Source: DailyNews
As a little girl in 1961 when Tanganyika was granted Independence by Britain, I saw a bit of what was happening around, without really grasping the meaning until years later.

On the night of December 9, people went wild, chanting and ululating. Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere and Uhuru became households name, but more so people made them into a greeting: "Uhuru- Nyerere."

While the new flag for Tanganyika had three colours Blue, Yellow and Green, the later was called Uhuru in Kiswahili. Primary school children were given green Uhuru cups and their green colour uniform was equally named Uhuru. Time was truly ripe for independence .

But did the children of Tanzania, particularly girls, understand the meaning of the Uhuru sensation?

"We are a free country. The Union Jack and Wazungu are going back to Britain," said my mother who was working for a sisal estate as a nurse. The estate employed workers and staff of different racial background. However, as expected, the Europeans enjoyed better facilities, from decent housing to transport and grade one medical service.

"Are we now going to stay at the General Manager's residence now that Uhuru is with us," I recall asking my mother who had always struggled for her children to attend a good school and live in a decent environment.

Well, we didn't get into the general manager's house but we did enjoy the fruits of newly independent Tanganyika; free medical services, education, transport to and from school, far away from home, up to university. Girl-child education was top on the nation's agenda.

At Independence, women's rights were among the burning issues that the nation was grappling with. With their education as one of the country's priorities, vigorous campaigning for women to join schools and colleges was initiated.

It was also interesting to note that adult education groups were dominated by women. Christian missionaries too, had earlier joined in by opening girls' primary schools some of them being Usangi in Kilimanjaro and Korogwe in Tanga regions respectively.

Little did we know that education for women would generate leaders of today and tomorrow, who would champion the rights of women. Today, thanks for Uhuru and women integration into education, gender issues have been documented and many women are gradually realizing that they are free to make various decisions concerning their welfare and that of their nation.

That means they can decide on things like how many children they need and when to have them. Education too, has given women opportunity to pursue studies of their choice. Now than ever, Tanzania has women professionals like lawyers, engineers, doctors, journalists, architects, you name it and there is a woman on the wheel.

However, even as women's rights have been on the agenda, a lot more remains to be done to rescue them from longtime suffering and low ratings. It is surprising that strange things still happen to women, not in rural areas where, perhaps awareness is still low, but in urban centres like Dar es Salaam.

And below is a true story that happened to a woman, during this year' s 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence and at a time the nation was celebrating 50 years of Uhuru.

Hadia Abdi* was married to Joachim Mshanga* from Pare Mountains. Same and Mwanga districts in Kilimanjaro Region are known for the mountain ranges and are thus identified with the highlands.

In August, this year, Hadia delivered twins at a clinic in Dar es Salaam. However, due to delivery complications, she had to undergo a Caesarian Section operation. Two months later, while still nursing her wound, her husband was taken ill. Hadia's brothers in- law accused her of bewitching her husband and a brawl ensued.

They beat her up only to be rescued by a Good Samaritan who called the police. Arrests were made but the two brothers were not charged. Unfortunately, Hadia's husband passed away. The in-laws re-emerged and swore to kill her, should she ever set her foot on Pare Mountains, 'ostensibly' to bury her husband. The police were called in again to intervene and reassure Hadia of her safety before she travelled to Same.

But Hadia's family resolved that the safety of their daughter could not be guaranteed, and should thus not join the party heading to Pare Mountains. In a telephone interview, Hadia said that she was going through a very trying moment. "I'm still nursing the Caesarian Section wound and my husband's death is weighing down on me. It is sad to say my in-laws have doubled my pains. I leave the wounds in the hands of the Almighty God," she said amid sobs.

With such scenario in our midst and many more brutality on women, it is obvious that even after investing heavily in education for women and conducting awareness campaigns, gender based violence is still a serious social problem.

We know of many incidents of rape, brutal killings, beating, scandalizing women for cash, meager salaries, rejection after impregnation, false accusations and many more which need to be fought to restore hope and woman's dignity.

Emphasis then should be on more education opportunities for women for real Uhuru to make a choice on what kind of life a woman needs. If society would dig deeper in whatever source of income for good schools for girls, the nation would benefit more, after all educating a woman is educating the family.

"I'm still nursing the Caesarian Section wound and my husband's death is weighing down on me. It is sad to say my in-laws have doubled my pains. I leave the wounds in the hands of the Almighty God," They beat her up only to be rescued by a Good Samaritan who called the police. Arrests were made but the two brothers were not charged. FEMALE students at a jovial mood. Tanzania has in her 50 years of self rule strived to educate the girl child.

• Tanzania