The District of East Africa covers a vast area, comprising Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and the Seychelles Islands, and the membership covers probably more ethnic, religious and cultural groups than any other masonic district in the world. Sir Jayantilal Keshavji Chande KBE, former District Grand Master for the District of East Africa, last year celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his initiation. Affectionately known as Sir Andy Chande, he is a remarkable man whose life has enriched all the spheres in which he has been active. He retired earlier this year after nineteen years, having united his masonic District in a way unimaginable when he first took it over.
    Sir Andy Chande, unassuming, yet passionate about his beliefs and principles, used the occasion of one hundred years of Freemasonry in East Africa in 2004 to carry the masonic message to the highest authorities in the countries in his jurisdiction. ‘We have had misconceptions about Freemasonry among the civic authorities, particularly in Kenya. There was a need to demystify, and to put our point of view across, so I did a number of interviews on radio and television. It was a tremendously refreshing change; and a wonderful way to mark 100 years of Freemasonry in East Africa.’
    ‘So in Kenya, there had been deep-rooted suspicion of Freemasonry?’ I asked. ‘More a misconception. Some have perceived it as a politically-motivated organisation, and this can be traced back to the freedom fighters before independence. Later, in President Moi’s administration, there were certain tribes from the Nyanza province near Lake Victoria who were not liked by the Kikuyu, who were in opposition to the government. Some of these were keen Freemasons, so there was always a suspicion on the part of the ruling party that Freemasons were funding the opposition.’
    ‘Over the past fifty years, what strikes you most about the changes?,’ I asked. ‘In 1954, Freemasonry in the District was very compartmentalised. There were three English lodges at the time – one of them was for senior figures in the administration. The second one was for the English business community. The third lodge was for people of Indian origin. In 1904, when Freemasonry first made an appearance in East Africa, the Indian community was already active in administration and business.’
    In the run-up to independence of what was then Tanganyika, United Kingdom Colonial Secretary, Iain Macleod, appointed Andy a member of the Council of Ministers. After Harold Macmillan’s ‘Wind of Change’ speech in South Africa in 1960, Macleod had, says Sir Andy, ‘a need to hasten the business of handing over to a local government. I told him “I think you are making a mistake by pushing things so quickly”. He said, “If we are making a mistake, I would rather make a mistake going forward, than make a mistake standing still”, a piece of advice which stuck in my mind.’
    Andy’s family business of grain milling, begun in the region over 100 years ago, was nationalised in 1967 by the government of President Julius Nyerere. ‘That was disastrous for us. As I was already in the government when the country became fully independent, Nyerere wanted me to take on a constituency. I told him that I needed to return to my family business, and that I didn’t need to be in parliament to serve the nation, so he asked me to take over all the nine companies in the same field that had been nationalised, and run it as one unit. Putting nine companies together was quite a task.’
    ‘Looking back,’ I asked him, ‘what was the biggest milestone that comes to mind?’ ‘At the 275th anniversary of the Grand Lodge in 1992, for the first time, President Mwinyi, a Muslim and not a Freemason, came to dinner with his entourage. As a Muslim, he was in a minority at that dinner. Because we were raising funds for charity, he offered to stay as long as I wanted him to. Because of the presence of someone like him, people tended to spend money. In that time we also succeeded in making Freemasonry more non-denominational. Prior to that time, when a candidate was initiated, he took his oath on the Bible. I told lodges that they must take the opportunity to find out from the candidate what his holy book is. So, over the years, slowly, we have made some changes. People say human beings are resilient, but they find it difficult to accept change.’
    ‘What has been the growth since you first took over the District?’ I asked. ‘When I took over, we had nineteen lodges, now we have fifty lodges, with about 2800 Freemasons. And it is a truly multi-ethnic masonic community, multi-religious, multi-cultural, with Christians, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Parsees, Zoroastrians, Sikhs. Hindus make up about 50% of the membership, then Muslims and Christians in roughly equal numbers.’ ‘So, Freemasonry really does unite men of all these religious and cultural backgrounds – or does it? Can you really have such disparate groups praying together in the temple?’ Andy paused and became reflective. ‘Once you enter the building, you are no longer Hindu, Christian or Muslim. You are a Freemason. Then, once you are involved in a project created by Freemasons, a school for blind children, or planting trees, carrying out cataract surgery, you are doing it as a Freemason.’
