On the 29th April 1997, a journalist aged 72 died in the Intensive Care Unit at the Aga Khan Hospital in Dar-es-Salaam Tanzania. Of his relatives only his wife was present at his funeral which took place the same day but which was held up for several hours at the request of the Government of Rwanda which insisted on sending a delegation to represent it at the funeral. The next few days saw all the major newspapers in Tanzania give prominent write-ups about the death of this person and were generous in their praise of him. Three presidents, President Mkapa of Tanzania, President Bizimungu of Rwanda and President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, sent their condolences to the family of the deceased and were unrestrained in their praise for the individual.
