Julius Nyerere

Julius Nyerere
Born	13 April 1922 Butiama, Tanganyika Territory
Died	14 October 1999 London, England, UK
Political orientation	African socialism Ujamaa
Political party	TANU

Julius Kambarage Nyerere (13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian politician who served as Prime Minister of Tanganyika from 1961 until 1964. In 1964, Tanganyika and Zanzibar united to form the United Republic of Tanzania, and Nyerere became Tanzania's first president from 1964 to 1985. Nyerere is often referred to as Mwalimu, meaning "teacher" in Swahili.

Nyerere promoted socialist policies, especially promoting the concept of ujamaa, and was a prominent figure in the Non-Aligned Movement. He was also a supporter of policies promoting African unity and during his administration a number of organizations and individuals associated with African liberation movements were hosted in Tanzania. In 1985, Nyerere stepped down from the presidency but remained the chair of the Party Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) until 1990. In 1987 he was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize. Nyerere passed away from leukemia in 1999.

Life

Early life and education

Nyerere was born on April 13, 1922 in Butiama village. His father was Chief Nyerere Burito of the Zanaki ethnic group and his mother Christina was the fifth of the chief's 22 wives. Nyerere studied at Mwisinge Primary School, a 26 mile daily walk from home to school. He also studied at the Catholic Mission Secondary School of St Mary's, Tabora. He attained a diploma in education in 1946 from Makerere University College in Uganda, then returned to teach in Tabora. In 1949 he became the first Tanganyikan student to be sent to Edinburgh University, graduating in 1952 with an MA in history and economics.

British author and Labour Party politician John Charles Hatch, who first met Nyerere while he was a student in Scotland in 1950 described Nyerere as "contemplative" and "introverted" and "never strident or dogmatic". Hatch, who met Nyerere several more times over the years, wrote that in his observation, Nyerere "has never deviated from the personality I first knew as a student; his single-minded but humble concern has been for the welfare of his fellow countrymen and for their place in the world."

After returning to Tanganyika, Nyerere was appointed to teach at St. Francis Secondary School, Pugu. During this time he joined the Tanganyika African Association (TAA), an unofficial political organization which would eventually become the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU).

Independence movement

Following the Second World War, Tanganyika had been designated as a UN trust territory, with Britain mandated for its development. The UN's trusteeship council was supposed to promote development toward self-government and independence in trust territories, periodically evaluating their conditions. In this context, TANU, headed by Nyerere, pushed for independence via legal and electoral means, gaining widespread support when general elections were held in 1960.

Historian and activist Walter Rodney wrote about the conditions in this period of African independence movements. Rodney evaluated that these movements were "essentially political fronts or class alliance [...] while the workers and peasants formed the over-whelming numerical majority, the leadership was almost exclusively petty bourgeois". As Rodney explains, "Imperialism defined the context in which constitutional power was to be handed over, so as to guard against the transfer of economic power or genuine political power. The African petty bourgeoisie accepted this, with only a small amount of dissent and disquiet being manifested by the progressive elements such as Nkrumah, Nyerere and Sekou Toure." While Rodney regarded such leaders as playing a historically progressive role and counted Nyerere among the more advanced nationalists, ultimately, he wrote that "the petty bourgeoisie were reformers and not revolutionaries. Their class limitations were stamped upon the character of the independence which they negotiated with the colonial masters."

Presidency

Nyerere became prime minster when Tanzania's mainland (Tanganyika), formally gained independence from British rule on December 9, 1961. When a new constitution was implemented in 1962, Nyerere became president. On April 26, 1964, the Republic of Tanganyika and the People's Republic of Zanzibar united to form the United Republic of Tanzania, of which Nyerere was president.

Nyerere announced the Arusha Declaration in 1967, expressing TANU's policy of building a socialist state. Historian Vijay Prashad notes that this announcement "discomforted" the British imperialists and Tanzanian bourgeoisie, the "owners and managers of most of the country's resources" including mines and the land, and that, "Hemmed in by pressures from the advanced industrial states, the aristocratic rural classes, and the emergent mercantile classes, the new state had little time" to pursue the necessary institutional changes envisioned in TANU's policies for socialist construction. Under Nyerere's administration, collectivization programs were organized that sent peasants to ujamaa villages, sometimes relying on coercion by the military.

Nyerere remained chairman of TANU until 1977, when the party (still under his leadership) became Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM).

Later life

After stepping down from the presidency, Nyerere remained chairman of CCM from 1985 to 1990. After his retirement, he moved back to his home village of Butiama. In retirement, Nyerere continued to advocate for countries of the global south, travelling and meeting with world leaders. In 1991, he established the South Centre in Geneva, an intergovernmental organization focused on Third World development strategies. He also served as the UN’s chief facilitator for the Burundi peace negotiations between 1994 and 1999. Nyerere passed away from leukemia in a London hospital on October 14, 1999 and was buried at Butiama.

Works

Throughout his political career, Nyerere delivered many speeches and interviews in addition to producing and contributing to various written works in both English and Swahili. The 1968 book Ujamaa - Essays on Socialism (Swahili version titled Ujamaa) collects various speeches and writings by Nyerere (and TANU) spanning from 1962 to 1968. Other collections include Freedom and Unity (Uhuru na Umoja), selected writings and speeches from 1952-65; Freedom and Socialism (Uhuru na Ujamaa), selected writings and speeches from 1965-67; Freedom and Development (Uhuru na Maendeleo), selected writings and speeches from 1968-73; and Man and Development (Binadamu na Maendeleo), published 1974. Nyerere also published Swahili translations of Shakespeare works, Julius Caeser (Swahili: Juliasi Kaizari) and The Merchant of Venice (Swahili: Mabepari wa Venisi).

Library works

• Arusha Declaration