Gertrude Pangalile Rwakatare (31 December 1950 – 20 April 2020) was a Tanzanian CCM politician and Member of Parliament appointed in 2007 by Jakaya Kikwete, Tanzania's president.[1] She was also the head of Mikocheni B Assemblies of God, a Tanzanian Pentecostal church connected to the Assemblies of God Tanzania.

Career edit

In the mid-1990s, after Tanzania's transition to a multi-party democracy, Rwakatare founded the St. Mary's school group, multiple schools ranging from nursery to primary schools, high schools (such as St Mary's Mbeya Secondary School) and a teachers' training college.[2] The curriculum, based on the Tanzania National Curriculum, without explicit religious content, takes an international focus with a mission of preparing "children academically and spiritually".[3]

In 1995 Rwakatare founded the Mikocheni B Assemblies of God. Prior to that she worked as a personnel manager for the port authority of Dar es Salaam. She held a Ph.D. in Community Development and Christian Education from the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.[4][5]

Rwakatare established in 2006 the Bright Future Orphanage Centre for about 700 children with funding from Mikocheni B church members and international organizations.[5] The orphanage centre has evolved into a grant giving philanthropic body, the St. Mary's Foundation, focusing on the identifying sustainable local solutions to community malaise.[6]

Rwakatare died in Dar es Salaam on 20 April 2020, aged 69 from COVID-19.[7] She was married.[8][9]

External sources edit

References edit

  1. ^ "[Tanzania: Ruling Party Announces Special Seats Nominees=1 Tanzania: Ruling Party Announces Special Seats Nominees]", Tanzania Daily News, Retrieved 2015.
  2. ^ Dilger, Hansjörg (2022). Learning, Morality, Inequalities, and Faith: Christian and Muslim Schools in Tanzania. Cambridge University Press & International African Institute. ISBN 9781009082808.
  3. ^ "Mary's International Schools Archived 6 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine", Association of International Schools of Africa, Retrieved 2015.
  4. ^ "Member of Parliament CV[permanent dead link]", United Parliament of Tanzania, Retrieved 2015.
  5. ^ a b Dilger, Hansjörg (2009). "Doing Better? Religion, the VirtueEthics of Development, and the Fragmentation of Health Politics in Tanzania" (PDF). Africa Today. 56 (1): 98–99. doi:10.2979/AFT.2009.56.1.88. S2CID 143782410. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  6. ^ Dilger, Hansjörg (2013). "Religion and the Formation of an Urban Educational Market: Transnational Reform Processes and Social Inequalities in Christian and Muslim Schooling in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania". Journal of Religion in Africa. 43 (4). Berlin: 451–479. doi:10.1163/15700666-12341265. ISSN 0022-4200.
  7. ^ "Tanzania opposition MPS to boycott Parliament after 3 MPS die".
  8. ^ "Pastor Gertrude Rwakatare 69, is dead". The Citizen. 20 April 2020. Archived from the original on 28 April 2020.
  9. ^ "Tanzania opposition MPs to boycott Parliament after 3 MPs die". Al Jazeera. 2 May 2020. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020.