Nyerere’s house and secret of Tanzania’s independence

WHEN you speak of the history of independence struggle in Tanzania, one cannot skip mentioning Magomeni Usalama area, in Dar es Salaam.

The area became part of the history because of a small house in which Mwalimu Julius Nyerere stayed with his family during liberation struggles.

This is the first house that the country’s first president owned at the time of independence struggle in 1950’s. Branded as Mwalimu Nyerere Memorial House, it has preserved the history of the origin of independence of Tanzania mainland, the then Tanganyika, which is celebrated on every 9th of December.

Strategies and plans to demand for the country’s independence were made in this house, which gives it great importance in the history of the nation. Ms Neema Mbwana, senior conservator with Tanzania National Parks Authority (Tanapa) said Mwalimu Nyerere had built the house for his family as well as for political matters, including liberation movements.

“That time Mwalimu and his associates were in full swing demanding for independence, that is why they needed tranquility and a safe place for conducting their secret meetings,” Ms Mbwana explained.

When you approach the house, one would notice a giant placard outside the property which reads in Kiswahili: “Makumbusho ya Kumbukizi ya Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere’ (literally means Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Museum) It is perhaps a fitting memorial to the legendary statesman, who is remembered for championing egalitarian causes that saw the promotion of Ujamaa, a mode of African socialism that sought to put economic and social power in the hands of the masses.

Mwalimu Nyerere lived in this house after he quit his teaching post at St Francis College (what is now known as Pugu Secondary) to concentrate full time to the cause of Tanganyika’s independence. “In this house, Mwl Nyerere hosted meetings of the Tanganyika African Association and (its successor) the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU),” she said, pointing out that the building is testament to the history of the struggle for independence in Tanganyika.

After he had left his job at St Francis, Mwl Nyerere moved in with other political activists but these new dwellings were deemed perilous for a man of his stature. He was given the Magomeni Usalama plot by one Sheikh Abeid Karuta, where he built the house from scratch and moved into his new home in January 1959, two years before independence in 1961. Mwalimu stayed at the complex for only eight months.

He was moved to Sea View after he became the chairman of TANU. According to Ms Mbwana, the old house at Magomeni in Dar es Salaam has started luring many foreign tourists since it was launched for tourism last year. In October 2020, the government through the Ministry of Natural Resource and Tourism officially made the house one of the tourist attractions in the city.

Inside the house there are pictures of independence movement, as well as home items that Mwalimu used, such as a bed, a radio that he used to get information from, dishes that his wife used for cooking and chairs for guests. The items have a unique appeal because of their antiquity.

The house is located on a street which has the houses of the founding leaders of the nation who aided Mwalimu during the struggle, such as Saadan Kandoro, Kaluta Amri Abeid, Lucy Lameck and others. Preserving the Mwalimu Nyerere house at Magomeni was part of extensive plans of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism to earmark all houses and places that the first president used during his life and document them to keep his legacy and history for the future generation.

The ministry introduced a special strategy for keeping the legacy and formed a team to collect information and document events about Nyerere in digital form, so that they don’t disappear.

TANAPA intends to expand the area by compensating the owners of adjoining houses and have more land for building other structures like a parking lot, cafeteria and others. Commenting, chairman of TANAPA’s board of trustees, Retired Chief of Defence Forces, General George Waitara said the house is among heritage attractions that were put under TANAPA.