KCMC conducts fundraising ‘activity’ as JKCI serves ‘for’ the whole country
In Bongo’s low-income areas, smart entrepreneurs establish backstreet TV theatres known by our people as “vibanda-umiza” (Kiswahili for “huts that hurt”) where ordinary wananchi, for a small fee, throng to watch their favourite football teams battle it out as was the case here where Simba SC met Fountain Gate FC, not FONTI GETY as whoever scribbled this notice in Kinondoni District, Dar es Salaam, wanted us to believe. PHOTO | FADHILI MADAVA
It’s becoming clearer to us that we’ll have to tell it, over and over again, to our colleagues, until everybody does it right, inshallah! We’re talking about the “vice” of using more words than necessary to say something fewer words could suffice.
Let’s look at a story appearing on Page 3 of the tabloid closely associated with this columnist, in its Thursday, April 9 edition. The headline is: ‘Zanzibar sets deadline for hotel registration under PMS system.’
The story, was handed in to the relevant editor on Wednesday, April 8 and processed for the next day’s edition, i.e. Thursday, April 9. That’s when the customer would buy the paper from the vendor to go and read it afterwards.
Now look at what the scribbler tells his reader in Para 2: “Acting Minister Mudrick Ramadhan Soranga told journalists on 8 April 2026 (sic!) that some operators have been avoiding the system, causing the government to lose revenue…”
One can’t help asking: why didn’t the scribbler simply say: “Acting Minister Mudrick Ramadhan Soranga told journalists YESTERDAY…?”
To further demonstrate his penchant for wasting print paper space, the scribbler writes in the subsequent paragraph: “He set April 24, 2026 as the registration deadline…”
Surely, when you’re in April 2026 as we are now, any mention of a month will be that of year 2026 unless otherwise stated. So, why say it?
The Friday, April 10 edition of Bongo’s huge and colourful broadsheet has a Page 3 story whose headline reads, ‘KCMC seeking 3bn/- for building cardiac centre,’ and the intro reads: “The Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre has started a fundraising ACTIVITY, seeking to realise about 3bn/-…”
The word we’ve capitalised above is totally unnecessary. You don’t have to qualify “fundraising” with “activity” because it’s nothing but that—an activity!
In Para 3, the scribbler writes: “Tanzania is currently having only one cardiac care centre, the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute…serving FOR patients from across the country.”
Hello! We don’t serve for somebody; we simply serve somebody. Which is to say, the JKCI is serving patients (not ‘for’ patients) across the country.
On the same page, there’s another story entitled, ‘Tanzania outlines success stories in urban development and housing sector at forum.’
In Para 2, the scribbler writes: “Amidst an audience of continental leaders and policy experts, Tanzania issued a STRATEGIC call to both domestic and international investors to capitalise on the vast opportunities…”
We consider the qualifier “strategic” as superfluous—a call to investors is just that, a call. Upon accepting TZ’s call, it’s the investors who will strategise or otherwise, on how to benefit from the many opportunities available in Bongo.
And finally, we take a look at our republic’s senior-most broadsheet of Sunday, April 12, whose Page 3 has this story: ‘Nchimbi urges youth to defend Nyerere’s legacy.’ Its intro reads: “Vice President Dr Emmanuel Nchimbi has challenged Tanzanian youth to uphold the country’s unity AND cohesion, describing IT as A priceless foundation laid by the LATE Father of the Nation, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.”
Mwalimu Nyerere (1922-99) is an iconic, historically significant figure. Among African heads of state, his life, political essence and relevance are arguably the most documented to date. He lives on, his passage on October 14, 1999 notwithstanding. There’s no need to prefix his name with “the late.”
Like, it’d be deemed ridiculous speaking about “the late” Kwame Nkrumah. Or, “the late” British PM Winston Churchill.
The VP, it’s reported, urged the youth to uphold “the country’s unity AND cohesion, describing IT as…”
Grammar has been violated here! When you say the country’s unity and cohesion, you’re talking about two things; now why proceed to refer to them as “it”? It means, the VP wanted the youth to uphold “…unity and cohesion, describing THEM as…”
