APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) African leaders in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa for the 37th African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government on Sunday unveiled a life-size statue of late Tanzanian president Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, erected on the premises of the pan-African body’s headquarters.
Nyerere is credited as being at the forefront of the founding of the Organization of African Union (OAU), a predecessor to the modern-day African Union, founded in 2005 and as one of the founding fathers of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
“Today’s Mwalimu Julius Nyerere’s statue recognizes his contribution to African liberation, unity and peace and manifests our pride in our heritage,” Tanzanian president Samia Suluhu Hassan said ahead of the unveiling ceremony.
Nyerere’s sculpture is the third statue erected on the premises of the AU headquarters next to late Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and late Kwame Nkrumah of the Ghanaian president.
“None of us can have permanent prosperity without a prosperous Africa. It is true to say our uniqueness matches our inter-dependence and therefore complementing political liberation with economic transformation is important for our future to be secured,” Hassan said.
Present at the unveiling ceremony were president of Angola João Lourenço and president of Zambia Hakainde Hichilema, prime minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed and Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat.
“It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to this ceremony for one of Africa’s most iconic figures, – Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere. The legacy of this remarkable leader encapsulates the essence of Pan Africanism, profound wisdom, and service to Africa,” Faki said.
The chairperson said Nyerere played a pioneering role in the establishment of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1963, a milestone event in pursuit of African unity.
The three-meter sculpture was designed, built and transported at the African Union Commission in collaboration with SADC and Nyerere’s family and the government of the Republic of Tanzania.
MG/abj/APA