Mzuma Mubu Wikahi (1956–2001)

Early Life

Mzuma Mubu Wikahi was born to Mr. Mubu Wambura Wikahi and his wife Nyaswi Mturi in 1956 at Bitalaguru Village, Bunda District, Mara Region, Tanzania. He was the firstborn in a family of five children, three boys and two girls. His whole family was Catholic except him. He became Adventist when he was studying at Ikizu Adventist Secondary School where he was baptized in 1974 by Dr. John Kisaka.¹

Education and Marriage

Mzuma Mubu Wikahi received his primary education at Bunda Primary School in Bunda District, Mara Region from the year 1965 to 1971. From 1972 to 1975 he got his Ordinary Secondary School Education at Ikizu Adventist Seconary School and thereafter joined Galanos High School in Tanga Region from 1978 to 1979. In 1980 he joined the one-year compulsory program of National Service at Oljoro National Service Camp.²

From 1982 to 1983, Mzuma Wikahi studied bookkeeping and received National Bookkeeping Certificate under the National Board of Accountants and Auditors (NBAA) at Dar es Salaam School of Accountancy. In 1986 to 1987, he completed a Diploma in Accountancy 1 (NAD-1) also at Dar es Salaam School of Accountancy. In 1987 he acquired a Higher Standard Government Accounting Certificate from Civil Service Training Center. Mzuma Wikahi was vibrant and efficient in seeking further education for the work he was doing. In 1990 to 1991 he received the National Diploma Accountancy Certificate II (NAD-II) again from Dar es Salaam School of Accountancy. In 1993 through 1994 he received a Certified Public Accountancy (CPA-1) Certificate from the Arusha Institute of Accountancy.³

Mzuma Mubu Wikahi got married to Deborah Daudi on December 25, 1994 at Bukoba Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Lord blessed them with four children--two girls and two boys.⁴

Career

Mzuma Wikahi was employed by the Ministry of Finance, Income Tax Department, from 1980 through 1994. In all these years, he worked in various capacities as Finance Management Assistant, Tax Collector, Accountant, Auditor, and as Income Tax Assessor in different regions of Tanzania Mainland such as Dar es Salaam, Kigoma, Mwanza, and Kagera. In 1994, Mzuma Wikahi resigned from working with the Ministry of Finance, Income Tax Department, and joined a Private Company, Shabbirdin & Company Limited, Bukoba Region, where he worked until the year 2000 as the Company Accountant.⁵

In the year 2000, Mzuma Wikahi resigned from Shabbirdin & Company Limited in order to serve the Seventh-day Adventist Church, West Tanzania Field, as an Internal Auditor. During 2001 and 2002, he became the Field Accountant. In 2003, he was called by the Tanzania Union Mission to serve at Headquarters, Arusha, as the Union Senior Accountant, a position he held until June 2005 when he was called to be the Treasurer of Tanzania Adventist Press (TAP) situated at Morogoro. During the November 2005 Eastern Tanzania Conference Session, Mzuma Mubu Wikahi was elected to be the Conference Treasurer and served in that position until he died on December 21, 2005, in a motor accident that took the lives of his two fellow officers, a driver, and the driver’s father, who was also a pastor.⁶

Mzuma Mubu Wikahi was a humble man who loved the Church in such a way that he was ready to resign from his wealthy and highly paying employment at Shabbirdin & Company Limited as the Company Accountant and became employed with the Church which paid him very little compared to what he had been earning previously. Mzuma was a good counselor for the youth and married couples and, even though he is no longer alive, his acts still influence the lives of many people in Tanzania.⁷

Source

Mzuma Mubu Wikahi’s Work Record. Year 2005. ECT Workers’ Service Records, East-Central Africa Division archives, Nairobi, Kenya, 2005.

Notes

1. Debora Daudi Wikahi, interview by Daniel Msholla, Morogoro, August 4, 2019.↩

2. Toto N. B. Kusaga, interview by Daniel Msholla, Morogoro, February 18, 2020.↩

3. Josiah Tayali, interview by Daniel Msholla, Morogoro, February 18,2020.↩

4. Debora Daudi Wikahi, interview by Daniel Msholla, Morogoro, August 4, 2019.↩

5. Emanuel Anuro, telephone interview by Daniel Msholla, February 18, 2020.↩

6. Mzuma Mubu Wikahi’s work record, year 2005, ECT Workers’ Service Records.↩

7. James Machage, interview by Daniel Msholla, Morogoro, February 18, 2020.↩