EDITORIAL: REMEMBERING THE 1998 US EMBASSY BOMBINGS
Today, August 7, 2021, marks 23 years to the day since August 7, 1998. That was the date when the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi in Kenya, were almost simultaneously bombed by self-confessed terrorists.
The attacks – at around 10:30-10:40am local time on that fateful date – happened when assorted explosives loaded on lorries parked at the two embassies detonated.
As a result of the explosions, 213 people in Nairobi and 11 in Dar es Salaam died, with more than 5,000 injured, as well as untold destruction of property at both sites.
But, although the bombings basically targeted Americans and American property at the embassies, they instead mostly affected citizens of the two nation-states that host American envoys.
It later turned out that the simultaneous bombings were the heinous work of the global terrorist al Qaeda group as part of the larger Egyptian Islamic Jihadist group under the leadership of the late Saudi, Osama bin Laden.
Apparently, the Embassy bombings were to revenge the US for arresting four principal al-Qaeda leaders in Albania for questioning on a series of murders in Egypt, as well as several other terrorist attacks.
Whatever is the case, Tanzania has let bygones be bygones, and erected the ‘Hope Out of Sorrow’ memorial at the National Museum in Dar es Salaam to honour the three countries’ victims of the bombings.
This is also in appreciation of the good relations between the US and Tanzania in the socioeconomic development stakes being enhanced across the board with time and general goodwill.
As the US Embassy in Tanzania rightly says in the Business Section of its website, “Tanzania is a country with a long history of stability and vast economic potential, as well as an important gateway to the East African Community.”
Such a country as Tanzania should, therefore, be ‘bombarded’ with foreign direct investments (FDIs), not terrorist explosives.
MAY BEST TFF LEADERS WIN
Today, the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) elects a president and six executive committee members for the next four years in polls to be held in Tanga.
Current TFF president Wallace Karia is the sole candidate for the post. As such, voters only really need to confirm him in – or vote him out of – the presidency he has held since August 2017 when he succeeded Jamal Malinzi.
TFF has generally been working hard to develop and promote Tanzanian soccer in noble efforts to enable our teams to excel in international tournaments.
This means the outgoing TFF executive committee has been doing all in its power – even as some other bodies ‘have been sleeping on the job,’ so to speak.
In any case, Tanzanian football has made some strides in recent years, as different teams at the club and national levels performed relatively well on the soccer field.
In the past four years, for example, Tanzania qualified twice for the Africa Cup of Nations Championships, and a number of youth soccer competitions – although we never won any trophies.
To succeed and otherwise shine in international tournaments, the country needs competent sports leaders.
Hence our call upon the voters to elect leaders with a vision, creativity today: leaders who will propel Tanzanian football forward and upward in the coming days and years.
