Professor Ali Mazrui Passes Away At 81

Scholar and political writer Professor Ali Mazrui has died in the United States.

Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar and Governor Hassan Joho confirmed the death and declared preparations to bury him in Mombasa were underway. Joho said the Coast region had lost a great man, a scholar, academic professor of  Islamic and African studies. “My friend Professor Ali Mazrui, your intellect amazed the world.” He added. MUHURI’s Khalif Khelif said Mazrui had been unwell citing his family.

Khelif said Prof Mazrui died on Sunday night. “He had wished to be buried in Mombasa’s historical Fort Jesus area. Plans are underway to fly the body here,” said Khelif. The scholar was born on 24 February 1933 in Mombasa. He was a political writer on African and Islamic studies and North-South relations. He is an Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities and the Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York. He once served as the first non-president chancellor of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture Technology (JKUAT) under the Kibaki regime.

(c) Standard