6 December 2008
Arusha — The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International has named the Founder-Editor of the Arusha Times, William Lobulu, a Paul Harris Fellow, the highest award to a non member of Rotary.
The decoration which goes with a perk of USD 1000 was presented to Mr. Lobulu by a representative of Rotary International, Mr. Keith Stanton of the Rotary Club of Riccarton, New Zealand at a short ceremony held at Kibo Palace Hotel on November 24 this year.
Presenting the award during a meeting of the Rotary Club of Arusha Mount Meru , Mr. Stanton said Lobulu's recognition was "in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world."
The ceremony was also attended by Faye Cran of the Arusha Rotary Club, Merve Cooper of Rotary Club of Riccarton and Peter Ricketts, Past President of the Rotary Club of Guilford District, UK.
The Arusha Times, established 13 years ago, focusing mainly on local news and issues, has a wide local and international readership. Its on-line version is popular mainly among scholars and researchers living abroad, tourists planning to visit Tanzania, NGOs linked to Tanzania and foreigners who have worked or intend to work in Arusha.
Important issues covered by the Arusha Times on a weekly basis include Health, Education, Gender, Poverty Alleviation , Children and Human Rights; and many others. The publication is the first Tanzanian paper to go on-line.
The award money for the recognition of Mr. Lobulu was contributed by Faye Cran and members of the Rotary Club of Papanui in New Zealand through Mr. Stuart Batty. The prize money will be spent toward eradication of polio, a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. Polio invades the nervous system, and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours.
Mr. Lobulu is a graduate of the University of Dar es Salaam (1976), post graduate University of Maryland in the US (1982) and a former lecturer at the Tanzania School of Journalism in Dar es Salaam.
This is the second international recognition for Arusha Times this year. Valentine Nkwame, one of the journalists of the paper, was in March this year picked pioneer winner of the David Astor Journalism Award which is administered from London, UK. Mr. Nkwame, as part of the award benefits, is currently attached to the Johannesburg Times in South Africa.
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