Memories of Mwalimu Nyerere need not be accompanied by sadness

 

By Adeladius Makwega — President’s Office, Department of Records Management and National Archives, Dodoma

 

On April 12, 2022, I decided to sit at the African Liberation Heritage Programme stand at the Mwenge Grounds in Butiama, Mara Region. The following day, April 13, 2022, marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.

 

On that day, the stand, which was part of the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, received more visitors than any other stand at the grounds. The visitors’ book became full, prompting Benedict Kadili, the programme’s coordinator at the time, to look for another visitors’ book so that more guests could write their names and sign in.

 

Zahara Guga, then Assistant Director of Administration and Human Resources, and Dr. Mnata Resani, then Assistant Director of Languages in the ministry, led the African Liberation Heritage Programme team in providing detailed explanations to visitors throughout the day.

 

The first visitor was Joseph Butiku, who was accompanied by a tall, dark-skinned woman with an elegantly styled haircut. Since he had written his name in the visitors’ book, our team wanted to establish the relationship between Mr. Butiku and the woman.

 

Therefore, the task was assigned to me, Mwanakwetu, and I took the woman aside for a private conversation while Joseph Butiku remained nearby. This made Joseph Butiku jealous, as he was one of the Tanzanians who had worked closely with Mwalimu Nyerere.

 

“Good heavens! Why are you taking my wife aside?”

 

Mr. Butiku said these words jealously. Indeed, everyone has their own partner, and in this world, people come in pairs!

Our African Liberation Heritage Programme team established that the woman was Mrs. Constantia Butiku, the wife of Mr. Joseph Butiku.

 

Visitors continued streaming into the stand like water rushing down powerful waterfalls. Soon, another visitor arrived: a light-skinned woman wearing spectacles and a beautiful dress decorated with black-and-white squares.

First, she examined several books on the table, asking questions that were answered by Christopher Mhongole, an officer with the African Liberation Heritage Programme. Christopher was also my former student, whom I had taught when he was in Form Four at Isimani Secondary School in 2005.

 

The visitor toured every corner of the stand, inspecting everything, much like a leader of the Uhuru Torch Race examining a community-built project and searching for faults, seemingly determined to find a reason not to inaugurate it.

 

“Those Uhuru Torch Race inspectors can be quite mischievous!”

 

The woman eventually reached the side of the stand where a game of BAO was being played. She watched the players for a moment and then said:

 

“Please, could you teach me how to play BAO?”

 

BAO is a traditional board game associated with Mwalimu Nyerere. Sharing knowledge is important.

 

The team from the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, with Ms. Zahara Guga among those present, selected one of us to undertake the task of teaching the visitor.

 

Deep down, Mwanakwetu was jealous. I wondered why I had not been chosen to teach this visitor how to play the game. However, I, too, was among those who knew very little about BAO. Had I been given the responsibility, I would not have represented our ministry and the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania very well.

 

Mwanakwetu, I was left with nothing but jealousy in my heart!

 

“This wooden board has 32 holes arranged in four rows. The two rows on one side belong to one player, while the other two rows belong to the opposing player. Each player has an inner row and an outer row.”

The Nyumba (house) is the fifth hole, counting from left to right for each player. It has a different shape from the other holes among the 32. There are also additional holes used for storing seeds, known as the Ghala.

 

Mei Kipangula, who was an assistant BAO instructor and an officer with the African Liberation Heritage Project, supplemented the explanations as the main instructor continued teaching.

 

“The game involves moving the seeds one by one from one hole to another, starting from the left and moving towards the right.”

 

A player captures by taking all the opponent’s seeds contained in the hole facing the player’s final hole and transferring them into the player’s own holes in the first row.

Mwanakwetu, the lesson was continuing! And I, too, was learning how to play BAO.

 

“If the final hole in a distribution contains seeds, the player is not allowed to capture at that point. The player takes the seeds remaining in that final hole and continues distributing them, starting from the next hole. If the player’s final hole contains six or more seeds, the player may continue.”

As I watched and learned how to play BAO, I recalled that Mwalimu Julius Nyerere sometimes played the game with his wife, Mama Maria Nyerere. I also remembered seeing a photograph in a newspaper showing our fellow Tanzanian, Jakaya Kikwete, playing the game with Mama Salma Kikwete.

 

I said to myself that the game becomes even more enjoyable when a husband and wife play together. Perhaps I should buy a BAO board and start playing with my wife at home!

 

Dear reader, remember that the instructor continued teaching while the student remained extremely attentive.

“As the game approaches its end, when the final hole has been exhausted through the process known as kutakata, the continuation ends when it is no longer possible to capture the opponent’s seeds. From that point, the game proceeds according to the rules governing captures.”

If a player cannot capture, the player must kutakata—continue distributing the seeds according to the rules of the game. A player who does not begin the game with a capture is not permitted to capture during the entire round, that is, until the end of the player’s turn. During kutakata, the player continues until the distribution process is complete.

 

Mwanakwetu, at this point, the instructor paused briefly, swallowed, and asked the student whether she had understood the lesson and whether she had any questions.

After the lesson, the instructor decided to test the student to determine whether she had understood the theory of the game. This time, however, the examination would be practical.

 

Mwanakwetu, the lesson continued!

The game began between the instructor and the student. To the instructor’s surprise, his seeds were captured mercilessly by his student, like an antelope falling into the clutches of a leopard on the hunt.

By the end of the game, the student had won. We, the spectators, were astonished by what had happened and began asking ourselves: Had this student really come to learn, or had she come to play a trick on us?

In truth, the student had come to learn, and she had now mastered the game of BAO.

 

Personally, I congratulated this talented student for successfully completing her BAO lessons at the African Liberation Heritage Programme stand and for managing to defeat her instructor.

 

I asked her name, and she told me that she was Dr. Beatrice Mkunde. I asked for her telephone number, and she gave it to me. Unfortunately, while I was at the exhibition taking photographs and writing news reports and articles commemorating the 100th anniversary of Mwalimu Nyerere’s birth, I accidentally lost her number along with my diary.

 

Had I kept her number, I would have called her from Dodoma and asked her to teach me how to play BAO like an expert. After all, she had already undergone the lessons and passed her practical examination at the Mwenge Grounds in Butiama, Mara Region.

God willing, if I meet her again someday, I will ask for her telephone number once more.

 

From 2022 to the present day, whenever the name of Mwalimu Nyerere is mentioned, I remember this incident, and sadness overwhelms me because I lost Dr. Beatrice Mkunde’s telephone number during the centenary celebrations of Mwalimu Nyerere’s birth.

“If I had her number, I would have contacted her and requested permission for her to come and teach me how to play BAO—the game of Mwalimu Nyerere. I would have arranged for a place where we could play the game, either at my home in Mbagala or in our village of Ikangao, Mahenge, Ulanga District, Morogoro Region. I would also have shared with my readers the story of Dr. Beatrice Mkunde’s remarkable skill at BAO. But, unfortunately, that opportunity slipped away.”

 

To the readers of Mwanakwetu’s articles, I kindly appeal to anyone who has Dr. Beatrice Mkunde’s telephone number to send it to me so that our memories of Mwalimu Nyerere need not be accompanied by sadness.

 

Mwanakwetu, are you still there? Remember:

“Memories of Mwalimu Nyerere need not be accompanied by sadness.”

I wish you all a wonderful day.

makwadeladius@gmail.com 0717649257