Urejee mkuu, nna hamu ya kujua kuhusu hilo.
FROM SUN & SAND HOTEL TO SELANDER BRIDGE POLICE STATION.
Watu wengi wanalifahamu hili jengo sasa hivi kama kituo cha polisi cha Selander Bridge lakini hawajui kuwa hili jengo zamani ilikuwa ni hotel maarufu sana iliyokuwa inatumiwa na matajiri iliyokuwa inaitwa Sun and Sand Hotel. Hii hotel ilikuwa ikimilikiwa na familia ya Panju na ilijengwa mwaka 1949. Hili jengo lilitaifishwa na kugeuzwa kituo cha polisi baada ya Makaburu kulipua daraja la Selander mwaka 1972.
Baada ya serikali yetu kuficha huu mkasa kwa miaka mingi nilikuja kuusoma huu mkasa kwenye kitabu kilichoandikwa na Kaburu anayeitwa Peter Stiff kinachoitwa “The Silent War: South African Recce Operations 1969-1994.”
Baadae nilimsikia Raisi Kikwete akiisema hii stori kwenye sherehe za maadhimisho ya miaka 40 toka kuanzishwa kwa SADCC mwaka 2020 (nanukuu in English toka kwenye nakala iliyoandikwa na Hilda Muhagama wa Tanzania Standard:
“The facility had to hurriedly but meticulously be turned into a police station, thanks to the liberation movement, with Tanzania leading from the front.The Boers were very upset with countries that led the liberation struggles during that time, it was actually here where South African commandos pitched camp at Kigamboni before proceeding to set a bomb at the Selander Bridge,” revealed former President Jakaya Kikwete at a symposium to mark the 40th anniversary since the establishment of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which was organised by the University for Dar es Salaam (UDSM).
Dr Kikwete, who served the country between 2005 and 2015, further revealed how the 92-year-old bridge was too strong for the explosive to detonate. Adding the commandos involved in the incident was writing a book that will delve into the details of the liberation struggles and Selander bridge survival.
“The threat raised an alarm and called for beefing up of security in the area, hence the police station we see to date,” he disclosed.
The bridge was named after John Einar Selander, Tanganyika’s first Director of Public Works.
So volatile was the situation back then, that people living around the bridge weren’t allowed to switch on their lights.
“There was a time where people living in the surrounding Selander Bridge were not allowed to switch on their lights, lest they get exposed to any potential threat.
He added: Some of the front liners, including Tanzania grappled with difficult moments but they still soldiered on and accomplished the mission.”
Kama unataka kusoma mkasa wote ulivyoenda kama movie stori iko hapa toka kwenye kitabu cha Kaburu:
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10158264615939498&set=pb.673909497.-2207520000..
Picha nimeitoa kwenye kitabu cha “Street Level by Sarah Parkes” kiko pale Tanzania Publishing House (Mkuki na Nyota).