BY CORRESPONDENT DAVID
10th December 2013
It will take a long time to have a leader of his character, capability
The president departed from previous anniversaries pattern by addressing thousands of people who turned up at the National Stadium to mark 52 years of the independence of Tanganyika.
He said he was compelled to make the short remarks at the time when the world was mourning the death of the first democratically elected South African president, who steered his nation from apartheid to multi-racial democracy.
Kikwete said Tanzanians should borrow a leaf from the late Mandela, who despite being imprisoned for 27 years didn’t pick a bone with his jailers after assuming power.
“I think most of us here think of revenge after getting into power…Mandela didn’t think of reprisals. Instead he stood for unification and harmonisation of South Africans regardless of their race, religion or ideology,” he said.
The President said that Mandela was a leader who stood for justice, equality and independence of his people.
According to him it will take a long time to have a leader of his character and capability.
“The good things he did in his lifetime show that he ‘was greater than his life’,” President Kikwete said.
He also spoke of Mandela as a very close friend of Tanzania before and after the liberation of South Africa.
“The late Mandela himself used to acknowledge the close relationship between the two countries… He once told me that he had on several occasions tried to remind fellow South Africans not to forget the contribution made by Tanzania, TANU and CCM in the liberation of South Africa,” he said.
He added that diplomatic relations between South Africa and Tanzania have been growing stronger daily, pointing to the fact that the two countries sent peace keeping troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo under the United Nations Organisation (Monusco).
Before the military parades and mass performance by children, the people observed a minute’s silence to join South Africans in mourning their first black President, Madiba.
Also reflecting the mourning for Mandela, traditional dances were not featured in the celebrations yesterday.
Instead Mgulani JKT troupe sang a special song reflecting this year’s celebrations theme: “Youths are the pillars of human resource, we should Believe, Empower and Utilize them for the national interest.”
The leader of the official opposition in Parliament Freeman Mbowe said after the ceremony that the nation should be proud for having maintained peace in the last 52 years.
For his part, Civic United Front (CUF) national chairperson Prof Ibrahim Lipumba said despite this year’s theme focusing on youths, the group has not been empowered enough.
He said the government should look for ways to provide them with jobs.
He called for heavy investment in the energy and infrastructure sectors so as to widen the room for youth employment.
The ceremony was also attended by high ranked government officials including Vice-President Dr Mohamed Gharib Bilal, Zanzibar President Dr Ali Mohamed Shein, Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda and Second Vice President of Zanzibar Ambassador Seif Idd.
Others were the former President of Zanzibar Amani Abeid Karume, Chief Justice Judge Othman Chande and National Assembly Deputy Speaker Job Ndugai.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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