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ABSTRACT
From the mid-1970s to the early 1990s, Tanzania experienced an unprecedented crisis characterized by high inflation, unemployment and the shortage of basic commodities. Interviews with contemporaries and the scanty documentary evidence available show that this crisis did not impede small-scale gold mining industry in Nyamongo, Tarime District. On the contrary, mining in Nyamongo boomed during this period, largely because the price of gold on the international market rose exponentially during this period. In the inflationary environment of Tanzania in the 1970s and 1980s, gold not only acted as a hedge against inflation; it also enabled small miners to have access to foreign currency and basic commodities that were in short supply in the country. But the gold riches of Nyamongo remained largely “local” because the gold economy developed as a clan-based enclave economy with few linkages to the national economy.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions. I also want to thank the editors of this journal for improving the quality of the article. Lastly, I am also deeply appreciative of the help I received from Professor James Giblin of the University of Iowa who supervised the dissertation from which the article emerged. I will be forever grateful for his mentorship.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Svendesen, “The Creation of Macroeconomic,” 63.
2 Meredith, The State of Africa, 257.
3 Tripp, Changing the Rules, 4.
4 Quoted in Meredith, The State of Africa, 257.
5 Mwanza Regional Mines Office [hereafter MRMO], File 3111, Lake Province Annual Report, 1939.
6 See, for example, Ferguson, Global Shadows; Ackah-Baidoo, “Enclave development,” 152–9.
7 Ferguson, Global Shadows, 198–9.
8 Burke, History and Social Theory, 45.
9 For more on this, see Chimhete, “The Gold Mining Industry.”
10 For a discussion of this methodology when dealing with oral tradition, see, for example, Shetler, Imagining the Serengeti, 18–25.
11 Isabel Hofmeyr quoted in Ibid. 19.
12 Jastram, The Golden Constant. This new edition was reprinted with additional material by Jill Leyland. She added two more chapters to the book to the original eight of Jastram. This is an argument made by Leyland in Chapter 9.
13 Lugoe, “The Land Factor,” 1.
14 See, for example, Jonsson and Bryceson, “Rushing for Gold,”; Bryceson, “Gold Digging Careers,”; Pedersen, “East African Microenterprises,” 2.
15 Barrick Gold Corporation and Kahama Mining Corporation cited in Lissu, “Not All That Glitters is Gold,” 12.
16 Jastram, The Golden Constant, 232.
17 For a detailed discussion of the expansion of the gold mining industry in Eastern Africa during the Great Depression, see Roberts, “The Gold Boom of the 1930s,” 545–62.
18 Chimhete, “The Gold Mining Industry,” 63.
19 Roberts, “The Gold Boom of the 1930s,” 560.
20 Chimhete, “Tanzania’ Gold Mining Industry,” 48–74.
21 Geological Survey of Tanzania [hereafter GST], File C. 646, Details of Mines, P.E. Molyneux, Inspector of Mines to the Commissioner for Mines, August 29, 1963.
22 MRMO, File 1911, Mines Department Annual Report for Area 1 Inspectorate, 1966.
23 Interviews with Juma Mwita and Matiku Kirundu, Nyangoto village, 20 May 2009.
24 Matango, “Peasants and Socialism,” 59 and 61.
25 Interview with Charles Machage, Nyangoto Village, 19 May 2009.
26 Fleisher, The Kuria Cattle Raiders, 82. Fleisher seems to have included the other smaller groups found in the region as Kuria for he says the former President, Julius Nyerere, “hailed from Kuria Country.”
27 Fleisher, Kuria Cattle Raiders, 82.
28 GST Library, STAMICO, “Large Scale Mining and the Role of STAMICO,” 64.
29 Jastram, The Golden Constant, 193–220.
30 Ibid., 201.
31 Interview with Denford Chao, Dodoma, 3 May 2009. Denford Chao was the head of the Geological Survey of Tanzania in the 1970s and early 1980s; STAMICO, “Large Scale Mining and the Role of STAMICO,” 64.
32 Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania, Majibu ya Serikali Kuhusu Hoja Zilizojitokeza Katika Taarifa ya Kamati Teuli ya Bunge Iliyochunguza Mkataba kati ya Serikali, STAMICO na D.T.T., 1.
