SECRETARY-GENERAL PRAISES ‘PROFOUND HUMANITY AND INTEGRITY’ OF JULIUS K. NYERERE AT NEW YORK MEMORIAL MASS

SECRETARY-GENERAL PRAISES ‘PROFOUND HUMANITY AND INTEGRITY’

OF JULIUS K. NYERERE AT NEW YORK MEMORIAL MASS

Following are the remarks of Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the memorial mass in honour of the late Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere in New York on 20 April:

It is a great honour for me to join you all for this memorial mass in honour of the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere. 

Mwalimu passed away a year and a half ago, but he is still very much with us.

We all remember him in our hearts as a man of profound humanity and integrity, who believed in the equality of all men and made this his philosophy in life.  He was a man of extraordinary courage and moral authority, an indefatigable fighter for freedom, justice and peace, and this won him the highest esteem of Africans and people all over the world.  

We remember him as the man who led the people of Tanzania to independence through a non-violent struggle, and later renounced power voluntarily -- one of very few African leaders of his generation to do so.  He was one of the architects of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and an ardent pan-Africanist.  He played a leading role in the struggle against apartheid and colonialism throughout Africa, the building of the Non-Aligned Movement, the search for North-South dialogue, and also the promotion of South-South dialogue.  Right up to the last month before his death, he devoted himself to the service of his fellow Africans, seeking a path to peace in troubled Burundi. 

Much that he fought for is on today's global agenda.  Today, corporate social responsibility is a major international issue; the need to preserve the environment for future generations is universally acknowledged; the debt issue is high on the global agenda.  In all these developments, the passionate advocacy of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, speaking clearly and eloquently for the weak in the world of the strong, played a key role.

We admired him and he inspired us.  We owe it to him to continue his work and carry on his legacy of peace, unity, and people-centred development.  A lot remains to be done to ensure that all the world's peoples are free from fear and from want.  In Africa, in particular, poverty, ignorance, disease, conflicts and wars continue to affect many millions of people. 

Friends, let us pay tribute to Mwalimu by showing the same level of commitment as he did to justice, lasting peace, development and the betterment of peoples' lives all over the world.  Let his memory continue to guide our efforts.  And let us ensure that the ideals he fought for never die. 

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