(Sanitized)MERU - LAND AND POLITICS(Sanitized)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83-00423R001001080002-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 21
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 26, 2004
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: August 15, 1953
• Content Type: LETTER

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Scholars and political observers who follow the activities of the
United Nations and in particular those who are interested in the Trusteeship
Council''s oversight of the colonial powers have been witness recently to a
remarkable humanitarian phenomenon. They witnessed the investigation, in
degree as meticulous as possible at such a removed distance, of indignant
(claims by the Meru, a small tribe of 25,000 living here on the slopes of Mt.
Meru. against the British Administration of Tanganyika. The most careful
nearing was given to tine trioai. representatives, one of venom, nirlio site
Japhet, was hustled up to Nairobi and fitted out with European clothes, and
during his period of representation was enjoying for the first time in his
life the stellar living standards of the Western world. At one point in
the process of consideration, late in 1952, the Fourth Committee of the-
General Assembly "invited" the British Administering Authority to return to
the Meru tribe the portion of the tribal lands from which some members of
the tribe were transferred to other lands. Ultimately, though, no restora-
tion of these lands was recommended by the General Assembly. Only a few
weeks ago, on July 9th, Kirilo appealed once again to the Trusteeship Council
against the forcible eviction.- He insisted that the tribe would not accept
compensation or any other scheme. The Meru, he said, did not want to adopt
methods "employed by some Africans in Kenya,2 but I would like you to tell
me what to tell my people." The Trusteeship Council once again refused to
recommend that the Tanganyika Government return the land, decided3 to note
the statement and adjourned debate on the subject. This attention of the
UN, of itself, is illustrative of a new colonial age, when a leading metro-
politan power can be called to task on a matter concerning one small tribe,
a generation removed from the most primitive state. By earlier colonial
standards this is the true marking of a sparrow's fall.
More recently an equally illustrative example is provided in the degree
of intense interest taken by the Tanganyika Administration in grafting, almost
entirely by persuasion, a few democratic institutions on the political structure
of this same tribe. The eatefu1 attention of a major District headquarters,
whose area, incidentally, encompasses a larger tribe, has been directed for
the past six months towards, primarily, the introduction of popular partici-
pation into the internal government of the Meru tribe. The amount of
1. Son of.
2. A reference, of course, to the Kikuyu tribe and the Mau Mau violence.
By 6 votes to none, with 4 abstentions.
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solicitous epoonfeeding this has involved would be as astounding to a Nineteenth
Century imperialist as the amount of indulgence by the high international body
preceding it.
The drawing up of the new Meru constitution was quite obviously intended
as an antidote to the widespread bitterness among the Meru engendered by the
lands eviction. It is too early to ascertain the success of this measure, but
the administration has some reason to be hopeful. Representatives of the
political organization which spearheaded the land agitation, the Meru Citizens'
Union, have for several months turned their attention to the task of drawing
up the new constitution, with the.help of government officers, and on July 25th
the Meru people for the first time elected a new chief by secret ballot. The
Tanganyika Government in Dar es Salaam, whose spokesman recently announced that
there had been no recrudescence of agitation over land, and the local administra-
tive officers here hope this is evidence that the cause for which Kirilo was
fighting is no longer a burning issue among the Meru, that the political con-
cessions, together with a' social development plan, may be salving the wounds
of the long conflict over land.
The background of the land problem is already familiar to the UN audience.
Since the beginning of British administration the Meru and the Arusha, their
neighbors here on the mountain, have felt themselves hemmed in in their tradi-
tional tribal areas on the southern and southwestern slopes by the ring-of
European land below them which had originally been alienated by the Germans.
To ease the tribal land hunger, eight former German farms were given to the
Meru and Arusha in 1925, and in 1929-1930 two more farms were purchased by the
Meru - Farm Number 31 by a group of Meru and Farm Number 328 by the Meru tribe
acting through its trdasury - but these additions proved to be only palliatives.
In the 1930's a few investigations and proposals were made, but no decisive
action was taken until after the war. Mr. Justice Mark Wilson was then
appointed to draw up a comprehensive plan for the re-distribution of alienated
and tribal land on and around Kilimanjaro and Meru Mountains. His report,
published in 1947, was accepted with modifications by the Secretary of State
for the Colonies, and the Tanganyika Government's plans to implement the
recommendations were published in two white papers on February 21 and June 23,
1949.
This general plan, briefly, provided that the Sanya Corridor, 130,000
acres lying between Kilimanjaro and Meru, should be made into a single homo-
genous European block (linking the already alienated areas of Ngare Nanyuki
and Arusha on the west with the alienated areas of Ngare Nairobi and Moshi on
the east).for European ranching and dairying enterprise needed to supply the
territory's growing demand for meat. The Sanya Corridor was largely uninhabited
and used for seasonal grazing by the Masai and a few individuals of other tribes,
but comparatively small numbers of Chagga and Meru were also settled there and
they would have to be removed. The justification for the creation of this
wholly European block was that cattle disease control would be facilitated -
the underlying assumption being that the Africans could not undertake ranching
and dairying projects on European standards. The plan also provided that some
22,000 acrds of land alienated to Europeans was to be acquired for the use of
the Meru and the Chagga. Between 1949 and 1951 a number of adjustments
favorable to the Meru and the Chagga were recommended by the Northern Province
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Land Utilization Committee, a body including both European and African un-
official members, and these were incorporated into the plan.
For the Meru, the scheme, thus modified, meant that some 312 to 350 Meru
families or about 1,500-,persons, representing about 6 percent of the total of
5,000 to 6,800 families or 25,000 persons in the tribe, would have to move
from Farms 31 and 328 - the farms purchased in 1929-1930 - which covered an
area of 5,800 acres in Ngare Nanyuki on the northeastern slopes of Mt. Meru.
Sketch Map of the Eastern Slopes of Mt. Meru
In return the Meru would receive 11,000 acres of alienated land acquired from
the European holders, some of it compulsorily, during 1949-1951, and the Chai
and Ongadongishu areas to the south, as recommended in the Wilson Report.
