Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Explains Why Socialist Policies Failed | Dar es Salaam, 1985
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- In an interview with Dutch journalists in 1985, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere discussed his legacy as Tanzania's founding president. It was the final year of his presidency. Part of the discussion revolved around the socialist policies that were implemented after the Arusha Declaration of 1967. Here, Mwalimu Nyerere explains the challenges they encountered and why some of those policies failed.
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#juliusnyerere #africanhistory #tanzania #thearchives
This chap had really coherent mind...and the humility to even see him acknowledge where he went wrong.
Mwalimu was one of the best ever.
@@felixdatche9278 Why is it, that African leaders only know what to do when they leave office ? They should do the right things whilst in office !!!!!! They can laugh about their bad choices because, whilst the masses suffer because of their actions, they can retire to their luxury homes built with state monies !!!!! What a BLUNDER !!!!!!!!!
Imagine the the Man of this Calibre admitting and agreeing on the mistakes he made, and somehow regret it. But today's leaders in Tz , their praised, and praised and they paradise themselves, even if they made clear mistakes, they don't correct it and admitt it. And when someone criticize them they file some charges against him,. This Guy with all power he had, he was so so wise
Julius Kambarage Nyerere was a leader in a class of one!!! No other African leader even comes close to his calibre; and this list includes every African leader to date.
The leadership of Tanzania right now is the product of his mistakes
@@Ahdall
Exactly.
@@SadiaAlly-i9t Why is it, that African leaders only know what to do when they leave office ? They should do the right things whilst in office !!!!!! They can laugh about their bad choices because, whilst the masses suffer because of their actions, they can retire to their luxury homes built with state monies !!!!! What a BLUNDER !!!!!!!!!
@@Ahdall could you explain a little bit please? I'd like to know more about this topic
Baba, asante. Thank you for admitting that you made a mistake. It is not often that leaders accept the mistakes they made and you even more a representation of African Fathers, you have humbled yourself but made yourself Greatest. We the Tanzanian Children forgive you and are easy on you because we now understand there was no other choice but to choose what you did for the betterment of our then young nation. We know it was not your intention to fail because you had a big vision unfortunately Socialism was a failed plan. You live in our hearts forever baba. Viva Nyerere
He had no choice by the time
Julius was a man ahead of his time. Lord bless our continent with leaders like him.
I have read many policy books from this gem of Africa. My respect for him is top-notch...
@lovelytemenu1481 our motherland is in desperate need for leaders of his calibre
How was he ahead of his time?
@maambomumba6123 globally, you won't find many leaders with such clarity and passion about improving the lives of their citizens. Instead we have the likes of Paul Biya and the Bongos of this world.
@@PanAfricanist1963 I’m referring to the actual results of his administration and governance. What material results did his presidency yield for Tanzanians? You seem to be enamored by his words rather than taking stock of his actual performance as a president.
A very insightful interview - focuses on the economic performance and choices, where, as Nyerere with rare humility in African rulers, admits, mistakes were made. But there are so many other things that he got right. So many. Tanzanians were lucky to have him as their founding president.
nakupongeza...umejibu vizuri (well said). 👍
As a Kenyan, I have nothing but deep respect for President nyerere, he had genuine intentions for his country, our first President Kenyatta adopted the better option of mixed economy but was a greedy and corrupt
What do you have to say about the results Nyerere produced for Tanzanians?
@@maambomumba6123 ...As any other leader...there are positive and negative results as consequence of their leadership philosophies and strategies, so start with which ones do you prefer more to hear about him?!
@@maambomumba6123 economically kenya did better, but there are somethings he did which were really positive, like inclusivity, almost zero tribalism etc
@@maambomumba6123Tanzanians have a National identity. Something Kenyans have never had.
@@maambomumba6123Nyerere brought about inclusivity whereby nobody in the country feels disenfranchised while another feels entitled just like how it happens in Kenya where some people call themselves 'shareholders'. He did put a firm political foundation and I believe Tanzania will surpus Kenya and other African countries in future
I really admire Mwalimu Nyerere for his honesty and the legacy of uniting Tanzania
It is a joy to listen to him to this day.
