UJAMAA: AN AFRICAN SOCIALISM

[ajaguna]

I found this article quite informative. This is history that I was not aware of.

UJAMAA: AN AFRICAN SOCIALISM

An excerpt from "African Imaginations of Moral Economy: Notes on Indigenous Economic Concepts and Practices in Tanzania."

Tadasu Tsuruta


Ujamaa is the only concept in this paper that can be defined by explicit theory enunciated in various political statements of the late president Julius K. Nyerere. First formulated in an essay of his published in 1962, it was officially adopted as state policy when the landmark Arusha Declaration was issued in 1967. In the outside world, ujamaa is known as one of many forms of African socialism, which were advocated across the continent immediately after independence. African socialism in Tanzania, however, is unique and outstanding in that it was a deliberate attempt to redefine the Western concept of socialism in an African context, and importantly, expressing it in an indigenous language, KiSwahili.

Ujamaa derives from jamaa (relative or companion), which had long been a very familiar word for KiSwahili speakers. The original meaning of ujamaa (to be jamaa) is family ties/ relationships, or it could also be translated as familyhood.[55] Nationalist leaders of independent Tanzania intended to build socialism as the extension of traditional communal values inherent in rural extended families, which they found ‘socialistic.’ Therefore, the term ujamaa does not escape “the connotations and associations of bonds of kinship, tribal hospitality, and the welfare obligations of the extended family,” even when it is used simply to mean ‘modern socialism.’[56] In his classic essay Ujamaa – The Basis of African Socialism, Nyerere emphasizes that the new nation must be built upon the already existing ‘tribal socialism,’ which is marked by classlessness and egalitarian distribution of benefits.[57] He admires the traditional social security system, in which every member of the community has a right to basic needs, and denounces indolent persons who would abuse others’ hospitality, quoting a Swahili adage Mgeni siku mbili; siku ya tatu mpe jembe (Treat your guest as a guest for two days; on the third day give him a hoe). This quotation is made to forestall possible parasitism, by emphasizing the importance of reciprocal obligations. Thus ujamaa ideology seems to represent two basic principles of moral economy defined by Scott; the right to subsistence and the norm of reciprocity.[58] As Nyerere reiterates, ujamaa is essentially an attitude of mind, or ethic, based on three key elements, i.e. Mutual respect, sharing of property, and work.[59]

Apart from the theoretical contents of ujamaa policy, its most unique feature is that new KiSwahili political terminologies with rich cultural connotations were elaborated to disseminate the doctrine. A set of political rhetoric or slogans was created mainly by using colloquial idioms to capture public imagination. For example, to make people realize the unfairness of capitalism, feudalism and imperialism, three villains who personified these vices frequently appeared in nationalist discourses. They were bepari (capitalist), kabaila (feudalist), and beberu (imperialist), each shifting away from its original meaning. Bepari is a Gujarati-derived word with the denotation of a wealthy merchant, while kabaila, a loanword from Arabic, had originally been used to denote a noble person or a landlord.[60] Beberu in everyday usage means a he-goat, or “a man who takes a thing by force or by fighting.”[61] Darubini, a series of propagandist pamphlets issued by TANU, carried stories criticizing mabepari (capitalists) and makabaila (feudalists) who had been engaging in the exploitation (unyonyaji) of the African underclass. Reflecting the actual connection between race and social stratum, many makabaila are described as Arabs and one of the mabepari carries an Indian name.[62] Unyonyaji, derived from a Bantu verb ku-nyonya (to suck), was one of the most frequently used terms in anti-capitalist/feudalist rhetoric. According to Brennan, unyonyaji was often associated with vivid images such as the tick (kupe), a biological embodiment of parasitism, and persons sucking another’s sweat or blood with straws.[63]

The Ujamaa ideology is by no means a simple extension of traditional values. Besides talking about the socialist belief or way of life, Nyerere also addresses the practical measures to build a socialist and self-reliant national economy, such as nationalization of major companies and promotion of ‘import substitution.’[64] Such nationwide industrial programs, however, sound strange in the whole argument of ujamaa, even though Nyerere stresses that wider communities, including the nation, exist as the extension of the extended family as a basic social unit.[65] The essence of the ujamaa ideology, therefore, is well embodied in his argument about rural development, but again not without contradiction with the reality. For example, the universal virtue of hard work, one of the key elements of the ujamaa doctrine, may not have fitted well in the actual village situation, where, as Nyerere himself points out, men worked far fewer hours than urban men and rural women.[66] A real conflict arose after 1967, when the policy was especially focused on achieving the ambitious goals of discouraging capitalist agriculture and increasing production at the same time by creating ‘ujamaa villages.’ In an ujamaa village, individuals were expected to work together for the sake of village community as a whole, whereas the traditional allegiance of rural residents was basically confined within the limits of extended family. The pre-existing way of cooperation beyond family was ujima or labor exchange, which was based on bilateral reciprocity between neighbors rather than on the local community as a collective entity.[67]

