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"content": "What he had in mind was that Kenya and all other countries within Africa should identify what their issues are, then have an ideology and a methodology of solving problems. He said that African nations should remain united rather than divided. In that quest, he made very many communications all the time, especially in the media. He was very forthright and always came forward to talk about African affairs. He never shied away from the issues. Indeed, he also wrote about two presidents; Kwame Nkrumah and Nelson Mandela, as an epitome of what African leadership can be. He wrote about these two also as a way to encourage other states that had not reached the level of these two countries so that the people could begin putting their countries first and to put the ideals of those countries before their own ideals. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, indeed, throughout most of his writings, he had three inter-connected strands that he always talked about; one, indigenous traditions – and he never shied away from them – right from his religion. He was born a Muslim. He remained a Muslim right from the coastal cultures and traditions. Even while he was in the USA, he still kept close to his community. He kept calling his friends and relatives. He kept on visiting people and he opened up his home, especially for those who were going to the USA for the first time. So, he kept those indigenous traditions, especially those from the coast; that is, friendliness towards people and respect towards elders. This was an epitome of a foundation that he was very proud of and which he upheld throughout his own life. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, Prof. Mazrui kept to his Islamic faith and he was very keen on it. Indeed, many of his writings are on the same Islamic faith. So, he not only practiced the religion of Islam, but he also talked about it, discussed about it and wrote about it, so that people would understand it. Yet he was also critical, for example, in looking at issues of terrorism or extremism. He would actually try to contextualize issues so that it is not seen as a religious issue, but it is put completely aside. Therefore, he educated people and tried to make sure that people tolerated each other. In fact, one of his main outstanding attribute was that of humanism. For Prof. Mazrui, the dignity of all human beings was the key thing. It did not matter the religion, gender, where you came from or the race; all these did not matter. The most important thing for him was the humanity and the dignity of a person. He kept that dignity himself by being and living a very simple and very down to earth sort of life, where he saw and looked at things from a very simple perspective. Indeed, even when it came to amassing wealth, we have read and we were told that he is not the person who amassed this wealth. In fact, at the end of the month with his salary, he would give it away and said “let us just wait for the next month and we pick it up from there.” That should be a lesson because sometimes we spend too much time amassing wealth and we forget the key lessons about humanity, which are key and instrumental in our lives. He also spent a lot of time also talking about the need to free ourselves from the colonial past and to think about a development trajectory that removes those ties from that colonial past, be it in the form of the actual colonialism or in the form of neo- colonialism. Therefore, he advocated a renewal and an enlightenment of Africa, starting afresh, starting anew and focusing on what is good in Africa so that people could move to the next level. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}