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Elliot Ziwira-Senior Writer

Independent Tanzania’s first president, the late Julius Kambarage Nyerere, affectionately known to his compatriots as Baba waTaifa – the Father of the Nation – and Mwalimu – the teacher, would have turned 100 on April 13 this year.

An embodiment of Pan-Africanism, humility, equality and love, and a selfless doyen of the struggle against colonial hegemony and subjugation, Mwalimu Nyerere was passionate about the total liberation of Africans.

Mindful of the enduring spirit of identity and unity in the quest for freedom, Mwalimu Nyerere bonded the people of Southern Africa into one formidable political soul devoid of geographical limitations.

Conscious of the limitless possibilities inherent in each of humanity, he believed in the warmth that comes with togetherness, shared aspirations and collective vision. 

He, therefore, laid a firm foundation that would sustain unity, peace, freedom and socio-economic prosperity on the continent.

He, notably, supported those countries that had to take up arms against colonialism.

Born on April 13, 1922 in Butiama near Lake Victoria, Tanzania (then Tanganyika), Nyerere became Tanganyika’s first Prime Minister at independence on December 9, 1961.

He was elected president in 1962 when the country’s constitution was changed to that of a republic, and became the president of the United Republic of Tanzania in April 1964 following the amalgamation of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. He was re-elected president in 1965, 1970 and 1975.

Nyerere retired in 1985, and he died on October 14, 1999.

It may be 22 years after his death, but Mwalimu Nyerere’s legacy continues to be celebrated across the African continent and beyond, inspiring generations.

To mark the celebration of Nyerere’s 100th birthday, on April 12, 2022 the Southern Africa Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC) hosted a panel discussion in Harare on the impact of Mwalimu Nyerere’s contribution to Zimbabwe, the Southern African Development Community and the globe.

Zimpapers chairman, Mr Tommy Sithole moderated the discussion with Tanzania’s Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Professor Emmanuel Mbennah, ZANU PF Secretary for Information and Publicity, Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa, SARDC founding director, Phyllis Johnson, and Raymond Ndlovu, a researcher, as panellists.

The discussants highlighted Nyerere’s ideals and principles which endeared him to global citizens, imploring young people across Africa to take a pick from the iconic liberator’s toolkit.  

Ambassador Mutsvangwa saluted Nyerere, whom he called “a unique African”, for giving Africa, particularly Southern Africa, an identity and political soul rooted in the liberation struggle, which still endures today as Africans feel at home across boundaries.

“In Southern Africa, we have SADC, which is also a union of neighbours, but it’s unique in the world – special in the world in that beyond being neighbours, we share a political soul,” said Ambassador Mutsvangwa, who is also the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association national chairman.

“It’s not shared by any other union in the world, including the European Union. SADC has got a political soul, a political identity.”

It is this shared soul or identity which makes an African feel at home whether in Harare, Dar es Salaam, Pretoria, Luanda, Lusaka, Gaborone or Maputo.

“And that political soul is owed to one man (Julius Nyerere). He gave Southern Africa a political soul, an identity, which stands out.”

Through “commitment” and not “extraordinary capabilities”, Nyerere rose to the occasion in providing the necessary support required to wage war against colonialism and its bastions.

He was instrumental in forging the relationship between ZANU’s first secretary, Herbert Chitepo, Josiah Tongogara, and Samora Machel’s Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO), which changed the course of the war.

Ambassador Mutsvangwa reflected on Nyerere’s astuteness as a military strategist, saying, as evinced in SADC armies, which “are not vestiges of colonialism”, the teacher inspired a truly African defence structure.

He added that Nyerere was ahead of his time, for he understood history and the place Africa occupies within it. He, therefore, forged relations with China.

“Drawing inspiration from history, he knew that China would be back, he knew that Africa would be back.  He decided to forge a relationship with China, which was more strategic, because he was seeing the future,” Ambassador Mutsvangwa said.

He called on young people to celebrate Nyerere’s legacy, saying without him they would not be enjoying the fruits of independence.

When his country gained independence from colonial bondage in 1961, without having much in terms of resources, Nyerere committed himself to the African cause.

He did not only provide camps for ZANLA and ZIPRA guerrillas, ZANU and ZAPU military wings, respectively, in Tanzania, but also for other liberation movements across the region.

His passionate drive for the liberation cause saw him setting up training camps in Tanzania to give impetus to the armed struggle in Southern Africa where cadres from FRELIMO of Mozambique, MPLA of Angola, ANC of South Africa, SWAPO of Namibia and ZANU PF and PF ZAPU of Zimbabwe were hosted, fed and trained.

These camps, which hosted both men and women, were; Nachingwea in the Lindi region, Mgagao in Iringa, Kongwa in Dodoma, Chunya in Mbeya, and Bagamoyo in the Kaole region, about 75km from Dar es Salaam.  

Convenor of the discussion, Phyllis Johnson, who chronicled the history of the country’s liberation war with David Martin in “The Struggle for Zimbabwe: The Chimurenga War” (1981), said Mwalimu Nyerere personified humility, honesty and love as he selflessly pushed for equality of people and nations regardless of political or economic muscle.

A fountain of knowledge, Nyerere, was passionate about the liberation of Africans, and believed in the boundless possibilities that humanity can achieve together, which saw him mentoring others and incorporating women in his Cabinet.

