RAGE AIBUKA KIDEDEA SIMBA

ISMAIL Aden Rage was yesterday elected new Chairman of soccer giants Simba SC, to end weeks of tug of war and legal wrangles. Close to 2,000 members turned up at the Police Officers Mess to cast their votes in the polls, amid tight security. Rage, a former Secretary General of the then Football Association of Tanzania (FAT), now Tanzania Football Federation (TFF),scooped 785 votes out of 1,437 votes casted to defeat his sole challenger Hassan Othman Hassanol, who managed 435 votes. His challenger Hassanol left shortly before the final results were announced. It could not be immediately established whether he conceded the defeat on not. Geoffrey Nyange ‘Kaburu’ who stood unopposed was declared Vice-Chairman, after collecting 1094 votes out of 1356 votes casted. The post of executive committee members went to Joseph Kinesi, Sued Mkwabi, Said Pamba, Damian Manembe, Francis Waya and Ibrahim Masoud. Shortly after casting their votes, most members walked out of the venue, stood in small groups discussing issues related to the elections and as usual, speculations were rife on who had won what. Few went away possibly to watch the climax of the English Premier League, but majority remained behind. It took some three hours to count the votes, as earlier count suggested tight race for the post of chairman, and the electoral committee under the chairmanship of Damas Ndumbaro had to go for several recounts. Earlier, Rage looked weary. He entered the venue at noon shortly before the introductory note as the members waited for the contestants to arrive. But in the end he left smiling ear to ear. He said when persuading members for their votes that he needed only 100 days for everyone to prove whether he is a flop or a true Simba redeemer. Ironically, a big puzzle yesterday was failure by the outgoing leadership to present a report on their four years reign in office. No financial report was given to members either. Some of them even failed to turn up to vote including the General Secretary, Mwina Kaduguda. And, still members had no audacity to query. However, the elections were held in a peaceful atmosphere, save for minor occasions, when members protested against what they deemed to be ‘silly’ questions directed to contestants by fellow members during question and answer sessions. For instance, one member was ordered to sit down by the Chairman of the Dar es Salaam Regional Football Association (DRFA), Amin Bakhresa, just because he had asked Hassanol how he would deal with the same members that he once told they acted like ‘bar maids’. “Sit down, that is not a question to ask here, give chance to others with relevant questions,” said Bakhresa. In the meantime, murmuring filled the venue. Drama was not in short supply as embattled Michael Wambura and Juma Mtemi, who opted for court action against the club’s elections, were barred from entering the venue. The duo’s membership was put on hold by the Simba’s executive committee allegedly for taking football matters to court, which is against the club’s constitution. Against all odds, it was said that Wambura, who decided to go to court after he was axed from the race to vie for chairmanship post, decided to back Rage, unfortunately he could not sneak into the election venue to mount his last minute campaign. “We are happy that members have shown passion and love for their team. They turned up in large number despite fears that the elections might not be held. Some came from up-country as far as Kagera, Shinyanga, Mbeya and Ruvuma,” the club Spokesperson, Clifford Ndimbo said.