Det var på Uhuru Stadion i Dar es Salaam, hvor Union Jack blev sænket for sidste gang i 1961.
Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete Friday led a mammoth crowd of Tanzanians in celebrating the 50th Independence Anniversary amid a colourful display of pomp and gallantry at Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam, the newspaper “Daily News” reported.
Preceded by about a dozen police traffic motorcycle riders and several black escort cars, President Kikwete entered the stadium a few minutes past 10 am, in an open military motor vehicle flanked by the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), General Davis Mwamunyange.
The Head of State and Commander-in-Chief, clad in a dark-blue suit and white shirt, waved his hands to greet the public, as the vehicles ceremoniously snaked into the historic Uhuru Stadium.
The stadium is the venue where exactly half a century ago, the Union Jack (the British flag) was lowered for the last time in the country ending British colonial rule.
“We dared, we succeeded and we are still forging ahead,” is the theme of the Golden Jubilee, which top government leaders, leaders of opposition parties as well as members of the diplomatic corps attended.
Former Presidents Ali Hassan Mwinyi and Benjamini Mkapa did not miss the colourful ceremony. The event was also attended by five presidents from friendly African nations.
The event was spiced by mass performance by selected students of primary and secondary schools across the country followed by traditional dances by four different traditional groups, hand-picked to proportionally represent Tanzania.
There was also a display of the army’s equipment ranging from tanks, armoured vehicles as well as trucks and vehicles used in warfare. A number of fighter jets flew in synchronized formation over the stadium as part of the activities to colour the grand party.
The 18.000-seater Uhuru Stadium was filled to capacity and yet hundreds of residents were still outside the venue, pleading with security and intelligence officials to be let in, all in vain.
