Jeremiah Kasambala Explained

Jeremiah Kasambala was one of the first ministers in the cabinet of Julius Nyerere after Tanganyika (now part of Tanzania) won independence from Britain on 9 December 1961. He rose to prominence when he was the head of the Rungwe African Cooperative Union in Rungwe District in the Southern Highlands Province.^{[1] [2]}

The Rungwe African Cooperative Union Ltd, successor to the Mwakaleli Coffee Growers Cooperative Society was one of the largest farmers' unions in the country.^[3] Like the other agricultural cooperatives, it played a major role in mobilising its members and other people in the 1950s to support the struggle for independence which was led by the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU).^{[4] [5] [6]}

TANU was the largest political party in the country. It was formed in Dar es Salaam, the colonial capital of Tanganyika, on 7 July 1954. Nyerere was elected president of TANU.

During the sixties, Kasambala served in different capacities in the government under President Nyerere, including being minister of trade and cooperatives, a portfolio that reflected his background as a leader of the cooperative union in Rungwe District; and minister of industries, minerals and energy among other posts.^{[7] [8] [9]}

Notes and References

1. [Godfrey Mwakikagile|Mwakikagile, Godfrey]
2. Mwakikagile, Godfrey, Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era, New Africa Press, Pretoria, South Africa, Fifth Edition, (2010), p. 103
3. Lyimo, F. F., Rural Cooperation: In the Cooperative Movement in Tanzania, African Books Collective (2012), p. 37, https://books.google.com/books?id=A1T5bf1FqbMC&pg=PA37 (Retrieved 5 May 2019)
4. Klugman, Jeni; Neyapti, Bilini; and Stewart, Frances; Conflict and Growth in Africa, Vol. 2: Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, Development Centre Studies, OECD, Paris, France, (1999), p. 79
5. Lyimo, Francis Fanuel, Rural Cooperation in the Cooperative in Tanzania, Mkuki na Nyota Publishers, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, (2012), p. 37
6. Illife, John, A Modern History of Tanganyika, Cambridge University Press (1979), p. 288.
7. Tanganyika News Review, Volumes 1 – 15, Tanganyika Information Services, Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika, 1961, p. 14
8. Africa Report, (1965), p. 30
9. EAPH Political Studies, Volume 3, East African Publishing House, Nairobi, Kenya, (1967), pp. 128, 227