In Search of an Islamic Party Part One

TANU Annual Meeting Hindu Mandal Hall, Dar es Salaam 24 Oktoba 1955

In Search of an Islamic Party in Tanzania

Part One

The earliest attempt by Muslims activists to try to provide Muslims with a political platform was through the United Movement for Democracy, (UMD) a party which was under Chief Abdallah Said Fundikira. But it was soon realised by the activists who had penetrated into the party that the Church was in control of most political parties. It was not the CCM alone which had been hijacked. When the UMD leadership realised that it had “Muslim fundamentalists” among its midst, they were expelled from the party in a meeting of the national executive which took place at Msimbazi Hall of the Roman Catholic Church in Dar es Salaam. The second attempt was more daring as the activists registered their own party the United Peoples’ Congress (UPC). UPC received its preliminary registration pending full registration upon completion of the laid down regulations as specified by the law. The party began membership drive but these efforts were bogged down by the secrecy which was surrounding the party. The membership drive could not come out into the open because the law establishing political parties barred religious as well as regional based parties. Despite of all these obstacles UPC leadership believed the party had a special mission to create a political platform for Muslims and would try to have the part registered.

Islam was a sensitive issue in the country and the act of Parliament establishing political parties forbids religious parties. When this law was passed those in the parliament had Muslims in mind. The manifesto of the party therefore had to pass by word of mouth to Muslims. The word of mouth is slow. A political party has to operate publicly and through open campaigns and because UPC was shrouded with secrecy, the very Muslims which the party were targeting were not aware of the existence of UPD or its objectives save the Muslim activists themselves. UDP managed to recruit few Muslims activists in Dar es Salaam and other urban centres. But the most pressing problem for the party was finance. The party did not have resources to enable its leadership to manage day to day activities of the party. The Registrar of Political Parties used every excuse in the book to frustrate UPC and it could not therefore acquire full registration.

Failing with UDP the Muslim activists sought another avenue. They were worried with the possibility of facing the first multi-party elections without a Muslim presidential candidate. In April a two-man delegation from the UDP top leadership in Dar es Salaam went to Zanzibar to contact the leadership of another political party, the United Peoples’ Democratic Party (UPDP) which had full registration. A request was put to UPDP that  the party should be used as a base out of which Muslims would  articulate their  conscience as a people disillusioned and therefore have to stand up to the Christian leadership in the government. This idea was accepted even though at that time UPDP was engulfed in an internal crisis. Another meeting was held in Dar es Salaam between UDP and UPDP to discuss on how to integrate the membership of the two parties and open an office in Dar es Salaam to work out a strategy for membership drive and to popularise the party. UPDP was easily registered in Zanzibar because in its urge to prove to the Western powers that the country was abiding to the democratisation process the early parties in Zanzibar like UPDP and National Reconstruction Alliance (NRA) in the mainland did not encounter obstacles from the government.

Chief Abdallah Said Fundikira

But the government did not leave these parties to operate freely weak as they were. They had to be chaperoned.  State Intelligence personnel were infiltrated into all the opposition parties to inform on their daily activities. The government was informed that “Muslim fundamentalists” had taken over UPDP and have formed a secret alliance to merge it with the UDP with the aim of turning the party into its own sphere of political influence to confront the Christian dominance in Tanzania mainland. In its own ways the government in Zanzibar contacted the UPDP leadership and was warned of ‘mixing politics and religion.”  UPDP therefore did not turn up at an executive meeting of the two parties which was scheduled to take place in Dar es Salaam on 21 May, 1995 which was to finalise the pressing issue of membership drive and opening of party branches in the urban centres of the mainland where Islam has a huge following.

To be continued...