It is official, Tanzania bloggers are going to hold a virtual election on June 30, 2007. There are eight candidates for different positions listed on the Jumuiya ya Wanablogu Tanzania (the community of Tanzanian bloggers) blog. Candidates photos are on the right hand side of the blog for easy viewing. In what is likely to be a very close election, the chairperson and secretary positions have attracted three candidates each while the treasure's position has attracted only two contestants. Alleged Bank of Tanzania embezzlement and a backflip in the parliament Maggid Mjengwa has posted an article written by one of his readers looking at the performance of Tanzania's parliament current speaker, Hon. Samwel Sitta. The article applauds how the speaker challenged unsubstantiated claims in the house by Members of Parliament, especially during the current controversy surrounding the disappearance of Bank of Tanzania‘s Shs.250bn/- from external debt account and the controversial BoT Twin Towers project in Dar Es Salaam. During the discussions, the once staunch critic of the government, Hon. Chrisant Mzindakaya from the ruling party CCM, did a backflip by praising the BoT as one of the top 10 banks in Africa, implying that the Bank has done nothing wrong. And a surprising change of attitude from the house speaker followed – this time the house speaker did not ask the MP to either substantiate his claims or to produce the names of the other top 10 banks in Africa on the list: Si Mheshimiwa Spika, naibu wake wala Waheshimiwa wabunge wengine walimhoji Mheshimiwa Dk Chrisant Majiyatanga Mzindakaya kuwaorodheshea safu ya benki kuu kumi bora barani Afrika. Kwa taarifa zilizoandikwa magazetini kama nilivyozinukuu hapo chini ningekuwa miongoni mwa Waheshimiwa wabunge ningemuomba Spika na Naibu wake wamtake Mheshimiwa Dk Chrisant Majiyatanga Mzindakaya athibitishe kauli yake. Neither the Speaker, his deputy nor the other members of parliament dared to ask Hon. Chrisant Majiyatanga Mzindakaya to produce the list of top 10 banks in Africa. According to newspaper reports as quoted below, If I were one of the MPs I would have asked the speaker to ask Hon. Dr. Chrisant Majiyatanga Mzindakaya to substantiate his claim. VIP treatment in the House of Parliament for Taifa Stars after African Cup of Nations victory Various Swahili blogs followed closely the African Cup of Nations qualifiers. And yes, Tanzanians are jubilant after their national football team Taifa Stars won 1-0 in an away game against Burkina Faso during the 2008 African Cup of Nations qualifiers in Ouagadougou. The win briefly put Taifa Stars at the top of Group Seven ahead of Senegal. As the nation watched the match live on their TVs, bloggers kept on posting updates of the match. What happened after the match shows how much Tanzanians love soccer and their national team. Immediately after the winning goal, Saidi Yakubu broke the news: Habari za hivi punde kutoka Burkina Fasso ni kuwa Taifa Stars wameshinda kwa bao moja bila licha ya kukuru kakara za hapa na pale zilizosababisha kocha Maximo kutolewa na mchezaji Shadrack Nsajigwa kutolewa lakini hii ni habari njema kabisa kwa vile sasa tunaongoza KUNDI NAMBA SABA! KILA LA KHERI STARS!!!!!!!!!! The latest from Burkina Faso is that Taifa Stars has won one nil despite tense situations here and there that caused Coach Maximo (Tanzania) and his player Shadrack Nsajigwa to be sent out, the good news is we are leaders of GROUP SEVEN, ALL THE BEST STARS!!!!!!!!! Along with Saidi Yakubu's blog, Muhidin Issa Michuzi kept on posting photos of Dar Es Salaam streets immediately after the match. He received an update from one of his readers: Kaka michuzi nipo baclays house ghorofa ya pili dirishani, hivi nnavoandika ni kwamba mamia ya wananchi wanaandama kwa furaha kwenda ikulu, nadhani labda kwenda kumpongeza JK… I'm here at Barclays [Bank], second floor, as I am writing this, hundreds of people are marching joyfully towards the state house, I think they are going to congratulate JK [Tanzania's president, Jakaya Kikwete]… Upon arrival in Tanzania, the team was greeted with a heroes welcome in the Parliament where the 2007-2008 budget was being debated. Amidst the joy Ngurumo probes government's motive behind National team's invitation to the National Assembly during the budget debate.