Tanzania- Monday, July 27, 2020/ https://africanpostonline.com/–African leaders and Pan Africanist have expressed sadness for the passing of the former President of Tanzania, President Benjamin William Mkapa.
Mkapa, who was President of Tanzania from 1995 to 2005 passed on Friday, 24th July 2020, while receiving treatment at a hospital in Dar es Salaam was a brilliant public servant who is said to have dedicated his entire life serving Tanzania and Africa with honour, dignity and excellence.
“It is with great sadness we have lost Mzee (oldman) Benjamin William Mkapa, the former president who died at the hospital in Dar es Salaam where he was admitted. I call upon Tanzanians to receive the sad news of his death and to pray for Mzee Mkapa who is gone forever,” President John Magufuli.
President John Magufuli has declared seven days of mourning, during which the national flag will be hoisted at half-mast in Tanzania.
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda has commanded three-day national mourning which began today Monday, July 27, with the National Flag and the flag of East Africa lowered to half-mast in solidarity with Tanzanians.
According to Paul Kagame, the death of Mkapa, aged 81 will be felt throughout the continent.
He wrote: “We are saddened by the passing of former President Mkapa. My deepest condolences to his family, the people of Tanzania, and my friend President John Pombe Magufuli. The loss of our brother Mkapa is one that will be felt throughout the continent. He was a great Pan-Africanist whose contribution went well beyond Tanzania,”
President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya also paid tribute to Benjamin William Mkapa. According to him, the People of East Africa, Kenyans, Africa and the entire world share with the people of Tanzania deep sorrow over the demise of Mkapa.
He extended his condolences on behalf of the government and the people of Kenya, and on his family to Mama Anna Mkapa, to Tanzanians and the entire family of Mkapa.
Also, the former Prime Minister of Kenya, Raila Odinga expressed sadness by stating: “I mourn former President Benjamin Mkapa, a great friend of the Kenyan people, a pan-Africanist, a true believer in South-South Cooperation and a global statesman.”
Namibia’s President, Hage Geingob had also extended his condolences
to the people of Tanzania. He wrote: “Following the passing of the former President of Tanzania, H.E Benjamin Mkapa, a brilliant son of Africa and Tanzania, I join the international community in extending my most sincere condolences to President John Magufuli and the people of Tanzania.”
Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union also sent his message of condolence: “It is with deep sadness that I learnt of the passing of Mzee Benjamin Mkapa, former President of Tanzania. A statesman particularly remembered as an indefatigable peacemaker in the East African region. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, the people and govt of Tanzania.”
The late President Benjamin William Mkapa had achieved a lot in regional, continental, and global works leaving behind a legacy.
Benjamin William Mkapa
He was born on 12 November 1938, Masasi (Tanzania). He had a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Makerere University College in Uganda in 1962.
Some of his achievements include Mkapa working as a civil servant in the district of Dodoma and Dar es Salaam.
He worked as a journalist; as the editor of the daily governmental Tanzania Nationalism and Uhuru (1966), the Daily News and the Sunday News in 1972. In July of 1974, Mkapa was appointed Secretary of Press for President Julius Nyerere and in July of 1976, he launched the Tanzania News Agency (Shihata).
In September 2010, President Mkapa was appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to lead a special panel to monitor the January 2010 referendum in Southern Sudan.
Benjamin Mkapa was a member of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), High Commissioner to Nigeria in 1976, Canada (1982) and the United States Ambassador. He served the political party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM, State Revolutionary Party) in the areas of Foreign Affairs, Information and Culture, Information and Broadcasting as well as Science, Technology, and Higher Education
Mr. Mkapa was the first to win a democratic election in Tanzania, as a candidate for the CCM.
In 2006, he served as a member of the High-level panel on UN System-wide Coherence in areas of Development, Humanitarian Assistance and Environment, appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General. President Mkapa was appointed in 2006 to be Patron of the UN committee of 2008 International Year of Planet Earth.
President Mkapa holds several honorary doctorate degrees from Soka University in Japan (1998), Morehouse College, Atlanta, USA (1999), the Open University of Tanzania (2003), the National University of Lesotho (2005), Kenyatta University (2005), the University of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania (2006) and Newcastle University, United Kingdom (2007), The University of Cape Coast, Ghana (2008). In October 2007, the Jane Goodall Institute gave him the Global Leadership Award for his leadership in wildlife conservation.
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Renate is a lawyer, publicist, and writer. She believes that education and information is the key to developing and shaping Africa. In her free time, she paints beautiful art pieces on canvas. Renate believes that life is a perception, and you live it the way you perceive it.
