Painter, Sculptor and Cultural Scientist, Mr Athuman Omar Mwariko, who is credited for making the famous baton carried by Tanzania’s first President, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and the nation’s coat of arms, is back to Arusha, from the United States, ready to join the race for State House.
“I am running for the presidency because it is high time someone with artistic and cultural background takes control. The country’s image has been highly damaged due to our tendency to embrace foreign cultures at the expense of our own,” explained Mr Mwariko.
Born in 1949, the Havard Scholar, who is also the man behind the design, formulation of the current national emblem, the ‘Coat of Arms,’ which he reportedly molded from clay during his time at Makerere School of Art in Uganda, in the 60s.
In an Interview at the Equator Hotel in Arusha last week he expressed the view that time was now ripe for local artists to take over the country’s leadership.
Presidential hopeful, Mr. Athuman Omar Mwariko, left, at an art
display in Arusha recently.
“Many people from Tanzania and overseas,
especially fellow artists, have been writing and calling, wanting me to
return into the country to vie for presidency and I have now heeded
their calls,” stated Mr Mwariko who was declared ‘East Africa’s Star,’
by the Queen of England in 1972.
He sculptured the baton which used to be carried around by Mwalimu Nyerere throughout the Father of the Nation’s life and now passed over to his son Makongoro who is also vying for presidency.
“I actually made him two batons, the first was produced in early 60 just as he was taking over the country’s leadership and I handed him the second one in 1985, shortly before he retired from State House,” explained Mr Mwariko.
Previously, Nyerere never used to carry a stick with him and it was thus left upon Mr Mwariko to remind the leader, who had grown to like him, that all African elders must carry batons with them during functions so he offered to carve and adorn one for the President.
He sculptured the baton which used to be carried around by Mwalimu Nyerere throughout the Father of the Nation’s life and now passed over to his son Makongoro who is also vying for presidency.
“I actually made him two batons, the first was produced in early 60 just as he was taking over the country’s leadership and I handed him the second one in 1985, shortly before he retired from State House,” explained Mr Mwariko.
Previously, Nyerere never used to carry a stick with him and it was thus left upon Mr Mwariko to remind the leader, who had grown to like him, that all African elders must carry batons with them during functions so he offered to carve and adorn one for the President.
His track record as far as brushing shoulders
with eminent persons is amazing. During the interview he was equipped
with lots of letters and certificates from former Presidents of the
United States: Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan; former UK Prime Minister;
Winston Churchill; Queen Elizabeth; the first Kenyan President, Mzee
Jomo Kenyatta; Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia; and Mwalimu Nyerere.
Mr Mwariko whose residence is in Njoro section of Moshi District of Kilimanjaro Region, revealed that he will be traveling to Dodoma soon to take the Presidential Candidate forms ready to vie for the State House tenancy in the October 2015 polls.
Mr Mwariko whose residence is in Njoro section of Moshi District of Kilimanjaro Region, revealed that he will be traveling to Dodoma soon to take the Presidential Candidate forms ready to vie for the State House tenancy in the October 2015 polls.
“I intend to revive traditional forms of
community leadership in forms of Traditional Chiefs, 'Watemis' and
'Mangis' as well as to reinforce customary laws, promote herbal
medicine and cultural heritage,” he maintained.
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