Four Catholic bishops at departed former President Mkapa’s farewell mass in Dar es Salaam
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Preaching during the Mass, Bishop Ngalalekumtwa urged Tanzanians to read the departed leader’s autobiography: ‘My Life, My Purpose: A Tanzanian President Remembers’.
Dar es Salaam. Four catholic bishops led mourners at the funeral mass of Retired President Benjamin William Mkapa said at Uhuru Stadium on Sunday, July 26, 2020.
Bishop Taricisius Ngalalekumtwa of Iringa Diocese led the mass where thousands of mourners paid their last respects to the departed former leader.
Assisting him were: Mahenge Diocese Bishop Agapiti Ndorobo, Antony Banzi of Tanga and Alfred Maluma of Njombe Diocese.
Preaching during the Mass, Bishop Ngalalekumtwa urged Tanzanians to read the departed leader’s autobiography: ‘My Life, My Purpose: A Tanzanian President Remembers’.
In the book, the late Mkapa outlined the story of his life right from childhood days. He detailed how he rose to the Presidency and the life he lived after retirement.
“I am lucky to have a copy of the book. I have read it from the first to the last page. You will see and acknowledge the presence of the brain [that Mkapa was] in the book,” he said.
Bishop Ngalalekumtwa called upon Tanzanians to live today while thinking about tomorrow.
Offerings collected from the Mass would be spent on renovating a house for Catholic priests at the late Mkapa’s birthplace of Lupaso in Mtwara.
This was because the departed former leader had promised to renovate the house before his death.
A total of Sh20 million is required for the purpose, the gathering heard on Sunday.
Apart from the religious leaders, other notable faces in attendance at the Mass was the departed leader’s wife, Anna Mkapa, President John Magufuli and his wife Janeth Magufuli, Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan and Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa.
Others were: Zanzibar’s second Vice President, Seif Ali Iddi as well as Defence and National Service minister Hussein Mwinyi, among others.
The coffin, bearing former President Mkapa’s body, was covered by the national flag and taken to Uhuru Stadium by Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF) soldiers.
Mr Mkapa died at a Dar es Salaam hospital in the wee hours of Friday, July 24, year after a short illness.
Tanzanians have total of three days of paying their last respects to the body of man who ruled their country for ten years from 1995 to 2005.
State farewell will be conducted on Tuesday, July 28, 2020 after which, the body will be flown to Lupaso, Masasi District in Mtwara Region for actual burial that’s scheduled for Wednesday, July 29, 2020.