    I wanted to push him on this aspect. ‘And yet,’ I said, ‘just as in Northern Ireland we have mistrust between Catholics and Protestants, Hindus and Muslims have historically always been at loggerheads. Can they really pray together?’ He became reflective again. ‘Let me ask you: is religion god-made or man-made? The people who created a religion often did so with the idea of inculcating in the minds of illiterate people some kind of ritualistic way whereby you know who your maker is, and how to go to your maker. I don’t take people at their face value; I always like to give them a chance. If two people are together, and they’re not discussing politics in a masonic temple, and they’re not discussing religion, the fact that they are praying together, I think that at that moment in time I cannot believe that a Muslim with a Hindu at masonic prayer is going to have any outlandish ideas in his mind, or that if there is a problem, he could use religion as an excuse, or as a tool. Look at the masons in northern Ireland and southern Ireland; they have never ever had any problems at all, because they belong to one group, the centre being the point from which they cannot err.
    ‘As long as there are pockets of poverty, the world will never be at peace itself, until such time as there is a general level of prosperity all around, until such time as solutions have been found for issues like Palestine, or the Middle East; the religious fundamentalists will always keep using religion to advance a political cause. Sadly, politics have become unilateralist, disregarding a body like the United Nations, which was specifically created to solve disputes. So, Freemasonry is uniquely in a position to draw attention to that, and to say we want one world where we can all live, pray and exist together.’
    ‘What is your view about masonic education?’ I asked. ‘Unlike other parts of the world, our lodges of instruction are not used for rehearsal of ritual.’ My ears pricked up. ‘Rehearsal of the ceremonies is carried out in lodges, not in lodges of instruction. The attendance in our lodges of instruction is higher than in regular lodges. It is a sort of anchorage for the brethren. The Preceptors ask them: what do you want at the next meeting? A question-and-answer session? A talk? And the material for these comes from the library, from Preceptors themselves, from the Emulation Lodge of Improvement, from Quatuor Coronati. Education is very, very important. At least once every two years we have a fully-fledged educational conference at a coastal resort, which is in fact a family outing lasting three days. A speaker is invited, for instance John Hamill or Bob Gilbert. Three main subjects are put forward, followed by panel discussions, and in the evenings we can socialise with our wives.’ ‘Has this had an effect on retention of membership?’ I asked. ‘Overall, it has been very successful. Over the past nineteen years, we have only lost twelve initiates.’
    Turning to administration, I asked him if a large bureaucracy was needed to rule such an extensive District. ‘Some infrastructure is necessary, but I tried to keep it to a minimum. By and large, I know the names of the Masters and Officers in all the lodges. I always regard it as a privilege when a Master of a lodge invites the Rulers to dinner. If we are going to a town a long way away, and the Master wants to organise a dinner party, I ask him to invite everybody from the Senior Deacon downwards. After dinner, with the Master sitting next to me, they ask me any question about their lodge, the District, ritual, protocol, about the constitution.’
    ‘What about relations between Freemasonry and the civic authorities?’ I asked. ‘We have good relations with the leadership in those countries where we operate. The Presidents of those countries know about Freemasonry and what we stand for. We encourage a small lodge in a small town to do something for the community. They have banners on the streets when they have conferences, or celebrations, and the press are invited to visit our building and to take photographs.’
    In 2003 Andy was knighted by HM The Queen in recognition of his contribution to the community as a whole. Earlier this year he received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award from the President of India. Here is a man, honoured by world leaders, active in public life, who yet finds his duties to his masonic District of paramount importance, and who seemingly never tires of aiding his brethren to find their way to the centre. I left thinking what a pattern for imitation he must be to many brethren in the District of East Africa.