Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Day was observed by the East African community on Thursday, with calls for unity and tolerance.
Julius Nyerere, Tanzania’s founding father and a pan-Africanist who championed African socialism and regional integration through the Ujamaa spirit, is honored on this day.
Mwalimu Nyerere, the late, was a founder member of the East African federation, which gave rise to the East African Community.
Mwalimu Julius Kabarage Nyerere is known and honored across Africa, particularly in the East African Community, for his conviction in regional integration and the importance of economic cooperation in ensuring people’s prosperity.
The EAC, which was founded by Nyerere, and other African regional economic communities are all part of the African Union’s larger ambition to create an African economic community by 2063.
Tanzania’s founding father felt that if people came together, most of the EAC’s economic problems could be handled.
Nyerere’s essential beliefs were honored and commended as the building blocks of a strong economy at Tanzania’s celebrations, chaired by President Samia Suluhu.
Julius Nyerere offered in 1960 to postpone Tanganyika’s impending independence, which was set for 1961, so that all of East Africa’s territories may gain freedom as a federation.
It was signed on November 30, 1999, and it went into effect on July 7, 2000, after the original three Partner States ratified it — Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Rwanda and Burundi became members of the EAC in 2007, with South Sudan becoming a full member in 2016.
Today, the EAC is one of the world’s most integrated blocs, with intra-regional trade increasing by about 60% from 400 billion shillings in 2010 to over 620 billion shillings in 2020, thanks to the Common Market Protocol.
Intra-regional commerce is estimated to exceed $1 trillion by 2030, according to EAC Secretary General Peter Mathuki.
