Amir H. Jamal

Amir Habib Jamal (26 January 1922 – 21 March 1995) was a Tanzanian politician and diplomat who served as a Minister under various portfolios in the Julius Nyerere administration.[1][2] He represented the parliamentary constituency of Morogoro from 1960 to 1985,[3] and was Tanzania's longest-serving Finance Minister and led the ministry for about 12 years.

Amir H. Jamal
આમિર જમાલ
Permanent Representative of Tanzania to the United Nations Office at Geneva
In office
1985–1993
Appointed byAli Hassan Mwinyi
2nd Minister of Finance
In office
1979–1983
Preceded byEdwin Mtei
Succeeded byKighoma Malima
In office
1975–1977
Preceded byCleopa Msuya
Succeeded byEdwin Mtei
In office
1965–1972
Preceded byPaul Bomani
Succeeded byCleopa Msuya
Member of Parliament
for Morogoro
In office
1960–1985
Succeeded byShamim Khan
Personal details
Born(1922-01-26)26 January 1922
Mwanza, Tanganyika
Died21 March 1995(1995-03-21) (aged 73)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
NationalityTanzanian
Political partyCCM
TANU (1962–1977)
Spouse(s)Zainy Kheraj
Shahsultan Cassam
Children4
Alma materUniversity of Calcutta (BCom)
EthnicityIndian (Khoja)

Early life

Jamal was born in British administered Tanganyika, which was at the time a League of Nations mandate. He was born to Gujarati parents of Indian ancestry.[4] He was the son of Kulsum Thawer and Habib Jamal, a founding member of the Asian Association. He was educated in his hometown of Mwanza and pursued his secondary education in Dar es Salaam. He graduated from the University of Calcutta in India with a BCom in economics.[1]

He had intended to train as a doctor at the University of Bombay but despite his high marks, he didn't get into the medical faculty.[5] In 1942, he attended a meeting of the Indian National Congress where Mahatma Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement, demanding the immediate withdrawal of the British from India.[6] Upon graduation, he returned to Dar es Salaam and joined the family business.[5]

He first met Julius Nyerere in 1952 at a reception hosted by the British Council in honour of the latter's return as a graduate of Edinburgh University.[7] He was a veteran of Tanganyika's independence movement and in 1955, "helped to pay for Nyerere's visit to the United Nations" in New York City, USA.[8]

At first, Jamal had "leanings towards Fabian Society"; but thereafter joined the Asian Association.[9] In 1958, he was elected to the Legislative Council.[1] In 1962, Jamal joined the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) as its first non-African member.[10]

Career

Political

In 1965, Jamal was appointed as Minister of Finance.[1] Two years later, the Arusha Declaration was proclaimed and the nation adopted a socialist path. Between 1972 and 1975, he was appointed as Minister for Commerce and Industries; and in this capacity he initiated a number of industrial projects in Morogoro Region.[11] He led the Finance Ministry once again between 1975 and 1977. Following the dissolution of the former East African Community in 1977, he was transferred to the Communication and Transport docket which he led for about two years. He had an arduous task of creating new national corporations and agencies.[12] He led the Finance Ministry for a third time between 1979 and 1983.[1]

In 1980, he served as Chairman of the 35th Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group. Upon his arrival in Washington, D.C., he was surprised when IMF staff presented him with a draft for his opening speech. He politely declined saying that he had brought his own.[13] As Chairman, his instruction to invite the Palestine Liberation Organization as an observer to the annual meeting was refused by the World Bank President.[14] He denounced the IMF as a relic of World War II designed to protect the West.[15]

Between 1983 and 1984, Jamal served as Minister without Portfolio and as Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs from 1984 to 1985.[1]

Diplomatic

In 1985, he was appointed as Head of the country's Permanent Mission to the United Nations Office in Geneva.[1]

He served as Chair of both the InterPress Service and Governing Council of the Sokoine University of Agriculture. He was also the Honorary Executive Director of the South Centre and a trustee of the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation from 1978 to 1993.[1]

Personal life

He married twice and had three sons and one daughter.[1] He was a member of the Khoja community and an adherent of Nizari Isma'ilism.[16]

Jamal died on 21 March 1995 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at the age of 73.[17] According to Sophia Mustafa, Nyerere's efforts to have Jamal's remains repatriated to Tanzania were in vain.[18] Nyerere in his tribute called him a "person of absolute integrity.. never a Yes man" and was "privileged to count him a friend".[3] Prominent Tanzanian scholar and writer Godfrey Mwakikagile described him as "more of a technocrat than a politician".[19]

In another one of his books, The People of Ghana: Ethnic Diversity and National Unity, in which he has also written about Nyerere's and Nkrumah's shared Pan-African commitment and uncompromising stand against racism, Godfrey Mwakikagile also states the following about Amir H. Jamal:

"Amir H. Jamal was the most intellectual cabinet member in the first independence cabinet besides Nyerere and the longest-serving minister of finance in the country's history. He held other high-profile ministerial posts and was one of the most respected and most knowledgeable cabinet members....He was a close friend of Nyerere.

