Arusha Declaration

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The Arusha Declaration was made by Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere on 5 February 1967, outlining the principles of Ujamaa (Nyerere's vision of socialism) to develop the nation's economy. The declaration called for an overhaul of the economic system, through African socialism and self-reliance in locally administered villages through a villagization program.

The villagization program, implemented in 1973-76, sought to transform the pattern of rural settlement by congregating the rural population-which previously had been resident predominantly on dispersed family smallholdings-in nucleated villages of sufficient size to be efficient (in bureaucratic terms) units for the delivery of services. Involved in this plan was the idea that the new villages could also become the basis for a socialist system of production.

One important element in the evaluation of the Arusha vision depends on interpretation of the degree of consistency between policies implemented and intentions, as stated in the declaration. Particularly in the period beginning in 1972, policies were implemented that arguably were inconsistent with the positions developed in the Arusha Declaration. The formulation of the Basic Industrial Strategy involved a definite shift from the priority given to rural development in the declaration. There was increasing centralization of economic authority and urgency in the implementation of programs. The attempt to enforce the villagization ("Ujamaa Villages") program over two years, the abolition of cooperatives and local government, and the commitment to achieve universal primary education in two years all reflected an impatience to achieve political goals swiftly, even if it meant the loss of the principle of decentralized participatory rural development associated with the Arusha Declaration rhetoric and downplaying realism in the implementation of policies. At the same time, the emphasis on the ascendancy of politics-and politicians-over the bureaucracy and workers' participation in the management of state enterprise seemed to incorporate a heightened political radicalism, although at the expense of weakening the self-confidence and role of technocrats.

It is ironic that the regional commissioners charged with collectivization of the farms, for "egalitarian" purposes, following the Arusha Declaration enriched themselves at the farmers expense.

Politically and socially the declaration was hugely unpopular. In 1974 Operation Dodoma forced collectivization of farming with the use of the military. Following the murder of Klerru, a regional commission who sezied all of a Mr's Mwanwindi's land in 1975 and the public attention to the trial the collectivism of the Arusho Declaration finally ended. It was a complete failure and only plunged Tanzania into further debt, a crisis in its balance of payments deficits and worsened relations with international donors.

[edit] Excerpt From the Arusha Declaration

It is particularly important that we should now understand the connection between freedom, development, and discipline, because our national policy of creating socialist villages throughout the rural areas depends upon it. For we have known for a very long time that development had to go on in the rural areas, and that this required co-operative activities by the people. When we tried to promote rural development in the past, we sometimes spent huge sums of money on establishing a Settlement, and supplying it with modern equipment, and social services, as well as often providing it with a management hierarchy. All too often, we persuaded people to go into new settlements by promising them that they could quickly grow rich there, or that Government would give them services and equipment which they could not hope to receive either in the towns or in their traditional farming places. In very few cases was any ideology involved; we thought and talked in terms of greatly increased output, and of things being provided for the settlers. What we were doing, in fact, was thinking of development in terms of things, and not of people. As a result, there have been very many cases where heavy capital investment has resulted in no increase in output where the investment has been wasted. And in most of the officially sponsored or supported schemes, the majority of people who went to settle lost their enthusiasm, and either left the scheme altogether, or failed to carry out the orders of the outsiders who were put in charge — and who were not themselves involved in the success or failure of the project. It is important, therefore, to realize that the policy of ujamaa Vijijini is not intended to be merely a revival of the old settlement schemes under another name. The Ujamaa village is a new conception, based on the post Arusha Declaration understanding that what we need to develop is people, not things, and that people can only develop themselves. Ujamaa villages are intended to be socialist organizations created by the people, and governed by those who live and work in them. They cannot be created from outside, nor governed from outside. No one can be forced into an Ujamaa village, and no official — at any level — can go and tell the members of an Ujamaa village what they should do together, and what they should continue to do as individual farmers. It is important that these things should be thoroughly understood. It is also important that the people should not be persuaded to start an Ujamaa village by promises of the things which will be given to them if they do so. A group of people must decide to start an Ujamaa village because they have understood that only through this method can they live and develop in dignity and freedom, receiving the full benefits of their co-operative endeavour. Unless the purpose and socialist ideology of an Ujamaa village is understood by the members from the beginning — at least to some extent it will not survive the early difficulties. For no-one can guarantee that there will not be a crop failure in the first or second year — there might be a drought or floods. And the greater self-discipline which is necessary when working in a community will only be forthcoming if the people understand what they are doing and why