Comparison and differences of Nkrumah and Nyerere’s thoughts on African socialism.

 

The term socialism has no single definition as have been defined by various scholars as follows;

               According to Rappoport (1928) defined socialism based on the recognition of interests common to all citizens in order to promote a free individual in a free society.[1]

                According to Quinn (1980) socialism is apolitical term applied to an economic system in which property is held in common and not individually and relations are governed by political hierarchy.

                 Generally socialism can be defined as an economic system characterized by public ownership and centralized planning of all major industries, banks, and insurance. Under capitalism these giant enterprises dominate the economy but are privately owned and operated for purpose of generating wealth for their owners.

                   African socialism is believed in sharing economic resources in a traditional African way as distinct from classical socialism.[2]Many African politicians of the 1950s and 1960s professed their support for African socialism, although definitions and interpretation of this term varied considerably. This is because African socialism has not been the production of one single thinker.

                     African socialism was a form of social system rooted in African soil and culture. Traditional African societies governed by socialist’s rules. These was an attempts made by African thinkers to recapture traditional African values to services modern African societies as an indication that traditional African societies had something to teach in the modern world so as to uphold African culture and values.[3]African socialist’s thinkers are like Nyerere, Nkrumah, Kaunda, and Senghor. All African thinkers were similar in some aspects although in some cases was differed. Before looking in the comparison and differences of these thinkers thought let us first see their biography.

                      Julius k. Nyerere; was born at Butiama, a village near Musoma on the shores of lake Victoria in 1922 he was the son of chief Nyerere Burito of the Wazanaki tribe he attended primary education in Musoma and secondary school at Tabora. He spends two years at Makerere College and graduated as Master of Arts in 1952 from Edinburg University (Scotland). While in Britain Nyerere joined a socialists club known as Fabians. Fabians socialists whose political thinking was based on the ideas of utopian socialists was to influences  Nyerere’s early political thinking these utopian socialists who influenced Nyerere were like St.Simon, Charles Fourier and Robert Owen.  He later on served as a teacher   at St. Francis Pugu and become one of founders of Tanganyika National Union (TANU) in 1954. Nyerere’s construction on African socialism based on the concept of “UJAMAA”; to him Ujamaa means family hood (African extended family) meaning that all individuals in the state as members of the same family. Nyerere dead in 1999.

                  Kwame Nkrumah; was born at Nkroful, gold coast (today Ghana) in1909. Lincoln University graduated in Bachelor of Arts in 1939 at university of Pennsylvania in United States of America, also graduated in bachelor of sacred theology and masters in philosophy in 1945. Nkrumah taught philosophy and Negro history from 1935-1945.  During his stay in America, racism and the poor living standards of the black Americans were also to influence his political thinking.  Nkrumah’s thought on the construction of African socialism was based on his philosophy of consciencism.  To him consciencism  was as a map in an intellectual terms of disposition of forces which enable African society to digest western, Islamic and euro-Christian elements in Africa and develop them  in such way that they fit into African personality. To him African culture alone cannot construct a viable ideology of modern African states. The following are the comparisons and differences of Nkrumah and Nyerere’s thoughts on African socialism, starting with comparison.

                  Both Nkrumah and Nyerere championed the single party system in building strong foundation of socialism in Ghana and Tanzania respectively. Through the monoparty system the two nationalists in Africa ensured the existence of strong unity solidarity among their people purposely for social, political, economic and cultural development in their states and Africa in general.[4]

                Both agree on the common features of socialists a state which is common ownership of means of production, distribution and exchange. Production is for use and not for profit according to Nkrumah also Nyerere in Arusha declaration his major point was the major means of production and exchange are under the control of peasants and workers.[5]

                Both Nkrumah and Nyerere held a platonic notion that the purpose of the state is to create a proper environment for blossoming of desired ethical condition,  this means the aims of socialism was to reconstruct African societies in the manner that humanism of traditional African life reasserts itself in a modern technical community.[6]

                 Both opposed non-secular system in building socialists states in which the governance systems had to be separated from the religious affairs so as to promote strong unity and solidarity among the people thus why Nyerere said Tanzania has got no religion but her people have their own religions. Nkrumah on the other hand separated religion from the state affairs.

                 Both believed on the egalitarian system in which they ignored classes that may perpetuate exploitation among members in the socialists’ states. To them public ownership and central planned economy was much better for the development of newly independent African countries.

                   Both Nyerere and Nkrumah in their socialists’ thoughts believed that self determination in political, economic, ideological and cultural aspects of life is where African all over the world can solve their problems or difficulties and building strong foundation of socialism in their respective countries.

The following are the contrasts of Nyerere and Nkrumah’s thought on African socialism.

