Long Live The Union

Historical Signing Between Zanzibar and Tanganyika

I love being Tanzanian. I love being called Tanzanian. I love being Tanzanian of the Zanzibari descent.
As a young Zanzibari in this union, I am confused at this sudden surge and popular belief to end the union,
end the union today, end the union tomorrow, end the oppression, set all the Zanzibari free.
They claim that the foundation of this beautiful nation is flawed, the very principles that this country's been
founded on cannot be counted on in this time of confusion.
What an illusion we have been handed down, misused and lost our trust too many times,
been captured, enslaved, dominated under a different rule another reign every time,
So I'm pissed because for some odd reason people think that there is an easy solution,
what was so cleverly hidden is now in plain vision for all to see,
because some forty odd years on is enough time to make an evaluation,
is this union only a nasty-favouring-the-mainland-only-depressing-Zanzibar-development-situation?

I get confused when they tell me I am opressed and I am supposed to support the sovereignity of Zanzibar,
to stand alone, proud and strong above the rest, yet this is what I have always known,
How can I say that I want to be a free Zanzibari when all I know is how to be Tanzanian,
I was born, raised, educated in this union, it is all I know, because I am a proud Tanzanian,
I don't know what its like to be Zanzibari only, if my great grandfathers were a free Zanzibaris
how come they agreed on the union so quickly after Zanzibar was free?
Don't tell me that agreement was only entered due to presidential decree,
because if we as a nation put him in power, then are all partially responsible for this chaos.
The Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar which led to the establishment of Tanzania,
as a united republic which was consummated at the height of cold war.

Because if we really want to go back, lets go all the way back,
because after the Zanzibar revolution in January 1964, there were fears in the West,
that Zanzibar will become another Cuba, the Western powers were determined to prevent,
that the revolution was communist-inspired and feared if Zanzibar consolidated their position,
they would pose a threat to Western interests in the region,
because of their friendly ties to the communist bloc, the Americans and other westners
feared that the island nation would serve as a springboard for launching communist penetration in Africa,
it was during this bitter rivalry that the union was formed, what inspired the merger?
Was it the union formed by leaders of Tanganyika and Zanzibar in the pursuit of African Unity?
Or did the interests of Western powers coincide with those of the national leaders unconciously,
creating favourable conditions for consummating the union, leaving all parties satisfied??
Would it have been formed if the revolution of Zanzibar had back-fired?
Or would the two countries have united anyway due to cultural or other basis?

I am not wholly against the union, I am Tanzanian born and raised,
I have to admit that it comes in handy, and we do find refuge in vast space,
but when we try to blame the union for the lack of opportunities, and jobs for the poor,
we forget how we surrendered our own seat at the United Nation for the benefit of this nation,
so we blame the mainland for lying, stealing and cheating us so repeatedly,
If they do us so wrong why do we just stand there and take it?
If the union is the leader of inequality, suffering and grieving, how come
no one wants to stay in Zanzibar everyone is leaving?
Because if this union is so bad, why don't we try to be fair and  look at the other side of the coin?
What will happen when all the wonderful Zanzibari businessmen in Kariakoo get asked to go back home?
Our heritage is right here, right now, no matter what the hell they may say,
and alot of people died to make it that way.

We are so attached to finding faults, to proportioning the blame,
because if we were asked what have we done with the semi-sovereignty what will we answer then?
We are a world-class tourist destination, the service that oils our economy,
yet we give all the big investors, companies, and hotels a big tax holiday.
Yes the union is not complete, it touches a few things, like the defence, police, immigration,
external trade and borrowing, citizenship and harbors, and other external affairs.
Do we blame the union for the state of our down trodden and poor,
we have no factories, something as simple as a small pin has to be imported?
so does it stand true that we abhor the union but agree to the Chinese dumping of their products?
Is that it, we have a brilliant double standard? It is wrong for the mainland but okay for the donors?
What will we do when we are left to stand alone when we are so used to being carried,
What have we done that can really be referenced to us alone? In this post-revolution generation?
There is already a division here, Waunguja and Wapemba, and now the trending thing is,
to define ourselves by what our tribes used to be, glorifying our ties to the Arabs,
Do we want to divide the union so that another dominator can only fill that space?
Or is history so wrong, and there is no way that it will repeat itself?

