Africa 24 Media Photography

Mention the word ‘Mwalimu’ anywhere in the streets of Tanzania, and you will have every one thinking of one man. A man known to many as the father of the nation and a man who thought of himself as a ‘schoolmaster by choice and a politician by accident.’ This man is Mwalimu Julius Kabarage Nyerere. This ‘accidental politician’ became the first African Prime Minister in the year 1961 and later became the first president. His belief in the traditional way of African life inspired him to develop his particular vision of connecting socialism with African communal living.  In response to the hard economic times for his country in the late 1960’s he formulated the Ujamaa system.The focus, given the nature of Tanzanian society, was on rural development. People were encouraged to live and work on a co-operative basis in organized villages or ujamaa  (meaning ‘familyhood’ in Kiswahili).

The idea was to extend traditional values and responsibilities around kinship to Tanzania as a whole. A committed pan-Africanist, he was one of the major forces in the establishment of the Organisation for African Unity, in 1963. He provided asylum to a number of liberation movements such as Frelimo of Mozambique, the ANC of South Africa. He also opposed the brutal regime of Idi Amin of Uganda. Even upon resigning from presidency he continued to speak against corruption and continued as chairman of the CCM until 1990. Thereafter he assumed the role of elder statesman and was regularly called upon to act as arbiter in international crises such as those in Rwanda and Burundi. Soft-spoken, unpretentious, small of stature, and quick to laugh, Julius Nyerere was widely credited with impressive oratorical skills and unusual powers of political perception. He inspired among his people both devotion and respect and returned the compliment by complete dedication to his work on their behalf as head of state. He was ready to admit his mistakes, and to show flexibility and pragmatism, but never if this meant compromising his cherished Catholic, humanist and socialist ideals. Nyerere’s life and career are an inspiration to the many Africans who dismiss the notion current in elite African circles today that justice, dignity and freedom should be subordinated to the single-minded pursuit of prosperity through economic liberalisation and structural adjustment. Africa needs more leaders of Nyerere’s quality, integrity and wisdom. 

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