Tuesday 14 October 2008

Mwalimu Nyerere tunakukumbuka

Leo 14/10/2008 ni miaka 9 kamili tangu Baba wa Taifa Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere alipoaga dunia Uingereza ktk hospitali ya Mtakatifu Tomas akiwa ktk matibabu ya saratani ya damu.
Tunakukumbuka Baba!

7 comments:

MOSONGA RAPHAEL said...

Julius Kambarage Nyerere (April 13, 1922 - October 14, 1999).

Served as the first President of Tanzania and previously Tanganyika, from the country's founding in 1964 until his retirement in 1985.

Born in Tanganyika to Nyerere Burito (1860-1942), Chief of the Zanaki, Nyerere is known by the Swahili name Mwalimu or 'teacher', his profession prior to politics.

He was also referred to as Baba wa Taifa (Father of the Nation).

(from wikipedia)

MOSONGA RAPHAEL said...

Mwalimu J K Nyerere: The Profile

First President of the United Republic of Tanzania

In office:
October 29, 1964 – November 5, 1985
Preceded by: None

Succeeded by: Ali Hassan Mwinyi

Born: April 13, 1922 (13/04/1922)
Butiama, Tanganyika

Died: October 14, 1999 (aged 77)
at St Thomas Hospital, London, United Kingdom.

Political parties:
AA* (1953(?)-07/07/1954);
TANU* (07/07/1954-05/02/1977;
CCM* (5/02/1977-death)

Spouse: Mama Maria Nyerere
..........................

AA -African Association
TANU -Tanganyika African National Union
CCM -Chama Cha Mapinduzi
...........................

(Mwalimu's Profile by Mosonga Raphael, 14th October 2008)

MOSONGA RAPHAEL said...

Bado tunamlilia Nyerere
2008-10-14 10:15:21
Na Mhariri, Nipashe

Leo Watanzania wanakumbuka kifo cha muasisi wa taifa hili, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, kilichotokea siku kama ya leo miaka tisa iliyopita. Ni siku ya huzuni. Wengi bado wanaomboleza kifo hicho.

Sisi tukiwa ni sehemu ya jamii ya Watanzania na wadau wa maendeleo ya nchi hii, tukiwa mstari wa mbele kupigania haki za wananchi, utawala bora, demokrasia na kila aina ya utetezi kwa wanyonge wanaoporwa hali zao, tunaungana na umma kukumbuka kifo cha Mwalimu kwa masikitiko.

Tunasikitika kwa kifo cha Mwalimu si kwa sababu tulitaka aishi milele kwa sababu tunajua hakuna pumzi yenye uhai itakayoepuka mauti, kwa maana hiyo tunajua kifo ni cha kila binadamu; lakini masikitiko yetu kwa kifo cha Nyerere yanatokana na hali halisi inayokabili taifa letu kwa sasa.

Ni Nyerere aliyeasisi kauli ya rushwa ni adui wa haki na ni Nyerere aliyesema wazi kwamba ni lazima serikali iwatishe walarushwa.

Mwalimu hakuwa na mjadala na rushwa, hakuivumilia ndiyo maana alisema mtoaji na mpokeaji rushwa wote ni wahalifu.

Leo hii miaka tisa baada ya kifo cha Mwalimu si tu misingi ya taifa hili aliyoijenga kwa nguvu na juhudi kubwa inamomonyolewa, bali wanaoimomoinyoa wanataka waheshimiwe kana kwamba wanafanya jambo la maana.

Wala rushwa au kama siku hizi walivyopanda daraja na kuitwa mafisadi, wanataka kuheshimiwa kwa matendo yao machafu; kwa uovu wao na kwa janga wanalojengea taifa hili.

Miaka tisa ya kifo cha Nyerere wale waliokuwa wepesi wa kulitaja jina lake na kuapa kwa majina ya mizimu ya kwao kwamba watamuenzi ndio vinara wa kuvunja misingi hii aliyotuachia kiongozi huyu nadra kupatikana katika nchi zinazofanana na za kwetu.

Kwa maana hii, leo tunapoadhimisha kifo cha Nyerere tunawajibika kujihoji kama taifa, kama akirejea leo, atatamani kubaki katika dunia hii au ataomba arudi aliko haraka iwezekanavyo.

Miaka tisa ya kifo cha Nyerere wameibuka mabigwa wa kutikisa Muungano wa Tanganyika na Zanzibar, kwa habati mbaya sana wanaoendesha juhudi hizo za wazi kabisa ni watu walioko kwenye madaraka, wakiwa wanajiita wakereketwa, makada na viongozi wa Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), hawa ndio watu waliopa kuulinda Muungano.

