Billionaire investor and owner of Mombasa Cement, Hasmukh Patel, also known affectionately as Asuu Patel’s death was a blow to millions of Kenyans who admired the shrewd industrialist.
In his lifetime, Patel touched many lives through his philanthropy. He leaves behind a rich legacy with millions having benefitted from his charity initiatives.
Below are some of the initiatives established by the industrialist.
With the cost of education rising every other day, thousands of parents and guardians are constantly face the risk of students in their care dropping out of school.
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For more 10,000 learners it is the billionaire who came through for them through scholarship from the Mombasa Cement Company.
Parents would line up to receive money and cheques at the start of every term with the tycoon coming through for them every other term and seeing their children obtain an education.
Even on the day of his death on Thursday, August 29, parents had lined up at Royal Court Hotel in Mombasa for third term’s fees when the news of his death was broken to them.
The pain was palpable in the room as recounted by Huxley Mwadzoya who was at the hotel to collect her daughter’s third term fees.
“My girl had just left for school for the third term. I was there because I was waiting for the third-term fees for my daughter. Then they told us the news.
“I cried. I knew I am finished and now I don’t know what will happen and what to do,” Mwadzoya recounted.
The tycoon with a big heart came through for many families struggling to make ends meet, including thousands of street children.
Both during his lifetime and upon his death, several Kenyans shared their experiences on how his initiative saved them from pangs of hunger.
More than 40,000 are fed daily through the billionaire’s feeding programme in Mombasa.
Crowds troop to the company’s Kibarani Miracle Park for breakfast and lunch offered free of charge.
Patel’s helping hand came through for many families who were left with huge medical bills in hospitals.
For some, giving their loved ones a decent burial was a cost they could not afford until the billionaire came in to assist.
More than 3000 families benefitted from his initiative which saw patients stuck in hospital released after he set off the bills.
The death of Patel is a painful reality to thousands of persons living with disability and who benefitted directly from his big heart.
In Mombasa alone, 600 PWD were supported by the philanthropist.
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He not only paid house rent for PWD staring at eviction but also helped them put food on the table and access basic necessities of life, including treatment.
“I am one of the beneficiaries. His leadership was non-partisan. He used to help all regardless of race, colour, religion, or tribe so long as he sees you are needy…We had almost forgotten about NHIF because of his help. It is a big blow to the PWD community in Mombasa and beyond,” Mombasa County Disability Leaders Forum deputy chairman stated in a media interview.
Those under his care also received a monthly stipend of Sh3000.
His philanthropy also extended to the education sector where Patel ran the Sahajanand Special School through Mombasa Cement and other companies.
More than 1000 learners at the institution located in Mtwapa benefitted food, accommodation, therapy sessions, all the necessities are catered for.
His name is also engraved in a number other initiatives such as the restoration of the Kibarani dumpsite into a thriving amusement park at a cost of sh700 million.
