Tanganyika: Island of Peace

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Making Haste Slowly. Biggest immediate problem facing Nyerere is Tanganyika's economic malnutrition. Average per capita income for the country's 9,240,000 people (all but 139,600 of whom are black) is only $55 a year. Periodic famine is a fact of life; only one-third of the country is arable. Industrial development is difficult because the huge deposits of iron ore, coal and columbite in southwest Tanganyika are far from transport. Encouraged by Nyerere's moderation and his strongly pro-Western attitude, the Western nations have enthusiastically agreed to finance a $67 million development program drawn up by Finance Minister Vasey. Nyerere has said that he will seek British Commonwealth membership. But extremists think that Nyerere is progressing too slowly, and independence leaves a large gap in the civil service brought about by the quitting of British civil servants. Dissident labor unions feel that uhuru should bring fat across-the-board wage boosts. Realistically appraising the future, Nyerere says: "Our policy is to make haste slowly, but it may be hard to sell this to the people. Freedom to many means immediate betterment, as if by magic. We are not magicians. But unless I can meet at least some of these aspirations, my support will wane and my head will roll just as surely as the tickbird follows the rhino."