Windhoek
Dr Salim Ahmed Salim is a man whose working life was dedicated to unshackling the continent from colonialism, and as a tribute to his immense contribution to the liberation of Africa a group of scholars has put together a 110-page book, titled ‘Salim Ahmed Salim: Son of Africa’. Dr Jakkie Cilliers, Chairperson of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Board of Trustees and Head of African Futures and Innovation at the ISS, edited the book.
Salim’s interest in the nationalist struggle, and eventually his quest for a free independent pan-Africa, was awakened when at the age of 17 he met Julius Nyerere, who was visiting Zanzibar to promote the Pan-African Freedom Movement of East and Central Africa (PAFMECA).
Then a schoolboy, Salim was the founding vice-chairperson of the All Zanzibar National Students’ Organization and secretary general of the Youth’s Own Union, the youth wing of the Zanzibar Nationalist Party (ZNP). His positions in these organisations provided Salim with the opportunity to attend a rally held by Nyerere at Mnazi Mmoja, Zanzibar, in 1959.
That encounter was to influence Salim’s thinking on pan-Africanism and serve as motivation for his work that would eventually carve the path of independence for a lot of African countries, break Ian Smith’s colonial rule in Zimbabwe, end apartheid in South Africa and help attain Namibia’s independence in 1990.
“I was impressed by Mwalimu’s understanding of Zanzibar’s political situation and the way he summarised it in a deep and succinct manner … That message has remained a guiding principle in my life,” he would later say of his first encounter with Mwalimu Nyerere.
Zanzibar, Salim’s home, waged the struggle for independence from Britain, becoming an independent republic in 1963, until it merged with Tanganyika to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1964, which was renamed the United Republic of Tanzania later that year.
Salim was born on 23 January 1942 at Mwembeladu Hospital, in Unguja. At that time hospital facilities were insufficient in Pemba, his parents’ home, hence his mother had to travel to Unguja and returned home after delivery. Salim’s father was from Pemba, where he worked as a clerk in the Clove Growers’ Association; his mother hailed from Unguja – the other main island that constitutes Zanzibar.
At the age of 22, the youngest African ambassador, he represented the
United Republic of Tanzania in Egypt, India, China and the UN in New York. Salim also assumed high-level political responsibilities at home before his election to the leadership of the former Organisation of African Unity (OAU) for three consecutive terms. His dedication to Africa continued unabated as he served as chairperson of the African Union Panel of the Wise and in other prominent African institutions, such as the Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation.
Under the leadership of the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, Salim, his compatriot the late brigadier-general Hashim Mbita and others of his generation at the UN (and other global and continental platforms) are remembered for their work in the decolonisation movement and the fight against apartheid in southern Africa. Salim took an active part in galvanising support for the leaders of the liberation movements in southern Africa and contributed to the mobilisation of continental and international pressure against the apartheid regime.
Salim used his position as Tanzania’s permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) to play an integral role in enhancing the standing of the liberation movements in the organisation. For example, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 2878, signed in December 1971, was formulated directly from an earlier resolution of the UN Special Committee on Decolonization. The UNGA resolution endorsed the committee’s recommendation to enable representatives of approved liberation movements to participate in ‘an appropriate capacity in [the UNGA’s] deliberations’ regarding the liberation movements’ territories. This observer status enabled the liberation movements to more actively intervene in the debates at the Special Committee on Decolonization, granting them opportunities to present motions and influence the committee’s resolutions.
Resolution 2878 was key in that it conferred legitimacy on the liberation movements, thereby increasing their access to UN funding, material resources and its global support network. At the impetus of Salim, the UNGA’s Fourth Committee on Trust and Non-Self-Governing Territories adopted a similar policy position.
The Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola (National Front for the Liberation of Angola), the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), the PAIGC and FRELIMO were the only movements recognised at the adoption of Resolution 2878.
Later, SWAPO, the União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola), the Movimento de Libertação de São Tomé e Príncipe (Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe), the ANC and the PAC were among others that were accorded the same observer status.
