Early life As she was growing up in the
Matumbi tribe, her father refused to send her to school, because he feared she would lose her Muslim faith. After her father died, her mother decided to send her to school, because she saw the importance of an education for a young woman.
Political career Bibi Titi Mohammad began her public career as the lead singer in a
ngoma (a dance and music group), where she celebrated the birth of the prophet
Mohammed during
Maulidi. In the 1950s, after
World War II, she started to get involved with the
nationalist movement in Tanzania and on July 7, 1954,
TANU was created by
Julius Nyerere. She became a close friend of his, after being introduced to him in 1954 by the driver of a family cab. In 1955, Mohammed became the chairperson of the 'Umoja wa Wanawake wa Tanzania' (UWT - United Women of Tanzania), which was the women's branch of TANU. Within three months of her coming into the position, she was able to enroll more than 5000 women into TANU and helped play a major role in the fight for independence against British colonial rule. Mohammed was able to bring the UWT's ideas to the masses and also unified women against colonialism by giving them one voice. Seen as in instigator of protests, she was put on trial for plotting to take over Tanzanian government. Tanzania's first
treason trial was held, and after a 127-day trial, Mohammed was sentenced to
life imprisonment; she was put on house arrest. During the trial, her political associates disowned her, and most of her friends deserted her. While in prison, her husband, who was ashamed of her, divorced her and left her alone to try to prove her innocence. After two years into her life sentence, Nyerere commuted her sentence, and she was released from prison.
Death and late recognition After Bibi Titi was released from prison, she disappeared from public life and lived the rest of her life in
Johannesburg,
South Africa. In 1991, when Tanzania was celebrating 30 years of independence, Bibi Titi appeared in the ruling party's paper as "A Heroine of Uhuru (Freedom) Struggle". On November 5, 2000, Mohammed died at Net Care Hospital in
Johannesburg, where she had been treated. ==Legacy==