I do wonder, though, if today's leaders in Tanzania and Afrika as a whole, would willingly admit that they are/were wrong at one time or another during their leadership periods.
It is such an insightfull interview. It is a shame that we in the West barely know his name😢
A great African statesman.
@kavaziOfficial Yes he is!
He was not good for the West.
He was so powerful in NAM (Non Allied Movement) during the cold wars of Socialism Capitalism era.
Tanzania hosted a number of freedom fighters from Africa and across the globe, even Mandela whonis celebrated by the West.
He even cut diplomatic ties with Israel for the Palestine saga.
You can see why, West didn't like him
Helped South Africans to get independence
That teachers handwriting on the board is so satisfying.
Very smart and well intentioned man, integrity indeed
Legend, African legend and a genuine leader. He admits mistakes and explains why it was a mistake. Oh God give us this type of leaders again.
@@nubosite Why is it, that African leaders only know what to do when they leave office ? They should do the right things whilst in office !!!!!! They can laugh about their bad choices because, whilst the masses suffer because of their actions, they can retire to their luxury homes built with state monies !!!!! What a BLUNDER !!!!!!!!!
A TRUE LEADER 🔥
Good Visions don’t mean Good Ideas. I admired Dr Julius Nyerere , it is refreshing to hear him admit , his policies ( some or most ) were ill planned.
ill planned is a euphemism for utter failure that led to the impoverishment of millions of Tanzanians.
@@maambomumba6123 I am giving him credit for admitting mistakes were made and owned it , whether it is utter failure or not is not for me to debate about or argue cause I have not assessed the system he laid out to develop his country. Good people/ leaders admit when they are wrong , I am sure you will agree . Tanzania may have had issues but she was never a laughing stock like some other countries.
@@maambomumba6123 your just an arrogant individual who have no idea of the whole context in African perspective. Nyerere was more than a leader. As a Tanzanian
@@ElimanGibba Tanzania, I’ve read before, received more multilateral aid per capita than any other African country. The need for the aid is of course not a matter to laugh at. It’s very serious. But I would hardly present it as a case of them doing better than other African countries on average.
@@ElimanGibba since you have an idea of the whole African context, please share it here as far as Nyerere administration and legacy is concerned. Thanks.
To be a leader is to be able to admit when you didn't get right, if African leaders can be able to admit mistakes and exxplain the rational of their decisions at the same time pivoting towards better and sustainable solutions to the mistakes that were made b4.
Refreshing candour! Which African leader today can repeat the same statement "We have made a number of mistakes..." and then proceed to explain concisely how?
Tanzania under Nyerere made great strides in vital areas of social development: infant mortality was reduced from 138 per 1000 live births in 1965 to 110 in 1985; life expectancy at birth rose from 37 in 1960 to 52 in 1984; primary school enrollment was raised from 25% of age group (only 16% of females) in 1960 to 72%
A great statesman. Sadly, very few of his calibre exist anywhere in the world today.
Was so excited to see Mwalimu Nyerere in interview.
Such a wonderful interview ❤
This president was clever and pure politician.
@@sultanamran_ Why is it, that African leaders only know what to do when they leave office ? They should do the right things whilst in office !!!!!! They can laugh about their bad choices because, whilst the masses suffer because of their actions, they can retire to their luxury homes built with state monies !!!!! What a BLUNDER !!!!!!!!!
I don't think he failed us, he was able to unite all of us as Tanzanians, that's very important the whole Africa is in flame because of Capitalism, economy can grow at any time, im proud of my president you were not a failure at all, all these other countries are killing each other because of Tribalism you didn't fail us. We are one and together we can rise up at any time..UMOJA NI NGUVU UTENGANO NI UDHAIFU..R.I.P BABA WA TAIFA.
Wait you're serious?
@@sebastienholmes548 what part of Africa you from? Look at the issues your country is facing and divided you have become, we don't have those issues in Tanzanian, we all speak one language, and no tribalism at all , he was never a failure
@@shaqdizo7678 you are one of the poorest nations on the planet.
