REST IN PEACE COMRADE ERNEST ZULU - SAIDI YAKUBU

I am writing to express my sincere condolences to our colleague Mr Ernest Zulu.

I have vivid memories of him during his active days.Zulu has been known in media circles as the man to see to get your pass to access the media gallery. Many MPs will remember him as the one to see to get your visitors in the chamber.

I first met him in 1998 when Parliament organised the first ever Youth Parliament at Karimjee Hall. I took part in that as a High School student from Tambaza.

He was tasked to enlighten me on the role of Prime Minister of government business in the House which was assigned to me then. He was indeed a good teacher and we became  friends since then.

You can imagine my joy when I joined Parliament 10 years afterwards and he became my immediate supervisor.Under his stewardship we traveled in several parts of Tanzania lecturing on Parliament.

He made sure that we knew how Parliament works and the tricks on how to handle MPs -our core customers.

I remember Ernest as the charming man who always looked on the bright side.A simple man whose home village still regarded him as a chief.A man who meant what he says.

He never shied away in overcoming personal challenges. Approaching retirement but still he valued personal development and enrolled on a degree course in Malaysia and shared with us his journey as a mature student. Little did we know that would also be his last endeavour.

I will miss his jokes and a sense of humour deeply. Now that the last respects are to be paid today and being miles away in Singapore on public duties, this is my humble attempt to remember a friend, a colleague and always a brother.

Ernest, May your soul rest in eternal peace.

Saidi Yakubu.