The Tanzania Years

• Author: Albert Fiadjoe
• Profession: Professor of Public Law at the University of the West Indies and a former Dean of Law
• Pages: 28-55

28 | Telford Georges: A Legal Odyssey

The circumstances leading to Telford’s appointment as Chief Justice

of Tanzania were, to say the least, unusual. In his view they dramatize

the element of chance in the life of human beings. As important as

the unpredictability of chance, is the condition of being prepared to

make full use of it as it comes by. There are some who are well

prepared but the opportunity does not pass their way.

It was a Friday afternoon in November at about 2.00 pm. Telford

was sitting in Court when he received a note from Chief Justice Wooding

that he wanted to see him. Telford replied that he was at the moment

sitting but would be available at 4.00 pm. The reply came back that

that time was convenient. Inevitably Telford wondered what the Chief

Justice could possibly want.

At 4.00 pm he duly arrived at the Chief Justice’s chambers. The

Chief Justice was at his desk and opposite to him sat a slim dark

gentleman whom he introduced as Mark Bomani, the Solicitor-General

of Tanzania. At the Chief Justice’s invitation Bomani explained that

the President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere, had sent him to seek a

replacement for his English Chief Justice who was about to retire. It

may seem strange that Nyerere would have turned to the Caribbean

for a Chief Justice rather than to Africa. This was another instance of

the intervention of chance. At the time Nyerere was at odds with

Nkrumah, so he was not about to appoint a Ghanaian; and his

experience with Nigerian magistrates working in Tanzania did not

predispose him to appoint a Nigerian as Chief Justice. As it happened,

both Eric Williams, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, and

Sir Hugh Wooding had paid visits to Tanzania the previous year –

Williams on a state visit and Wooding, with his wife, to visit her

Ghanaian relative who was President of the East African Court of

Appeal. Nyerere was therefore very much aware of the pool of legal

talent in the Caribbean.

THE TANZANIA YEARS

The Tanzania Years | 29

Telford was clearly being pressed to accept the position. He was

the most junior judge on the Court. It was clear that Wooding had

already approached the more senior judges whom he thought might

be more suitable. But none was interested. At the same time Prime

Minister Williams was anxious to fill the vacancy with a Trinidadian,

as this would enhance the reputation of Trinidad and Tobago.

Telford did not need much persuasion to accept the offer. He had

just completed his second year as a High Court judge, and although

he enjoyed the work, he was becoming a little bored with the ceaseless

stream of crime and running down actions. The prospect of a change

was tempting. Family commitments were not pressing at that time.

His four children were still very young and nowhere near secondary

school age, so there was no concern with disrupting their education.

Characteristically, when he was asked his terms for the new

appointment, he did not drive a hard bargain. All he asked was that

his wife, Grace, a civil servant, who had many years to go before

retirement should be allowed to retire early with a pension and that

the Government buy his house which he had built in San Fernando

shortly before he became a judge. The house could be used as a rest

house for judges assigned to work in San Fernando.

Telford was, of course, aware of Tanganyika, a former League of

Nations Trust Territory, in which Great Britain had performed the

role of trustee. It had fairly recently achieved the status of Independence

with Julius Nyerere, the leader of the independence struggle, as Prime

Minister. There was some dismay when shortly afterwards Nyerere

had resigned as Prime Minister, putting his deputy, Rashidi Kawawa,

in his place. Freed from office, he crisscrossed the country waging a

political campaign preparing the country for the inevitable changes

which must follow the formal grant of Independence. But this

information was woefully inadequate for someone planning to arrive

in the country as Chief Justice. President Nyerere was quite firm that

the new Chief Justice should not arrive before the serving Chief Justice

was due to leave so that there would be no formal handing over. Telford’s

arrival was therefore scheduled for the week following his departure.

Before he left for Tanzania, Telford immersed himself in African

novels in order to have a feel for the thinking processes and concerns