@@shaqdizo7678 look at botswana.
@@shaqdizo7678
Yet it's poorer than Kenya with all the political turmoil it suffered post-independence.
A very clear mind mwalimu was..
Proudly
My great president always happy to learn from you sir,but i think the mistake that Africa made was to leave some entities unnationalised and I feel by doing so we gave the very systems that failed us a chance to compete with the systems that we were trying to build and so we couldn't challenge in the same market coz the other systems were already firm and experienced ,of which we didn't have those advantages, we should have nationalised everything until such a time that we got ready.
Yes we failed economically but it fosted our social living as tanzania we have many tribes so you need a system to unite them
Mwl.J.K.Nyerere He was the true Patriot
Brilliant and selfless leader! Where is the whole interview?
Dont allow private sector to control economy of your country that what he believes
Resulting in a country that cannot sustain itself without foreign aid, tyranny or the ever-volatile resource economy like Nauru.
Profit is still the best driver in all enterprises. Socialism will therefore always fail whenever it's tried.
Ours vs mine any situation, Ours can easily be corrupted! Individual owners work harder and protect their property.
Well that isn't always the case in his case the socialist regime lacked accountability look at countries like China have been socialist for longtime and are still thriving
@@musers9699
Thanks to market liberalization and reforms. Before Deng, China was floundering.
@@musers9699china adopted capitalism not socialism
0:26 min Nyerere admits to mistakes he made (1) nationalizing the few industries Tanzania had in 1967, (2) nationalizing the "highly developed" sisal farms, and (3) abolishing cooperative unions in favor of parastatal, i.e., government corporations.
Being a Tanzanian I lived in Kenya 🇰🇪 for 12 years and loved being Kenya. Jomo Kenyatta was my Idol. "Harambee"
The mistakes he mentioned since then, I still see it now repeating. 😇
He is a man of Gold. A machine cannot achieve 100% efficiency why would a human but fortunately we never learnt from some mistakes while other mistakes we tackled them as supposed to be dealt.
#swahibaaa
Even capitalism fails, it just depends on HOW a system is implemented. Not always great to be 100% socialist, not always great to be 100% capitalist. Whatever works in a particular scenario works.
Panyar Dit brought me here
He was good to talk to media but bad economic in country
So do we help you? Economy is not made by a single person but every people in the country!
Retrospectively, paying attention to industries would have paid dividends. Look at Cina.
Nyerere was a Pan-African leader and alongside Nkrumah of Ghana they did alot in this African continent, especially during liberation of African countries against colonial rule. Ofcoz you won't see much of their histories books written by colonizers. Coz these were not puppet leaders like these other leaders who are glorified in many African history books written en by Europeans.
@@ngamaizinzi3987 Why is it, that African leaders only know what to do when they leave office ? They should do the right things whilst in office !!!!!! They can laugh about their bad choices because, whilst the masses suffer because of their actions, they can retire to their luxury homes built with state monies !!!!! What a BLUNDER !!!!!!!!!
Fikira za mwenye kiti wa ccm zidumu to day we have tanzania ya viwanda
I have to respect him calling himself out on his flawed decisions based on what he knew at the time.
Still… this single decision is what handed Kemal dominance in the region. Had Tanzania not done this, they would have been far ahead of Kenya today as they have a better port. Socialism 0 - capitalism 1.
No public sector will ever eclipse the private sector in efficiently and effectiveness simply because if your input is all you have, you’ll work much more effectively and efficiently to survive. No public sector can ever have that pressure simply because it’s not responsible for funding itself as a do-or-die issue.
I wish Nyerere had had a commercially minded leader to over economical functions to. Tanzania would have been an African a powerhouse with its abundant agricultural engine.
Socialsm was a good policy we people and his subordinates let him down because of human nature laziness,weak subordinate leaders to strategize his policies, and also corruption rather it was a good initial strategy approach to economy from the yoke of colonialsm economy.
