Obituary: Mwai, Paul Zeleza' son
Toyin Falola
Very tragic, so sad. COVID has taken Paul’s only son. He died in Malawi yesterday.
May he has the fortitude to deal with this loss.
Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju
Very tragic, so sad. COVID has taken Paul’s only son. He died in Malawi yesterday.
May he has the fortitude to deal with this loss.
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Moses Ochonu
On Jan 17, 2021, at 9:29 AM, Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin....@gmail.com> wrote:
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Patrick Effiboley
Very tragic, so sad. COVID has taken Paul’s only son. He died in Malawi yesterday.
May he has the fortitude to deal with this loss.
Harrow, Kenneth
kenneth harrow
professor emeritus
dept of english
michigan state university
Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2021 11:07 AM
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Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Obituary: Mwai, Paul Zeleza' son
Felicia Oyekanmi
Very tragic, so sad. COVID has taken Paul’s only son. He died in Malawi yesterday.
May he has the fortitude to deal with this loss.
Adeshina Afolayan
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Okey Iheduru
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Dr BioDun J Ogundayo
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Soni Oyekan
President & CEO
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Femi Segun
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Michael Afolayan
Very tragic, so sad. COVID has taken Paul’s only son. He died in Malawi yesterday.
May he has the fortitude to deal with this loss.
Chambi Chachage
EULOGY FOR MWAI L. ZELEZA FROM HIS DAD, PAUL TIYAMBE ZELEZA
Parents are not supposed to mourn and bury their children. The horrific pandemic that has taken Mwai from us, his beloved family, friends, and colleagues has deprived many of usincluding me, his father, the comfort of even attending the service of his premature departure. But we refuse to be bowed by COVID-19. Wherever any of us may be physically, we are here together, in this moment, in mind and spirit to celebrate Mwai’s exceptional life.
Mwai was an extraordinary son, brother, husband, nephew, cousin, friend, and coworker. He was kind, warm, and generous.He had a passion for life and living. His heart was full of love. His mind was restless in its endless curiosity. His soul was ennobled by religious faith. He embraced everyone regardless of their station in life. He was impatient with intolerance, bigotry, exploitation, and corruption. He dreamt of a more wholesome community, country, and world. He relished the prospects of starting a family with his dear new wife, the love of his life, Sylvia Natasha Mwale.
I loved my son, I was proud of him. I loved him for who he was. A parent’s love for one’s child is as pure as love can be, unconditional, joyful, everlasting. That’s why the pain of mourning one’s child is so unfathomable, unnatural, unimaginably cruel. But like all of you who loved him, I’ll always cherish his memory, the privilege of having had him as a shining star of my life.
I took enormous pride as he grew into maturity, when he successfully completed his undergraduate and graduate education in the United States, when he started his professional life in Texas and Malawi, and when he entered a diplomatic career in Mozambique. We were all thrilled when he got engaged to Slyvia, and when they got married, although the coronavirus pandemic deprived us of the big wedding we had eagerly anticipated.
The memories I’ve of Mwai are of course too numerous to recount. Let me share just a few. I remember fondly the time hissister, Natasha, and I drove more than twelve hours in harsh winter weather from Illinois to Alabama to visit him and what a great time we had. And of course there was the graduation ceremony when I screamed myself hoarse shouting his nameand pumping the air as if I had never graduated from college myself. I remember when he told me he was returning to Malawi, the powerful vision he had to contribute to his country’s development, which influenced my own decision to return to the continent after spending 25 years in Canada and the United States.
Before my wife and I came to Kenya at the end of December 2015, Mwai and his cousin Angela joined us on an unforgettable Caribbean cruise. What a week we had visiting several Caribbean islands! Our nuclear family will always cherish the Christmas season in 2018 that we spent together in Columbia, Maryland with Mwai and Natasha’s American grandparents. Then for Christmas in 2019 Mwai reveled in hosting and drivingus around in his lovely Mercedes Benz. The highlight was Sylvia’s birthday in Blantyre where he surprised her with her engagement ring. My wife and I teared up with indescribable joy!
And this past Christmas we celebrated together virtually through Zoom. That is the last time I saw Mwai. He and Sylvia were so happy, so excited about being back home from Tete as a married couple. They looked so beautiful, so in love. That’s my last image I’ve of Mwai, his hearty laughter, infectious smile, his eyes twinkling with exuberance and pride.
Mwai was my avatar. Everyone said we looked alike, except he was much taller and infinitely more handsome than his father!
Mwai, thank you, for having lived among us for 42 wonderful years, for having graced our lives with your unforgettable presence of body, mind and spirit. My son, may your soul rest in eternal peace, in the everlasting bosom of the heavens. We will miss your physical presence, but you will always be with us, in each of our memories as your family, friends, and colleagues until the end of our own days. Amen 🙏🏽
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Sogunro, Olusegun (Ed Lead Policy Inst Tech)
My heartfelt condolences. May God give Paul and the family the courage and strength to bear the irrecoverable loss.