                  Nyerere’s thought in socialism was based on the concept of Ujamaa while Nkrumah’s thought on African socialism was based on the concept of conscienscism. To Nyerere Ujamaa means family hood (African extended family) meaning that all individual in the state as members of the same family while conscienscism was as map in an intellectual term of disposition of forces which enable African societies to digest external element and develop them to fit into to African personality.

                   Nkrumah and Nyerere differed on the format of production which could best encourage the renaissances of these values while allowing for some degree of technologically derived change. Nyerere argue that the institution which first bred this value must be recreated. In effect he felt that changes in the social organization of production could be reversed through will and leadership but Nkrumah on the other hand from the perspective of dialectical materialism believed that change could be encouraged and channeled in a direction but never reversed. For Nkrumah only proper changes were real.[7]

                  Nyerere argued that African culture alone can construct a viable ideology of modern state while Nkrumah argues that African cultural alone cannot construct a viable ideology of modern African state, for him a viable ideology for the development for African should be based on synthesis of traditional and western, Islamic and euro-Christian elements of African states.

                   Generally both thinkers (Nyerere and Nkrumah) developed political ideas which had profound impact on their countries and African in general. The political ideas and contributions of Nkrumah and Nyerere are significant and remain very valid for today’s Africa because Nkrumah developed the notion of “neo colonialism” which outlined the features of continued exploitation of former colonies after formal political independence was achieved and Nyerere advanced the ideology of self reliance as a necessary component of socialism that is both were steadfast in their condemnation of exploitation and oppression. Finally both did not succeed in putting their political ideas into to practice like their dream of a united Africa remains unfulfilled.

                                            REFFERENCES

Fenner, B. (1963) African socialism. The Bodley head, London

John, S, S. (2002) “Julius Nyerere and the theory and practice of (Un) democratic socialism in  Africa” The legacies of   

                                 Julius Nyerere. Africa world press

Peter, T, P. (1970)   Kwame Nkrumah. New York: the Africane Publishing corporation.

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[1] C, Rappoport. (1928) what is Socialism. P-4

[2]F, Brockway. (1963) African Socialism. P-25  

[3] Friedland and Rosberg Jr. (1964) African Socialism. P-3

[4] S.S.John(2002) Julius Nyerere and the theory and practice of (Un) Democratic Socialism in Africa

[5] S.S.John(2002) Julius Nyerere and the theory and practice of (Un) Democratic Socialism in Africa 

[6] F, Brockway. (1963) African Socialism. P-12

[7] T, P, Omari(1970)Kwame Nkrumah. P-10

Description of the main stages of public policy making and its connection to the Tanzania’s public policy making cycle.

Up to date key policy making stages are not clearly identified, basing on scholars regard key policy making stages is still a controversial issues. For instance in Danny’s process model  there are five stages of public policy making namely, agenda setting, policy formulation, policy adoption, policy implementation and policy assessment. Also Mutahaba and others have identified three policy making stages which are policy formulation, policy implementation and policy monitoring and evaluation. In our discussion we are going to discuss six essential stages for public policy making and these are problem identification, agenda setting, policy problem formulation, policy adoption, policy implementation and policy monitoring and evaluation. Also in our discussion we are going to relate these stages with policy making cycle of Tanzania which have to pass to different stages from where the is identified, then to the  respective ministries to the cabinet secretaries, cabinet, and parliament so as to become a public policy. This topic is important because it help us to know the different stages of public policy making and how policies came into existence

 The first stage which involves in public policy making is identification of problem. This is the process of cabinet to see a problem or government sees a problem. Under this stage it asks the questions like where is the problem, what is the problem and likewise. Under the problem identification relies on the interests or the need of the interest group or society.  the players at this stage are members of the parliament who collect the problems from their constituencies and submit them to the respective ministries, also ministers from respective ministries are involved in collecting the problems from the society, these ministers can collect problem such problems by going either direct to the public or by indirect from the members of the parliament. For example the demands can be employment to the youth, diseases, relief from poverty and among others. This is evidenced in our nation, by taking example from health policy of 2003, the problems which were identified were high number of disabilities, high mortality rate, poor nutrition status and low life expectancy. Therefore these problems identified resulted to the government’s attention.

Apart from identification of the problem, the next stage is agenda setting. At this stage it is where we make the government to consider the problems, here we ask ourselves question like where the problem is presented. Involvers in this stage are appointed officials, public managers, secretaries, director of policy and planning as well as ministers from respective ministries. In order for agenda to be formulated the problem should reach crisis proportion and can no longer be  ignored by the government, another criteria is the issues that have a wide impact to the society have a great chance of reaching agenda setting. For example serious disease such as HIV/AID’s, Malaria and Cholera are the diseases that can encourage agenda setting. This is equivalent to our nation by taking  health policy of 2003 as an example there were formulated different agendas tossed on the serious diseases for example to improve the health and wellbeing of all Tanzania  with a focus on those most at risk and encourage the health system to be more responsive to the needs of the people, to facilitate the equitable, quality and affordable basic health services, to do away with high level of infant mortality rate and to increase life expectance to whole Tanzanians, after agenda setting leads to the  next  stage which is policy problem formulation.

