Cheche: Reminiscences of a Radical Magazine

9. Revisiting Cheche

9 Revisiting Cheche Christopher C Liundi “To those who see in it a theoretical character we should recall that every practice has a theory, and that if it is true that a revolution can fail even though it be based on perfectly conceived theories, nobody has yet made a successful revolution without a revolutionary theory.” - Amilcar Cabral - 100 Chapter 9 Astheyear1970wasdrawingtoaclose,darkcloudshoveredominously over the University Hill. When they finally descended, they brought forth a decisive bolt of lightening whose socio-political reverberations went far in time and space. That was the day of November 9th, 1970 when the chief bureaucrat of the University pronounced, on behalf of the State, the verdict on the fate of USARF and Cheche. It was a final verdict with no room for appeal. USARF and Cheche had to forthwith cease all their activities. It was a strange but not an unexpected decision. In this paper, I examine the background and ramifications of this fateful move. From my school days, I had been concerned about the liberation of Africa. As was the case for many people in Tanzania, the promulgation of the Arusha Declaration had a profound impact on my political perceptions. Organizing our nation along socialist lines would, I believed, bring economic development for the masses and promote social harmony. At this point in time, I was an official at the TYL headquarters. I was responsible for liasing with TYL branches in educational institutions, including the University of Dar es Salaam. During this process, I became quite close to USARF and Cheche. Henry Mapolu, one of the Cheche editors, represented the University TYL at the TYL headquarters. As a result, we were in regular contact. The following year, I joined the University through the Mature Age Entry Scheme to pursue a BA degree. My fields of study were political science and education. Naturally, I became a TYL activist at the Hill, as a result of which I was later elected as the TYL branch chairman, and was also a member of the editorial board of MajiMaji. What I write thereby derives from first hand and intimate knowledge of the activities and the political climate of that era. The Spark Arises The Arusha Declaration opened up new political horizons in Tanzania. People marched across the country to support the Declaration. The birth and growth of USARF was a part of this trend. USARF was a home-grown, open organization of and for the students with no hidden agenda. It secured support from a number of progressive lecturers at the university which helped to sharpen its intellectual and ideological visions. Its express purpose was to galvanize political awareness to make way for establishing a robust socialist political environment and develop a student network in support of this cause. To me it seemed as revisitinG CheChe 101 if the founders and activists of this group were influenced by the wise declaration of Mahatma Gandhi that, “You must be the change you wish to see in the World.” Students are a dynamic social group. Inquisitive and energetic, they often venture beyond the status quo, with their heads, or arms and legs. At critical junctures in history, their dynamism has had profound social consequences. Though they come from specific economic classes, as students their social status is a fluid one. As such, they are potential class choosers. Often, they act as if they have nothing to lose. They have the capacity to politically align with any social class whose cause or vision they find persuasive. It has been remarked that the “youth are more vulnerable to suggestion and persuasion, because they are the least likely to hold rigid beliefs or attitudes.” (Holsti 1967, page 254). The dynamism of the youth has been seen and felt across time the world over. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Dar es Salaam University campus was an arena for lively, heated contentions among competing ideas. Capitalism, socialism, liberalism, Marxism, nationalism, Pan Africanism,fascism,imperialism,neocolonialism,idealism,materialism, utopianism, adventurism, do-nothingism, opportunism, fanaticism -- all the “Isms” were vigorously debated in the classroom and outside. USARF and the University TYL were at the center of this maelstrom. And unlike other student groups, they were organized and dedicated. They staged public lectures, giving the community a chance to meet and share the views of prominent thinkers, personalities and academicians. They held free Sunday ideological classes which offered a rare but worthwhile opportunity...