Nyerere: revered statesman he was
By Mobhare Matinyi, The citizen. Friday, October 11, 2013.
In Summary
· The late Zambian President, Frederick Chiluba paid this tribute: "We've been robbed of great leader" while President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda said: "By overthrowing Idi Amin dictatorship, Nyerere gave us a fresh start".
Two years ago as we marked 12 years since the passing of our founding president, Julius Nyerere, I summarized the words that world leaders uttered upon hearing his death. Here I republish an updated version of the same article.
On October 14, 1999, the then Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, announced on national television: "Today, I have the sad duty to announce that Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere has died. The man known to all as "Mwalimu" had finally succumbed to leukemia at the age of 77".
Mkapa then asked Tanzanians: "Nyerere bequeathed this nation with peace and stability and I want to appeal to all to unite and co-operate to accord Mwalimu the respect that he deserves." Unbelievably, Mwalimu was no more!
Mwalimu, a charismatic leader, academic, with a sense of humour, left a unique mark in our history that needs to be recounted often for the younger generation to understand what it meant to be a Tanzanian under Nyerere's incorruptible leadership in those years.
Two years ago as we marked 12 years since the passing of our founding president, Julius Nyerere, I summarized the words that world leaders uttered upon hearing his death. Here I republish an updated version of the same article.
On October 14, 1999, the then Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, announced on national television: "Today, I have the sad duty to announce that Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere has died. The man known to all as "Mwalimu" had finally succumbed to leukemia at the age of 77".
Mkapa then asked Tanzanians: "Nyerere bequeathed this nation with peace and stability and I want to appeal to all to unite and co-operate to accord Mwalimu the respect that he deserves." Unbelievably, Mwalimu was no more!
Mwalimu, a charismatic leader, academic, with a sense of humour, left a unique mark in our history that needs to be recounted often for the younger generation to understand what it meant to be a Tanzanian under Nyerere's incorruptible leadership in those years.
It's sad that today some young Tanzanians are talking of nonsense like breaking the union of Tanzania while some of our leaders are amassing wealth, selling the country's wealth at a throw away price to crook investors as if thieving and corruption are noble duties!
Nyerere was not a perfect human, and in fact his socialist economic model almost brought the country to its knees, but he was a perfect Tanzanian who never did anything bad against his nation intentionally. Unquestionably, Nyerere did nothing for his personal gain or against the interests of the nation, unlike many of our African leaders then and today.
Nyerere's integrity, intellect, wisdom, humility, civility, honesty, and nationalism, compounded with his respect for human dignity, love of freedom and quest for human-centred development, is what differentiate him from other leaders who became leaders for the sake of writing histories and fattening their pockets.
On that day the United Nations General Assembly stood in silent tribute to him. The President of the Assembly, Namibian Foreign minister Theo-Ben Gurirab, called him "a venerable world leader and one of Africa's most charismatic and respected elder statesmen.
The United States President Bill Clinton observed, "Nyerere's death is a huge loss for Tanzania, Africa and the international community as a whole," while the US Secretary of State, Ms. Madeleine Albright, who later attended the funeral, described Mwalimu as a giant on the world stage and an eloquent spokesman for the developing world.
Nelson Mandela noted: "The freedom of his country, the liberation of other oppressed peoples and the unity and decolonisation of the African continent were part of his single struggle for a better world".
The late Zambian President, Frederick Chiluba paid this tribute: "We've been robbed of great leader" while President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda said: "By overthrowing Idi Amin dictatorship, Nyerere gave us a fresh start".
Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister, commended Nyerere's achievement in subordinating tribal rivalries to national identity and added: "The fact that Tanzania is today a country at peace with itself and its neighbours is in large part a tribute to Mwalimu."
The World Bank president, James Wolfensohn who knew Mwalimu well, said: "For the men and women who have served the great cause of development in the world, one of the lights of our lives went out today. Nyerere was one of the founding fathers of modern Africa."
Wolfensohn added: "He gave Tanzanians a sense of nation with a few parallels in Africa and the world-bound by a common language, Swahili, and a history almost entirely free of internal divisions and conflict."
The African National Congress (ANC) observed: "Mwalimu Julius Nyerere was an outstanding leader, a brilliant philosopher and a people's hero, a champion for the entire African continent. He shall always be remembered as one of Africa's greatest and most respected sons and the father of the Tanzanian nation."
Kenya's Prof Anyang' Nyong'o, said that Nyerere stood taller than his compatriots in reputation, performance and respect, while another world renowned scholar, a Kenyan Professor Ali Mazrui, commented that Nyerere combined two rare characteristics, integrity and intellect.
The British paper, The Independent, said: "Mwalimu was a statesman of principle, intelligence and charisma, political philosopher, militant, and idealist, an innate democrat who was one of the few modern African leaders to take and maintain power through the ballot and to give it up willingly.
The Independent added: "Nyerere provided Tanzania, not with prosperity, but with dignity and with long-lasting stability in a turbulent period of African history," while the BBC praised him saying: "Dr Nyerere stood out as an African leader who ignored the trappings of power.
Yes, our Father of the Nation, or as Museveni called him, the greatest black man to ever have lived, truly, was a revered statesman for a reason!
The writer is a Dar es Salaam-based instructor in strategic studies.
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