Trip to Tanzania yields useful records – Nelson Mandela Foundation

Jan 15, 2008 – Ms Zanele Riba, an archivist at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, travelled to Tanzania in late 2007 to look for material on Mr Nelson Mandela in that country.

Mr Mandela went to Tanzania in 1962 to solicit support for the African National Congress (ANC) from the ruling Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) party. Ms Riba expected to find records and information in Tanzania pertaining to Mr Mandela’s activities at that time.

Ms Zanele Riba.

(Image: Nelson Mandela Foundation)

She says her expectations were partly met as “the newspapers in Tanzania reported on the overt activities of the ANC and the anti-apartheid movement.”

She adds that the African Liberation Committee, formed by the Organisation of African Unity in 1963 to support liberation movements, “has information on the ANC, Madiba and the anti-apartheid movement. Some of these records will be added to the Foundation’s Mandela Materials database.”

“I had thought I would get more information from the TANU records. (The party has since changed its name to Chama Cha Mapinduzi.) I was however unable to access these records and the records of Mr Rashidi Kawawa, former Prime Minister of Tanganyika and of Tanzania in 1972-1977, who assisted Madiba in 1962 when he was in Tanzania en route to Ethiopia, Algeria and the rest of Africa,” says Ms Riba. These records are kept in Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania, 486km (300mi) from Dar es Salaam, where Ms Riba was based and where many government offices are located.

“I was warmly received by the Tanzanians,” says Ms Riba. “They were willing to assist with whatever they could to make the visit a success. It was also good to see that the relationship built with the ANC during the struggle time was still treasured. This can be inferred from how well ANC records were kept. These records were very helpful.”

Further research visits to Tanzania are planned.