Some of the luminaries mentored by Mwalimu Nyerere are ZANU’s first secretary, Herbert Chitepo, Benjamin Mkapa, the third president of Tanzania (1995-2005), the fourth president of Tanzania (2005-2015), Jakaya Kikwete, Salim Ahmed Salim, a Tanzanian politician and diplomat, and Augustino Ramadhani, who was the chief justice of Tanzania from 2007 to 2010. 

He also groomed Gertrude Mongella, a Tanzanian, who led the world to the Fourth United Nations World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, in 1995, as the Secretary-General. 

“He spoke about unity, unity, unity”, Ms Johnson underscored.

Nyerere believed that true friendships hinged on reciprocity.

“His way was always both ways,” she said.

A unifier and an avid reader, Nyerere, Ms Johnson indicated, loved Swahili, which he saw as a unifying language, considering that Tanzanians speak 123 different languages.

She chronicled Nyerere’s journey from his early days as a teacher after obtaining a diploma in education from Makerere University, Uganda; and how he became the first Tanzanian to study at a British university when he attended Edinburgh University where he earned an MA in History and Economics in 1952.

She also reflected on Nyerere’s tenure as the first prime minister of Tanganyika and later president of Tanzania, emphasising how he forged fruitful relations with China.  

Nyerere was a founding father of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963, now the African Union (AU) since 2002. He hosted the OAU Liberation Committee in Tanzania to support the decolonisation of the continent.

The researcher, Mr Raymond Ndlovu, said Mwalimu Nyerere was a visionary who looked into the future and laid a foundation for impending challenges.  

With neither deep nor wide coffers, spurred on by his motto “it can be done, play your part”, Nyerere stood for the collective identity of the African people which reprises itself in a shared history and common heritage. He believed that Tanzania’s independence meant little if fellow Africans were still under colonial oppression.   

“I am a Zimbabwean; I am an African because of Mwalimu Nyerere’s teaching”, said Mr Ndlovu.

He bemoaned the dearth of a reading culture in young people which exposes them to distorted information peddled on social media platforms. Instead of offering solutions through research or innovation, many youths are always whining.  

“My generation is not willing to learn. But then Mwalimu (Nyerere) said knowledge is power. Him being a teacher, he knew that we need knowledge to overcome challenges,” he said.

“Mwalimu observed (in the Arusha Declaration) that for people to empower themselves, they need to have an attitude change; they need to change the way they speak – the way we speak of ourselves – the way we view ourselves. Our actions.”

Mr Ndlovu implored youths to get an appreciation of Mwalimu Nyerere’s role in the struggles for liberation in Africa, tap into his legacy and implement his ideas, saying young people should spread authentic and reliable information for the sake of posterity.

Ambassador Mbennah extolled Mwalimu Nyerere, whom he described as “a person of courage, a leader and a thinker”, whose conviction and commitment for development inspired generations in Tanzania and across Africa.

He said Nyerere was a humble man who “he believed in people—believed in the ability of everyone,” regardless of gender or background.

Said Ambassador Mbennah, “I admired his humility. Even when he announced that he was retiring and people urged him to continue (fearing that they could not find a suitable replacement), he said, ‘You cannot tell me that out of 30 million people you cannot get a president.’”

A man of vision and conviction, as well as a stickler for honesty, Nyerere abhorred disease, poverty and ignorance.  

As a testament of his selfless nature, Ambassador Mbennah said, Mwalimu Nyerere was willing to “delay the independence of Tanganyika until it was clear when Kenya was going to be independent.”

He only accepted the independence of Tanganyika when the British colonial government indicated when Kenya was going to be granted freedom.

He added that Nyerere did not have a house of his own when he retired in 1985, prompting the then government to build one for him, which, unfortunately he lived in for only 17 days before he fell ill and eventually died. 

At one point, around 1984, he dressed simply and joined a queue to buy food at a supermarket to get a first-hand appreciation of the reality that his people were going through then.

“He lived a rich life as a human being and a successful life as a leader,” Ambassador Mbennah said.

As an academic, he called on scholars to find ways of making future generations aware of Nyerere’s contribution to the liberation of Africa by researching on him, and possibly start programmes of study around his life and philosophy.

Nyerere’s principles and ideals are probably immortalised in his words at the Legislative Assembly in October 1959, two years before Tanganyika’s independence.

He said: “We, the people of Tanganyika, would like to light a candle and put it on top of Mt Kilimanjaro, which would shine beyond our borders giving hope where there was despair, love where there was hate and dignity where before there was only humiliation. . .

“We cannot, unlike other countries, send rockets to the moon. But we can send rockets of love and hope to all our fellow humans wherever they may be” (David Martin in an obituary on Nyerere, The Herald October 15, 1999).

Indeed, Mwalimu Nyerere lives on as the unifying soul of Africa. 

In honour of the illustrious son of Africa, at independence, the Government of Zimbabwe renamed Kingsway Avenue in Harare Julius Nyerere Way. It is at the intersection of Julius Nyerere Way and Samora Machel Avenue (formerly Jameson Avenue) that the iconic First Chimurenga heroine, Mbuya Nehanda’s memorial statue proudly stands. 

It is befitting, therefore, that as Zimbabweans celebrate 42 years of Independence this April, they should reflect on the rich history and heritage shared by the peoples of Zimbabwe and Tanzania. 

It is a rich history that ought to be preserved for future generations to inform them about their identity, and instil a sense of patriotism and oneness in them – with youths playing a pivotal role in the discourse.