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Mwalimu made about 2,000 speeches in his lifetime
2006-10-14 08:31:58
By Mwondoshah Mfanga
Nobody knows the exact number of speeches the late Father of the Nation, Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere, had written or made during his lifetime.
The Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation (MNF) puts the figure at around 1,800, but some political scientists say the number could be more than that.
Collection of all his works written and made during his lifetime is a continuing activity, according to sources from the foundation, but it is proving to be drudgery with time as the speeches are not placed in one place.
Mwalimu, who was first president of the United Republic of Tanzania, had made a lot of speeches presented on different occasions. Most of his speeches were written in Kiswahili and English in the areas of politics, economy, sport, culture, liberation, international scene, democracy, social development and humanity.
There is no clear line in which one can categorise his speeches. But it is well known that Mwalimu played a key role as a statesman, politician, law executor and diplomat in during the search for independence, in the course of nation building, in the transformation of the country to Ujamaa and in the liberation process in Southern Africa.
Mwalimu is the mantle behind the country’s search for its national political power pylons and in the perfection of Tanganyika’s and latter Tanzania’s international posture.
It is because of this that his speeches cannot be found in one place, but scattered as some of them were not recorded by government media organs.
According to the MNF source, some of the speeches were recorded by some media institutions, newspapers and non media institutions. This is one of the reasons why it makes it difficult to have all the documents collected.
But what is worse is that not all speeches recorded were done fully, says the source. Some people might have recorded them only by quoting some sections that they saw to be of interests to their works, the source adds.
On a list made available to MNF, Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam (RTD), for example, has 1681 speeches recorded by the state radio since Mwalimu’s search for independence up to his death.
The first recorded speech in their listing was made by Mwalimu in 1958 at Jangwani grounds, where he was addressing the people of Dar es Salaam on the need for Tanganyika to become independent.
And his last speech according to the same listing was made at Butiama, Mara Region his birthplace on April 13, 1999, when he was receiving a house built for him from the Tanzania people’s Defence Forces (TPDF) and JKT.
However, the RTD listing falls short of Mwalimu’s speeches made before the liberation tempo gained momentum. For example on March 7, 1955, he addressed the 592 Trusteeship session as a representative of the Tanganyika African national Union (TANU) at New York. This is thought to be his first international speech given at a time when Tanganyika was still a trusteeship territory.
Similarly, before Mwalimu was pronounced dead on October 14, 1999 in London, he had spoken with the Burundi regime and the fighting factions and promised them that he would come back to continue negotiating with them after he had received treatment in London. Mwalimu was never to see them again.
Also before he left for London, he spoke to journalists but this is not known whether it was at his home, Msasani, or at the Mwalimu J.K. Nyerere International Airport (formerly Dar es Salaam International Airport).
Yet records show that Mwalimu’s speeches particularly those made or written during the period between 1957 and 1958 are going missing in many places, according to the source.
As for his search for regional integration, it is believed that his first speech was that made in September 1959, when he was opening a Pan African Freedom Movement for East and Central Africa (PAFMECA) conference, of which he was its chairman.
Many of his speeches have been published by foreign newspapers and magazines, particularly those given during the course of the fight for independence. One of them include ”We Cannot Afford to Fail”, published by a US magazine, Africa special report.
The foundation has received many people, mostly researchers, who either buy or use Mwalimu’s works, speeches and the other documents.
Among those who have visited the centre, according to the source include Germans, Americans and Italians.
As for African researchers, they include locals, South Africans and West Africans, the source says.
The collection of the documents continues, so is their categorisation and preservation, according to the foundation, but the pace perhaps looks snarling as some of them still are with institutions such as Tanzania Information Services (Maelezo) and the Tanzania News Agency (Shihata) which is non existent.
Some political analysts say that the collection work could easily be done if the government came in to assist by ordering its department to submit any documents on Mwalimu that they hold.
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