Segun
Olusegun A. Sogunro, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Educational Leadership, Policy, and Instructional Technology
School of Education and Professional Studies
Central Connecticut State University (CCSU)
1615 Stanley Street
New Britain, CT 06050
Phone: 860-832-2131
Fax: 860-832-2109
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From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
On Behalf Of Femi Segun
Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2021 8:14 PM
To: 'Chika Onyeani' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Obituary: Mwai, Paul Zeleza' son
Please be cautious: **External Email**
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Toyin Falola
Chambi:
I saw this earlier, and I did not have the courage to post it. You have the courage, and I appreciate it.
I called Cassandra and Paul. I had no courage to talk. We were all to gather in Atlanta last Summer for Paul’s birthday. I tricked them into declining their invitation, but I leaked it to his son that I would be there as they wanted me to make a statement.
How Paul was able to get the words, I don’t know. Could this be faith? Chambi, it was at Rhodes University in South Africa that I was told you are a man of faith, belonging to the Seventh Day Adventist. I don’t know. I cannot confirm. But this may explain it.
This is the second time in my experience to read this kind of eulogy. The last time was when Professor Adiele Afigbo lost his wife, and he wrote something. No one could believe it. Then it was attributed to his membership of the Christian Science or the Rosicrucian, one of those intellectual religions. I remember the late Professor Nina Mba, a leading scholar of Women Studies, expressing disappointment at what Afigbo did. To Mba, Afigbo lacked emotions.
Now I realize how it can happen. I am a person of words—I can pour out words like a heavy downpour, but I am not a man of courage, the kind that Paul has demonstrated here.
It is hard to write; it is even harder to read.
May death takes us instead of taking our children.
To you and us, let us be comforted:
I will lift my eyes up to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip – he who watches over you will not slumber.
The Lord watches over you – the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm – he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your
coming and going both now and forevermore.
Psalm 121: 1-3, 5-8
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segun ogungbemi
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Ademola Dasylva
(Professor of African Literature, Oral Poetics & Performance),
Department of English;
Coordinator, Ibadan Cultural Studies Group (ICSG);
Chairman, Board of TOFAC (International);
Recipient, 2009 Distinguished Africanist Award for Research Excellence, University of Texas at Austin, USA
Recipient, 2019 Asante Award for Outstanding Research in African Studies, University of Georgia, Athens, USA.
Rm. 68, Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
+234(0)802 350 4755
Very tragic, so sad. COVID has taken Paul’s only son. He died in Malawi yesterday.
May he has the fortitude to deal with this loss.
--
Alinah Segobye
Very tragic, so sad. COVID has taken Paul’s only son. He died in Malawi yesterday.
May he has the fortitude to deal with this loss.
--
muley...@gmail.com
Victor Okafor
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tunde jaiyeoba
Maurice Amutabi
Very tragic, so sad. COVID has taken Paul’s only son. He died in Malawi yesterday.
May he has the fortitude to deal with this loss.
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Prof. Maurice N. Amutabi, PhD
Vice Chancellor,
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Athi River, Kenya
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1. The NGO Factor in Africa
http://www.amazon.com/NGO-Factor-Africa-Arrested-Development/dp/0415979951
2. Regime Change and Succession Politics in Africa
http://www.amazon.com/Regime-Change-Succession-Politics-Africa/dp/0415534089
3. Lifelong Learning in Africa
http://www.amazon.com/Studies-Lifelong-Learning-Africa-Technological/dp/0773447571
6. Prof. Maurice Amutabi's Blog
http://kenyasocialscienceforum.wordpress.com/author/kenyasocialscienceforum/
DOYIN AGUORU
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OLAYINKA AGBETUYI
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Assensoh, Akwasi B.
Dear Brother Paul & Family:
Our condolences for the loss of your beloved son (Mwai)! Your wonderful
and very moving words have placed him eternally in our minds and hearts.
Therefore, he has only changed his Malawian address for that of the Good Lord's
Heavenly Kingdom. Looking down from Heaven, Brother Mwai should be smiling
that his beloved father (President Paul Zeleza) has taken precious time from his
busy schedule to pen an eloquent and unforgetable eulogy-cum-obituary to share
with all of us!
As James Shirley, the mournful English poet, reminded us in his mournful poem
("Death the Leveller"), it is true that "the glories of our lives are shadows but not
substantial things, and that there is no armor against fate"!! Therefore, as much as
the family and all of us loved (and still love) Brother Mwai, there was no armor to
help protect him, when he had to respond to the call from Heaven, where he now has
his address. Indeed, we shall all meet him again in Heaven, if we "imitate" his exemplary
life that his beloved father described in his powerful eulogy!
May Mwai (first name sake of Kenya's 89-year old former President Kibaki) rest in perfect
peace, and may the family (especially his equal half and love of his life, Lady Sylvia Natasha
Mwale) be amply comforted by the fact that (as it was expressed in the eulogy about the youth-
fulness of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968), it is never how long one lived, that matters,
but how well. Therefore, we will forever remember Brother Mwai L. Zeleza for living very well.A.B. Assensoh.
------
Rev. A.B. Assensoh, LL.M., PH.D.,
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Subject: [External] USA Africa Dialogue Series - Obituary: Mwai, Paul Zeleza' son