Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Mkapa: ‘I do not hate sports’

By NELLY MTEMA, 7th May 2011 @ 12:37, Daily News


WINNER of 2010 Sports Hall of Fame, Retired President Benjamin Mkapa, expressed his love for sports, but said his third phase government had limited options and could not put much thrust in developing the sector especially in its first phase.

But, the former head of state said sports was given much attention during his second term.
Mkapa made the remarks on Friday night at the TASWA 2010 Sports Personality Awards, where he was declared the 2010 Sports Hall of Fame winner, in recognition of his efforts that made it possible for the construction of the-state-of-the art National Stadium in Dar es Salaam.

He was presented with the honour by the Vice- President, Dr Mohammed Gharib Bilal, who was the chief guest. Mkapa who stole the show organised by the Tanzania Sports Writers Association (TASWA), amid deafening applause and cheers from the crowd, however, dedicated the win to the then third phase government Minister for Sports, Juma Kapuya and President Jakaya Kikwete, who by then was the Foreign Minister.

For, he said, the two contributed immensely to the construction of the magnificent stadium. He said if it were not for Kapuya’s encouragement and Kikwete’s negotiation power with the Chinese government, he could not make the decision taking into account the country’s economic status.

“The two were very instrumental for the project to come true. They should be acknowledged and recognised,’’ he said. And, Mkapa insisted that though he never attended any match
during his first term in office, he has always been a passionate sports lover.

“I am aware that many regard me as an anti-sports character person, but the truth is that the country’s economy by then was in bad shape, ‘Ukapa’. Tanzania being among the highly indebted countries, I had to give sports the least prominence during my first term, while setting priorities in revitalising our economy,” he said.

He said during his second term, things slightly improved, but said still much focus was directed towards implementing Primary Education development programme (MMEM) and Secondary Education Development programme (MMES) and sports was not given its due attention.

Mkapa challenged the Tanzanians to take good care of the infrastructure whose construction cost was equally shared by the Chinese and Tanzania governments. “I thank you for recognizing my contribution towards sports, since it has cash rewards, the only wish I make is to take good care of the facility because it is one of the country’s landmark,” said Mkapa.

Bilal said the 60,000-seater stadium has opened opportunity for the country, where a number of competitions, local, continental and international have been hosted at the facility.
He said the country needs to open up more such facilities, saying it is an avenue where employment can be generated if only athletes work hard.

Bilal also awarded Mwanaidi Hassan, who for a second year in a row emerged the Sports Personality of year. She walked away with a car, DTSV decoder-full paid for three months, a national parks trip and cash. Others who won the awards are Lilian Sylidion-Filbert Bayi
(upcoming), Hasheem Thabeet (Foreign based local player), Emmanuel Okwi (foreign player).

In athletics the winners are Marco Joseph (men) and Mary Naali (women), Kevin Peter (volleyball-men) and Hellen Mwegoha (volleyball-women), Mwanaidi Hassan (Netball), George Otto Tarimo (basketball-men) and Faraja Malaki (basketball-women), Shadrack Nsajigwa (soccer-men) and Asha Rashid (soccer-women).

The list also includes Karama Nyilawila (professional boxing), Selemani Kidunda (amateur boxing), Hamis Clement (cyclingmen) and Sophia Anderson (cycling-women), Kassim Nassor
(cricket-men) and Mariam Said (cricket-women), Masoud Amour Kombo (judo), Hawa Wanyenche (golf-women) and Frank Roman (golf-men).

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