They would also receive a further concession recommended by the Northern
Province Land Utilization Committee - an area of 18,C00 acres in Moshi District
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known as "Kingori" (Farms 325 and 326 and part of Farms 324 and 327) and the
use of imrortant salt cans (including those on Farm 328) and access to them.
Kingori is east of and contiguous to the Meru settled area and only a
Domestic Watering Foint in Kingori
few miles
from Farms
31 and 328.
The Govern-
ment maintained
that Kingori
was better
land than the
two farms which
the Meru had
held, and pro-
ceeded to
develop it
as a resettle-
ment area. A
pipeline some
nine and one
half miles
long was laid
at a cost of
L12,218, and
from this
fifteen
domestic
watering
points and
two cattle
watering
points were
provided.
Two cattle
dips were
installed
and a
veterinary
station with
an African
veterinary
assistant in
charge was
set up. The
Meru to be
moved were
to be paid
Cattle Watering Foint in Kingori
compensation
assessed at
E14,000,
provided with
free trans
ort
p
,
temporary huts in the resettlement area and supplies of food for the period of
settling in, and were to be exempted from taxation for one year. A development
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plan for the entire Meru area, including the provision of water, clearance of
tsetse-infested bush, and additional educational and medical facilities, at
a cost of L46,000, was also drawn up.
Part of Uncleared Kingori Area
The
people were
informed in
1949 that they
would have to
make this move,
and the reasons
for this were
explained many
times to the
people in
barazal The
chief, who in
1947-1948 was
the sole Native
Authority, had
agreed reluctantly
to the proposals.
But the Meru
people, led by
the Meru Citizens'
Union, violently
objected to the
measure, sending
appeals to the
UN, the Governor,
the families
The Government, as it explained in a later White Paper, was convinced
that its policy was "correct and will prove beneficial, from the point of view
of better and more productive use of the land, not only to the community in
general, but also to the Meru people." Its policy had always been "not to
allocate land under Rights of Occupancy unless the Native Authority concerned
has been fully consulted and, normally, its agreement obtained," and to permit
the occupiers to remain or move elsewhere on payment of compensation. But in
a case such as this, "where ... land is required in order to carry out a scheme
of general benefit to the territory it wl s necesgary to acquire land compulsorily
in the absence of consent." Special legislation' to permit compulsory removal
Qf the inhabitants of the two farms was therefore passed by Tanganyika's
Legislative Council. During the period November 17 - December 12, 1951 all
effects on the two farms involved were removed, after inventory, to Kingori,
almost 500 huts were destroyed, and cattle, sheep and goats were impounded.
and.the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and the majority of
living on the two farms refused to leave voluntarily.2
1. Native gathering (or veranda).
2. Unlike the Meru, the Chagga living in the Sanya Corridor agreed to move
to the new land provided for them.
3. Ordinance to Facilitate the Implementation of the Wilson Report, Ordinance
No. 48 of 1951.
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farms adopted a
"passive attituie" toward the move,
sitting around
under the trees
at some distance
from their huts.
Most of them
returned to
the settled
area; only
twenty-one
families moved
directly into
Kingori, although
others later
drifted into
it from the
settled area.
Only one Meru
claimed
compensation
although
eleven non-
Meru collected
The Northeastern Slopes of Mt. Meru, Near Farms 31 and 328 1-310.
Most important, the Meru Citizens' Union had appealed in August 1951,
before the eviction, to the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations to
request the Administering Authority not to carry out the scheme. When the
Council considered the petition on June 30, July 21 and 22, 1.952, two repre-
sentatives of the Meru Citizens' Union were there to present their case
personally - Kirilo s/o Japhet, the Secretary of the Citizens' Union and a
former Native Authority dresser, and Mr. 3arle E. Seaton, a Jamaican lawyer
from Moshi (partner of Mr. Dudley Thompson whom John has referred to in his
earlier letters), acting as the Union's Legal Representative. They claimed
the eviction had caused great loss and suffering and that the Meru were being
moved to inferior lands to make room for only thirteen European settlers.
They stated - falsely, as the Government's representatives pointed out - that
the two farms covered 73,000 acres rather than the actual 5,800, that 3,OCO
people rather than 1,500 were affected, that one death and considerable illness
resulted directly from the eviction, and that salt pans were being taken from
them. The Administering Authority, in its written observations on the petition,
and Sir John Iamb, the Special Representative of the Tanganyika Government, and
Sir Alan Burns, aprearing at the Trusteeship Council meetings, explained that
the removal of the Meru was part of a large plan which would be beneficial
to the tribe, that the new lands were better and greater in extent than the
old, and that adequate compensation, ,free transport and temporary homes had
been offered to them.
On July 22 the Council passed, by 8 votes to 1 (USSR) with two abstentions
(UK and El Salvador),a resolution admitting that the movement was part of a
large scheme advantageous to the majority of the natives of the Arusha-Moshi
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area but expressing its regret that the Administering Authority had found it
necessary to move any of the Meru by forcible eviction. It suggested that in
future schemes the Administering Authority follow the principle that African
communities settled on the land should not be moved unless "a clear expression
of the collective consent has been obtained." It also urged the Tanganyika
Government to relieve the hardships suffered by the uprooted families, to
grant generous compensation for losses sustained, to continue assistance in
the resettlement area, to "intensify its educational campaign to convince the
Meru people of the desirability of reducing congestion in the tribal area by
movement to the new expansion areas," to put. into effect a plan for community
development and welfare, and to open up and develop new lands for cultivation
and grazing. The Administering Authority had apparently failed to convince the
Council that all these steps were being taken.
The Tanganyika Government soon replied with a White Paper giving the
detailed background and reasons for its decision, and this was approved by
African and Asian as well as European members of the Legislative Council.
When the paper was laid on the table, the Governor addressed the Legislative
Council, declaring "there is nothing in the resolution which conflicts with
the policy which the Government is already pursuing, and the Government is
already taking action on the very lines urged by the resolution." He denied
that the Government had resorted to the use of force in a brutal way and
asserted that the Administration carried out its unpleasant duties with the
utmost consideration for the people concerned, provided them with assistance
and offered them generous compensation. He claimed that "in the presentation
of this case, both to the United Nations Trusteeship Council and to the public
through the Press, there have been serious distortions of fact and the good
name of the Government has been impugned."