Miaka tisa ya kifo cha Nyerere wananchi wameendelea kukata tamaa, wanaishi maisha yasiyo na matumaini, wanatafuta mkombozi wao azuke kutoka kokote.

Miaka tisa ya kifo cha Nyerere taifa hili limezidi kutopea katika ukosefu wa maadili kwa kiwango cha hali ya juu kabisa.

Ndiyo maana sisi tunasema Watanzania wana kila sababu ya kulia zaidi leo ili walau wenye dhamana za uongozi watambue kwamba huko wanakoipeleka nchi hii siko alikotamani Mwalimu Nyerere.

MOSONGA RAPHAEL said...

tumepotoka, tumemsahau!

LEO Watanzania tunatimiza miaka tisa tangu kuondokewa na kiongozi wetu mpendwa Baba wa Taifa, Hayati Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.

Tunasema kiongozi mpendwa kwa sababu tangu alipotangaza kung’atuka katika uongozi wa nchi na baadaye katika Chama Cha Mapinduzi alichokiasisi, bado aliendelea kuwa baba aliyekemea pale alipoona mambo hayaendi vizuri.

Ni kiongozi mwenye sifa nyingi, lakini kubwa ni ile sifa ya kutopenda makuu. Licha ya madaraka makubwa aliyokuwa nayo, lakini maisha yake yalionekana ya kawaida hivyo kumfanya afanane na wananchi aliowaongoza.

Ndio sifa inayofanya hadi leo Watanzania tuendelee bado kumkumbuka hasa katika kipindi hiki ambacho macho yetu yanashuhudia maadili katika jamii, wakiwamo viongozi wetu, yakiwa yamemong’onyoka.

Viongozi wetu wamepotoka na hata zile tambo za kuahidi kumuenzi mwasisi huyo wa taifa ambazo tulizitoa mbele ya jeneza lake na hata kando ya kaburi lake hazionekani na zimetoweka katika matendo yao.

Leo hii jamii imeshuhudia baadhi ya viongozi wetu na watumishi waandamizi wa umma wakijilimbikizia mali kwa tamaa zao na wengine wamediriki kuiingiza nchi katika mikataba mibovu kwa tamaa na uroho wao wa kutajirika haraka bila kujali athari ambazo taifa litapata.

Vitendo hivi vya kutia aibu enzi za utawala wa Mwalimu Nyerere hatukuviona na hiyo inatokana na yeye kuipenda nchi yake kwa moyo wake wote na kufanya kila jambo alilofanya atangulize mbele zaidi maslahi ya taifa yake badala ya maslahi binafsi.

Tunapoadhimisha miaka tisa ya kuondokewa na kiongozi huyu ambaye ameendelea kuwa taa yetu katika kipindi hiki cha giza, tunawasihi viongozi wetu waiangalie taa hii iwaangaze na pale wanapoona hawaendani na mafundisho yake waweze kujirudi.

Tunaomba wajirudi ili taifa hili changa aliloliasisi miaka 47 iliyopita liweze kupiga hatua kubwa ya maendeleo.

Tunataka kuona kwa vitendo wanafunzi hawa wa mwalimu wanavyoipigania nchi yao kama ilivyokuwa kwa mwasisi huyu wa taifa letu, ili ile ndoto yake aliyokuwa nayo ya kuifanya Tanzania iwe moja ya nchi zinazokimbia katika kujiletea maendeleo yake yenyewe iweze kufikiwa.

Tutafikia hatua hii iwapo viongozi wetu, na sisi wengine wote, tutaacha tamaa na uroho wa kujilimbikizia mali na jamii kuichukia rushwa kama alivyoichukua Mwalimu Nyerere.

Viongozi waonyeshe njia na tuonekane kweli kuwa sisi ni wanafunzi wake watiifu tuliofundwa kuichukia rushwa na vitendo vingine vyote ambavyo vinachangia kurudisha nyuma maendeleo yetu.

(kutoka: lukwangule.blogspot.com)

MOSONGA RAPHAEL said...

How do we honour Mwalimu Nyerere?

2008-10-14 10:33:51
By Editor


It`S exactly nine years since the death of Father of the Nation Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere, Tanzania`s Founding President.

However, it still as hard to know how best to mourn and remember the much-respected statesman, author and thinker as it was when he succumbed to illness in a London hospital.

