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The Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) was the principal political party in the struggle for sovereignty in the

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

n state of Tanganyika (now

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

). The party was formed from the Tanganyika African Association by

Julius Nyerere Julius Kambarage Nyerere (; 13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian politician, anti-colonial activist, and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika (1961–1964), Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as presid ...

in July 1954 when he was teaching at St. Francis' College (which is now known as Pugu High School). From 1964 the party was called the Tanzania African National Union. In January 1977 the TANU merged with the ruling party in

Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...

, the

Afro-Shirazi Party The Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP) was an African nationalist and socialist Zanzibari political party formed between the mostly Shirazi Shiraz Party and the mostly African Afro Party. In the 1963 Zanzibari general election, the ASP claimed 13 ...

(ASP), to form the current Revolutionary State Party or

Chama Cha Mapinduzi The Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM, ) is the dominant, ruling party in Tanzania and the second longest-ruling party in the history of Africa, only after the True Whig Party of Liberia. It was formed in 1977, following the merger of the Tanganyika A ...

(CCM). The policy of TANU was to build and maintain a socialist state aiming towards economic self-sufficiency and to eradicate corruption and exploitation, with the major means of production and exchange under the control of the peasants and workers (

Ujamaa Ujamaa ( in Swahili language, Swahili) was a Socialism, socialist ideology that formed the basis of Julius Nyerere's social and economic Economic development, development policies in Tanzania after it gained independence from Britain in 1961. Mor ...

-Essays on Socialism; " The Arusha Declaration"). Julius Nyerere was the first President of Tanzania, serving from the 1960s to 1985. In 1962, Nyerere and TANU created the Ministry of National Culture and Youth. Nyerere felt the creation of the ministry was necessary in order to deal with some of the challenges and contradictions of building a nation-state and a national culture after 70 years of colonialism. The government of Tanzania sought to create an innovative public space where Tanzanian popular culture could develop and flourish. By incorporating the varied traditions and customs of all the people of Tanzania, Nyerere hoped to promote a sense of pride, thus creating a national culture.Lemelle, Sidney J. "'Ni wapi Tunakwenda': Hip Hop Culture and the Children of Arusha." In The Vinyl Ain't Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 230-54. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Pres

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Bunge elections

Note In the 1958–59 TANU won all seats the remaining 34 seats were appointed The Afro Shirazi party was the sole legal party in Zanzibar which is an autonomous region

References

External links

* http://www.tanserve.com/facts/index_files/history.htm {{Authority control 1954 establishments in Tanganyika Defunct political parties in Tanzania Parties of one-party systems Political movements in Tanzania Political parties established in 1954 Political parties disestablished in 1977 Politics of Tanganyika Tanganyika (territory) African and Black nationalist organizations in Africa African socialist political parties Chama Cha Mapinduzi Socialist parties in Tanzania