THE word “principle” is defined by the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, as “a moral rule or strong belief, that influences a person’s actions”. And the two African Statesmen to be referred to, are Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere and South Africa’s Nelson Mandela.
Their relevant actions in this respect are what we have described as ‘lessons’ to be learnt and properly appreciated. This is because, in some cases, they amounted to personal sacrifices (which most people did not properly appreciate at the time); while in others, they led to significant economic losses for the country (and consequently drew some misguided criticism from certain quarters). Let us look at the personal sacrifices made by the two statesmen, in defense of moral principles
Nelson Mandela’s personal sacrifice
I am indebted to fellow columnist Andrew Bomani, for revealing this story in THE CITIZEN of Wednesday, 15th February, 2023. Andrew reports that this incident occurred when Mandela was still a student at Fort Hare University in his country South Africa. This indicates that he was a “principled man” from the very early stages of his adult life. Here is the gist of that story:-
Nelson Mandela had been nominated to stand for election to the Student Representative Council (SRC), which was the highest student organization at Fort Hare. According to the Fort Hare Constitution, the entire student body was ‘electoral college’ for electing the six members of the SRC.
Shortly before the elections, a meeting of all the students had unanimously resolved, that they would boycott the election unless the University Administration committed itself to improve the student diet, which they felt was unsatisfactory. The Administration refrained from making any such commitment. Accordingly, the great majority of the students boycotted the election; and only about one fifth of the student body participated, and elected the six representatives accordingly; Mandela being one of them. The elected six met later that day and unanimously decided to tender their resignations, for the reason that they had supported the boycott, and the fact that they did not enjoy the support of the majority of their fellow students. The Head of the Administration ordered that the election be repeated, which was done; but the results were exactly the same (with the same small number actually voting, and retuning the same six candidates).
But when the elected met this time, Mandela was alone in refusing to accept office, as the other five decided to accept. Unable to persuade his colleagues, Mandela alone resigned again.
He was strictly adhering to a moral principle.
He had been called into the Principal’s office, and had been warned that if he insisted on resigning, he would be expelled from the University. “ He told me to sleep over it and give him my final decision the following day He warned me, however, that he could not allow his students to act irresponsibly, and that if I insisted on resigning, he would be compelled to expel me from Fort Hare”
Mandela himself admits that this warning had greatly troubled his mind. In his own words, he said: “Even though I thought what I was doing was morally correct, I was still uncertain as to whether it was the correct course. Was I sabotaging my academic career over an abstract moral principle that matters very little?
I found it difficult to swallow the idea that I would sacrifice what I regarded as my obligation to the students, for my own selfish interests. I had taken a stand, and I did not want to appear to be a fraud in the eyes of my fellow students. But at the same time, I did not want to throw away my career at Fort Hare”.
Despite his troubled mind, but when he reached the Principal’s office the next day and was asked by the Principal whether he had made up his mind, Nelson Mandela boldly replied: “I have decided to resign. I could not in good conscience serve on the SRC”. Consequently, he was expelled from the University for one year. He had, indeed, made a costly personal sacrifice in his strict adherence to a moral principle.
Julius Nyerere’s personal sacrifice
I always remember this particular incident with nostalgic personal feelings of sadness mixed with compassion. This is because of the kind deeds that Mwalimu Nyerere had done for me only a few months previously when he was in the job which he was now forced to give up as a matter of principle. He had acted like a benevolent parent, by taking the initiative to secure for me a scholarship to study law at Poona University in India.
Eventually, I did not take up the Indian scholarship, for the reason only that when the ‘Cambridge University School Leaving Certificate’ results came out, my pass grade was such that I also qualified for admission to Makerere University College, an affiliate of the University of London. I therefore chose to go to Makerere, for the simple reason that it was more easily reachable; for it took only a single overnight voyage on the boats to sail across Lake Victoria, from Nansio port in Ukerewe, to Port Bell in Kampala, Uganda; where Makerere University College was located.
Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, was a school teacher by profession, having successfully completed his teacher training course at the same Makerere College (as it was then), in 1945. He had subsequently gone to Edinburgh University in Scotland, where he graduated with a Master’s degree in July 1952 . It is after his graduation at Edinburgh that he secured employment in 1953, at the then St. Francis College, Pugu, which was being operated by the Irish Catholic Missionaries known as the “Holy Ghost Fathers’. And it was during that period when I made my fist contacts with Mwalimu Nyerere, having been selected to enter class XI at the same school that same year, 1953.
