Commonwealth flies Nyerere’s name high

The Commonwealth established the Commonwealth Julius Nyerere International Scholarship Programme, thanks to the government’s engagement with the association’s leadership on the initiative.

According to the announcements made by the Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland on Friday in London, the scholarship programme targets high achieving post- graduate commonwealth Students from Africa and Caribbean.

The beneficiaries of the programme will pursue studies (Master’s level) in their home countries.

Breaking the news to the Daily News yesterday, Tanzania High Commissioner to UK and Ireland, Ambassador Mbelwa Kairuki said: “This is the first time an African leader is honoured and cherished by the Commonwealth through education financing programme.”

“This is a great honour and privilege for our country. The introduction of this programme under Nyerere’s name results from highlevel engagement between President Samia Suluhu Hassan and Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland when they met in Zanzibar last year,” Amb Kairuki exclusively told the Daily News.

According to the Tanzanian diplomat, President Samia held talks with Secretary General Scotland on the matter during the Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting (CLMM) held from March 4-8, 2024 in the archipelago.

“It should be remembered that, apart from Julius Nyerere scholarship, the Commonwealth runs another scholarship programme under the name of Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth Scholarships,” Ambassador Kairuki added.

During the meeting, the two leaders spoke on the pressing need for youth to have wider access to technical education to empower them with life skills that will enable them to engage in productive activities and earn their living.

According Ambassador Kairuki, Secretary General Scotland has been expressing her satisfaction with efforts and measures being instituted by President Samia’s government in improving education in the country, including availing education opportunities to youth.

“President Samia, since she assumed presidency in March 2021, has been coming up with various education initiative focusing on empowering youth to conquer the world, including enabling them to engage in productive activities and emancipate themselves from the chains of poverty. Samia Scholarship that is offered to doctors and other Tanzanians is just an example,” the Tanzania envoy to the UK and Ireland said.

Amb Kairuki added: “Given the strong persuading ability our president is endowed with, her exemplary leadership and her influence in the world, the Commonwealth agreed to our proposal focusing on introducing a scholarship known as Commonwealth Julius Nyerere International Scholarship Programme.”

Following the good news, Amb Kairuki said, Tanzania government will fully collaborate with the Commonwealth to ensure the programme is implemented.

Asked when the implementation of the programme will start, the envoy replied: “We expect it to start, most likely next year, when everything is in place.”

Hinting on how stakeholders received the news, the diplomat said after Baroness Patricia Scotland announced the establishment of the scholarship programme, a number of institutions and individuals expressed interest to contribute to it, including one entity that expressed intention to contribute 1million US dollars at this initial stage.

Amb Kairuki said Tanzania and other members of the association will collaborate with Commonwealth to convince other institutions and individuals to fund the programme.

Announcing the introduction of the initiative, Secretary General Scotland said: “The establishment of this scholarship, targeting high achieving post-graduate Commonwealth students from Africa and the Caribbean, honours Mwalimu Nyerere’s commitment to education and development. It demonstrates the Commonwealth’s dedication to supporting the next generation of leaders and change markers.”

According to the Secretary General, the initiative serves as a befitting continuation of the historic collaboration between the Commonwealth and the United Republic of Tanzania.

“The programme fosters academic excellence and Pan-Commonwealth collaboration between institutions of higher learning in Africa and Caribbean. It also aims to develop the human capital in both regions by identifying exceptional students, ready to change the world with their ideas and visions. It would indeed mark an exciting milestone in our shared commitment to education,” added the Secretary General.

The vision of the programme is to empower exceptional African and Caribbean students with world-class education, fostering future leaders who drive transformative change in their communities and beyond while the objective is to expose Africans on new and emerging disciplines of study, research and opportunities as well as provide access to educational institutions across the Africa and the Caribbean countries.