Nelson Mandela aaga dunia

Rais wa zamani wa Afrika Kusini, Nelson Mandela ameaga dunia.

Mandela amefariki huko Johannesburg akiwa na umri wa miaka 95 na yeye ndiye aliongoza Afrika Kusini kutoka mikononi mwa watawala wa ubaguzi wa rangi baada ya kufungwa jela kwa miaka 27.

Mandela alikuwa anatibiwa homa ya mapafu nyumbani kwake baada ya kulazwa hospitalini kwa miezi mitatu.

Katika taarifa yake kwa watu wa Afrika Kusini, Jacob Zuma, alisema kuwa Mandela amewaaga lakini yuko mahali salama.

Mnamo mwaka 2005, Mandela alitangaza kwa taifa kuwa mwanawe wa kume alifariki kutokana na ugonjwa wa Ukimwi.

Rais Zuma amesema kuwa taifa limepoteza mtu waliyemjua kama mtoto wa taifa hilo.

Mandela aliwahi kushinda tuzo ya amani ya Nobel, na kutambulika kama rais aliyeheshimika sana hasa kwa kupatanisha watu wa Afrika Kusini baada ya kuondoka gerezani.

Hakuonekana sana hadharani tangu alipostaafu mwaka 2004.

chanzo BBCSwahili
 
Continue reading the main story

1918 Born in the Eastern Cape
1943 Joined African National Congress
1956 Charged with high treason, but charges dropped after a four-year trial

1962 Arrested, convicted of incitement and leaving country without a passport, sentenced to five years in prison
1964 Charged with sabotage, sentenced to life
1990 Freed from prison
1993 Wins Nobel Peace Prize
1994 Elected first black president
1999 Steps down as leader
2001 Diagnosed with prostate cancer
2004 Retires from public life
2005 Announces his son has died of an HIV/Aids-related illness

"Our nation has lost its greatest son," Mr Zuma said.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was one of the world's most revered statesmen after preaching reconciliation despite being imprisoned for 27 years.

He had rarely been seen in public since officially retiring in 2004.
"What made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human. We saw in him what we seek in ourselves," Mr Zuma said.

"Fellow South Africans, Nelson Mandela brought us together and it is together that we will bid him farewell."
Earlier, the BBC's Mike Wooldridge, outside Mr Mandela's home in the Johannesburg suburb of Houghton, said there appeared to have been an unusually large family gathering.
Among those attending was family elder Bantu Holomisa,

A number of government vehicles were there during the evening as well, our correspondent says.
Since he was released from hospital, the South African presidency repeatedly described Mr Mandela's condition as critical but stable.


He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and was elected South Africa's first black president in 1994. He stepped down after five years in office.


Source BBC