Power Talk Guru says there is too much adulation for Nyerere

[Andrew Nyerere]

It was written in the 'Daily News'' today. This guru from Nairobi said yesterday,on Mwalimu's birthday,that in this country there is too much adulation for Mwalimu Nyerere. That is why we are not making economic progress. Now that Mwalimu has died,we must find someone else in the country to take his place,and then,we will progress. Dr. Wale Akinyemi was speaking to marketting and communications professionals.
In the State Department,there is a whole section which is devoted to advising Hillary Clinton on what not to say when she goes to certain countries,or when talking to individuals of certain countries. I do not understand how this person can be allowed to say such things in Tanzania,that he wants every one to have less respect for Nyerere.

No one is promoting Nyerere at the expense of other Tanzanians. We understand that there are many youths in the village,who can run the marathon,who can do great things,but who have not been spotted.
The problem of Tanzania is just rubbish talkers like Dr. Akinyemi who dominate the airwaves because they have a good association with the Press,but who have nothing important to tell us.
These communications proffessionals he was talikb about;why can't they bring the internet to everyone. They are still figuring out a way to make it affordable. The fact is that nobody wants the masses to be educated,because if you educate them,you will be out of a job. Ukimwamsha aliyelala,utalala wewe.
So you have these people every day complaining on TV,''Why does not the Government come here to build this little bridge?'' If you educate those people,they would not be making those complaints.

 

[Mnyama Hatari]

Ganesh in action.

 

[Ndahani]

Who is that person that is to replace Mwalimu?

 

[Hukumuzuku]

Obviously, that appears to be plain B.S.: to what extent were the Chinese dependent on alternatives to Chairmen Mao's and Deng Xiao Ping's larger-than-life personas in order to forge ahead economically?

That being said, I can guarantee you a majority of the current young generation in Tanzania don't give a rat's ass about Mwalimu Nyerere or even know what he really stood for.

 

[KVM]

Obviously, that appears to be plain B.S.: to what extent were the Chinese dependent on alternatives to Chairmen Mao's and Deng Xiao Ping's larger-than-life personas in order to forge ahead economically?

That being said, I can guarantee you a majority of the current young generation in Tanzania don't give a rat's ass about Mwalimu Nyerere or even know what he really stood for.

To some extent the speaker is correct. Mor often than not you hear people romanticizing life under Julius Nyerere. They wish he could resurrect and come and rule Tanzania again. It cannot happen. I lived the best part of my life under Nyerere's regime and I can tell you there isn't much to be romantic about. Certainly Nyerere was very intelligent, witty,eloquent and spartan. But he was a human being, not even a saint.

Leaders who followed Nyerere have failed to fit into his shoes. That is expected as no two people are equal in every respect. But aren't the current leaders products of Nyerere's system? We should not wish Nyerere to come back as he wont. We should try to find a way of running our country using the best alternatives possible, especially by utilising the opportunity of changing our country's constitution which is skewed towards favouring a certain clique.

It is great if the current generation are looking forward and not trying to live in the past. They should strive for alternative leaders in the same way as the Chinese have stopped romanticizing Mao Zedong and Chou en Lai or the way Americans have stopped wishing Abraham Lincoln or George Washington came back from the dead to rule America.

 

[BUBE]

Ni nani ambaye haujui uzalendo wa Nyerere? NI mnafiki tu ambaye anaweza kubeza uzalendo wa Nyerere. Tunaweza ku-question his idealogies and economic policies, but I think they were okay wakati ule. Naweza kuthubutu kusema hata kwa Kenya ambao wanamshambulia, kiwango cha umasikini ni kikibuwa zaidi na tofauti kati ya masikini na tajiri nikubwa mno kulinganisha na Tz, na bila shaka kwa Tz Mwalimu Nyeyere alichangia walau kuwa na hii tofauti ndogo....japo lately the gap between the poor and rich is wideninng. Na kama tunaweza kushambulia economic policies zake, sina hakika kama Nyeyere anaweza kulaumiwa nje ya mfumo wa serikali kwa wakti ule.

Leaders who followed Nyerere have failed to fit into his shoes. That is expected as no two people are equal in every respect. But aren't the current leaders products of Nyerere's system? We should not wish Nyerere to come back as he wont. We should try to find a way of running our country using the best alternatives possible, especially by utilising the opportunity of changing our country's constitution which is skewed towards favouring a certain clique.

It is great if the current generation are looking forward and not trying to live in the past. They should strive for alternative leaders in the same way as the Chinese have stopped romanticizing Mao Zedong and Chou en Lai or the way Americans have stopped wishing Abraham Lincoln or George Washington came back from the dead to rule America.

 

[Andrew Nyerere]

What I was saying is that Nyerere has been dead for more than ten years. So he cannot be blamed for the present economic woes of Tanzania. The only people who should be blamed for our woes is people like this Power Talker,because they are the only ones who have been talking all this time.

 

[KVM]

What I was saying is that Nyerere has been dead for more than ten years. So he cannot be blamed for the present economic woes of Tanzania. The only people who should be blamed for our woes is people like this Power Talker,because they are the only ones who have been talking all this time.

I fail to understand that. How can you blame someone the economic woes of Tanzania when that person cannot in anyway have any means of influencing what is happening in the country other than saying what he sees? Isn't that the habit of Tanzanians blaming someone else for their problems but never themselves? Between the Power Talker and Nyerere who can at least be blamed for what is happening in Tanzania today?

 

[Hukumuzuku]

What I was saying is that Nyerere has been dead for more than ten years. So he cannot be blamed for the present economic woes of Tanzania. The only people who should be blamed for our woes is people like this Power Talker,because they are the only ones who have been talking all this time.

Well, the so-called "Power Talker" from Kenya (whose name actually sounds more West African to me than Kenyan), would run his mouth with the kind of nonsensical talk about "national branding" and subsequent ridiculous comparisons of Nyerere/Tanzania vis-a-vis Bill Gates/Microsoft, Steve Jobs/Apple etc like he's done because as a man he gotta bring the bacon home. In short, Mr. "Power Talker" will continue to talk as long he got kids to feed and bills to pay. Running his mouth is his job, and seasoned politicians and intellectuals like that Mwapachu geezer pay him a lot of attention. Now, do you have a problem with that?

 

[zomba]

What I was saying is that Nyerere has been dead for more than ten years. So he cannot be blamed for the present economic woes of Tanzania. The only people who should be blamed for our woes is people like this Power Talker,because they are the only ones who have been talking all this time.

Nyerere admitted failure. Inequality among its cities, a life of poverty "is the experience of the majority of our citizens," he said. The country was experiencing shortages of cooking oil and gasoline. Hotels in his capital, Dar es Salaam, were falling into disrepair. There had been a movement of people to the big city and in the capital street gangs were coming into existence. Nyerere deplored his country's continued dependence on foreign assistance and its deficit financing. It was Nyerere's socialism that had failed. The nation suffered from a bloated government bureaucracy.

Source: Socialist Experiment in Tanzania: 1961-85