If we really want to change things, lets get to the polls, lets do more to be involved,
God knows we have earned the right, we are ruled under this dominion but we all have our own opinions,
So rather than move on in progress, we are dwelling in the past,
We've struggled too long, we have come too far,
So instead of focusing who we were, let's be proud of we are,
If you choose to be a just a free Zanzibari, away from union the union, that's your preference,
what are you willing to do to get that reference? If we are squabbling on this union,
what will happen when we are part of a bigger thing, like the African Community becomes our dominion?
I know on this issue I don't stand alone and if I do, then let me be
and I'd appreciate it when you see me and say, there goes a Zanzibari woman,
who says it loud, that in this confusion, there needs to be more explanation,
so until then I am Tanzanian and proud, I love being part of this wonderful nation,
and yeah I said it I am not taking it back.

My Swahili Heritage

Courtesy of Javed Jafferji

My Swahili Heritage lies in the sea,
with waves building constantly surrounding this island in mystery,
this island which holds testament to Persian traders, Portugese settlement,
this little island was famous the world over for its spices and
history of slaves, thousands of slaves passed annually
throughout the slave markets of Zanzibar,then to the hands of the British,
who gained control through the abolition of slave trade,
Zanzibar became a protectorate and not a colony,
with traditional viziers appointed to govern as puppets,
switching to a system of British residents,
the isles finally gained independence from Britain,
then a revolution to oust the Indians and the Arabs that ruled us,
my Swahili heritage lies in the perseverance and courage of 1964.
Tanganyika the former colony consumed this island to form a union,
and became known as Tanzania. Welcome to the Spice Islands.

My Swahili heritage lies in the simplicity, in the poverty,
in ukuti and rede and games played in the heat of the afternoon,
in the people of Zanzibar who are a mixture of many ethnic backgrounds,
indicative of the colorful history coupled with a rhythmic language,
Swahili - meaning coast, a language spoken extensively ,
in Zanzibar it exists in its pure form, as this is the birthplace.
My Swahili heritage lies in the important architectural features in Stone Town ,
a world heritage sight bearing testament to the richness of history in Zanzibar,
a panoramic view including the Livingstone House,
The Old Dispensary of Zanzibar, The Old Fort of Zanzibar,
 the House of Wonders, the Hamamni Persian Baths,
are among  the few of the historical places still around in this marvelous place.
my Swahili heritage is rich in history.


My Swahili Heritage is in Fridays and Eid days, 
where women do not sleep on Eid eve, occupied with cleaning and cooking, 
in the morning men and boys don white kanzus and go pray faithfully,
the smell of food and oud lingers in the air, happy faces smiling everywhere, 

and women and girls adorn themselves with the most fabulous jewelry, 

with henna painting tattooing the arms, legs and places I can't write about, 

My heritage lies on the get together, on families visiting each other, 

houses scrubbed to invite the guests, hell you won't find beggars in the streets, 

Lunch time sees a whole family together, bickering, teasing, laughing, 

eating, drinking, gossiping over a whole year gone by since the last Eid, 

and the afternoons at the fair, children get their toys to last them a year, 

grown-ups catch up, chattering, showing off and having mighty fun. 

My Swahili heritage lies on my parents, and their parents,
they know life by the way it feels, they know about all the winds,
all the catch for the day needed to keep a household happy,
my heritage lies in songs, songs sang with a unique tune
borrowed from other forms to give birth to a new melody,
taarab - my heritage lies in innovations, in customs, in culture,
in traditions deeply embedded into my subconscious,
my parents know life by the way it feels and they are
positive that the Lord will never overlook us when
He hands down his graces, so I pray to Him five times a day,
and do my best to never displease Him, so he can shower my life with fulfillment.

My Swahili heritage dictates that before I get married, 

wise married women have to sit me down, share with me their wisdom,
that comes from age and experience, paint for me the wonders of bedroom pleasure
and nooks as well as all the tricks in the books. 

That he is my king and I but a servant in his kingdom, 
kneel and heed, clean and sleep, cook, serve and persevere,
and give and give and just give to his ultimate fulfillment-
They sit me down and talk to me of the ways I am to dish out to my
significant other, even paint vivid pictures of how I should bed him,
giving name, purpose and definition to every position, all the while
whispering in my ear of how He would enjoy me- his woman, 

my Swahili heritage is rich in imagery and mystery. 

I can't think of the my heritage with only fond memories, 
the substance of a  woman  I am today is full of pessimistic views, 
I want to know my Swahili Heritage of today, forget the old, how about the new?
I want to ignore the past for a moment and bask in
complete knowledge on how life truly is today in the isles, 

the heritage of the present that I will pass down to my kids, 

Will it just be the extortion I call living made possible the suffering 

of those before me? They call it tourism, I say otherwise. 

We sell tickets to foreigners to come and experience our history, 

our culture, our traditions, our suffering, our Swahili Heritage, 

and they pay good money to be transported back through the ages, 

and turn a blind eye to the crumbling economy, and
that in more than forty years of freedom we have very little to show for it. 