The next inning went to the Meru. Several months later the UN General
Assembly's Fourth Committee considered the case. Its members heard 8irilo
s/o Japhet claim, falsely,.that sixty-four people had died and 11,000 cattle,
sheep and goats had been lost as a result of the eviction, that 78,000 acres
had been taken from the Meru and that racial discrimination was at the bottom
of the policy. The repetition of the Government's case by Mr. W.A.C. Mathieson
and Sir Alan Burns had little effect. With the Near Eastern, South Asian and
some Latin American countries, together with the Soviet bloc, overriding the
administering authorities, Commonwealth and European countries, the Committee
rejected a proposal seeking adjustment by consultation between the Meru and
the Administering Authority, and passed,by a vote of 32 to 17 with 3 abstentions,
a resolution disapproving the land transfer. The resolution expressed "regret
that the steps taken by the Trusteeship Council to solve this problem have
proved- inadequate," and invited the Administering Authorityto return immediately
to the Meru tribe the lands from which 3,000 of its members had been expelled,
to compensate the tribe for property losses and indemnify it for damages and
inconveniences resulting from the eviction. It recommended "that the
Administering Authority suspend the execution of any plan for the redistribution
of land which would entail the eviction of indigenous inhabitants by force."
It also recommended that the Administering Authority educate and train the
tribe in modern agriculture and ranching.
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This victory for the Meru was received jubilantly by at least one
leader of the Meru Citizens' Union who refused to believe the wife of one of
our missionary neighbors when she tried to explain that the final decision
of the General Assembly might be different. A few days later the General
Assembly recommended no action in the case, turning down two resolutions,
one calling on Britain to return the land to the Meru, and the other ex-
pressing regret at the removal and inviting-Britain.to consider the
possibility of using part of the area in question to,train the Meru in
modern cattle raising methods. At first the Meru leader refused to believe
this news, but eventually he, and the others like him, had to face their
defeat, probably feeling more bitter toward the Administration than ever
before.
It is easy enough to criticize both the Tanganyika Government and the
Meru for their part in this land dispute. The very necessity for the creation
of a solidly European blodcin order to advance ranching and dairying in the
territory can be questioned. The scheme was based on the assumption that
the Meru could not engage in ranching and dairying activities at European
standards, even though Meru are growing coffee nearby by methods equal to
those of their European neighbors. The refusal to accept this assumption
and knowledge of the bitterness the move would engender were perhaps the
reasons why the local administrative officers opposed the scheme. It was
concocted, the locals say, by a group of European settlers led by Major
Sarel E. du Toit, supported by Veterinary Department officers, and accepted
in Dar es Salaam. The Government then persisted in its plan despite the
rising opposition of the great majority of the Meru people and finally
achieved the eviction by force. While the necessity and wisdom of the transfer
can be questioned, the accusations that the Government used brutal force in
the removal and directly caused great suffering and hardship on the part of
the families affected are groundless. An adequate resettlement area was
provided for them. To our lay eyes, during a tour around the mountain some
months back with a District'Officer, there seemed little difference between
the two farms previously held by the Meru and the new Kingori area. Even
if one does not accept the Government's contention that the resettlement
area is better, there is no reason for believing that it is worse. Free
transport, temporary homes and food, generous compensation and tax exemption
were also offered to the Meru. Any real hardship sustained by them was the
result of their own persistent refusal to avail themselves of the Government's
offerings. The inflexibility of the Government was matched by the stubbornness
of the tribe.
The final decision of the UN was more an approval than a condemnation of
the Tanganyika Government's action. From a viewpoint here in the Northern
Province, even those government officials who have considered the scheme
unwise, would probably have shuddered at General Assembly approval of the
Fourth Committee's resolution, based on exaggerated or untrue accusations of
cruel misrule, for such approval might have set a precedent for continued
irresponsible interference from outside in the local administration of
Tanganyika.
Consideration of the case in the UN had deepened the rift between
Government and the people. Meru hopes were raised and their resistance
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strengthened, in anticipation of UN action, while the Government was placed
in the position of countering blatantly false accusations. Right or wrong,
the Government was faced, as the smoke cleared away, with a bitter, hostile
tribe. And the task of bringing them back into a cooperative relationship
essential to their future development fell to the local District administrative
people.
Political as well as economic discontent confronted them. The forcible
land transfer had engendered tribal-wide bitterness not only toward the
Tanganyika Government but also toward the recognized Native Authority of the
tribe, Mangi (Chief) Sante. Sante, disregarding the overwhelming opposition
of his people,. had reluctantly approved the Wilson Report and had not changed
his position when his advisory council - appointed in 1949 but largely inactive
since then - opposed it. Sante, moreover, had never enjoyed great popularity
among his tribesmen. He, like his grandfather and father who preceded him as
chief, was not of the traditional chiefly clan, and had been elected at a
public meeting from two candidates. Since the thirties there had been a
campaign - once successful - to replace him with Kishile of the chiefly clan.
Some suspicion of the leaders of the age sets, who have a traditionally im-
portant position in the Meru political structure, had also been aroused.
The Leaders, unlike the Mangi, had not approved the scheme but neither - in
the common Meru's view - had they done anything to oppose it. The Meru
Citizens' Union, proclaiming the land rights of the common people, whose
legal and traditional leaders had failed them, soon became the strongest
force in the Meru country.
At'first, in late 1951 and early 1952, the Government tried to keep the
political pot from boiling over and concentrated on plans for social develop-
ment. Late in,1952, however, Mangi Sante, either voluntarily or under pressure
from the Citizens' Union, presented his resignation. This offered the local
administration an opportunity - or forced it - to deal with the political as
well as the social and economic malaise of the tribe. A committee was formed
late in 1952 to draw up a new constitution for the Meru tribe - formally
entitled the Committee to Examine the Administration of Local Government and
Local Courts Amongst Wameru. Of its eighteen members only two were British
Government officials, the District Commissioner of Arusha District, Mr. Michael
Davies, and the Senior Government Sociologist of Tanganyika, Mr. Henry Fosbrooke,
whose office is here in Arusha. The other sixteen members were all nominated
by the Meru Citizens' Union. The District Commissioner acted as Chairman and
two Meru, Raphael Mbise and tlamilielt Sabulaki, served as Vice Chairman and
Secretary respectively. The meetings of this committee, carried on in the
Meru language and Swahili, were not, of course, open to outsiders, but Mr.