A technocrat of high intellectual calibre, he was independent-minded and the best adviser Nyerere had. He had sharp political instincts but as a public servant never did anything for political expediency. His integrity was unimpeachable. I knew him when I was a news reporter."

Joan Wicken, President Nyerere's personal assistant and secretary for decades since before and after independence until Mwalimu Nyerere's death, stated the following about Amir H. Jamal:

"Amir was a key ally of Baba wa Taifa (Father of the Nation) and had more formal and informal one-to-one meetings with Baba wa Taifa than any other minister."

Clement George Kahama who, like Amir H. Jamal, was a member of the first independence cabinet and held other posts in subsequent years under President Nyerere, had this to say about Jamal:

"The late Amir Jamal was an intellectual giant who was highly respected by Mwalimu and all of us, his fellow (cabinet) ministers, for his diplomacy, down to earth-ness and outspoken approach to local and international affairs. It was always intellectually stimulating to discuss global issues with him."

Trevor Huddleston who, with Julius Nyerere when he was a young man before leading Tanganyika to independence, launched an international campaign in London in 1959 to boycott apartheid South Africa, and was himself a very close friend of Nyerere and a world-renowned opponent of the apartheid regime and a highly respected Anglican bishop, said this about Amir Jamal:

"No one in his life in politics had a closer relationship with Mwalimu Nyerere than did Amir Jamal."

Honors and awards

Honours
Year Country Order
2014  Tanzania The Order of Union – First Class (posthumous)[20]

Honorary degrees
YearUniversityCountryAward
1973Uppsala University SwedenDoctor of Science (economics)[21]
1980University of Dar es Salaam TanzaniaHonoris causa[1]
  • With Mwalimu Nyerere (c), 1950s
    With Mwalimu Nyerere (c), 1950s
  • At a ceremony on the return of Chief Mkwawa's skull
    At a ceremony on the return of Chief Mkwawa's skull
  • Jamal (r) at the Constitutional Conference, March 1961
    Jamal (r) at the Constitutional Conference, March 1961
  • Council of Ministers, September 1960
    Council of Ministers, September 1960
  • Inspecting a project
    Inspecting a project

References
  1. Europa Publications (2003). The International Who's Who 2004. Psychology Press. pp. 804–. ISBN 978-1-85743-217-6.
  2. "Biography: Amir H. Jamal". Centre for Global Negotiations. Archived from the original on 10 August 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  3. "Amir Habib Jamal: A Tribute from Mwalimu J.K. Nyerere" (PDF). Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation. 1995. p. 95. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  4. Godfrey Mwakikagile (2006). Life Under Nyerere. Intercontinental Books. pp. 95–. ISBN 978-0-9802587-2-1.
  5. Judith Márffy-Mantuano Hare Countess of Listowel (1965). The Making of Tanganyika. Chatto & Windus.
  6. Vassanji 2014, p. 327
  7. Colin Legum; G. R. V. Mmari (1 January 1995). Mwalimu: The Influence of Nyerere. James Currey Publishers. pp. 7–. ISBN 978-0-85255-386-2.
  8. Ronald Aminzade (31 October 2013). Race, Nation, and Citizenship in Post-Colonial Africa: The Case of Tanzania. Cambridge University Press. pp. 108–. ISBN 978-1-107-04438-8.
  9. K. L. Jhaveri (1 January 1999). Marching with Nyerere: Africanisation of Asians. B.R. Publishing Corporation. ISBN 978-81-7646-091-0.
  10. James R. Brennan (29 May 2012). Taifa: Making Nation and Race in Urban Tanzania. Ohio University Press. pp. 186–. ISBN 978-0-8214-4417-7.
  11. Mtei 2008, p. 143
  12. Mtei 2008, p. 137
  13. Godfrey Mwakikagile (2006). Tanzania Under Mwalimu Nyerere: Reflections on an African Statesman. Intercontinental Books. pp. 201–. ISBN 978-0-9802534-9-8.
  14. Henry G. Schermers; Niels M. Blokker (11 August 2011). International Institutional Law: Unity Within Diversity, Fifth Revised Edition. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. pp. 589–. ISBN 978-90-04-18798-6.
  15. "Coping with world inflation". Chicago Tribune. 2 October 1980. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  16. Hirji, Karim F. (20 July 2014). Growing Up With Tanzania: Memories, Musings and Maths. Mkuki na Nyota Publishers. pp. 24–. ISBN 978-9987-08-223-0.
  17. "Amir Jamal passes away". sunsonline.org. 23 March 1995. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  18. Vassanji 2014, p. 328
  19. Godfrey Mwakikagile (2007). Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era. Intercontinental Books. pp. 664–. ISBN 978-0-9802534-1-2.
  20. "President honours 86 for selfless service". Daily News. Dar es Salaam. 27 April 2014. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  21. "Honorary Doctors: Jamal, Amir". akademiskahogtider.se. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
Bibliography
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