Di seguito pubblichiamo il discorso pronunciato dall’Ambasciatore Roberto Mengoni in occasione delle celebrazioni che si sono tenute a Dar es Salaam per la Festa della Repubblica Italiana.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
2nd June 1946 –\u00a073rd Anniversary of the Institutional Referendum<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n SPEECH<\/strong><\/p>\n BY THE AMBASSADOR OF ITALY<\/strong><\/p>\n ROBERTO MENGONI<\/strong><\/p>\n Dar es Salaam, 10th June 2019<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Your Excellency, Prof. John Palamagamba Kabudi, Minister of Foreign Affairs and East\u00a0African Cooperation of the United Republic of Tanzania<\/p>\n Dean of the Diplomatic Corp, Amb. Mohamed Fakih Ahamada El Badaoui<\/p>\n Excellencies and colleagues<\/p>\n Cap. Antonino Mazzocca, Italian Military Attach\u00e9<\/p>\n Dear Italians<\/p>\n Ladies and gentlemen<\/p>\n Mabibi na mabwana<\/p>\n Buonasera, good evening, habari za jioni<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Thank you everybody for coming tonight. Thank you Professor Kabudi. I know how\u00a0busy you are. I am honoured you could spare some time to stay with us. I think this is a\u00a0great occasion to get together and to know each other a little more.<\/p>\n We are a bit delayed this year, as the Italian Republic Day is the 2nd of June. We decided\u00a0to postpone our reception eight days later because of the major festivities of Eid-al-Fitr.\u00a0An happy occasion to celebrate the end of Ramadan together.<\/p>\n So, welcome to the Italian residence. I am always happy to open the doors and the\u00a0garden of the residence.\u00a0This house is part of the Tanzanian history. It was built in the ’50s by the Karimjee, a\u00a0Tanzanian family who have been living here for more than 200 years. For more than\u00a0fifty years it has been the home of Italian Ambassadors. I feel privileged to host you all\u00a0in a place which combines Arab, African and Mediterranean influence.<\/p>\n I take this opportunity to remember a good friend who passed away too early and who\u00a0was the last member of the family to live here. The former New Zealand Honorary\u00a0Consul, Mr. Hatim Karimjee.<\/p>\n Excellencies, friends<\/em><\/p>\n Every year I\u2019d like to give a lecture on Italian history and Constitution. Yet, the presence\u00a0tonight of a professor of constitutional law makes me nervous. I hope that professor\u00a0Kabudi will not be very severe with his marks.<\/p>\n 2nd June 1946 marked a watershed in our history. Only one year has passed since the end\u00a0of Second World War and the final defeat of fascism, that have left the country destroyed\u00a0physically, economically and also morally.<\/p>\n On that day Italian men and for the first time women rejected the monarchy and chose\u00a0the Republic. After 73 years we all feel the benefit of the wisdom of our forefathers and\u00a0foremothers.<\/p>\n Strong principles have guided our economic, political and social development: equality\u00a0between men and women; participation by all citizens, regardless of race, gender,\u00a0language, religion and sexual preferences; human rights and democracy. Sometimes the\u00a0country looks a bit chaotic and confusing to outsiders, but this is just the salt of\u00a0democracy. Italy is a very complex and diverse country. Like Tanzania. We have 8,000\u00a0municipalities, 8,000 tribes, which strong local identities. But, like Tanzania, we were\u00a0able to merge these differences under a common home.<\/p>\n This happened because economic and social development went hand in hand with\u00a0political freedoms. A different relationship emerged between authority and citizens. In\u00a0the past the State was distant, oppressive and insensitive to the needs of the masses.\u00a0There were no citizens during the Monarchy, but subjects.<\/p>\n These started to change with the Republic and its new Constitution. Citizens do not fear\u00a0the State anymore. They challenge authority all the time. Civil society, trade unions,\u00a0businesspeople, media, social media, individuals scrutinise the behaviour of politicians\u00a0and government officers. Including Embassy people. Strong and independent judges\u00a0check the respect of the law and act as a brake against abuses from all sides. This\u00a0constant vigilance by citizens is the best ally of authorities to fight crime and corruption.<\/p>\n Let me remember a black chapter of our recent history.<\/p>\n 50 years ago, in December 1969, 17 innocent people were killed by a bomb in Milan. It\u00a0was a start of an attack against democracy by fascist and communist terrorists. More\u00a0than 400 Italians were killed between 1969 and 1984. To fight terrorism some asked\u00a0special laws to give free hand to security forces and the reestablishment of the death\u00a0penalty.<\/p>\n But terrorism was won with the force of democracy, under the principles of the\u00a0Constitution that terrorists wanted to destroy. Citizens of all political affiliations\u00a0supported the Republican institutions to protect democracy and the dignity of human\u00a0being. The majority of perpetrators were finally caught and given a fair trail. Many of\u00a0them have served their sentences and many have repented.<\/p>\n The same alliance between citizens and authorities is what drives the fight against mafia\u00a0and organised crime.<\/p>\n Excellencies, friends<\/em><\/p>\n Few days ago the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella said that the Republic was\u00a0built upon few principles: liberty, equality, unity, rule and law and solidarity.<\/p>\n Art. 2 of the Constitution says that \u201cThe Republic recognises and guarantees the\u00a0inviolable rights of the person (\u2026) The Republic requires that the fundamental duties of\u00a0political, economic and social solidarity be fulfilled.\u201d<\/p>\n Rights and duties. A good citizen knows them both. What we call the common good.\u00a0Solidarity between North and South. Rich and poor. Elders and young. Men and women.