Barack Obama set to kifimbo

Barack Obama set to get ‘ kifimbo ’
from Tanzania
US President Barack Obama will soon receive a ‘ leadership
wand ’ similar to the one which was used by Tanzania’ s
first president , Mwalimu Julius Nyerere , from the same
sculptor who made the latter ’ s banter.
Speaking in Arusha, renowned artist , sculptor and cultural
scientist , Mr Athuman Omar Mwariko, said he has already
fashioned out a special wand for the American president
and was awaiting response from the White House .
Apparently , the artist has already dispatched an official
message to Washington DC regarding the proposed gift to
the leader .
Mr Mwariko’ s rare ‘ leadership wands ’ don’ t come often . So
far , there are only four of them ; the first was made for the
President of Tanganyika, Julius Nyerere in the early 1960s ,
the second was again sculptured for the same leader , but
this time as President of Tanzania , in 1985 shortly before
he retired .
The third leadership wand was made only this month and
it was presented to the current Tanzanian President,
Jakaya Kikwete in Arusha over the weekend.
Mr Mwariko presented the banter to the head of state
during the International Albinism Awareness Day , which
was held at the Sheikh Amri Abeid Stadium here .
President Kikwete is the only leader after Mwalimu
Nyerere to get the coveted ‘ leadership wand’ from the
artist . Mwalimu ’ s stick , popularly known in Kiswahili as
‘ kifimbo ’ , has always been a source of awe , speculation
and rumours among the people , with some believing that
it has ‘ magical ’ powers , something which Mr Mwariko
vehemently refutes .
Born in 1949 , Mwariko, who is a Havard Scholar, is also
the man behind the design , formulation and the current
shape for the national emblem , the ‘ Coat of Arms , ’ which
he reportedly moulded from clay during his time at
Makerere School of Art in Uganda , back in the 1960s .
The Moshi (Kilimanjaro ) born artist was declared ‘ East
Africa’ s Star , ’ by the Queen of England in 1972 . His track
record as far as brushing shoulders with eminent persons
is a jaw - dropping one .
During the interview in Arusha , he was equipped with a
heap of letters and certificates from former US presidents
Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan ; former United Kingdom
Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth II ,
Kenya ’ s founding president , Mzee Jomo Kenyatta ,
Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia and of course , Mwalimu
Nyerere .
He attended the Fine Art School of Makerere University in
Uganda back in the 1960s and says that was the time
when he designed the ‘ Coat of Arms’ and secretly sneaked
it to Mwalimu Nyerere . Afterwards , he received training in
Nigeria , Congo - Brazzaville , UK and Havard (US ).
The artist is among the 32 aspirants who want to vie for
the Tanzanian presidency in the forthcoming October 2015
general elections on Chama Cha Mapinduzi ( CCM ) ticket