The former Paramount Chief of the Wachagga, THOMAS LENANA MAREALLE (92), died on February 14 from pneumonia. He held the post from 1951 to 1965. After school he was first employed as a clerk by the colonial government at the office of the Moshi District Commissioner, before being transferred to Mbulu, Chunya, Mbeya, Tunduru and Lindi, respectively. From 1944 to 1946, Chief Marealle was in Britain to complete advanced studies. He was one of the first two from the then Tanganyika to be picked by the colonial regime to study in Europe. On return he was a Social Development Officer and in 1948 an Adult Education Officer at Usangi in Kilimanjaro region. In 1949, Marealle joined a welfare/recreation organisation – the Tanganyika African Association (TAA), which the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere later joined. He was the founder of the Tanganyika Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) and the Editor of the Swahili newspaper, KWETU, between 1943 and 1951 – Daily News.

A veteran journalist, media executive and diplomat, SAMMY MDEE, died of high blood pressure at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) in Moshi on March 10. He was the first Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Tanzania Broadcasting Services, Managing Editor of the Daily News and Sunday News, Chief Editor of Radio Tanzania, Dar es Salaam (RTD), Press Secretary to President Julius Nyerere and Managing Director of the Arusha International Conference Centre. He had also served in Tanzania`s Embassies in France and New York – Sunday Observer.