AFTER going silent for a couple of weeks, business tycoons Mohamed Dewji ‘Mo’ and Yusuph Manji are back in the limelight to steer the Dar es Salaam derby between Simba and Young Africans.
Dewji and Manji hit headlines last month after they launched bids to takeover the country’s top clubs, Simba and Young Africans. Mohamed Dewji (MO) tabled a 20bn/- bid to take 51 per cent shares at Simba after the Reds officially endorsed managerial restructuring of the club early in August.
Yanga followed the suit by unanimously approving a move to lease their club to their Chairman Manji, who was eventually given mandate to own the club for ten years.
Complications in both deals have somewhat stalled the tycoons’ ambitions from taking off and the two are appearing to seize the upcoming derby by once again pushing their ‘takeover’ agenda with lucrative last minute’s offers to their respective clubs. It was announced yesterday that Dewji, one of Africa’s young billionaires, has started paying salaries to players, technical bench members and the secretariat of Simba.
The move comes after previous sponsor, Tanzania Breweries Limited (TBL) pulled out following the expiry of its 3-year contract. In a statement issued by Simba management yesterday, the club expressed their gratitude to Dewji and commended him for fulfilling promises he made to the club when launching his takeover bid. “Dewji has started paying salaries to players, members of the technical bench and the secretariat of the club and he will be doing that for the rest of the transition period towards the club’s restructuring plan,” Simba’s Spokesperson Haji Manara said.
Dewji will also cater for the club’s other administrative cost and pay tax for artificial turfs which will be laid at Simba’s stadium, currently under construction in Bunju area. “Simba management is very grateful to MO, considering that the club has no sponsor at the moment and we believe this investment is the catalyst to bring back happiness to Simba supporters by winning this year’s league championship and for many years to come,” Manara said.
Manji, on the other hand took a bold move to solve Yanga’s ground problems by offering the club a 715-acre land at Kigamboni shoreline in the city to construct a state-of-the-art stadium.
The land’s handover ceremony took part on Wednesday and was graced by the Minister for Home Affairs, Mwigulu Nchemba and Zanzibar’s former First Lady, Fatuma Karume. Manji did not attend the event and it was the businessman’s aides who handed over the land to the chairperson of Yanga’s Trustees Council, Mama Karume.
Speaking during the event, Mama Karume said the decision to offer the club the land for stadium construction was arrived at a meeting between members of the Trustees Council and Yanga Chairman Manji.
“After the members pleaded for a new stadium during the general assembly, we sat down with the chairman and agreed about this issue,” the former Isles First Lady said. For his side, Nchemba, who is an ardent supporter of the reigning Mainland Premier League champions, revealed that he advised Manji to abandon plans to develop Kaunda Stadium located at the club’s headquarters and instead look for another suitable area.
“I told Manji to keep thinking about Kaunda ground is to lie to ourselves. While our fellows (Simba) are moving to Bunju, we should go to Kigamboni,” Nchemba said.
