When Julius Nyerere, former president of Tanzania, died last October, there ensued an outpouring of grief and tribute in Africa and beyond that left others puzzled and even indignant. They demanded to know what was so special about a man who had "single-handedly destroyed the economy of Tanzania", who had "showed little regard for individual rights and liberties", and who was to blame for "forced removals on a scale about which apartheid bureaucrats could only fantasise." But not even his harshest critics denied that he had possessed a certain charisma. For many, Nyerere still remained "Baba la Taifa", which means "Father of the Nation", or even broader, "Father of the African Struggle" or "Father of Africa"; and, of course, "Mwalimu" -- "the Teacher."
Sadly, this difference of view often proceeded along racial lines. Nyerere had ruled Tanzania from 1960 to 1985, when he stepped down after five terms as president. No one could deny that mistakes had been made during his quarter-century tenure, and, to some extent, the division of views at the time of his death rested merely on whether one could excuse, or even justify, these mistakes. But it was also noticeable that his critics and supporters talked about different things: the former spoke of horror, of economic failure and restraints on individual liberty; the latter in glowing terms about national liberation, nation-building and the assertion of ideological principles.