The nation was so touched by his death that even the media, commonly known for their bravery and resilience even difficult times, were reluctant to come up with the obvious headline: NYERERE IS NO MORE.

Time has not completely healed the wounds Tanzanians suffered upon the passing of their dear leader.

But the people have managed to pick themselves up from the depths of grief because they know that, come what may, life must go on and Tanzania must live on.

It is chiefly because of the great esteem in which Mwalimu Nyerere is still held nationally, regionally and internationally that the Tanzanian media have recently been awash with commemorative messages on the ninth anniversary of his death.

So, for lack of a better way to mourn and honour him, why not make an attempt to see whether Tanzanians still abhor evils like corruption as he himself did throughout the 20-plus years he led his people?

Why also not make an attempt to see whether Tanzanians are less poor today than they were during the era of Mwalimu Nyerere, who was widely acknowledged as an uncompromising anti-poverty crusader?

A journalist seeking explanation from the government about the efficiency and overall usefulness and relevance of what was then known as Anti-Corruption Squad was once advised to repeat the question one year down the road.

Although it is a full 13 years and the journalist has not asked the question again because he died a few years ago, no one can deny that corruption is more deep-rooted today than it was then although the squad has changed names twice in between.

When the journalist noted that there was a countrywide outcry on grinding poverty among Tanzanians and wanted to know how seriously the government was dealing with the problem, the government`s response was that its major task was to ensure the availability of basic necessities like water, health and education Ңecause that really spans the life of most of the people of this country.

Granted, there has been some patch-by-patch progress, with attention not always equitable and in consideration of the situation on the ground.

With the massive foreign assistance Tanzania has been receiving and with the resources the people have been investing in nation-building initiatives, it defies logic why the country remains one of the poorest in the world.

Mwalimu Nyerere prescribed the combination of people, land, good policies and good leadership as the recipe for sound development.

The potency of the concoction is doubtful, at best.

Let`s mourn Ԕhe Teacher` by evaluating the crises we are grappling with, staring the forces behind them bravely in the face and waging a winning war against them.

SOURCE: Guardian

MOSONGA RAPHAEL said...

Mwalimu Nyerere alikuwa Mwnyekiti wa:
-CCM 1977-1990s
-South-South Commission 1990s
-Southern African Frontline States for liberation of Mozambique, Namibia etc. 1980s
-Organisation of African Union (OAU) 1984/85

MOSONGA RAPHAEL said...

Nyerere: A tribute to a statesman

2008-10-12 12:52:14
By Hashim Ismail


Julius Kambarage Nyerere, this country`s first president and Father of the Nation, died in a London hospital on October 14, 1999. For more than two decades he was the most outstanding political figure in Africa.

Tanzania, Africa and the world mourned his death in a manner befitting his status as a statesman and a selfless leader untainted by greed or self-aggrandisement.

It is difficult to find the words to describe the sheer spectacle of the mourning in Tanzania.

Nyerere was buried with full national honours at his birthplace, Butiama village.

He was born the son of a tribal chief of a small Tanzanian tribe, the Zanaki, in Mara Region, northwest Tanzania.

Starting from a small school in Musoma, he gained a place in Tabora Boys School, one of the few prestigious schools at the time in the then Tanganyika Trusteeship Territory under British rule.

After that he proceeded to Makerere College where he qualified as a teacher.

Later, he was awarded a scholarship to study history and economics at Edinburgh University in the United Kingdom, where he graduated with an MA in the early 1950s.

After a brief period as a teacher at a Catholic Missionary School, the then St Francis College, Pugu, Nyerere resigned to form a political party - the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU). He was the undisputed and able leader of the party through which Tanganyika attained its independence on December 9, 1961.

Nyerere became the new nation`s prime minister, but soon resigned from that position so as to devote more time to strengthening the political party - TANU.

Rashidi Kawawa became the prime minister. However, Nyerere was in December 1962 elected the president of Tanganyika, which in 1964 merged with Zanzibar to form the United Republic of Tanzania. Fondly referred to as Mwalimu, Nyerere remained in power for 24 years until his retirement in 1985.

I had the privilege of meeting Nyerere in 1959 at a Rotary Club lunch in Moshi, a town at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

I was a school teacher and a Town Councillor in Moshi, and had been invited to talk to the Rotarians at their weekly lunch meeting at the Livingstone Hotel, which later changed name to Moshi Hotel.

But the Rotarians, having learned that Nyerere was in town, invited him to the lunch and also to address the meeting (instead of me).