My Heritage now is crumbling, we parade it to foreigners 

and inwardly resenting it, choosing to be like everyone else, 

I will chose jeans over a khanga any given day, 

Can we really be this naïve or is it narrow minded or maybe short
sited, whatever it is, we are doomed, this is suppose to be a Heritage that
will last a life time through, a lesson to learn from the past and move on , 
to create new possibilities, to uphold our morality, 
and  know when to put the blinds down, when to open 
the umbrella and where or when to ride the storm, 
but I sit here, blanketed by my Swahili heritage I am silent, 
I want to change things but I am forced to turn my head, 
how can I complain why youths from here never want to stay,

they all go to other countries, other worlds, denouncing their 

Swahili heritage for refugee status, so they can live life better.

When I teach my daughter about my Swahili Heritage what shall I say?

With many words flowing in my mind what shall my lips whisper to her? 

Just how to place her waist so he can receive the wonders inside her?

That her heritage lies in history and vast knowledge of the ghetto kamasutra?
As I sit her down and talk to her about life's journey, 
I want her to embrace her Swahili Heritage and do more,

together we will do the unexpected and try to even out the score, 

We will take out the manifesto of our ancestors and read it together, 
and where the book ends, we will put a new heritage in the blank pages,
We will make this life better, by never taking for granted the freedom 
out ancestors died for,

We will stop having a big complex about how the world did us wrong 

and sit around waiting for an apology, 

We will sit down and share my experience about how to keep a marriage alive, 

never invading her innocence on the pretense of preparing her for whats to come. 

Our Swahili heritage will be that of gratitude, of being world class destination, 
explore and learn all about this wonderful nation,
We will fumble, fall and learn all by ourselves, find the pace that best suit us, 
is life not a learning process and are we not a work in progress- 
Alas! I pray there will be a day when culture, heritage and custom move
beyond the reminiscent of  history and travel up to the mind. 
Create a specimen of children that would be used as a point of reference, 
the only thing we have now is the priceless,
memoirs, chronicles, revolutions, slavery,  and times past, 
Lets continue this Heritage where the present marries the past. 
To form one happy union of harmony, understanding, and tinge of misconceptions of 
Our Swahili Heritage. 

Wedding VS. Marriage

What is this disease that is plaguing our young women of Zanzibar? Why is the only main ambition they have is getting married before they reach 20??? Have you gone to Forodhani and see teenage girls and how they are acting? Have you gone to the schools and listen to what they talk about? Indeed this is an era whereby virginity is not dignity, it is just a lack of opportunity. It angers me to have a young girl who has barely finished form II or IV and they want to get married, to an older man or her sweetheart. If they marry within the same age gap the chances are the divorce will come through in six months or less. If they get married as second wives, the chances of staying married are a bit higher. 

As I contemplate about what makes them choose this road, I would like to conclude that most of them think that marriage and wedding are synonymous; or that a husband and a boyfriend are the same thing - and these two notions couldn't be more different. Ah! The beauty of puppy-love, of lying to parents to get a pretext to go out and meet that special guy for a few moments, both of you hungry for each-other, leave with a mistaken idea that is how it will always be. Thus basking in the euphoria of the honeymoon phase of the relationship, the youngsters decide that they want nothing more than to get married. 

Marriage is not a word- its a sentence. Living together with any person requires high degree of tolerance and patience, yet the children think they know all the answers, they are sure of their love, they don't want to listen to anyone else other than the sound of their own voices. The difficulty with marriage is that we fall in love with a personality but must live with the character. The result is as you see it everywhere, single parents who are children themselves, newly divorced couples who are still madly in love with each other, divorced kids who are given free reign and they wreck havoc in other people's marriages. Someone should sit these kids down from the get-go and let them know that a marriage is not all the glitz and glamour that is depicted on the wedding day. The mundane reality of living together tests your love in more ways than you can imagine. When you have children, that bond gets tested even more. I feel helpless when I see kids who are soo keen to be grownup- they don't act their age, when you get here, you will see that it is not at all how you imagined it will be.

Yet, back in the bygone days when our parents got married, things were totally different. It was common for a 15 year old to get married. Parents arrange everything, and the girl may come back from school or from playing and get told that they are getting married the next day. The notion of love, drama and relationships did not exist back then as they do now - and marriages lasted for 30 or 50 years. It begs the question on why it hold to be true for marriages nowadays.One can argue that the situation is totally different, as a friend aptly summed it that we "live in an era where losing an iPhone has a huge impact in your life than losing your virginity".

I believe that what counts in making a happy marriage is not how compatible you are - but how you deal with incompatibility. Finally I want to add that all marriages are happy, its the living together afterwards that causes all the trouble. 

...my hometown...