A republic in eastern Africa.
Country in E Africa, bounded N by Uganda and Kenya; S by Mozambique, Malawi, and Zambia; W by Zaire, Burundi, and Rwanda; and E by the Indian Ocean.
government
The constitution of 1977 was amended 1992 to allow for multiparty politics, and again 1994. The president, who is head of state, is elected by universal suffrage to serve a maximum of two five-year terms. The president appoints two vice presidents, one of whom is prime minister. The president also appoints a cabinet, in consultation with the prime minister, and presides over it.
The single-chamber National Assembly has 243 members: 118 directly elected by universal suffrage for the mainland, 50 for the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba, 25 regional commissioners, 15 nominated by the president and 35 indirectly elected, to represent specific sections, including women and party organizations.
history
For early history, see Africa. Zanzibar was under Portuguese control during the 16th–17th centuries. In 1822 it was united with the nearby island of Pemba. It was a British protectorate 1890–1963, when it became an independent sultanate; an uprising followed, and the sultan was overthrown 1964.
independence
Tanganyika was a German colony 1884–1914, until conquered by Britain during World War I; it was a British League of Nations mandate 1920–46 and came under United Nations (UN) trusteeship 1946–62. It achieved full independence within the Commonwealth 1961, with Julius Nyerere as prime minister. He gave up the post some six weeks after independence to devote himself to the development of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), but in Dec 1962, when Tanganyika became a republic, he returned to become the nation's first president.
United Republic of Tanzania
Tanzania was founded by the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar April 1964. Nyerere became president of the new United Republic of Tanzania and dominated the nation’s politics for the next 20 years, being reelected 1965, 1970, 1975, and 1980. Known throughout Tanzania as Mwalimu (“teacher”), he established himself as a Christian socialist who attempted to put into practice a philosophy that he believed would secure his country’s future. He committed himself in the Arusha Declaration of 1967 (the name comes from the N Tanzanian town where he made his historic statement) to building a socialist state for the millions of poor peasants through a series of village cooperatives (ujamas). In the final years of his presidency economic pressures, domestic and international, forced him to compromise his ideals and accept a more capitalistic society than he would have wished, but his achievements included the best public health service on the African continent, according to UN officials, and a national primary school syste
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foreign relations
Relations between Tanzania and its neighbors have been variable. The East Africa Community of Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda, formed 1967, broke up 1977, and relations between Tanzania and the more capitalistic Kenya became uneasy. In 1979 Nyerere sent troops to support the Uganda National Liberation Front in its bid to overthrow President Idi Amin. This enhanced Nyerere's reputation but damaged his country's economy. Tanzania also supported the liberation movements in Mozambique and Rhodesia.
one-party rule
In 1977 TANU and the Afro-Shirazi Party of Zanzibar merged to become the Revolutionary Party of Tanzania (CCM), and this was made the only legal political organization. Nyerere retired from the presidency at the end of 1985 but remained as CCM chair. The president of Zanzibar, Ali Hassan Mwinyi, was adopted as the sole presidential candidate by the CCM congress Dec 1985. In May 1990 Julius Nyrere announced his retirement as party chair and in Aug 1990 he was replaced by President Mwinyi.
In 1992 the constitution was amended to allow for multiparty politics (Mwinyi's government had tolerated the formation of at least five opposition groups since 1991). Also in 1992, it was announced that the East Africa co-operation agreement with Kenya and Uganda would be revived. In 1993 a referendum was promised on the issue of separate governments for the mainland and the island of Zanzibar. A 1994 constitutional amendment ended the rule under which the president of Zanzibar automatically became vice president of the union government.