33 Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania, Hotuba ya Waziri wa Maji, Umeme na Madini akiwasilisha Bungeni, Makadirio ya Matumizi, 1979/80, 23.
34 Interview with Denford Chao, Dodoma, 3 May 2009; United Republic of Tanzania, The Economic Survey, 1977–78.
35 GST Library, H. Bakari, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Water, Energy and Minerals, Speech delivered at a Seminar held at Morogoro, April 15–25, 1986.
36 GST Library, STAMICO, “Large Scale Mining and the Role of STAMICO,” 62–128.
37 In 1992 there were at least 145 shafts on four mining claims at Nyabigena gold deposits. See MRMO, File MM/G/81, Tarime Madine – Claim – General, Letter from P.B. Ndonde, Afisa Mfawidhi Wa Kanda, Madini, Mwanza to Kirigiti Sasi (Agent), Nyabigena Mining Co-operative, January 1992.
38 Interview with Eriya Matiku, Dar es Salaam, 6 March 2009; Albertus Karume Onyiego, Iowa City, 3 March 2012. Onyiego was one of the Luo-speaking people who were chased from Eriya Matiku's shaft.
39 MRMO, File 142, Taarifa Ya Uchimbaji, Monthly Report for August 1980.
40 Interview with Mohere Mgaya, Nyangoto village, 23 February 2009.
41 Chipangura, “We Are One Big Happy Family,” 2.
42 Bryceson, “Artisanal Gold-Rush Mining.”
43 Rohrbough, Days of Gold, 12–13.
44 Bryceson. “Artisanal Gold-Rush Mining,” 33.
45 Bryceson, “Artisanal Gold-Rush Mining,” 31–61.
46 Ibid., 51.
47 Interview with Makabara, Kewanja village, 20 February 2009. Miners were not employed by shaft owners in the strict definition of the work, but they entered into share-production arrangements/ agreements where they shared they ore.
48 Mulikuza, “The Dynamics of Conflict,” 55.
49 Fisher makes the same point when writing about diamond and artisanal mining in Mwanza Region, Tanzania. Fisher, “Occupying the Margins,” 340.
50 For details about cattle raids in the area, see Fleisher, The Kuria Cattle Raiders; For details about competition over pastureland, see Christiansson and Tobisson, “Environmental Degradation”; Fleisher, “Cattle Raiding and Its Correlates.”
51 For details about how the gold boom promoted “democratic ethos” on the Californian gold fields and in Australia, see Rohrbough, Days of Gold and Bryceson, “Artisanal Gold-Rush Mining,” 37–40 respectively.
52 Interview with O’mtima Massanda, February 18, 2009; Interview with Mohere Mgaya, Nyangoto village, 23 February 2009.
53 For a discussion on ethnic enclave economies, see, for example, Stepick, “Miami's Two Informal Sectors,”111–31.
54 Interview with Isaya Marwa, Nyangoto village, 11 November 2008.
55 Bills et al., “Artisanal Mining,” 6.
56 Interview with Wambura Mairi Wankoba, Nyangoto village, 30 November 2009; Interview with O'timma Massanda, Nyangoto village, 6 February 2009.
57 Parker, “The Mining Industry,” 18.
58 The average was calculated from the figures quoted in Parker, “The Mining Industry,” 16.
59 Ibid. Most of the gold produced in Tanzania was smuggled out of the country. For details about this, see Chimhete, “The Gold Mining Industry,” Chapter IV.
60 Engineering Associates (T) Limited, “Study of Investment Climate in Small and Medium Scale Mining in Tanzania,” Dar es Salaam, August 1991 Report, 9. Paul Jordan gives a slightly higher figure of 8500 workers. See Jordan, “Minerals Industry,” 2.
61 Bill et al., “Artisanal Mining,” 1.
62 Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania, Majibu ya Serikali Kuhusu Hoja Zilizojitokeza katika Taarifa ya Kamati Teule ya Bunge Iliyochunguza Mkataba kati Serikali, Stamico na D.T.T., 1.
