Quotable Quotes Of Mwalimu Julius K Nyerere: Collected from Speeches and Writings

Section D: On Leadership

ON DEMOCRACY 45 SECTION D: ON LEADERSHIP “I believe myself corruption in a country should be treated in almost the same way as you treat treason.” FREEDOM AND UNITY: 82 “It would be both wrong, and certainly unnecessary, to feel we must wait until the leaders are dead before we begin to criticize them!” FREEDOM AND UNITY: 202 “Wemustbegintotreatpompositywiththescorn it deserves. Dignity does not need pomposity to uphold it.” FREEDOM AND UNITY: 226 “One of the most difficult things to secure from a government composed of different Ministries is a coordinated and cooperative attack on a particular problem. Each Ministry or department seems to regard the others as its rivals to be appeased or called upon when this is inevitable, but generally to be ignored.” FREEDOM AND UNITY: 237 46 CHAPTER 2 “When only the law of the jungle reigns, the struggle for existence must naturally end up with survival of the fittest. This may be alright whenitappliestobeasts;asamethodofcontact between human beings it is intolerable.” FREEDOM AND UNITY: 247 “But the peace resulting from imposed law is short–lived. The moment a man feels himself strong enough he tries to throw off this law and substitute another more to his liking.” FREEDOM AND UNITY: 268 “The only system of law which brings stable peace is a system which is based on the fundamental human equality of all the people under its suzerainty, and which aims at reconciling to the greatest possible degree man’s conflicting desires for individual freedom and the benefits of communal life.” FREEDOM AND UNITY: 268 “...law which cannot be enforced is liable to deteriorate into an expression of pious hopes.” FREEDOM AND UNITY: 269 ON DEMOCRACY 47 “...until we were colonized this ‘nation’ did not exist, different laws operated among the constituent tribes and there was conflict betweenthem.Itwasthecolonialpowerwhich imposed a common law and maintained it by force, until the growth of the independence movement put the flesh of an emotional unity on to the skeleton of legal unity.” FREEDOM AND UNITY: 271 “Law which offends against basic human rights, or which fails to secure those rights, does not fulfill the purpose of law, because it does not secure man’s life in society.” FREEDOM AND UNITY: 282 “Under these circumstances responsibility cannot be entrusted to people for sentimental reasons, or left with them once they have failed just because they are nice people. Neither are these the circumstances under which it is sensible to worry about the skin colour or religion of those who are involved in the work of getting the bus to move forward and upward.” FREEDOM AND UNITY: 309 48 CHAPTER 2 “The senior posts of our public service cannot be used as if they were rewards for past effort. Theymustbefilledbythosewhocannowmake the particular contribution to our national effort that the job in question calls for.” FREEDOM AND UNITY: 310 “We have always to remember that our people did not fight for independence from the British in order to install a local tyranny.” FREEDOM AND UNITY: 313 “Such reports in fact, leave certain things out of account; in particular, they do not determine how we shall react to the facts they present.” FREEDOM AND UNITY: 320 “It is true that for some jobs to be done effectively certain extra facilities are needed by the workers; a teacher or an administrator, for example, will need a place where he can study quietly, will need to be able to obtain books of a certain type, and so on. But does anyone need a palace while another receives only ‘bed space’?” FREEDOM AND SOCIALISM: 67 ON DEMOCRACY 49 “The Rule of Law is a part of socialism; until it prevailssocialismdoesnotprevail.Byitselfthe Rule of Law does not bring socialism; but you cannot have socialism without it, because it is the expression of man’s equality in one facet of social living.” FREEDOM AND SOCIALISM: 8 “Socialist leadership is of the people; it cannot be imposed by force or tyranny.” FREEDOM AND SOCIALISM: 24 “For to build socialism you must have socialists – particularly in leading positions.” FREEDOM AND SOCIALISM: 26 “The only way in which leadership can be maintained as a people’s leadership is if the leaders have reason to fear the judgment of the people.” FREEDOM AND SOCIALISM: 26 “…the people are ready and anxious for change – they only need leadership...