Tanzania’s late President, John Magufuli (right) shakes hands with National Football team (Taifa Stars) player Erasto Nyoni at State House. photo | file
Various sectors in the country are mourning the late Magufuli who was Tanzania’s fifth phase president for five years and 114 days
Dar es Salaam. Tanzanians are mourning the death of the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Dr John Pombe Magufuli.
Various sectors in the country are mourning Dr Magufuli who led the country for five years and 114 days. The sports sector is also mourning the Tanzanian leader due to various reasons.
Tanzania’s qualification for Africa Cup of Nations
In 2019, Tanzania qualified for the second time for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) held in Cairo, Egypt.
The qualification was the second for the country after the national football team (Taifa Stars) made it 1980 in Lagos, Nigeria. On the road of qualification, Tanzania played against Uganda’s National football team (The Cranes) at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium and won 3-0.
The late President Magufuli joined football lovers in the country to watch the match on television. After the match, a video clip went viral on social media showing Dr Magufuli cheering the team’s qualifications for the Afcon. Before playing against Uganda, Dr Magufuli donated Sh50 million to the team that was on their way to Lesotho for another Afcon qualifying match despite the fact that the team did not win the encounter.
Also the late Magufuli commended all Taifa Stars players for the best performances for the qualification and awarded all the players and officials pieces of land in Dodoma Region.
Donation of Sh 1 billion to U-17 Afcon
In 2019, Tanzania hosted the U-17 Africa Cup Nations for the first time in history. The competition featured eight teams including Tanzania’s U-17 national football team, Serengeti Boys. Due to his passion for the game, the late Magufuli donated Sh1 billion to make the competition successful in the country. The move inspired Serengeti Boys players who promised to play hard despite the fact that they did not do well.
Mwakinyo’s reward
Tanzania also shone in boxing through Hassan Mwakinyo during Dr Magufuli’s leadership.
On September 8, 2018, professional boxer Hassan Mwakinyo shocked the world when he knocked out Britain boxer Sam Eggington in the second round during the fight held in Birmingham. Before the fight, Mwakinyo was not a famous professional boxer in the world and was regarded as a stepping stone.
However, Mwakinyo outshined Eggington and was named among top 16 boxers in the world’s boxing record, boxrec.
The boxer was the hero for Tanzanian and Dr Magufuli rewarded him a piece of land in Dodoma Region.
Attending Football matches
The late president managed to attend two football matches at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium. He was the guest of honour when Simba played Kagera Sugar on May 19, 2018 at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium and Simba lost 1-0.
And on March 8 he attended a match in which Simba lost 1-0 to their traditional rivals, Young Africans (Yanga) at the same venue. The move implied that he was a true sports lover in the country.
