How Nyerere legacy turned into attraction for tourists

By Anganile Mwakyanjala

Dar es Salaam. Located more than 40 kilometres from Musoma town, Butiama’s significance to Tanzania has been cemented as it birthed the country’s first Prime Minister and later its President.

More than 50 percent of the country’s population was not even born by the time he passed away in 1999.

But today, the youth can relive his legacy, which has been preserved in the museum located in his village.

The Nyerere museum is under the ministry of Tourism and Natural Resources with the National Museum as the umbrella that oversees all the museums in the country.

The Nyerere Museum was officially opened on July 2, 1999, just a few months before Mwalimu’s passing.

The very foundation of Nyerere Museum is largely due to his popularity not only in Tanzania but across the world.

In 1985 on Nyerere’s farewell trip to several nations before stepping down as the President, he received a lot of parting gifts from dignitaries across the world and all those gifts were stored in his Butiama residency.

Over time some started getting damaged, so when Mr Mongera, the then Minister of Land, Housing and tourism, visited Mwalimu in Butiama, he hinted to him that most of the presents he has stored at his home are getting damaged.

That’s when Mr Mongera, promised to build a special place that he can place them for safekeeping, and that was how Mwalimu Nyerere Museum started taking shape.

“The construction started from 1987 to 1999,” said Mr Emmanuel Kiondo, the director at the Mwalimu Nyerere Museum in Butiama.

The initial aim for building the museum was for it to be Mwalimu Nyerere’s property, but during the opening ceremony in the presence of the then Prime Minister, Fredrick Sumaye, Mwalimu gave the museum back to the people as a place for future generations to learn about the history of his leadership and, in doing so, the history of our nation.

“We discovered that Mwalimu had the idea for a museum dedicated to him after working at this museum for some time. After seeing the museums built by former leaders in other countries, he came up with an idea of his own. However, Mwalimu never intended to take personal responsibility for the museum; he preferred that someone else start it,” Mr Kiondo said.

These days, young students from across the country flock to the museum to learn about the father of the nation.

It is evident that establishing the museum was a vital step to connect and educate the young generation, who otherwise would only hear of his stories with nothing tangible that they could see and relate to.

Walking into the museum, there is a pictorial display and personal items like his suits and the famous sceptre he used to frequently be seen carrying around, among other things he was gifted during his tenure.

Some of the gifts present on display are a reminder of the Kagera war between Tanzania and the Ugandan regime under Idd Amin.

To keep up with the current technological advancement and the need to attract young people, some of the archives have been converted to audio-visual presentations, and the museum is also active on social media.

“We have been working hard to promote the Mwalimu museum in Butiama, but now we have the Mwalimu Nyerere marathon in 2022,” Kiondo said.

The marathon is growing in popularity, and the people who came for the marathon also had a chance to visit the museum and his house to see how Maalimu lived and his day-to-day activities.

People have been fascinated by that, and the number of visitors has exponentially increased.

“The main aim of the marathon is to bring people to Butiama together. It’s a long journey to Butiama, so we make sure when a visitor comes here, there are abundant activities during his stay here,” he added.

This year’s marathon, which took place on September 30, was also a success.“We aim to bring the world to Butiama,” Mr Kiondo insisted.

Some of the books that Mwalimu had not finished writing and that remain unpublished are also at the museum.

A visitor can have access to the books and have a peek at what Mwalimu was thinking at the time.

Mwalimu, an avid reader and writer, often put much of his thoughts in books, and he has left the nation and the world with a trove of his thoughts on paper for future generations to process.

“Most of our visitors are young people; they are very interested in learning about Mwalimu and his legacy,” he said.

The Museum plans to work closely with the Tanzania Tourist Board so that they can be included in the marketing packages so that when they are promoting Serengeti and other national parks internationally, they can also include the Mwalimu Museum so that they too can receive foreign visitors, hence their foreign exchange.

That is truly long overdue, though Mwalimu does not enjoy the international recognition and celebrity status his peer Mandela has.

Mandela himself spoke highly of Mwalimu and often spoke of his importance to Africa and the world.

In the times of current turmoil in the Middle East, Mr Emmanuel Kiondo reminds me of the story of Mwalimu, a devout Catholic who visited his friend former Libyan president Gaddafi, and when he asked him what he could do for him, Mwalimu asked Gadaffi to help build a mosque in Butiama because he noticed that the Catholics already had a church there, and to this day the vast mosque still stands in Butiama as a symbol of religious tolerance that Mwalimu Nyerere advocated for.

“We plan to have the Nyerere marathon on the international stage by inviting international marathon runners, and that will open up his legacy to the world,” he added. “They also plan to pass Mwalimu’s wisdom and legacy on to the coming generations.”

The Museum speaks on the huge impact this statement had not only nationally but around the world, and how he was a central figure who bravely supported other African countries during the liberation struggle.

Preserving Mwalimu Nyerere’s legacy shouldn’t be left to Tanzania’s government alone; all patriotic Tanzanians, private citizens and corporations should play a role.

As the world advances, Mwalimu’s legacy of peace, love, unity, and compassion is much needed to be constantly reminded of by this and the coming generations.