The Death of Sports in Arusha

by lute wa lutengano

I had landed at Lilongwe – Kamuzu International Airport some years ago with apprehension. Reason: I was a Tanzanian journalist and relations between Tanzania and Malawi by then were at the lowest ebb. Banda’s Kamuzu and Tanzania’s Nyerere were trading words of war. Actually Banda had just revived his claim of Njombe district as being part of Malawi.

So it came with no surprise when security officials detained me for some hours of intensive grueling about my true purpose of visiting Malawi. This is a story which I penned in this same column a year or so ago.

What I did not write about was my sojourn in Lilongwe city. I had forgotten about it until last week. That is when in this same paper there was news about the Arusha municipality’s partition into several plots of land sat aside for construction of a modern sports stadium. This was in stark contrast with Lilongwe.

Notwithstanding my Lilongwe airport snag, I have to confess I had a wonderful experience in Lilongwe city itself. After some 20 or so kilometers from the airport I reached the city. My mind was jolted when told I was already in the city centre. It was difficult to know that fact.

You see Lilongwe, which nestles in the central African plateau with mountains and hills dotting the landscape around it, is a garden city. The city I saw was carefully designed with modern architecture complimented by carefully tended public gardens. These boasted a wide array of brilliantly coloured tropical blooms and plants. I could see rows of dazzling yellow acacia trees lining the city streets.

In the centre of Lilongwe, between the Old and New towns, I came across the Lilongwe Nature Reserve, an area of 120ha, established to give visitors an idea of what the area looked like before construction of the city began. The sanctuary is not a city zoo so when one is walking along the footpaths one is alerted that there are some wild animals in the bush, especially as leopard and hyena have settled there.

In this pocket of green surrounded by the city, which also enjoys some jogging lanes, one could spot small animals including porcupine, civet, serval, vervet monkeys, bushbabies and squirrels as well as larger game such as bushbuck, duiker and bushpig.

From the imposing administrative centre of Capital Hill to the lively bustling atmosphere of the Asian quarter, Lilongwe was truly a city of contrasts.

But what impressed me most was the city’s emphasis in making sure modern and spacious sporting facilities are located in all its many suburbs. Here you are talking of not less than 50 suburbs, partitioned into what they call ‘areas’.

The mother of them all is the Civil Service Sporting Centre, popularly known as CIVO Centre. Here one finds facilities for all sports, be it football, athletics, basketball, lawn tennis, squash, volleyball, bowling, swimming, snooker, darts - you mention it, they have it.

And for the type of us who are sedentary by nature, there is a fully fledged bar and restaurant to go with it. Also in place are accommodation and restrooms for visitors. So what are the Arusha authorities up to? In their wisdom they have decided to do away with plans to have in place a modern sports stadium in the suburbs of Njiro. In their wisdom they have decided that the land where the facility was supposed to be, be transformed into a residential area.

And know what? The same authorities, again in their wisdom, never tried  to exhort Arushans on the virtues of keeping fit by exercising their bloating bodies. A healthy body is a healthy mind, they roar from local platforms.

But look at what we have in Arusha; an old sports stadium inherited, I believe from our colonisers; schools’ rough patches which go for sporting grounds; potholed roads and muddy paths on which not even an antelope can jog on; and only one or two third rate fitness centres. Oh! How I wish our municipal fathers could learn from Lilongwe. A visit there may be appropriate for them. lutengano@hotmail.com.