastic agreement of our people and has intensified their support for the socialist goals of our country’. Ibid. 1 June 1983, p. 4.

page 122 note 3 The local newspapers are replete with examples of the influence of modernisation theory on bureaucratic thinking. For instance, quoting the Minister of Education, Jackson Makweta, ‘the peasants needed expert advice now more than ever to enable them to make the next step. They had exhausted their inborn knowledge and what they needed now was technical skills to make a leap forward’. Ibid. 16 September 1983, p. 3.