By Brown Msyani
Just a fortnight ago, stakes were high for the Tanzanian sides to leave their mark at the Kampala event, but shortage of funds has dealt a big blow to the country’s envoys.This is the first time Tanzania fails to send at last one team in the annual tournament, which brings together all city sides from the region.
The event, which is recognised by the world governing body –Fiba, saw Dar es Salaam embark on preparations early, but had their hopes dashed in the eleventh hour when the city council offered just 7 per cent of the required money.
“It is a disappointment that we have missed out on this tournament because we really wanted to take part and actually win the trophy.
“However, the city council which is responsible for our preparations said it had no money to support the team,” said Alfred Ngalalija, who is the Dar es Salaam Basketball Association president.
Ngalalija said they had asked for Sh40 million to send two teams (men and women) to Kampala, but the city director promised to give them Sh3 million.
“The money the city council offered was just 7.5 per cent of what we asked for, so we failed to travel to Kampala,” he said.
Arusha’s top player John Steven also expressed his disappointment for failing to feature in the region’s biggest basketball tourney.
“It seems our city authorities don’t value basketball anymore; we were eager to compete in Uganda, but we have been informed late that there was no money for us,” he said.
Mwanza, Mbeya and Tanga were also looking forward to making their presence felt at the regional tournament, but could not make it due to a similar problem.
Some of the teams battling it out in the 11-team event are; Nairobi, Mogadishu, Moyo, Gulu, Mukono, Mombasa, hosts Kampala and Hanshirya.