And to this date Management remains there
Yet Julius Malema wants to nationalize everything in south africa
I expected his voice to be deeper
He had intellectual arrogances same as all politicians and stateman who have no life experience in running prosperous economic ventures all the mistakes he did had answers like he mentioned since 17th century 18century all the economic theories had been tested the world knew what works what did not work there were debates during his time from great economics even from his inner circle people like kambona protested the socialism path liberal economy was the thing during the period of africa independence but africa leaders saw it as neo colonilism when you attach your fears to everything it destroy you objective view of the world
Biggest mistake was not listening to Kwame Nkrumah for a United states of Africa. Africa would be the most powerful continent in the world today if that happened. We are trying now to unite like East Africa union. But it probably to late now. To much division and interference from foreign nations.
biggest mistake in Tanzania was not adopting English as their business language while having Swahili as national language.
That language you call a mistake, united all of 150 tribes and gave them Identity.....We understand importance of English as global citizens, we are currently working on it, majority of young Tanzanians are getting better! But Swahili was a blessing to Tanzania especially as young nation.
@@ireneque9813 English could have done that...we are in 2024 tanzania is trying to catch up with capitalism... former user has Russian as uniting language...then what happened? Local language is useless in the international market .it has made tanzania very uncompetitive .it's good that your now teach English from kindergarten...
@@stevostevozz1168 Everything has pros and cons (Swahili and English as well)....Kenyans started with English but is has never helped them to eradicate tribalism. You are right on the benefits of English it's business language but Tanzania is making progress.... better late than never!
This is not true at all. English will not unite the nation. How did you come up with that. Just look around Africa.
@@12user-u5h I didn't say unite the nation..I said capitalism and economy of tanzania will improve plus tanzanians will get more opportunities abroad if they speak English better... currently tanzania is united umoja but still way behind kenya economically..Kenya is divided but still ahead decades despite disunity... basically UJAMAA and kiswahili did not make tanzania economically competitive.. 😂. .you my reasoning now ? How far economically of tanzania has chosen capitalism and English as lingua franca ???
I very much like Dr Nyerere but he was one of the Presidents who stood against Dr Kwame Nkrumah's advocate for a united African state
Because Nkrumah's delusions of grandeur became more and more evident and if anything the would-be united African state was spared what he already did to Ghana.
Do you think you can easily unite Arab north Africa and black subsahara Africa easily?- Do you think you can unite Francophone Africa and Anglophone Africa easily?.
It’s hard enough to have internal unity within single African countries; the arrogance of imagining we can unite Africa 😭
It was not easy to unite already independent countries. What could have been done was for all African leaders and countries delaying their independences to all join as a wholly African independence as a single African Nation. Here Julius Nyerere was completely true. Nkuruma's approach was a technical mistake, why? His timing for uniting African countries was not good at all. Take a little example of a family children. If your parent has missed timing of uniting you as one family befere you marry to your spouses, after everyone marriage you will never make stable union because of greedy which will be built up. So we missed timing. and Nyerere based on timing! after all Nkuruma was not god of Africa, he could make mistakes and corrected. That also was the evidence Nkurumah was chessed from his position as PRESIDENT?only a single country rulling was difficult for him what if it was the whole Africa with different ethnic groups?
Tanzania ya baba wa taifa na Samia haiko tofauti sana sijui nani katuloga😂😅😂😂
Nyerere and his policies was right and he is the best leader we ever had as Tanzanians and Tanzania. Forget about all these European perspectives of Nyerere completely bull shit.
We know the system was against socialism from the very beginning,let alone the back crash and economical barriers from powerful European countries 😂😂😂
Btw i don't see any African country (subsaharan) doing so much better economically than Tanzania, we are almost at the same level
@@shauncameron8390is Algeria sub saharan? How is Kenya better than us?
Hivi ndio vitu vinatakiwa kuoneshwa katika TBC ili tujifunze wapi tulikosea na wapi muelekeo wetu.
The guy responsible for stagnating the Tanzanian economy.
