Angolan President João Lourenço and his Tanzanian counterpart Samia Suluhu Hassan Friday jointly inaugurated a hospital in honour of Julius Kambarage Nyerere in the presence of his widow, Maria Nyerere.
The Angolan government said naming the hospital after Tanzania’s founding president was to recognise the sterling role in Angola’s fight for independence.
During Nyerere’s rule from 1964 to 1985, Tanzania was a hub for liberation fighters including Angolans fighting for independence. Nyerere died in 1999 and is survived by his widow.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan had travelled to Angola with the former First lady Maria Nyerere for the inauguration of the Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere Hospital in Kilamba, a district of the capital Luanda.
The hospital is fitted with 252 beds in specialised care units like hyperbaric chambers where severe burns are treated.
”I had the honor of accompanying our Mother, Mother Maria Nyerere, to Angola where, along with other activities, we will participate in the inauguration of the Rufaa Hospital named after the Father of the Nation, Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere” she wrote on her Facebook page on Friday.
Samia described this as a great honour for Tanzania’s late president and her country.
”It is a sign of recognising and appreciating his historical contribution to the liberation and development movements in Africa” she added.
WN/as/APA