Kiabakari Snippets: The Father

October 14, 1999 Tanzania came to a standstill at the sad news that were broken to us on TV and radio by the then President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Hon. Benjamin William Mkapa.

President Benjamin William Mkapa, 1995-2005

"Dear citizens, it is with great sadness that I announce to you that our beloved father of the nation, Comrade Julius Kambarage Nyerere, is dead. Mwalimu died this morning at 10:30 Tanzanian time at St. Thomas's Hospital, London, where he had been undergoing treatment for Leukaemia since the 24th of September.

As our earlier statements have indicated, the condition of the father of the nation changed suddenly on Wednesday night, 30th September, and all his organs began to deteriorate. This caused the doctors to transfer him to the intensive care unit, where he passed away today.

I know that the death of the father of the nation will shock you and sadden all Tanzanians. Many will feel anxiety. Mwalimu created the foundations of unity for our nation and struggled for it with all his strength.

Mwalimu and the late Mzee Abeid Amani Karume created the United Republic of Tanzania, by uniting the Republic of Tanganyika and the People's Republic of Zanzibar. Mwalimu gave this country fame and respect by leading national and international struggles to liberate the countries of southern Africa and making efforts to resolve political and military conflicts in independent neighbouring states.

Given this remarkable leadership record there will be some citizens who will fear that the unity of the country will be jeopardised, that our union will disintegrate and our relations with neighbouring countries will be affected. I beg you, citizens, to believe that Mwalimu succeeded in building a firm and strong foundation in all these areas. We, who inherited that unity and union, took an oath to make it everlasting and continuous.

I beg you, citizens, to cooperate in paying deserved respect to the father of the nation by remaining committed to the legacy of his work, his service and his love. Comrade citizens, as we await the body of the father of the nation, I beg you to remain calm and to maintain our solidarity, brotherhood and love at this heavy and unique moment of grief facing our country.

The father of the nation will be accorded a full state funeral. The government will issue further statements later about the reception of the body of our beloved, and about the funeral arrangements. We pray to God to rest the soul of our beloved elder in heaven. God bless our country. God bless Africa."

More on Mwalimu Nyerere death and the aftermath can be found in the report here.

Living in Kiabakari, we have been witnesses of intensified activity (there is a military camp in Kiabakari, on the spot where a gold mine was once) of military personnel going to Butiama and back - all this well ahead of the official day of Mwalimu's death. I guess the government knew that he will not recover from this illness, that is why they wanted to make as best preparation as possible to give him due respect and honor once the sad inevitability occurs finally.

So it happened. What we saw next was a massive display of national unity - of which Mwalimu was surely proud looking upon the whole situation from heaven. The Union government gave it all to make sure everything was done properly and with utmost respect for the founding Father of this nation. People were anxious and talked a lot about what next, how Tanzania will shape up and press on with its life and development after Mwalimu. All this came naturally as it does whenever a person of this caliber dies and leaves immense legacy behind. I was in the mix, as people were coming to me with their anxieties and fears, hopes and displays of patriotism...

More so, I got involved in the preparation of the second part of the funeral of Mwalimu (the first being a state funeral for heads of state and the world in Dar es Salaam). The second being the transfer of the body of Mwalimu from Dar es Salaam to Butiama, his native village, some 13 kilometers from Kiabakari, where the night vigil was kept and the proper funeral celebrated the following day at Mwitongo, a part of Butiama where Mwalimu was born and his parents were buried and his house, built for him by the grateful nation, was located.

The Bishop of Musoma, Rt. Rev. Justin Samba, was in Australia at that time and unable, as he claimed, to come back to Musoma in time of the funeral. So, under the supervision of the Archbishop of Mwanza, Anthony Mayala, we formed a preparatory committee for the funeral in regards to the religious service and funeral rites. Myself, as a dean of Bunda/serengeti deanery, where Butiama was located, was entrusted with all funeral preparations in Butiama. It was a hectic time, we had only one week to prepare a funeral of the importance never to be seen so far in the history of Tanzania! I won't go into details, but just want to say that my counterpart on the government side - Hon. Paul Kimiti, a minister and a person presumed to be a candidate to presidency sometime in the future, did a marvelous job and I was impressed by the way he handled the whole situation, gentle, kind, understanding, professional. I wrote later a congratulatory letter to the president Benjamin William Mkapa on choosing a right man for this job, and I remember one day, a year later I think, Mr. Kimiti came over to say a word or two about that, amused that I went to such extremes as writing a letter to president with accolade for his job.

It would be enough to say that Mwalimu's coffin rested in the church on tables I moved from the rectory to Butiama as there were no more solid tables in the whole area but mine! The army Chief of Staff, Gen. Robert Mboma, when he came to check everything a day before the funeral, sat on these tables in the church, trying to sway them, and visibly happy that they would withstand the weight of the coffin, smiled and left relieved.

The presidents and dignitaries seated during the Mass on red armchairs, were seating in fact on armchairs I took from my church! It was such a hectic time when we were going to extremes to find things necessary for the funeral in Butiama using whatever was at our disposal on such a short notice!

A few people collapsed during the funeral in a direct sun, as we - bishops and priests were standing in the sun, while government people were happy under the shade of makeshift tents put up around the grave site. Then the soldiers were called upon to put a massive concrete slab on the grave, when Cardinal Polycarp Pengo was done with funeral rites. Poor creatures never rehearsed lifting this slab, so they had real troubles lifting it and putting properly on top of the grave!

Here are some YouTube videos I was able to find to bring Mwalimu memories alive - starting with an interview of his daughter. Unfortunately, not many videos on Mwalimu Nyerere are available in English online, so I guess, these videos will benefit fully only swahili speakers. Still, listening to the voice of Mwalimu and watching video clips and pictures, will make him more felt when we commemorate his death and funeral. Eleven years later his vision, wisdom and teaching is as valid as ever if not more so!