Dar es Salaam.
Newly appointed MCL managing director Dunstan Tido Mhando is congratulated by the MCL editorial board committee chair, Prof Palamagamba Kabudi, on his first day in office at the company’s head office in Dar es Salaam yesterday. Looking on is MCL group managing editor Theophil Makunga, who was the acting managing director prior to Mr Mhando’s appointment.
The Mwananchi Communications Limited (MCL) Board of Directors has appointed Mr Dunstan Tido Mhando the new managing director effective yesterday.He started work immediately after a brief ceremony to welcome him at the MCL premises in Tabata Relini, Dar es Salaam, yesterday, promising to ensure professionalism.
Speaking at his Tabata Relini office yesterday, Mr Mhando said: “I am delighted to join the MCL and I promise to use my wide experience to push the company forward by ensuring professionalism.”
The MCL publishes The Citizen, The Citizen on Saturday, The Citizen on Sunday, Mwananchi, Mwananchi Jumapili and MwanaSpoti.Mr Mhando, a seasoned journalist of international acclaim, takes over from Mr Sam Shollei whose tour of duty with Tanzania’s leading print media house expired late last year.Before joining the MCL, Mr Mhando, popularly known by his middle name, Tido, had worked as journalist in and outside Tanzania for over 30 years.
He started off his career in the late 1960s with the government-owned media house, Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam (RTD), before going abroad. In the UK, he became the first African to head the Swahili Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).Apart from the BBC, Mr Mhando has also worked with other international media organisations including Swahili Service of the Voice of America (VoA) and Radio Deutche Welle (DW) of Germany.
Narrating his history, Mr Mhando said he started practicing as a journalist in 1969 at RTD as a music programme presenter before he was shifted to sport, notably football.
“I have presented live football matches in a number of countries including Uganda in 1973 during the Challenge Cup and the Commonwealth Games in 1974. I have had the opportunity to travel with Taifa Stars (Tanzania national football team) in a number of countries including Nigeria, Sudan, Kenya and Malawi,” he recounted.
When he covered the Commonwealth games in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1974, Mr Mhando was among the few Tanzanians who witnessed Mr Filbert Bayi break the world record in the 1,500 metres race by beating the then world champion, Mr John Walker.
Newly appointed MCL managing director Dunstan Tido Mhando
“In 1976, I was picked to cover the Olympics in Canada though Tanzania had withdrawn from the games. In 1978 I covered the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada, before I went to Kenya in 1979 to cover the Challenge Cup matches,” he recalls.
During the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Canada, Mr Mhando gave a live coverage of how another Tanzanian, Mr Gidamis Shahanga, clinched a gold medal in the marathon and Bayi a silver medal in 1,500 metres.
He said after the games, he got a job with the High Fidelity Production Ltd of Kenya as a producer, but he soon ventured into freelancing, filing stories for BBC, VoA and Dutche Welle.
“I stayed in Kenya for ten years, from 1980 to 1990, serving as a stringer for three international media organisations in East and Central Africa. One of the big stories which I remember doing while in Kenya is the controversial death of Kenya’s Foreign minister, Dr Robert Ouko, in 1990,” he said.Between 1990 and 2007, he worked as a staffer with BBC and takes credit as the first African to head it’s giant station’s Swahili Service.
“What I am proud of is the great work which we did, for we managed to increase the station’s weekly ratings from 7 million to 21 million listeners.
“And then, in 2007, President Jakaya Kikwete approached me in London and asked me to come back home to take charge of the state-owned TBC,” he said, adding that he accepted the offer.
“Now I am happy to be here to work with one of the biggest media companies in Tanzania and I pledge to use my experience to make sure that we use professionalism to build true democracy for the benefit of all Tanzanians and the nation,” he said.
Commenting on the new appointment, Mr Theophil Makunga, the MCL group managing editor, who has been the acting MD following the departure of Mr Shollei, said the company has every reason to celebrate Mr Mhando’s appointment, given the man’s wide experience in the media field.
“We have acquired a visionary and committed leader… we believe he will enable the company to attain even higher levels of success. We got the right person at the right time,” said the MCL editorial chief.
Chanzo: The Citizen
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