TAZARA cemetery keepers guard memory of China-Tanzania solidarity

DAR ES SALAAM -- Every morning, Msafiri and his colleague Saidi start their day as cemetery keepers, in the western suburb of Dar es Salaam, guarding the memory of Chinese engineers and workers who lost their lives for constructing Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) railway.

"I have been working in this cemetery for almost 20 years to make sure that this sacred place is highly preserved to show respect to the fallen Chinese martyrs," said Msafiri Omary, a 43-year-old employee of the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) East Africa Limited.

In the past five decades, 70 Chinese engineers, technicians, and workers lost their lives when constructing the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) railway and assisting in Tanzania's development. Their names were inscribed on their tombstones, which stand quietly at the Gongo la Mboto cemetery.

During a pivotal period of economic development for Tanzania and Zambia in the 1970s, some 50,000 Chinese workers and engineers arrived in the nations to help construct the TAZARA railway.

Msafiri said he felt honored to oversee the cemetery's preservation because the Chinese experts' names stand not only as a historical testimony to China-Africa friendship but also as an enduring monument to the firm and lasting relations between China and Africa.

"The Chinese experts that are buried here sweated and bled to the last drop of their blood to make sure that the railway line was completed, leaving an indelible monument that serves as a testament to the friendship between China and Tanzania, as well as between China and Africa," said Msafiri.

The 1,860-km-long railway from Dar es Salaam to New Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia serves as a reminder of the longstanding relationship between China and Tanzania.

"I have also received all walks of people who visit this area from across the world as tourists and students from schools and universities to learn about the history of TAZARA," he said, adding that some visitors went to the cemetery to lay wreaths and others went there for research.

Visitors to the cemetery come from different countries, including Tanzania, China, the United States, the United Kingdom, and other African countries.

"When I have time, I bring my family here to learn about the TAZARA railway and how our fallen Chinese heroes sacrificed to build it," said Msafiri.

Saidi Omary Mpauka, Msafiri's colleague and an employee of CCECC, who has worked at the cemetery for almost 10 years, said he felt honored to work to preserve the cemetery.

"The best way of honoring these fallen Chinese heroes is by making sure that this cemetery is preserved to the best it deserves, and I am not regretting doing that," said the 44-year-old, a father of four children residing in Kiwalani, also in Dar es Salaam.

In April, Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania Chen Mingjian and Tanzanian Minister of Transport Makame Mbarawa attended a ceremony to commemorate the deceased Chinese experts and workers, laying wreaths on the graves at the cemetery.

The Tanzanian government is very grateful to the Chinese experts who sacrificed their precious lives during the construction of the TAZARA railway, and the people of Tanzania will never forget their contribution, said Mbarawa.

Chen said that the TAZARA spirit was about mutual respect and equality, tenacity and perseverance, and internationalism and that it embodied the essence of China-Africa relations and the common aspiration of the Chinese and African people.

"They are heroes who have forged a monument of China-Tanzania and China-Africa friendship. Chinese and African people will always remember their names, as they will remember the TAZARA railway," said Chen.