Key participant of the Tanganyika, Zanzibar unification ceremony in 1964 dies aged 74

Unguja. Zanzibari woman who was part of the iconic image during the sand mixing ceremony that signaled the union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar on April 24, 1964, Khadija Abbas Rashid (74), has died.

In the symbolic union ceremony pictures, Ms Khadija is part of the two young women handing over the calabashes to the founding father of the nation Julius Nyerere, an event that marked the formation of  the United Republic of Tanzania. 

Her death was confirmed on Tuesday by the acting director for the union in the Vice-President’s Office (Union and Environment), Ms Hanifa Selengu.

Details made available by her daughter Aziza Makarani, however said her mother died at her home in Rahaleo Unguja on Tuesday afternoon.

“She was suffering from high blood pressure and she was undergoing treatment for the ailment. We are collaborating with the government for her burial which is set to take place in Bumbwini, North Unguja,” said Ms Makarani.