In addition to agenda setting another stage is the policy problem formulation. In this stage it is where we try to get or convince the government to consider the solutions, we ask the questions like what are the proposed solutions. For instance the Tanzania’s national health policy of 2003, there were different solutions which were proposed towards the problems which face health sector, the solutions were provision of adequate and equitable materials and health care to reduce mortality rate and increase of life expectancy. This was to ensure that health services are available and accessible to all people in urban and rural areas, to ensure availability of drugs, reagents and medical supply and infrastructures.

Furthermore, policy adoption is another stage of public policy making. In this stage the government is supposed to adopt the solution or what is done about the problem and choose the solutions to the problem identified. In order for public policy to be adopted there must be majority collisions that support the suggested solutions to the problem. In this stage the government can propose various laws, orders, regulations and rules that support the proposed solution, so as to put the policy into effect. This is done in Tanzania by the Member of Parliament, since they can propose various laws and orders to the selected solutions. From the suggested solutions especially in Tanzania’s national health policy of 2003 the solutions were to ensure availability of drugs, reagents, medical care for example establishment of health centres almost in all Tanzania’s rural areas and also they ensured the creation of infrastructure.

On the other hand there is policy implementation stage. This is the stage whereby the government applies the solutions selected by the parliament to overcome the existing problems that have been found in policy adoption stage. These solutions accompanied with laws, orders, rules and regulations which ensure the effectiveness of the suggested solutions to the particular policy. For example in Tanzania’s  health policy of 2003 government implemented numbers of solutions towards the problems associated with health sector, such as  reduction of maternal and infant mortality rate, increase of life expectancy through provision of adequate and equitable maternal and child health services, promotion of environmental  health and sanitation, promotion of adequate nutrition, control of communicable disease and treatment for common conditions, ensure availability of drugs, reagents and medical supplies, infrastructure, train and make available of competent and adequate number of staffs to manage health services with gender respective at all levels, capacity building of human resources at all levels in management and health services provision. All are the examples of policy implementation in health policy of 2003.

The last stage is policy evaluation. This is the systematic process of assessing the designed implementation and outcomes of the public policy. An importatant of policy evaluation is to see if the policy has achieved the intended objectives or otherwise. The policy evaluation is needed in order to continue with the policy or not. In this stage we ask the question like did the solutions work? Or not, respective ministry, public sectors, private sectors, and stakeholders involves in policy evaluations. If the policy had not succeeded the policy makers start again to identify the problems. For example the national health policy of 2003 succeeded in large extent to the solutions that were proposed towards the health problems, for example, succeeded to increase life expectancy, succeeded in provision of medical supply, succeeded in reduction of high degree of both infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate, succeeded in provision of drugs, reagents and control of communicable disease, just to mention.

Generally speaking, despite the fact that there is complications which we have seen in understanding the stages of public policy making, in Tanzania there are several policies being made which show future development in different ministries, but the most problem which encounters the Tanzania’s policies are lack of enough capital to run different issues, lack of committed leaders as well as poor implementation of policies might be the basic problems.

REFFERENCES

James,E.(1994). Public policy making: An Introduction (Boston: Houghton Mifflin co.)

Mutahaba,G and Balogun, J(1989), Strengthening policy management in  Africa: Hartford.

                                        Kumarian Press. 

The United Republic of Tanzania: Tanzania National Health policy. (2003).

The contributions of Booker T. Washington to the emancipation of Black people in America.

Booker Taliaferro Washington was born in April 5^th 1856 in the slavery family in Franklin country Virginia. He was Africa America author, educator, orator and advisor of president in America. In 1872 when he was at the age of sixteen, he enrolled at the Hampton normal and agriculture institute founded by a farmer union general F, Griff: This Morgan who paid Washington tuition. 1878 Washington graduated then be come on instructor there a year later while also supervising a group of Native Americans who were attending as an experiment. Then in 1881 he was chosen to organize and continent an academic, agricultural and industrial school for Africans Americans of Tuskegee in Alabama where he saves as a principle until his death in 1915.

Moreover emancipation of black people refers to act or process by which the black people or Negros in America for purpose of liberating themselves from the white authorities in different aspects such as socially, politically, economically. Washington was among the pioneer of black emancipation in aware followed by others like Willium Dubois, Martine Luther King Jr. Marcus Gurvey and others.

