Leadership and communication in the ujamaa process: a case study of Kabuku-ndani ujamaa village cooperative society
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Date
1971
Authors
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Publisher
University of Dar es Salaam
Abstract
In attempt to provide a systematic study of the ujamaa process the study on communication and leadership has been divided into six-titles: introduction, location of the Village and its social structure, production organization, leadership and authority, communication process and conclusion and recommendations. In the introductory chapter attempts have been made to describe the problem studied in relation to the conceptual framework used. In this chapter the basic contention is that the ujamaa process is an organization of social change considered as a revolution. Hence an attempt to define the basic concepts used: ujamaa process, organizations, communication and revolution. Chapter II, as suggested by its title, locates the village unit in the district (Handeni District in Tanga Region) and discusses its transportation and external communication potentials. As the village was once a village settlement, an historical review of its members ‘ education, experience and original homes has been given to help understand the nature and form of the process of organization and communication in terms of the villagers perception of their social and economic security. The significant aspects of the form of the village which result from its historical background are tribal mix, village settlement origin, high capitalization because of its main economic activity—sisal growing—and its bondage to Amboni group of sisal estates, who have loaned the village the capital they required for their enterprise with the concomitant attachment of the socialist directed village development to the capitalist group of estates. This forms the argument further advanced in chapter III on production organization. In this chapter it has been argued that this situation has added up to the above basic contradiction on which the revolution is set. For the attachment to Amboni group has set off a series of incidents which has laid a suspicious relationship between kabuku ndani ujamaa village and ambone group estates. This situation has helped to provide a source for ideological development in the villagers. However, it has further been pointed out that the leaders have not taken advantage of this situation to provide a centripetal force necessary to keep on the revolutionary spirit. In the chapter on leadership and authority it is contended that the ujamaa process as guided by the ujamaa village constitution conflicts with the present set up and function of the cooperative movement of the country and further the newly organized and politicized ujamaa democratic authority is, in a way, challenging the bureaucratic administrative authority inherited from the colonial system. This is happening because the higher level authority is, in the process of administering an organized group of farmers, falling back into their bureaucratic arrogance and pattern which produces negativistic relationships with the politically conscious community. This negative attitude results in a social distance between the villagers on the one hand and the political and administrative leaders on the other. This situation, as pointed out in chapter V, results in communication becoming more of an instructional rather than motivational force. On the other hand when this situation is looked at from the national level the peasants and the leaders may establish an alliance in their fight against external forces of economic exploitation and political ideological struggle against imperialism. This link is assumed to be working in conjunction with traditional tribal/kinship relations. However, which of the two forces (centrifugal and centripetal) is stronger between the peasants and the leaders is a problem requiring a further empirical study. This problem appears in the final chapter on conclusion and recommendations. In this chapter the basic point is that ujamaa is a process and ujamaa village leadership can be understood only if it is studied as a leadership of the whole process. Whatever is going on within the ujamaa village is a reflection of what is going on within the national organizational. What is seen as lacking at kabuki ndani-organizing the revolutionary process—is a warning of what in fact is lacking at the national level-the setting up of an ujamaa process political cadre for regular contact to establish an efficient dialogue between the villagers and the leadership.
Description
Available in print form, EAF collection, Dr. Wilbert Chagula Library (THS EAF HT471.B3)
Keywords
Villages, Rural conditions, Tanzania
Citation
Bavu, Immanueli K (1971) Leadership and communication in the ujamaa process: a case study of Kabuku-ndani ujamaa village cooperative society, Masters dissertation, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam