IN his political carrier, Tanzania’s founding father Mwalimu Julius Nyerere is best known as former political party leader, former prime minister and the first president.
As we mark 18 years since his demise,
‘the Sunday News’ can uncover untold story of African Socialism
believer, that he represented Morogoro residents in the legislative
council in 1957.
Nyerere was sent by Tanganyika African
National Union (TANU) to Morogoro to break the stronghold of Waluguru
Chief Patrick Kunambi in Morogoro Constituency, former National Assembly
Speaker Pius Msekwa told the Daily News in exclusive interview
conducted in Dar es Salaam, this week.
Chief Kunambi, according to Pius Msekwa,
stood as a private candidate to oppose TANU candidate in Morogoro and
because he was strong and influential in the area, “the party sent
Mwalimu to vie the post which he finally won.”
The former Mwalimu Nyerere student at
Pugu Secondary School, Msekwa, said that British used “Indirect Rule’ in
Tanganyika and local chiefs, he said people like Kunambi were part and
parcel of administrative system. “After won the election, we again met
with Mwalimu at Legislative Council.
By then I was assistant secretary and he
was legislator,” the veteran politician and CCM cadre told this paper.
Later, in August 1960, after changes to the Legislative Assembly were
passed, TANU gained the majority it sought whereas it got 70 out of 71
seats.
Nyerere, then, became Prime Minister in
1960, and Tanganyika gained limited self-government. But according to
the history, Mwalimu Nyerere cooperated with local chiefs to fight for
independence, and the goal was realized on December 9, 1961.
The 82-year-old Msekwa also said that
Mwalimu Nyerere, who died 18 years ago, planned to retire from the
president before 1985 but “he didn’t because of challenges associated
with implementation of Socialism and Self-reliance policy in the rural
setting.
“After he won the election in 1975, he
announced that it was his last tenure in office…he was supposed to
retire in 1980,” Mr Msekwa said, adding “but due to economic challenges
the country was passing through at that time, Mwalimu thought it wasn’t a
right moment to retire…he was afraid that people would say he had run
from the problems.”
Meanwhile the former vice-chairman of
the ruling party CCM pointed out that existing unity among Tanzanians
and democracy are among fruits that MwalimuNyerere fought for.
Mr Msekwa admitted that there was a foul
played after the resignation of Mwalimu Nyerere as a president
especially in defending natural resources including mining.
He said Mwalimu left Katiba that
protects natural resources but laws enacted later were not tough enough
to fulfill the constitutional obligations. “What President John Magufuli
is doing on natural resources has been stipulated in the constitution.
We made mistakes somewhere…But the
President is doing right thing,” he said. He advised Tanzanians to
maintain the unity, which the founding Father Mwalimu Nyerere fought for
as the nation commemorates the 18th anniversary since he departed.
Mwalimu Nyerere was born in March 1922 in Butiama and died October 14,
1999 in London Hospital, United Kingdom.
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