The late Professor HirjiThousands of Arusha residents and many others from neighbouring countries today Tuesday 16 March 2010 descended onto the General Tyre Sports groundsalong Njiro road to attend a funeral service of a prominent academician andcommunity leader Prof. Karim Hirji who passed away last Thursday 11 March 2010 and later escorted his body to the Njiro cemetary where he was laid torest.
Among those in attendance at a service presided by Bishop Alinikisa Cheyo,f rom the Moravian Church head office in Mbeya, were prominent academicians from as far as Kigali, Rwanda, Blantyre, Malawi and Nairobi, Kenya.
Prof.Hirji passed on when he suffered a stroke following a checkered history ofBP which he had lived with since 1991, when he was lecturing at PrincetonUniversity.
Prof. Hirji was born in Mbozi on 5 May 1943 and later, in 1968, graduatedwith Bachelor of Science (hons) in Zoology from the then University of East Africa in Dar es Salaam. In the same year he got his Masters degree inMarine Biology from the Copenhagen University in Denmark before attaining aPhd from the London Westfield College in 1972.
He lecturered at the University of Dar es Salaam from 1972 until 1983 whenhe rose to full Professor. A prolific writer for several internationalscience journals he also in due course became Chairman of several Boards inTanzania including those of the Serengeti Research Institute, MwekaWildlife College and Ngorongor Conservation Authority and Deputy Chairmanof the National Environmental Management Council.
Prof. Hirji was also, at one time, a member of the Boards of the TanzaniaNational Commission of Science and Technology and the Tanzania WildlifeProtection Fund. Until his death he was a member of the Board of theTanzania Airports Authority.
Among the many Arushans who paid their last respects were several membersof the Arusha Wazee Sports Club where he was a founding member and adviser for the last ten or so years, from the time when it had 30 members to now when the Club has more than 150 members from more than 30 different countries residing in Arusha.
Prof. Hirji leaves behind a wife and four children - two boys and twogirls.
May his Soul Rest in Eternal Peace
-AMEN!
R.I.P Prof. Tulikupenda ila wewe MUNGU amekupanda zaidi.
ReplyDeleteJaffarai na Naziz poleni sana kwa msiba mkubwa wa uncle wenu. Poleni sana.
ReplyDeleteMUNGU ailaze roho ya marehemu peponi. Poleni sana wanafamilia kwa msiba!
ReplyDeleteoh Mungu wangu huyu baba alikuwa jirani yangu poleni sana kina nahami kwa kuondokewa na baba yenu mpendwa. rip baba
ReplyDeleteKamanda Victor pamoja na familia nzima poleni sana. Mungu awape nguvu wakati wa kipindi hiki kigumu.
ReplyDeleteMkuu Victor pole sana kwa msiba huu.
ReplyDeleteMie nilimjua Baba mzazi wa Professa yaani Mzee Nurdin Hirji wa Mbeya...RIP.
ReplyDeletePoleni sana Prof alikuwa jirani 1985-1991 na baadae Olorieni. Poleni sana Nahami mimi sijui uko wapi siku hizi lakini poleni sana.
ReplyDeleteRest in Peace Prof... Aunty Stella, Naami,Maria and Wawila... Poleni sana kwa kuondekewa na mpendwa wenu.. We are praying for u..
ReplyDeleteMaruma .M
Jamani nimesoma na nahami arusha school namkumbuka prof akija kuwachukua shule. Ooh! what a sad news. Poleni sana. R.I.P Prof
ReplyDeletePole sana Stella. Inshallah Mwenyeenzi Mungu atakujaalia nguvu na subra wakati huu wa msiba na mbeleni. Its sad he was such a good educator.
ReplyDeleteMecky and Fatma
Poleni sana wafiwa, Nahami pokea pole zangu. Professor alikuwa anapenda sana maua, always utamkuta na mkasi wake na gloves zake akiyahudumia maua yake. Ni wazee wachache sana walikuwa na hobby za horticulture.Bustani ya mbinguni imepata mtunzaji.
ReplyDeleteRIP mwalimu wangu at UDSM. Dada Stella poleni sana. Mungu awape nguvu.
ReplyDeleteNelly Temu-Williams,London