Tanzanians ridicule UK paper for calling Dar 'fishing village'

A screen grab showing the Daily Mail goof.  

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By The EastAfrican
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UK-based newspaper Daily Mail Online aroused social media outrage in Tanzania after referring to the country's largest commercial city as the "fishing village of Dar es Salaam".

Tanzanians took to social media to ridicule Daily Mail with some saying the goof was further proof of "Westerners' ignorance of the African continent".

The backlash followed a story published on its website after the arrival of Wayne Rooney and the Everton on Wednesday in Tanzania, ahead of the European club's highly billed friendly against Kenyan giants Gor Mahia Thursday.

"Everton have touched down in Tanzania ahead of their first pre-season friendly, with Wayne Rooney and Co welcomed by hordes of supporters as they arrived in the fishing village of Dar es Salaam,” the DailyMail wrote.

Tanzanians on Twitter expressed their fury over the statement. Here are some of comments:

@MariaSTsehai: ""fishing village" of Dar es Salaam - somewhere in Africa - right? Can you be more condescending? You could have Googled!"

@mathewmndeme: "An amazing fishing village indeed with a UK high Commission." He added: "Hopefully, the office of British High Commissioner in Dar Sarah Cooke will help correct this.”

@jstMusa: "#SomeoneTellDailyMail Dar es Salaam is not a fishing village but one of the largest city in East Africa."

@vitukali: "This is an almighty fishing village. They must keep the fish in 5-star indoor pools."

SportPesa

Tanzanians were also not amused after the online paper mistakenly referred to their Sports minister, Dr Harrison Mwakyembe, as a SportPesa spokesperson. SportPesa the gaming firm that sponsors both Everton and Gor Mahia.

Daily Mail later bowed to pressure and corrected the story, referring to Dar es Salam as a coastal city.

Everton FC will be playing Gor Mahia at 5pm (+3GMT) at the refurbished 60,000-seater National Stadium in Dar.