By Kwanta Douglas –
Tanzanian education officials said on Wednesday that construction on a state-of-the-art $44.5 million university named after the country’s founding leader, Julius Nyerere, is beginning.
According to Omary Kipanga, the Deputy Minister for Education, Science and Technology, the university would be named Julius Nyerere University of Agriculture and Technology and will be established in Butiama, Nyerere’s native village.
Kipanga said the university seeks to transform the country’s agriculture through use of technology and highly skilled manpower. He said that the higher learning institution will be built through the Higher Education for Economic Transformation (HEET) program supported by the World Bank aimed at helping strengthen the capacity and quality of selected universities to build high skilled workforce.
Kipanga was responding to a Member of Parliament for Butiama constituency, Abdallah Sagini, who had requested the government to explain when the university will be constructed.
He said preparations for the construction of the university were at the advanced stage, including acquisition of 573.5 hectares of land, preparation of a master plan, undertaking of an environmental and social impact assessment, and architectural designs.