HISTORY OF MASS MEDIA IN TANZANIA

Tanzania is one of few countries in sub-Saharan Africa where the press is predominantly presented in the official and national language of the country (which happens to be Kiswahili—hereafter Swahili) where the readership is fully literate in that language. There are reasons for this that are exclusive to Tanzania, as the country has experienced historical events that have not occurred elsewhere. Swahili is a Bantu language with a very large amount of Arabic loan words, which entered the language due to the influence of traders from Yemen and Oman. An understanding of the forces that have brought about these unique circumstances in Tanzania would shed light not only on the country in question but on much of the rest of sub-Saharan
Africa, where the press remains very predominantly in the languages of colonial legacy— English, French, or Portuguese.

Social and Historical Circumstances

Tanzania is a union of Tanganyika (the mainland) and Zanzibar (known as Unguja in Swahili), which was established in 1964. Each had earlier received its independence from Britain (Tanganyika in 1961, Zanzibar in 1963). The mainland is very typical of sub-Saharan African countries, composed of several major ethnic groups (Wasukuma, Wanyamwezi, Wahaya, and Wachaga) and many smaller ones such as the Wazaramo around Dar-Es-Salaam (DSM), the capital. The overall literacy rate is nearly 68 percent with only 57 percent of woman considered literate versus over 79 percent of men. The political capital is now Dodoma, but while the legislative assembly meets there, DSM remains the commercial and educational nerve center of the country as well as the main port of entry. Zanzibar, on the other hand remains far more homogeneous linguistically. The islands are made up of exclusively Swahili speaking communities whose ethnic identities are somewhat ambiguous with subtler distinctions. Swahili as a vehicular language has been present in Tanzania for many centuries. Its strongest presence has been along the coast and adjacent islands due to Arab immigration and traders who went very deep into the interior, as far as the Congo (formerly Zaire) and Malawi. On the mainland 45 percent are of Christian faith with 35 percent being Muslim and the remaining 20 percent having indigenous beliefs. However, on Zanzibar the population is very nearly 100 percent Muslim. The coastal as well as island Swahili communities who had been indoctrinated into Islam acted as interlocutors between the Arab traders and the African populations in the interior. Thus Arab incursion into the African interior from the Tanganyika coast was the first engine for the spread of Swahili.
Two events during the period from the late 1800s through the end of the First World War, the period of German colonial occupation of Tanganyika, constituted the second engine for the spread of Swahili. One was the Maji Maji Revolt and the other was the Germans' language policy for Tanganyika. The Maji Maji Revolt was the first African uprising against colonial rule, in this case German, in which Swahili as a language provided a unifying force. The German colonial policy was to adopt Swahili as a vehicular language for inter-ethnic communication, and communication between the African population and German colonial administrators.
The third engine was the union between the islands of Zanzibar and Tanganyika soon after their attainments of independence from Britain, to form what has been known since 1964 as Tanzania. Despite a common name the two have developed somewhat differently, and continue to have different political and economic cultures. In spite of almost perpetual political turmoil in Zanzibar, it has remained economically more affluent, and has guarded its economic well being rather jealously. Its primary and continuing impact on the union has been its promotion of the Swahili language. President Julius Nyerere was not unaware of the significance of this language to the success of the union.
The fourth and perhaps most significant event that cemented Swahili as a bona fide national language was the late President Nyerere's edict to establish the language as the official as well as the national language. Swahili replaced English as the language of instruction through the secondary school level with a strong Swahili language department at the University of Dar-Es-Salaam and an equally viable Institute of Kiswahili Research (Taasisi ya Uchunguzi wa Kiswahili, TUKI), now incorporated into the university system. This sudden linguistic change was facilitated by two factors. One was the centuries of slow but steady spread of Swahili throughout the country. Swahili was already a national vehicular language at independence. The other was President Nyerere's and his Party's (Tanzania African National Union, TANU) absolute commitment to an African cum Tanzanian cultural and economic renaissance distinct from the colonized precedent. An African language, Swahili in this case, was essential. President Nyerere's thrust was considered a failure economically but a success socially and linguistically.
The undercurrents of ethnicity were not eliminated but muted. There was no serious intention to eliminate English. It retains a strong presence at all levels of society. Society at large, including the government, would not want to eliminate the skill and benefit of a world language even if imposed by historical accident. This is true for all Anglophone African countries even as they attempt to undergo a renaissance of their own. A modern Tanzanian generally emerges as at least a trilingual in an ethnic language, Swahili, and English. Tanzania's literacy rate is fairly high for the region, and typical Tanzanian is very likely to be literate in both Swahili and English. There is therefore a large readership for both these languages. The number and language of the daily newspapers and periodicals confirm this linguistic dichotomy with a noticeable advantage to Swahili language publications.