Fosbrooke has very kindly given me an opportunity to read the very full minutes
which were kept in Swahili and translated into English.
The Committee held sixteen meetings between February 6 and May 18, 1953.
At the end of the eleventh meeting, a subcommittee, including the two European
Advisers and four Meru members, was appointed to draft the new constitution
incorporating the provisions which had been agreed upon. This subcommittee
met on March 20 to discuss the form of the document; Mr. Fosbrooke and the
Secretary drafted the document; the subcommittee agreed, to it on March 24;
and the full Committee accepted it at its twelfth meeting on March 26. The
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draft report was then presented to the Committee of the Meru Citizens' Union
whose representatives were permitted to attend several of the constitutional
committee's meetings (12th, 14th and 15th) to express their views on the
document. Later the report was published and circulated among the Meru, and
after a period for consideration it was discussed with the people at meetings
held in mid May at three centers in the Meru country. After a few modifications,
agreed to at these meetings, had been incorporated in the report, it was finally
accepted at a tribal-wide baraza on May 27th.
At the first few meetings the Government officials questioned the Meru
on the political and social structure of the tribe. When I asked about the
reason for this approach, Mr. Fosbrooke explained that it was intended as a
means of drawing out the members and easing the tension. Although no thorough
anthropological study had been made of the Meru, the Sociologist was able to
check and interpret the information given during the meetings in the light of
his intimate knowledge 'of the Masai and the Chagga. His interesting conclusion
was that the political malaise of the Meru derives in large measure from the
coexistence within the tribal political structure of two important institu-
tions, a mangi, borrowed from the Chagga, and age-sets, borrowed from the
1 Masai.
The Meru explained that the tribe included over 25 clans. They named
25 but were.unable to recall the names of the others. Each of the clans
(generally exogamous unitsl) holds rights over land and has the important
function of paying blood money or comrensation after a crime by one of its
members. Each clan has a Clan Leader, a Deputy Leader, a number of Helpers,
one in each village area, and another clan leader responsible for sacrifices
in accordance with old tribal custom. The committee members agreed that any
member of the clan with ability could be chosen clan leader, that he did not have
to be. from the-senior branch of the clan, but contradictory answers were given
on the way in which he was chosen. Some said he was selected by all clansmen
from the whole country and others that the Deputy Leader and Helpers would
decide on.a new Leader.
Next the extremely important role which the age-sets and their leaders -
the result of Masai influence - play in Meru political life was brought out.
There are five age sets among the Meru, followed by the uncircumcized youths.
Each age set in each of the 14 village areas (mitaa) has one or two Leaders
(Washili) each with an Assistant. The two older age-sets in each area each
have one Leader and one Assistant. The younger three age-sets in each area,
having adjusted to the influence of extensive Lutheran missionary activity, each
have two Washili, one Christian and one non-Christian, each with his Assistant.
The important functions of the Washili were elicited by a series of indirect
questions by the two European advisers. When asked who in the various areas
would decide on such matters as roads, furrows, schools, the Meru assigned
each of these duties to the Washili.
The Headman (Jumbe) for each of the 14 areas is chosen by the Washili
and Assistants of all age-sets and by the Leaders of the clans in the area -
not necessarily. from the dominant clan in the area. The Jumbe, assisted by
the Washili, then chooses an assistant. The Mangi and the District Commissioner
could veto the selection of a Jumbe after obtaining the general agreement of the
1. Marriage within the clan is permitted if the man and woman are from different
lineages, but the man must pay a higher than usual brideprice to remove the
shame of marrying his own "sister."
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Washili. That the Committee members considered the Jumbe - although chosen
by the Washili - as an executive officer of the Mangi and the Leaders as
the representatives of the people was indicated by the feeling of the
Committee that a jambe should not be an age-set leader because of possible
conflict between an order from the Mangi and the wishes of the people.
A survey presented to the Committee showed that the majority of the present
Jumbee were given rank by the Washili, only two had the rank of Leader them-
selves, and the.majority are illiterate:
When the Committee turned to the task of drawing up the new constitu-
tion, one of the members told the advisers that if they were successful they
would be remembered by the Meru as Sir Charles Dundas is by the Chagga. The
officers, when requested, described several types of native authorities, but
declined to present a plan of their own, stating that it would be better to
draw up a plan together.
The major question of the composition of the Native Authority which
would have all powers specified in the Native Authority Ordinance was
raised. The officers asked the Meru t, choose themselves where this authority
should.rest - in the Mangi, in the Council or in the Mangi-in-Council. The
Meru, as Mr. Fosbrooke expressed it, wanted both the ancient and the modern.
They did not want to abandon the office of Mangi to which they were accustomed,
but they were also - perhaps influenced by the new Chagga set-up - anxious to
have a council. Despite the insistence of several members at earlier meetings
that the Mangi should not,be simply Chairman of the Council, the Meru members
of the Committee finally agreed that the Native Authority should be a Council,
called the Meru Council, in association with the Mangi who would be Chairman
of the Council.
Early in the discussions Mr. Fosbrooke suggested that the Council should
take one of two forms: (1) a large body meeting infrequently and considering
important matters only, the 'day to day administration being undertaken by
sub-committees, or (2) a smaller council meeting monthly and handling day
to day matters itself. The Committee decided on a large council of 49
members which would meet four times a year. But their views on the execu-
tive structure were not clearly formulated. Raphael Mbise raised the question
of the position of the traditional Counsellors of the Mangi who in the old
days provided hospitality for guests of the Mangi. The Sociologist, warning
that this matter required careful consideration, suggested that if these
officers were resuscitated, it might be a good idea to have some as executives
and others in a judicial capacity so that in either sphere the Mangi could
not act according to his own personal whim. The Committee also considered
the more modern proposal of the Citizens' Union that certain persons should
be in charge of education, water etc., and after much argument decided that
these office holders should be inspectors of a sort and should not themselves
instruct dressers and teachers, since this was the work of the Government
Medical and Education Officers.
