Remarks by Mr Charles Stuart, Chargé d’Affaires of the EU Delegation on the occasion of the Inauguration of the Mwl. Nyerere African Liberation Memorial Studio
The European Union stands here today in co-operation with the United Republic of Tanzania and UNESCO to remember the contribution of Tanzania to the African Liberation Movement. Tanzania played a central role in assisting Africa's movements fighting for liberation and Julius Nyerere – the architect of Tanzania’s independence – has been a key figure in the efforts that were made to bring peace, freedom and unity to Africa. As soon as the United Republic of Tanzania was created, the country not only offered guidance and shelter to movements from African countries still seeking their independence, but it also spearheaded the creation of the African Liberation Committee and welcomed a large number of refugees from Southern Africa, still threatened then by conflict and oppression.
While celebrating its heroes and the role of Tanzania as a "Frontline State" in the efforts of African Liberation, we also recognize the contribution of many ordinary citizens towards achieving the goal of independence in various countries of the continent, as well as the role of civil society organizations and grassroots movements in the efforts of post-colonial state building. The more than 1,000 hours of audio records already digitized during the implementation of this project are precious testimonies of these efforts.
This rich heritage is invaluable to Tanzanians as well as scholars and Africans across the globe who seek to understand the History of their nations. Audio and video records can provide a unique insight into this past, and help us understand our identity as well as the legacy of our forebears. It helps us too to comprehend our past, to make sense of our present and to help us consider our prospects for the future. For this reasons audio-visual heritage should be safeguarded, but also promoted as broadly as possible and made accessible to everyone. Preservation and dissemination must go hand in hand. They are interdependent. No widespread access of heritage archives is possible if these archives are lost as a result of decay, neglect, or technological obsolescence. But at the same time, a preserved liberation heritage archive will be meaningful only if the general public has access to it.
The European Union is proud to have supported culture through various projects and programmes including the TAHAP. The EU is the primary partner for TAHAP, providing 800,000 EUR in financial assistance in addition to support by the European Union to a total of 10 Million Euros for cultural and heritage projects in Tanzania. It was with great pleasure that I was able to celebrate World Heritage Day this year at the Oldupai Gorge museum, newly restored with EU funding together with the NCAA and with children from across the region eager to learn about their origins. It was a fascinating visit that coincided with the award of UNESCOs World GEO Park Status, the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa and only the second on the continent of Africa.
Heritage, memory, and cultural preservation are key European values. As you may know, 2018 has been selected to be the European Year of Cultural Heritage. As a result, a series of initiatives and events are happening all across Europe to enable people to become closer to and more involved with their cultural heritage. To make sure these efforts leave an imprint beyond 2018, the European Union, with UNESCO, and other partners, will be running 10 long-term impact projects aiming at deepening the connection between people and heritage, and building a legacy of increased public engagement.
Heritage and memory are messy, and there are many ghosts that roam our collective past, yet we can learn from our history, embrace our heritage and move forward in unity with new clarity. Europe was once torn asunder with war and we do not forget the enmity between nations such as Germany and France which are now allies. Respect for inalienable Human Rights, freedoms and commitment to constitutional mandates and principled governance were the key to the prosperity and harmony we now see in Europe.
Likewise, we can see that where African Nations have pursued state-building projects based on these values we have seen economies grow and nations flourish.
In this context, I am so pleased to see that this project has come to fruition at the same time we are celebrating the European Year of Cultural Heritage, and I encourage the Government of Tanzania to continue the good work this project has started, and work to preserve the rich national archives which are in Tanzania's care.
Last November, on the occasion of the 99th anniversary of the end of World War One, I laid a wreath at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery off the Bagamoyo Road on behalf of the European Union in my capacity here as its Deputy Head of Delegation. Here was I, a former British Army Officer who had served his country in War, representing an organisation for which my mother country had voted to leave, participating in a truly unique ceremony upon the near centenary of an event in the land where my parents were born and in the region where they grew up.
My Grandfather had survived the hell of the War in Europe and went on to become a Godfather to a Ugandan King who himself became an honorary Major-General in my Regiment. My Grandfather completed his ministry in Uganda after 24 years, a sole Bishop in a diocese that included back then today’s Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. My Grandmother became a Godmother to a Ugandan Princess and worked hard for the betterment of women and their education in East Africa. Both my Grandparents are today buried in the precious soil of Africa. My Parents grew up, and began their working lives, in the region. My Father spent much of his youth playing rugby with serving members of the Kings African Rifles. The signal blessing of this tangled DNA is not in any way lost on me as I stand here before you today.
In my silent moment of personal reflection at the cemetery last year, I remembered, as I always do, friends and comrades-in-arms who fought in far flung corners and some of whom died, were wounded or have passed. I found myself contemplating as well the implications of BREXIT and its impact upon a union that has cemented peace for the longest period in European history and for which, in recognition, it was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2012. For the first time then, I reflected more precisely on the impact that the East African Campaign of World War One may have had upon the lives of Africans today and whether young East Africans were necessarily aware or even cared about what had happened on this foreign field so many decades before and on the rich earth in which lay a richer dust concealed.
Though never fully acknowledged, Europe's Great War was a war of colonials and a colonial theatre of war. All told, two million African soldiers, workers and porters were directly involved in World War One. After the East African colonies gained independence in the 1960s, it is perhaps not unremarkable that the new nation states had little interest in promoting remembrance of the First World War. As seen through some of the eyes of the once colonised, the First World War was ultimately not only a conflict in which Europeans fought against Europeans, but also a conflict which forced Africans to fight against Africans.
And yet, on that day last November, I was struck that there was no sense of this antagonism. As with every ceremony of remembrance across the world this was truly about honouring the sacrifice of those that had laid down their lives in the search for peace. On that day, the continent of Europe and Africa stood in dignified partnership to remember. It was, all in all, a deeply moving ceremony in many respects.
Tanzania indeed played a crucial role in the continent’s liberation during the 1960’s by encouraging African unity and solidarity. Today Tanzania still maintains an active role in the promotion of peace and security in the eastern and southern African region, in the EAC, in the SADC, in the Great Lakes Region, on the African continent and within the European Union’s sister organisation the African Union, but also in the global context, including in the UN. Allow me to use this opportunity and take a moment to salute the efforts made by the Tanzanian People's Defence Force in the UN framework and with all Tanzanians we mourn those who fell in the Kivu's in the Democratic Republic of Congo last December; they gave their lives in defence of peace and security in the Great Lakes Region.
The European Union continues to defend and support the establishment of a just and lasting peace in this region, and its development as a prosperous zone of free and equal nations. By celebrating the region’s heritage of liberation, we contribute to the promotion of peace and unity on the continent, and we honour the values and principles the men and women of the past who fought for freedom, protection of Human Rights and reconciliation.
The European Union is glad to be here today to witness the inauguration of the Mwalimu Nyerere African Liberation Heritage Memorial Studio, a place where every citizen can learn, remember, and share.
Asanteni sana