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Chief Marealle II: Man who `educated` Kilimanjaro
2007-02-28 09:53:02
By PETER TINDWA
A few days ago, Tanzanians lost their anointed Paramount Chief Thomas Lenana Mlang'a Marealle II (92), who passed away last week.
The late Thomas Lenana Marealle II who was born on June 12, 1915, died at the age of 92 on February 14, 2007.
To most Tanzanians and foreginers who happened to know him were not surprized by his death.
`Though we are sorry we are also happy that the late chief has died at the age of 92,` says Dr Wilfred Marealle, a young brother of the chief.
It is a tradition among Chagga tribsemen not to cry much when elders die at ages like that of the late Chief Marealle II.
`When I was coming at Mengeni to pay my last respect to the late chief, I briefly talked to elder Chaggas about the death of the late chief. They all told me that Chaggas do not cry much when elder people die,` Prime Minister, Edward Lowassa, says.
Few people are lucky to reach the age of 92 years like the late chief.
The Holy Bible says the minimum age of a human being is 70 years and the rare maximum age is 80 years.
`Chief Marealle II died at the age of 92, the age that can only be reached by few people,` Lowassa says.
The death of Marealle II goes hand in hand with the struggle for the independence of then Tanganyika.
`The chief fought for the independence of Tanganyika when it was under the Britons,` says advocate Temi Marealle, a second-born son of the late chief.
`He addressed the United Nations Trusteeship Council in the US on June 17, 1957 where he said that time was ripe for Tanganyika to be independent,` says Temi.
The late Marealle`s commitment for Tanganyika's independence was also acknowledged by the first-phase president Julius Nyerere.
`The late Nyerere delivered his speech demanding Tanganyika`s independence on June 18, 1957, a day after the late chief addressed the same audience,` says Aggrey Marealle, a son of the late chief.
The late chief was a committed religious devotee of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the world.
`He wanted Africa to have African bishops. His proposal was later accepted by the top leadership of Evangelical Lutheran Church,` says Bishop Leons Shirima.
The late chief who was ordained with the Order of British Empire (OBE) was an advocate for better education, modern agriculture, co-operatives unions and peace.
`Our father made sure that Chagga children, particulary females, got well educated. That`s why many politicians got married to Chagga ladies,` says Aggrey adding that his late father was a hard working man who saw education as an important item in life.
`The late chief was our guiding star which instilled confidence in us in respect of business and prosperity,` said the IPP Executive Chairman who is also Chairman of the Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI), Reginald Mengi during the funeral ceremony for the late chief.
Chief Thomas Malealle II death has obviously left a permanent gap in his family and Tanzanians in general.
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