1. Briefly, the duties, as explained to the Committee, are to issue orders,
verbal and written, and pass rules which must be confirmed by Government, to
make known the wishes of the people to Government and pass on orders of
Government to the people.
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II
At this point the Sociologist suggested that sub-committees, elected by
the Council from its own members to discuss and agree on general policy,
might be the answer. The members agreed that there should be four sub-
committees: a Finance and General Purposes Sub-Committee to control the
Treasury's funds, to examine books at any time, and to advise on and con-
trol all buildings; a Social Services Sub-Committee to supervise medical
work, health and education; a Natural Resources Sub-Committee to supervise
all matters concerning agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry, water devel-
opment and tsetse control; and a Judicial Sub-Committee to hear appeals from
the courts of subordinate magistrates and to arbitrate differences between
other sub-committees and village councils. The first three sub-committees
would each have a chairman and four members. The Judicial Sub-Committee
would have the Magistrate, who is not a member of the Council, as Chairman,
a Vice-Chairman and four members from the Council.l
The Mangi would be chief Executive Officer of the Council throughout Meru
country. He, the Vice-Chairman of the Meru Councili who would replace the
traditional Chief's Deputy and would take the chair at Council and Executive
Committee meetings in the Chief's absence, the Chairmen of the first three
sub-committees, and the Vice-Chairman of the Judicial Sub-Committee would
form the six member Executive Committee which would meet at least once a
month to carry on day to day administration. The members of the Executive
Committee (other than the Mangi) would be called by the traditional name -
the Counsellors of the Chief or Wan ama - but their duties had been changed
completely to fulfill thsneeds of a modern Native Authority.
Of the Meru Council's 49 members, 42 were to be chosen from the various
mitaa, each mtaa having from 2 to 5 counsellors in accordance with the number
of its taxpayer-s.3 In adopting this formula - a modified version of a
proposal by Mr. Fosbrooke - the Committee had rejected the original proposal
of the Citizens' Union that each area have the same number of counsellors.
The candidates from each mtaa would be chosen by the Washili and the Assistants
in that village and then accepted or rejected by the people of the village.
The Committee insisted on this system which followed traditional custom,
despite the statements by the advisers that this was not democratic and that
the people should make the nominations and vote. In the long argument on
this point Gamalieli Sabulaki, the President of the Citizens' Union, supported
the Government officers' view. On another small connected point, however,
tradition was disregarded. The Committee rejected the suggestion of one member
that each age set in each area should choose one counsellor, agreeing that it
was unnecessary to follow tradition in the new setup. The other seven members
of the Meru Council - as suggested by the District Commissioner - were to be
chosen by the Council itself. This arrangement was intended to allow quali-
fied men who might not be elected - in small villages, for example - to serve
1. In this respect the Meru executive structure differs from that of the
Chagga - which the President of the Citizens' Union wanted to follow. The
Mangi Mkuu (Paramount Chief) of the Chagga is Chairman of all sub-committees
of the Chagga Council.
2. Chosen by the Council from its own members for two years.
3? An area with under 300 taxpayers would have 2 counsellors
An area with 300 to 500 taxpayers would have 3 counsellors.
An area with 500 to 700 taxpayers would have 4 counsellors
An'area with over 700 taxpayers would have 5 counsellors.
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on the Council. Other persons to be known as coopted members could be invited
to join the Council when their advice was required on a particular matter but
they would have no vote.
After the advisers explained the system and after much argument, it was
agreed that the Council should have a four year life. After two years, however,
one-half of the members chosen in the mitaa would resign. Those to stand down
would be designated after the two years by the Leaders and Assistants, who would
then choose the replacements. All seven nominated members would resign after
two years.
The Committee agreed that the Headmen of the 14 villages should be the
executive officers of the Council, without seats on the Council. This position
for the headmen had been supported by the Sociologist and opposed by the District
Commissioner - one of two instances in which their proposals differed. Each
headman would be chosen in his village by the traditional system. The Leaders
and Assistants would suggest a name to the people who could then agree or dis-
agree, and the name approved in the village would then be placed first before
the Council and then before the District Commissioner for confirmation. A
headman could be removed either on the initiative of the Leaders and Assistants
with the approval of the,Council and the District Commissioner, or on the
initiative of the Council or the District Commissioner with the approval of
the Leaders. For several meetings the Meru insisted that each headman should
have a paid assistant. On this question the European advisers again took
different positions. Mr. Fosbrooke, in an attempt to get the members to
abolish the offices of assistants, suggested that the posts of headmen be
abolished since, with no judicial functions, no seats on the Council, and
assistants to do the work around the villages, they would be left with only
one job to do - to draw their wages at the end of the month. As the result
of his continued insistence that either the headmen or the assistants should
be abandoned, the Committee finally agreed that assistant headmen were not
necessary, but the headmen could appoint and pay for assistants themselves
if they wished.
A notable feature of the new constitution was the removal of judicial
functions from the Mangi and the Headmen, and the setting up of a new, purely
judicial, wing of the Native Authority. Although Raphael Mbise - one of the
most progressive of the members - favored the continuation of the old system
with headmen holding court, the Committee insisted on three paid Subordinate
Magistrates to take over the judicial functions of the headmen. The view of
the advisers that there would not be enough work to justify payment of the
three salaries involved and that one magistrate should be appointed to go
around to hear cases in the three courts was firmly rejected on the grounds
that this system would work a hardship on the magistrate and permit favoritism.
The Subordinate Magistrates would be chosen by the Meru Council, subject to
confirmation after two years. Each magistrate, when sitting with three elders
in the villages, would exercise the jurisdiction of an Intermediate (NIN)
Court over several villages.
