2013-09-18    Letter from a Tanzanian inmate in a Hong Kong prison

(Comments welcome here)               Previous letters in Tanzania File

 Our Struggle – “Strategy for Change”

The Tanzanian inequality and injustice revolution has been a revolution for change – to “get in” rather than to “overthrow”.

The nonviolence strategy has been to dramatize the evils of our system in such a way that pressure is brought to bear against those evils by the forces of goodwill in the community and change is produced.  So far, we have had the new constitution backing most of the demands for change.  Now we are approaching the areas where the voice of the constitution is not clear.  We have left the realm of constitutional rights and we are entering the area of human rights.  The constitution assured the right to vote, but there is no such assurance of the right to adequate housing, or the right to an adequate income, or the right to an adequate education and/or the right to an adequate health care.  Achievement of these goals will be a lot more difficult and require much more discipline, understanding, organization and sacrifice.

Grassroots must put the nation on the move against the enemies of the people, corruption, drug trafficking, poverty, slums ignorance and diseases. When grassroots marched, so did the nation. The power of the nonviolent march is indeed a mystery.  It is always surprising that a few thousand grassroots marching can produce a reaction across the nation.  When marches are carefully organized around well-defined issues, they produce the power of “an idea whose time has come”.  Marching feet announce that time has come for a given idea.  When the idea is a sound one, the cause a just one, and the demonstration a righteous one, change will be forthcoming.

Now, let me say briefly that we must reaffirm our commitment to nonviolence.  When one tries to pin down an advocate of violence as to what acts would be effective, the answers are blatantly illogical.  Sometimes they talk of overthrowing the evil government and talk about guerrilla warfare.  They fail to see that no internal revolution has ever succeeded in over throwing a government by violence unless the government had already lost the allegiance and effective control of its armed forces.  Anyone in his right mind knows that this will not happen in Tanzania .

In a violent injustice and inequality situation, the power structure has the local police – the field force, and the army to call on. Furthermore, few if any violent revolutions have been successful unless the violent minority had the sympathy and support of the nonresistant majority.  Castro may have had only a few Cubans actually fighting with him up in the hills, but he could never have overthrown the Batista regime unless he had the sympathy of the vast majority of Cuban people.

It is perfectly clear that a violent revolution on the part of Tanzanian grassroots would find no sympathy and support from the middle and working class population and very little or not at all from the upper class.

This is no time for romantic illusions and empty philosophical debates about change.  This is a time for action.  What is needed is strategy for change, a tactical program that will bring the grassroots into the mainstream of Tanzanian life as quickly as possible.

So far this can only achieved at the ballot boxes.  Without recognizing this we will end up with solutions that don’t solve, answers that don’t answer and explanations that don’t explain.

We must stand by nonviolence.  We must keep on marching on the ballot boxes.  I’m still convinced that it is the most potent weapon available to the grassroots “poor” in their struggle for justice in this country.

And the other thing is I am concerned about is a better world.  I am concerned about justice.  I am concerned about brotherhood and familyhood.  I am concerned about truth.

And because one is concerned about these, he can never advocate violence.  For through violence you may murder a murderer but you cannot murder murder.  Through violence you may murder a drug baron but you cannot murder drug trafficking; through violence you murder a corrupted public servant but you cannot murder corruption.  Through violence you may murder a liar but you cannot establish truth.  Darkness cannot put our darkness only light can do that.

And I say to you, we should stick to love. For I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind’s problems.  I am not talking about emotional bash when I talk about love.  I’m talking about a strong, demanding love.  Because I’ve seen too much hate.  I have seen too much hate on the faces of the poor.  I’ve seen hate on the faces of too many oppressed grassroots, and I say to myself that hate is too great burden to bear.  I have decided to love.  If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love.

And the beautiful thing is that we’re moving against wrong when we do it, because John (Bible) was right, God is love.  He who hates does not know God, but he who loves has the key that unlocks the door to the meaning of ultimate reality.  The movement must address itself to the question of restructuring the whole Tanzanian society.  There are thirty plus million poor people in Tanzania today, and one day we must ask the question “Why are there thirty plus million poor people in Tanzania ?”

And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth.  When you ask that question, you begin to question the socialistic economy.  And I’m simply saying that more and more, we’ve got to begin to ask questions about the whole society.  We are called upon to help the discouraged beggars in life’s market place.  But one day we must come to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.

It means that questions must be raised.  You see, my brothers/sisters, when you deal with this, you begin to ask the question, “Who owns the natural resources, ie; Oil, Gas?”  You begin to ask question “Who owns the gold and Tanzanian mining companies?”  You begin to ask question “Who owns the diamond mines?”  You begin to ask the question, “Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a nation that is surrounded by water (Indian Ocean-East, Lake Victoria-North, Lake Tanganyika-West, Lake Nyasa-South-West).  You begin to ask the question, “Why there is no permanent power supply in a nation with all this water, and other natural resources, wind, coal, uranium, natural gas, (Did you say “RICHMOND” – yes, but still the nation suffered from power supply).  These are questions that must be asked.

Now, don’t think that you have me in a “bind” today.  I’m not talking about Communism.

Communism forgets that life is individual.  Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the kingdom of brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis.  It is found in a higher synthesis that combines the truths of both.

“ Tanzania , you must be born again” – In other words, “Your whole structure must be changed.”  The nation which is rich in natural resources – but her people are still living under the poverty line, the government and leaders who will exploit the grassroots economically, will have to have foreign accounts and foreign investments.  All these problems are tied together.  What I’m saying today is that we must stand up and say “My beloved nation, you must be born again!”

So, I conclude by saying again that we’ve a task and let us go out with a “divine dissatisfaction”, let us be dissatisfied until Tanzania will no longer have a blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds.  Let us be dissatisfied until the tragic walls that separate the outer city of wealth and comfort and the inner city of poverty and despair shall be crushed by the battering rams of the forces of justice.  Let us be dissatisfied until the slums are cast into the junk heaps of history, and every family is living in a decent sanitary home.  Let us be dissatisfied until every family can have access to health care, clean water, food (three meals a day) and send their children to school.  Let us be dissatisfied until power shortage is not a problem.  Let us be satisfied until we’ve good roads, hospitals, schools.

Yes, let us be dissatisfied, very dissatisfied until every constituency sends to the parliament a “MP” who will act justly, who will love tenderly and who will walk humbly with God.  Let us be dissatisfied until we’ve got rid of all bad leaders, until we’ve a real change in our political and economical system.  Let us be dissatisfied.  And men will recognize that out of one blood God made all men to dwell upon the face of the earth.  Let us be dissatisfied until that day when nobody will shout “Middle Class Power” – when nobody will shout “Grassroots Power” – but everybody will talk about God’s power and people’s power, (human power).  Let us be dissatisfied until we’ve new leaders, new government. Let us be dissatisfied until 2015 Election. Let us march on the ballot boxes and voice our dissatisfaction and with this strong determination I believe we will overcome.

I must confess, my friends, the road ahead will not be smooth.  There’ll be those moments when the buoyancy of hope will transformed into the fatigue of despair.  But difficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future for a New Tanzania

TZA, HK-Prisoner, Mckenga

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