Mombasa was brought to a standstill on Sunday, September 1, 2024, when a funeral procession of the late Mombasa Cement billionaire philanthropist snaked its way through Jomo Kenyatta Avenue.
Hasmukh Khanji Patel, popularly known as Hasu was placed in a casket as close family members transported his body for cremation at a Hindu temple in the coastal city.
The billionaire was ferried to the temple with a vehicle fitted with thousands of petals of flowers as residents threw additional flowers in a classic case of a traditional Hindu final ceremony.
Hasu was an inspiration to many individuals at the coast where his philanthropy work extended to the various counties in the region.
Apart from paying medical bills to random patients, Hasu also provided for schools with special needs learners, key among them the Sahajanand Special School in Mtwapa where some 1,000 learners are housed and schooled for free.
The body of Hasmukh Patel AKA HASU of Mombasa cement being driven around the city he loved so much enroute to the Crematorium for cremation according to his Hindu
— TheRealMvitaOne (@FauzKhalid) September 1, 2024
MOMBASA residents are throwing flowers at the vehicle carrying him pic.twitter.com/TRfSQzAPP6
The billionaire also ran a feeding programme in Mombasa which targeted at least 40,000 individuals each day.
The county also benefitted from the philanthropist’s fortunes with major infrastural development and aesthetic infrastructure along major roads on the island.
His demise was noted with sadness by prominent personalities within the nation including the acting police Inspector General Gilbert Masengeli, who acknowledged Hasu’s role in the fencing of several police stations in the country.
“On behalf of the National Police Service, I would like to extend our deepest and heartfelt condolences to the family of the late philanthropist, Mr. Kanji Patel. The late Patel/Mombasa Cement has been extremely instrumental in enhancing police-public collaboration through his initiative of constructing perimeter walls around police stations in Kenya, thus enhancing the privacy and dignity of NPS Officers,” Masengeli said.
Hindu rights
According to Hindu funeral rights, family members of the deceased wear white robes during the cremation of their loved ones.
Also, they spend the next 13 days mourning the cremated loved one, during which they desist from communicating with individuals who are not members of the family.
While the rites may differ from one culture to the next, after cremation, family members collect the ashes and scatter them in a holy water body.
Hindu ceremonies are often open to any person who wishes to attend as they do not restrict individuals from different religions or castes.
