Ankündigung:Gedenkveranstaltungen des Maji Maji-Centenary Comittees und der Universität Dar Es Salaam im August 2007 in Tansania zum Abschluss des Maji-Maji-Jahrhunderts |
|
CONCLUDING THE MAJI MAJI CENTENARY (1905/7-2005/7) KIPATIMU-NANDETE August 1-8, 2007 1. Introduction The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) in collaboration with Lindi Region are organizing the closing-up ceremony of the Maji Maji War centenary to be held at Kipatimu Division, Kilwa District, Lindi Region in early August, 2007. Maji Maji is one of several wars our forebears fought in order to resist German colonial domination. Through the wars, our ancestors demonstrated their supreme commitment in defending and maintaining their sovereignty. They resisted to be pushed around and ordered by German colonialists on how to live, what to produce and whom to worship. They attempted diplomatic means of avoiding the inhuman suppression but in vain. That is when they resorted to armed struggles, the most popular and spatially extensive of which was the Maji Maji War. The War took a little over two years, from July 1905 to August 1907. It started at Nandete, Matumbiland, northwest of Kilwa district but it soon spread, like bush fire, all over southern Tanganyika . Many ethnic groups including Matumbi, Mwera, Makua, Makonde, Ngindo, Ngoni, Ndendeule, Matengo, Pangwa, Bena, Hehe, Pogoro, Vidunda, Rufiji, Ndengereko and Zaramo joined the fight. Although technically the Tanganyikans lost the war and got immersed into multiple postwar agonies, they won in one aspect: delivering their message to the Germans that they are opposed to colonial domination. Maji Maji War was, by all measures, a noble undertaking as it aimed at restoring dignity of all Tanganyikans. It thus deserves a dignified commemoration by anyone who cares for human respect, dignity and equality. Commemoration for the Maji Maji centenary was launched by His Excellency Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete the President of the United Republic of Tanzania on 27 th February 2006 in Songea, the only place in the country where there is a museum committed to the Maji Maji War and where the local people have been commemorating the hanging of Maji Maji heroes every year since 1980. In concluding the centenary the organizers have decided to hold the event in Kipatimu Division, Matumbiland, where the War started. 2. Why Kipatimu-Nandete? 2.1 Nandete, the village which triggered this noble war on 15 July 1905 is located in Kipatimu Division; 2.2 Kipatimu is the biggest centre in Matumbiland with relatively easy road and cellular-phone accessibility; 2.3 Kipatimu is logistically better served with services such as hospital, tape-water, guest houses, and shops; 2.4 While in Kipatimu, participants of the centenary celebration will be able to witness important Maji Maji–related phenomena including:
3. Why August? By August 1907 the Germans became comfortably certain that the War had been suppressed over the entire war zone of southern Tanganyika . That is why August is taken to be the official end of the war, and hence the end of the centenary. 4. Activities 4.1 Pre-August Activities
4.2 August 1-8, 2007Activities This will be a one week event, coinciding with the Nane Nane celebrations held Regionally at the same place, Kipatimu. However, major Maji Maji-related events will feature in the last three days, i.e., August 6-8 with the following activities:
4.3 Post-August Activities
5. Participants at the August 2007 Event The event will be open to the public and at everyone’s own cost. However, a few participants will be officially invited on the basis of their status. These will include National leaders, Diplomats, representatives from the other six Regions which participated in the Maji Maji War namely, Dar es Salaam , Coast, Morogoro, Iringa, Ruvuma , and Mtwara; local historians from Lindi and the other six Regions; and organizing committees from national to village levels. 6. Organizers The celebration is organized by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Dar es Salaam in collaboration with Lindi Region while specific co-ordination is handled by two committees: the National Maji Maji Centenary Coordination Committee and a Special Centenary Closing-up Coordination Committee, constituted by Matumbi people living in Dar es Salaam together with other patriots from the various tribes involved in the war. The two Committees work hand-in-hand with Regional and District committees Chaired by Hon. Said M. Sadik RC Lindi and Hon. Noordin Babu DC Kilwa, respectively.
THE UNIVERSITY OF DAR ES SALAAM FACULTY OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Dar es Salaam is organising a conference on the Maji Maji War, to be held at the Mlimani campus from 3 rd to 4 th August, 2007 . The conference is part of centenary celebrations commemorating the Maji Maji, a series of connected wars fought during 1905 – 1907 between people in modern day southern Tanzania on one hand and German colonial forces on the other. The centenary celebrations started formally with an official launching at the national level in Songea in February, 2006. Major events during the launching ceremony included a local historians’ workshop, exhibitions at the Maji Maji museum, a guard of honour performed by the TPDF and a public rally addressed by the President of the United Republic of Tanzania at the Maji Maji stadium. The 2007 conference will be part of centenary closing celebrations, to be held nationally in Kilwa District, starting on August 1st. The planned climax event is a public rally to be held on August 8 th at Kipatimu, which is close to Nandete where one of the early uprisings leading to the war occurred. Scholars interested in presenting papers at the conference are cordially invited. The 2007 Maji Maji conference will be a multidisciplinary meeting. Therefore papers addressing the war may take various disciplinary orientations and theoretical perspectives. Paper abstracts should reach the undersigned by the end of March, and final papers by June 30 th, 2007 . Good papers will be published either as conference proceedings or in a special issue of the journal Tanzania Zamani, published jointly by the Department of History, UDSM and the Historical Association of Tanzania . Please direct all inquiries about this conference to: Coordinator, Maji Maji centenary Conference, University of Dar es Salaam, Department of History, P. O. Box 35050, Dar es Salaam, E-mail: yoseq@uccmail.co.tz, Tel. 255-022-2410397
|