Mwalimu Nyerere’s active political engagement started during this period of his employment at St. Francis College Pugu; with his election to the Chairmanship of the ‘Tanganyika African Association’ (TAA), which was, at that time, just a social welfare organization for African Civil Servants, but which he quickly turned into a formidable political organization known as the ‘Tanganyika African National Union’ (TANU), which was established on 7th July (Saba saba Day), 1954.
But his engagement in politics soon put him in trouble with the colonial Authorities who, apparently, were closely watching all his movements in that respect. They therefore devised a cunning method which, they believed, would force him to abandon politics altogether. They conspired with the Irish Headmaster, and instructed him to ask Mwalimu Nerere to make a choice, between retaining his secure job as a graduate teacher, and his ‘dangerous’ political activities.
Nyerere himself subsequently narrated to a few of us, what actually happened in this episode. He said this:- “On one Sunday morning after the morning prayers, the Headmaster, Father Lynch, called me into his office, to give me what he described as his ‘considered, Fatherly advice’. This is what he said to me: ‘Julius, my dear son in Christ, we have noticed that you have recently been heavily engaged in politics, as you often travel to Dar es Salaam to attend political discussions with other politicians.
I want to warn you very strongly, that this is very dangerous for your teaching profession. You are, of course, aware of the Bible teaching about the dangers of serving two masters; namely that you cannot properly serve two masters. Hence, my sincere advise to you now, is that you should put yourself on the safe side.
Just abandon your engagement with those dangerous political trouble makers, and concentrate on your teaching profession as a good teacher at this respectable School. In that way, you will better help our students to become worthy members of society after the complete their education here.
And remember, this is also in your own personal interest, and that of your young family. So, go and think carefully about it, and let me know your decision as soon as possible’.
Mwalimu Nyerere told us further that it took him only a short time to make the difficult choice, in which, as a matter of principle, he chose to resign from his lucrative teaching job.
Indeed, his letter of resignation reveals the extent of agony that went through his mind; for he wrote (in part), the following:- “When the option of resignation from TANU is given to me as a condition for retaining my job as a teacher, the matter becomes one of principle. In such circumstances, I have chosen to resign.
I am sorry that my activities in TANU appear to have adversely affected my teaching efficiency; and I am sorry about the inconveniences that will be caused by my resignation.
But more than that, I am very sad about the economic consequences of my resignation to me and my family. Nevertheless, as a matter of principle, I have consciously opted to resign”.
That is the lesson that we ought to learn from his difficult action, through which, as we have just seen, he decided to sacrifice his lucrative job, entirely on the basis of what was, in the words of Nelson Mandela quoted above, “an abstract moral principle that mattered very little”.
The economic costs of Nyerere’s strict ‘adherence to principles’
This episode occurred during the “trauma” of the cold war period; as a result of the Union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar, in April 1964. At that time in history, there existed two German States: East Germany, and West Germany; which had developed such an intense political hatred for each other, that West Germany, relying on its “Holshtein doctrine”, which forbade the establishment, or the continuation of diplomatic relations, with any country which allowed East Germany to have its representation.
In our case, prior to our Union, West Germany had established its Embassy in Tanganyika, while immediately after Zanzibar’s successful revolution, which established the revolutionary government of President Karume, and paved the way for Zanzibar’s union with Tanganyika.
Thus, after this Union, the United Republic of Tanzania suddenly found itself with both German countries having their Embassies here.
And that is when West Germany imprudently asked the Union President Julius Nyerere, to order the closure of the East German Embassy in Zanzibar; with an accompanying threat that failure to do so, would result in West Germany withdrawing their financial aid which they were providing to assist in financing the establishment of an ‘Air wing’ for the Tanganyika Peoples Defense Forces (TPDF).
Not wanting to quarrel with West Germany over this matter, President Nyerere’ first response was to ask them to apply the ‘compromise formula’ which they had used in Egypt, where West Germany had established a full Embassy, while East Germany was allowed to establish a lower grade Consulate. However, West Germany arrogantly refused to consider this compromise option. And that is precisely when President Nyerere, a man of principle, retaliated by asking them to withdraw all their financial support to all the other projects in the country; which they did. This, inevitably, created a substantial economic cost to the country. That is the economic cost of adhering to principles.
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