Amandina Lihamba (born 1944) is a Tanzanian academic, actress, playwright and theatre director. She is a professor at the

University of Dar es Salaam The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) (Swahili: ''Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam'') is a public university located in Ubungo District, Dar es Salaam Region, Tanzania. It was established in 1961 as an affiliate college of the University of London. ...

in the Department of Fine and Performing Arts and has served as its dean, head of department, and university council member. In 1989, she co-founded the national Children Theatre Project and festival. She also founded the girls drama group ''Tuseme'' (Let's Speak Out) festival with Penina Muhando in 1998. Lihamba was born in

Morogoro region Morogoro Region (''Mkoa wa Morogoro'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative Regions of Tanzania, regions. It covers an area of . and is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Ireland. M ...

, Tanzania in 1944. She earned her Ph.D. from the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

. Her 1985 doctoral dissertation focussed on "Politics and Theatre in Tanzania after the Arusha Declaration 1967–1984". There, she describes how after the

Arusha Declaration The Arusha Declaration () and TANU’s Policy on Socialism and Self Reliance (1967), referred to as the Arusha Declaration, is known as Tanzania’s most prominent political statement of African Socialism, ‘ Ujamaa’, or brotherhood (Kaiti ...

the Tanzanian verse drama '' ngonjera'' evolved from a propaganda tool of the ruling party into a subversive and syncretic form. Apart from plays and children's books, Lihamba also wrote ''Hawala ya fedha,'' based on Senegalese film director

Ousmane Sembène Ousmane Sembène (; 1 January 1923 or 8 January 1923 – 9 June 2007), was a Senegalese film director, producer and writer. The ''Los Angeles Times'' considered him one of the greatest authors of Africa and he has often been called the "father o ...

's '' The Money-Order''.

Selected works

Plays

* ''Harakati za ukombozi'' (2003) * ''Hawala ya fedha'' (2004)

Fiction for young readers

* ''Mkutano wa pili wa ndege'' (1992) * ''Nana, Upepo mwanana'' (1999)

Filmography as actress or writer

*''The Marriage of Mariamu'' (1985) *''Khalfan and Zanzibar'' (1999) *'' Maangamizi: The Ancient One'' (2001)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lihamba, Amandina 1944 births Living people Alumni of the University of Leeds Tanzanian actresses Tanzanian dramatists and playwrights Tanzanian film directors Tanzanian women film directors Tanzanian women writers Academic staff of the University of Dar es Salaam 20th-century Tanzanian actresses 21st-century Tanzanian actresses