Nyerere consistently claimed that the maintenance of order was the first requirement of the new state of Tanzania. Before taking power, he had emphasized that the creation of stability would have primacy in the structuring of Tanganyika: 'There will be no change in T, ANU's attitude to law and order, except to enforce even more respect for law and order.' Nyerere was also sensitive to the fears of the European settlers whose skills as officials and administrators Tanzania still needed. He wanted to assure them that disorder would not be tolerated in the new state.
Nyerere's hard line has to be viewed in context. It was certainly the case in all the emergent African states that the breakdown of civil order was the greatest threat to their development. Vivid in the minds of leaders like Nyerere was the tragedy of what had been the Belgian Congo. Becoming independent in 1960 on the withdrawal of the Belgian colonial administration, the Congo had swiftly collapsed into violent disorder. Regional and tribal rivalries became so destructive that UN forces had to move in to attempt to restore some semblance of peace. Given the immediacy of those events in the Congo, it was understandable why Nyerere should have demanded effective government control in Tanganyika and Tanzania as a central requirement, even if that meant repression of opposition.
Nyerere strengthened his argument by asking that his country should not always be judged in reference to western European values. He rejected the notion that Africa had to meet standards set by outsiders. Africa's peoples were entering a unique phase in their development. They had to have the time and freedom to develop in their own way.
World History
