The new National Anthem in 1961 (although then it referred to Tanganyika not Tanzania)
The last strains of the new national anthem die away. And across the dark bush and towering palms, over the roofs of clustered villages, even to Dar es Salaam, a blaze of coloured light four miles away echoes the triumphant roar with the incessant rumbling cries of Uhuru coming out from underneath. This is Tanganyika’s finest moment. A fragment of time to be savoured, treasured and stored in the memory. An experience, emotional … and unique. Tanganyika is independent; a nation is born …
So wrote Graham Hulley in The East African Annual 1962-63
Lieutenant Alexander Nyirenda lights a torch (mwenge) on Mount Kilimanjaro in 1961
‘Climaxing a feat which caught the imagination of the world, Lieutenant Alexander Nyirenda climbed to the summit of the mighty Mount Kilimanjaro and lit a symbolic torch next to the new Tanganyikan flag.
The Prime Minister said: Tanganyika wanted to light a torch which would ‘shine out beyond our borders giving hope where there was once despair, love where there was hate, and dignity, where before there was only humiliation.’
The scene at the Independence ceremony in the National Stadium as the Duke of Edinburgh handed over to Prime Minister Julius K Nyerere the Constitutional Instruments which formally granted independence.
Prime Minster Julius Nyerere leads the Governor, Sir Richard Turnbull back to the Royal Box after the raising of the new flag.
Many thanks Jim Watson for making available to us this publication with its excellent photos dating back to 1961 – Editor.