HIS Highness the Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, is scheduled to arrive in Dar es Salaam today for a two-day visit, following an invitation extended to him by President John Magufuli.
The Aga Khan, who is also the Chairman
of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), would be received in the
country by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African
Cooperation, Dr Augustine Mahiga, on arrival at Terminal I at the Julius
Nyerere International Airport (JNIA), according to a statement from
AKDN.
According to the statement, the visit
would be part of a series of visits that would coincide with the
commemoration of the Aga Khan’s Diamond Jubilee -- which marks 60 years
of the spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslim community in the
country.
The Aga Khan ascended to the Ismaili
Imamat throne on July 11, 1957 at the age of 20 succeeding his
grandfather, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan.
In addition to presiding over the
occasions, the celebration of the Shia Ismaili Muslim tradition have
traditionally served as opportunities to launch or advance social,
cultural and economic development projects of the AKDN activities .
These have been witnessed in hospitals,
schools, universities and financial institutions that serve people of
all backgrounds and faiths. The AKDN’s institutions are among Tanzania’s
largest socio-economic agencies and supplement the government’s efforts
on improving the lives of all Tanzanians.
Some of these have been seen on the Aga
Khan Foundation’s endeavours to increase income opportunities of over
100,000 smallholder farmers and over 9,200 community based savings
groups in Southern Tanzania.
The Aga Khan Health Services has the
country’s top state-of-the-art hospital in Dar es Salaam, as well as
five primary medical centres and eight outreach centres across the
country, which have provided increased access to health for communities
in rural and urban areas.
The Aga Khan University, through the
Graduate School of Nursing and Midwifery and the Institution of
Educational Development, has awarded over 250 Master’s degrees and
educated over 3,000 trainers in the country.
In Zanzibar, the Aga Khan Trust for
culture has rehabilitated the sea front Forodhani Park and engaged in
conservation plans for the Old Dispensary, amongst others, while
promoting culture as a ‘trampoline for change’ for development.
His Highness, the Aga Khan who is on his
second leg of visit in East Africa jets in from Kampala, Uganda, where
he attended the Independence Day celebration upon the invitation of
Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni and was decorated with the highest
civilian Ugandan order - The Most Excellent Order of the Pearl of
Africa, The Grand Master, for his humanitarian efforts.
While in Dar es Salaam as part of his
itinerary, His Highness, the Aga Khan would also meet members of the
Shia Ismaili Community.
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