Above the Subordinate Magistrates there would be the Chief Magistrate,
also chosen by the Meru Council and subject to confirmation by the Council
every two years. He would have the authority of an "AN class court of
original jurisdiction, when sitting with at least three elders chosen by
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the Council, and also jurisdiction as an appeal court for cases arising from the
Subordinate Magistrates' Courts, when sitting with at least three members of the
Judicial Sub-Committee. Appeals.from the Chief Magistrate would go to the
District Commissioner. At a later meeting one member. suggested that appeals
go to the Meru Council before they reached the District Commissioner. Despite
explanations from the District Commissioner, Mr. Fosbrooke and several members
that the Council should not be involved in judicial work, he continued to
argue, but finally sat down, having received no support. Thus, the dual
executive-judicial authority formerly exercised by the Mangi and the headmen
was abandoned, and only the members of the Judicial Sub-Committee drawn from
the Meru Council would exercise both judicial functions (as members of the
appeal court) and legislative functions.
It was agreed that the constitution should be provisional. Should weak-
nesses become. apparent in the next four years, the Council could submit ideas
to Government in order that changes might be placed before the people for
their approval or rejection.
.The most controversial question throughout the meetings was the way in
which the Mangi should be selected. The advisers wanted the Mangi elected
by all the people (male taxpayers) from any clan rather than selected from
the traditional chiefly clan (Kaaya). They proposed that one candidate be
nominated by the people of each area, with the consent of the Washili; that
the Washili of all the Meru country should then choose two or three candi-
dates from among these nominees; and that finally the Mangi should be elected
by all registered taxpayers, each exercising one secret vote.
The Committee members immediately divided on this issue. One group
insisted that the Mangi simply be chosen by the Leaders and their Assistants,
stating that "Leaders and Important People" were sufficient for the common
people, and that, if an election were held, the unsuccessful candidate would
plot against the one who was elected. One member asked Mr. Fosbrooke if he
wanted to change old Meru customs, and the Sociologist replied the aim was
to support the common people and not to enforce the selfishness of the
Leaders. Another group, including the President of the Citizens' Union,
tiamalieli Sabulaki, and Raphael Mbise, wanted to consider means of allowing
the people to express their views and urged that the Mangi be elected by the
people from two candidates. Some, taking a middle course, opposed the
nomination in each village, suggesting that the people simply vote on two
candidates nominated by the Leaders.
At this point of impasse the Meru asked to refer the matter back to the
Washili, Mr. Fosbrooke, supported by two of the members, opposed this
suggestion on the grounds that the purpose of the Committee was to give an
opportunity to the common people, who had not been served by the Leaders,
to express their views, and that the headers would form a wall between the
Government and the people. It was-agreed, however, that the Committee should
consult with the Leaders, and this was done at a meeting on March 6th. The
Leaders refused to approve the proposal, and Mr. Fosbrooke later referred to
this as an example of the selfishness of the Leaders in denying the common
people a voice in government.
At the next meeting the advisers withdrew after a long discussion and
the argument continued until mid-afternoon. An agreement was finally reached
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that the Mangi should be chosen by vote and that this proposal would be put
before the people for agreement. At the next meeting the members opposed to
the vote insisted the people had turned down the suggestion, but, when the
Sociologist inquired, he discovered that ten members of the Committee had not
been present at the alleged meeting of the people. Despite the objection of
the. conservative group, it was decided - on the advisers' suggestion - that
a sub-committee be appointed to go around village by village to find out
whether voting was acceptable to the people.
If voting was approved by the people, some members wanted the polling
to take place the same day as or three days after the nominations by the
Leaders. The Government officers opposed this suggestion, and it was agreed
that the period should not exceed a week. Mr. Fosbrooke maintained that
Meru matters could not be completed quickly and that if the nominations and
polling were held consecutively the people would tire and the Leaders by
themselves would make the decision. The Committee members were emphatically
opposed to allowing candidate.s to tour the country and make campaign speeches.
When the District Commissioner inquired whether there should be an open,
election or secret balloting, Mr. Fosbrooke expressed the advisers' preference
for the secret ballot, warning that there would certainly be revenge after
an open election. The members' doubts on the possibility of secret balloting,
among a tribe with many illiterates, were dispelled when the advisers suggested
a system of using pictures of the candidates surrounded by a particular- color
and ballot cards of the corresponding colors. The Committee agreed on this -
to my knowledge, the first system of secret balloting in a British African
territory in which portraits of the candidates rather thap symbols were used.
The polling was to take place at three stations between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on
the same day. Each polling station - as suggested by the Sociologist - was
to be supervised by three scrutineers", one European Government officer and
two Meru from villages other than those of the candidates.
Mr. Fosbrooke suggested that the Mangi, once elected, should hold office
for two years like the counsellors and should then be confirmed by the new
council elected by the people. -In this way the people every two.years could,
by pledging the newly elected caanseIl ors, decide whether the current Chief
should remain in office, but the Chief would be spared the indignity of having
to campaign every two years for a popular election. Mr. F.osbrooke used the
analogy of Islamic, Catholic and Protestant marriage, the first being too
easily broken, the second indissolvable, and the third dissolvable in
cases of complete incompatibility, and suggested the third type. But the
Committee - several of whose members had wanted the Chief installed in per-
petuity - decided that the Mangi should hold office indefinitely with a vote
every two years by the new Council - whose membership would be determined by
the Leaders rather than the people - on his resuming the chair. If he failed
to be reelected Chairman, he would have to resign and a successor would be
chosen according to the procedure for the election of the Mangi.
The draft report provided for the system which the advisers had suggested
the nomination of one candidate by each village; the selection from these
nominees of two candidates by a joint meeting of all Leaders and Assistants;
and finally the secret balloting by all registered taxpayers.
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STA
The issue was by no means settled, however, with the overruling of the
reactionary element within the Committee and the completion of the draft
report. At its thirteenth meeting the Committee itself decided to delete
the section of the draft report permitting each village to nominate one
candidate and inserted instead a provision that the two candidates were to
be chosen by a joint meeting of all the Leaders and their Assistants. They
also agreed to the suggestion of the Secretary of the Citizens' Union that
the elected Mangi should be the seventeenth in succession.
Then a new attack on the popular vote was launched by other members of
the Citizens' Union, including its Secretary, and by the President of the
Meru Coffee Growers' Association, who were invited to join the Committee at
the twelfth, fourteenth and fifteenth meetings to present their views on
the draft. They insisted that the indigenous system be maintained, with
the chieftainship returned to the Ndemi section of the Kaaya clan, and
claimed that voting would not work because of widespread illiteracy and
that it would divide the people among themselves. They attacked the members
of the Committee, accusing them of self-aggrandisement, and claimed the
leaders of the Citizens' Union (Gamalieli Sabulaki, Gotthelfu, and Kalebi)
had abandoned the people.
