The Dutty Professor

Well, it's official.  The United Republic of Tanzania has a new President, Mr. John Pombe Magufuli.

And in addition to a new bum in the highest seat of the land, there are many others across various levels of the political scenery.

From the Nairobi Star, in fact, it has been reported that down south in Morogoro region, legendary Tanzanian hip hop artist Joseph Haule aka Professor Jay is the new Mikumi constituency member of parliament.  Ch-ch-ch-check it out!!

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Joseph Haule, or Professor Jay as he is known in Bongo Flava circles, a 40-year-old rapper with five solo studio albums, has beat his fellow contestants in a hotly-contested election that happened on Sunday.  He was running on a Cha Dema party ticket.

"I am not just here to speak for musical artists but also the Mikumi people I will be representing.  After this, I look forward to getting a government appointment to represent my people better, probably a ministerial position or something.  That way, I will be the first East African rapper/minister," Jay told a Tanzanian reporter prior to his win.

He garnered 32,259 votes against 30,425 votes by his closest rival, Jonas Nkya of CCM.

"We won by a difference of 1,834 votes.  Thank you God and Mikumi constituents for believing in me," he posted on his social media pages to confirm his big win.

Jay started making music in 1994 as a member of the group Hard Blasters, before going solo in 200.  Some of his hit songs include Nikusaidiaje and Zali la Mentali.