VICE President Dr Philip Mpango is today expected to grace a symposium to commemorate 102 years of the birth of the founding president, the late Julius Nyerere in Dodoma.

The event’s major goal is to inspire youth to uphold and preserve peace in his honour.

Speaking to journalists here yesterday, Dodoma Regional Commissioner Rosemary Senyamule said the symposium is organized by Mwalimu Nyerere Memorial Institute.

“The symposium’s goal is to instill in youth a sense of gratitude for the Father of the Nation’s efforts to establish and uphold peace, his involvement in the nation's natural resource preservation, environmental conservation and freedom of Southern African nations,” she said.

According to her, the institute has arranged a debate on the value of preserving national harmony and peace, with the overarching topic being ‘Maintaining peace is our right and responsibility for the sustainable development of our nation’.

The RC added that the institute would also honour President Samia Suluhu Hassan for her three years of leadership and upholding harmony, peace and unity.

“We will extend our gratitude to the president since under her catchphrase, ‘Kazi Iendelee’, we have seen her carry out numerous initiatives that the Father of the Nation likewise initiated,” she said.

She called on the public to attend the symposium in honour of Mwalimu Nyerere, who insisted on building the country with love, peace and patriotism.

Peter Mavunde, vice chairman of the institute, said that in the three years since the institute's founding, it has held various symposia and celebrations in honour of Mwalimu Nyerere, with a strategic plan to pass on to the next generation all that the founding president accomplished.

“This year’s main theme is the importance of maintaining peace for the development of the nation. We will honour the nation's founding father by doing this since he believed that the environment and the nation's natural resources needed to be protected," he said.