Self-Government and Independence
Although Turnbull had made a major adjustment in Twining's policies, he did not set out a timetable for self-government and independence, and there are indications that he did not expect things to move as quickly as they did. He was, however, prepared to introduce a minority of TAN U-supported elected members into the Executive. Council (soon to be renamed the Council of Ministers) in 1959, five years before Twining had envisaged such a change.
Nyerere was willing, for the time being, to accept the fact that unofficial members on the Executive Council would constitute a minority. Neither he nor other TANU leaders were willing to accept the notion that racial parity be the basis on which they were chosen. Finally it was proposed that the unofficial minority be enlarged from three to five, of which three were to be Africans, one Asian, and one European. The proposal was accepted by the Tanganyika Elected Members Organization (TEMO), formed by TANU and TANU-supported European and Asian members of the Legislative Council. TEMO had been put together by the unofficial members as a parliamentary opposition and had apparently succeeded in developing considerable cooperation among European, Asian, and African members; its leader was Nyerere, its deputy leader Derek Bryceson.
At the time of the formal announcement of the new constitution of the Council of Ministers in March 1959 nothing further was said about a timetable for self-government, but the Post-Elections Committee was appointed to consider further developments. In December 1959 Turnbull, in a speech to the Legislative Council, said that the Secretary of State for the Colonies had agreed to the committee's recommendations that the next Legislative Council should consist of an elected majority comprising fifty members elected from open seats in fifty constituencies.
Some of these constituencies would elect two members, and a few would elect three. These additional seats would he reserved for Asian or European candidates, thus giving eleven seats on the council to Asians and ten to Europeans. All voters would vote for all candidates the common roll). Requirements for voting were made less stringent, and the registered voters could number about 1 million.
Turnbull's speech also included the announcement of another major step toward self-government. The Council of Ministers to he formed after the election of August 30, 1960, was. for the first time, to be based on an unofficial majority. In April 1960 details were announced: nine elected ministers and a chief minister were to represent the unofficial side; the deputy governor and two civil service ministers (in the event, the attorney general and the minister for information services) were to constitute the official side.
In the election TANU candidates were unopposed for fifty-eight of the seventy-one seats, and they lost only one of the other thirteen. Immediately thereafter the governor appointed Nyerere as chief minister and, on his advice, chose an additional nine unofficial members as ministers. Nyerere accepted the appointment and indicated that he expected full independence in 1961.
Talks between Nyerere and lain MacLeod, the colonial secretary, in Dar es Salaam in March 1961 led to the announcement that full internal self-government would begin on May 15. 1961. After this date Nyerere became prime minister and presided over the Council of Ministers composed wholly of elected members. The governor retained control of foreign affairs and the military,' but he had only a titular role as head of state with respect to internal matters. The interval between full self-government and complete independence was very short, On December 9, 1961, Tanganyika became fully independent.
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