Julius NyerereMr. President, Ministers, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I often try to begin my speeches on occasions such as these with some apposite historical reference. But your country, Mr. President, beats them all. Tanzania is one of the places where human civilisation began three million years ago, in the East African Rift Valley. You can't get more historic than that. We are all grateful to you for setting us on the road! [end p1]
Since then other civilisations have left their mark on Tanzania. But as you will have realised from your reception this week, Tanzania has also left its mark on Britain.
Our influence was particularly strong in the cultural field. Many talented young men in East Africa made their way to Britain to become students at our universities. They developed an affection for, and understanding of, things British. This naturally included our language and our [end p2] literary heritage. One of these young men was so inspired by what he read that he decided to translate some of the greatest works of our literature, the plays of Shakespeare, into his own language of Swahili, so that all might enjoy them. It might help you to guess his name if I tell you that one of the plays he translated was Julius Caesar.
Fortunately for Tanzania, and fortunately for us, the young Julius Nyerere did not stop there. He founded his own political party, became [end p3] President when the Union of Tanzania was formed in 1964 and has been President ever since. I have not been Prime Minister quite so long—yet—but, Mr. President, during my time in office I have come to value your wisdom, vision and dedication to the service of your people and of Africa as a whole. It is a high point in a career which has many peaks that you should have been elected Chairman of the Organisation of African Unity. I can think of no-one better able to chart a course for Africa through these very troubled times. [end p4]
Britain and Tanzania have not always been on the best of terms. But I trust that the difficult times are behind us. It would be wrong to be blinded by our occasional differences, when we see eye to eye on many things. We both want to see peaceful change in Southern Africa. We also share a desire for peace in the world as a whole and a genuine concern to see the arms race brought under control. We are both committed to further development [end p5] in Africa. Britain has demonstrated this commitment in Tanzania through its aid programme. In 1984/85 we were delighted that Tanzania was the third largest recipient of British aid in Africa. Construction of the Songea-Makambako Road costing just under £100 million is the largest capital aid project we have ever undertaken and should help open up an area of great fertility. As we discussed on Monday, Tanzania has the potential to feed not just herself but other countries too. [end p6]
Mr. President, you come here as a fellow member of the Commonwealth as well as leader of Tanzania. Your contributions to Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings have been among the most powerful and eloquent I have heard, and I and all your colleagues have learned from them. On many issues our starting points are different, our perspectives different. We have debated fearlessly, sometimes impatiently. But what we share is a common objective, a common vision, of an African continent which is free—really free—happy and prosperous. [end p7]
Mr. President, in you we are proud to welcome a world figure, someone whose name is known to millions. We receive you here as a friend, in the truest sense of the word: as someone whom, whatever our differences, we trust, respect admire and like.