OPINION: Mengi an iconic stakeholder in the mining industry and a patriarch of empathy

Today we are grieving for a boundless compassionate companion brother, Reginald Abraham Mengi. He passed away on May 2, 2019 in Dubai, leaving a legacy ingrained in his extraordinary empathy and compassion to ordinary, defenseless people.

He was a multifaceted person who cared for many souls. He will go down in history books as one of the greatest patriotic industrialists and compassionate individual in Tanzania and in the African continent. Mengi is buried today in Machame, his home village.

He grew up to extraordinary prominence from humble beginnings and become one of the great industrialists in Tanzania wining many hearts small and great, poor and rich, ordinary and royal, citizenry and leaders.

He became a leading businessman with a range of investment portfolios that included media houses (print and electronic), exploration and mining, manufacturing and community services.

I had opportunities to interact with Mengi in several occasions during his lifetime. The encounters cemented a great brotherhood. He was a great friend and brother.

I first met Mengi in 2007 as a civil servant in the position of Commissioner for Minerals at the ministry of Energy and Minerals.

At this time I was charged with a duty to spearhead a process to implement a local content scheme in the extractive industries (oil, gas and mining). The government wanted Tanzanians to partake in the mining activities to widen local benefits from the foreign dominated mining industry.

The new Mineral Policy of 2009 of which I was the pinking in its design and implementation replaced the Mineral Policy of 1997 and wanted to improve the economic environment for both local and foreign investments to maximize benefits from mining; and to strengthen integration of the mineral sector with other sectors of the economy in the country.

The policy advocated a local content scheme to ensure the people and the nation obtain a win-win situation between foreign and local benefits in the mining extractive industry.

Section 5.5 of the policy urged the government to encourage, assist and lead its people into an active participation in mining industry investments with the objective of empowering the government to establish an enabling environment for Tanzanians to participate in ownership of medium and large scale mines.

To implement this policy requirement, I then requested the audience of Mengi and other businessmen to encourage them to come into large scale mining that was at the time dominated by foreign investment to start investing in mining as owners of mines or as contractors so as to increase local participation.

Out of twenty Tanzanians contacted only four prominent Tanzanian including Mengi heeded the call by government to participate in the mining industry.

Mengi and Ernest Saronga Massawe who ventured in exploration and mining, Rostam Abdulrasul Aziz former Member of Parliament for Igunga who became a mining contractor for all the large scale mining operations; and Silvestry Fransis Koka the current Member of Parliament for Kibaha Urban who invested in catering contracting in the foreign dominated large scale mines.

To accelerate the process of creating local content in the mining industry we had to change some rules to force large scale foreign miners to stop importing mining contracting and catering services and offer them to local investors.

Special considerations and attention were also given to Mengi and other willing local investors who ventured into large scale mineral exploration and mining in the acquisition of mineral rights.

Mengi also went into small scale mining with the intention of assisting Artisanal and Small Miners (ASM) who were in dire need of financial help.

He helped many and at times he found himself in disputes with some of the ASM miners who decided to unjustly invade his mineral properties and would engaged in a media mudslinging campaign against him, claiming that he was a bully intending to take away their rights.

Although he knew that he was being unjustly accused by the ASM miners he always assisted them in a manner that would further their interests in small scale mining. With an open and kind heart he every time reached out to their demands and assisted them towards their financial needs that was driving force to wage the war of deception against him.

It was at this time when he always requested my audience and I always offered him to come to my office.

In front of my eyes I always met and saw a very humble man; it was always an enlightening encounter.

Due to his unbending belief in human dignity he continued to reach out to the ASM miners continuously assisting them in their endeavours to break the chains of poverty. Since then we grew closer and he became my close friend and a brother.

When I became a Member of Parliament our friendship did not wane but it continued to grow stronger; he would always sponsor women, youth and the handicapped empowerment as well as sports activities in the Igunga Constituency. Yes! He merited the saying “A friend in need is a friend indeed”.

Mengi also decided to invest in petroleum (oil and gas) exploration; a sector that was similarly dominated by International Oil Companies.

Through his Tanzania Energy Limited Company, Mengi was geared to obtaining oil and gas exploration blocks. At a later date he agreed to invest $30 million (Sh67.5 billion) in Swala Oil and Gas Tanzania PLC, a local majority owned company that was ready to explore for oil and gas in its Kilosa-Kilombero license block.

Tanzania also witnessed that Mengi continually shared his wealth with vulnerable groups; including the physically handicapped, albinos and the blind.

He was able to look at what is happening today in our society and showed compassion to the suffering and was ready to suffer with others in his neighbourhood and community in public life and in private life.

He had a great Christian theological virtue of charity as he could experience the compassion of others in this world. We are all witness of his action that shows that he was able to listen and see to what was happening today in the streets and partake in the compassion with the vulnerable groups by giving a helping hand to the homeless and feeding the hungry every Friday at his office.

Again, in the powerful account of his vision of entrepreneurship in his book “I Can, I Must, I Will” Mengi showed an extraordinary spirit of courage, determination and dedication to self-improvement and a steady commitment to duty an indication that he had a virtue of courage or fortitude.

Mengi was an iconic stakeholder in the petroleum and mining industries as well as a patriarch of empathy to the needy who will be missed by many. Down the memory lane, we will always celebrate a life well lived of this extraordinary sympathetic and kindhearted brother and a Great son of Tanzania and Africa.

Mengi has joined the galaxy of iconic Tanzanians and we can rightly call him the Patriarch of Courage, Commitment and Dedication to Duty. Rest in Peace my Friend and Brother.

Dr Kafumu is Igunga Member of Parliament and former Commissioner for Minerals