Walking at Ifunda Street, Magomeni area in Dar es Salaam, there is a unique old-style small house labelled Plot number 62. With a decoration of a shining white colour, the tiny house can easily be spotted out amongst the surrounding structures. It is a small house but rich in the history of Tanzania's independence struggle. The house was built by the first president of Tanganyika (later Tanzania) (Julius Kambarage Nyerere) back in the 1950s.
All secret meetings and tricks to remove colonial rule in Tanzania were carried out in this house. Branded as Mwalimu Nyerere Memorial House, the house was turned into a museum. full of attractive artifacts used by Tanzania's first President, Mwalimu Nyerere and his family when the Nyereres lived in this house.
According to Ms. Neema Mbwana, a senior conservator with Tanzania National Parks Authority (Tanapa), Mwalimu Nyerere built the house for his family as well as for political matters, including liberation movements. "During that time Mwalimu and his fellow freedom fighters were vigorous in fighting for independence, so they needed a calm and safe place for conducting their secret meetings," she explains.
In October last year, the government through the Ministry of Natural Resource and Tourism officially made the house, located at Magomeni area in Dar es Salaam, one of the tourist attractions in the city. According to Ms. Mbwana, since the new museum was launched for tourism last year a good number of visitors, especially foreigners, have been visiting the place. Inside the house there are pictures of the independence movement, as well as home items such as the bed used by Mwalimu, dishes that his wife used to cook, chairs for guests and a radio that the late Mwalimu used to get information.
The items have a unique appeal because of their antiquity. The house is located on a street which has the houses of the founding leaders of the nation who aided Mwalimu during the independence struggle such as Saadan Kandoro, Kaluta Amri Abeid, Lucy Lameck and others.
The Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA) said it has embarked on campaigns to create awareness among primary and secondary school students over the history embedded in the house. Ms. Mbwana explained that the authority embarked on campaigns last month to implant a "seed of love to national tourist attractions" among young Tanzanians by making them aware of the history of political struggles of their country. "We want to educate them practically by showing them pictures of items that Mwalimu Nyerere used. We believe that this will increase their understanding, unlike when they are taught these things theoretically in classrooms,” she argued when speaking to the media ahead of the Nyerere Day commemorations last month.
She said the campaign will last for three months until December and they target to reach out to all schools in Dar es Salaam before extending it to other regions countrywide. Preserving the Mwalimu Nyerere house at Magomeni was part of extensive plans of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism to earmark all houses and places that the first president used during his life and document them to keep his legacy and history for the future generation.