Saba Saba Day

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Saba Saba Day
Date 7 July
Next time7 July 2023 (2023-07-07)
Frequencyannual
Related tonane nane

Saba Saba Day on 7 July celebrates (among other things) the 1954 founding of the Tanzanian political party, TANU, the Tanganyika African National Union. Saba Saba is in Swahili which means seven seven in English. Swahili is the national language of Tanzania (and of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, the two countries whose union created the United Republic of Tanzania in 1964). Saba Saba also may refer to the Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair. The fair is held every year on this date in Saba Saba grounds near Kurasini in Dar es Salaam.

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Kenya

In Kenya, Saba Saba Day is remembered as the day in when nation-wide protests took place. [1] On 7 July 1990, Kenyans took to the streets to demand free elections. The politicians who had called for the protests, Kenneth Matiba and Charles Rubia, were arrested days before the protest day. Other organisers of the day such as Njeru Gathangu, George Anyona, Raila Odinga etc were beaten up and detained by the then tyrannical dictator President Moi.

In present day Kenya, Saba Saba has taken on a new meaning, with human rights defenders (HRDs) and civil society organisations such as Inuka Kenya Ni Sisi, Kenya Human Rights Commission, National Coalition for Human Rights Defenders, the Social Justice Centres' Working Group and Mathare Social Justice Center among others asking for respect of the constitution, an end to police brutality and killings, advocating for a favourable legal and policy environment in Kenya. [2]

On the 30th anniversary of the Saba Saba, the Kenyan police unlawfully teargassed and arrested activists who had taken to the streets to demand for basic rights. [3] Among other things, they are asking for clean water, good housing and an end to abuse from those who are in power. [4]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dar es Salaam</span> Largest city in Tanzania and capital of Dar es Salaam Region

Dar es Salaam or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over six million people, Dar is the largest city in East Africa and the seventh-largest in Africa. Located on the Swahili coast, Dar es Salaam is an important economic centre and is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swahili language</span> Bantu language spoken mainly in East Africa

Swahili, also known by its local name Kiswahili, is the native language of the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique. It is a Bantu language, though Swahili has borrowed a number of words from foreign languages, particularly Arabic and Persian, but also words from Portuguese, English and German. Around forty percent of Swahili vocabulary consists of Arabic loanwords, including the name of the language. The loanwords date from the era of contact between Arab traders and the Bantu inhabitants of the east coast of Africa, which was also the time period when Swahili emerged as a lingua franca in the region. The number of Swahili speakers, be they native or second-language speakers, is estimated to be around 80 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanzania</span> Country in East Africa

Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to the south; Zambia to the southwest; and Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, is in northeastern Tanzania. According to 2022 national census, Tanzania has a population of nearly 62 million, making it the fifth largest in Africa.

The African Great Lakes nation of Tanzania dates formally from 1964, when it was formed out of the union of the much larger mainland territory of Tanganyika and the coastal archipelago of Zanzibar. The former was a colony and part of German East Africa from the 1880s to 1919’s when, under the League of Nations, it became a British mandate. It served as a British military outpost during World War II, providing financial help, munitions, and soldiers. In 1947, Tanganyika became a United Nations Trust Territory under British administration, a status it kept until its independence in 1961. The island of Zanzibar thrived as a trading hub, successively controlled by the Portuguese, the Sultanate of Oman, and then as a British protectorate by the end of the nineteenth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zanzibar</span> Autonomous part of Tanzania

Zanzibar is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, 25–50 km (16–31 mi) off the coast of the African mainland, and consists of many small islands and two large ones: Unguja and Pemba Island. The capital is Zanzibar City, located on the island of Unguja. Its historic centre, Stone Town, is a World Heritage Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Tanzania</span> History and present of cultural life in Tanzania

Following Tanganyika's independence (1961) and unification with Zanzibar (1964), leading to the formation of the state of Tanzania, President Julius Nyerere emphasised a need to construct a national identity for the citizens of the new country. To achieve this, Nyerere provided what has been regarded by some commentators as one of the most successful cases of ethnic repression and identity transformation in Africa.

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The Anglican Church of Tanzania (ACT) is a province of the Anglican Communion based in Dodoma. It consists of 28 dioceses headed by their respective bishops. It seceded from the Province of East Africa in 1970, which it shared with Kenya. The current primate and archbishop is Maimbo Mndolwa, enthroned on 20 May 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rangi people</span> Ethnic group from Dodoma Region of Tanzania

The Rangi are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group of mixed Bantu and Cushitic heritage in the Dodoma Region of central Tanzania. In 2022, the Rangi population was estimated to number 880,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oscar Kambona</span> Former foreign affairs minister

Oscar Salathiel Kambona (1925-1997) was the first Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tanganyika from 1963 to 1966.

The Baháʼí Faith in Tanzania begins when the first pioneer, Claire Gung, arrived in 1950 in what was then called Tanganyika. With the first Tanganyikan to join the religion in 1952 the first Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in 1952 of Tanganyika in Dar es Salaam. In 1956 a regional Baháʼí Assembly which included Tanganyika was elected. Later each of the constituent countries successively formed their own independent Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly and Tanganyika, with Zanzibar, formed its own in 1964 and it and the country was renamed Tanzania. Since 1986 the Baháʼís have operated the Ruaha Secondary School as a Baháʼí school. In 2005 Baháʼís were estimated at about 163,800 adherents.

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John Pombe Joseph Magufuli was the fifth president of Tanzania, serving from 2015 until his death in 2021. He served as Minister of Works, Transport and Communications from 2000 to 2005 and 2010 to 2015 and was chairman of the Southern African Development Community from 2019 to 2020.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

General elections were held in Tanzania on 25 October 2015. Voters elected the president, members of Parliament, and local government councillors. By convention, the election was held on the last Sunday of October and was supervised by the National Electoral Commission (NEC). Political campaigns commenced on 22 August and ceased a day before the polling day.

John Mwakangale was one of the main leaders in the struggle for independence in Tanganyika during British colonial rule. When the country gained independence, Mwakangale joined the first cabinet of Julius Nyerere, the first President of Tanzania as Minister of Labour. Mwakangale is also regarded as a Pan-Africanist and a staunch African nationalist. He was also the first leader whom Nelson Mandela met in 1962 when he escaped from prison seeking assistance from other African leaders. Mandela gave a detail account about that encounter in his book Long Walk to Freedom.

Jeremiah Kasambala was one of the first ministers in the cabinet of Julius Nyerere after Tanganyika 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.

Paul Christian Makonda is the Former Regional Commissioner of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

David Bugozi Musuguri is a Tanzanian soldier and retired military officer who served as Chief of the Tanzania People's Defence Force from 1980 until 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sofia Kawawa</span> Tanzanian womens and labor union activist

Sofia Kawawa was the co-founders of the Tanzania Women's Union (UWT). She was a member of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) party and later Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglican Diocese of Dar es Salaam</span>

The Diocese of Dar es Salaam is a diocese in the Anglican Church of Tanzania. The current bishop is the Right Reverend Jackson Sosthenes.

References

  1. "Kenyans Mark Saba Saba Day the Best Way They Know How". KenyaBuzz LifeStyle. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  2. "Saba Saba Day: #MarchForOurLives on 7 July 2018 – Missing Voices" . Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  3. Makokha, Kwamchetsi (7 July 2020). "KWAMCHETSI MAKOKHA - Saba Saba and the Evolution of Citizen Power | The Elephant" . Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  4. "Police disrupt Saba Saba protests in the city". Daily Nation. Retrieved 8 July 2020.