\u00a0Solidarity goes deep in our humanistic and religious tradition. Solidarity exists not in the\u00a0cold words of rhetoric but in the actions of ordinary people. In helping others they\u00a0contribute to the progress of the whole society.<\/p>\n Not saints, just normal persons. Let me tell you few stories.<\/p>\n Vito is a 39-year-old runner from Sicily. He was won several races, including a 64 kms\u00a0long run around Etna volcano. Instead of more victories and prizes, he decided to be the\u00a0lungs and legs of other people. Now he pushes the wheelchair of Giusi, a lady with a\u00a0paralysing disease. They run a marathon together. In two years they run for more than\u00a0500 kms.<\/p>\n Aldo is a 76-year-old entrepreneur. Two workers of his company had to quit their job to\u00a0cure their daughter affected by a terrible disease. Another businessman would have\u00a0sacked them. Instead, Aldo put humanity before profit, paid the medical expenses of the\u00a0couple and kept their workplace ready for their return. Unfortunately their daughter died\u00a0after a long struggle.<\/p>\n Sometimes we hear stories of racism in Italy. I believe racists do not represent the\u00a0majority of Italians. While being on a train in Naples, Maria Rosaria intervened to help a\u00a0young Srilankan from the aggression of a Italian man. And the reverse happened. when\u00a0Mustapha, a Moroccon resident in Italy since 1990, helped a woman wounded by a man\u00a0for futile reasons, and had him arrested.<\/p>\n Solidarity can be expressed in many ways.<\/p>\n When he retired, Antonio, a school teacher, built a motolibrary to bring books to the\u00a0young children of the smallest and most isolated villages in his region, where there are\u00a0no libraries nor bookshops. He believes that reading is essential for children to grow. He\u00a0drove for 170,000 kms for 18 years.<\/p>\n These persons were among the many who were awarded the Order of Merit of the Italian\u00a0Republic by the President Mattarella as \u201ccivic examples\u201d for 2018.<\/p>\n They represent the word solidarity in its true spirit. They represent the principles\u00a0enshrined by our Constitution. This is not a cold text but a living document. The spirit\u00a0than binds together a community,a nation, authorities and citizens.<\/p>\n Excellencies, friends<\/em><\/p>\n Solidarity is a principle that we want to bring in Tanzania. Solidarity is not charity. It\u00a0what brings people together.<\/p>\n I am proud of the work that Italians are doing in this country.<\/p>\n Tanzanians and Italians have been working shoulder to shoulder for decades.\u00a0Missionaries have come more than one hundred years ago. Many NGOs have been here\u00a0for decades. Few weeks ago we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Itigi Hospital in\u00a0Singida. I always found our aid workers living with people, sometimes in very remote\u00a0areas. I found Italians working, investing, researching everywhere, including Zanzibar\u00a0and Pemba.<\/p>\n We have several projects. Bilateral initiatives on technical training, on climate change.\u00a0Projects by our NGOs on environment, nutrition, water, agriculture and people with\u00a0disabilities. Three new projects were approved few days ago. We would like to work\u00a0more on trade and investments. Tomorrow and Wednesday, a delegation from Tanzania\u00a0will join other East African countries in a business forum in Rome.<\/p>\n But let me say this. A relationship is not a list of projects. It\u2019s how we do things together.<\/p>\n There is no perfect country in the world. Italy is not perfect, apart from wine, food, cultural heritage and hopefully, women football. Our country is still a work in progress.\u00a0We can drive some lessons from the past. How Italy changed from a rural, backward\u00a0nation into a modern economy. We have many problems to overcome. But we can still\u00a0find guidance from the Constitution and continue to work towards the fulfilment of the\u00a0pact made 73 yeards ago.<\/p>\n People tend to learn from each other. Countries can learn from each other. I appreciate\u00a0the tollerance, solidarity and closeness among Tanzanians. We learn from you how\u00a0different religions can coexist in harmony. Maybe Tanzania can learn something from us\u00a0how to reach its goals, combining economic development, industrialisation, political\u00a0freedoms, protection of nature and of the cultural heritage.<\/p>\n The encounter between Italians and Tanzanians has been warm, passionate, fruitful.<\/p>\n Let’s make it grow further.<\/p>\n To conclude, a warm \u201cgrazie\u201d and \u201casante sana\u201d to the staff of the Italian Embassy for\u00a0all the excellent work they have been doing in the last year. With passion and dedication.\u00a0They did follow orders. They believed that serving the State and our citizens is the best\u00a0work possible.<\/p>\n Long live the Republic. Long live Tanzania!<\/p>\n Asanteni sana!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Di seguito pubblichiamo il discorso pronunciato dall’Ambasciatore Roberto Mengoni in occasione delle celebrazioni che si sono tenute a Dar es Salaam per la Festa della Repubblica Italiana. — 2nd June 1946 –\u00a073rd Anniversary of the Institutional Referendum \u00a0 SPEECH BY THE AMBASSADOR OF ITALY ROBERTO MENGONI Dar es Salaam, 10th June 2019 \u00a0 Your Excellency, […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ambdaressalaam.esteri.it\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ambdaressalaam.esteri.it\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ambdaressalaam.esteri.it\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ambdaressalaam.esteri.it\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ambdaressalaam.esteri.it\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ambdaressalaam.esteri.it\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2115\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ambdaressalaam.esteri.it\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ambdaressalaam.esteri.it\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}