IT was a beehive of sports marathon at Merlin School ground in Dodoma where all systems of Tanzania's Parliament were fully engaged.
Brightened by hotly contested showdown, most notably in netball, football, handball, table tennis, and tug of war, the Saturday Sports bonanza was very productive health wise and Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, who also participated, was impressed with the exercise.
The PM used the opportunity to urge parliamentarians and other Tanzanian residents to participate in sports since the culture is vital for the well-being of the body and mental health.
Majaliwa said; "Sports for us MPs are more important because they make us healthier and sports also help people meet together and strengthen physical fitness, build friendships and develop talents.
I congratulate Bunge Speaker Tulia Ackson on this innovation to start Bunge Bonanza which will be conducted regularly. I also congratulate some parliamentarians and some members of the House of Representatives, Parliament staff, and other government officials who participated in this bonanza.
"We hope to also have a bonanza like this on June 24th this year. Being able to gather public servants together as it was today, we are able to build good relations between us. We as the government together are going to develop this bonanza because it helps to build our unity.
"The government and the Parliament, we shall allocate the budget for this Bonanza. It was possible for all of us to participate in all games that are available at this bonanza. We shall solve the challenges that are associated and be able to move forward together," he said.
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In retrospect, the Speaker of the Parliament, Ackson said the Parliament Bonanza will be held four times a year with the aim of sensitising citizens on the importance of participating in exercise so that the community can be healthier.
"We thank the Honorable President of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan as well as the President of Zanzibar and the Chairman of the Revolutionary Council, Hussein Ali Mwinyi for continuing to maintain the Union."
"Doing exercises like this is very helpful in building the health of the parliamentarians and it can also help build our teams for the parliamentary competitions that are held once a year. Therefore, by doing so, it is very helpful to prepare for the championship in advance," she said.
The teams that participated in the bonanza are the Parliament and Parliament staff team and the Parliament(Bunge) team emerged as the overall winners after defeating the Parliament Staff team in football, netball, table tennis, handball, tug of war, chicken chase, and ball throwing.