Of course, each of us had a few minutes to talk to him before lunch, and when I told him that I was Zanzibari he was rather interested.

When the time arrived for the speech, he declined to speak and insisted that the designated guest speaker go ahead to speak as planned.

He said: ``Let us hear this Mswahili speak.`` And of course, I went on to address the meeting.

I must recall and admit that his gesture on that day, apart from making me feel honoured, left a permanent mark of his humility and modesty on all of us gathered there.

In 1959, Nyerere was neither the President of Tanganyika nor did he hold any official position in the government but to all intents and purposes he was the recognised, undisputed de facto leader of an independent Tanzania.

Julius Nyerere won independence for Tanganyika and ascended to power without a single shot being fired.

He kept clear of confrontation with the British and was always one step ahead of them.

So when the British put forward a proposal for the first multi-party elections on adult suffrage (not universal), the elections were going to be held under what was known as `the tripartite system`.

That is the three races (African, Asian and European) were going to be represented equally - not proportionally -in the legislature!

Each of the constituencies - the administrative regions - would return three members, one from each of the races.

Since there were hardly 10,000 whites and 300,000 Indians in a population of 10 million, this system was unjust, iniquitous and highly provocative.

As a matter of fact, the acceptance of this formula by Nyerere resulted in a split in the TANU party and a new party was formed by the dissidents - which is exactly what the colonial administration had wished to happen!

Nyerere toured the country to explain to the people why he accepted the proposal, unfair though it was. I recall a public meeting in Majengo in Moshi at which he explained it in this way:

``It is like dealing with someone very powerful who has taken your 100 head of cattle.

You demand to have your cattle back and he gives only ten and tells you to get lost.

You take those ten and come back for more later until you have recovered your rightful property.``

Second, under the tripartite system of a more division of seats in the legislature he had no doubt that all those returned (African, Asians and Europeans) would be his supporters anyway! So he really beat the powers that be at their own game.

Consequently, Nyerere won Independence for Tanganyika in a short period of six years. I can recall only three of what might be termed political trials -otherwise the hallmark of most independence movements and struggles.

Nyerere himself was charged with sedition, tried and acquitted.

In another case one of his close aides, Issack Bhoke Munanka, was imprisoned for trying to recruit civil servants into the political party TANU.

In a third case, two Tanganyikan journalists, Kheri Baghdelelh and Robert Makange were imprisoned for sedition.

For half a century, we have known Nyerere as our leader, Mwalimu (teacher) and Father of the Nation.

We have known him as indefatigable campaigner for independence and our president for 24 years.

After his voluntary retirement he remained very much a player in the field.

In fact, in Tanzania and on the international scene, he seemed to enjoy greater prestige and admiration during his retirement until his death.

Mwalimu was a thinker, a philosopher king and a campaigner for the oppressed of Africa.

He distinguished himself from other leaders in Africa by his ability to remain in power and to maintain peace while other founding fathers of the African continent were overthrown by the military or assassinated.

Nyerere enjoyed a relatively peaceful tenure of office as President of Tanzania and passed on the leadership to his successors in an orderly and smooth manner.

Nyerere indeed was the man behind the peace that is Tanzania. It didn`t just come about on its own. We Tanzanian accepted his call and responded to it.

Tanzania had to make tremendous sacrifices to abide by the leadership. I sometimes feel that peace was squandered and not used for the full benefit of Tanzanians. Charity did not begin at home.

Nyerere was human and I am sure he silently endured many unhappy episodes: the post-revolutionary situation in Zanzibar is one of them.

I cannot forget the day I read in the TANU party newspaper, The Nationalist (27 October 1969) that 14 Zanzibaris had been executed in Zanzibar by a firing squad.

The Nationalist published that front page news without comment. Nor was there any comment from the President of Tanzania.

Enough has been said and documented in favour of Nyerere`s experiment with socialism - its successes and failures.

My own assessment is that all said and done it did produce a new cadre of Tanzanian entrepreneurs - in the final analysis perhaps they were more survivors than casualties.

Writing in The East African newspapers of 18 October 1999, a veteran Kenyan journalist who once worked in Tanzania, Philip Ochieng, said:

``Nyerere: an intellectual of immense stature, a man of great personal integrity, a paragon of humanism.

Julius Kambarage will be hard to replace in Tanzania, in Africa and on the globe?that is why, as I mourn, I ask, with Marcus Antonius, whence cometh such other?``
May his soul rest in eternal peace!

SOURCE: Sunday Observer