The only tz national speaks fluent engoo
English is not everything to Us... it's just part of Us as global citizens but not everything.Good example is despite our inability to speak fluent English as you, we never went on roads to protest because of Corn flour😊! We are good without it.
Speaks better English than your entire country
@@titokwareh1852 It is so interesting an adult like you could feel proud for something that is not yours, you have attitude of a slave, you feel proud for Identity of people who doesn't even care about you!!
@@ireneque9813 ahsante dada kwa jibu lako....tunashukuru.
@@titokwareh1852Mbona baadhi ya waafrika wanadhani kifahamu cha lugha za kigeni (haswa kiingereza) inawafanya kuwa bora zaidi kuliko wenzao? Kwani kunaubaya gani ukiwa na fahari kuzungumza lugha ya uzazi? Kuna watanzania wanaozungumza lugha la ukoo, kiswahili, pamoja na lugha la tatu ambayo ni ya kigeni (kama kiingereza). Watanzania wanajivunia kwa kuzungumza lugha zetu za kibantu. Tafadhali tusiwe na chuki kwa waafrika wenzetu wasiozungumza kiingereza vizuri kama nchi zingine.
BASIC TRANSLATION: Tanzania is a wonderful country with more than 100 ethnic groups (120+) who live peacefully within its borders. We are proud of being fluent in our indigenous African languages. The priority for most Tanzanians is to be as productive a member of society as possible --- in whatever way possible, and in whichever language we choose to speak. We are respectful of those who show respect to us.
FAMILY PLANNING...anyone???...Where are all those girls in those crowded schools going to get jobs?
Family planning is happening naturally, humans tend to recognize when overcrowded.
Girls or boys don't make any difference ... They just showed girls but they are as many boys as girls 😅
THIS MAN HAS DONE ALOT OF MISTAKES INCLUDING: 1. NATIONALIZATION OF INDUSTRIES, HOUSE, INSURANCE COMPANIES, ETC, 2. TO ABOLISH COOPERATIVE UNIONS AND SOCIETIES, 3. VILLAGELIZATION, 4. UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION, 5. UNNECESSARY WAR WITH UGANDA 1978, 6. AFRICANS FREEDOM FIGHTING SUPPORT USING OUR SMALL RESOURCES WE HAD, ETC. WE VIVIDLY REMEMBER AFTER THE WAR BACK 1981 THE COUNTY HAD NOTHING FROM FOOD STUFF, GARMENT, FUEL, AND THE COUNTY WAS SO POOR THAT EVEN TOOTHPASTE HAD TO BE IMPORTED FROM NEIGHBORING COUNTY... WHAT A SHAME, 😢😢😢
Julius K Nyerere is easily one of the worst national leaders in Africas history. Perhaps the world. Sheer incompetence. Applied widespread socialism through Ujama in a nation that had all the pre conditions for vast prosperity. Socialism fails because socialism is an inherently flawed system. To plan and coordinate an industry, let alone an economy, from central authority is arrogant and dangerous.
Look other African nations except few like South African, Ghana
then justify your argument with a reflection of Tanzania's position now in Africa.
@@ireneque9813 please rephrase that, thanks.
There is no system which isnt flawed somehow. Mostly Ujamaa failed on its economic policies. On the other hand Ujamaa brought peace, harmony and united a country with 127 tribes with land mass as big as Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Malawi combined.
Not to forget, Tanzania was the capital of Africa's liberation as Ujamaa was at the forefront of Africa's liberation struggle. Eventhough it cost them dearly but it was a successful project that had to be done where more than 20 countries were liberated.
The success of nationalizing land. Today, Tanzania isnt going through what other African countries are going through whereas few families or entities are holding majority of land while leaving majorities without land.
It should be noted, when Mwalimu stepped down in 1985, Tanzania illiteracy rate had dropped to single digits from 71% in 1967 surpassing some developed nations.
What I am trying to point out is, one cant simply label Ujamaa as a total failure.
Please go back and read history ....
Please go back and read history
Watching in 2025, nyerere came From FUTURE 🫶🏼🙏🙌🏼