Back to: O level history east africa notes uganda syllabus
British Administration In Tanganyika
(Changes introduced by the British after 1919)
- Having lost World War 1 (1914 – 1918), Germany was forced to surrender her overseas colonies to the League of Nations.
- Tanganyika became a mandated territory and the League of Nations mandated Britain to administer Tanganyika on her behalf in 1919.
- They began their administration of Tanganyika by appointing Sir Horace Byatt as a new British Governor and he was assisted by four members of the executive.
- In his administration, Byatt retained the Akidas and Jumbes and generally the whole German administration.
- He was later accused of failing to put Tanganyika back on a serious recovery track and he was thus replaced by a new governor, Sir Donald Cameron in 1925.
- Cameron embarked on developing Tanganyika and he started by instituting indirect rule to close the gap between the people and government, which had been created by the Germans.
- In 1926, he established the Native Authority Ordinance and set up legislative councils on which Africans were represented.
- Africans were empowered to collect taxes, administer justice and carry out some administrative duties e.g. they were made secretaries for the native affairs to supervise themselves.
- In 1926, Cameron established the Tanganyika Legislative Council comprising of thirteen official and seven unofficial members, to formulate new laws governing Tanganyika.
- However, Cameron frustrated Africans by not including them on the Legislative council yet settlers were included and Africans only participated in politics at a lower level.
- This later provoked the young mission educated people to rise against the British rule. This brought in many problems for the British who even failed to get labour when they badly needed it.
- The colonial government had to come in and regulate wages for the Africans to be protected at work.
- In order to win the support of the Africans, Cameron gave them land which had belonged to settlers and settlers were also stopped from buying big chunks of land to set up estates.
- Cameron also encouraged Africans to grow cash crops on their own shambas to improve their standards of living e.g. the Chagga grew Arabica coffee on the Kilimanjaro slopes while in Bukoba, they grew Robusta coffee.
- Transport was developed i.e. roads and railway lines were extended to productive areas e.g. the Tabora – Mwanza and Dar-es-salaam – Kigoma railway lines were built and repaired.
- Cameron also introduced poll tax on top of the hut tax that had been introduced by the Germans except that it was now collected by African chiefs and slightly reduced rates.
- Trade was developed within Tanganyika and with outside countries and Africans fully participated. E.g. the Dar-es-salaam – Kigoma railway line promoted trade with Belgian Congo.
- Cameron also developed the mining industry e.g. in Musoma, Mwanza and Geita, gold deposits were exploited and this increased government revenue.
- The British also developed the education sector and increased government funding of education e.g. in 1925, a department of education was set up and many schools were constructed.
- Ex – servicemen, who had participated in World War 1, were resettled and their problems were looked into. E.g. they were given land that previously belonged to white settlers.
- Slave trade that had persisted in Tanganyika was finally brought to an end in 1922.
- The young mission educated elites were allowed to form political parties e.g. the Tanganyika African Association (T.A.A) formed in 1919.