They also, like the conservative members of the Committee, tried to
prevent village by village discussions - apparently fearing that the vote
would be approved by the people. They insisted instead on one large meeting
of all Meru to accept or reject voting, perhaps because they were convinced
that sych a meeting could be more easily controlled. The District Commissioner
opposed this suggestion on the grounds that there would not be time at one
meeting for everyone to speak and some would be too timid to ask questions.
Mr. Fosbrooke informed the Citizens' Union representatives that they had
been invited to consult on the new constitution and not on the administra-
tive details of the way in which it was to be placed before the people.
The opponents of the vote also tried to arrogate themselves the
Committee's power of decision, suggesting that "men of consequence" should
hold a meeting in the Meru language in the absence of the Government officers
and come to an agreement. They were told this was what the Committee was
trying to do, and Gotthelfu and Raphael opposed such a meeting because it
would indicate lack of confidence in the advisers. A similar attempt by
the same group to usurp the powers of the Committee had been made earlier.
The Secretary of the Citizens' Union had sent a letter to the Committee say-
ing that the matter of the vote would be decided by the Union. Mr. Fosbrooke
on that occasion had stated firmly that the Committee would receive advice
from the Union and from the Meru Coffee Growers' Association but would make
its decisions without being influenced by any one party.
Several members, including the President of the Citizens' Union,
Gamalieli Sabulaki, and Raphael Mbise, again strongly supported the new
system, insisting that the Meru on the whole were satisfied with it, and
that it was being brought into disrepute by a minority, a small geographic
section, who had assumed a reactionary position from motives of self interest.
They denied that members of the Committee were seeking'the chieftainship for
themselves. One member assured the opponents of the vote that there were no
grounds for the suspicion that Government wanted voting as a means of installing
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one Chief for the whole of Arusha District, in which case the Arusha would
defeat the Meru by force of numbers. The District Commissioner offered to
put this assurance in writing, and Mr. Fosbrooke told them the Government
had no intention of amalgamating the tribes without their consent. He also
denied that the Europeans and certain others on the Committee had an idea
who should be Mangi. He reminded them that if they really wanted to revert
to the old days, all new things should be abandoned, including coffee and
clothing. The District Commissioner insisted they had not rejected the
indigenous system but had blended it with the new, to give the Meru greater
freedom than that enjoyed by other tribes, and allow them to choose which-
ever ruler (misprinted rumour in the minutes) they preferred.
At the second of these stormy meetings, the District Commissioner
told the members that he and Mr. Fosbrooke had devoted considerable time
over a three month period and had done their best to incorporate the views
of the majority of the-tribe into the new constitution. The Committee had
turned out a workable and good constitution. If after all this time the
people still distrusted the advisers, there would be nothing but difficulty
ahead in working out something which would be of benefit to the Meru. He
strongly and openly refused to accept the position of being told where he
could go in his District to hold barazas - to being treated as a prisoner
in his own District. His whole aim was to get the constitution settled to
enable activities to go forward with the agreement of the people. He
commented on the tendency of a few to reject new ideas simply because they
were new. He appreciated that the system of voting was an innovation, but
it was not an innovation elsewhere, and he begged the Meru to have some
trust in what was recommended to them not only by the advisers but by their
own nominees, and give it a trial.
At the end of the next meeting when the argument had become even more
heated, he finally "pulled his rank" and brought the discussion to a close.
He noted that a large number had shown up at the meeting and no one had
raised a single objection to anything in the report save for the vote.1
One group favored this and the other opposed it. In assessing the feslings
of the meeting it was apparent to him that those who favored the vote were
in the majority and he therefore saw no necessity to refer the matter to
each village, as he had intended, but suggested meetings at the three centers
of Nkoaranga, West Meru and Towels.
The popular vote was approved at these meetings, but among the changes
agreed to and incorporated into the report at the final meeting of the
Committee was a provision that the acceptance of an elected Mangi did not
imply the acceptance of the vote in other matters concerning the Meru,
except by agreement with the majority of the tribe. The report thus
modified was accepted at the tribal baraza held on the 27th of May.
1. A few other objections had been raised at the twelfth meeting by
Jonathon Gideon, the Secretary of the Citizens' Union. He had insisted,
for example, that the Meru Council be enlarged to 64 members, all of
whom should be selected in the villages.
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There is one most striking feature of these discussions. There was not -
as an outside observer might have expected from the all-Citizens' Union
constitutional Committee - a united reaction against the Mangi, the Washili
and traditional processes. During the Committee meetings the members were
clearly split into two camps - the progressives, who wanted to give the
people more power in their government through Popular elections, and the
reversionsits, who seemed determined that the leaders should retain dominant
authority. When the conservatives on the Committee had been outvoted and
the Committee itself had reached agreement on a draft report providing for
election of the Chief by all taxpayers, other members of the Citizens' Union
resumed the fight against the popular vote. At both stages, the reversionist
group tried. to prevent the question from being presented fairly to the
people, and even attempted to seize the power of decision from the Committee.
This group, it should be noted, seemed to be working very closely with the
Leaders, whom the Citizens' Union had earlier criticized; they had drawn up
proposals for the new constitution in consultation with the Leaders, and,
during the Committee meetings, had insisted on referring the matter of the
vote back to them. The Citizens' Union, united on the land issue, had split
wide open on the question of the tribe's political future - its Secretary in
the reversionist camp and its President in the progressive camp.
The Government advisers were placed in the position of pushing for
democratic changes which would give more power to the people rather than
to the Leaders and the Mangi. With the support of the Progressive element
in the Committee, several advanced proposals were incorporated in the new
constitution, but a number of others were voted down. The constitution, as
a result, is in many respects more advanced - more modern and democratic -
than the old, but it retains more of the traditional undemocratic features
than the advisers or the progressives would have wished.
