Magufuli joins mourners to bid farewell to Mercy Anna Mengi in Dar

Dar es Salaam. President John Magufuli was among mourners at a church service to pay last respects to Mercy Anna Mengi at Azania Front ELCT Church in Dar es Salaam.

Mercy, the first wife of Mr Reginald Mengi, died on October 31 at Mediclinic Morningside Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she had been admitted to undergo a surgery.

Her death

According to Mercy’s eulogy read during the service on Thursday, November 8, a few days before her passing away, medics at the hospital examined her and advised that she was undergo an operation.

It was on this background that on October 17, she travelled to Johannesburg and admitted to the hospital to await the operation.

She was put under operation on the same day she arrived. The results of the procedure, however, were not as had been expected as her condition deteriorated and so continued to remain at the facility as medics attended to her.

According to family report shared among mourners, on October 31, Mercy’s condition deteriorated further and passed on in the evening of the same day.

Mercy, 70, and Mr Mengi, who married on November 27, 1971, were blessed with three children, Regina, Rodney and Abdiel. The couple then worked their up to build a business conglomerate in Tanzania.

Mercy was born on April 13, 1948 at Machame’s Wari Village in Kilimanjaro Region and later in 1966, in search of education, she studied at the Kianda Secretarial College in Kenya.

Bishop’s word

Addressing mourners, relatives and well-wishers, who turned up to bid farewell to Mercy, Bishop Dr Alex Malasusa called upon the mourners to use their remaining part of life to seek God’s will in their lives.

"There are some people, who live respectfully in church, but in society there is none. So, it needs us to show we live a sacred life at all times. The basic thing we need to enhance our relationship with God," said Dr Malasusa.

Dr Malasusa said human beings spend most of their time to find the protection of their health through the way of doing physical exercises and eating good food, but it is nothing when it comes to death.

"Had those who died in accidents known they would have died that way, they would have walked throughout their lives. This is because there is no person who wants to die. However, there is a big secret in death, "says the bishop.

He reminded those present that death was inevitable and that no one truly knows when their hour comes. He warned them against treating badly their fellow human beings.

Dr Malasusa has said during this period of bidding farewell to Mercy, every person must be aware of death, which does not care about status in society, popularity, and level of education, wealth, good health or anything else.

According to the eulogy, after Mercy completed her studies at the college she was employed by the East African Airways in Kenya before she was transferred to Tanzania. The airline was under the former East African Community (EAC).