Tanzanians have an interesting story to tell about their origin. It is a fact that the instability in the earth crust during primeval times did split East Africa from mainland Africa by the great Rift valley. One of the sites with most favourable conditions in the valley, turned out to be the cradle of humankind. This is an early ape like creature whose footprints and skull were discovered by the Leakeys in 1959 and 1979. These evidences, which are products of archaeological discovery about the earliest ancestor were, obtained from the Olduvai Gorge and Laetoli. These areas were some of the habitats of the homo habilis and homo sapiens the old Tanzanians who could think and make stone tools. Important artifacts and the bones of the origin of the human species which were left behind have been estimated to be 1.75 million years old.

Moreover, similar landmarks have been made through excavation of historical sites at Isimila in the Southern Highlands where old stone age tools, commonly referred to as hand-axes can be seen today. The Kondoa-Irangi cave paintings by such ancestors and the Engaruka traces of both blacksmithery and irrigation works are further evidences of early human presence in Tanzania during the distant past.

It is better to be optimistic and assume that from here, some descendants dispersed worldover and later came back to Tanzania to join their sisters and brothers who had remained on this land. Now these came back as either warriors, farmers, pastoralists, settlers, invaders, refugees, colonisers, traders, explorers missionaries or as slave masters. Most of these people form the present population of Tanzania including over 120 mega-ethnic groupings (99%) excluding minority groups from Europe and Asia (1%)

With constant instability and civil strife in neighbouring lands now as well as has been historically, Tanzania is a safe haven of peace for immigrants. Refugees from both the Niger-Benue confluence in West Africa, Bahr el Ghazal in the Sudan and Shungwaya disperal areas in Kenya found homes in Tanzania between the 3^rd and 13^th centuries. Todate, she is still receiving and caring for thousands of refugees from Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia and Democratic Republic of Congo. This phenomenon has a significant impact on the size of the country's population, resources and environment. The number of these refuguees ranges between 500,000 and 1,000,000. The refugees have caused incalculable damage to this country. Due to the need for food; water and fuel, almost all water sources and all natural vegetation within and around the refugee camps have been destroyed. As a result most of these sites have been virtually turned in to bare land of semi desertic conditions.

Killings, thefts and other ills have been committed by some refugees thus causing social disorders and flight of peace from among Tanzania citizens. The government of Tanzania; the Organization of Africa Unit (OAU), the UNHCR and UNICEF are doing their best to acclimatize these refugees so that when ideal time comes, they are repatriated to their countries.

To the global community, the refugee problem is yet another area which calls for more support to Tanzania to enable these refugees line like other human beings as well as bringing peace in their home countries so that they are livable places.

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Analysis of Economic Situation

Relevant to this reality is the fact that Tanzania is among the least developed countries (LDCs) of the world. The facts which speak for themselves in this respect are handful. Tanzania's Human Development Index (HDI) is ranked 147^th out of the 174 countries. Out of her 32.0m people, 50% are hardly accessible to safe water. One out of five children born, one dies before the age of 5. The GDP is around U$D 150 (1998) while the country's population growth rate of 2.8% is marginally traced above economic growth which was 3.3% (1997). Actualizing from this scenario are the constant and high inflation, rising underemployment and severe decline in performance in social sector. In this situation, Tanzania is going through a testing period. Some of the government deliberate responses include liberalizing the economy to give a chance to the private sector to fully play its part. Since 1996, todate for example, the employment by this sector has reached 2.4%.

The rural population is a cocktail of nomadic pastoralists, small scale farmers, peasantry population who lead a hand-to-mounth life; mixed agriculturists and large scale farmers. With arid and semi arid land constituting 35% of the country area now under nomadic pastoralism, only 18% of the arable land is under cultivation. This makes Tanzania a country with a spare land available with a productive potential. A combination of climatic, political, cultural, administrative and technological problems have forced Tanzania to currently diversify her economy. Thus the unfavourable economic indicators of the pre-reform era are being shaken. The export of non-traditional commodities rose from 25% to 51% between 1996 and 1997. The GDP of 3.3% has been sustained above population growth of 2.8%, inflation rate has been controlled to the level of 12.1% (1998) from 30% (1990). Tanzania has a be wildering external debt stock of U$D. 9.4 between (1998) which drains over 35% of her export earnings. However, multilateral relief fund has helped to stabilize exchange rates; and attract more investment in social and economic sectors.
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Colonial Trace

Before colonial invasion, the indigenous people had built up formidable political systems and institutions. These were either kingdoms, chief-doms or social orders such as the Maasai Age-set rule. The Nyamwezi people under chief Mirambo, the Hehe under chief Mkwawa and a series of kingdoms among the Chagga and the Haya people are some of such developments recorded.

It is from some of these institutions that resistance to colonial domination, subjugation and exploitation emerged from late 19^th century to the 20^th century. For instance, in 1905-7, through the famous "Majimaji War" the people in the Southern part of Tanzania took up arms and fought the german rulers there. Helped by the world wars, eventually, the local people kicked the Germans out of Tanganyika. Traces of historic exotic artifacts have been made as evidences of the interactions between Tanzanians and the rest of the world societies. The Periplus of the Erythrean sea, for instance, puts clear the record that from early that East African coast had strong political developments.

Further Arabian influence in the country is recorded since the 7^th century after the Birth of Christ. The occupation of the Isles and the Coastal areas by Asian societies did culminate in a systematic inhuman slave trade. Tired of cosmetic political changes in Zanzibar, the "Zenj" people evicted the Arabian rulers in 1964 through an armed revolution.

Similarly, after a protracted occupation by the unsuspecting traders, explorers and missionaries from Europe since the 15^th Century Tanzania found itself being subjected to systematic colonial domination by Germany and Great Britain at different times before 1961. The Great Berlin conference of 1884 was the springboard of all what had happened for subjugating Tanzania and Africa.

During the domination of Tanzania by Germans, British and Arabs, the indigenous people were decimated, lost their destiny and cultural identity, were economically exploited and their technology disrupted. However, the worst evil of all committed by colonialists has been their wishful intent to discourage individual initiative to venture, discover, make attempts and to fabricate. The outcome is the current dependency status!

As early as 1950's different, but very interesting forms of modern struggles for independence were being created. For example the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), a political party already was a force to reckon with by 1954 under the able leadership of Julius Kambarage. Nyerere. It is under the same political party that Tanzania got rid of British domination to Independence in 1961. In Zanzibar, the Afro Shirazi Party emerged late in the 1950's and topled the arab rule on the island in 1964. Tanganyika and Zanzibar United in that year to form the United Republic of Tanzania.

Between 1964 and 1995, the country was under domination of one party political rule which was fostering "Ujamaa", the African socialist orientation of the country.

With a population of almost 300,000 (1998) Dodoma which is located at a distance of 309 km west of Dar es Salaam, is the country's political capital. Dar es Salaam is the country's commercial capital. Other big urban centres include Arusha; Moshi, Tanga and Mwanza to the north of the country, Morogoro in the east; Mbeya and Iringa, to the west. Tabora and Shinyanga are also important economic hubs in central Tanzania.

Kiswahili and English are the Official languages, however the former is the national language. While Kiswahili is the medium of instructions at primary school level; English is medium at Higher educational levels.

ashante sana to the Tanzanian Government

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