Legal Mandate & Governance
The Shimulimuli Heritage Foundation (SHF) is formally registered as a non-governmental organization in the United Republic of Tanzania under the Non-Governmental Organizations Act No. 24 of 2002. Headquartered in Dar es Salaam, the foundation serves as a key legal and technical resource for digital conservancy and traditional preservation.
Guided strictly by its governing constitution, the institution safeguards vanishing regional languages, customs, and historic expressions, translating localized community wisdom into open, highly secure archival systems.
The Board of Directors
Constitutional leadership and administrative oversight of the foundation.
| Officer Name | Constitutional Designation | Primary Core Mandate |
|---|---|---|
| Prof. Gastor Cosmas Mapunda | Chairperson | Academic Governance, Strategic Alignment, & Research Oversight |
| Felician Gustav Tomeka | Executive Director & Board Member | Operational Execution, Institutional Alliances, & Technical Consultancy |
| Crista Nicodemus Shonga | Secretary & Chief Legal Officer (CLO) | Administrative Protocols, Documentation, & Regulatory Reporting |
| Daud Mitumba Ayoub | Treasurer & Chief Financial Officer (CFO) | Financial Accountability, Auditing Control, & Grant Distribution |
| Hamis Yassin Mbaruku | Board Member & Chief Technology Officer (CTO) | Digital Systems Engineering, Network Security, & Archival Platforms |
Academic Integration
The Open University of Tanzania (OUT) Alliance
To maintain rigorous technical and scientific accuracy, SHF operates under a long-term Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the Open University of Tanzania (OUT). This industrial-academic partnership bridges academic exploration with hands-on preservation.
Through this program, student field researchers are deployed directly into regional communities—including Lindi, Ruvuma, Dodoma, Kagera, and Mara—to collect real-world oral histories, map customs, and archive traditional ecological systems.
This collaboration ensures that data gathered on-site goes through strict academic validation before entering the foundation's permanent cloud digital archives, building a clean ecosystem of research that serves both students and local communities.