Saba Saba Day on 7 July celebrates (among other things) the 1954 founding of the Tanzanian political party, TANU, the

Tanganyika African National Union The Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) was the principal political party in the struggle for sovereignty in the East African state of Tanganyika (now Tanzania). The party was formed from the Tanganyika African Association by Julius Nyerere ...

. Saba Saba is in Swahili which means seven seven in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. Swahili is the national language of

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

(and of

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...

and

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...

, the two countries whose union created the United Republic of Tanzania in 1964). Saba Saba also may refer to the

Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair {{Unreferenced, date=March 2009 The Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF) also known as Saba Saba Day takes place annually on the seventh of July at the Mwalimu J.K.Nyerere Trade Fair Grounds. It is located along Kilwa Road, 8 km sou ...

. The fair is held every year on this date in Saba Saba grounds near Kurasini in Dar es Salaam.

Kenya

In Kenya, Saba Saba Day is remembered as the day in when nation-wide protests took place. On 7 July 1990, Kenyans took to the streets to demand free elections. The politicians who had called for the protests, Kenneth Matiba and Charles Rubia, were arrested days before the protest day. Other organisers of the day such as Njeru Gathangu, George Anyona, Raila Odinga etc were beaten up and detained by the then tyrannical dictator President Moi. In present day Kenya, Saba Saba has taken on a new meaning, with human rights defenders (HRDs) and civil society organisations such as Inuka Kenya Ni Sisi, Kenya Human Rights Commission, National Coalition for Human Rights Defenders, the Social Justice Centres' Working Group and Mathare Social Justice Center among others asking for respect of the constitution, an end to police brutality and killings, advocating for a favourable legal and policy environment in Kenya. On the 30th anniversary of the Saba Saba, the Kenyan police unlawfully teargassed and arrested activists who had taken to the streets to demand for basic rights. Among other things, they are asking for clean water, good housing and an end to abuse from those who are in power.

References

External links

The official website of the trade fair
Remembrance days Society of Tanzania July observances {{holiday-stub