To Washington emancipation of black people should base on economic liberation and education to black American as a way to emancipate them, the following are the contributions of Booker T. Washington in the emancipation of black people in America.

He contributed greatly toward the organization and foundation of academic, agricultural and industrial school for Africa Americans at Tuskegee. He serves there as a principle until his death in 1915. Under his direction Tuskegee institute became one of the leading Africa America educational institute. Its programs emphases social skills training as well as agriculture and industrial training them economically as a means to obtain self respect and economic independence. Up to 1915, the year of his death, the institute had 1,500 students which was very high number compared to any African American Institutions in America during that time.

He wrote different books which expressed the position of black Americans and their real life in America. One of the famous publications was “Up from slavery” (1901) in which he expressed black problems; also it will give overly optimist view of black life and race relations in America. Another book was “The souls of black folk” in which he addressed African demands including to be given job and accommodation which he considered as a basic for black liberation. The mentioned book and others which he wrote contributed much to black consciousness by stimulating them to unite their struggle for emancipation also the book acted as catalyst and influential factor for the rise of other black American leaders who came with various new ideas and tactics towards black emancipation. For instance Dubois who was much influenced by “The souls of Black folk”

The addressing of Atlanta compromise speech in 1895 in Atlanta. In this speech he called on white America provide jobs and industrial agricultural education for Negros. In exchange blacks would give up demands for social equality and civil rights. His message to the immediate goals that economic respectability and independence. He suggested that if blacks gained an economic foothold and proved themselves useful to whites, then civil right and social equality should eventually be given to them. He stressed the mutual inter independence of blacks and white in south but said they were to remain socially separate from his speech he said “ In all things that are purely social we can be separate as fingers, yet one as a hand in all things essential to mutual progress”. He insisted that black had to remain independent so to obtain useful education, save their money work hard and purchase property. Therefore by doing such thing is believed that the Negro could ultimately careful citizenship rights. The speech influenced white Americans to respond with enthicisiasin to Washington racial policies, and made him the nation Negro leader and spokes man for the entire Negro community. With strong white support Washington became the outstanding black leader of only in the field of education and philanthropy but in the business and labor realities, political and public affair.

He supported civil right group; Afro-America league and later the national associasion for the advancement of colored people through he was reluctant to make this public information for fear that his white supporters would abandon him. He also used journalist, News paper and various organizations to spread the idea of black emancipation. These civil rights groups, journalist together with newspapers performed a very significant contribution toward emancipation of black people by provide a chance to discuss for their problems and proposed and suggested various techniques to overcome those problems.

He founded and supported different trade and agriculture organizations which aimed at improving black economy and standard of living, for instance in 1900 he helped to organize a national Negro business league as an effort to helping black American to develop their own commercial ventures. He also founded black agriculture scientists George Washington curver worked at Tuskegee from 1896 to 1943, devising new products from peanuts and sweet potatoes. Then it improved their farming techniques, income and living condition.

 He advocated for accomodation between black and whites as the ways to reduce and remove hostility between them. In his Atlanta compromise he said “At the bottom of education, polities even religion. There must be for our race economic independence he believed that the strong the economic you are the more other rights comes. Therefore in accommodation he emphasized for black economic liberation so as to make them satisfied in all their basic needs and thereafter there should followed by political liberation. More about accommodation explained well in his book “up from slavery” In this book gave an ovary optimist view of black life and race relations in America.

Lastly he contributed much when he was adviser to president of America such as Franklin Roosevelt. One of the contribution, he supported court challenge to segregation, Disfranchisements and the Jim Crow discriminatory laws enacted in the post reconstruction southern state in the late 19^th and early 20^th Century.

Generally Booker Taliaferro Washington played a big role and contribution in black emancipation as we have discussed, although through his policies and arguments he was criticized by some black American liberators including Dubois by his non-aggressive towards violence and inequality, supports of legal segregation and loss of voting rights. Dubois claims that social and political power were to be given not the way Booker suggested and to him violence was the best way for black emancipation.

On our own views they all demanded the first class citizenship although the methods, tactics and ideology differ. Thus why economic independence was more favorable to Booker than political and social rights. But in consideration Booker’s ideology was strong enough because economic independence is more necessary to any person who fight for his/her rights thus he believed if people are strong economically other rights will come slow in his strategies “slow but sure” and this is true even in contemporary people who are rich their voices are more likely to be heard.

REFFERENCES

Booker, T.W (1901), Up from slavery: An autobiography, A.L. Burt: New York.

Booker, T. W (1899), the future of American Negro, Project Gutenberg: New York.

Du Bois, W.E.B & Booker T. W (1907), The Negro in the south, Project Gutenberg: New York.

Norrel, R.J (2009), Up from history: The life of Booker T. Washington, Harvard

                                University press: New York.