Has Coast tycoon Hasu's charity work followed him to his grave?

Kibarani Recreational Centre where late Mombasa Cement’s founder Hasmukh Patel ran a feeding centre for the poor and street residents. There is now little activity at the centre. [Kelvin Karani, Standard]

Places where thousands once lined up to collect foodstuffs from the late Mombasa tycoon, Hasmukh Patel, alias Hasu, are now deserted.

Signs of neglect are evident at the Kibarani recreation facility, which Patel rehabilitated at a cost of Sh700 million. The Mombasa County Government intends to convert it into a bus park. The facility is overgrown with grass, and plastic cups and bottles are scattered around. During our visit, we observed sculptures being removed to an undisclosed location.

A field that crowds used to gathered to receive food has now become a grazing field for cows and goats.

“The bronzes are being moved one by one. The beauty follows Hasu to his grave,” said a motorcycle rider, who saw a lion sculpture and a miniature car being loaded onto a truck. We later confirmed that the sculptures were being relocated to the Makupa roundabout.

At the Keshavlal & Kanjibhas Patel Charitable Trust office on Haile Selassie Avenue, where Patel used to sit every evening to listen to the needs of the community, there was little activity. A former associate of the philanthropist declined to comment for an interview. However, it became apparent that Patel’s charitable work would be scaled back after his death on August 29.

The day after Patel’s burial, his personal assistant, Imtiaz Sayani, announced that the family and directors would issue a statement on the feeding programme. Four months later, they have remained silent.

Patel died of colon cancer, a battle he fought for over five years, as revealed by Sayani.

Patel’s philanthropic contributions were substantial. He ran a feeding programme at the Sahajanand Centre in Mtwapa, Kilifi, which served over 60,000 people, and operated the Sahajanand Special School, which catered to 3,000 children. In Mombasa, he reportedly spent Sh300 million per month on community assistance and provided fresh water to Kisauni residents via a tanker.

“Our feeding programme at the Sahajanand Feeding Centre provides meals to over 50,000 people in need,” Sayani said after Patel’s passing.

Places where thousands once lined up to collect foodstuffs from the late Mombasa tycoon, Hasmukh Patel, alias Hasu, are now deserted. [File, Standard]

In 2007, Patel founded Mombasa Cement, which became the leading cement manufacturer in East Africa. In the years that followed, Mombasa and the Coast region faced numerous challenges, including a rise in street families, high crime rates, neglected recreational facilities, and widespread land grabbing of public school sites.

It is often said that heroes emerge during difficult times, and Patel rose to prominence during some of Mombasa and the Coast region’s darkest moments. He was known for his generosity, investing millions in public institutions and offering relief to the vulnerable, until his death on August 29, 2024, at the age of 58.

His death shocked the country, as did his elaborate burial rites, including a procession where his body was paraded through Mombasa’s streets on a pickup. His body was seated upright in a chair, in accordance with his Hindu tradition during the funeral of a “king”, as Sayani explained.

As the body was taken to the Keshavlal & Kanjibhas Patel Charitable Trust office, questions arose about the future of his empire and his philanthropic work.

For years, some Coast leaders had opposed Patel’s refurbishments of schools, hospitals, police stations, and recreational facilities in Mombasa and Kilifi. He was also embroiled in legal disputes over the ownership of many properties.

In 2015, Patel withdrew support for 3,000 children at the Sahajanand Special School after a land dispute concerning Mombasa Cement’s claim to a 1,200-acre plot in Shauri Moyo, Kilifi. This was after the National Assembly’s Committee on Land directed the National Land Commission (NLC) to repossess the land. Patel contested the order in court, arguing that only the NLC had the power to make such a decision.

Mombasa Cement claimed the land had been acquired from Vipingo Estates Limited in 2004-2005 for Sh67.1 million.

A month after Patel’s death, Mombasa Cement lost a legal battle for a 7.4-acre plot in Mavoko, valued at Sh350 million, to three brothers—Ramji, Harish Ramji, and Ashvin Ramji—at the Court of Appeal.