Edward Sokoine

Edward Sokoine
2nd Prime Minister of Tanzania
In office 13 February 1977 – 7 November 1980
President	Julius Nyerere
Preceded by	Rashidi Kawawa
Succeeded by	Cleopa Msuya
In office 23 February 1983 – 12 April 1984
Preceded by	Cleopa Msuya
Succeeded by	Salim Ahmed Salim
Personal details
Born	1 August 1938[1] Monduli, Tanganyika
Died	12 April 1984 (aged 45)
Nationality	Tanzanian
Political party	CCM
Other political affiliations	Tanganyika African National Union

Edward Moringe Sokoine (1 August 1938 – 12 April 1984) was a two-term Prime Minister of Tanzania serving from 13 February 1977 to 7 November 1980 and again from 24 February 1983 to 12 April 1984.

Edward Moringe Sokoine had a developmental conception of the village. Sokoine saw the village as a harbinger of self-reliant, national development and the peasant as an agency of change. He was a person of unimpeachable personal integrity.

Life and career

In 1938, Sokoine was born in Monduli, Arusha Region, Tanzania. From 1948 to 1958, he had his Primary and Secondary Education in the towns of Monduli and Umbwe. In 1961, he joined the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), after he took studies in administration in the Federal Republic of Germany (1962–1963). When he returned from Germany, he became District Executive Officer of the Masai District, then he was elected to the National Assembly for the Masai Constituency. In 1967 he became Deputy Minister of Communication, Transportation and Labour. The next step in his career was the promotion to the Minister of State in 1970. In 1972, he switched to the post of the Minister of Defence and National Service of Tanzania. In 1975, he was elected to the National Assembly again, this time for Monduli. Two years later, he became a member of the Central Committee of the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). In the same year (1977) began his first term in office as Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania. This term lasted till 1981. After a year-long break, he became Prime Minister again in 1983. He stayed just one year in office, till his death in April 1984, in a car accident.

There is a university in Morogoro, Tanzania, named after him. Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) began in 1964 as an agricultural college offering diploma in agriculture. It was elevated to a faculty of agriculture in 1969 under the University of Dar es Salaam.

References

1. Edward Moringe Sokoine - B. S. Swebe - Google Books. Books.google.ca. Retrieved 2012-01-10.