Arusha — Two foreign artists are still interested in erecting a six-meter, solid bronze statue to immortalize Mwalimu Nyerere at one of the road junctions in Arusha Municipality.

Attila Dienes a Hungarian artist and Santa C.S. Chabber a Romanian sculptor had expressed their project interest to build a giant statue of Tanzania's founder president, the late Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere at Kijenge roundabout junction along the former Old-Moshi road and which is (coincidentally) now renamed Nyerere Road.

Nyerere died about ten years ago at Saint Thomas Hospital in London where he was undergoing treatment.

Tanzania's first president had spent the last days of his life in Arusha as mediator for Burundi Peace talks here.

The foreign artists' two-year old dream was however temporarily shelved due to drastic changes in the leadership at the Municipal hall which now has a new Director and Mayor, different personalities from the ones they agreed with on the project.

The two officials left office before anything could have been done about it. The two artists on the other hand are left stranded whether to go on with the idea or shelve it. Correspondences between the artists and their contact person in Arusha indicate that the Hungarian and Romanian are ready when Arusha is.

"We are still open to the project as long as it won't cost us much," said Municipal Director Raphael Mbunda who took over from Dr. Job Laizer more than a year ago. According to Mr. Mbunda nothing about the statue project was documented; "When I took office I was never informed about anything like it," he said.

The artists had offered to construct the Nyerere statue free of charge but the council's role was to help foot the bill of shipping the giant figure from Hungary to Dar and later transport it to Arusha where the artists would again work to erect the giant 'Mwalimu' at the Kijenge-Impala junction.

Both Mr. Dienes and Mr. Chabber who along with another artist from Japan, Hanju Katsuki had visited Arusha two years ago for an Art Camp event, regard Mwalimu as their hero insisting that even their countries, Hungary and Romania had good relationship with Tanzania during and after Nyerere's era.

Mwalimu Pelle Ibrahim Shaibu a retired teacher and veteran artists based in Arusha, who is their contact person in Tanzania explained that the larger than life statue is to be constructed in Hungary and shipped here in various pieces before being assembled at the chosen section of the town.

"While here Attila and Santa sculptured Nyerere's head on hard clay and presented it to Constantine Nyamabondo the curator for the Arusha Declaration Museum," said Mwalimu Shaibu who recently visited the two artists in their respective countries.

They did it to prove that they can do it right," said Mr. Shaibu who is the Executive Secretary to the Arts and Cultural Association of Arusha (ACAA). They were forced to make a prototype head at the time when another statue of Nyerere was causing uproar in Mwanza regarding whether it actually looked like the nation founder or not.

"This time we also need the design and break-down in costs to see how the council can assist and why don't they at least return here to start fresh negotiations?" asked Mr. Mbunda, the municipal director.