The Meru have moved a long way up the scale by which native authorities
are judged. A Council, rather than a Chief alone, has become the Native
Authority. The Chief has been relegated to the role of Chairman of the
Council, aid he must be elected by all male taxpayers and confirmed every
two years by the Council, rather than being installed in perpetuity from
the traditional chiefly clan. A committee system has been adopted and
separation of the judicial and executive branches has been achieved.
But greater power still rests in the. Leaders than in the people - despite
the Government advisers' efforts. The Leaders nominate headmen. They, rather
than the people, elect the counsellors and decide which ones will step down
after two years. They, rather than the people, nominate candidates for the
election of the Chief. Since the Council has the power to confirm the
Chief after two years or force his resignation, the leaders, through the
Counsellors - who dep=nd on the Leaders for reelection - might also control
the succession to the chieftainship. One wonders if the Leaders will not
continue to control the entire political setup.
When the constitution had been accepted finally and put into effect,
the Leaders chose the members of the new Council and then nominated the two
candidates for Chief - Sylvanus Kaaya, a member of the traditional chiefly
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clan and an employee in the Lutheran Mission hospital at Nkoaranga, and Raphael
Mbise, the progressive, outspoken Vice-Chairman of the Constitutional Committee.
Raphael was formerly in charge of the Mission churches and dispensary in the
area from which the Meru were evicted and is now choir leader and Swahili
teacher at the Nkoaranga Lutheran Mission.
The polling
took place inside
the barazas or
courthouse
buildings at
Nkoaranga and
Towels and the
school house
at West Meru
on July 25th.
Late that
morning,
driving up the
slopes of the
mountain over
a rutted, winding,
dirt road, we
visited two of
these stations,
West Meru and
Nkoaranga. On
Polling at West Meru
Polling at Nkoaranga
the broad lawns
in front of
each, a long
line of Meru
men, dressed
in blankets or
Europe&n shorts,
stood patiently
waiting their
turn in the booth,
while others sat
around in groups
on the ground.
At Nkoaranga we
had the opportunity
of watching,
through a window,
the operation in
the polling room
itself. Each
man entered alone
and crossed to
the table at the
opposite wall
where the two
Meru "scrutineers;
both from villages
other than those
of the candidates,
were seated. On
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the wall above the table were large photographs of the candidates, that of Raphael
surrounded by a wide border of blue paper and that of Sylvanus similarly framed in
yellow. On the table was a debbe - the ever present four gallon container of East
Africa - slit at the top, and two stacks of balloting cards, one blue and one
yellow. As the voter approached the table, the two scrutineers" pointing at
the pictures, asked him which man he wanted, never mentioning the names of the
candidates, for there might be a tendency to vote for the first name mentioned.
The voter then pointed at the picture of his choice, the scrutineers indicated
the ballot cards of this candidate, the voter placed one of these in the debbe
and walked out through another door, making room for the next voter. The
President of the Citizens' Union and another member of the constitutional Committee
were also in the room, watching the proceedings silently and carefully, and perhaps
"scrutineering" the "scrutineers." Occasionally some of the suspiciously young
men were challenged on their taxpaying status. They were not asked if they had
paid their tax this year - a question which might have given rise to suspicions
that the polling was a means of checking up or exacting more taxes. They were
asked instead how many years they-had been paying tax.
There at Nkoaranga it was a landslide for Raphael Mbise, who is now living
only a few hundred yards away on the Mission grounds. At West Meru, the "cradle"
of the Meru and center of the traditional chiefly clan, almost all the votes had
been for Sylvanus. The third area, we were told, was splitting its votes between
the two candidates. When all the votes had been tallied it was found that some
2,000 of the total of 5,000 taxpayers had turned out to cast their ballots, and
that Sylvanus had been elected the new Mangi by a vote of 1,007 to 1,164. This
was a victory of the conservative western area, from which the reversionist members
of the Committee had come, over the more progressive eastern area. The election,
like the discussions in the Committee, had clearly revealed the rift between the
two areas, of which the administrative officers had long been aware.
Raphael, who is giving me Swahili lessons, has told me that Sylvanus won
the election only through the "hila" (craft, stratagem, trick) of the West Meru
people. He claimed many of them voted once, went away and changed their clothes,
and returned to vote the second, third or fourth time. One of the scrutineers
was from `.lest Meru and deliberately overlooked the'offenders3 the other observer,
from another area, detected two of them before he was silenced by threats from
the West Meru citizens. The West Meru people, Raphael went on, even imported
Arusha to vote in the purely Meru election. A deputation from Nkoaranga confronted
the Pest Meru with this information. The latter offered to settle the matter by
paying a fine, but their Nkoaranga neighbors indignantly refused this. When they
took the news to the District Commissioner, he told them he was very sorry but if
a second election were held the West Meiu'people would cause trouble. "Let's
leave it-,".he suggested. And, Raphael told me, "We left it., Most of this
allegation, I think, is the soothing rationalizing of a defeated candidate -
expressed with the floral African imagination. The story from the government side
is that the two offenders were forced to admit their offense and reprimanded publicly
and that the defeated group, somewhat soothed by this, conceded defeat.
STAT
no bitterness on Raphael's part and no hint of plans for a
formal opposition party to win the chieftainship later on. But this does not
mean that plans are not already being made. Success would depend on winning
the support of the Leaders,and the Counsellors. Raphael thinks most of the
Leaders and Counsellors do not like Sylvanus. If this is true, or if it becomes
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true within the next two years, the Meru will elect a new chief - perhaps Raphael.
If he is wrong, there is always the possibility that he and his followers may
gradually come to think of themselves as the frustrated unrepresented minority -
a new headache for the local administrators.
One other uncomfortable question remains unanswered. Can a new political
setup, even if satisfactory to the majority of the Meru people, salve the wounds
which they feel they have suffered for the sake of land-grabbing European settlers?
Do the Meru consider the new constitution adequate compensation for the lost farms?
STAT The answerl is no. Kirilo, who returned home recently, is already
planning to travel to New York once again for the General Assembly meeting in
October. In the event that the UN does not change its position, will the Meru
forget the large European coffee plantations surrounding them here on the mountain-
side and live peaceably and uncovetously with their European neighbors? Or is
this merely a peaceful lull before another, stormier, demand for more land?
STAT
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