From 1975 onwards, Salim also ensured that the media campaign and all related activism would place particular emphasis on the situations in the then Southern Rhodesia and Namibia to directly support the approach undertaken by the FLS coalition and the OAU.
A number of media-related initiatives directly influenced the broader dimensions of the liberation struggle.
Following UNGA Resolution 2873 of 1971, Salim secured greater capacity for the subcommittee of the UN Special Committee on Decolonization that was responsible for these investigations. Under Salim’s leadership from 1972 to 1980, the Special Committee on Decolonization increased the quality and scope of the reports, and supplemented them with technical papers detailing the nature and scope of foreign economic interest, and its role in sustaining colonialism and apartheid. These reports were crucial in that they exposed and documented the system of mutual benefit among the colonial governments, economic monopolies, multinational corporations and other foreign economic entities that operated without regard for the legitimate rights and interests of African citizens. They enabled Salim to assume a watchdog role in the UN, empowering the Special Committee on Decolonization, the UNGA and the Security Council to take firm resolutions decrying the continued economic links between colonial governments and other (mostly Western) powers. The reports’ accuracies owed a great deal to Salim’s commitment to directly engage with the liberation movements, which provided primary evidence that would otherwise have been unattainable.
Throughout his tenure with the Special Committee on Decolonization, Salim placed a distinct emphasis on strengthening and expanding the dissemination of timely, accurate information about the liberation struggle. This crucial media campaign, motivated by UNGA Resolution 2879 of 1971, was also informed by Salim’s consultations, in his capacity as chair of the committee, with international NGOs, which collectively advocated a more comprehensive and coherent media campaign. From 1975 onwards, Salim also ensured that the media campaign and all related activism would place particular emphasis on the situations in Rhodesia and Namibia to directly support the approach undertaken by the FLS coalition and the OAU.
The 1977 International Conference in Support of the Peoples of Zimbabwe and Namibia, held in Maputo, Mozambique, was instrumental in mobilising global opinion in support of the international solidarity movement and coherently aligning the actions and programmes of the various stakeholders. The conference, which was motivated by the recommendations of Salim’s 1976 ad hoc committee to the FLS countries, which among others, recommended hosting another global solidarity conference in one of the newly liberated countries, was crucial, convening over 500 delegates from a large cross section of the international community.
In his opening speech to the delegates, Salim, who served as the conference’s vice-chairperson, acknowledged the significance of the conference’s location in Maputo and highlighted that regardless of differences in methodology and tactics among the various stakeholders in attendance, there was unanimous consensus that irreversible momentum was building towards the independence for Namibia and Zimbabwe. The consequent Maputo Programme of Action, which highlighted a significant unity in purpose and objectives among the delegates, became a core part of the OAU and UN’s policy programmes from 1977 for the liberation of Namibia and Zimbabwe.
Despite Salim’s great work in the UN, he was to experience discrimination with the USA blocking his candidature for the position of the UN secretary general in 1981 despite securing overwhelming support from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the South Pacific. The US and China, in their positions as permanent members, used their veto powers against each other’s preferred candidates. The US consistently voted against Salim’s candidature, preferring the Austrian candidate, Kurt Waldheim; China voted against Waldheim, in support of Salim. The UK and Russia abstained; France voted in favour of Salim.
The protracted election process was repeated 16 times over a period of five weeks, at which point Salim asked the then president of the Security Council, Uganda’s Permanent Representative, Ambassador Olara Otunnu, to communicate to the Security Council that he did not wish his name to be considered for a subsequent vote.
It had become evident to Salim that the US was unrelenting in blocking his candidature, so he opted out to allow other interested African applicants to bid for the position in his place. By stepping down, he also wanted to show that it was unlikely any African candidate would be supported by the American administration at that time, even though there were suitable potential candidates, such as the then UN Director-General for Development and International Economic Cooperation, Kenneth Dadzie, from Ghana. In the end, Peruvian diplomat Javier Pérez de Cuellar was elected as a compromise candidate, the first UN secretary general from Latin America.
• The book Salim Ahmed Salim: Son of Africa is available from the Institute for Security Studies, www.issafrica.org.