The mainstay of ujamaa policy was this village collectivization scheme but it ended in a spectacular failure, especially in terms of increased production. The main reason for this fiasco seems to have been the glaring contradiction between Nyerere’s emphasis on community initiative (which itself contradicts existing social relations) and actual central control by the government.[68] In the 1980s, the socialist policy was eventually renounced altogether. For today’s Tanzanians, ujamaa ideology may be a relic of a nostalgic bygone age, or an outmoded ideology, or an otherwise disgusting symbol of the dark past. Nonetheless, Nyerere’s writings are still impressive in his honest endeavor to interpret the Western concepts of political economy such as socialism and capitalism for ordinary Africans. For better or worse, it was a serious attempt to seek an alternative based on African experience and perceptions, which is not very dissimilar from the community-based development approach of today.

http://www.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v9/v9i1a8.htm

[Olùkọ́ Ọbádélé]

Maadwo Ajaguna,

Menim emu ns¢m yi fa k¢se¢ no ara, na de¢ mennim y¢ ns¢mfua ns¢mfua a ¢w¡ KiSwahili kasa mu a w¡de y¢¢ w¡n nnwuma. Eyi si as¢m so dua s¢, nkantom s¢ y¢de Abibikasa kata bor¡fo¡ de¢ so¡ no, w¡ awiee¢ ber¢ mu no, ¢b¢wie ase¢ ¢firi s¢, ¢y¢ buroni dea no ara. Metaa dwene yei ho ber¢ a nnipa rebisa me ns¢m bi fa w¡n nney¢¢ anaas¢ w¡n adwene bi a wop¢ s¢ wob¢to din a ¢b¢kyer¢ nnipa s¢ w¡n nney¢¢ anaas¢ w¡n adwene y¢ Abibifo¡ de¢ p¡tee, na ¢mfiri oburoni. Na mmom, ¢te s¢ oburoni ba a w¡reto Abibidin bi kwa. De¢ mede retwa to¡ ara ne s¢, w¡ awiee¢ ¢ns¢ s¢ y¢boapa s¢ abor¡fo¡ de¢ y¢ Abibifo¡ de¢. Any¢ saa, ns¢m no nyinaa b¢wie nse¢do.

Htp Ajaguna,

I was aware of much in the article but I also learned alot of the accompanying terminology in KiSwahili that they employed. This is an affirmation that, although we may use an Afrikan language to cover up an abor¡fo¡ thing, in the end, it will all end up in the gutter because it is still an abor¡fo¡ thing in the final analysis. I often think of this when people are asking me about their actions or a concept that they want to give an Afrikan name to show that their behaviors or their concept is really Afrikan and its not from abor¡fo¡. However, it's like a oburoni child that they are giving an Afrikan name uselessly. What I'll end with is that in the end, it is not proper for us to pretend that abor¡fo¡ things are Afrikans' things. If not, everything will end up in the gutter.

Æbádélé Kwame

[ajaguna]

Yoo mate. (How do you say I agree? It's slippin my mind right now.)

I feel you on that. Our preoccupation with communism and socialism and the like is indicative of the fact that many of us our searching for some healthy alternative...and...we need to keep searching until we find ourselves. What I like about what I read is that, to some extent, the brother was trying revitalize and promote the traditional paradigm of the people as a means of strengthening the nation. He was tryin to find his way home. I would of done some things different. But you know what they say about hindsight...

[Olùkọ́ Ọbádélé]

Megye atom(u)/Mepene so (I agree)

Aane, na mmom, de¢ ¢y¢ me awer¢ho¡ ne s¢, ¢t¡ da bi a, ber¢ a me tu nkur¡fo¡ a ¢te sei fo fa w¡n buroni nne¢ma a woreboapa s¢ ¢y¢ Abibifo¡ de¢ no, ¢taa ba s¢ w¡ntie ¢firi s¢ w¡ahunu tumi w¡ w¡n nkwaseas¢m mu. Y¢agyae nokor¢s¢m nhwehw¢mu ak¡tena ase w¡ wei-na-¢y¢-adwuma-ma-me-seesei mu kwa. Enti, y¢nhw¢ yie, ¢firi s¢, s¢de¢ Alatafo¡ bu b¢ no, ¿ni t'ó jìn sí kòtò kô ará yòókù l'ôgbôn!

Yes, and however, the thing that does me sadness is that, sometimes, when I advise folk like this about their krakkka-things that they are pretending are Afrikan things, it often happens that they don't want to listen because they have found power in their foolishness. They have ceased looking for truth to go and sit down inside of "this is expedient for me". Therefore, we should be careful because as the Yorùbá say, One who falls into a hole teaches those standing around wisdom (to avoid the hole)!

Æbádélé Kwame

[Moqapi Selassie]

In England the Africans that came via Jamaica call this system "partner" or "paadna." It is a system that has been used in Africa, the Caribbean and now here in Europe. The main thing though is that although "successful" on the individual and familiy level this success has not translated to the community levels.