Sarah Kagingo will moderate the Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere Symposium currently underway at Freedom Square in Makerere University.
“The Celebrating Makerere & Nyerere@100 Symposium” is running under the theme: “Imagining together an African future led by Africa’s youth”.
The Nyerere @100 symposium kicked off today, Thursday October 13 and will end tomorrow, Friday October 14, 2022.
The Moderator Sarah Kagingo is the Founder and Managing Director of SoftPower News. She has previously served as the Special Presidential Assistant for Communications, Principal Press Secretary, and Office of the Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda.
The panellists include; Mr. Ivan Ssegawa, a former East African Community (EAC) Youth Ambassador to Uganda and a former Regional Coordinator of the EAC Youth Ambassadors’ Platform.
Mr. Sabatho Nyamsenda is an Assistant Lecturer – Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Dar es Salaam. He is a socialist and pan Africanist scholar–activist based in Tanzania.
Mr. Gabriel Karsan is a “digital dreamer” a youth leader, activist and mobilizer in the internet governance space. He is a Young and Emerging Leaders Fellow, Internet Society fellow, ICANN Fellow and a Yenching Fellow on Eastern Multilateralism.
Ms. Sangu Maria Amabilis Butiku is a graduate of LLB at Tumaini University (2009), now Iringa University found in the Southern part of Tanzania. She is an alumnus of Mt. St. Mary’s College Namagunga, Uganda.
Mr. Kidega Moses is the Secretary for Labour, National Youth Council. Kidega is a former student leader at Makerere University and Uganda National Students Association (UNSA), where he championed the need for student participation in decision making.
Mwalimu Nyerere Honoured
While speaking at the opening of the symposium, Dr. Nansozi Muwanga, the Executive Director of the Julius Nyerere Leadership Centre, thanked Professor Eddy Maloka, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of APRM Secretariat, for accepting to deliver the Keynote address for today’s symposium.
Dr. Kasozi Mulindwa, the Uganda Management Institute (UMI) Director Programs and Students Affairs, thanked President Museveni for supporting them to lay a foundation for the Julius Nyerere Leadership Centre and make what it is today.
Makerere University Vice Chancellor, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, said it is indeed right and befitting that Makerere University should honour Mwalimu Nyerere, whose life and legacy epitomized the values and ethos of his alma mater.
“It gives me great pleasure to join the Executive Director and Chairperson JNLC to welcome you to Makerere University this morning as we pay homage to our gallant alumnus, His Excellency Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.”
“In recognition of his outstanding achievements, Makerere was proud to host the launch of Mwalimu Nyerere’s book, ‘Women’s Freedom: Women are Eagles, Not Chickens,’ during 50 years of the University of East Africa celebrations,” Nawangwe said.
He noted that Mwalimu Nyerere was the only Chancellor of the University of East Africa during its short-lived existence from 1963 to 1970 when its former University Colleges each became National Universities of their respective countries.
“Makerere takes great pride in the achievements of Mwalimu Nyerere. It is therefore extremely gratifying that the Nyerere Foundation continues to promote the ideas of Peace, Unity and People-centred development that Mwalimu so cherished,” pointed out Nawangwe.
He said it is no wonder that H.E President Museveni, a proud student and admirer of what Mwalimu Nyerere stood, for saw it fit to establish the Julius Nyerere Leadership Centre at Makerere University to further advance his mentor’s causes.”
“I pray that the communiqué that will be issued at the end of this symposium will offer appropriate guidance on how we ought to take the debate on Imagining together an African Future led by Africa’s Youth forward.”
Speaking at the symposium, H.E Dr. Aziz Mlima, the Tanzanian High Commissioner to Uganda, said East Africa once had a unified customs union, EAC buses, EAC railway trains, EAC water vessels “but today we only exchange MPs for EALA”.
“These are the foundations our forefathers like Nyerere had set in place,” pointed out H.E Mlima, adding: “The Youth today ought to champion three narratives for EAC’s independence; 1. liberate their minds and have mental independence. 2. Research Innovation & innovation independence. 3. Invest in Education for technology independence.”
Profile:
Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere was born on April 13, 1922 in Butiama, on the Eastern shore of Lake Victoria in North West Tanzania.
He trained as a teacher at Makerere University and later studied History and Political Economy for his Master of Arts at the University of Edinburgh.
At Edinburgh, partly through his encounter with Fabian thinking, Nyerere began to develop his particular vision of connecting socialism with African communal living.
On getting back to the then Tanganyika, he brought together a number of different nationalist factions with the formation of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU).
Mwalimu became President of the Union, entered the Legislative Council in 1958 and became chief minister in 1960.
