From Goatherd to Governor. The Autobiography of Edwin Mtei: The Autobiography of Edwin Mtei

Chapter 15 - Back to an EAC on the Brink of Collapse

123 Chapter 15 Back to an EAC on the Brink of Collapse As I said above, the Morse Committee was planning to have anothersessioninWashingtoninMay1974whenIreturnedhome in the third week of April. However, on 22 April 1974 President Nyerere summoned me to his office. He informed me that he had consulted with his East African colleagues, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, President of Kenya, and President Idi Amin of Uganda and that they had agreed to appoint me Secretary General of the East African Community. This was a most unexpected revelation. The President proceeded to tell me that as Governor, I was to hand over to my Deputy, Mr Charles Nyirabu, immediately and proceed to Arusha since the retiring Secretary General, Mr Charles Maina of Kenya, had been summoned by his Government for an urgent assignment and had actually already left Arusha. I was momentarily stunned, but when I regained composure, I thanked the President for this new consideration and left to prepare for my new job. Two days later, on 24 April 1974, I reported at my new office in Arusha. However, that very evening I had to board an EAA plane for Kampala, Uganda, where the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) was holding its Budget Session. As Secretary General, I was ex-officio Member of EALA and had to attend. On arrival in Kampala, I was sworn in the following morning as a Member of EALA by the Speaker of the Assembly, who happened to be my old roommate and classmate at Old Moshi, Hermangild Elias Sarwatt. I remember being asked to wait in the lobby outside the Assembly Hall until the Prayers were said. The Minister for Common Market and Economic Affairs, the Hon. Robert Ouko, then came out and ceremoniously escorted me into the hall with the Members standing and applauding. I swore my oath of allegiance to the East African Community and their leader, signed it, and was then led by the sergeant-at-arms to the official front bench to sit with the East African Ministers. 124 Being welcomed by Robert Ouko (left) to the EALA Chambers, for swearing in as a Member, 25 April 1974. My appointment as Secretary General had come so unexpectedly, and I had to report so quickly, that I left the packing up for the move to Arusha entirely in Johara’s hands. The EALA session in Kampala was going to last until the second half of May, and I had to be there in person to follow up questions related to the Secretary General’s Office. Whenever I was free from EAC matters, I would scribble notes concerning the “Handing over of the Bank of Tanzania” to my successor. At weekends, I took the Friday evening EAA plane from Entebbe to Nairobi, and then the Saturday morning plane from Nairobi to Dar es Salaam, in order to sort out problems relating to the arrangements for the transfer to Arusha. I had to organise the renting out of our house, and the transfer and admittance of the children to appropriate schools in or near Arusha. The Headmasters and Headmistresses of their schools as well as the Ministry of Education had to be approached to give formal approval for transfers in mid-term. I should mention that by 125 April 1974 we had five children, Melyi having been born in 1968 and Kineneko in 1972. Except for the youngest, who was going to the kindergarten, and Nora, who would transfer to a boarding Girls’ Secondary School in the North, the others were enrolled at a Primary School in Arusha. I spent one weekend in Arusha, where I saw the house allocated as my residence, and gave instructions regarding its remodelling and refurbishment. I also saw the schools to which our children would transfer. I was also able to deal with some papers at the Secretary General’s office, which could not be brought to me in Kampala. When the EALA Session ended, I flew to Dar es Salaam where I was able to discuss with my successor at the Bank regarding the handover notes I had written while in Kampala, and made arrangements to join my family for travelling to Arusha. Before we left Dar es Salaam, the Bank of Tanzania organised a big Farewell Party in my honour, and gave me beautiful presents that I have always treasured. Working for the East African Community in what proved to be the last...