From Africa Recovery, Vol.13#4 (December 1999), Briefs page
The first president of the United Republic of Tanzania (1961-85) and one of Africa's most renowned statesmen, Julius Kambarage Nyerere died in London on 14 October 1999, of leukemia. The following are excerpts from just a few of the many tributes to Mwalimu ("teacher" in Swahili, as he was widely known) delivered at the massive funeral ceremony in Dar es Salaam on 21 October or at memorial meetings elsewhere:
Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa: Today the wretched of our continent have begun to walk with a firm tread in their step, confident of a better future for themselves and for the African motherland. They walk tall, with straight backs, no longer afraid to look into the eyes of those who had sought to set themselves up as rapacious demi-gods. On the shoulders of these generations rests the duty to answer the drawn-out cries of those who were enslaved and colonized by strangers and abused by their own kith and kin. They rest on firm ground because they stand on the foundation of stone that Mwalimu Julius Nyerere built.
In it are infused the passions which constituted his wealth -- love for the people and loyalty to their cause; commitment to the cause of peace; attachment to principle; honesty, simplicity, humility and personal integrity; courage and a great intellect; the capacity to sustain hope at the most difficult moments; the determination to ensure that the sun shone over Africa, to banish the dark centuries which have been our heritage.
Benjamin Mkapa, President of Tanzania: He leaves us a legacy of peace and unity which is admired throughout the world. It is not a legacy we can allow to be squandered. If he was still with us today, he would ask us to take over his crusade against poverty, exploitation and discrimination. He would urge us to move much more quickly to integrate African economies and promote African unity. He would appeal for collective South-South self-reliance.
Theo Ben-Gurirab, UN General Assembly President, Foreign Minister of Namibia: Thirty-six years ago, I arrived in the then Tanganyika, as a young lad fired on from inside by a powerful force of pan-Africanism. The Mwalimu I met was the liberator, thinker, strategist, organizer and our kinder and gentler teacher on the politics of liberation, African unity, nation-building and internationalist solidarity with the people of the Third World. It was Mwalimu who, together with the great Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, strengthened decisively my own commitment for Namibia's liberation and national independence.
Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General: He was a passionate and eloquent advocate for Africa and for the entire developing world, as well as a friend and ally of the United Nations. Above all, Mwalimu Nyerere, as the founding father of Tanzania, played a key role in promoting African independence, nation-building and unity, and his willingness to step down from office voluntarily after long service to his people should be a model to all leaders. Both before and after leaving office, he gave unstintingly of his strength and wisdom in the quest for African peace and freedom. Even in his last month, he worked tirelessly to bring peace to the troubled people of Burundi.
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