Author: ELKANA KUHENGA
AfricaPress-Tanzania: SPORTS, arts and music stand an edge above the rest in glorifying Tanzania globally in the five-year presidency of John Magufuli, whose term is about to end.
While arts and music best summarised in Diamond Platinumz verse; Magufuli Baba Lao, Majaliwa Baba Lao, Mwakyembe Baba Lao as the figureheads of the country’s big leap in music and culture, the now powerful Premier League and its practitioners Simba, Young Africans and Azam at the club level while the success of Mbwana Samatta and Hassan Mwakinyo, tells how they have individually glorified Tanzania under JPM reign abroad.
In general as he heads to wind up his tenure, JPM has done a magnificent job in ensuring a steady growth of Culture, Sports, Arts a situation that promises more success in the next five years.
JPM said when dissolving the Parliament in Dodoma that the sector had immensely contributed in the growth of the country’s economy despite not being mentioned in various occasions.
The sector that has been under Harrison Mwakyembe grew by 13.7 per cent in 2018, according to the state of economy report.
He said in 2019, the sector grew by 11.2 per cent according to the report and it was the third in the highest growth rate.
“We should brace for more growth in sports and entertainment sectors in the coming five years because the two, provide employment opportunities among our youths,” said Magufuli.
The youth teams have also done well during his reign, most notable are Under-17 team, Serengeti Boys’ qualification into the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals in Gabon.
The team went ahead to qualify for other finals hosted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania last year, albeit on hosts ticket and this signifies a good trend towards the development of the game of football in the country.
Tanzanian girls have also done a commendable job as it was evidenced through the U-17 team that excelled in the Council for East and Central African Football Association (CECAFA) Under-17 tournament in Uganda.
The country has made a notable progress in the women and girls’ football as proved by Kilimanjaro Queens, the Mainland football team, which won back to back CECAFA Women Championship before being dethroned by Kenya late last year.
The team’s players have been produced from mainland women’s league established in 2016 as well as a nurtured youth team trained by Head Coach Bakari Shime.
During President Magufulis’ five year reign, national team, Taifa Stars qualified into the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals staged last year in Cairo, Egypt, for the first time after almost 30 years.
President John Magufuli awarded the players such prestigious award in recognition for their sparkling performance after defeating Uganda 3-0 to earn a slot of playing in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals in Egypt.
Simba also spoke the best of Tanzania under JPM after a successful campaign in 2018/2019 CAF Champions League, in which they reached the quarterfinals, for the first time since 2003, before being bundled out by Congolese side TP Mazembe.
Tanzanian boxer Hassan Mwakinyo was crowned the World Boxing Federation (WBF) Intercontinental Super Welterweight title after beating a Congolese boxer Tshibangu Kayembe.
He also beat Arnel Tinampay of the Philippines on points in an entertaining international non-title bout in Dar es Salaam.
Under President Magufuli’s directive, Copyright Society of Tanzania (COSOTA) was to the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports from the Ministry of Industry and Trade with intentions to create a favorable environment for artists to enjoy their career and easily address their challenges.
During the same period, long distance runner Alphonce Felix Simbu finished 5th with a time of 2 hour: 11 minutes and 15 seconds at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men’s marathon.
Simbu also won the 14th edition of the Mumbai Marathon on January 15th 2017 and went ahead to win bronze at IAAF World Championships London 2017 in London Marathon, UK.
He put up a sterling performance to claim bronze in the men’s marathon, just one minute, 24 seconds adrift Kenya’s Geoffrey Kipkorir Kirui, who won the race.
Also worth to note is the construction of the ultra-modern sports complex in Dodoma which is on card, where the state had acquired 350hectares much more than 150hectares that was needed for the project.
It is said the new stadium would cost between 80million and 100million US dollars to be able to accommodate a seating capacity of between 85,000—105,000 spectators.