63 The Tanzanian Business Times quoted in Bills et al., “Artisanal Mining,” 1.
64 Tan Discovery, “Baseline Survey and Preparation of Development Strategy for Small Scale and Artisanal Mining Program,” Final Report, November 1996, Appendix 1F-e.
65 Parker, “The Mining Industry,” 6.
66 Hollaway, “Small Scale Mining in Tanzania,” 27. In converting the amount from US dollar ($) to Tanzanian shilling (Tsh) I used the Bank of Tanzania rate, which was Tsh 350 to US 1 in March 1993. The foreign exchange bureaux rate was Tsh 450 to $1. The black market rate must have been higher than the rate offered by foreign exchange bureaux.
67 Discussion with Albertus Onyiego, Iowa City, 3 March 2012.
68 Interview with Josphat Mwita, Dar es Salaam, 7 January 2009.
69 Interview with O’mtima Massanda, Nyangoto village, 6 February 2009.
70 MRMO, File 3599, Mradi wa World Bank, Remarks by Honourable Dr. William M. Shija, (MP), Minister of Energy and Minerals while opening the Second Workshop on Baseline Survey and Development Strategy for Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining, Morogoro, Tanzania, 1–2 August 1996.
71 Interview with Mwita Juma, Nyangoto village, 20 May 2009.
72 For more information about the East African Community see, for example, Kasule, Regionalism in Africa.
73 Interview with Mrs. Muhochi, Nyangoto village, 15 February 2009.
74 Interview with Arphaxard E. Chacha, Mrito village, 28 February 2009.
75 In 1991, $1 was worth Tsh 240 in the official market. Parker, “The Mining Industry,” 6.
76 For cultural reasons women in Nyamongo were not allowed to enter mine shafts to dig for gold, rather they bought gold ore from diggers, processed it and sold the refined gold to traders. Interview with Kirundu Matiku, Nyangoto village, 23 February 2009.
77 Ndimba, “Girls Primary Education in Rural Areas,” 81. She attributed early marriages in this area to the fact that “the boys from this area have plenty of money.”
78 Interview with Bwana Mtongori, Mrito village, 21 February 2009.
79 Interview with Marwa Ikwabe, Borenga village, Serengeti District, 15 May 2009; Interview with Julius Range, Kewanja village, 5 February 2009; Interview with Kirundu Matiko, Borenga village, Serengeti District, 15 May 2009.
80 Interview with Marwa Mikwambe, Nyangoto Village, 15 May 2009.
81 Interview with Gedion Magaga and Chacha Mkoba Mlagiri, Kerende village, 12 June 2009.
82 Interview with Phillimon Gotora, Tarime Township, 8 May 2009.
83 Interview with Rajabu Ally, Kerende village, 8 November 2008. Rajabu was a practicing Muslim.
84 Tonkin, Narrating Our Past, 109.
85 Ihande Maki, etal, Historia ya Wanyamongo (Waracha), 17 May 2009.
86 Interview with O’mtima Massanda, 18 February 2008.
87 Interview with Mohere Mgaya, Nyangoto village, 23 February 2009.
88 Pedersen, “East African Microenterprises,” 2.
89 Bryceson, “Artisanal Gold-Rush Mining,” 55. See also Bryceson, “Gold Digging Careers.”
90 Maliyamkono and Bagachwa, The Second Economy in Tanzania, x.
91 Barrick Gold Corporation and Kahama Mining Corporation cited in Lissu, “Not All That Glitters Is Gold,” 12.
92 GST, File [no file number] Mwanza Zone Report, presented at the Mineral Officers’ Meeting held in Dodoma from 8 to 10 May 1985.
93 Barrick Gold Corporation and Kahama Mining Corporation cited in Lissu, “Not All That Glitters Is Gold,” 12.
94 Wilson Kaigarula, “Salary Discrepancies in the Public Service,” The Guardian, 31 May 2009.
95 Ian Scoones, “Zimbabwe's Gold Rush Livelihoods for the Poor or a Patronage Economy, or Both,” https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2014/01/27/zimbabwes-gold-rush-livelihoods-for-the-poor-or-a-patronage-economy-or-both/, accessed 25 November 2017.
96 Roberts, “The Gold Boom.”