Rwanda - Mwalimu Julius Nyerere

A great teacher of lessons, not all of which should be taught. Tanzania's soft-spoken leader, now deceased, is influential still: For Africans, he remains mwalimu, the teacher. In fact, without portfolio, he is more influential than most African heads of state. What he retired from, the presidency of backward, resource-poor Tanzania, was never the prime source of his influence. The decline is due almost entirely to the failure of his most ambitious ideas. He is known, will long be known, for a magnificent idea that has failed magnificently. Nyerere tried to craft, from the Swahili word for family, ujamaa, something between a voluntary Israeli kibbutz and a compulsory Chinese commune. It rarely worked. It cost millions. Whole villages were uprooted. Labor was forced. It never came close to paying its way. Today, the effort is largely abandoned. Regardless, he was a man of integrity, remains a powerful teacher of integrity, and many believe Africa needed more leaders like him.