Butiama Bed & Breakfast

Butiama Bed & Breakfast

Friday 16 March 2012

The Mwalimu Nyerere/Mt. Kilimanjaro Charity Climb 2011 (post 14 of 15)

Wednesday 28th September 2011
This post is not strictly related to the Mwalimu Nyerere/Mt. Kilimanjaro Climb 2011.

The deputy chairperson of Sungu Secondary School, Fr. Ewald Kinyaia, invited Jaffar Amin and I to attend the school's Form Four graduation ceremony.


Part of the graduating class.
When the guests were introduced and my name was mentioned, there was a roar of applause from the guests and graduating students. I suspected that after Jaffar Idi Amin's introduction there would be even louder applause. I was right.

Fifteen minutes after we were introduced someone must have approached the MC and asked: "Did you say 'Idi Amin Dada?'" because the MC announced: "Just in case you did not understand. We have among our guests the son of Idi Amin Dada, and the son of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere."


Fr. Ewald Kinyaia, right.
When given the opportunity to say a few words, I raised two points. First, I said to the students: "I have climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro four times. This is our mountain. If you get the opportunity, climb it. There are far more foreigners climbing this mountain than Tanzanians. Second, don't fight a war that you did not start. This is the lesson that Jaffar and I bring to you. You would remember that Uganda and Tanzania fought a war between 1978 and 1980. But that was in the past. My advice to you is to look at the present and the future."

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