Nyerere Day — October 14, 2025

Honoring the Legacy of Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere (1922–1999)

As we commemorate the life and enduring legacy of Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere, we at the Julius Nyerere Leadership Centre (JNLC) renew our commitment to the values he so profoundly championed — integrity, ethics, self-reliance, and servant leadership.

Since its establishment, the JNLC has nurtured over 1300 young leaders through transformative training and mentorship programmes. Many of our alumni now serve in leadership roles within universities, communities, and public institutions across Uganda — a testament to Mwalimu’s living legacy of ethical and people-centered leadership.

We express our heartfelt gratitude to H.E. President Yoweri K. Museveni for establishing and supporting the Centre; to Makerere University and the Uganda Management Institute for their steadfast partnership; and to our Board of Directors for their guidance and commitment.

To our valued partners — thank you for walking this journey with us. To our alumni — we salute you for exemplifying Mwalimu’s spirit in your leadership and service.

Together, we carry forward his vision of a just, united, and self-reliant Africa.

Julius Nyerere Leadership Centre (JNLC) — Inspiring Transformative Leadership Among Uganda’s Youth

to celebrate all the important things that just one piece of cloth – the khanga – represents to generation after generation in Tanzania.

ODE TO KHANGA

Dear Khanga,

Thank you,
For carrying our children
For supporting the weights they bore on our backs
While we carried on with everyday tasks

Thank you,
For covering us women
After our showers, during our chores
Being gorgeous in your simplest form
Ensuring all your daughters can be adorned

Thank you,
For attending the weddings
For lending yourself as a gift
Remembered after our festivities

Thank you,
For your comfort in funerals
For letting our tears stain the ends of your threads
And offering words of wisdom to the grieved

Thank you,
For your years of service
As bedsheets, blankets, covers and curtains
When we couldn’t afford much more

Thank you,
For never stuttering in your expression,
For letting every aspect of you
Intentionally tell our story
For enabling us to honour our histories on our bodies
And wear our hearts near your hems
For reminding us of proverbs
Verses and people who’ve passed on,
For weaving what’s loved and lost into our daily routine
If you were a person, I’d see you as a mother
One willing to give a piece of herself to each of her children
So none would have to live without her
You are a testament to art’s transcendence
The fabric that holds us together
Covering our country ten times over
Carrying life and death on your shoulders

So thank you,
For being timeless and new
For refusing to fade when
Many of your children would rather change
And yes, I see you
Folded, flattened in the back of my closet
Behind my thick towels, silk sheets
Sweatpants and hoodies
But, in the times that I
Wrap you around my chest and waist
With my towels still in the wash,
The bathroom blinds drawn tight and winter’s wind
Rushing against the windows
In this room of white, grey and clear glass mirrors,
There’s an image waiting to be seen.
I see myself helping my aunt tie my cousin to her back
Hearing the child’s cry soften like
He’s just been wrapped in love
I see my Bibi leaving for church, the image of
Virgin Mary draped over her head like a veil
I see my mama, securing your ends to our window bars
To keep neighbours from seeing us during the day
I see sun rays transform in your translucence
An array of stained shadows painting
The whitewashed walls of my room
I remember waking in the embrace of a rainbow.
Such beauty can’t be seen through blinds.
Thank you, Khanga.
Love,
Aisha.

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