Author: ELKANA KUHENGA
AfricaPress-Tanzania: AS Tanzanians today officially start paying their last respects to the departed former President Benjamin William Mkapa at the Uhuru Stadium, all preparations for the event are complete.
Before the public is invited to say goodbye to their former leader, a requiem mass will be held under the leadership of Roman Catholic clergy from around 10am. The three-day event will last until Tuesday before the body is ferried to Lupaso Village in Masasi District, Mtwara Region where the burial will take placon Wednesday.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa and other senior officials from the army and the government inspected the progress on preparations at the stadium. Speaking after the inspec- tion, Chief Government Spokes person, Dr Hassan Abbasi said the prime minister will lead Tan- zanians in the event today.
“Another requiem mass will be held on Tuesday from 7.30am to 9.00am at the St Immaculate Roman Catholic Church in Upanga, Dar es Salaam, ” said Dr Abbasi, noting that in case of any changes, members of the public would be updated accordingly.
For his part, the Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner Abbubakar Kunenge urged all Tanzanians who will take part in the farewell to arrive early as scheduled, to avoid inconve- niences.
Together with Premier Ma- jaliwa, other leaders who were present at the stadium were Zanzibar Second Vice President, Ambassador Seif Ali Iddi, Chief Secretary, Ambassador John Kijazi, Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) of the Tanzania People Defence Force (TPDF) Venance Mabeyo and the TPDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Yakubu Mohammed.
