Bibi Titi Mohammed

Bibi Titi Mohammed ( born 1926 in Dar es Salaam, † November 5, 2000 in Johannesburg) was a civil rights activist and politician from Tanzania.

Life

Bibi Mohammed was born in 1926 as the daughter of a Muslim working class family in Dar es Salaam and attended in her childhood a Koran school. After her first marriage ( at age 14 ) she first lived a very secluded life as a housewife and had her first child ( a daughter).

Through a mutual acquaintance, they became acquainted with Julius Nyerere, who aroused the interest in politics in Bibi. She shared the political ideals and Nyerere in 1955 at his request organizer of women's work, and later a founding member of the Tanganyika African National Union ( TANU ). During the political conflict, women could more clearly express their views in that time, as their men, mostly out of concern for job loss, stayed away from the political events. On most unconventional ways - for example by organizing dance classes and budget discussions - could Bibi as propagandist motivate ordinary people and especially women and Muslims to select the TANU party. Bibi alone succeeded in a three-month campaign over 5,000 women as party members of TANU in Dar es Salaam to recruit. In the later election campaign took Bibi, who was mostly known for their showy Bust popularly " Titi ", this Necknamen. Your so even more increased awareness in the population and the considerable influence on the voting behavior of women won her a meteoric rise in the TANU party, she was called to the independence of Nyerere in his cabinet as Minister of Family and Women's Affairs. In this role, she was able to fight vigorously for the further emancipation of African women. Bibi Titi Mohammed 's success as a personalized " woman of the people " took advantage of her in the following years, barely. Overwhelmed with the government's work, it became more and more involved in political intrigue and lost her seat in Parliament in 1965. In 1967, she practiced massive criticism of the autocratic dominated by Nyerere resigned from politics and protest from the leadership circle of TANU. So she had drawn the ire of the ruling elite in coming. In a political purge Bibi Titi Mohammed was arrested, accused of being one of the most prominent persons in October 1969 as traitress and sentenced to life in prison after 127 days of the hearing by the court. This show trial destroyed her private life, her family distanced himself publicly, her then husband procured a divorce. After the fall of the charismatic civil rights activist also Nyerere's reputation deteriorated in the population, in April 1972, the President pardoned the broken woman, and changed her sentence under house arrest to what was tantamount to a release.

During a stay in a Netcare Hospital in Johannesburg Bibi Titi Mohammed died on 5 November 2000.

Honors

In recognition of their political work an important street was named in the center of the capital to her.